Exhibit A: Design Group has collaborated with SaltSpring Kitchen Co., a flavour-driven brand based on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.

Known for its gourmet jams, preserves, and hot sauces, SaltSpring Kitchen Co. creates products with bold, distinctive flavours, often balancing spice and sweetness. Two of the company’s signature preserves were selected for the Summer 2025 edition of The Jilly Box, curated by Canadian lifestyle icon Jillian Harris.

This seasonal box features a custom set of gourmet preserves selected by Harris to match the Country Summer theme: SaltSpring Kitchen Co.’s Peach & Pepper Spicy Pepper Spread and Apple & Fig Spread. These preserves are packaged in a custom box and complemented by other items to create a joyful addition to a perfect summer picnic.

With a limited number of curated boxes available each season, The Jilly Box has become one of Canada’s most sought-after subscription boxes. Each release sells out quickly and continues to feature a growing list of purpose-driven brands from across the country.

To support the campaign, SaltSpring Kitchen Co. partnered with Exhibit A: Design Group to develop a creative strategy that showcases the brand’s purpose through storytelling and visual content.

Exhibit A worked closely with the SaltSpring Kitchen team on planning, art direction, propping, photographer and food stylist selection, and post-production of images.

The project resulted in four distinct sets, each showcasing product scenarios, which led to over 50 images with various prop, background, and cropping options for use in promotions, advertising, and digital media, including website and social media posts and reels.

“I’ve worked with Exhibit A: Design Group on other projects and knew that for a campaign this important, I wanted extra support from Creative Director Cory Ripley and his strategic experience in CPG marketing,” says Chantal Ireland, Project Lead for SaltSpring Kitchen Co. “He collaborated with me to bring the vision to life, drawing on his diverse background in art direction and product lifestyle photography.

Exhibit A delivers high-quality images that showcase only what’s needed to tell the story, offering a wide range of visual options for various applications. The simplicity, focus, and intention behind each visual element, and the overall image narrative, perfectly align with everything our brand stands for. The new images have led to increased sales, greater engagement, and measurable improvements online.”

The creative direction focused on portraying the products in various usage contexts, including both indoor and outdoor settings, emphasizing approachability and practical inspiration.

Exhibit A: Design Group selected longtime collaborator product photographer Makito Inomata, with food styling by Christine Montgomery. Each visual was carefully crafted to evoke a relaxed summer atmosphere while reinforcing the brand’s core promise to ‘elevate the everyday’ and be helpful beyond the campaign timeline.

“Alongside capturing the products featured in The Jilly Box, our goal was to visually represent how small additions like these preserves can transform a simple snack, meal, or gathering,” says Cory Ripley, Principal and Creative Director at Exhibit A: Design Group.

“The images help people envision easy ways to use the preserves, showing that a special moment doesn’t have to involve a complex recipe or a big production.”

While the campaign images are specific to the promotion, we planned to capture extended images during the project for use in recipe cards, charcuterie guides, web, print, and banner applications, as well as curated pairings designed to spark creativity without requiring culinary expertise. These assets continue to support SaltSpring Kitchen Co’s commitment to providing joyful, real food experiences.

About SaltSpring Kitchen Co.
SaltSpring Kitchen Co. is a gourmet food producer specializing in handcrafted jams, preserves, and hot sauces, with a focus on unique flavour combinations and high-quality ingredients. Known for small-batch production, the company draws inspiration from the rural West Coast setting of Salt Spring Island. Their range of products includes sweet, savoury, and spicy preserves, perfect for pairing with cheeses, charcuterie, and sandwiches. They’re a living-wage, woman-owned employer.
www.saltspringkitchen.com

About Exhibit A: Design Group
Exhibit A: Design Group is a full-service strategic design studio founded in 2002. Specializing in naming, brand identity, packaging, environments, and digital experiences, the studio helps organizations across sectors turn insights into impactful, lasting brand value. Through its HUE™ platform (Human Experience), Exhibit A crafts brands that connect meaningfully with audiences in an ever-evolving, multi-channel world.
www.exhibitadesigngroup.com