Marketing specialty food products is all about branding. Sure, having an amazing product — the best caramel popcorn that anyone has ever tasted — matters, but unless you have a distinctive brand, chances are, no one will remember your product.
Here are the five elements of a strong specialty food product brand:
- Values: Your product must stand for something meaningful, whether it’s top-quality ingredients, social responsibility, greenness, origin, health, naturalness, nutrition, organic, non-GMO or any other single quality.
- Story: There needs to be a person or a vision behind the product. How and why did you decide to make it? Where and how do you make it? Where do you source your ingredients and materials?
- Niche: What type of people will buy your product, practically at any cost, because they’re so passionate about it? Parents, teens, millennials, athletes, environmentalists, foodies?
- Attitude: Your product has to ooze personality, whether it’s pampered luxury, snarky hipster, ethical do-gooder, or savvy practicality.
- Visual appeal: Looks are everything, but they have to be consistent with your values, story, niche, and attitude.
Good Egg Resources
Building a Strong Brand for Your Food Business (presentation)
Branding for Specialty Food Producers (worksheet)
Healthy Profits (presentation)
Speed Marketing Plan for a Food Business (sample)
Speed Marketing Plan (template)
Other Resources
Julia Shanks Food Consulting
Commonwealth Kitchen
Branch Food
Food Trends
Smart Brief Food & Beverage Newsletters