In the 70s sushi was a novelty few could find. Today it’s a grab-and-go lunch everywhere in town. So it made sense for Zensho Holdings, the largest food service company in Japan, to expand its presence by expanding the market for what it serves best: Japanese food.

Zensho acquired AFC—which stands for Advanced Fresh Concepts—and its 80% share of the U.S. supermarket sushi counter market in 2018. Then in June 2023 Zensho acquired Snowfox Group and its many brands across the U.S., Canada, UK, Europe, and Australia. 

A new umbrella name was needed.

To bring together competing brands. To stretch across markets. And to cover sushi, bento boxes, street food, and all Japanese grab-and-go concepts.

But what about Snowfruit?

Launched in 2022 and rapidly expanding to over a thousand locations, Snowfruit franchisees fresh-cut (and fresh-grill) fruit and veg at kiosks in supermarkets. Bell Pepper Mix, Pico de Gallo & Guacamole, Fruit Salad, Veggie Trays, Tropical Cup… 

That’s not sushi, bento, gyoza, katsu, yakisoba, or gyūdon.

The umbrella needed to cover a whole world of possibilities. So, no particular provenance. Flexible in the future. Beyond any one service, channel, market, or brand. Naming a multi-brand supplier and private-label partner. Already working with Tesco, Asda, Waitrose, M&S in the UK and Whole Foods, Kroger, Costco, Walmart, Albertsons, and Publix in the U.S. 

Why then Wonderfield? 

Our nine word rationale for the name candidate also provided the eventual tagline:

Where good things come from
Wonderful
Innovative, optimistic, expansive

Burnished for the internal announcement in 2024:

Wonderfield is where good things come from. Where exciting things appear. A place of abundance. A reliable provider of happiness and satisfaction. Wonderfield signals our commitment to progress and innovation in a natural, optimistic way. And Wonderfield—sharing its first seven letters with wonderful—promises great results for our partners and customers.

“Working with Letterhead on the creation of the Wonderfield Group brand — including our new tagline, “Where good things come from” — has been exceptional from start to finish. They responded to our brief quickly and presented a range of strong, credible options; choosing between them was genuinely difficult.

They collaborated seamlessly with our team to bring the brand identity to life, always flexible, open to feedback, and a pleasure to work with. In just one week, they solved what we had been struggling with internally for months.

Letterhead think differently, bring a level of creativity that truly stands out, and make the entire process easy. We’re delighted with the result and would recommend them without hesitation.

Christian Haas
Group Chief Development Officer
Wonderfield Group

Visual identity: mike-scott.co.uk