Branding Out from the Crowd in Food & Beverage: The Impact of Brand on Business

We got so many nuggets of knowledge and insight from our guests at the Food, Retail and Hospitality expo where we hosted a panel, and now we’re sharing them! We dove deep on how a robust brand can impact and support a strong business and we had three exciting food and beverage producers join us! 

Dee from Goodbrew, Felix from Mór Taste and Lily from Picado Mexican Pantry, spoke about their journey with brand and how this ongoing experience supports their business success. 

Each of our panellists had different perspectives, and different journeys with brand to share. The sentiment of “just go for it” was echoed by the group when discussing the start of their entrepreneurial pursuits. Although, with level heads, they encouraged finding the white space in the market and engaging significantly in the research stage – but without falling in too deep! Don’t let someone make the jump on your idea first! Read on to see how brand gives our panellists the confidence to “go for it!”

Dee from GoodBrew

After returning home from living in America, Dee and husband Jeff found there wasn’t any cold brew on the shelves in Ireland. Their go-to drink stateside, they decided to bring it to the Irish market. Introducing Goodbrew: cold coffee with a twist. Functional cold brew coffee with clean ingredients and gut friendly agave. Essentially a “healthy frappuccino” according to Dee. 

Recently attending the Ploughing Championship, Goodbrew came up against the most concentrated demographic of tea drinkers in Ireland. They knew they had an education piece as part of the brand and this was put to the test! Along their journey, they’re learning more and more about how this can be achieved through their brand language.  

However, language comes with its obstacles. Dee explained how Goodbrew has some really lovely language on the back of pack but it doesn’t have the impact they need to appeal to their audience. Engaging now in a brand refresh with Bradley, how they choose their language and where it is on pack will be at the forefront of their minds. 

The journey with brand, especially as an entrepreneur, is an iterative process. Dee discusses how their iconic brand blue has supported the success of the brand and its recognition. This, paired with the brand language, is crucial for targeting and appealing to the consumer.  All our panellists echoed Dee’s thoughts on this.

Felix from Mór Taste

Frustrated at the high sugar levels in jams, and with some advice from his doctor to cut down on sugar, Felix created Mór Taste: A jam with less sugar but zero compromise on flavour. Frustrated with how the large companies focus mainly on profit, Felix wanted to create a jam that genuinely was good for you. Despite how crowded the jam and spreads market is, he knew just like him, there would be others who would love this product too.

Felix reflected on how vital it is to understand the consumer journey and their purchasing behaviour, what and how they consume. In addition to this, he needed to find a way to brand out from the crowd, so this product could stand out on shelf.

Identifying the added value was essential to even starting on his brand name. Felix says that he never wanted to focus on one category of food and be limited in product development. Bradley worked with Felix in developing a brand and brand name that reflects the value proposition rather than the functional benefits of a single product. 

His brand name needed to be crafted in a way which would work for the future of his business to come. This underpins the “always thinking ahead” mentality and “believing in yourself”, something we couldn’t agree with more.

Lily from Picado Mexican Pantry

Lily, from Ireland’s Mexican boutique grocer and cookery school, Picado Mexican Pantry, showcased the highs and lows of her business and how she brought Mexico to Dublin. 

She has always wanted to be the Avoca of Mexican food, which became her core focus in the development of her brand strategy. Her biggest challenge was to find a way to educate the Irish on Mexican food. Profusely stating that she did not want any fake moustaches or sombreros, Lily made sure to bring the real and authentic Mexico to her Irish audience.

Lily emphasised the significance of brand language and aesthetics, but while she agreed this was important, the substance and story behind her brand is more impactful than just a logo or a colour palette. She now reflects that although the cooking part of her business wasn’t part of the plan, it is now the core of her business – emphasising the changeable nature of business as an entrepreneur. It’s important that our brand can flex to work with these changes in business. 

A member of the audience asked about protecting your brand name and trademarking, and this sparked conversation between our panelists on the highs and lows. Lily was unfortunately a victim of a copy-cat company and shared her experience in regaining ownership of her brand, and bringing back credibility to her business. 

What we can take from this

Our discussion at the Food, Retail, and Hospitality expo provided invaluable insights into the power of brand in driving business success. We were fortunate to have Dee from Goodbrew, Felix from Mór Taste and Lily from Picado Mexican Pantry share their remarkable journeys with branding. Overall, the overarching message is clear: confidence, belief and adaptability are key drivers in building a successful business, and a robust brand that is authentic to your business will take you even further.

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