Concept

Designed to feel like you're stepping into a cozy cottage hidden in the rainforest, Alter Eco Bakehouse is a popup workshop for families to bake with and taste Alter Eco chocolate.

Brand Research

I started this project by researching Alter Eco's brand identity, values, and existing audience, then identified three key insights to inform the direction and purpose of my popup experience.

Experience Overview

The Bakehouse includes three workstations, each accommodating 2-4 people. Groups can either work together on the recipe, or they can work independently. While everyone follows along to the same recipe, some recipes have opportunities to choose different flavors of chocolate.

Once everyone is done preparing their recipe, the instructor takes the trays to the oven, and while they wait for the treats to bake, everyone heads back outside to the forest to play a game.

Game

Play a game where you turn off pesticides and heavy machinery, then plant a diverse assortment of seeds to transform a typical cacao farm into a regenerative forest.

This is purposely the first part of the in-person experience that really talks in depth about sustainability, so that by the time participants have gotten to this point, they've already tried the chocolate and don't have it in their mind that it's any differerent from chocolate they're used to buying. When you lead with sustainability and certifications first, it can make people question whether you're doing that because the chocolate doesn't stand on its own, and the flow of this experience is designed to prevent that.

Exit

After finishing the game, the treats are just about done baking, and the instructor brings them out to the participants, along with a card for the recipe. But first, each participant in the game receives a seed packet to start their own sustainable garden with at home, hopefully inspiring them to continue to care about the environment.

Scale Model