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How do you assure customers that the food you are selling is healthy, safe, and nutritious?The organic label has long been a hallmark of the GOOD FOOD industry, but it can sometimes be difficult to source every ingredient from organic farmers, which keeps your brand from sporting that highly-regulated logo.Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) may be an answer to the issue of mindful ingredient sourcing. CNG offers peer-review certification to farmers producing food for their local communities through natural ways and without relying on synthetic chemicals or GMOs.In this conversation, we are visited by Alice Varon, Executive Director of Certified Naturally Grown, to share us with the CNG label, the organization and what they do, their mission is, and how they support farmers to do what’s best—sustainable agriculture.Virginia Foodie Essentials: [Certified Naturally Grown] is an assurance that the food was grown without any synthetic chemicals or GMOs, with attention to soil and ecological balance. - Alice Varon The cool thing about our certification program is the participation in the program involved. More than just getting the label, you actually have to be engaged and agree to conduct an onsite peer review. - Alice Varon Most of the farmers who join Certified Naturally Grown are joining because this is how they farm.  It reflects their values. They're committed to working in harmony with nature, and they want to get some credit for that beyond just saying, so they want a certification to verify that this is how they farm. - Alice Varon It's a big leap not just financially to become “certified organic,” but it's a knowledge-intensive occupation to farm this way, and so conventional farmers really need support in making that transition as well. - Alice Varon Key Points From This Episode: Certified Naturally Grown is a badge in the marketplace that assures the food was grown without any synthetic chemicals or GMOs, with attention to soil and ecological balance. Certified Naturally Grown takes pride in its high standard of certification as it attracts farmers who have high standards for themselves and involve them in peer-reviewing the ways and means of other participating farmers. Certified Naturally Grown is a label different from Organic. While CNG also follows the USDA standards, its certification model is tailored for direct market farmers who are growing food for their local and regional communities.  Their certification model relies on peer review inspections that are carried out by participating farmers, which allows them to connect with one another, share their knowledge, grow, and learn from the experience of having that peer review inspection. There are standards and criteria set for the peer review and it leans in on transparency by posting inspection reports on the website. The transition from conventional farming to organic is a difficult thing to do, so farmers who would want to go through that transition should be supported. The CNF certification also fits other business models. Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

The New Year’s Resolution is entrenched in pop culture. There can be a lot of social pressure to make yours on January 1. But while making your list of this year’s to-dos has been a tradition, following them is often a struggle. There’s not much structure behind how you’ll reach your new life-changing goals.I prefer to set strategic goals for myself and my business. You can create new strategic goals at any time of the year. Still, I encourage you to spend some time during January to craft a thoughtful sales strategy backed by measurable goals for your food business.What I also like about setting up strategic goals is that, unlike the New Year’s Resolution, it is more systematic. You can put a structure behind each target to guarantee it is attainable. In this episode, I summarize 10 mistakes you might commit and should avoid when setting up your goals.How to turn these common mistakes into a list of accomplishments on track for success? Tune in to this episode to find out!Virginia Foodie Essentials: I am not a big fan of the New Year’s Resolution. My aversion is that I think, for most people, it’s a fabricated marker. They’re hoping to reinvent themselves just because the calendar has turned a new page. - Georgiana Dearing The New Year’s Resolution is so entrenched in pop culture that there’s a lot of pressure to make one on January 1. Yet, there’s not much structure behind the process of creating and then keeping it. - Georgiana Dearing You need a method to keep your goals visible so you can review them monthly, weekly, or at some other regular interval. - Georgiana Dearing Deadlines create a sense of urgency. It is a marker that forces you to pay attention to your long-term plan. - Georgiana Dearing In most of your day-to-day accomplishments, your goals should push you and not break you. - Georgiana Dearing The true benefit of setting goals isn’t the payoff of hitting them. The growth happens because you’re trying to reach new heights. - Georgiana Dearing Setbacks will happen to you too. But with clearly defined goals -- created with an understanding of where each goal fits within your strategic plan -- when lightning strikes, you’ll be able to pause, take a breath, pick up the threads, and move onward. - Georgiana Dearing Key Points From This Episode: The New Year’s Resolution is a fabricated marker with no structure or process, making it harder for most people to achieve. Instead of a New Year’s Resolution, a more feasible way to begin the year is to set strategic goals for yourself and your business. January is a slow time of the year for most of the food industry, so this month is an excellent time to review your business and marketing strategy. Most people make these common 10 mistakes when setting goals for themselves and their businesses. Knowing these common mistakes will help you turn them into a list of accomplishment tracks for success. The positive aspect of setting goals isn’t about hitting your target but the growth and development you get from working toward a goal. Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

To say that 2022 was a rollercoaster year is a vast understatement. Everybody was rushing to rebuild, recalibrate and rectify post-pandemic, while most of us want to start fresh in 2023. Fortunately, I’ve witnessed some fantastic successes in the craft food industry. Whether restaurants, catering, or packed foods, the food business has taken a massive hit over the past two years. So it’s inspiring to see - and be part of - stories of overcoming obstacles and crises averted. This episode chronicles stories from five specialty food & beverage businesses. Listen to the practical lessons from these good food brands: Edwards Smokehouse: the value of sticking to the principles of being a good food steward Back Pocket: maximizing the off-season to connect with your network of suppliers JoyeBell’s: strategically switching from a small bakery brand to a manufacturing business model amidst a crisis Nopalera: understanding the retailer you are choosing to partner with Crescent Simples: how strategic investment in design helps grow sales I am sharing tips from these five brands that have succeeded in retail while staying true to their commitment to locally-sourced quality ingredients with responsible, ethical practices. I hope it inspires you to do the same. Because when we are authentic and stay true to our commitment to the good food economy, it’s the consumers who end up being the winners.Key Points From This Episode: Stay focused on heritage, organic, and quality ingredients Form strong partnerships with your farmers Recognize that getting into retail chains takes a LOT of time, so plan for slow growth. Do your homework and choose those retail partners wisely Invest in good package design to be sure that your hard-won spot on the shelf continues to work hard for you Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

