Visual Marketing is becoming increasingly important as Google and Facebook tweek their algorithms to favor visual content over text... and note the new Twitter brand pages with their large graphic header. YouTube is the second largest search engine.... Pinterest is on fire... OK you get the point? Besides what better way to convey great taste than a picture and in particular people shown enjoying your products.

So when I received a press release from William Greenberg Desserts,  a time-honored family bakery founded  in 1946... it was the great pictures they attached that got my attention (click on each picture for a larger view).

They're rolling out special menu items for Mother's Day and the pictures of the Bundt Cakes, a mini-dessert, chocolate or vanilla, drizzled with delicious chocolate or strawberry frosting and Schnecken, illiam Greenberg's special sour cream yeast dough , rolled up with raisins, pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon were far more compelling vs. some bland text based press release or Twitter post.

William Greenberg Desserts has become a pop culture icon thanks to a Seinfeld episode, has been recently featured in Oprah Magazine, Good Morning America and was immortalized in this past

season of Mad Men. They are frequently found on the top of many "Best of" lists including New York Magazine's Best Black & White Cookie. Their two NYC locations include their flagship bakery on Madison Ave in the Upper East Side and within the new Plaza Food Hall in the infamous Plaza Hotel. Customers not in the NYC areas can visit their website when they crave their desserts at home.

Several of my clients,  World Empanadas and Wine Duets are doing a great job of marketing their brands visually, both on Facebook, YouTube, Website and Pinterest.

So instead of spending money on a shiny piece of production equipment or some ineffective coupon program, spend a bit of money on visually positioning your product... you say you have the best tasting product? Don't tell me... show me!

Cousins Maine Lobsters - Gets Awareness from Shark Tank

The essence of the article was they really did not want the money, they valued her experience, mentorship and her business team. These guys are unlike most food entrepreneurs... most will not spend a dime on professional guidance and will waste much capital pursuing their passion without understanding the business side of things.

Why Do Food Entrepreneurs Fail? Read the article and see why.

Why do some food entrepreneurs find themselves on the path to success? Read these stories.

Clients Corner - World Empanadas

Wine Duets Visual Marketing Plans

Clients Corner Feature - World Empanadas New Web Site 

Jim Matorin posted the Chik Boutique which I thought... why? Jim blogs about the marketing in consumer products and not clothing stores.

Writing daily sometimes makes me feel I am on top of everything... well I am not!

Hi blog posts points to the growing popularity of backyard, urban poultry farming.  According to a report recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 0.8 percent of the households in major cities like NYC, Miami, L.A. and Denver own chickens.

We hear about niche marketing... well these companies, Pampered Poultry and MyPetChicken.com cater to urban chicken farmers.

Is there a trend here food entrepreneurs can take advantage of? I have to think about this one!

According to Nations Restaurant News, Mini Desserts Grow on Restaurant Menus, restaurants are offering diners miniature desserts that pack big flavors in small packages. Some restaurants are also grouping smaller portions of desserts into tasting flights, providing several unique tastes in a single menu item.

What I found interest was these tiny pleasures are becoming an in-between meal snack and Datassential MenuTrends  says mini-desserts are popping up quick service restaurants "...where minis can be offered as anytime snacks, post-lunch or dinner treats or on the go."

Dunkin Donuts Baskin Robbins brand introduced Ice Cream Cake Bites in single as well as a four pack and they see this as a late afternoon favorite. Since we as a nation are getting more obese, these mini-desserts are forced portion control... although what prevents you from thinking "you can't just have one"!

Sweet Street Vanilla Crispy Bread Puddin' Bites are made to be deep fried and then served to be dipped in cinnamon sugar.

Why the Trend Towards Mini Desserts

Sweet Streets claim that Mintel research says "tapping into portable convenience, desserts will stretch into snacks and broaden consumer interest." I like what  State of the Plate, The Kruse Report, 2013, says about miniaturization... it makes menu items:

• Shareable
• Experimentable
• Customizable
• Calorie-controllable

How Are You Taking Advantage of this growing trend in snackable, all-day items?

