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English and Arabic packaging localisation

As part of its major export trade, the French group Lactalis commissioned Atenao to update 16 packaging designs to English and Arabic for the Middle East. Lactalis Consommation Hors Foyer worked with Atenao between 2010 and 2016 and the multilingual service agency has been in charge of packaging localisation for Lactalis International since the start of 2021.

Lactalis International is the group’s major export business and works in Asia, Africa, French overseas territories and the Middle East. The company sells dairy product ranges from the group’s biggest brands: Président, Galbani and Lactel alongside several regional brands (Laicran, Pride, QBB) in over 100 countries. Lactalis International has been expanding and conquering new markets for over 20 years and now has 350 employees in France based in Choisy-le-Roi and over 10 countries and regions worldwide.

16 packaging updates for the Labneh brand, an international project handled worldwide.

The product: Labneh is a Middle Eastern strained yoghurt derived from the Arabic word for milk: laban. It is often served at breakfast with condiments (olive oil, mint etc.) or mezze.

Designing, producing and printing documents written in non-Latin alphabets (i.e. Arabic, Cyrillic, ideogram) not only involves expertise in the DTP process and design chain but also in the alphabet in question. Arabic localisation also involves working with text vectorisation and reading in the opposite direction. The only person capable of handling this kind of project is a translator working with a design studio specialising in Arabic and its alphabet.

The project was co-managed in France, Tunisia and Egypt. The Paris HQ and language agency in Aix en Provence joined forces to oversee the brief, organisation and planning. Our project manager and external French > Arabic translator were in charge of supervision whilst our DTP partner studio in Egypt provided the graphic design.

The 8-step process:

  • Step 1: Agency – Client meeting, needs analysis and in-depth brief review.
  • Step 2: Brief information rewrite and translation into English and Arabic for Arabic partners.
  • Step 3: Compilation of any graphic design features required for updating packaging in English and Arabic (font, images, working files and vectorised files).
  • Step 4: Design update for one packaging in each range and client approval > post-approval roll-out to remaining packaging in each range > client sign-off for the design.
  • Step 5: English text update for one packaging in each range and client approval > post-approval roll-out to remaining packaging in each range > client sign-off for the English text.
  • Step 6: English > Arabic translation of additional text.
  • Step 7: Arabic text update for one packaging in each range and client approval > post-approval roll-out to remaining packaging in each range > client sign-off for the Arabic text and vectorisation.
  • Step 8: Final check for each packaging and sign-off.

Do you want to localise your product packaging in complex alphabets? Please get in touch for a  packaging localisation quote