In the last episode, Anna Bradshaw and I talked about conversion copywriting and how investing in it and your website’s content could help generate sales for your good food business. There were many important topics in that conversation about conversion copywriting, creating good content, and drawing in customers to your business website. I thought the issue deserved a closer look. A frequently overlooked part of the business, copywriting is the foundation of everything your customer experiences. Investing in great content should increase your ROI, especially if you repurpose your content for different communication channels. “Message matching” across all your marketing touchpoints will drive customers to your site, encouraging them to click that “buy now” button. Join me as I share some actionable steps you can take today to help improve your close rate.Virginia Foodie Essentials: Landing pages are destinations for your site, and the intention is for the viewer to have only one obvious action. Your product page has one obvious action: putting the product into the cart. - Georgiana Dearing Good writing helps close sales; poorly written descriptions and poorly organized content can turn shoppers away. - Georgiana Dearing The goal of all content design is to make it as easy as possible for the readers. - Georgiana Dearing There’s no hard and fast rule about the length of a product description. What you need to consider in your product details is the content that will add value to your readers and help them choose to buy from you. - Georgiana Dearing Your product page is the place to share that great news. Social proof sells, and you need social proof on your site. - Georgiana Dearing Key Points From This Episode: Product descriptions help turn clicks into sales, but many brands still need to improve this aspect on their sites. Your product page is the “last mile” of the sale. How you set up that page will make or break the sale for you. Invest in your product description. Invest in good writing. Good writing helps generate sales, while poorly written descriptions and unorganized content do not attract shoppers. The product name on your site and your packaging should match. It makes it easier for customers to find your product. The “price” and “buy now” buttons should be as close to the top of the listing as possible. This placement in the site makes the purchase decision as easy as possible for your customers. Shipping information on the site should be clear and located near the product price. Include a subhead that would sell the product in a concise manner. The first paragraph of your product description should answer customers’ initial questions about the product. Your product description should also include product expectations about the flavor, quality, quantity, and what to expect in the shipment.  Make sure to include a review feature on your site, as it’s becoming a basis for people to buy your product. Make it easy for your customers to spread the love by adding share buttons for Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Shared posts create direct links to your products. They help your product rise in popularity and organic search results. Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

As a good food brand, you need to emphasize the good in your brand. And when we say good, we don’t just mean the delicious, healthy, sustainable products you create. We also mean the good story behind your pursuit of success in the good food economy. It’s not enough for your story to travel word-of-mouth in your community. It’s essential to build your brand around your philosophy, and the best way for your mission to guide your brand is to put that story into writing. This is where Anna Bradshaw’s job as a conversion copywriter comes in. Anna believes in the power of your story—the power your brand mission holds. All she needs is the right angle to frame a fitting choice of words and the online space to do so. Her job as a conversion copywriter helps brands like yours tell your story so you can make more sales online. In this conversation, Anna shares the significance of copywriting for setting up our businesses for success. Virginia Foodie Essentials: I like to blend the best practices for sales with the brand personality. - Anna Bradshaw You have to paint a clear picture with words and use the copy to reduce the perceived risk of buying something online…. We can use our copy to minimize that risk, to build trust right off the bat. - Anna Bradshaw We eat with our eyes first…. Words can’t save you if you have unappetizing-looking photos. - Anna Bradshaw In the end, it’s the same thing. It’s writing a message that someone wants to read and will take action based on that message. - Anna Bradshaw It’s really wonderful to have a vision of a lifestyle that fits into the core values you put into making your product. - Anna Bradshaw The best business relationships are always built on trust. - Anna Bradshaw Key Points From This Episode: Conversion copywriting puts an emphasis on getting people to take action. These actions might be anything but not limited to the following: purchasing, subscribing to the email list, following on social media, sharing, etc. Anna Bradshaw approaches conversion optimization by trying to blend in best practices of persuasion tactics, information, and sales that fit the company’s brand vision. It’s working on balancing the fine lines of these approaches. For food brands, it is a must to establish an online presence, and this is where a [sales] copy takes a significant role. One thing to remember for food brands: Appetite appeal is a driving factor in food sales. Knowing your audience and your target market—the Streakers, Strollers, and Studiers. But the end goal is to make sure that they can spot the most critical messages right away from the copy, no matter what type of audience they are. Anna has worked on various brands, making her flexible and experienced as a copywriter. So far, she has written for the following: consumer-packed goods like beverages and food brands, skincare and beauty, apparel, jewelry, events, etc. Maximizing your business’ website is vital, especially carefully crafting your landing page, homepage, and about page. Aside from content, design, font and font size, colors, and pictures all factor in converting your audience’s clicks and making them valuable. Proof of sales, such as customer reviews, is very helpful in establishing a brand. Being covered in the local newspapers and news press mentions is equally essential. Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