Client Corner Articles

Working with a client on Brand Positioning

World Empanadas View the Old and New Web Site

Wine Duets Launches with Video Visual Marketing

More Ways to Use QR Codes

Creative Ways for Small Food Brands to Use QR Codes

Don't Forget The Importance of Your Shipping Containers

How to Purchase Shipping Containers

Restaurants and Deli's Can Develop Their Own Mobile Apps

Mobile Marketing for Small Food Businesses

I cover all facets of QR codes in the food & beverage sector... artisan and specialty food brands can adopt QR codes to move customers along on their Path to Purchase at the shelf... one aspect is communicating your products great taste. Retail consumer foods typically communicate great taste through in-store product demos. The challenge is this: demos are hard to scale because they are expensive... can you imagine how much you would spend running demos on your products at all stores seven days a week all year!

OK, I thought I knew all aspects of using QR codes on foods... one of my foodpreneur clients...  Fun to Eat Fruit has a proprietary process to print images with edible inks on fruits and has experimented with printing QR codes on Apples.  Well... I learned about a new application for QR codes.

QR Codes on Sushi

Harney Sushi, a pioneer in sustainable sushi in Southern California, has just announced a new program that will allow their customers to interact with the premiere authority on sustainable seafood via edible QR codes that will be served on their sushi. These edible QR codes will take any curious customer to the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) FishWatch website. This site will provide Harney diners with information about the fish they're consuming, about the sustainable species on Harney's menu, and will also provide the latest news coming from the sustainable seafood world.

The code itself will be printed on a rice paper wafer and uses a water based, edible ink. The initial launch will utilize just one code that will lead to the FishWatch homepage, but the program will eventually include species specific codes in an effort to demonstrate Harney's commitment to fighting fish fraud as well as increasing transparency and traceability.

This was so intriguing that I will be interviewing the founders of Harney's along with their QR Code supplier... this opens up endless possiblitlities to food products that are sold in bulk, in the produce department, or other service departments in the supermarket.

Some businesses are great businesses but are just not fund-able through traditional means, such as Angel Investing, Venture Capital or Bank Loans.

Cisse Trading Success with Crowdfunding

So here is a short feature on Cisse Trading and their initial success at raising $20,000 via Crowdfunding.

If you are not familiar with Crowdfunding, I have written extensively on Crowdfunding in the Food and Beverage Sector.

If you would like to chat about a winning Crowdfunding Campaign drop me an email.

Small food businesses should use QR codes!

Putting QR codes on packaging will boost your sales at the supermarket. Product demos are great but expensive and you can't demo your product every day at all stores... it just won't scale. However a QR code on your packaging or point of sale materials can help you engage a new customer through a great video showing people enjoying your product... which means you can communicate great taste.

Do you want customers to scan your food product to obtain a recipe on how to use it for quick meal preparation?  My client are using QR codes, like Fun to Eat Fruit  where they want to show how this is a great healthy snack for kids.  Wine Duets wants the customer to see the fun factor in their new cookies that can pair with wine?  QR codes can be designed to bring your customer to wherever you want them to go.

I am a big beleiver in QR codes to grow small artisan and specialty food brands so read my latest article on QR Codes Drive Sales at the Grocery Shelf. And don't you want you product off the shelf and on to the consumers plate!

New Product Launch of Wine Duets Using Youtube to Create Awareness

How do you create  awareness when you are starting and growing your specialty food or artisan food business? YouTube makes it easy to showcase your products and to use visual marketing to communicate the great taste of what you make.

I am showcasing my My new client Patti Vamosy,  founder of Wine Duets... a line of cookies ... yummy treats to pair with wine.

Her product is very innovative and in one of our consultations I suggested she create a video to visually communicate that "Wine Duets are a quick no-brainer answer to the question of, 'Help! What do I serve with this wine?' Her product is the fun alternative to traditional 'cheese and crackers'."

I began working with Patti several months ago to create brand positioning, packaging an and overall new product launch plan to turn her passion into a business that creates unique products... a line of cookies that are designed to be paired with wines.

Read my article on Wine Duets - communicating great taste through an easy to create Youtube video.

If you have a great video for you specialty food business, send me an email and I will post it here on the blog.