#71 Branding & Packaging to Get Your Product Off the Shelf

There’s so much more to consider when designing your branding and packaging than just making it look ‘pretty’. Your branding and packaging can be the difference between blending into a sea of similar products and not getting stocked, to standing out from the crowd, landing on more shelves, and getting into more consumer baskets.

This week on Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I chat with Bex Deere and Nat Townsend from Design Agency Griffin Grace. Nat and Bex have worked with a lot of brands in the F&B space and know what it takes for packaged food and drink business owners to create a personal connection to their audiences through the design of their branding and packaging. We chat about all things a challenger brand owner in the F&B space should consider when designing or refreshing their brand, that you’ll want to hear!

Listen to episode 71 now for packaging and branding insights that will help get your product on and off the shelf, including:

🧃Current design and packaging trends to follow.
🧃Design trends to avoid if you want your product to look unique.
🧃 Why your design strategy should encompass your entire product range.
🧃 Why a brand should be continuously evolving and changing.
🧃 The #1 piece of advice GG give to their clients around sustainability.
🧃 How to include retailers into your design process to help get your product stocked.

LINKS & RESOURCES

• Money for Jam Registration
• Foodpreneurs Formula Coaching Program Waitlist
• Griffin Grace - Book a Free 30 Minute Call with the Team Here.
• Small Steps to Sustainability 
• Noshing 
• Chai Spice Beverages
• Mount Henry Honey 
• Tully’z 

If you haven’t listened to episode 69 “An Indigenous-owned Chocolate Brand Ready to Take on the World” listen here. 

Season 16

Season 16, out now, is 'Planning Season' and is being presented by Foodpreneurs Festival - a must-attend event dedicated to bringing consumer packaged goods food, drink (alc and non-alc), pet and supplements brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors together under one roof.

Here’s why you should be there:

• Thousands of stockists looking for new products for their shelves.
• A chance to pitch for funding + mentorship to scale your brand.
• Workshops tailored to where you’re at - whether you’re just starting or scaling big (THIS IS NEW!)
• ‘Brand Story Studio’ - 1:1 help with your messaging strategy - you'll leave with your founder story dialled in (THIS IS NEW!)
• ‘Distributor Lunch & Learn’ opportunity to speak directly with distributors about how they work and what they need you to do to work successfully with them.
• Opportunities to get recognised and get your brand in front of brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors.
• If you’re an Industry Specialist, tap into a highly engaged, niche audience.
• And much, much more.

Schedule May 21-22 in your diary and click this link to see how you can be part of it.

Transcript

This is the Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast. Welcome food to episode number 71. Today I'm speaking with Bex Deere and Nat Townsend, the client and creative directors of Melbourne-based design agency Griffin Grace. I've known Nat professionally for a number of years as a key member of my community and design partner for many of my members. But it wasn't until I launched Foodpreneurs Festival and engaged Griffin Grace that I got to know both Bex and Nat from a client perspective. In this episode, the three of us chat about all things a challenger brand owner in the F&B space should consider when designing or refreshing your brand, including what trends not to follow questions you need to answer before going down the sustainable packaging route. Engaging people like your retail buyer in your design process before you go too far down the track to get them engaged in the best outcome for you and them, the best and worst of QR codes and design styles that are current but are best avoided.

You'll walk away from this episode with clarity on how to approach a designer, making sure you get a design that aligns with your business strategy. Design is not just the pretties. As many foodpreneurs think outstanding packaged food and drink design will get your product put in more consumers baskets. That's ultimately its purpose. This episode of Fooder Chelsea Ford is brought to you by Foodpreneurs Formula, my business coaching program for female packaged food and drink brand owners ready to scale and money for Jam, my free pitching masterclass to help you stand out from the crowd and land more wholesale accounts Foodpreneurs Formula Cohort two enrollment opens on the 19th of June, Australian Eastern time and stays open for one week only. Live coaching will start on the 27th of June Australian Eastern Time and go for eight weeks. All sessions are recorded for those who can cannot attend the live sessions this year, we're opening enrollment just three times, and this, as I said, will be the second enrollment period.

The results from Cohort one have been incredible with many members gaining new listings, increasing their sales con conversion rate by 2.5 times, and by putting more money in their pocket for every product that they sell. Whether you are looking to scale your food and drink business, or to get a proven pitching formula to land more accounts. So you finish this year at the top of your game, find the links in the show notes for both Foodpreneurs Formula wait list, and my money for Jam Free Pitching Masterclass. Registration for the masterclass is required to save you a seat and so you receive the Zoom credentials. I'm teaching the money for Jam Masterclass live and there will be no replay. So if you want to learn the pitching framework that gets buyer's attention, you best show up.

