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Piadinas from La Piadina di Nonna Carolina, made to a traditional Italian recipe

La Piadina di Nonna Carolina

Turning a food tradition into a franchise system

Naming • Brand strategy • Visual identity
Packaging • Market research • Interior design

La Piadina di Nonna Carolina is a new food franchise built to bring a traditional Italian product into a contemporary urban setting, without losing authenticity or slipping into folklore. The task was to build a brand from nothing that could hold warmth, memory and real food together, and still scale across locations.

We began with market analysis and consumption habits in fast casual dining. There was growing appetite for honest, recognizable propositions with a story behind them. The opportunity was to position the piadina as something tied to tradition and handmade preparation, without giving up the efficiency a franchise model demands.

The strategic call was to build the brand around a character who could carry both the story and the visuals. The name brings in Nonna Carolina as a symbol of origin, know-how and trust: a device that humanizes the project and makes it approachable from the first glance.

The identity leans on a warm, easily adaptable graphic language. The character sits at the center of the system, with friendly type and a palette that reads handmade without turning nostalgic. Packaging was designed as a direct extension of the brand, for eating in and taking away.

The interior was approached through function and brand consistency: layout, environmental graphics and supporting elements build a space that is recognizable and repeatable.

The result is a franchise with a clear, warm and solid identity, able to grow without losing character and to compete on authenticity and judgment.

Client
La Piadina
Sector
Food · Hospitality
Project
Naming · Branding · Packaging · Space
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Nonna Carolina making piadinas by hand
Handmade preparation of the piadinas, mobile version
La Piadina product icons on a burgundy background
La Piadina ingredient icons on a green background
Menu for La Piadina di Nonna Carolina
La Piadina menu, mobile version
Piadina to go in the brand's takeaway packaging
Interior of the La Piadina di Nonna Carolina restaurant
La Piadina di Nonna Carolina on social media
La Piadina on social media, mobile version
Piadina Milano with its ingredients, product animation
Sweet piadina with Nutella and banana, product animation
Loyalty cards for La Piadina di Nonna Carolina
La Piadina loyalty cards, mobile version
Web design for La Piadina di Nonna Carolina

— NAMING · BRANDING · FRANCHISE

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— Frequently asked questions

What is La Piadina di Nonna Carolina?

A food franchise that brings the piadina, a traditional Italian flatbread, into a contemporary urban setting. Koolbrand built the brand from scratch, from the name to the design of the space.

What did Koolbrand do for La Piadina?

Naming, brand strategy, visual identity, packaging, market research and interior design. A complete system built to scale and repeat.

How do you turn a food tradition into a franchise without falling into folklore?

By building the brand around a character, Nonna Carolina, as a symbol of origin and trust, with a warm graphic language and packaging that reinforces the experience, while keeping the efficiency a franchise model needs.

What did the project achieve?

La Piadina has a clear, warm and solid identity, and a brand system ready to grow without losing character and to compete on authenticity.

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