BRUSHSTROKES OF RHYTHM: TORO PINTO REINTRODUCES CALEÑO WITH A BOLD SOUTH AMERICAN PULSE

Toro Pinto has reintroduced Caleño, the South American-inspired non-alcoholic spirits brand, across the UK and Europe with vibrant brushstroke packaging that captures rhythm and motion. Retaining its iconic blue, the refreshed design clarifies its Light & Zesty and Dark & Spicy expressions while amplifying its festive, heritage-driven identity.

Time does not stand still, and neither does celebration. In the hands of creative studio Toro Pinto, Caleño — the South American-inspired non-alcoholic spirits brand — has been reintroduced across the UK and Europe with a packaging transformation that feels less like a redesign and more like a movement captured mid-dance.

At the heart of the relaunch is rhythm. Not rhythm as a metaphor alone, but as a physical presence — something that travels through the body before it becomes thought. That instinctive pulse defines Caleño’s identity and now animates its visual world. A dancer emerges in expressive brushstrokes across the bottle, caught mid-motion. It is not a logo, nor a literal illustration. It is movement fixed in pigment, a fleeting gesture made permanent.

Founded by a Colombian woman and rooted deeply in her family story, Caleño has always drawn from the celebratory spirit of South America. Its name evokes warmth, music, and gatherings that stretch long into the night. The inca berry, a defining ingredient and visual cue, threads through the brand’s world as both flavour and symbol — a nod to the region’s rich natural palette and culinary heritage. The challenge for Toro Pinto was to reintroduce this story to the UK and European markets with renewed vibrancy, while preserving the one constant that consumers already recognised: its iconic blue.

Rather than abandon the familiar, the design team chose to anchor the new system in that signature blue, allowing it to remain the steady heartbeat of the brand. Around it, they built a brushstroke-led visual language that feels spontaneous yet deliberate. The strokes are pigment-forward, warm, and unapologetically alive. They suggest heat, music, and bodies in motion — the kind of energy that defines a South American street celebration at dusk.

The dancer, abstract and fluid, appears almost accidentally in the composition, as if revealed rather than constructed. This ambiguity is intentional. It invites interpretation and mirrors the brand’s ethos: presence over perfection, feeling over formality. The effect is a bottle that seems to hum with energy even when sitting still on a shelf.

But the redesign is not only about aesthetics. It also brings clarity to the range, sharpening the distinction between Caleño’s two core expressions: Light & Zesty and Dark & Spicy. Each expression now carries its own palette and packaging cues, guiding consumers through different moments of the day and night.

Light & Zesty leans into daytime ease. Its visual cues feel airy and bright, with strokes that suggest citrus lift and sunlit gatherings. It is the bottle that belongs at brunch tables, garden parties, and long afternoons that drift effortlessly into early evening. Dark & Spicy, by contrast, turns up the tempo. The brushstrokes deepen, colours intensify, and the mood shifts toward after-dark energy — intimate conversations, low lights, music that grows louder as the hours pass.

Small on-pack details reinforce this movement between expressions. Subtle cues invite the eye to travel across the surface, maintaining a sense of motion even in the quietest moments. The experience is designed to feel continuous, as if the celebration does not pause but simply changes rhythm.

The decision to centre the redesign on motion rather than static symbolism reflects a broader shift in the non-alcoholic spirits category. As more consumers explore alcohol-free alternatives, brands are moving beyond functional messaging toward emotional storytelling. Caleño’s refresh positions it firmly within that evolution, emphasising not what is removed, but what is present: colour, music, connection.

For Toro Pinto, the project was about amplifying what already existed within the brand’s DNA. Caleño was never meant to feel restrained. Its origin story — a Colombian founder sharing the flavours and spirit of her heritage with a new audience — carries inherent vibrancy. The redesign simply turns up the volume.

In retail environments across the UK and Europe, where shelves are increasingly crowded with minimalist labels and muted tones, Caleño’s new look refuses to whisper. It celebrates pigment and gesture. It leans into warmth rather than cool detachment. And in doing so, it aligns with the brand’s promise: nights that want to stay open.

The inca berry remains a quiet but powerful thread. Its presence is woven into the visual storytelling, reinforcing authenticity without overwhelming the composition. It anchors the abstract energy in something tangible and rooted — a reminder that beneath the brushstrokes lies a real landscape, real fruit, real heritage.

Ultimately, the reintroduction is less about reinvention and more about resonance. By keeping the iconic blue intact, Toro Pinto ensures continuity. By layering it with expressive brushwork and clarified range cues, the studio ensures progression. The result is a brand that feels current without feeling disconnected from its origins.

As the non-alcoholic category continues to expand, storytelling will likely define which brands endure. Caleño’s refreshed identity suggests that the future belongs to those willing to embrace movement — to capture not just flavour profiles, but feelings. In its new form, the bottle becomes a canvas where time dances, colour speaks, and rhythm is held in suspension.

In a market often defined by restraint, Caleño’s reintroduction is a reminder that the absence of alcohol need not mean the absence of energy. Here, celebration remains central. The music is implied. The dancer is mid-step. And the night, as ever, feels wide open.