Hi, I'm Chelsea Ford, former industry sales director, award-winning food and drink business expert, head coach of the acclaimed coaching program for Women Foodpreneurs Formula, and your host for this, the Foodpreneur podcast. If you're a packaged food and drink brand owner, tune in with me each week and walk away knowing how to land more accounts, how to get your product into more consumers hands, and how to price correctly for wholesale with or without distributors. In each episode, I'm going to tap into my three decades of experience leading sales, marketing, and money teams for big and small food and drink brands to give you coaching tips that will help you take your business to new heights without the overwhelm. I know what works and I know what doesn't. So I'm going to share with you industry tools and insider knowledge that are next to impossible for small businesses to access.

And I'll dive into my little black book to bring you interviews with hard-to-reach industry specialists, experienced foodpreneurs and wholesale buyers who will help you solve those pesky industry specific problems like distribution that I know you've been losing way too much sleepover. So roll up your sleeves, foodpreneurs because you are about to enter a no fluff zone, I'm bringing my A game so you can reach yours no matter where you are, whether it's in your kitchen, coordinating your deliveries, or on your way to a buyer meeting. Listen up because we're about to set the path for you to secure your next best stockers, increase your sales and live life on your terms. This is the Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast. Hello Bex. Hello Nat. How are you today? Hi.

Good, thank you. Very well.

I'm really excited to be talking with you both about brand design packaging trends. But before we start, tell us about, maybe introduce yourselves and Griffin Grace, your business.

We're a brand and packaging design agency. We're Melbourne based, but we work across Australia and with a few international clients as well. And we love to say that we create a personal connection for brands with their customers. So for us it's about helping you get to a unique story, a unique look, and a unique product representation that will help you find that perfect customer base for you and really succeed in a retail market.

And you are in the business together. So Bex, you are head of client, you know, you're the client director and na you are the design director, so to speak. Have I got that right? Yeah,

Correct. The the creative director, so we, I started Griffin Grace about six years ago and BS came on board just getting so much time spent on the telephone kind of not for me not designing. So it was great having Bex to come along to you really establish those relationships and make sure we weren't missing the beat anywhere.

Yeah, you you are my design partners with Foodpreneurs Festival and you may recall that when we, I started to talk with you about it, one of the reasons, and there were many of course, that I chose to work with you, but it was also because that you had Bex in that position because often when you're small business, you know, and you are dealing with the technical expert, they're, they're, they're busy and I think it's really advantageous that it's the two of you with your different hats on, but working for the same mission and, and vision, so on. I, I love that you have that structure.

I call it running interference, but obviously I like to think it's a lot more than that as well.

<Laugh>,

She keeps me safe and sane, so getting in the middle between some of the client feedback and giving it back to me, she's a good filter th through there

<Laugh> and you know, business, you know, I think the best outcomes for business are always achieve when you have where when people come to the table with different skill sets and different perspectives and that's certainly something that Griffin Grace provide. Yeah,

Well we we tend to also try and provide different perspectives both for our clients but from our clients. So I will always be very fiercely the client advocate, but that can sometimes make me quite conservative and oh, they might not like that, or I'm not sure that's right. So Nat comes at it from the more creative, but what about this and let's try it anyway perspective. So there's a healthy balance there as well that makes sure he gets a really interesting mix of options for our clients, but we push them when we need to and we respect their requirements when we need to as well.

Well, let's pivot to clients and what people are wanting and maybe just to give a landscape at the moment around what's trending you know, is there a comment that you wanna make at the moment about what you're seeing a lot of and what you're loving and perhaps what people should avoid because they're kind of overdone?

Yeah, that's a really good question because we are definitely seeing a lot of trends. We always try and stay on top of the trends just to make sure that we know, you know, what's happening out there and what we should and shouldn't do. I think one of the biggest trends at the moment we're finding is coming from tools, the DIY design tools like Canva the, you know, they'll launch a new template or a new font and everyone jumps on it thinking they're the first, but then really it ends up that they're not unique and they're not selling anything different from, from the next person as well. So I guess we constantly look for the next big thing and the next style. So try to be as creative as we possibly can. When we're presenting options, we'll generally do kind of three, two that are relatively safe and one that might freak them out and we'll freak bes out sometimes but just to kind of test the waters, see how far we can go and it's always really cool when some of the clients actually choose that last option and they're bold and brave.

We had one of, one of your clients as well, the Noshing girls for the vegan cheese. They said that they didn't want color and I just knew that, you know, color was gonna be great in there. So they chose that third option and we're really bold and, and now they love it. They even dye their hair to match their branding. So <laugh>

Yeah, Michelle and Florence with their bright colored hair from Perth with Noshing, as you said, plant-based cheese. So that's, that's a yellow, isn't it, a lemon and there's also a pink and maybe purple, is

It? Yeah, the whole rainbow. And they just look incredible when they're on the shelf altogether. So individually they stand out really well, but then pop them in a little lineup and which is great for when they're selling, they're like, look, trying to get the retailers to take on more skews because they look so much better as a big range.