Everything that we create begins with a reason. So naturally, every brand that pursues the good food journey starts with a vision—a mission worth fulfilling. Your goal and purpose as a brand is illuminated by your mission statement. A mission statement is a group of sentences, usually one or two, that describes, defines, and sets your brand apart from others in the same market. But these aren’t just sentences you craft following grammar and syntax.  Many mission statements make the mistake of living in the land of vague and generalized comments about striving for greatness. Your mission should be written to capture your essence as a brand. A strong mission statement becomes the driving factor behind your business and its success. Every good food brand has a story to tell. Embed your mission into your narrative, and you’ll stay true to your core. Your product decisions and the next steps you embark upon as a brand will all follow trails forged by your mission statement. In this episode, I talk about mission statements and how valuable they are for business. Take a peek into how your mission statements can be used as the core of your marketing materials and strategies.Virginia Foodie Essentials: Mission statements define the driving factor behind the business. - Georgiana Dearing I believe that if we're going to change the way America grows food, we have to make sustainable farming profitable, and the way to do that is to make all of the channels that rely on sustainable farming profitable channels. - Georgiana Dearing Your options and ideas come up all the time, and when you are faced with a choice, you can always go back to your mission—your reason for being—and decide if the decision fits within your mission. - Georgiana Dearing You want your mission statement to be all about you because it's what's driving you, and it's an internal document and not outward-facing. - Georgiana Dearing Key Points From This Episode: Mission statements can be used as tools to leverage your brand’s marketing. A mission statement is a sentence or a group of sentences that describe your business in a very specific and unique way. Strong mission statements are the driving factor behind strong businesses. Mission statements are generally formalized and are internal documents of companies that are not meant to be used verbatim out in the public. From your mission statement, however, you can already formulate your brand’s mission, vision, and values. Mission statements need to be unique and specific to what you do as a brand. To be able to craft an effective mission statement, it should include answers to the following questions: who, makes, what, for whom, how, and why. Tillamook Cheese is a locally sourced brand from Oregon that is now sold nationally. Their mission shows the path they took to get there. Recent good food brands featured in the podcast are mission-centric brands. We can use how they are marketing their mission into their brands as an example of how effectively a mission statement can be carried out through marketing. Mission statements should be written in a declarative way.  While mission statements should be unique and specific to your food brand, it should not be written in a way that is too narrow that there’s no room for your brand to grow. Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

It’s a sweet, sweet story how the good food brand, Storied Goods, was founded. Now, it is on the road to success.  Martha Bourlakas’ Storied Goods started as a granola-making business before she shifted into concocting sugar cubes. The rationale is simple: there are many delightful granolas in the world, but creating a business that is centered on celebrations where people share stories with each other through food and drinks spoke deeply to Martha’s purpose. She believes that in this chaotic world we now live in, there is a need to celebrate even life’s small milestones—something that she has learned from her eldest daughter, Hannah. Traveling this sweet path isn’t easy but Martha has figured out a way to keep the business growing and the stories buzzing.Virginia Foodie Essentials: I really wanted to have a business that focused on celebrations, and I'm really interested in those stories that people share with each other through food and drinks. - Martha Bourlakas The first step is trying to figure out how to get each sale to be more meaningful to the people who are purchasing. - Georgiana Dearing The other component of good relationships is having trust in that teamwork that you're all trying to move the brand forward. - Georgiana Dearing In social media, you have to be vulnerable. And that part of it is very hard—knowing where the product ends and I begin, and how to mix those two together. - Martha Bourlakas Our oldest daughter has autism, which is a big part of the reason I wanted to have a business focused on celebrations. Hannah has taught us, for so many years, the importance of celebrating every small milestone. That's something our family has really embraced. - Martha Bourlakas Those classes and popups that I do are centered around the importance of celebration. In our lives, particularly now when the world feels a little crazy, it's a way that we keep going with hope. - Martha Bourlakas Key Points From This Episode: The story behind the company name, Storied Goods, is a heartwarming one. Creating a business that is focused on celebrations is inspired by their little milestones as a family together with their eldest daughter, Hannah, who has autism. One of the greatest things that supported the growth of the company is deciding to work with a co-packer instead of developing their own manufacturing facility.  Their arrangement with the co-packer has allowed the company to say ‘yes’ to big collaborations such as that with the cocktail subscription company. They are now improving the e-commerce side of the business by working on their website rebranding, subscription business, and social media. The company understands its target market: individuals who love entertainment and good gifts. Aside from direct consumers, the company also works with wholesale accounts and has partnered with small shops across the country. Storied Goods’ initial product was granola but they shifted to making sugar cubes. Despite sugar not being locally produced, they maintain their good food branding by making sure to use organic ingredients. The company has established several great partnerships with female-founded companies.  Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

