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Last updated November 10, 2026. We review this article every six months, so the next review is May 2027.
Redesign what’s broken and leave alone what shoppers already use to find you. That’s the whole lesson of the most famous packaging redesign failure in the business, and it applies whether you sell juice or custom candles.
What happened to Tropicana, twice
PepsiCo launched new Tropicana Pure Premium cartons in January 2009. The orange with a straw in it was gone, replaced by a glass of juice on a cleaner, paler carton. Unit sales fell 20% and dollar sales fell 19%, about $33 million, between January 1 and February 22, according to Information Resources data reported by Ad Age and Bloomberg. The company announced it was dropping the design on February 23. A company executive told the New York Times that he’d underestimated the emotional bond shoppers had with the original carton.
You’d think the industry learned. In 2024 the brand, now owned by Tropicana Brands Group, switched its flagship juice to a new bottle, and Circana data cited by CNN showed year-over-year sales down 8.3% in July, 10.9% in August and 19% by October. Packaging World’s review of 2025’s biggest stories still counts it among them. This time the complaints were as much about the changed shape and size as the look.
Tropicana isn’t alone. Celestial Seasonings once went back to its old boxes after shoppers said the slimmed-down redesign was harder to find on shelf.
Why people react so strongly
Most shoppers don’t read packaging. They recognize it. They scan for a color, a shape and a picture, and they grab. Change those cues and the product you’ve bought for years can look like a different brand, or like a store brand. The loyal customers who buy most often are the ones most likely to miss the change.
A process that holds up
- Name the reason. A new regulation, a product change, a new channel or an outdated look are all good reasons. “We’re bored of it” is not.
- List what shoppers use to find you. Color, logo placement, shape, a mascot. Mark each one as keep, adjust or drop.
- Decide how far to go. Evolution means fixing what isn’t working while keeping the recognizable parts. Revolution means starting over, and it only makes sense if the current brand is hurting you.
- Test with real shoppers. Show the new design next to the old one, on a shelf mock-up and as a small thumbnail, since many of your customers will first see it in a marketplace listing.
- Phase it in. Change one thing at a time where you can, and plan how to sell through existing inventory.
- Measure and be ready to back out. Track sales weekly for the first couple of months, and keep the old artwork on file.
Good reasons to redesign right now
Sustainability rules are changing quickly. Industry reporting counted 41 packaging extended producer responsibility bills across 16 states in 2025, so recyclability labels and material choices may force changes whether you planned them or not. Moving into e-commerce is another: a package built for a shelf doesn’t always survive a parcel network. Both are good moments to touch structure and printing together.
Mistakes we’d watch for
Changes so small nobody notices are a waste of the effort. Changes so big that your regulars can’t find you are worse. Design by committee tends to sand off whatever made the pack distinctive, and copying a competitor’s redesign means inheriting their problems. Decide with shopper evidence, not the loudest opinion in the room.
Questions we hear a lot
How often should you redesign packaging?
There’s no fixed cycle. Review it when your product, channel or regulations change, and make small updates more often than big overhauls.
Why did the Tropicana redesign fail?
It removed the most recognizable cue on the shelf, the orange with a straw, without changing the product. Shoppers couldn’t find it quickly and many read the plain carton as a cheaper brand.
How much does a packaging redesign cost?
It depends on whether you change only graphics or the structure too. New structures need new tooling, so costs rise quickly. Ask your packaging supplier to quote graphics-only and full-structure options separately.
If you’re weighing a redesign, we’ll walk through structure and print options with you. Call 214-808-7664 or use the contact page.
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