Most of the colour choices of our Goupie packaging are pretty predictable. Red for Chilli, green for Mint, browns for Espresso, Hazelnut, Date & Walnut, etc. But Ginger is a bit of an outlier. Its vibrant green-blue doesn't reflect the colour of ginger in any form and a toasted shade of yellow would probably have made more sense... So why did we pick a shade of teal?
Ginger came at the start of Goupie. Orange, Hazelnut, Chilli, Mint, and Original proved to be a hit, and it wasn't long before a whole bunch of others joined in, including the glorious Ginger.
During this frantic time mum was doing a lot (with the help of Goupie man Joe - dad). We've spoken a little about it in 'The Goupie Story Pt. 3' but as with creating any business there was a lot of work to be done. Endless hours were spent building relationships with local Farm Shops, sourcing ingredients, figuring out and adhering to laws and legislation, making Goupie at home in the kitchen, developing new flavours, and all the while parenting two teenagers and looking after four cats, a dog, and six chickens.
Everything was done in-house. Literally, in our house. We'd come home from school to the smell of chocolate, and we'd chip in to pack Goupie if there had been a big order. It also meant Goupie was a topic of discussion during evening meals, family time, and whenever an idea struck. Grace and I were also on hand to do more 'modern' things like setting up social media, or try our hand at a little photography. This is where the colour comes in.
Most of the props we could use in the photos were obvious - oranges for Orange Goupie, chillies for Chilli Goupie, and hazelnuts for Hazelnut Goupie. But when we came to photographing Ginger Goupie with fresh ginger it just didn't look right. The weird knobbly shape and dull colour wasn't selling the chocolate. So, in our infinite teenage wisdom, we looked around the kitchen for something pretty to use instead.
After trying a few colourful plates and dishes we landed on one of our favourite pieces - a small tagine that had been picked up in Marrakech many years ago. It was perfect. The tall painted lid filled the background with beautiful colour and unusual decoration. We snapped a few photos and the rest is history. Note the original white stripes on the top!
For the next few years the tagine could be seen on all the Ginger Goupie packaging. Then in 2016 when we had some bespoke designs made, Ginger's colour was ported over and the blue-green shade was cemented. Although the original images have been replaced, you can still see the tagine in some of our Goupie pics. Isn't that lovely?
So, it may not be traditional, or clearly communicate 'ginger' and it's fiery flavour, but it's a little reminder of where we came from, and of that Saturday afternoon when mum put her trust in her girls.