But what I also love about that, what you've done with Noshing is that they are plant-based and that sort of avantgarde look for them is not at all typical of something that's coming out of a plant-based brand. Like it really does pop and also it translates to other elements of their design. Like I've seen they use it for their market stores or trade show. I, I saw them at a trade show just really recently and it was their stand, you know? Yeah.

Everything's really cohesive and it looks all looks really good together.

Yeah. So it's interesting. If I could just pick up on something that you were saying that, and no doubt you both may have a perspective on this about people not blending into a boring sea of the same or worse being known as an obvious ripoff. You know, and you've referenced d DIY tools like Canberra and many, many people will jump onto those templates. You know, it, it's pretty hard, I think to be original this day and age.

Yes, absolutely. And I think that a lot of people, even as you said the the number twos or the copying. So even if you think you're the first one out there, think you've always got to keep an eye on the market and be prepared to reevaluate what your offering is. And even not necessarily need to rebrand all the time, but just make sure that your brand is still staying up there. And number one I kind of believe that a brand is never actually finished. You may have finished your round of packs for the moment, but it should be continuously evolving and changing. And this isn't necessarily like a complete refresh, you know, every year. Maybe it's collaborations with other brands or collectible packs and things that just drive repeat purchase and shop a demand. Again, we had a client a powdered beverage client, chai Spice, who they recognized that one of their biggest competitors had copied their recipe and starting to copy some of their elements. So we're currently working with them to kind of reevaluate their options and see what's next from a strategic packaging point of view.

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, what about packaging in terms of what's currently trending and are you a fan of that trend and what are the watch outs perhaps of that, of that trend?

So some of the packaging trends, I think some of them you really have to follow along with at the moment. Like the sustainability and accessibility trends are definitely important to keep on top of them. But then there's other trends, I think more so style trends that you should probably not, not necessarily follow. Sustainability is such a big question that we get asked all the time. It's one of the number one points that I think I might get be to talk a little bit more about the sustainability trend. It's, it's a struggle. It's one that everyone wants to do, but yeah, we've tried to put together a few little things to help help that one out.

Yeah, the trends thing is interest. One thing we're always working with our clients on is let's make sure we are creating you a unique ownable brand. There's nothing worse than someone who's created a logo out of a cool typeface they found. And then you realize 50 other people are using the exact same typeface in their logo and it suddenly looks very generic. You still see it in store quite a lot. So we are always looking for ways we can be inspired by our trend, but customize it to make it unique and ownable for our clients as well. And yeah, as Nat mentioned, the biggest trend and it has been for years now, is probably sustainability and it's one we work very closely with our clients to follow as much as possible, which is a good trend. Yeah, right.

Yeah,

It's a very important trend. There's obviously one very large pitfall to trying to be sustainable and that's cost. The collapse of the red cycle scheme last year was a real blow to our industry because Red Cycle was a way that particularly startups could package their products in a cost effective way, but give instructions for ways they could be recycled and know that they weren't adding to the environmental issues in the world. But unfortunately the collapse of that has set a lot of people back in their sustainability journey. Mm-Hmm. We do always advise our clients anything's better than nothing and we'll work with you to take small steps towards sustainability. We actually have a white paper on our website called Small Steps to Sustainability. If anyone would like to download that or we're happy to chat further. We do. There's one client we worked with and they were adamant that they wanted to be fully sustainable and they packaged their product initially in compostable pouches.

Unfortunately, the pouches degraded long before the product did. So it had a really negative impact on their shelf life which immediately made them less appealing to retailers. So we are working with them at the moment to find that magical balance between a sustainable pack option, but actually a product that's economical to put and keep on shelf for retailers. And then another one of our clients, Bloomix, who we work with, they're actually based in Amsterdam. Their entire brand premise is sustainability, so it's skincare made from recycled tulips. So the heads that are cut off the tulips at the end of each harvest. So their whole ethos is about upcycling, recycling and reusing natural resources. So every part of their packaging is as sustainable as possible. Vegetable inks on the cartons, the cartons are made with sustainably sourced card. Their tubes are made with recycled wood chips. So there are options out there. It's just a matter of looking for them and then really going the distance to implement them. But when your budget allows,

Yes, cuz it's such a double-edged sword given that we're in the FM c g industry, fast moving consumer goods and to your point, Bex about staying on shelf and the packaging lasting longer than the product itself. But there it's an internal anguish that I've had for decades really being in the industry, particularly being x big food the contribution, and I use that word really loosely mm-hmm. <Affirmative> that package goods make to the issue. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>.

Yeah.