Just a few months after our last conversation, Emily Harspter of SugarBear Cville is back on the podcast to give us the latest updates about the progress of her ice cream brand. It’s truly an adventure, she says, to be a one-woman team who has now grown the brand by partnering with seven individual businesses. But it’s a rollercoaster ride worthy to be enjoyed nonetheless. In this sweet conversation, Emily will take us on her journey of growing her good food brand, what she is currently doing, and what she is planning next. SugarBear Cville’s story is also a great testament to how significant your community is in growing your business.Virginia Foodie Essentials: I feel like I figured out a few systems and other things that are going to allow me to grow and aim for this next phase with a little bit more intention. - Emily Harpster I had this idea to build out a brand that was really a platform for showing off local stuff. - Emily Harpster [The photographs] sent me down this rabbit hole of realizing I could focus on taking pictures of strong, beautiful people, doing interesting things in and around Charlottesville, and use the tiny light I have to shine a light on their work and what they're up to. - Emily Harpster These are just unbelievable people doing great things. And I want to celebrate that—some are more visible in the community and people know about it, while some are the kind of quiet thing that doesn't get celebrated as much but is still really incredible. And so I would love to diversify and build out that roster and make it really inclusive, interesting, and engaging. - Emily Harpster Key Points From This Episode: A catch-up session to update how SugarBear is doing so far from its launch in 2022 and the initial conversation with the VA Foodie in June. SugarBear has been able to establish organic relationships to collaborate with seven individual businesses, in part thanks to Charlottesville’s tight-knit local food community. Production as a one-woman team with seven ice cream outlets is a wild adventure, so figuring out a system that works is vital to the growth of the brand. Charlottesville’s tight-knit community has also allowed SugarBear to easily find a supply of local ingredients even as the demand for the ice cream has increased. After trying out 63 different flavors during her first season, SugarBear is now moving to a curated list of flavors. Having a huge variety of flavor offerings, though, has helped in the company’s market research. SugarBear’s website is still reflecting the changes happening to this small business. The plan, however, is to update the site with beautiful marketing photos of Charlottesville’s locals in an attempt to weave SugarBear into the community and to highlight the beautiful and interesting work and life of the townsmen. SugarBear has a growing list of wholesale partners: coffee shops, cafes, and wineries, and from here, the ice cream brand is looking for interesting partnerships that are strategically sustainable on both ends. The next step for the business involves strategizing for these areas: Branding, packaging, marketing, social media, and partnerships.  Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

The last 100 days of the year can be crucial for business owners. Not only because it’s the last window for hitting your original sales goals, but also because the end of the year is the perfect time to set up growth plans for the upcoming year.  Although the end of the year is comparatively hectic for food businesses, it is important to review and revise your calendar for the coming year. If you are not sure of what’s supposed to be in your calendar or you’re not certain how to make all your plans become concrete actions, this is where my work as a food marketing consultant comes in.  People come to me for help in planning out their strategies and making sure it's achievable. It doesn’t matter where you are in your business right now. We’ll start from wherever you are now and put in place the pieces that could help you to establish your brand better, communicate your message to the right audience, and make profits. I’ll guide you through the process a step at a time, but the core of your strategy lies in understanding your promotion schedule, campaign cycle, and key brand messaging. Virginia Foodie Essentials: You want to look at your sales goals, but also review your mission and values first.​​ Make sure that what you set out to do and what you are planning to do are still aligned. It is okay for an original intention to have lived its life. Social media is really a reflection of everything else that you're doing to grow your business. They're not separate.  Your social platform should be talking about you, your brands, your community, your partners, your friends, or the cool things you've found— and all of those things should be framed with the intention of your driving a business to a particular destination. We're going to start where you are. And we are going to grow you into a thriving marketing ecosystem where everything you're doing feeds into something else. Key Points From This Episode: The 100-Day Challenge can be your best way to commit yourself to your business and revisit your growth plans to set you up for 2023. Review and revise your calendar for the coming year.  Making a plan is sometimes overwhelming. But we do not need to start from scratch. In creating a solid strategic content plan, we begin from where you are. There are three important components of your strategic plan: Promotions, Campaigns, and Messaging. This is the foundation of the content (tactics) that you’ll use in your marketing plan. It is essential to identify what your brand stands for we communicate the right and purposeful message with every piece of content. Site updates, email marketing, and social media are some of the best tools to optimize to communicate your brand message. Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

When I speak about good food, I don’t mean the taste. The GOOD FOOD industry revolves around a philosophy: to create food choices that have a positive impact on the environment, the economy, and our local communities. We are in a climate crisis, and now is the time when good food companies need to step up the game if they want redefine the food market in ways that can get more food into more mouths without killing the planet.  But advocacy alone is not sustainable. Your job as a good food brand is to foster a community of transparency and clarity about what your brand is, what it stands for, and how you're making these decisions about your good food product that you are bringing into the market. I help small brands communicate their story and their advocacy in ways that are targeted, manageable, and repeatable. When your marketing strategy, your brand, and your messaging, advocacy and philosophy are all in sync—that’s when you start to control your business. And when you’re in control, that’s when you can really make change. Virginia Foodie Essentials: GOOD FOOD is not about flavor. The GOOD FOOD industry is about making choices that have a positive impact on the environment, on the economy, and on local communities. If we don't change how we use our natural resources and soon, we're going to lose them. It makes me a little bit sad that we have to be this close to things being desperate for there to be real change. We have to make change, or we're going to be losing things in a pretty dramatic hurry. I don't think real change will take root until it makes money for someone. For your great food idea to survive, good food cannot be a charity endeavor. It needs to be a strong and thriving business. And in order to have a strong thriving business, we need to have a strong community of people who care about good food. So, if you built your brand platform and your messaging in your own community to where you have a strong business, it brings power to the table. You can communicate from a sense of knowing who you are and what you need for your brand to be successful. Key Points From This Episode: One-to-one sales are not enough to sustain most GOOD FOOD business. A business model that captures manufacturing customers gives a brand the opportunity to potentially provide thousands of meals. In dealing with a climate crisis, changing how we use our natural resources is necessary. To make an impact and positive changes on the environment, good food businesses also need to make money. Big companies got to be big because they focused on reinvesting and growing their business based on economy of scale—and that’s the genesis of our situation now. Business owners and brand managers need to communicate the value of good food in targeted ways that are manageable and repeatable so it can grow beyond the boundaries. Once you have established your brand value and have become a profitable business, big corporations and distributors would come and ask you to be part of their network—and that puts you in a position of power as you can control and evaluate if what they are offering fits your business. Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

