Andy Scott, md of Vivid Brand Designs, Clerkenwell, cooked for Sam, aged 14 - a school Master Chef of the year - Hannah, 11, and Katie, 12 Do Unilever Bestfoods' new Bertolli pasta sauces and pestos do their Italian heritage justice? We usually make our sauces from scratch at home or trundle along to our local Italian restaurant for the real thing ­ Sam even helps out in the restaurant kitchens. So it was very brave of me to bring home sauces in a jar. We tried the three sauces ­ Chargrilled Vegetables; Tomato, Romano and Garlic; Tomato and Basil ­ and the Basil Pesto. We all thought the best thing about the packaging was the chunky jar which added a rustic air. It looked and felt like the jars my gran used for making jam or pickling things and it even had serving portions marked on the side. Apart from the Pesto we were bemused to see that the Chargrilled Vegetables had halves of fresh green olives in it which didn't give credibility to chargrilled' but the sauces were tasty nonetheless. They had a good consistency and they were not too salty. I also had the chef at Al's Bar and Café (our local hangout at work) prepare them with fusilli. The pesto was by far the favourite with the Tomato, Romano and Garlic a close second. Branding and pack graphics were disappointing. The packs' overall image is that of an authentic' southern European feel for a northern European consumer but it's not quite right. Design authenticity is lacking. The ingredients illustrations are the type normally used for jams and no self-respecting Italian food product would use them. The company also missed a trick by not including a little background history on the Bertolli brands on the pack. The name's been around for more than 100 years so they must have a story to tell. The sauces passed the taste test but the packaging let them down. They would also benefit from good in-store communication to support the Bertolli quality reputation and help shoppers understand how best to use each product ­ something they do so well on the Bertolli web site for olive oils. I don't like criticising other designers because the design usually reflects the client's brief and consumer research can dilute even the strongest creative ideas, but I feel this range has been designed without passion. Would I have the Bertolli range in my kitchen? Well, yes as the sauces were actually quite tasty but I'd hide the packaging. {{MARKETING - P&P }}

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