La Lanh is a brand of sustainably produced vegetables, conceived as apart of the BDSV (Binh Dinh Safe Vegetable project)—a local government initiative focused on the Binh Dinh region of central Vietnam, which is sponsored by New Zealand Plant and Food Research. The project was created in order to improve the safety and sustainability(economic and environmental) of vegetable farms in Binh Dinh. Rice was approached by New Zealand Plant and Food Research to create a brand for farmers participating in the project.

Rice interviewed many project stakeholders, including local government officials, scientists, farmers, and vegetable retailers. Key insights included challenges related to packaging, distribution, budget, public perception of safety, as well as limitations when it came to applying and managing design assets. Rice created a robust strategy tailored to these specific needs.

Our design solution struck a balance between emotion and function. Binh Dinh is a region of Vietnam that has a long history of enduring natural disasters. The people of Binh Dinh are famous for resilience and a sense of community pride. The name that Rice created for the brand, La Lanh (The Good Leaf) comes from a Vietnamese proverb relevant to this culture, which translates loosely to “The good leaves protect the torn ones.” This brand name, together with a Buddhist inspired color palette of green and soft pink, inspired a sense of pride and care for the local community. In order to help the brand communicate effectively about the safety of the products, Rice created a set of icons that could be used to explain the assurance process as well as the food journey from farm to table.

Since the brand implementation, La Lanh has proudly signed contracts with large supermarkets and have distributed their product outside of the Binh Dinh region, into the Vietnamese urban centers including Ho Chi Minh City.