Hostess Refreshes Packaging DesignsHostess Refreshes Packaging Designs

A reinvigorated packaging design for Smucker’s Hostess brand features upbeat, contemporary touches.

Kate Bertrand Connolly, Freelance Writer

January 21, 2025

2 Min Read
Hostess cakes
J.M. Smucker

At a Glance

  • The refreshed packaging design and logo are designed to appeal to new and existing consumers.
  • Consumer research brought brighter colors, a cloud-like border, and new fonts for Hostess and its snack sub-brands.

J.M. Smucker has updated and modernized the Hostess logo and packaging across the brand’s many popular sub-brands, including Donettes, Twinkies, Cupcakes, and Ding Dongs.

Smucker worked with Design Bridge and Partners on the brand refresh. The revised packaging graphics feature new product photography and stylized typography. The Hostess logo was updated with brighter colors and a simpler font style, while still featuring the brand’s signature red heart.

As a nod to the products’ lightness, a cloud-like border crowns the new logo. On Hostess Donettes powdered mini donuts packaging, the logo’s border is rendered as a flurry of powdered sugar against a bright blue background.

Smucker conducted several phases of consumer research to test the new designs. “We coordinated a wide range of consumer testing to inform our approach and ensure we understood what was expected and desired,” says Aundrea Graver, marketing director for J.M. Smucker.

“This included everything from having consumers evaluate packaging concepts to leveraging a virtual store shelf to get their perspectives on how the updated design resonated in store,” Graver adds.

“Consumer feedback revolved around a few key themes, notably that there were opportunities to modernize the look and feel while strengthening connection between the product brands and the over-arching Hostess brand,” she says.

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The research results showed that consumers prefer the refreshed packaging and logo to the previous versions by a ratio of two to one. In addition, the new brand presentation enhances consumer perception of the brand’s modernity and taste.

The new packaging currently is rolling out nationwide in the United States. It will be used across the full Hostess portfolio, including all packaging formats and distribution channels.

Smucker announced in November, 2023, that it completed the acquisition of Hostess Brands in a transaction Packaging Digest previously reported was valued at $5.6 billion

About the Author

Kate Bertrand Connolly

Freelance Writer

Kate Bertrand Connolly has been covering innovations, trends, and technologies in packaging, branding, and business since 1981.

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