Helping Create a Bright Future

During the recent bushfires in Australia, restaurant owners Kevin and Susan Plath were facing bankruptcy when a Facebook post by bushfire relief campaign Empty Esky changed their lives.

The couple run 'The Chicken Shop' in the tourist town of Bright, in Victoria’s Alpine region, where police and the ADF doorknocked after an evacuation warning was issued due to ongoing fires near Mount Hotham.

Kevin and Susan had just reopened their restaurant after the Christmas break when they, along with their four-year-old daughter and 35,000 tourists and residents were evacuated.

When it became obvious they couldn’t reopen the business or even stock their empty fridges, they decided to set up a Facebook page for Alpine Sauce Co. and tagged #emptyesky. The official #emptyesky account reposted the photo of the sauce bottle with a challenge to its followers to buy 100 units. By the end of the day it went to 500 and then to 2000.

As a small start up Alpine Sauce Co. had issues with their packaging and branding common to businesses that have grown organically. Whilst their brand was becoming more well known, their logomark and labelling was not working as hard as it could be.

With a strategic redesign required, Birdstone were contacted to see if we would donate some of our expertise to this great initiative. We refreshed the Alpine Sauce Co. branding whilst keeping the spirit of the original, reduced the quantity of labels per bottle from 4 to 1 and recommended application processes to improve efficiency.

We hope our small part supporting Susan and Kevin will help create a new start and a Bright future.

#emptyesky is a national tourism movement of foodies and adventurers on a mission to support small business affected by the recent Australian bushfires.