Yeah. So it's not an easy solution and I really appreciate some of those examples that you gave of the Amsterdam brand because you know, upcycling of in, of of particular former products into something else. You know, I am grounded is a really great example from Australia too, where they're using the coffee cherries and making that into a, a snack. It's very, well first of all they're real innovators pushing the boundaries. And thirdly, it's just so exciting to have people like that inspire so many of us.

Hmm. There's one not particularly sexy, but incredibly important piece of advice we always give our clients around sustainability and that's make sure you it's right before you print it cuz there's nothing more heartbreaking than a client who has to dispose of thousands of pouches or thousands of labels because the barcode was incorrect or they didn't put the correct claims on their pack or they didn't have the right ingredients list or they tried to get it printed cheaply offshore and the, the colors were all wrong. So we always try to work very hard with our clients to make sure everything is perfect, everything is signed off from a regulatory perspective. Shout out to Rosalyn, it tastes buddies and that there is no risk of anything going wrong with the printing. And that's a very simple way you can be sustainably responsible by ensuring there's absolutely no unnecessary wastage.

That's a fascinating point you make cuz I was just on giving complimentary advice on the business pods at Naturally Good the last couple of days, a trade show and a young man came to me with a supplement product that he had and he had 3000 units and it was to the value of $60,000 and he didn't have a client. Wow. So he was asking me, okay, what I'm gonna do and we hopped sort of the, so, you know, two scenarios, get rid of it and just cover your costs or because it's a shelf life, you know, it runs out September, 2024. So he is really only got three months because he needs to kind of sell it in with multiple months still validity if he was going into, into retail or into some sort of wholesale stock. So yes, it's not worth sometimes buying or printing in bulk for the sake of saving a buck because often at the other end you, you know, you you do might, you might have issues. Yeah.

Oh, that, yeah. That's a nightmare selling scenario. Yeah. And we always encourage our clients, don't go the whole hog, let's do some visuals, let's make some mockups, share those with the retailers, get their buy-in, get their feedback. And absolutely had we met that young man, we <laugh> might have halted his process halfway and got him to engage with retailers before the packs were printed and finalized.

And the retailers love it when we come in early like that too. Like they feel like they can add their little bit into it and they get a sense of ownership on the brand as well.

Mm.

Bring them along for the journey.

Well that's interesting that, can you say more about that in terms of retailers investing in actually a brand's packaging and or branding or design, let's just call it and influence it at that early stage. Is that something that you've seen and experience in that? Like how do people go about doing that?

Yeah, it's interesting. Different buyers at different retailers are all obviously completely different beasts, but never underestimate how much a buyer knows about their category. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> knows about the brands that are already in their category and the consumers who are shopping that category. So we do say, although it can be extremely frustrating talking to and dealing with retailers and taking their feedback, if it helps them feel more confident in listing your brand, if it helps them feel more confident in taking multiple skews, then let's absolutely listen to what they're saying and taking their feedback on board. So from, you know, as previously mentioned, we would recommend just going in with mockups and visuals to the retailer, giving them a chance to offer their advice and input. You don't have to take it, but they would usually look more favorably upon your brand if they feel that you've taken their advice.

Oh God, I love that. You know, there's, there's so many ways. I would also like to add to that in terms of it builds relationships as well because you are in including somebody, and in this scenario we're talking about the retail buyer who, you know, is almost next to godliness in a lot of foodoreneur worlds, understandably. But to bring somebody in that early on on the development, if indeed you had that opportunity, they buy into the process. It's, it's a classic change management tool like you would with anything in any business where you've gotta take somebody along for the journey. If it, they think it's their idea or they've contributed to it, they, they take far more ownership of it. And I can imagine in a packaging question and like scenario with, with a foodpreneur and a buyer or a category manager, then they yes, you're right.

The, the brand owner would get so much value if the person has so much experience. And the, the buyer I suspect more often than not, would feel a degree of responsibility when it comes to the final question of, will you buy my stuff when it's a pro, when it's a finished product? Yeah, great idea. Love it. So design is, can be so personal and I I I just wanna maybe move away from packaging for a moment and just talk about design, unpack. There's that tension between what gets the product off the shelf and perhaps what the food and drink brand owner likes or wants. I'm wondering whether or not you could comment about that scenario.

I think this is a, a great question. It's important to always remember who your consumer is. You're not necessarily creating this product for yourself. Maybe you are, which is wonderful and then you are your own consumer. But making sure you know who your target market is, what appeals to them, what other brands they might be buying, what their needs are and what their wants are is key before you start any brand development or any design work. Because yes, you absolutely want them to pick up that product. And we always caution people, don't just ask your friends and family <laugh> because they're gonna have your back. Make sure you find people who are your ge genuine sort of customer target and find out what they want and make sure you are giving it to them. It's, it's the key thing. And that can be PAC format, that can be design style, but even the tone of voice and language in which you are speaking to people can make a huge difference as well.

