Wakao – Plant-Based Food Brand Identity by Thursday

Wakao Foods is India’s first jackfruit-based mock meat brand, founded in 2020 by lawyer-turned-entrepreneur Sairaj Dhond with a mission to make jackfruit the hero in place of meat. Offering a range of preservative-free, long shelf-life products like Raw Jack, Jack Burger Patty, and Teriyaki Jack, Wakao champions sustainable, plant-based eating that’s tasty, versatile, and homegrown. Featured on Shark Tank India, the brand has since scaled across retail, HoReCa, and global markets, carving its place as a bold and quirky pioneer in the plant-based space.

content creation

social media

Our Approach

For Wakao, jackfruit isn’t just another ingredient - it’s the heartbeat of our brand. From our colour palette to our illustrations, every element was designed to put jackfruit at the center, not just as a meat alternative but as a symbol of who we are. That’s why we created Jack - our playful jackfruit mascot to embody everything we stand for: bold, fun, loving, and instantly recognizable. With Jack leading the way, jackfruit isn’t the side story, it’s the hero.

Jack was designed to look and feel like a true jackfruit - with a spiky outer layer, a fleshy inside, and a shape and colour palette that mirror the fruit itself. He’s playful, familiar, and instantly ties the brand back to its hero ingredient.

Jack isn’t just a mascot, he’s a character with moods - playful, thoughtful, sporty, even superhero. Each avatar makes him expressive, relatable, and a true reflection of Wakao’s fun personality. Much like Thursday itself, we thrive in the sweet spot between structure and spontaneity, where wild ideas make love to meticulous execution.

Eight playful green durian characters with different expressions and accessories, including sunglasses holding a Wakao tag, an orange flower crown, lifting weights, puzzled with question marks, hula hooping, smiling with arms raised, dressed as a superhero with a cape, and flying a kite.

Four yellow panels with cartoon jackfruit characters explaining health benefits, texture, cooking ease, and ready-to-cook packs of jackfruit.

Beyond Jack himself, design system inspired by him was built - from his spiky outer layer to the warm tones of his inside. These elements shaped a series of illustrations and icons for social media highlights and digital creatives.

Plant-based burger patty on lettuce with tomato, onion, avocado slices, and microgreens on a gray plate.

Text stating "This fruit has so much character" followed by qualities: Complex, Versatile, Nutritious, Delicious, with an illustration of a sliced jackfruit.

Three tacos filled with shredded meat, chopped cilantro, and sliced red onions on a black plate with green sauce on the side.

Cartoon green avocado character wearing a yellow crown, smiling and surrounded by green confetti with text above saying, 'Are you ready to meet our new and improved Jack?'

Hand holding a fork lifting tuna from a kale salad bowl with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, and croutons, next to a glass of orange juice.

Illustration of a green leaf-style plant with cut section above the text 'Is the concept of mock meat off-putting?' on a beige background.

To keep the tone light and relatable, we took founder Sairaj Dhond’s Shark Tank pitch and reimagined it as memes. This playful spin not only matched the brand’s cheerful personality but also made the brand more approachable and shareable, driving strong engagement and impact online.

Pulled pork slider with melted cheese on a sesame seed bun, served on a blue plate with a small dish of red sauce and a glass of water in the background.

Three-panel comic showing a green character with a yellow mask saying 'I'm gonna change the world with these powers,' then shooting beams from its eyes with text 'LET'S WAKAO!' followed by a glowing bunch of green fruits.

People sitting at a table with plates of food including a pizza, tacos with green sauce, a plate with buttered buns, and a dish of rice with curry.

Illustration showing a bottle of milk, a wedge of cheese, and a roasted chicken with the caption 'Your buddy jackfruit has got your protein needs covered.'

Multiple vegan burger patties floating alongside Wakao Continental Burger Patty boxes on a white tiled background.

Illustration of a jackfruit with icons of a carrot and tomato, chicken drumstick and egg, and avocado with broccoli, with text saying 'Jackfruit is not your regular Joe. It's here to get you jacked!'

To fix the confusion caused by the old “ready to eat” packaging, we repositioned Wakao as “ready to cook” and launched Cook With Wakao to make cooking an experience, not just a product.We shared samples with friends and family, encouraging them to cook and post online. Soon people were creating everything from regional dishes to desserts, and organic customers joined in. What began as a fix quickly grew into a community movement that rebuilt trust and boosted engagement.

Three bao buns filled with BBQ Jack vegan meat and vegetables on a plate, with a small bowl of red dipping sauce and the Wakao BBQ Jack vegan meat product box in the background.

Text stating Wakao Jack is made without any baddies and is 100% plant-based mock meat on a yellow background with green border.

Plate with Indian-style butter jack vegan curry, two pieces of naan bread, sliced red onions, and a lemon wedge, with a Wakao butter jack vegan meat sauce box in the background.

Green cartoon fruit character with question marks next to text describing vegetarian, flexitarian, and non-vegetarian eating habits.

Four boxes of Wakaõ vegan meat products including Butter Jack, Raw Jack, and Teriyaki Jack displayed on a white tiled surface with a green plant in a gold pot in the background.

Text on a green shape reads: 'What we say won’t matter. Unless the West says it. Right?' followed by hashtag #TheUnderratedStaple.

Two hands reaching for plates with a sandwich, four tacos with green sauce, and a dish of rice topped with curry.

creative direction

Divika Mehta

Visual design

Prinesh Vichare

COntent

Rohit Jhangiani

Project management

Niranjan Rao

Adnan Plummer

Carton of alt foods plant based chocolate drink with text 'Use it like milk' and 'Made with sprouted millets' on a purple and green background.

Alt Milk

Can milk be Alt that?

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