There are plenty of organizations who are working with farmers on systems that facilitate the sale of local food. Many of these entrepreneurial ventures are often a hybrid of several business models, with business owners wearing many hats. Daniel Griffith is no different. Part food hub, part grocery store, part certification agency, the eCommerce brand Commons Provisions is designed to get more good food to more people while keeping operational costs low. This model of the business is to pay farmers well above market rates for meat and other produce. Daniel shares how Commons Provisions works with certified regenerative farmers without alienating the best, sustainable practices, both in farming and distribution. Learn more about how you can be part of this community-centered approach that highlights regenerative agriculture as the foundation for healthy and truly sustainable food production. Virginia Foodie Essentials: Regeneration is different because we're not looking at practice. What we're looking at are outcomes. And those outcomes are biodiversity. - Daniel Griffith Our mission is to rebuild the food system from the ground up in a way that is both good for consumers, the land, and the farmers. Because it's very easy to build a food system that degrades the environment by abusing this class of farmers. And it's very easy to help local farmers without building a food system that is scalable for local consumers to participate. - Daniel Griffith How dare we think that a farmer could ever raise enough cows to have a consistent inventory or cows in a pasture all year round when it's very snowy outside? Or maybe it's a drought. It's a system problem. This isn't a farmer's problem. - Daniel Griffith Farmer-first focus means if the farmers can't grow the food, we can't possibly eat it! - Daniel Griffith Our mission is to build a nose-to-tail solution for scaling regeneration by buying the whole animal. Because it's very hard for a farm to raise anything but the whole animal. - Daniel Griffith As we get bigger, we get smaller. As we rescale regeneration by feeding more people and having more regenerative farms, it only feels smaller, more local, and more entirely common. - Daniel Griffith Key Points From This Episode: Good Food brands need healthy, profitable farms to provide their raw ingredients Farming has very thin margins and farmers often have their backs against the wall to keep healthy, ethical farming as the norm The Certified Organic farming model can be costly Organic farming without addressing soil health ultimately stops being sustainable. Regenerative farming addresses soil health Commons Provisions is a subscription model with a hyper-local footprint. They are setting up a series of distribution hubs to create very short distances for food to travel. Commons Provisions is like an online grocery store — they don't add branding on top of the farms' regular packaging Theirs is a transparent business model - the shopper always knows which farm provided the product Follow The Virginia Foodie here: The Virginia Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie website VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

Do you enjoy cooking? Did you have a eureka moment while working in your kitchen? Are you ready to turn your culinary skills into a full-fledged business? Launching a food business from home can be daunting, and you need more than just your passion for your product for your new brand to be a success. Marcy Thornhill ventured into a food business that she never knew would bring her applesauce to different stores and even to other parts of the world. What started as a simple canning hobby quickly became a regional favorite in local stores. But, just like anyone in the food industry who starts a brand, it is acceptable to not know the whole road ahead. It is common to learn as you go along in building your brand. But, people must not forget to pause for a while to ask how far they want to go with their product. In this episode, Marcy shares her interesting and exciting journey after her eureka moment while canning applesauce. She uncovers the process and challenges of manufacturing her products, designing a label, and distributing her homemade goods. She also affirms that starting a small business might be scary at first because you know what you don’t know, but if you are willing to learn, observe and know when to ask for help from the right people, this challenging journey will be worthwhile. Virginia Foodie Essentials: The scary part is not knowing what you don't know and wanting to partner with the right people who are going to really take your vision, help you to formulate it in a way that makes sense because they understand it. - Marcy Thornhill Anyone who starts on this journey doesn't know what they don't know, and they are learning as they go. - Georgiana Dearing Sometimes small brands try to pretend they're bigger than they are. You don't have to, because if you pretend, you're just going to get burned. - Georgiana Dearing Key Points From This Episode: Not letting a wall stop you and arming yourself with some education are good tenets of an entrepreneur. There are many regulations to selling your craft food at retail, and there are specific guidelines for package design. Small brands should not pretend they're bigger than they are because they will just suffer the consequences.  Research and education will keep you prepared for when an opportunity to partner with another sales or distribution channel comes along. In the food industry, there are so many choices to make. There are so many directions you can grow your sales. Focusing on one channel at a time is key to steady, measured growth. Growth has consequences, and it is important to regularly stop and think about how big you want to be. A good co-packer is a manufacturing partner who will honor your recipes, and your process. They’ll be committed keeping your quality high, but allow you to be the brand owner with the vision and direction for your food products. When a business is growing, business owners have to be prepared to shift from their old ways to new and innovative ways. Other Resources Mentioned: Mrs. Marcy’s Homemades Virginia Living Store Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

