Four Sustainable Eating Ideas for Earth Day
Earth Day is a great time to celebrate the planet. It’s also an opportunity to take a closer look at our everyday choices. We know sustainable living can seem like a daunting task when we’ve got so much else to think about. Thankfully, a good start can be to focus on what’s on our plates. Let’s give some love to exciting new food trends that provide delicious, nutritious foods in more sustainable ways. Here are four of our favorites:
Seaweed Kelp
Seaweed kelp isn’t just a sushi side-dish anymore. It can have great benefits for you and for Mother Earth. According to the health food blog Lakanto.com, “The benefits of seaweed range from aiding in muscle function, to digestion, to balancing hormones and blood sugar.” Plus, when used to feed cattle, seaweed helps cut down carbon emissions by about 20%.
Where to buy: SeaVeg.com, as well as Whole Foods.
Insect Flour
If you’ve been into baking bread over quarantine and have wished for a way to elevate your go-to grain, well, have we got the flour for you! Insect flours are being praised as energy boosters and protein-rich meat alternatives.
Where to buy: Harmony Cricket Farm
Kernza Flour
If you’re grossed out by the prospect of insects in your flour, try a more mainstream solution. You may have seen the “miracle grain,” Kernza, in the news recently. The flour, cultivated in 2003 by scientists at the The Land Institute in Kansas, might be a savior for soil. One of its biggest benefits is its root structure that helps build soil health, retains clean water and sequesters carbon. These are all things that help nourish our bodies while caring for the planet.
Where to buy: Perennial Pantry
More Meat-Free Meals
Studies show that eating less meat, fewer animal products, and more plants is a good way to give your body a boost, and it’s good for the Earth too. Researchers at the University of Oxford found that cutting meat and dairy products from your diet can reduce your carbon footprint from food by up to 73%!
We asked our instagram followers to share their favorite plant-based or vegetarian friendly restaurants. Supporting your community while giving love to the earth just got way more fun!
J. Selby’s
Hola Arepa
Reverie
The Block
Hai Hai
Make the Most of Your Oats
You’ve had your Oatmeal Month decorations out for weeks, packages full of oats are making their way cross-country for your loved ones, and you’ve been prepping your oatmeal costume since December. Turns out, our IN Food staff are big fans of the oaty grains year-round.
Our Vice President Lori prides herself as a savant in the world of this easy-to-make breakfast. She’s eaten it every morning for 10 years! To get the best out of your batch, “start with quality whole oats, add plain Greek yogurt, frozen blueberries or fresh fruit. Then, add a generous sprinkle of cinnamon, and drizzle everything with real maple syrup or honey. Stir it up into ‘oatmush.’ On special days, I add a little crunch with granola. It’s a bowlful, I know!”
Her preferred brands of oats include:
One Degree Organic Foods: Sprouted Rolled Oats (Available at Whole Foods)
Bob’s Red Mill: Steel Cut Oats (Available at Target)
Joining the ranks of “oat-heads” (it’ll catch on, don’t worry) in our office is Alyssa.
When she’s in the office, she uses packets and adds cinnamon and peanut butter, but when she’s at home, she gets really fancy. “Sometimes I use butter to sauté apples and real milk to cook the oatmeal.” Can’t go wrong with adding dairy products to the mix!
Give yourself an easy resolution this year and add some health to your morning routine. There are possibilities abound! In the most unexpected of food trends, oatmeal has entered the spotlight these past few years. We’ve been living in a world well aware of the benefits of Overnight Oats since the trend arose well, overnight. Quaker Oats has insider tips and tricks on mastering this endeavor here. Others insisted that savory bowls are the way to go and stir in toppings such as eggs, mushrooms, or spinach! Here’s a list of 5 recipes in this vein from Food Network.
What’s your go-to oatmeal trick? Send it our way! All month long we’ll be showcasing the best home cooking ideas from fellow “oat-heads.” (See, I told you it would catch on)
How 2020 Changed Our Home Cooking
In the understatement of the century, this was a new kind of year for all of us. We’ll be happy if we never see the words “out of the abundance of caution” again; how about you? While life got more chaotic this year, the IN Food team retreated into the safety and satisfaction of our home kitchens. We asked our staff how the way they cook changed during 2020.
