Introducing Our New Blog Series: ‘Five Food Startups Winning the Branding Battle’

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There’s no one recipe for success in the food industry. The space is crowded and many verticals are dominated by massive corporations. How can a startup food brand succeed? This is the question we put to five startup founders at Branchfood, our community that promotes food entrepreneurship and innovation. Over the next five weeks, we’ll be publishing interviews with a few of the most exciting and promising food brand founders in our community to understand how they’re building standout brands and developing their products. Though each of these founders’ journeys is far from over, they’ve learned a lot that other founders can and should apply to their own businesses.

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The State of Food Innovation: Food Retail in Boston

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In the old days – meaning 20 years ago – Boston eaters had but a few options for filling their pantries and refrigerators. Some could find the ingredients they needed at a farmer’s market or a co-op, but most likely, we were visiting the local supermarket, with its lines, its crowds, and its fluorescent lighting. For many locals, it was Stop & Shop, which began in Somerville in 1914 as the family-owned Economy Grocery Store before adding dozens of stores throughout New England over the coming decades.

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Mapping the Future of Food, Cooking and the Kitchen at the Smart Kitchen Summit

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The Smart Kitchen Summit is the first and only event dedicated to mapping the future of food, cooking, and the kitchen. Branchfood is thrilled to be a marketing partner of the conference since its inception and we'll have someone there at the event! If you would like to connect with us, DM us on Twitter!

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The State of Food Innovation: Consumer Packaged Goods in Boston

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Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) manufacturing is a leading global industry. Over the past ten years, food manufacturers have transformed business practices in response to changing consumer preferences. Campbell Soup, one of the largest CPG companies in the world, saw a decrease in profits of almost 20% in the last fiscal year, and is one of many Big Food companies that are experiencing the shift: since 2009, the top twenty-five food and beverage names in the United States lost the equivalent of $18B in market share to startups and small businesses. The entrepreneurs behind these smaller companies create products that reflect changing public values and build trust between company and consumer. Greater Boston has been an unsuspecting leader in CPG since the dawn of the NECCO wafer and cites companies like Schrafft's, Stacy's Pita Chips, and The Boston Beer Company as more recent success stories. Beyond brand, Boston is a place where innovative food product companies continue to launch and grow.

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