One of the scariest (or bravest) things a food brand could do is go straight from a recipe idea to the shelf. No market testing or selling in a specialty store. It’s every startup’s dream - or nightmare if done poorly! Emily Harpster of SugarBear Cville has done just that, and her story is a great opportunity to learn about a startup retail brand in the very early stages of development. In this episode, we speak about some of the challenges most startup food brands face and why vision and determination play a huge role in achieving and sustaining success.  SugarBear is off to a good start, thanks to some careful plans Emily put in place for her product development. And it’s paid off so far – her ice cream quickly caught the attention of ice cream aficionados like me and other local establishments who are committed to living the good food, good people, good brand life.  Emily has graciously offered to keep us up to date with her progress as she tackles the challenge of building a strong regional brand. Listen to learn more about the behind-the-scenes and ups and downs of a locally sourced retail packaged food brand. It’s a rare opportunity to watch a new brand grow from its literal beginnings in retail, and you’ll get the inside scoop from a ringside seat. Virginia Foodie Essentials: Ice cream is a thing that really makes people happy. - Emily Harpster Ice cream is a little bit disarming and really charming. A lot of times, when I share with people that I do ice cream, they want to tell me about their favorite ice cream memories or a happy story or their favorite flavor. And it's a really wonderful moment to have. - Emily Harpster When you're running a scoop shop, you're running a restaurant. It's a location, it's the interior design, it's the staffing,  and then you have to get the foot traffic. It's a whole different way to market your business. - Georgiana Dearing Key Points From This Episode: Charlottesville has a growing food scene that is beginning to rival nearby Richmond, Virginia. SugarBear is carried by a fan favorite over on vafoodie.com, Maribette Cafe and Petite Maribette. It’s essential to connect with like-minded brands to help establish your brand. Startups with an eye at grocery retail should consider SugarBear’s approach and go straight to packaged retail products bypassing farmer’s market and pop-up shops. Watching a new brand grow from its literal beginnings in retail is a chance to uncover answers to those burning questions:  What makes a startup tick?  What choices do startups face?  What marketing challenges do they need to overcome during the first year as a startup food manufacturer? Having a clear vision and determination can shift a dream to a goal with an actionable business plan. More About the Guest: Emily Harpster is the owner of SugarBear Cville, a very new, very fun and very local ice cream brand out of Charlottesville, Virginia. They make ice cream from scratch featuring central Virginia ingredients.Connect with Emily Harpster/SugarBear Website Instagram LinkedIn Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

Back Pocket Provisions, makers of the most delicious Bloody Mary Mixes around, are on a mission to make life more delicious, healthy, honest and fun by helping small farms succeed. On today’s show, we talk to Founder and CEO, Will Gray about the inception of his business and the ways in which it has grown since then. He touches on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on his business and tells us about the unique way that Back Pocket Provisions has built a market for seconds in Virginia.  Next, Will tells us why “imperfect” fruits and vegetables are the perfect ingredient for his product and runs us through the planning cycle he has developed with local farmers and grocery stores. He goes on to share his ideas around how the artisan food space can support farmers by seeing them as partners to consider rather than a cost to be minimized. We talk about Will’s plans for the future and Back Pocket Provisions’ focus on being good listeners and good partners to small and big farmers well into the future. Tune in to hear all about Will’s vision and to get inspired by his contagious enthusiasm to build a better world.  Key Points From This Episode: Introducing our guest, Will Gray. The story of how Back Pocket Provisions started and how it has grown. How the pandemic impacted business. The way in which Will and the team at Back Pocket Provisions built a market for seconds. Why “imperfect” fruits and vegetables are the perfect ingredient for the product. The planning cycle with farmers and grocery stores. How Will sets strategic goals each year and brings local farmers into his plans. The different growing groups and how the collaboration process works. The ways in which Back Pocket Provisions helps farmers to mitigate risk.  Why Will describes his business as being a social enterprise although it is for profit. How the artisan food space can support farmers by seeing them as partners to be accounted for. Which business adaptations that were sparked by the pandemic Will will continue to implement. What is next for Back Pocket Provisions. Connect with Will: Website Facebook Instagram Follow The Virginia Foodie here: Website Personal Instagram VA Foodie Instagram Twitter Support the show

Few things are more exciting for small brands than getting their first commercially-packaged food products off the production line. Allie Hill and Katharine Wilson, founder and director of Virginia Food Works, respectively, get to see this excitement firsthand through the work they do. This non-profit, located in the Prince Edward County Cannery & Commercial Kitchen, specializes in the creation of value-added foods from locally-grown ingredients.In today’s episode, we hear about the founding vision of Virginia Food Works and how they have upheld it over the years. We learn how they share the space with Prince Edward County Cannery & Commercial Kitchen and how their services differ, in respect to their work with small businesses.Allie and Katharine also offer insights into the range of clients they work with, along with the equipment and support they provide. As they can exclusively for resale, they use glass jars with metal lids and have specific systems for what can and cannot be processed. Our conversation also touches on the pandemic, community support, and fundraising.Stay tuned right till the end, where Allie makes an interesting pitch to farmers on how to create value-add products at the facility. Key Points From This Episode: Get to know Allie and Katharine and what Virginia Food Works does. The history of Prince Edward County Cannery & Commercial Kitchen. Hear more about home canning and what it entails. The two services at Prince Edward County Cannery & Commercial Kitchen; home canning and Virginia Food Works. Virginia Food Works makes foods exclusively for resale. How the pandemic affected Virginia Food Works and the adjustments they made. The impetus for starting a non-profit inside of an existing cannery and the support from the community. Virginia Food Works’s canning niche and why they do acidified food. The range of clients Virginia Food Works has and how they meet clients where they are. Some of the recipes Virginia Food Works owns that farmers can use. How farmers get help scaling recipes they might have produced at home. Why Virginia Food Works does not have batch minimums. The difference between Virginia Food Works and Hatch. Some of the equipment is available at Virginia Food Works. How Virginia Food Works raises funds; the support they get from Prince Edward County. What the future has in store for Virginia Food Works. A pitch for farmers who might be listening: how you can create a value-add product. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Virginia Food Works Katharine Wilson Prince Edward County Cannery & Commercial Kitchen Michael Pollan Hatch Crescent Simples Dayum This is My Jam Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

