Second Harvest

We reimagined Second Harvest’s identity for the scale of its mission—elevating it from a trusted local charity to a national force for sustainability and systemic change.

Second Harvest: The Great Food Waste Revolution

Client Category
Nonprofit · Sustainability · Food Rescue

Services Provided
Naming · Brand Strategy · Visual Identity · Brand Architecture · Campaign Creative · Digital Content · Website · Stakeholder Engagement · Social Media · Internal Culture Alignment

Business Challenge

Second Harvest was fighting one of the most urgent crises of our time — food waste — yet their brand didn’t reflect the national leadership, innovation, and impact they were already delivering.

Across the organization, the brand was fragmented:

• Inconsistent logos and naming
• Mixed messages across programs and regions
• A story told differently by every team, partner, and community
• A digital presence that didn’t match the scale of their mission

Worse, the entire sector was clouded by donor fatigue and rising public skepticism.

Second Harvest wasn’t struggling with purpose.
They were struggling with translation.

Internally, the team knew who they were.
Externally, no one understood the scope of their mission.

To lead the country in solving food waste, they needed one brand, one story, one voice — and the confidence to use it.

Strategic Insight

Food waste isn’t just a sustainability issue.
It’s a human issue.

And the only organization capable of solving it at scale had to be understood at scale.

Our breakthrough insight:

Second Harvest didn’t need a new mission.
They needed the world to see the one they already had.

The brand had to shift from a “food rescue charity” to the national authority on food waste, uniting donors, partners, governments, and Canadians under a simple, urgent truth:

There is a food waste crisis — and Second Harvest has the solution.

This wasn’t a marketing exercise.
It was a movement in waiting.

Creative Solution

We built a unified, confident, national brand system that transformed Second Harvest from a quiet hero into the authoritative leader of Canada’s food waste revolution.

Brand Architecture Unification

• One identity across all programs, provinces, and partners
• Bilingual naming and logo system rooted in trust and clarity
• Standardized structure for communications, campaigns, education, and advocacy

Visual Identity Transformation

• Modernized logo grounded in simplicity, accessibility, and national recognition
• Clear, confident typography replacing nonprofit clutter
• Expanded colour system built for digital-first impact
• Applied branding across trucks, apparel, packaging, signage, and national campaigns

Stakeholder-Driven Alignment

• Interviews, workshops, and team-led discovery
• Insight gathering from frontline workers to senior leadership
• A brand built with the organization, not imposed on it
• Cultural alignment that empowered teams to own the story

Digital Presence Reinvention

• Website redesigned to tell a coherent national story
• Clear articulation of the food waste problem
• Strong donor pathways and impact storytelling
• Visual cohesion across social, email, and advocacy channels

Messaging Clarity

The brand now speaks with one powerful voice:

• Simple Truth: The food waste crisis is solvable.
• Brand Purpose: To grow the good and reduce the waste.
• Call to Action: Food Rescue. Food Education. Food Systems Change.

The result wasn’t just a new brand.
It was a new way of being seen.

Results

🍏 National Brand Clarity
The entire organization — from operations to advocacy — aligned under one identity.

💚 Donor Engagement Up
Clearer storytelling strengthened relationships and improved fundraising conversations.

🤝 Partnership Growth
Corporate and government partners had a clearer, more compelling narrative to engage with.

🌱 Internal Cultural Lift
Team members gained pride, confidence, and emotional connection to the brand they represented.

📈 Digital Engagement Improvement
Website, social, and education channels experienced stronger engagement through clarity and consistency.

From the CEO’s own words:
“You made us look like who we actually are.”

Category Takeaway

Nonprofits don’t need louder messages.
They need truer ones.

Second Harvest succeeded because we didn’t create a new story —
we crystallized the one that already existed.

By unifying identity, simplifying communication, and elevating mission clarity, we helped Second Harvest become the King of Canada’s Food Waste Revolution, leading a movement that donors, partners, and Canadians could finally see and understand.

When your mission is this important, clarity isn’t cosmetic —
it’s fuel.