Brands
MTR Foods unveils new brand identity
BENGALURU: MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd. announced the launch of its new brand identity with a new contemporary logo and packaging which will come into effect immediately, with the new packs hitting the market in May. MTR Foods is a subsidiary of the Norwegian conglomerate Orkla.
As a part of its growth strategy the company also announced the opening up of its new eCommerce site that will give consumers a clear access to the entire range of MTR’s 140 plus products.
MTR says that the rebranding reflects the company’s commitment to its dynamic key consumers, while personifying its transition to an innovative and relevant brand.
Emphasizing on the need for rebranding, MTR Foods CEO Sanjay Sharma said “Today’s consumers have evolved quite a bit – both in terms of their food preferences as well their consumption patterns. They prefer Indian food but perceive it to be cumbersome and time-consuming. Our brand is the flag bearer of innovative, easy-to-make, nutritious and authentic tasting products that take away the time dimension from cooking and make Indian food more accessible to consumers.”
“However, as a brand we needed to change to reflect who our key consumers are today. While the new brand identity better represents where the company is today, our detailed growth strategy will make MTR ready for the future. This is the new beginning for MTR Foods and we are confident that the changes we have undertaken and our new brand identity will make us a part of our consumers’ everyday lives,” Sharma explained.
Orkla Foods executive vice president and CEO Atle Vidar added, “Over the last three years, Orkla Foods has transformed into a leading Nordic branded consumer company that will play a more active role in partnering the growth of MTR Foods. We are very proud to be the owners of a brand like MTR and will continue to contribute to the growth of the brand with a seamless transition of best practises and consumer insights. The launch of the new brand identity reaffirms our symbiotic partnership and the path we are going to charter together.”
The brand also revealed a six-pronged growth strategy that it will execute for the next four years. This includes: A revamped communications strategy with increased emphasis on digital; Mega innovations that are category disruptive; increasing distribution by three times over the next four years; Investment of Rs 200 crore for scaling up manufacturing infrastructure; Exploring alternate channels of distribution; spending Rs 2 crore on sustainability and community building.
Brands
Godrej clarifies ‘GI’ identifier after logo similarity debate
Says GI is not a logo, will not replace Godrej signature across products.
MUMBAI: In a branding storm where shapes did the talking, Godrej is now spelling things out. Godrej Industries Group (GIG) has issued a clarification on its newly introduced ‘GI’ identifier, addressing questions around its purpose and design following a wave of online criticism. At the centre of the debate were two concerns: whether the new mark replaces the long-standing Godrej logo, and whether its geometric design mirrors other corporate identities.
The company has drawn a clear line. The Godrej signature logo, it said, remains unchanged and continues to be the sole logo across all consumer-facing products and services. The ‘GI’ mark, by contrast, is not a logo but a corporate group identifier intended for use alongside the Godrej signature or company name, and aimed at stakeholders such as investors, media and talent rather than consumers.
The need for such a distinction stems from the 2024 restructuring of the broader Godrej Group into two separate business entities. With both continuing to operate under the same Godrej name and signature, the identifier is positioned as a way to differentiate the Godrej Industries Group at a corporate level.
The rollout, however, triggered a broader conversation on design originality. Critics pointed to similarities between the GI mark’s geometric composition and logos used by companies globally, raising questions about distinctiveness.
Responding to this, GIG said its intellectual property and legal review found that such overlaps are common in minimalist, geometry-led design systems. Basic forms such as circles and rectangles appear across dozens of brand identities worldwide, the company noted.
It added that the identifier emerged from an extensive design process and was chosen for its simplicity, allowing it to sit alongside the Godrej signature without competing visually. While acknowledging that elemental shapes may appear less distinctive in isolation, the group emphasised that the mark is part of a broader identity system that includes a custom typeface, sonic branding and other proprietary elements.
Following legal and ethical assessments, the company said it found no impediment to using the identifier, reiterating that the GI mark is a corporate tool not a consumer-facing symbol.
In short, the logo isn’t changing but the conversation around it certainly has.