Do you feel like 2020 has permanently changed the way you think of home cooking?
Maggie said her strategies for food waste and food prep have been sharpened over this past year, and Dustin says cooking came to play a more central role in his life. Now he is “more likely to consider cooking as a first option,” and with so much time at home he found the incentive he needed to “explore different types of dishes.”
What new dishes did you try to conquer?
Dustin tried Charcoal Grilled Nachos. “We piled layers of nachos, cheese, black/pinto beans, ground beef, chicken and jalapeños in a cast iron pan and threw it on the grill until it was melty.” Ciara, with ingredients courtesy of Lori, made drunken noodles. “It was delicious!”
What foods did you rely on for comfort?
Our staff went hardcore into carbs during these stressful months, but spice and flavor weren’t shoved to the sidelines!
Maggie explored “a really tasty and easy crock-pot chicken that inspired quite a few homemade Chipotle-inspired burrito bowls.” Abby echoed these Latin-American vibes and said Fajita chicken was her go-to. “I’d use it for fajitas, quesadillas and burrito bowls. Versatility is KEY when eating so many meals at home.”
For some of us, it was all about the equipment. Betsy gave her home some restaurant-quality flair by installing a pizza oven, while Dustin pulled out the old Dutch oven and made pot roast his signature classic.
Anita sought comfort in the familiar with one of her favorite dishes, spaghetti squash au gratin, as well as a stew composed of white beans, kale and Italian sausage. Ciara relied on “up north” take-out for her nourishment. “When I had a short-lived stint living in Duluth, I got these things called Dough Dogs every week” What’s a Dough Dog you ask? They are a deep-fried dough sprinkled in garlic salt and served with a side of marinara, and they can be found at Bulldog Pizza & Grill. It’s suspected the bulldog on their logo isn’t actually the owner and chef of the establishment, but anything is possible in Duluth.
3 Tips for Serving Fresh Foodservice Content
With new social channels popping up everywhere you turn, it’s never been more important to offer relevant content. Operators want to feel connected to brands and expect to see what’s fresh and trending. Keeping up with this expectation is a challenge for many companies. Any touchpoints with outdated imagery can brand them as out of touch or irrelevant, making routine updates crucial. Thankfully, with a little bit of planning on the front end, some of the most engaging types of content are fairly easy to create. Here are 3 ways to freshen up your photo and video library.
- Real-time shareable content.
Real-time content offers operators an informal look at your company and its personality. Think playful Boomerang videos from behind the scenes of a photoshoot or snapshots of your sales team at a trade show. These don’t need to be captured by a professional photographer, but teaming up with an agency for content scheduling and shooting tips will take most of the burden off of you.
- New product uses and recipes.
Sharing innovative product uses or trend-inspired recipes is a great way to make your company relevant. Think drool-worthy photography that re-introduces a classic product in a new way. Or maybe you’ve got a 15-year-old recipe with hundreds of 5-star reviews. Having a shiny new photo to tout on your social platforms will give it new life. Though more planning is often required for this photography, its use is virtually limitless from print to web to social.
- How-to instructional videos.
Quick how-to videos have grown in popularity over the last 5 years and have great stopping power. Think short Tasty-style videos that demo a recipe or showcase product versatility. Even a more straightforward video for how to use a new product adds value and interactivity to your website’s product page. The goal here is to build up a branded video series over time that compels operators to keep coming back for more.
Want to freshen up your photo or video library? We’d love to help. Reach out to Anita Nelson at anita@infoodmktg.com or 612-353-3410 to chat.
Behind the Design: Vamos! Vino
This past fall, IN Food had the pleasure of pairing up with Famiglia Meschini, an Argentinian wine company based in Minnesota, for a pro-bono design project. We’re all familiar with a classic bottled Malbec… but what about Malbec in a can? With summer outings on boats, picnics in parks, and backyard barbeques, the convenient, single-serve “wine in a can” is a growing trend.