That reminds me, Bex of when we, you know, came to you about foodpreneurs festival and a raft of designs were developed up from Nat and I sang to you guys, I was actually in Melbourne with you. Oh, I love that one. I freaking love that one. I think it was quite tight face heavy, which is one of Nats expertise. You know, the love of typeface, is that right? Na, absolutely.

I call myself a tight nerd, very classically trained and I can't get rid of some

Of that <laugh>. Well, I, I mean I think it's, I love it. I think it's so, so, you know we're lucky to have that skillset and but to back to Bex's point, the, you know, I left you guys one day and I said, yeah, gotta go that one. Absolutely love it, but hold on, I'll just check with my avatar. Cuz I too am a massive advocate for the outside in thinking and talking to your consumer, not, not your, not my story or not the brand owner story. And it was a hu and I did a lot of testing and nobody wanted what I wanted. Mm, interesting. <Laugh>. And we had 180 degree turn around. You know, ultimately the, the design is something that I love and know and want and will expand on over time, you know, with you guys. But it was just really interesting, especially because one of the attributes was that I wanted it to be an accessible brand and people to be able to read it. So we sort of made changes around that. But yes, my, my avatar did not like what I liked, so I'm really glad I asked them. Yeah.

And it's really good to find those people that you really trust as well, that don't just tell you what they think you want to hear to. So, you know, really putting it out there and finding that person who's full of the truth or just finding strangers as well. So, you know, sometimes we've said, you know, go and stand in the supermarket and look at your category and see who's buying it, see why they're picking it up. And then even just go up and ask them, you know, say, Hey, I've got this product coming, what do you think? So as long as you've got the confidence to go up and, and do that kind of thing, like you'll, people will give you their honest feedback pretty quickly.

Yes. That sort of aisles stalking the shopper stock

In the right way. Yes, <laugh>.

And in the retail context too, as Nat said, because it's all well and good for me to hold up a picture and say, what do you think? But if I'm actually standing in the place where you're going to buy it and you're seeing who the competitors are, suddenly that picture takes on a whole lot more context.

Are there, is there a brand and you perhaps don't necessarily want to name them, but if you do great, you know, that you've worked with who've come to you who where you had to make changes because their brand was flailing and there was kind of the obvious before and after change with regards to sales because I think it's pertinent for anybody listening not to lose sight that at the end of the day, yeah, sure. Brand needs to be to tick a whole lot of boxes, whether it's beautiful and of course that's eye in the eye of the beholder or in the eye of the consumer as we've just said, but at the end of the day it is about getting off shelf. So I'm wondering whether or not either of you or both of you want to say something about, yep, somebody came to you, they weren't making sales, you did some tweaks and then they w they their, their product was walking off the supermarket shelf and really what was it that you asked that brand owner? Because the people that are listening to us in our conversation today, I'd really love them to think about those kind of questions. Whether or not they need to answer them just for themselves or whether they'll come to people like you. They need to be prepared. It's not just about the pretties here that we're talking about. We are actually talking about business strategy. Mm-Hmm.

A hundred percent. It's about the strategy and particularly if you're juggling a lot of products and a lot of different brands and things as well. I think, excuse me, a great brand that we worked with that has had some brilliant success was cha Spice Beverages. So they came to us maybe about four or five years ago with a huge portfolio of different brands that each of them had their unique positioning in the world. But they all needed a bit of a refresh. So we worked across the whole board understanding that each brand had its different job to do. And it kind of bun bundling them all up to make sure that they worked well as a family as well. The corporate,

That's why that is it. Can I ask, can, can I just interrupt you Nat for a moment, sorry, but I'd love to know what you mean by back to work individually and then as a family. Could you just elaborate on that?

So a lot of these products were actually very similar to each other. So they are the similar ones were hot chocolates. So for example, you don't want to cannibalize each brand going, so what makes one brand Fire Horse was all organic. So that was, you know, had a totally different look from the one that was just every day kind of hush blend was what it was called in the end. Just regular drinking chocolate. So this was their strategy that they wanted to do. They already had these brands so we had to establish them and, and run them down their own channels, but sometimes you could just have an organic skew within the one brand as well. So you only need to actually, you know, dedicate your time to one brand. But these guys have cafes and multiple brands and are reintroducing lots of different brands and ideas constantly the forever thinking of new things. But that cha Spice range, as soon as we launched the redesign, the sales just skyrocketed. They were noticed. We have little Australian animals on there cuz it's all made in Melbourne. So the little Australian animals got noticed around Asia, so it went instantly, you know, soared through Asia. So they've got that global distribution as well as just the local

Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>

One of my, oh sorry Chelsea. Okay.

No, no. Backs go on.