How do you create a brand with a destination in mind? That may seem like a vague and dreamy question, but in an industry where the margins are slim and competition for the shelf is challenging, starting your good food brand with a plan for where you ultimately want to take your business will get you to your goals faster than if you adopt the trial by fire approach. When you imagine the future for your brand, what stores are carrying your products? What kind of value does it add to the market? What is your brand known for, and what kind of community surrounds your product line? Spending time mapping out your future state is a valuable exercise. When you begin with your destiny in mind, you’ll know exactly how to handle each challenge you face along the way. The answers become easy when you face each issue by asking yourself, “what would my good food brand do?” When experienced product marketer Sandra Velasquez decided to launch her own beauty brand, she defined her destination first – even before selecting an ingredient list. She knew what kind of retailers she wanted to attract, and she built her brand from the ground up with those premium accounts in mind. And that meant considering everything – the cost of quality ingredients, the labor for producing it, the expense of social media management, and even the elements of her package design. Building these needs and expectations into her business plan prepared her for growth. And understanding her end goals from the very beginning attracted her perfect partners to her brand – she sent all the right signals that she was a brand that would elevate their brand. In this episode, Sandra shares the ups and downs of her journey in building a remarkable brand for her business, Nopalera. She reveals the truth behind branding, distributors, wholesale, and merchandising. She also encourages everyone to take advantage of advanced technology, which means it is a lot easier to find people. So, while anyone can make you a sell sheet, not everyone can build your brand from the ground up. Virginia Foodie Essentials: Building a brand and selling wholesale or just, in general, is also about timing. - Sandra Velasquez Passion is what drives the creative process, and that doesn't really have a great financial ledger attached to it.- Georgiana Dearing Key Points From This Episode: Branding can either make or break the brand that you wanted to create. All stores are not good for your brand and all stores are not the right stores for your product.  Other Resources Mentioned: Nopalera More About the Guest: Sandra Velasquez is the founder of Nopalera, an award-winning Mexican Botanical Bath & Body brand based in New York City. It is currently sold in Nordstrom, Credo Beauty, Free People, and over 300 independent retailers nationwide. She launched Nopalera from her Brooklyn apartment in November 2020 with no outside funding, while working three jobs, at the age of forty-four. Prior to launching Nopalera, Velasquez was the leader of the Latin Alternative band Pistolera, which toured internationally, released three studio albums, and had its music featured on hit TV shows like Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.  Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

It's so easy to feel pressured to get things done as quickly as possible, especially in food marketing. That feeling often leads to business owners to rush, and push out their marketing needs as quickly as possible. This might compromise your business’ output and even hurt your brand.  The same goes for many aspects of running a business - there’s that constant pressure that comes from the need to think, act, produce and earn. When you’re in this situation, remember that things aren’t as bad as you imagine and whenever you feel like you’re being overwhelmed by the day-to-day of operating your business, stop and take a breath.  I just love how Phil Dunphy, beloved dad figure from the hit sitcom Modern Family, says it: “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast!”  It rings so true when you’re in the good food economy. Taking it slow and assessing your situation, making a list of the things you need, and most importantly, creating a plan on how to move forward are essential to keeping your business on track. Virginia Foodie Essentials: Whenever you feel overwhelmed, never hesitate to give yourself a breather, assess your circumstances, and come up with a list of things that need to be done that can help you move forward. Having a plan calms the overwhelm. Take a moment. Make a list –  a legitimate, written list. That simple act of list-making turns all those thoughts in your head vying for attention into actions that you may or may not need to take immediately. Key Points From This Episode: A mission statement is different from a brand strategy, and both are different from a marketing strategy. Your mission statement is the WHY of your brand: why you exist and what you're doing to earn your money. Your brand strategy is how you are communicating that mission to the market and may include direction for the types of words and imagery that you'll use to differentiate yourself from the competition.  Your business plan should describe where should you focus your energy to grow sales. Your marketing strategy uses your brand strategy and your business plan to create a strategic plan for communication to the right audience, at the right times, to support your sales goals. Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

