Insights

Stuff worth reading

Thinking, trends, and the occasional hot take on marketing for food and beverage, from the dining room to the distribution center.

15 articles
PR + Earned Media · 7 min read

Why PR Beats Advertising for Small Food Brands

One national feature changes every buyer meeting you take afterward. Here is why earned media outperforms ad spend for regional makers.

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Catering + Events · 6 min read

How to Get on a Venue's Preferred Vendor List

One preferred vendor relationship can outperform a season of advertising. Here is how caterers and event companies get on those lists.

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Brands · 6 min read

What a Grocery Buyer Looks For When You Pitch

Buyers are not evaluating your product the way you are. Here is what they are really scanning for, and how to make the yes easier.

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Distribution · 6 min read

Why Your Reps Leave Your Sell Sheets in the Truck

Distributor sales collateral fails for a boring reason. It answers a question the operator never asked.

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Restaurants · 6 min read

How Much Should a Restaurant Spend on Marketing?

A straight answer on restaurant marketing budgets, from an agency that has built the campaigns and watched the covers roll in.

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Catering + Events · 5 min read

Why Your Catering Leads Go Cold, and It Is Usually Not Price

Most lost catering events are lost in the first day, long before anyone compares numbers. Here is where they go.

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PR + Earned Media · 6 min read

Restaurant PR: How Coverage Really Fills Seats

Press does not work the way most operators expect. Here is what local and national coverage really does for a restaurant, and how to earn it.

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Restaurants · 5 min read

Your Slow Nights Are a Marketing Problem, Not a Menu Problem

Before you redesign the menu again, look at what your slow nights have in common. It is usually not the food.

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PR + Earned Media · 6 min read

PR for Caterers, Distributors, and Suppliers: Why Trade Coverage Still Moves Deals

B2B food businesses skip PR because they think press is for consumer brands. The trade press their buyers read says otherwise.

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Brands · 6 min read

Your Packaging Is Losing the Sale Before Anyone Tastes It

On a shelf you get about two seconds and no chance to explain yourself. Here is what packaging has to accomplish in that window.

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Catering + Events · 6 min read

Weddings and Corporate Are Two Different Businesses

Same kitchen, same trucks, completely different sale. Why caterers need two marketing funnels instead of one.

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Distribution · 5 min read

The Vendor Co-Op Money You Are Not Spending

Suppliers set aside money every year to push their lines through distribution. Most of it goes unused because nobody builds a program worth funding.

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Brands · 6 min read

Farmers Market to Wholesale: What Really Changes

Direct sales and wholesale are different businesses wearing the same product. Here is what has to change when you make the jump.

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Equipment + Supply · 6 min read

Marketing Equipment When the Buying Cycle Is Eighteen Months

Nobody buys a combi oven off one ad. What works when the decision takes a year and a half and involves three people.

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