One of my favorite case studies we have and it's, it it's very practical and pragmatic. We had a client come to us who had a range of spice mixes, beautiful product but they were selling them in large jars because that's what was cheapest and easiest for their co-packer to supply. And they didn't understand why retailers wanted to, wouldn't, wouldn't list them. The price point on these huge jars of spice mix was quite high. And also it's a big investment for someone to buy 30 meals worth of spice mix. So yes, we did a redesign for him, but we also at the same time just changed the formats into easier to use at home, smaller portion formats. So a pouch that has four or five meals and sales just turned around instantly. So it's not always about the role of design. Sometimes it's about, and this comes back to giving your consumer what they want. It's about the role of format as well and making sure that we've got the right portion size, the right format, and the right offering for a brand as well as the right design.

Mm-Hmm. Absolutely. And fit for purpose. You know, with that example that Nat was just talking about Chinese spice beverages, I heard Nat talk about cafes. So then of course that's different to a retail shelf and a specialty retailer. And then of course there's different to the grocery and, and with that example case study that you spoke about, Bex, you know, the idea of buying th 30 portions with spices for me feels really overwhelming. I'm like, yeah, that'll be off by the time I get to the, the sixth that let alone the 30th. And so as soon as you said four, I kind of somatically my whole body went, oh yeah, I can commit to that <laugh>.

Yeah. Low risk and yeah. Easy to you.

Yeah. So we're gonna go to a break and when we come back I wanna talk about some of the easy cost effective ways startups and early stage or challenger brands can road test their ideas in situ without expensive market research.

Tired of hearing wholesale buyers say we have lines like yours that we already stock. We wanna sell through those before considering bringing on a new supplier. Just need a buyer to say yes so you land more wholesale accounts and get your product into more consumer's hands. Want a pitching formula that incorporates how your product tastes but goes well beyond that to show how distinctive your offer is, even if your product is comparable to others. Getting your product on more shelves into more consumer's hands and putting more money in your pocket for every food and drink product you sell is not easy, especially if you don't have a winning sales pitch framework to follow. Success is easier once you know the precise framework to follow that will engage a wholesale buyer to say yes. Join me Chelsea Ford Food and drink industry expert, award-winning food business coach and former big food sales director for my free masterclass money for Jan.

You'll learn what to include in an irresistible sales pitch, even if you are pitching to a wholesale buyer that you've never spoken to before, how to get your message returned from a busy buyer and what to say that cuts through the noise of the competitive marketplace and how to communicate the value that a wholesale buyer cares about so you get stocked more widely even if your product is comparable to others. Learn how to stand out from the crowd and land more wholesale accounts. Click the link in the show notes or go to females in food.com and save your place. I'm delivering the class live and there will be no replays if you want a pitching framework to follow to increase your confidence in making those pesky but necessary sales calls, if you want to get your hands on my bonus pricing workbook that everyone on the session will be given. And if you'd like the opportunity to grab a complimentary coaching session with me, then you must attend one of the live sessions. The content that you'll walk away with is ordinarily valued at $1,500, but this time the classes are free because I want to see more women in food and drink live life on their turns.

Bex, Nat, welcome back when an amazing first five. So super helpful. You know, I always like to give implementable advice or support to my audience and as a package brand owner, particularly a startup or a challenger brand who you know, might have pivoted from some other area, often outside of f and b, their pockets are not deep and there's so much cost and there's costs, there's more expenses than there are revenue streams initially. So I'm wondering in your experience, what are some of the easy cost effective ways startups can road test their ideas in Sit u without doing expensive market research and or just to get on the shelf, you know, that that classic entrepreneurial term minimum viable product without looking like an embarrassing design situation.

Yeah, I think in terms of road testing your product, there's a few things we've already already obviously covered about make sure you are talking to your consumer and you know who you are, they are and you're asking them questions. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> get things in front of retailers early if you can mm-hmm. <Affirmative> and get their feedback and input as well. But we also like to work with our clients to find really cost effective ways to make their brands unique and ownable, but also to just build a bit of surprise and delight in there. We're a small business ourselves. We're very aware of the overheads and the costs that go into running a business. And from the number of startups we've worked with over the past few years, we're also aware of so many of those hurdles and challenges they face. So for us it is about just helping our clients find those small ways to get an edge and to surprise and delight.

We are very aware that most of our clients aren't gonna be able to afford to undertake a big flashy photo shoot and put beautiful food photography on their packs. So how can we work with them to create a design that really delivers on taste, appeal and cues in other more cost effective ways, whether that's through illustration, color typography, or pack format. One of our favorite startup client case studies of all time is the lovely gemer at Mount Henry Honey. So Mount Henry Honey is a beautiful boutique honey producer in the Blue Mountains and Gemma hand pause and hand labels all the honey herself and it is just a gorgeous product. Mm. She worked, the business is just her and she was starting on a budget. So we worked with her to create a beautiful bespoke label that she can then customize by hand just by writing in the honey variant in each one. And then Gemma also works very hard beyond the brand and packaging to build her following. So she has got an excellent Instagram presence. She really takes people on the journey and she is life at Mount Henry with them. So it's not just about the product and the packaging for her, it's about the whole story and people being part of her journey and they're all cost effective ways. She's just built up that following and built up that brand. So she's actually an incredibly attractive proposition to retailers now cuz she's brought her customers along with her.

Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> the storytelling, you know, there's, I think that you were saying prior to the recording about the virtues of storytelling on Pack.

Absolutely. And I think, again, gem is still a brilliant example of this. The the bird that we have on the front of her pack when she was briefing us, she told us that her husband was an avid bird watcher around the farm and that then also the bees go and collect flowers pollen from all the different flowers around. So that Mount Henry Honey Bird is a honey eater bird that they find on the farms. And then its wings are all made of little different flowers and gum nuts and things. So it's a sense of discovery as well. You don't necessarily see this straight away, but now you'll all go and look at your jar Mount Henry honey and see all the little details in there and then behind it it's leaving a trail of honey in, in the gold foil that kind of comes off it.

So all of these things, you know, when we presented it to Gemma, she got that personal approach to it as well. You know, we understood her story, we grabbed onto things that she didn't necessarily think we would grab onto as well. But again, it made her love her brand even more. I think even on the back of the pack we have one of her photographs that she took, you know, of her favorite tree with just a little bit of a story on there as well. So that's something that you would the packaging itself is something that you spend a little bit of time with because it is such a boutique and special product. So you will read, roll it around and read every little level of that one.

I can attest to that. You know, I was really intrigued by it and I don't know how I knew at the time, but maybe I just looked on Instagram prior to actually purchasing it, but I thought, oh, that's a paper label and it looks like old stock or really great quality stock, but it's actually, and I was thinking, how's that gonna work with the honey? And I want bought a whole stack of it. And you're right, it's absolutely delicious. If I remember correctly, I think it was an orange blossom or something like that. I could get it wrong. I'm so sorry Gemma, but I remember it being so beautiful. But it, there's actually a fine plastic film on that label, so if your honey drips over it, it can be wiped off without losing the integrity of the labeling. And also what I love about it is that it, there's a, again, I don't have the language, sorry, the flap, the little tag. The tag, yeah.

Yeah. So we worked quite closely with our printer on I, I just, I had this vision and this is what I wanted. He'd never done it before and we're like, right, how, what, how can we do this? So that little tag is perfect for Gemma writes her variance on there. So she actually only has one label for all of her entire range and sits there and hand writes every single one down to the blue gum or the orange blossom, the different varieties. So that little tag was a crucial little thing that we wanted to work with that made it feel more special as well as giving her that extra space on the jar as well. So yeah, working. Yeah.

Talk about stand out on shelf too, because that tag, it looks like no other honey looks like that.

Yeah, it's very u very unique. So just little things like that. Again, having good relationships with some of these printers o often the printers will just say no too hard, but we're like, Hey, what about this? Or what about that? And then they end up kind of bringing it to you as it was their idea and they solved the day, so save the day. That's fine with us as long as we get the best result.

What was it that we were saying earlier on in our chat about people buying into it? So they think it's their idea

A hundred percent in all aspects works at home and works at

Business. <Laugh>, I was seeing the same thing, Bex. Yeah, absolutely. So QR codes, I'm just wondering you know, they're, I mean I'm an advocate for them. They're not the latest in, they're not the latest thing, but they have had a revival I feel, and people have got better at using them. What do you think are the best and worst ways to use QR codes in 2023? Yeah,

I think we've all got a little bit of P T S D regarding QR codes after the past few years and possibly some negative associations, but there's no doubt they are super helpful on packaging particularly in circumstances where you've got a small pack if you've got more of a story to tell. But again, they're also great for building that consumer following and taking people on a journey. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, one of our clients, Tullys curries actually developed a special Spotify list for each of his Curry sources that he wanted people to listen to either while they were cooking or eating the curry. So the QR code on his packs actually directs to a Spotify playlist. So people are completely immersed in that cultural experience, the experience he wants them to have, and they go on a journey that's more than just making a curry with his source. That's a fantastic use of a QR code, but we do also have customers who use them specifically to link to recipes or to link to serving tips. So they're useful in that way. The only thing we would caution is don't put anything really important behind a QR code. You can't count on people to scan them. It's a value add. It can't be where you hide mandatory or important information.

