Alan Bartlett & Sons are Europe’s biggest grower of carrots and the world’s biggest grower of parsnips. Lionhouse are responsible for growing their brand. Our award-winning creative work for Alan Bartlett includes the brand design, website, literature and product naming and packaging. The work is richly evocative of the countryside. It’s also rooted in effectiveness. Year-on-year sales are now up 25%.

Following the success of the Belles launch, Bartlett’s asked Lionhouse to devise a new channel to market, to enable them to better target the high end restaurant sector. We created Bartlett’s Direct.

Thanks to the development of this new e-commerce area on the main Bartlett’s website, a simple online ordering process means that customers are now able to order freshly picked produce and receive it within 24 hours.

As well as Belles, Bartlett’s Direct also sells two other products, Bobtails, a premium baby parsnip and Beauties, a baby Chantenay carrot. Both were named, branded and packaged by Lionhouse.

Alan Bartlett & Sons continue to innovate in what is traditionally seen as a commodity category. This was further proven when they came to Lionhouse with a request to name, brand and package a new premium quality baby carrot.

We named these carrots Bartlett’s Belles, and devised a comprehensive launch programme to deliver Belles to the country’s best known chefs and highest quality restaurants. The programme included packaging, a mini-brochure, direct mail and even the delivery box.

The launch proved successful, whetting the appetites of some of the country’s top eateries. Regular orders are now flying in.

Lionhouse’s design for the Alan Bartlett website showcases the English countryside with evocative photography by Julian Calverley. The site is rich with insights into employees’ working lives in the fields and factories. As well as product details there’s information on crop varieties and interactive sections which include recipes personally created by the Bartlett family.

The Alan Bartlett story is a compelling one, complete with a big cast of fascinating characters; many of the loyal staff have worked there for over 30 years. The story needed telling, so Lionhouse created this beautiful brand book. It celebrates the Alan Bartlett team and its philosophy, and production methods from sowing the seed to going to market. The book was expertly produced by Park Lane press using an environmentally responsible, waterless print process.

Alan Bartlett & Sons are Tesco’s biggest supplier of carrots. But when Tesco warned them their own-brand product could be withdrawn due to declining sales, Bartlett's turned to Lionhouse. At the time, their own-brand carrots were simply packaged with an elastic band and no branding. Lionhouse saw the root of the problem. We came up with the name Bartlett’s Bushytops and created a distinctive brand identity and packaging. In the next 2 months sales rocketed by 141%. Now, sales are up 25% year-on-year, with 18% less wastage. For the same carrots, at the same price. Bartlett’s Bushytops went from being seasonal to on-shelf all year round, and the company has extended into European fields to meet demand. A whole new brand, bright-eyed and bushytopped.

Lionhouse never stop trying to add value to our clients’ business. In this case we saw an opportunity for Alan Bartlett & Sons to produce their own high-end range of fresh soups. We suggested the idea and teamed Bartlett’s with a company of expert soup-makers. They devised the recipes. We named the product Bartlett's Bowlfuls. We then set about designing an identity and packaging befitting of a truly Souperior soup.

While Alan Bartlett & Sons deliver their produce, Lionhouse keeps delivering on their brand. A fleet of 25 branded lorries helps spread the word nationwide. And Lionhouse’s offering extends even further. Stylish signage points the way at Bartlett’s HQ, while staff use Lionhouse-designed packaging and even wear uniforms designed by us.

The company Alan Bartlett & Sons was created following a friendly de-merger in 2009. Lionhouse were briefed to re-brand them. This began with a new corporate identity. The rabbit logo was a distinctive solution which reflected Alan Bartlett's expertise with their chief crop and their devotion to the land.