So when the duo behind Famiglia Meschini approached us with a vision of their tasty wine in a can, we hopped on board because, well, wine not?
We kicked off the design process by brainstorming creative names for a classic wine with a twist in a new on-the-go format. We landed on the playful “Vamos! Vino” meaning “Let’s go! Wine” in Spanish. The name itself felt like a song and dance which we thought was fitting for a wine that could be taken anywhere – to a party, on a boat, to the beach.
Once the name was nailed down, the design team took to their computers. We each came up with a few concepts and narrowed it down to a few options to present to Famiglia Meschini. Throughout the process, we knew we wanted our designs to reflect the bright, vibrant Argentinian culture—which came to life through the colors, patterns and illustrations in our concepts. And, with a product geared toward young women in their twenties and thirties, using modern fonts, playful shapes and rich colors became our focus.
We presented a variety of options in two flavor profiles to show the versatility of the design: some had a rugby feel (a favorite sport of the Meschini family), others a more beach-like vibe, some brought in the shape of Argentina, and others featured whimsical designs to show a fun spirit and energy.
The design we moved forward invoked wine pouring out of a bottle, with vibrant colors and illustrations to distinguish the flavor. A white band across the can resembled something similar to the Argentina flag, and drew attention to the name “Vamos! Vino.” For the next step in the design process, we experimented with using the colors of the Argentinian flag:
Ultimately, we landed on a design that was closer to the original version because it would display the Malbec flavor best and leave more opportunities to design for other varieties in the future. It also incorporated illustrations to give consumers a better idea of flavor.
Famiglia Meschini’s bottled wines can currently be found in New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Follow Vamos! Vino on Instagram for the latest updates on their products!
How we stay creative in an industry known for burnout
Ready for a hot-take from the IN office?
Creativity isn’t an inherent characteristic, but rather a practiced skill—like riding a bike, typing on a keyboard or driving a car.
We know. It’s a departure from the general assumption that creative people are just born creative. But before you start protesting that you “don’t have a creative bone in your body,” hear us out.
The results of creative thinking are broader and more widely applicable than say, successfully pedaling from point A to point B, but the principle is the same. If you practice stretching your brain in different ways and throwing away preconceptions to make room for wild new ideas, that sort of thinking eventually becomes as natural as pedaling a bike. Sure, you’ll always have to put in effort, (bikes don’t pedal themselves,) but the motion is gradually more comfortable.
Here at IN Food we encourage our team members to treat creativity as a practice inside the office and outside of it.
You’ve seen the results of this approach if you’re familiar with our work. (And if you’re not we recommend clicking over there STAT. Darn cool stuff coming out of our office these days!) However, what you wouldn’t know unless you have an “IN,” is the way that many of us cultivate creativity outside the office. Of course, the added bonus is that these “extracurriculars” keep our minds limber, our neurons firing and our creativity practice fresh.
Curious about the things that add value to our lives and our work? Here’s a sampling:
Maddy working on a local mural
Maddy, Painter, oh and Graphic Designer
Maddy is an incredible visual artist. In fact, this summer she was selected by a juried panel to be 1 of 12 Emerging Artists showcasing their talent at the Des Moines Arts Festival, one of the nation’s most decorated art festivals! Her skill with a brush and canvas translates directly to her skill as a graphic designer—if you’re looking for gorgeous food illustrations, Maddy’s your gal.
Caroline in concert
Caroline, Cellist who happens to write things too
Caroline holds a degree in Cello Performance and maintains a fairly rigorous concert schedule outside the office. She has played in chamber music series throughout the Midwest, and on top of writing compelling copy and scheming about content, she performs as a soloist and with different area ensembles. Music and writing are both essentially modes of creative communication after all, and Caroline finds that practicing one benefits the other.
Ciara’s latest cross-stitch project
Ciara, Cross-Stitcher, also good at Digital Marketing
Ciara’s latest creative endeavor? Cross-stitching! Her approach takes your grandmother’s embroidery up a notch and allows her to make beautiful and unique pieces while practicing tangible creativity. A useful prerequisite to have in your tool belt when you’re tasked with delivering creative solutions in an intangible digital landscape.
