The Blog

As the new year approaches, now is the time to reflect on past successes and to review your short and long-term goals.

If you are looking to promote seasonal products, or seasonal product discounts and offers to retailers, it’s a good idea to create a separate sales sheet for the season.

Are you wanting to start approaching retailers to see if they’ll carry your product line? There are several considerations to ensure you are retail ready. One key element is to make sure you have a well-designed sales sheet that features all the important elements.

Sales sheets should be as much about function as they are about form. Meaning, that while they should be visually designed to reflect your brand and capture attention, their main purpose is to convey very important information to retailers who may choose to purchase your products.

Is your food business ready for the Q4 holiday season? Summer is ending, so it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get ready for Christmas and Holiday sales efforts.

Getting content ideas for your food business marketing can be challenging. Then along comes a big national or global event that you think would make a good campaign theme so you can creatively highlight your brand or food product. But there are some things you need to be aware of before you rush in.

As avid supporters of food hub initiatives across BC, we’ve been thrilled to work with the team from Kitchen Connect in Victoria. They engaged us to develop their business plan, establish their brand and website, plus a market research project that ultimately led to a marketing planning initiative.

As a small food business owner, there are many options for your marketing mix. Many people put too much emphasis on just using social media to get their brand and product noticed. The truth is, email can be the most powerful component of your digital marketing channels, with a larger audience appeal and greater reach.

In this season of giving, let’s see how we can introduce more people to the fabulous local food products offered by you and your fellow BC food producers.

For many food businesses, farmers markets are their primary sales channel. For some, they can be a stepping stone enroute to large grocery (chains) or bigger markets. And for others, they do both, what we call a blended sales & margin strategy – these food businesses do large capacity sales through grocery accounts and continue with farmers markets with higher margins, and the ability to launch/test new products or do short run items.

Do you use your location name in any part of your branding? Your town, region, or province? Depending on what you’re selling and to whom, incorporating a sense of place somewhere in your brand can be very appealing and lucrative. Some location names will be familiar to consumers, and others will sound exotic and intriguing.

We’re in a season where farms and plantings look their best. It’s a great opportunity to visually capture your growing products or ingredients and build your marketing assets for year-round promotions. For food processors, you’re likely into your high production season, sourcing from vendors, and selling at farm markets, etc. These are all great photo opportunities.