Foodie nation

Age of authenticity

How do you cut through the clutter?

Subscribers as of September 2012

74,467,000 subscribers

The food section on Technorati includes 17,131 blogs!

LocalHarvest.org“LocalHarvest was founded in 1998, and is now the number one informational resource for the Buy Local movement and the top place on the Internet where people find information on direct marketing family farms. …Our website and those of our partners serve about three and a half million page views per month to the public interested in buying food from family farms.”

Source: http://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/statistics/article639

Source: http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/business-tools/craft-brewing-statistics/number-of-breweries

Elliot Ranch Lamb

Marin Sun Farms Grass-fed Beef Tenderloin

Becker Lane Farm Pork Chops

Liberty Farm Duck Breast

Chez Panisse, Berkeley CA

1 Night, 1 Dinner Menu, 13 References to Provenance

Paine Farm Squab

New York Times, July 7, 2009

Young Idols with Cleavers Rule the Stage“Now there is a new kind of star on the food scene: young butchers. With their swinging scabbards, muscled forearms and constant proximity to flesh, butchers have the raw, emotional appeal of an indie band. They turn death into life, in the form of a really good skirt steak.”

Adam Tiberio at work in Massachusetts.Jodi Hilton for The New York Times

New York Times, June 16, 2010

Using Meat Mainly for FlavorMark Bittman, The Minimalist, New York Times, June 11, 2010

“Since I began eating more plants and less meat, I’ve experimented with

using small amounts of meat in ways the exploit its flavor with out making it

central to the dish…”

Despite the recession and the relative lack of income for the young millennial generation, they still are willing to spend on organic. They truly put their money where their mouths are.18-34 year-olds make up 45% of organic products purchasers.

2010 The Hartman Group Organic & Natural Study

Broke, but still organic

Serious food safety scares have fostered a need to track food from source to market. This traceability – which also means accountability – is now part of a broader branding trend.

Hungering for accountability

Shepherd’s Grain Wheat Cooperative“Producer Spotlight” section on this website allows end-user to enter Julian date from bag into website to get name of producer. They qualify this tracking system as being “for information and education purposes only”

A few people even think provenance is worth fighting over.

Grubstreet.com, New York, May 18, 2010

Locavores Gone Loco: Chef Arrested After Brawl Over Pig Sourcing“In Portland OR, Oyster House chef Eric Bechard got into a fistfight with Cochon555 founder Brady Lowe – apparently because he was unhappy that a pig from outside of the Oregon (from Iowa, to be exact) won the Cochon 555 competition there.”

Principles of Good PR

Seeing the big picture is important, but details creep into your

consciousness.

The color of your walls, the paper you choose, the kind of salt you serve, the

five little words of your Tagline – all the small details that signal so much:

Good Taste – Your Unique Personality – Thought Leadership – Newsworthiness

Ability to Execute on a Concept – Cohesiveness of your Vision

Every aspect of your story should be built on truth, but sometimes the

best way to tell that story is by scratching through the facts to find the part that

speaks to your psyche, the emotional truth.

Honesty – sometimes brutal honesty – is key to building trust, credibility and

authority with media and other communication partners. And sometimes being

honest means not promoting yourself.

It can be wise to say “no” in the short-term as that can lead to more “yes” over

the long run.

If you love your work, your instinct is to tell the big, all-encompassing story about

your company. But “all about” is too much information for anyone to get their arms around –

there are no sharps edges to grab onto, and no way to go deep. A story that’s about

everything is ultimately about nothing… other than self-promotion.

You must hone your story into specific, compelling, and newsworthy nuggets. When done

right, these small elements speak volumes – they show rather than tell –

About your brand as a whole.

Relying only on “news” to get people talking means you’re relying on

novelty instead of substance. But there are other ways to find fascinating,

newsworthy themes and features about your brand – if you’re curious and you

know how to connect with consumer’s areas of interest.

Creating experiences and messages that link the best of your brand with your

customers through valid engagement is more powerful than a million new

products.

Even in a crowded field, there’s always a way to find your own unique

position and use it strategically. Beer, wine, spirits and food companies move

their products from run-of-the-mill mainstream status to sought-after premium

brands by embracing the authenticity of their brands and then communicating

that effectively to the correct audience. Like the rest of the world, the food world

needs biodiversity. Your uniqueness is the way to supply that.

Media Relations—How does it work?

What makes a story?

How do national media find ideas?

What is realistic?

What makes a story?

A ―hook‖–Not just ―what,‖ but ―what about it?‖

Currency and context–Why this story, why now?

A solution for the editor–How can the story fit the format

How do national media find ideas?

Contacts—constant connection–Trusted sources, such as

Experts/chefs/business owners

Freelance writers

Other editors

Watershed/media relations experts

How do you become a trusted source?

Take advantage of any connections

Read, look, listen and share

Get to know their column, what they cover, what they look for, provide information

Direct message/Linkedin editors good ideas

Don‘t over communicate

Think of serving the reader or the editor‘s audience not your business

What is realistic in media relations?

Never a guarantee

No ―quid pro quo‖ or ―pay to play‖

Many factors beyond scope of control– Editorial plans

– Ad budgets, magazine sizes

– Constantly changing goals/staff at publications

Be patient, be flexible

There are infinite parameters that go into confirming a press opportunity, may that may seem completely random.

– Editors might come back to you multiple times with edits/changes/questions/new requests.

– If you are not willing to roll with the punches, you might lose the opportunity

– This sometimes requires extreme patience

The ‗Big Idea‘

Think of the media as your clients

Serve their needs/viewers/readers/visitors

You don‘t have to be new to create news

Create a media showcase that‘s extraordinary and filled with great ideas

Create an emotionally engaging event or program that connects to your business

Life of a Pig Blog

Create an interesting event series or a cool dish or menu that is only available one day of the week or at a specific time

Become an educator

Biodynamic Bootcamp

Southpark Wine Guide

Bring people into your story

Nancy‘s Yogurt—give tours, talk to people

Oregon Brewer‘s Guild—tours of the hop fields, yeast labs, water source, malt processor

Smart TargetingChoose targets and leverage relationships wisely for efficiency and effectiveness

The FeastAudience: 35,492

Eater Chicago Audience: 2,000,000

NBC ChicagoAudience: 392,214

Steve

Dolinsky TweetFollowers: 6,074

How do you start?

Written tools—what‘s your story?

Invest in photography

Create an interesting website and update it regularly with content

Create video content and upload on a YouTube Channel

Answer the core question: Why should I care?

Thank you!

Lisa Donoughe,Watershed

Portland & Brooklyn

lisa@watershedcom.com

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