Anita’s interpretation of her Sunday morning coffee
Anita, Budding Artiste (and IN Food President!)
You might never guess that our very own President and Account Director spends the occasional hour with a sketchpad in hand, but then again Anita is full of surprises. She’s been quietly cultivating her skill for a while now and enjoys the way that sketching is an ongoing exercise in critical thinking, audience perception and innovation—skills that just happen to be invaluable in marketing, too.
A t-shirt Nina screen-printed
Nina, Screen-Printer, great at managing projects
Nina’s attention to detail and knack for guiding projects to fruition is widely acknowledged in our office, and it’s no wonder that her creative pursuits follow this theme. Outside of work she is passionate about screen printing and once in a while we have to ask: “Hey Nina, did you make that T-shirt?”
An hors d’oeuvres platter Lori whipped-up
Lori, Chef de Cuisine, straight-up-creative
Ok, so Lori’s not actually a chef de cuisine anywhere, but she might as well be. As Vice President and Creative Director, it’s quite literally Lori’s job to think creatively about our projects every day. So how does she keep herself from falling in a rut? You can often find Lori whipping up something delicious in the kitchen—ours, hers, a friend’s or family member’s. She is an unparalleled chef, comfortable in all sorts of cuisines and categories. It’s a different kind of creative exercise, but Lori says that’s exactly why it keeps her engaged, inspired and ready to innovate at her desk.
Navigating Trade Show Season 2018
Tradeshows can be expensive and overwhelming, but they are also an excellent marketing opportunity. If you’re on the fence about participating, read on! We’re laying out the reasons trade shows could be advantageous for you, tips to make your show a success, and a list of upcoming shows where you can make your splash in the industry.
Why attend a tradeshow?
Participating in a tradeshow means multiple days in the same room as thousands of people who have the potential to grow your business: buyers, sellers, distributors, influencers, packaging experts, marketers, etc. It also provides the unique and valuable opportunity to network with other food companies, see new trends in the biz, scope out the competition and build new friendships.
How to make your show a success?
Be as prepared as possible.
Just when you think you have everything on your list, there’s something else, right? Each tradeshow comes with a learning curve and it’s good practice to get as prepared as possible ahead of time. Note: printing materials, shipping, and set-up can be more time consuming than you think. It’s important to plan ahead and make sure you have enough time to set yourself up for success. Shipping a pallet? Make sure to throw an extra roll of shrink wrap in for its return.
Other musts on your packing list:
- Display materials (signage, tablecloth, banners, etc.)
- Business cards (and a pouch to collect the ones you get)
- We recommend writing a few notes about the conversation you had on the back of the card, so it’s easy to recall who you spoke with when looking through your stack of cards after the show.
- Samples and small giveaway items
- Sales sheets
- Company information
- Comfortable shoes – Trade shows make for lots of standing at the booth or walking around the show. Plus, if you’re traveling, you might want to do some celebratory sight-seeing after the show!
Staffing
This is a balancing act. You need enough people to allow breaks and help with set-up, but you don’t want your booth to feel overcrowded. Three people manning the booth at a time is usually a good number (depending on how large your booth is). Other hands on deck can walk the show, checking out trends and competition.
Stand out
With hundreds of other vendors, this can be a tall order, but above all remember that it’s important to create an experience and remain true to your company. Pro-tip: Samples, freebies, and demonstrations attract an audience. Also, a lot of people get full (can you imagine?) from all the samples, so hand-outs and on-the-go samples are important to consider.
Know your talking points
What is the main message you want to promote? How does it align with your business goals for the year? Have this prepared ahead of time to keep your conversations on track.
Smile!
Be approachable. This should be obvious, but tradeshows are a lot of work and exhausting. No matter how many cups of coffee it takes to get you through the day, keep a smile on your face and be ready to talk to anyone… you never know how far a good impression can go.
Convinced you want to exhibit?
Check out these upcoming shows!
Foodservice
Retail
Planning for a trade show?
