In December 2014, a milk called Fairlife appeared on store shelves in America. This was a kind of revolution in the country’s dairy market, as the new brand’s milk cost almost twice as much as usual, but not without reason. Firstly, Fairlife is a lactose-free product. Secondly, it has twice as much protein as regular milk and almost half as much sugar.
The Fairlife brand was launched in 2012 and includes a wide range of dairy beverages such as high-protein milkshakes, revitalizing drinks, and ultra-filtered dairy products. The brand has a strong position in the fast-growing value-added dairy category. This is why in 2020, The Coca-Cola Company announced the acquisition of a full stake in the American dairy beverage brand Fairlife. The brand’s first shareholding, however, was bought out by Coca-Cola back in mid-2014.
Fairlife is cold-filtered to remove lactose, yet Fairlife contains 50% more protein and 50% less sugar than regular milk. Today, the Fairlife range includes not only classic lactose-free milk but also different flavor variations. For example, the Fairlife Smart range comes in three flavors: rich chocolate, French vanilla, and creamy strawberry.
Fairlife has done well in the US, providing Coca-Cola with valuable expertise and resources that have allowed the company to think about entering international markets. So, for example, high-nutrition milk has become very popular in Asian countries. But it is sold under a different brand in China. The premium dairy beverage market has high growth potential and Coca-Cola has advantages in terms of brand influence and sales channels.
What is Fairlife?
Fairlife is the name of a brand of lactose-free milk from the Coca-Cola Company with reduced sugar content and increased protein content. For production, the company has formed a joint venture with farmers who produce raw materials with “fully sustainable processes with high-quality animal care”.
In terms of visual identity, the Fairlife brand is fresh, clean, and distinctive. It is a combination of stylized friendly lettering and an emblem in the same color palette. The whole badge looks very up-to-date, and at the same time, it brilliantly represents the “classic” milky mood.
The Fairlife logo, introduced in 2014, is composed of an arched lowercase wordmark in a bold geometric sans-serif typeface with the first “I” replaced by an exclamation mark; and an emblem depicting the head of a cow, drawn in two shades of blue against a white background. The image looks very stylish due to minimalistic details and bold contours.
The lettering from the primary Fairlife logo is set in a modern sans-serif typeface, which looks pretty close to such commercial fonts as Hygge Sans, or TT Commons Pro, but with some visible modifications.
As for the color palette of the Fairlife visual identity, it is based on the combination of a deep shade of blue, a very light blue for the shadowing of the emblem, and white, which makes up a perfect background for the badge.