Food Business Marketing Podcast | Brand Strategy, Sales, & Growth for Food & Farm Brands

You might be surprised to hear me say you don't NEED a brand strategy to launch a new product, pitch a retailer, or make your next big business decision...but just because you're moving doesn't mean everything you're doing is moving in the right direction. What if you and your team had a clear vision of what you're building and what you want your brand to be known for—and could use that to guide EVERY decision across your entire business? In this episode, Clint and I explore whether brand strategy will make a difference in your business. We share real examples of how brand strategy has made a difference in food & farm businesses we've worked with, and why taking the time to get clear on your direction can pay off in ways you might not expect. You'll hear how brand strategy can help you: Make intentional decisions and use what you want your brand to be known for to guide choices across our Big 8...sales, marketing, operations, and more. Focus on the right opportunities. Clint shares how getting clear on StartRight Foods' customers helped the business prioritize retailers where those customers were shopping. Connect your strategy to the entire business. From deciding how to use farmland to determining product requirements, your brand can guide much more than marketing. Get your team moving in the same direction. Give people a shared vision and clear direction so you can spend less time managing every detail and more time leading. The parallel between meal planning and brand strategy. We'll let you be the judge, but we feel strongly that without brand strategy it's so much harder to stand out in a crowded market, not to mention organize and prioritize the day-to-day decisions within your business. Resources to Build Your Brand-First Business Brand Checkup Get weekly strategy tips & inspiration in your inbox Ready to talk about your business? Reach out to schedule time for an Intro Call Encouraging strong language post #1 (Instagram) Let's go shake up shopping carts! Katie & Clint

If you had one dollar and one hour to spend on marketing your food business, where would you invest them? Would you focus on social media? Email marketing? Paid advertising? Website? Sampling...or something else entirely? With so many ways to market your food or farm business—and limited time and resources—how do you decide where to focus? In this episode, Clint and I are joined by Lindsay Mauch, founder and CMO of LTM Digital, to explore how to make those decisions based on your business goals and priorities. And here's something important to consider: It's not just about where you spend your marketing dollars. It's about making sure those investments are adding up to the bigger-picture business goals you've identified. We talk about why getting your marketing fundamentals in place matters, how different marketing channels can work together rather than in isolation, and how digital marketing can support sales both online and in stores. We also explore why having a clearly defined brand strategy makes it easier to prioritize your efforts, stay consistent across channels, and make better decisions about where to invest next. In this episode, you'll hear: Why your business goals should guide where you invest your marketing budget. What marketing fundamentals to have in place before spending more. The different roles of organic social media, paid advertising, and email marketing. How digital marketing can support E-commerce as well as retail sales, including in-store promotions and demos. Why focusing on a few channels can be more effective than spreading yourself too thin. How testing, learning, and optimizing can help you make better marketing decisions over time. As you listen, we encourage you to think about your own marketing investments. Are your foundations solid? Are you focusing on the right priorities to support your business goals? Are your efforts working together to build momentum? And what might you do differently with your next dollar or hour? Resources LTM Digital Katie's appearance on the Dose of Social Podcast Katie & Clint's Brand Checkup Schedule an introductory call with Katie & Clint to talk through where you are, where you're working to go, and what's getting in the way. Business Maintenance Check: Episode 196: The Maintenance Check Your Food Business Needs | 8 Areas to Review — Explore the "Big 8" strategic priorities we reference in this conversation. Friday Newsletter: Real Food Brands — weekly tips to help you think strategically about building a brand-first food business so you focus on what you want to be known for, shining through in everything you do. Have a great week, and we'll see you next Wednesday. Let's go shake up shopping carts! Katie & Clint

Your sales are slowing down. Do you lower your prices? Run a promotion? Look for new customers or new places to sell your products? Those might all be options, but before you jump into solutions, we need to understand what's driving the decline in the first place. In this episode, Clint and I walk through some of the questions we'd ask if you, a food or farm business owner, came to us wondering what to do about slowing sales. You'll hear us ask questions about: External factors like seasonality and changing customer needs. Your brand strategy as your guide and your glue...are you clear on key elements of your strategy that inform your sales efforts? Choosing the right sales channels. Same-store sales vs. new distribution Product mix and what your sales data can tell you Packaging and how it's your primary way to stand out in-store ...and more! The key takeaway? Declining sales are a signal to dig in, not a diagnosis. Understanding what's really happening helps you focus your time, energy, and money on changes that address the underlying issue instead of jumping into tactics that might not solve the problem. If your sales aren't where you want them to be, this episode will help you think through where to start. And then you can reach out to us to have us actually ask you these questions, and more. ➡️ Want more help thinking strategically about your brand? Resources: Schedule an introductory call to talk through where you are, where you're working to go, and what's getting in the way. Business Maintenance Check: Episode 196: The Maintenance Check Your Food Business Needs | 8 Areas to Review — Explore the "Big 8" strategic priorities we reference in this conversation. Friday Newsletter: Real Food Brands — Get an actionable insight every week to help you think strategically about your food business. Have a business question you'd like us to explore in a future episode? We'd love to hear it: Contact me here. See you in your inbox Friday (be sure to join my list), then back here next Wednesday. Have a great week! Let's go shake up shopping carts🛒 Katie & Clint