B2B Social Media Do’s and Don’ts
With over 20 years of foodservice marketing under our belt, we know a thing or two about the B2B space here at IN Food. And, as social media plays such an enormous role in marketing and brand awareness today, we would be remiss not to share some of our tips, tricks and trade secrets. Here are 10 things to consider when leveraging social media for B2B marketing:
DO:
- A/B Test. Social media channels are a great way to conduct A/B testing—you can post variations on the same content more than once, it’s easy to review analytics and paid social actually encourages A/B experimentation. Plus, you’ll be generating more content for your followers to enjoy. (Can you say win-win?)
Test different types of posts to find out what gets people to your website. What types of images work best? Do certain calls-to-action generate more clicks? Do questions perform better than statistics? Compile and analyze your results, and then use the data to inform other parts of your business: email subject lines, paid media headlines, article titles and more.
- Be creative. Show your company’s personality! Social media is a casual space, and the more personality your brand conveys, the more authentic appeal you will command. This isn’t to say that all companies need to be delivering hysterical one-liners 24/7 (see @Wendy’s hilarious twitter account), but with a strong brand identity you can push the boundaries of conventional business messaging, whatever angle you take.
- Interact with other accounts. There are millions of users on social media, to differentiate yourself from the masses, you need to make—and interact with—friends. Say it with us: The key to good social media is engagement. It’s imperative that you reach relevant accounts—interact with influencers, customers and industry publications to build your following and your credibility. Respond to their posts, share their articles, and tag them in your posts.There’s a reason social platforms are referred to as communities. By definition you can’t create a community on your own. Reach out! Be social!
- Offer something of value. Why should followers care about what you’re saying? People at work are busy and not eager to add extra clutter to their days. Think about how you can make following your accounts worthwhile for target audiences by sharing industry statistics or trends that will make their jobs easier, providing a free downloadable item or even a rebate.
- Repurpose content. Not everything that you post needs to be brand new—your team will burn out. Conduct a content audit and find new ways to share existing content. You can even experiment with new ways to position the same article to find out what makes people click. For example, we could share this article in the following ways:
- 10 Ways to Maximize Your B2B Social Media
- The Do’s and Don’ts of B2B Social Media
- Here’s how to reach your B2B audience without paying a dime
- 5 things to avoid when you’re a B2B social media community manager
- The list goes on!
DON’T:
- Be a megaphone! If you’re constantly sharing your products, your ideas and your news, your platform is all about YOU, not your audience. Cultivate authenticity and build credibility by making it all about THEM. Share industry articles that make their jobs easier. Lead with the benefit, not the product. B2B social media best practices suggest that you have no more than 30% of your content promoting your products or services.
- Forget analytics. Track, track, track everything! Benchmarks vary so much from industry to industry, company to company—you are your own benchmark.
Where do your followers live? You won’t know until you start tracking. A few basics to watch: followers, likes/favorites, retweets/shares, comments and mentions. You should be keeping an eye on these at the bare minimum, but you should also consider incorporating tracking URLs for even more detailed analytics on your posts.
- Plan out everything for the year. Social media is real-time and current. It allows you to respond to things as they happen. Unfortunately (or fortunately if you like to fly by the seat of your pants!) this means you can only prep so much in advance. We recommend planning posts in two-week intervals, supplemented by regular community monitoring and sharing of articles in real-time. Sharing and posting about industry events in a timely manner (preferably while they’re happening) is also a great way to engage with your followers.
- Allow just anyone to post. Give thorough social media training to whoever is in charge of posting. This helps ensure that brand standards are maintained and messaging is appropriate. Nonetheless, it’s wise to have an escalation plan in case something goes wrong. Involve your PR team and leadership in addressing problematic situations.
- “Set it and forget it.” Have a dedicated community manager who monitors notifications and is responsible for responding to people who interact with your brand.
Use these Do’s and Don’ts to increase the impact of your B2B social media. We’re confident you’ll be impressed with the results.
That said, keep in mind that social media is an ever-changing beast. Skilled wranglers of social platforms must be flexible, adaptable and open to new things—an attitude we’ve adopted and embrace every day here at IN Food.
