Hej Coffee Retail BagsPackaging design for Hej Coffee’s 250g range
Overview
I designed a custom retail coffee bag for Hej Coffee, replacing off-the-shelf plain black bags with a 250g format built to work across the whole coffee range.
The brief
Hej’s retail coffee had been sold in generic black bags. The brief was to elevate the 250g format, both for direct-to-consumer sales and to grow Hej’s presence in outlets across London. I worked within the existing Hej Coffee brand guidelines, which I had already expanded by that point.
At the time the tagline was “Neighbourhood Coffee”, reflecting a focus on sustainability, supporting local charities and community projects, and being a good neighbour as well as a space that brings the community together.
One bag, many coffees
Rather than designing a bag per coffee, I created a single design with a dedicated space for a label. Swapping the label distinguishes each coffee, so one bag carries the whole lineup, from house blends to seasonal single origins to one-off community editions. The bag stays calm and consistent, which leaves the labels free to be as colourful as each coffee needs.
The design
The bag is matte white, carrying the Hej logo with the Neighbourhood Coffee tagline, a short brand introduction, and all the required legal information.
A hand-drawn coffee plant illustration by Ana Rodrigues, then a barista at Hej, wraps around the bag, with flowers, leaves and cherries framing the label area. A dashed tear line with a playful instruction (“In case of coffee emergency tear here!”) adds personality to a practical feature. On the back there’s a zip-lock and a degassing valve.
Commissioning the illustration from within the team keeps the packaging rooted in the neighbourhood spirit the tagline promises.
Research suggested the industry was leaning towards compostable bags. The supplier, Grounded Packaging, advised against it, as the UK lacked a robust waste stream for home composting. They offered a mono-material, carbon-negative, plant-based polymer instead, which at the time had the lowest carbon footprint of the options available. I chose that material.
The outcome
The bags went into use immediately in Hej’s shops and in selected outlets (not all of its clients stock retail bags). Feedback was very positive. Shop and wholesale clients said the products looked much more appealing, and Hej saw an uptick in sales both online (D2C) and in store.