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, I'd also say don't just send them to your homepage. Like do capitalize on the opportunity. I mean, that's going to a Spotify playlist to me is just so sexy. Yeah. And there's Zoe Tea and they actually s scan to the carbon footprint of that particular t and it, the, the value add in that it's just such great messaging. And I, you know, I land on that journey, literal journey of the, that the tea has taken and it's interesting for me and I feel bo more bonded with that product. What unpack callouts should brand owners avoid so they don't send their customers to sleep <laugh>? Oh look, I, I

Love this question. So we, we have a few things, you know, it's almost our own little pet peeves and, and hates. One, one that we hate is when someone writes no nasties on there, it's so, it's just so kitty. I think it's perfect in the, in the kids' environment, but it's trying to be a bit fun and frivolous, but it kind of actually says nothing. So one of the most important things is just to keep your pack simple. Don't clutter it up with lots of different claims. Like choose the most important claims that you need. So for example, if you're plant based in vegan and natural, like they all kind of start to say the same thing. So make sure that you're, you're choosing the, the most important one, but also, rather than you can use different design semiotics to make it look natural rather than naturally having to have the word natural on there.

Mm. So, you know, brown Paper's a brilliant one for, for natural as much as that was an old trend and it's out at the moment. Definitely a way of instantly saying natural. Another interesting one though that we come across a bit is you know, wanting to say premium or b premium, everyone does have a different perspective of what premium means to them too. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. So you have to be, you know, really look around at what's happening around you to then yeah. Choose, choose your words carefully. So if you have to write premium on the pack, then you're probably not premium.

It's like Novo if you have to tell someone that you've got the latest Maserati or something like that. <Laugh>. Exactly.

Yeah. <Laugh>,

It's we tend to forget because we take our own brands and our packaging so personally, but consumers don't, consumers are pretty distracted when they're moving through a retail environment, whether that's a bricks and mortar store or whether that's online. They're not really paying attention to your pack in the way you think they are. They're not stopping to read it. So we need to catch their eye, as Nat said, with semiotics, and we need to deliver those messages quickly and effectively. So a 10 point tick list, they're not gonna read it, although they will notice the ticks a beautiful natural background they're gonna see, but if you've written a statement about how natural you are, they're not going to read it. So we need to remember, consumers aren't taking as much time as we are to look at these packs, and we need to make it easy for them to find the really important information about you very quickly. And that doesn't have to be through words.

I think that circles back to one of those earlier comments about going to random people to ask for feedback because they're the ones that have no relationship with your brand or your product or the taste. And they'll hopefully give you the truth and, and, and wake you up because brand owners, whether you're a br, you know, and I've seen this over the years for people who have brand, they're brand owners within big corporations and obviously a a lot with small brand owners where they're, they're they're blinkered, people are blinkered and it's done with the best intention, but often that's why we can't edit our own work. Right. So just finally, let's give everyone a bit of a free kick with the latest design styles and what works about those and what falls flat.

Excuse me. So design styles, it's, it's always a, a tricky one. I think we said earlier, kind of don't follow them. But a lot of the styles at the moment that we're noticing are the the brands that really tell a story or going back to the heritage or the old days as well. More so a lot of the at home experiences too, that if your product can bring you something that you would normally do out out of house, bringing it into home is, is really good.

That's like cocktail making nat

Absolutely. Cocktail making. And I think Bex mentioned before the shrubs as well, so some of the old school traditions that are kind of coming back.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Sorry. Yes, absolutely. I was thinking the nostalgia really with that old school look and feel is very, you know, at Foodpreneur Festival, Katie Swift Cordials and I know Katie for a while, you know, that's the way her packaging and bottle shape and just sort of how Katie represents herself in the world. It's, there's a, there's an oddly glamor to it.

Mm-Hmm. The nostalgia is always something that's brings a bit of comfort to everybody as well. You know, the, again, our Tully's curries, it's like his mother made. So, you know, that whole level of comfort and again at home comfort's always good too.

Yeah, absolutely. So as we finish up, how can people contact you or find out more about Griffin Grace? Where should we send them to?

They're welcome to come to our website, which is griffin grace.com au. If you just want to look at beautiful Work and you don't have time to read like so many consumers, you might wanna go to our Instagram, which is at Griffin underscore Grace Underscored Design. But on the website you can book a discovery call with us as well. If you just want some advice or input on your brand or you want to understand how we work or how we could work together, we're always happy to have an introductory chat with people.

Fantastic. Bex, Nat, thank you so much for sharing your expertise today. It's been really, really helpful.

Brilliant. Thanks for having us. Thank

You. It was fun.

Okay. That's your scale strategy for today. Thanks for listening. I hope you found today's insights valuable and you're ready to implement what you learned so that you land more accounts, get your product into more consumer's hands and put more money in your pocket for every food and drink product you sell. I'd like to ask you now to help me help more women in food and drink live life on their terms by giving me an honest rating. Five Stars would be lovely, but that's up to you. Write a review and subscribe to the Foodpreneur Podcast on your platform of choice. The more you provide feedback and share the word about Foodpreneur, the more I know what you find helpful, the momentum builds and it becomes easier for me to help even more Foodpreneurs scale. So thank you for taking a moment to do that. I truly appreciate it and I look forward to chatting with you again next week for another episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford.