Swerve Sweetener
Swerve Sweetener is a zero-calorie, zero-glycemic sweetener composed of erythritol and oligosaccharides. It measures and bakes cup-for-cup like sugar.
Zehnder’s Role
When Swerve Sweetener approached Zehnder, what they had was a great product. What they didn’t have was a brand — no visual identity, no packaging, no way to tell their story on a shelf crowded with Splenda, Stevia, and a dozen other alternatives.
Zehnder created Swerve’s entire brand identity from the ground up, including visual identity, packaging, and storytelling, based on detailed market research with target users.
During the market research phase, we spent time talking to the people who would be most excited to use Swerve. From sugar-free home bakers to parents managing diabetes, Swerve’s target audience was looking for permission to bake, share, and celebrate without compromise.
Unlike competitors that focus solely on calorie reduction or sugar avoidance, Swerve uniquely combines zero-calorie sweetness with a cup-for-cup baking equivalence, offering the same taste and texture as sugar. That shift became the emotional engine of the brand.
After months of developing a visual system, tone of voice, food packaging design architecture, and so much more, Swerve is now one of the fastest-growing shelf-stable sweetener brands in North American retail.
Zehnder's deliverables for Swerve included:
- Brand logo and visual identity system
- Multi-language consumer packaging design for retail shelves
- Branded touchpoints such as business cards, point of purchase displays, influencer baking kits, merchandise, and food show booth graphics
