SKOWHEGAN — Skowhegan’s family-owned Gifford’s Ice Cream is giving itself a make-over with a new packaging look and a new logo.

The company’s updated brand will be found on ice cream and low-fat frozen yogurt flavors in retail outlets throughout New England, New York and New Jersey.

The project was driven by the company’s desire to tell customers about the premium ingredients and the attention to detail that have made Gifford’s Ice Cream the largest, most popular ice cream manufacturer in Maine, the company said in a release.

“When people taste our ice cream for the first time, they know it’s different from any other brand they’ve tried before, and not only because our ice cream is free of artificial colors and flavors,” Lindsay Gifford-Skilling, vice president of sales at Gifford’s, said in the release. “We wanted to be sure our packaging is telling that story. Ice cream competition in markets is stiff, and we needed to really stand out and leap off the shelf.”

The new packaging will be seen in six half-gallon flavors, 15 quart flavors, and 4 frozen yogurt flavors. The front of each carton now displays each flavor’s “colorful prime ingredient along with catchy flavor descriptions,” while the new logo features a stylized letter “G”.

Gifford’s selected Briggs Advertising of Bath to carry out the new branding project.

“Given Gifford’s successes, particularly with their multiple ‘World’s Best Ice Cream’ wins and prominent attention from outlets like Food Network, it became crucial that the company take their overall brand to the next level,” said Walter Briggs, president at Briggs Advertising. “The ice cream’s new, more sophisticated package completely sets it apart from its competitors, but in a very credible, tempting way.”

Other examples of Gifford’s new brand will begin appearing throughout the year, including at the company’s five ice cream stands in Maine, road signs, advertising, and a new web site filled with Gifford’s trivia, recent news, and a collection of Gifford’s Ice Cream history and images.

Gifford’s Ice Cream gets its fresh cream and milk exclusively from independent family farms in Maine. The multi-generation, family-owned company relies on antique 1940s Cherry Burrell freezers, with a state-of-the-art freezing system to achieve its award-winning, creamy texture and fresh-churned consistency, according to the company. Gifford’s uses only the finest ingredients, from nuts, berries, and fresh fruits to premium chocolate, imported vanilla extract and pure, all-natural Maine maple syrup.

Doug Harlow — 474-9534

dharlow@centralmaine.com