To scale or not to scale. To grow, but how far? What's the right choice for your brand?  Many brands choose co-packing as the next best step for increasing production to meet market demand. But choosing a co-packer can be a nerve-wracking process. Handing over your recipes to someone else feels like you are relinquishing control over your business. So it’s not surprising that many food brands delay the decision until it’s almost too late. Many times, the rush to increase your production in a hurry causes unsatisfactory results. In this episode, Ashley Sutterfield joins me and talks about how co-packing helps businesses scale their production and how you can determine if it’s the right move for your business. Her team at Sage helps calm the chaos surrounding brand growth by crafting specific solutions for each food business as she guides them through a new, and often confusing, aspect of the food industry.  One takeaway you shouldn’t miss from this episode: not every brand follows the same path for growth, and that is okay! Virginia Foodie Essentials: We need to change how food gets to us from the ground to our families. - Georgiana Dearing When companies first come to us, they think that co-packing is the solution. And that's simply because that's what the industry talks about. We want companies to know that they have other options. - Ashley Sutterfield  I was seeing this very large frustration for entrepreneurs around co-packing. And I want to help ease the lives and make things simpler for food entrepreneurs. So that's really where I wanted to begin focusing. - Ashley Sutterfield Brands in their first few years are in a period of growth that is a very push-me/pull-you situation. It’s centered around their capacity for supply and demand. It can be nerve-wracking for a brand – you need more sales to grow your business, but you also need to have the production capacity to support those new sales. - Georgiana Dearing Key Points From This Episode: Choosing a co-packer can be a nerve-wracking process Brands don't know what they don't know about working with co-packers Co-packing is not the only option Co-packing is great but may not be the right move for your food brand Many brands decide to increase their own manufacturing capacity and often end up co-packing for other small brands in their region. Working with a co-packing coach or consultant helps you understand the next steps to take Sage's services start with an 8-week Coaching for Clarity program that helps brands assess their real needs for expansion Coaching isn't a lifetime commitment — you may get what you need in a few weeks or a few months More About the Guest: Ashley Sutterfield is the CEO and Owner of Sage, an empathy-based food production coaching and consultancy firm that helps food brands understand their options so they can get the answers they need to feel empowered to act. Sage works with primarily female-owned companies across the food and beverage industry that are starting a new phase of growth in their business. Follow Sage: Website Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

The change of seasons always gives me a lift. Spring to summer to fall to winter. It's a lovely cycle. - Georgiana Dearing All things are made beautiful in their time. Everything has its proper timing, and every action or idea on this earth is attenable if you are sensitive to its flow and when it should come to fruition. Business planning is no different, and if you’re a food business and sales and marketing activities are consuming lots of mental energy, then there’s no easier way to align your strategy and campaigns than with the cycles of food and farming seasons.  Every season has its own characteristic that is comparable to a phase of your business cycle. Spring is for planting, summer for nurturing, autumn for harvesting, and winter for rest and renewal. Sales and marketing activities complement each season, just as nature drives every part of the process of growth. Even with each season mapped out, there is still a level of volatility involved because there are many things that may be out of your control. However, science, technology, and marketing principles are on your side, so you shouldn't be reactionary in your business. Knowing when each season is coming, you can proactively and successfully plan ahead for the coming months to yield profit and success. Virginia Foodie Essentials: Seasonal quarters don't align with fiscal quarters and I'm not expecting anyone to change their financial forecasting just to manage a marketing plan. Planting. Nurturing. Harvesting. Rest and renewal. That's the cycle of farm life and also a good model for the packaged food industry. Farming doesn't happen in the spur of the moment. The weather and nature are forces that a farmer cannot control, farming is not a reactionary business. Your business shouldn't be reactionary, either. Make a plan for each season of your sales and marketing, and you'll be prepared for whatever storm that hits. Key Points From This Episode: Spring is for “planting" activities for food brands, including laying the foundation for future growth. This involves seeking out new partners and exploring and building new communities. Summer is for "nurturing" activities for food brands, including toiling the soil of new leads, meetings, and follow-up with category representatives, sharing your founding story to new followers, and building the name and face of your brand. Autumn is for the “harvest” activities like prepping for end-of-year sales, closing newly-inked deals, and extending your audience before running campaigns. Winter is the time for celebrating the year-end, reflecting on past performance and evaluating what worked and what didn't work, then making a plan for next year's cycle. Most importantly, in this season especially, always allot time to rest and renew.  Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show

One of the things I hear a lot from small and startup businesses is that deciding on product packaging is the most exciting and awaited part of the production process and business launch. What color to use, what size of the box or jar, how many inches from the lid should the logo sit. These are the thrilling questions that get thrown in the brainstorming process for packaging. Unsurprisingly, it can also be the most nerve-wracking, and here’s why. Packaging has the smallest physical space but needs to work the hardest. With competition getting tighter, as a brand, you only have that microsecond to convince your ideal customer to grab your product from a sea of other somewhat similar products on the shelf. The wrong color, confusing label, illegible fonts, or awkward container can throw off your customer - and there goes the sale. Regardless of your business size or how long you’ve been in the market, if you want to succeed in retail, hiring a professional package designer is an investment that pays off over the life of your brand. It’s something you simply can’t shrug off. Nor can you try to just wing it. What you invest in your packaging can make or break your brand in the retail environment.   Virginia Foodie Essentials: Product packaging is one of the five places that a food brand controls its brand story.  Packaging is your silent salesman. Your package design needs to tell your brand story when you aren't there to explain it to the shopper. Purchase decisions are made in microseconds at the shelf, and research shows that shoppers will change their minds at the very moment they reach to put products into their cart. Confusing your audience and then making it hard for them to use your product is never a good idea no matter what the cost-savings.  The trick in packaging is to make sure that the brand essence can be translated into a small shape and still support all the technical needs of packaging for the US market. Your brand essence, your product positioning, your flavor profiles, the legal requirements, manufacturing processes, and the refill and replenishment costs over the life of your brand. Key Points From This Episode: Packaging can make or break sales in the retail environment Packaging is probably the first big investment a small brand makes Package design is an investment and not as a sunk cost The big communication work your package does is set expectations Choosing colors is important, especially for future expansion Subtle shifts in design elements can convey different messages Package design is part of a manufacturing process Product packaging needs to weather the storm and extreme changes True craftsmanship takes time Good package design firms understand all the legal requirements Project-based fees keep clients and service providers in check Follow The Virginia Foodie here: VA Foodie website The Virginia Foodie on Instagram VA Foodie Instagram VA Foodie on Twitter Support the show