Consumers are confused enough about nutrition. Don’t let your packaging make the problem worse. What’s my proof this is a huge problem? All I have to do is visit a food brand trade show. For instance, during my most recent trip to the 800-pound gorilla in the food trade show world, Natural Products Expo West, I saw the same product over and over, in every aisle, in every category. I call this product, “Huh?” Of course, it wasn’t one product — but it seemed that way, thanks to the fact that, while the vast majority of exhibitors have gotten [...]

I’d forgotten about cottage cheese, but when I re-realized this stuff could fill some holes in my protein game, I went looking and found, in my shiny-happy Whole Foods, good culture (lower case intentional), a new, better, bright light. And I gobbled it up. good culture, while its lower case font wreaks havoc with my computer’s auto-correct, is really as the name says, “good.” Love the taste, the story, the peel off paper wrap that contains more info — pretty much everything. But since my thing is all about how food brands can increase loyalty by reducing food confusion, [...]

I LOVE Lesser Evil Paleo Puffs — especially the “No Cheese” Cheesiness variety. Apparently, lots of people feel good about every variety of the brand’s miraculous grain-free extrusions, since, whenever I arrive at what’s become my favorite Whole Foods facings, it looks as though some enormous, puff-loving creature has taken a swipe through the entire set. And the good goes so far beyond the stuff in the package. So pull open a bag and let’s dig in to everything that makes Lesser Evil so much less evil: Their story goes beyond what’s become trite (albeit true) and commoditized storytelling [...]

Skeptics will look at what Kraft is doing (and what I’m doing by writing about it) and say, “Oh, they’re just trying to get people to buy more of their products.” I say, “So what?” We’re all in the business of persuading consumers to buy our stuff, which means we’re all looking for opportunities to stand out. And thankfully, opportunities like this don’t come around every day. So while Kraft is putting itself out there to help an estimated 800,000 people/families affected by this government shutdown — and now, asking other brands to pitch in, what could this awful [...]

Let’s get a little boozy with Sufferfest, a line of beers that’s different because they’re “Celebrating Athletes.” Great line. First, it says exactly who the brand wants to be for. Secondly, it says it’s for athletes who are celebrating super hard workouts. So what’s Sufferfest doing really well? They know why they started this brand, and who they started it for. When you put your consumer at the center of the story, you make people feel special — people like that. They have specific reasons to believe. Their beer is “Crafted to remove gluten.” They likely know a lot [...]