Food and Beverage Industry Pandemic Marketing – Then and Now

The world is incredibly different today than it was one year ago. It’s even different than it was one month ago. Things are changing rapidly, and in order to keep up with the rollercoaster of this Pandemic, Americans are consciously and unconsciously shrinking their worlds, pursuing closer, more tight-knit connections with one another. This also applies to their purchasing habits. Consumers feel the unexpectedness of our world and are tightening their spending and sticking more to products they know well and are familiar with.

So, in this new “normal”, how do food & beverage marketers manage their campaigns to keep companies successful and in-the-know, without seeming tone-deaf or out of the loop? It’s important to confront an impending global recession and be sensitive to consumer’s needs to tighten spending, but the bottom line is they need to still sell product. Looking at past recessions can offer insights into what marketers should expect in these unfortunate circumstances.

Consumers are prioritizing comfort- whether that is through community, mutual support, or through distanced interaction physical spaces where they live, or through their digital spaces. With so many things and activities shut down, people have turned to immediate communities and find solace in the nostalgic and familiar. While this pandemic has gone on longer than most people have foreseen, we’ve observed that people will continue to retreat to what they know. Knowing there is more close-knit value placed on daily life, businesses would do well to reconfigure their sales messaging to have a more direct-to-consumer, home-based feel.

Let’s examine how “comfort messaging” has been used in the past to help sell product. During WWI and WWII, Americans produced their own food and other goods as a patriotic act of unity through crises. “Victory Gardens” reduced the strain on the food system as commercial farms diverted resources to the troops, with 40% of U.S. produce grown at home. The Victory Garden movement boosted civic morale by giving every American a concrete action they could take to support overseas war efforts, quite literally from their own backyard.

Now, hobbies like cooking, gardening, and homesteading are becoming increasingly popular, as Americans have more time at home and deal with the restlessness of isolation. During large-scale shutdowns, many Americans have shifted their purchase habits to community-driven alternatives closer to home such as purchasing produce directly from farmers and supporting small local businesses. Just as in the past, this local, human-to-human focus indicates a desire to feel helpful and connected in a time of uncertainty, fear and loneliness.

So what does this mean for your food and beverage marketing? It’s time to think local and tell stories! Stories are one of the best ways to have that home-based connection. Share stories that show the positive human impact of your brand on their immediate community. Because of COVID, consumers are more willing to continue supporting brands if they see that the brand shows support for similar values. Now is the time to try creative, community-oriented solutions.

There’s no telling how long this Pandemic will last, and we don’t know for sure how the economy will adjust or if panic buying tendencies will continue to impact the F&B space. With all of that uncertainty, we need do adjust accordingly. If consumers cannot find a product in store — or especially now when they don’t want to risk venturing out to check — they order online. Now is the time to reach out to people where they’re seeing marketing. Getting your message of availability to the proper audiences will be key to brand building and awareness during this time of increased sensitivity and unknown.

COVID-19 Food Safety and Product Messaging

As companies begin to get back into a more regular momentum of retail, it’s important to look into what is required in order to meet food safety guidelines, and how these guidelines may affect your food products.

Coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread from person-to-person through respiratory droplets. Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food. It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.

In general, because of the low survival rate of coronavirus on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from food products or packaging.

This is great news for companies with food products. Knowing that there is low risk in COVID-19 transmission, production and distribution can increase to normal rates. The hurdle then becomes generating enough awareness of the safety and low-risk of disease transmission to the market. With production increases, it is important that your purchasing rate matches that. In a time of much fear and unknown, developing strong marketing messaging around your company’s product safety is important. It will help create trust and confidence in the product, and increase sales.

Let’s take a look at one company that is handling COVID Food Safety messaging particularly well- Good Foods Group. Danyel O’Connor, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Good Foods Group, Pleasant Prairie, Wis., said she doesn’t expect consumer buying habits to go back to what they once were, even after this Pandemic is over. Because of that, it’s important to pivot your marketing and messaging accordingly. “We’re going to see increased residual purchase habits or behavior in those areas because people are being forced to eat at home more frequently or they’re feeling less safe out in larger groups of people,” she said.

Good Foods Group makes produce-centric products such as avocado mash, guacamole, salads, dressings, juices and plant-based dips using high-pressure processing, or cold-pressure pasteurization. Traditional pasteurization uses high heat to remove bacteria but can also reduce the amount of some vitamins. Although their products have often been used for hosting and gathering with groups, they’ve realigned their marketing to match current consumer needs. O’Connor said, “People aren’t entertaining right now, except for your family at home, your small, close-knit immediate family, so our messaging has been, how do we help consumers get through this phase? It’s through simple recipe ideas, two or three ingredients, and sharing how other consumers are using the products at home.”

Using these same principles, you can pivot your messaging to highlight more simple, easy, quick, comforting ideas. It’s also important to look at what stresses your consumers are under, and use those stressors to adjust your messaging accordingly.

Knowing that COVID-19 is not likely to be transmitted through product manufacturing, it’s time to turn your messaging and marketing to help give consumers peace of mind, and options of ways that your product can help or comfort consumers during this time of unknown.

Food and Beverage Industry Pandemic Marketing – Then and Now

COVID-19 Food Safety and Product Messaging

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