Food Business Marketing | Brand Strategy Tips to Build Real Food Brands

Having a well-defined brand strategy in place for your natural food company helps you clarify a message that resonates with your consumers, and makes stakeholders like buyers and investors to want to learn more.

Today on the Real Food Brands Podcast, host and Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva talks to Maria Garcia Brennan and Pete Brennan, co-founders of Soñar! Foods, an organic grain-free tortilla chip company that brings a focus to uplifting the Latino community as part of everything they do with their business. Katie highlights Soñar! as an example of a natural food brand that is well-aligned on both the front and back end of the business when it comes to supporting the brand strategy, or “north star.”

In This Episode:

• Why a question from their daughter lead Maria and Pete to start Soñar.
• How Maria and Pete met and combined their experience to start Soñar!.
• What it looks like to align a company with your brand strategy from the top down.
• What it means to be certified as a B Corp.
• How pursuing more than profits helps keep Soñar! grounded.
• How their mission extends to their packaging.
• The trade shows they did that helped them grow their brand.

Resources:

• BCorporation.net
• Soñar! Foods
• Find Pete on LinkedIn
• @SonarOrganic on Twitter
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Real Food Brands website
• Brand Checkup Scorecard
• Connect with Katie on LinkedIn
• Expo West 2020 Pitch Slam Application

Building a relationship with grocery retailers is about more than just making a great product they can put on their shelf. You need to have a real understanding of who your consumer is, what else they put in their shopping carts, and why your food or beverage brand provides value to a store beyond the profit margin on an individual sale.

Today on the Real Food Brands Podcast, host and Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva talks with Dan Lohman, a CPG and Natural and Organic Industries Strategic Adviser. His company, Brand Secrets and Strategies, helps provide brands with actionable insights and strategic solutions to get on more store shelves and into the hands of more shoppers. He’s also the host of the Brand Secrets and Strategies Podcast.

In This Episode:

• Why category management is so important for developing deeper relationships with retailers.
• What most people get wrong about category management.
• How to focus on market basket to help grow your retailer partners’ total sales.
• The questions you need to ask to develop your brand story.
• What retailers want to see to justify stocking your product.
• Why you don’t want to have to keep reacquiring the same customer.
• Why issues at the store ultimately reflect on your brand, not the retailer.
• How to get data and what to do with it.
• What Dan did when a competitor showed up with a big check to get his product off the shelves.

Resources:

• Take a Course with Dan (If you enjoyed the podcast, please this unique affiliate link for Dan’s courses!)
• Brand Secrets and Strategies
• The Brand Secrets and Strategies Podcast
• Secrets 115: SUCCESS = Brand Strategy + Execution With Michael J. O’Donnell From The Belmullet Food and Beverage Group
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Real Food Brands website (download your Brand Checkup Scorecard here)

When most people think of marketing, they think about promotion—pushing out your message to people and hoping they’ll decide to buy. But who wants to be “marketed” to anymore? Instead, what if we thought of marketing as connecting?

For this week’s Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Beverage Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva lays out a 6-step framework for the journey our end consumers go through – from when they first hear about your product to deciding to buy it, try it, buy it again, and (hopefully) recommend it to others. We look at all of this through the lens of connecting: creating a two-way conversation with consumers that gets them just as engaged as you are.

In This Episode:

• Why we need to shift our mindset about marketing to think broadly, and from simply promoting to actually connecting.
• How to think about marketing as a two-way conversation throughout the consumer lifecycle.
• How to overcome the skepticism people might have when they first hear about a new brand.
• Creative ideas for driving trial and getting your product out into the hands of your ideal consumers.
• Why a purchase is only the first step in your long-term relationship with your consumer.
• How to turn a first-time purchaser into a repeat buyer and eventually one of the biggest fans of your brand who tells their friends.
• How a clear brand strategy can your products find their way into more carts.

Resources:

• Ep #65: [Brand Strategy Series] Setting Your Food Business Apart Step 2: Identifying Your Ideal Consumer
• The Talk Triggers Show with Jay Baer
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Real Food Brands website
• The Real Food Brands WorkshopTM – NEW!

In this special bonus episode of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Beverage Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva sits down for a roundtable discussion with industry experts Alli Ball, of the Food Biz Wiz podcast, and Sarah Delevan, of the Good Food CFO podcast, to talk about the three pillars of a successful food business. You’ll hear them talk about how brand, financials, and sales strategy are all crucial for building a successful, stable, profitable food or beverage company. Make sure to listen to the end for a free giveaway opportunity!

In This Episode:

• The three pillars of building a sustainable and profitable food business.
• Why you should start thinking about brand strategy from day one.
• The mistake many brands make when it comes to pricing their products.
• Why so many businesses underestimate the price of labor.
• Why you shouldn’t be afraid of being the most expensive product in your category.
• The hidden costs of distribution.
• The four main choices you have when it comes to distribution.
• Example of a brand that is thinking about all three pillars.
• Where to find details on our giveaway!

Resources:

• Ep #56: Meeting Consumer Needs – What Are You REALLY Selling?
• Ep #72: 3 Steps to a More Effective Food Marketing Plan
• Retail Ready® waitlist
• Retail Roadmap
• Financial Success Formula Program
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Connect with Katie on Instagram
• Connect with Alli on Instagram
• Connect with Sarah on Instagram
• Brand Strategy StreamlinedTM Course – NEW!
• Get Your Free Brand Strategy Checkup

In this episode, Katie Mleziva, Food Brand Strategist and host of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast shares how taking a brand-first approach can help you prioritize ideas and take aligned action to build a strong, cohesive food brand that stands out. Whether you’re just starting or have been in the business for a while, this approach ensures you lead with strategy, not just tactics.

Key Takeaways:

• The difference between branding (logo, visuals) and brand strategy (the foundation that guides your decisions).
• Why a brand-first approach can help you find more joy in your business.
• How to think like a brand manager, focusing on the bigger picture while aligning all parts of your business.
• The Define, Align & Activate framework Katie uses to help her clients build strong, cohesive brands.

3 Steps to Take a Brand-First Approach:

1. DEFINE: Identify your ideal customer, clarify your brand’s unique role in their life, and align your brand with your Purpose, Vision & Values.
2. ALIGN: Ensure every area of your business reflects your brand strategy, so your team feels motivated and confident about building your brand together.
3. ACTIVATE: Implement your strategy with a cohesive plan that helps you stay focused and avoid shiny object syndrome.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why it’s important to think of yourself as a brand manager, wearing the general manager hat for your brand.
• How building a brand strategy and leading with your brand saves time and money when it comes to projects like website redesigns and packaging updates.
• Why having a clear strategy makes your team more effective and helps your brand become more recognizable, meaningful, and ownable.

Join the Conversation:

• Are you taking a brand-first approach in your business? Have you encountered any challenges with this mindset? Share your thoughts in the Real Food Brands Round Table Facebook Community or comment on Katie’s latest Instagram post.

Work with Katie:

If you’re ready to define your Brand Strategy North Star and make more aligned business decisions, connect with Katie to see if her 1:1 Brand Strategy Playbook program is a good fit. Or, if you’d like to start with an assessment of where you are today, learn more about the One Room Test. These spots fill up quickly, so don’t wait!

• Learn more about the 1:1 Brand Strategy Program with Katie.
• Check out the One Room Test "audit" to assess where your brand is today and where you can improve.

Now, let's go shake up shopping carts!