Have an idea for a new flavor, size, or product line? Bringing something new to market can be exciting, especially when creating great products is one of the reasons you started your food business in the first place. But is launching another product the right next move for your business right now? In this episode, Clint and I explore how we'd approach that question if you brought it to us as a food or farm business owner (this conversation is more CPG-focused, but can apply to farm experiences or other services as well!). You'll hear that what seems like a product decision can have implications for your brand strategy, financials, sales, distribution, and operations. And that's the power of having true brand alignment and asking good questions.  Join us to talk about: How your brand strategy can help you evaluate whether a new product fits what you want your business to be known for. Why adding more SKUs doesn't necessarily mean more sales growth. What sales velocity, margins, production efficiency, and retailer shelf space have to do with the decision. How focusing on your existing products might create a greater opportunity than launching something new. Why asking the right questions helps you see the bigger picture before investing your time and money. Real examples from our work with food businesses (conceptual, not confidential). The takeaway? There isn't one right answer for every food business if you should luanch a new product, or not. And the answer can change over time. A new product could be a great opportunity, but it's important to understand what you're working to accomplish and how the decision fits into the bigger picture. Your brand strategy is the North Star that helps set the direction. The next step is making sure your decisions across the business are aligned with it. ➡️ Want more help thinking strategically about your brand? Resources: Work with me: Schedule an introductory call to talk through where you are, where you're working to go, and what's getting in the way. Business Maintenance Check: Episode 196: The Maintenance Check Your Food Business Needs | 8 Areas to Review — Explore the eight strategic priorities we reference in this conversation. Product Mix: Episode 202: Product Mix: Is Every Product Earning Its Place? — Go deeper into evaluating your existing assortment. Friday Newsletter: Real Food Brands — Get 1 insight + 3 questions every week to help you think strategically about your business. Have a business question you'd like us to explore in a future episode? We'd love to hear it: Contact me here. See you in your inbox Friday (be sure to join my list), then back here next Wednesday. Have a great week!  Let's go shake up shopping carts🛒 Katie & Clint

As your food business grows, the decisions get bigger too. You might be adding a retailer, investing in equipment, hiring someone, launching a new product...or all of the above! And as you know, any mistakes can get more expensive as the stakes get higher. The good news is that your financials aren't just there to tell you what already happened. They can help you look ahead, pressure-test decisions, and potentially avoid an expensive mistake before you make it. In this episode, Clint and I are joined by Abby June Richards, founder of The CPG CFO, to dig deeper into financials as one of the eight strategic priorities from our Business Maintenance Check series. We talk about the difference between looking at your financials in the rearview mirror versus using them to help guide what comes next, including how to think through decisions around debt, equipment, product profitability, margins, and growth. Abby also shares her CASH FIGHT framework and why avoiding preventable financial mistakes becomes increasingly important as your business grows. One of my favorite parts of the conversation is where it ultimately lands: ALIGNMENT. Something Clint & I talk about ALL the time related to your brand strategy and business strategy! Financials are one lens for making a decision. Your goals, market information, values, brand strategy, and the other areas of your business matter too. The goal isn't to optimize one area in isolation. It's to understand how the pieces work together so you can make intentional decisions that support the business and brand you're working to build. In this episode, you'll hear: Why your financials can be a forward-looking decision-making tool What Abby looks for when assessing the financial health of a growing food business How to pressure-test investments in equipment, capacity, and debt before committing Why understanding the full cost of a product can help you catch an expensive mistake before launch When bringing in deeper financial expertise may make sense Abby's CASH FIGHT framework for understanding where cash is coming from, where it's going, and where problems may be hiding Why brand strategy and financial information can work together to help you make more aligned decisions as you grow Resources BUSINESS MAINTENANCE CHECK SERIES PLAYLIST The CPG CFO website (find the CASHFIGHT framework here) Get your Brand Checkup Scorecard HERE! Ready for more strategic support? SET UP AN INTRO CALL Subscribe HERE to my weekly email for a brand insight + 3 practical ways to apply it each week. This week you'll find more details to help you think through your intentional customer journey. ------- Have a great week -- see you in your inbox Friday (be sure to join my list!), then back here next Wednesday. Let's go shake up shopping carts! 🛒 Katie & Clint