Food styling: then & now
Last month, we touched on the important role that photography plays in food marketing. But, let’s rewind a few steps to consider the magic that happens before food even makes it in front of a camera. What—or better yet, who—makes a dish go from ordinary to drool-worthy?
The answer: food stylists. They are the nimble problem-solvers that make food shine for the camera. From having an expert understanding of food properties and cooking techniques, to knowing where to source just the right hamburger bun, food stylists rely on an extensive knowledge base to make food camera-ready. But the job doesn’t end there. Changing photography trends and budgets have forced food stylists to continuously show their adaptability in new ways.
Authenticity, not perfection
Before the boom of food blogs and Instagram, food photography had a very different sense of style. Every element on the plate was analyzed and arranged to be “just so”, and dishes were often adorned with artful garnishes for a flawless finish. But the age of social media prompted a movement toward authenticity for the genre—food that looks more real and unaltered is not only accepted, it’s expected. Today’s food stylists are tasked with creating dishes that appear freshly-plated or “as-is”. “Gone are the days when a slice of cheesecake had razor-sharp edges and every item on the plate was meticulously placed with a tweezer,” says Minneapolis food stylist Beth Emmons. “The challenge in styling today is to create something with a little bit of mess, but not so much that it is unappetizing.”
One stylist, many hats
Despite all that food stylists already have on their plates, reduced marketing budgets are demanding additional responsibilities. We’ve seen food stylists add propping, content planning and art directing to their skill set. So, not only does the food stylist need to track down that perfect hamburger bun, they’re also charged with sourcing the props and surfaces necessary to set the scene for the hero shot. “With the increased demand for photography for social media, combined with lower budgets, it is often up to the food stylist to fill in some gaps,” Emmons explains. “We are often the source of ideas for content, and it is also not uncommon for us to bring props from home to provide additional choices for the client.”
Whether they’re wearing just one hat or juggling between three or four, food stylists are essential for a smooth-running food photoshoot. They bring your hero shot to levels of delectable goodness that will inspire consumers. And, bonus—their expertise will increase the value of your photography investment in the process.
Looking to invest in food photography? Let’s chat.
Food photography: is it worth the investment?
Photographs and video play an important role in marketing. They are powerful, engaging communication tools when used appropriately and can deliver visual solutions, inspiration and ownable branding faster than any other medium.
The problem? Commercial photography is an investment, and with traditionally lean food marketing budgets, the ROI is often questioned and value expectations are higher than ever.
When I first entered the advertising business in 1995 as an art director, getting 4-5 beauty shots out of a day was considered aggressive. The process required viewing compositions through the camera, reviewing Polaroid proofs, selecting film brackets and sending film out for scanning and color correcting proofs. This was how great photos were achieved and the process was valued by clients. At about that same time, digital photography was starting to take off. The digital era has made the process faster and more efficient, allowing for more shots per day, with color corrections and edits made right on set.
Today, as social media and bloggers have entered the advertising mix, the need for photography and video has exponentially increased. The images surfacing from food bloggers and everyday amateurs have quickly become accepted as the “authentic” norm. Expensive, professional equipment isn’t necessary to accomplish imagery that is not only good enough, but appreciated. If you have a phone, you’re a “photographer.”
This reality has inspired many commercial photographers to evolve their businesses to accommodate the changing needs of clients—bringing more content for less money. Appetizing and impactful imagery (photos and video) is the most powerful way to share a story and inspire engagement—custom images stand out as ownable to your brand.
I value the talent and inspiration that professional photographers bring to the table and believe the investment is worth it for the right projects. There are a variety of photography/video options out there that truly can accommodate any budget. Photographers/studios are incorporating flexibility and increasing capabilities to accommodate a variety of needs. For example:
- Pricing per shot vs. half or full day rates
- Adding a social photographer to maximize usage for social media
- Implementing pre-planning to maximize efficiencies and aligning on deliverables
- Incorporating less-styled food for a more authentic, made-at-home look
- Addding value beyond the photo deliverable
It comes down to understanding your budget, needs and desired outcome to align the project with the right photographer. You might be surprised at what’s possible today!
Looking to invest in food photography? Let’s chat.