Over the past five to 10 years, it’s almost become an innate behavior to announce “phone eats first!” before anyone can even touch their meal. I do it, and I’m sure you do too.

But we’ve since evolved from basic, static images of meals. Now, we’re in a world of lengthy wine review videos, fully dedicated food blogs on Instagram, and even “day in the life” TikToks from private chefs. Creators have found a way to carve their own niche and develop strong communities who genuinely care about their food content. 

@wishbonekitchen

Client’s birthday weekend = non-stop cooking kinda popped off with dinner tho ngl

♬ original sound – wishbonekitchen

However, how do brands and businesses fit into this world? How do they best leverage these food content creators and influencers to get their products out there to the masses? There’s arguably no industry more than food and beverage that needs such high brand loyalty and community. For example, it’s easy to replace a cereal brand when there’s 50 to choose from.

By partnering with content creators, food and beverage brands can differentiate themselves from their competitors in an authentic, engaging way. 

Our top 5 favorite food content creators

Check out these top food and beverage influencers crushing it in the social sphere.

1. Condimentclaire

Claire, otherwise known as @condimentclaire on TikTok, has made a name for herself for loving none other than – you guessed it – condiments! Her passion for all sorts of sauces, mixed with her deep knowledge of various cuisines and cultures, makes her content constantly fresh and exciting. Oftentimes, you’ll find food history lessons, day-in-the-life videos at her father’s Mill in France, and taste-test’s of niche foods and drinks. 

@condimentclaire

new condiment obsession unlocked

♬ original sound – Claire

Her TikTok stands out amongst the rest because no two videos are the same. Her long- and short-form videos really dive into all aspects of food and drink, unafraid to give her opinion or suggest a weird food combination.

And what’s her strategy? No strategy at all. She just posts what she likes, and that’s why her followers love her! You can always expect authenticity from @condimentclaire – she seems like the girl next door, and a rather cultured, interesting, well-traveled one at that. 

Also, her community trusts her knowledge and expertise because she has proven, time and time again, she knows what she’s talking about. 

2. Wishbone Kitchen

Meredith Hayden (@wishbonekitchen) is the private chef of all private chefs. Diving into a world never really explored before on social media, she opened her audience’s eyes to what it means to be a 21st century private chef. Mixing her high-brow job with her likable, relatable demeanour, she finds a way to meld these two worlds together and produce TikToks that any and all can enjoy.

One video, she might be cooking a giant surf-and-turf dinner for her millionaire clients, and the next, she’s enjoying a chicken sandwich and talking to her followers like they’re on Facetime. 

Yes, her job might signify something fancy and exclusive, but the girl works hard. Just take her day-in-the-life videos – it’s not all super glamorous and ritzy, especially when you’re lugging a cart of groceries on the subway in NYC. 

@wishbonekitchen I took a couple, you know I – took some time off to rest and now it’s game time b*tches #dayinmylife #privatechef ♬ Sunday – HNNY

That’s why her community enjoys her videos so much; she keeps it real, showing the high high’s and the low low’s of her profession. Not only is it fun to see what she’s cooking up, it’s also just rewarding to follow alongside someone’s passion. 

3. Drinks By Evie

Not a food content creator as such, but still an influencer in the food and beverage realm, is mixologist @drinksbyevie. Mixology isn’t something many people master, but you could definitely say Evie is a seasoned professional. Posting regular how-to videos and featuring multiple different alcohols/beverages on her page, she’s created a niche for herself on alcohol-Tok. 

Evie’s video production value is high because she knows that the drink can taste good, but if it doesn’t look gorgeous, it’s not going to get those clicks Especially when your followers can’t actually try the drink.

@drinksbyevie

This clarified tomato cocktail will go down in history as one of my favorite drinks to date!! The flavor is so savory and unique and delicious especially if you’re a tomato lovaaaa • 1 oz cherry tomato juice • ¼ oz simple syrup • ½ oz lemon juice • 4 drops white balsamic vinegar • 2 cracks black pepper + pinch of salt • 2½ oz parmesan rind infused vodka • 1 oz whole milk • garnish: olive oil + cherry tomato Muddle a handful of cherry tomatoes and strain it through a fine mesh strainer to extract 1 ounce of tomato juice. Add the juice, simple syrup, lemon juice, white balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and vodka, to a jar and give it a quick stir. Slowly add the ounce of whole milk and let the mixture sit for about an hour or two in the refrigerator. Line a fine mesh strainer with a damp coffee filter and strain the entire mixture into another jar. Be mindful not to mix or force the liquid to drain, let gravity do its work!! Give it a quick stir with ice to chill it down, and then strain it into a chilled stemmed glass (or drink it over ice!). Garnish with a few drops of olive oil and a cherry tomato.

♬ Samurai Champloo – FaRe ‘N’ HiTe

She’ll make the classics – margaritas, hot toddies, low ABV drinks – but she’s also willing to spice it up and throw unexpected ingredients into her beverages. Ever tried a matcha martini before? Well, if you haven’t and want to, Evie will teach you how. (Editor’s note: they’re delicious).

Also, who doesn’t love some good alcohol education? Learn about glassware and when to use certain glasses, and even dive into her various TikTok playlists according to what your alcohol of choice is. 

4. Alex Delany

A previous Bon Appetit employee, Alex Delany is quite the renaissance man. Known for his “Trying everything on the menu” video series with Bon Appetit, he’s made a name for himself in the NYC food and beverage content creator scene.

Since leaving the magazine, he’s been developing his own personal brand on Instagram and frequently posting about his assorted interests – music, podcasting, wine, and most importantly, eating. He also now consults for food and beverage businesses.

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A post shared by Alex Delany (@alex_delany)

Although he stays quite niche (considering most of his content revolves around the NYC restaurant scene), he makes sure to give different foods and drinks a fair shake. You can always find a wine review or his new favorite coffee brand on his Instagram stories, which helps satiate his non-NYC followers. 

His large following began at Bon Appetit, but it didn’t end after his departure. People have stuck around because this man is truly dedicated to his craft. There really isn’t a day that goes by where he hasn’t eaten out at least once. That’s truly impressive (and FOMO-inducing) and is a testament to his love for all things food and drink. 

5. Molly Baz

Another ex-Bon Appetit-turned-food content creator, Molly Baz is a fun-loving chef and has taken Youtube by storm. Although food  content creators and influencers have primarily found great success with short-form TikToks and Reels, YouTube has also been great for those looking to really dive deeper into cooking.

As a trained, professional chef, it makes sense why Molly would take to YouTube so well. With multiple cookbooks under her belt, she needed a platform where she could walk step-by-step through her delicious creations (her chocolate chip cookie recipe is worth a try).

Scrolling through all her delicious recipes provides instant inspiration for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Molly’s known for her “just have fun in the kitchen” vibe and is never taking herself too seriously, which shows up on camera in a natural, welcoming way. Although seasoned chefs could be enjoying any of her recipes, that’s not really the audience she is trying to target. Instead, Molly’s focused on regular people who are just trying to elevate their basic daily meals. 

Her content could really thrive on any destination of social media, but YouTube really suits her go-with-the-flow nature and cooking style. Followers can return to these videos, time and time again, and feel like they are chef’ing up a meal alongside a legit chef. Who wouldn’t want to do that!?

How brands can partner with food and beverage content creators

Now comes the fun part – building a strategy around leveraging these industry-leading food influencers to promote your brand.

Influencers and creators are changing the way people interact with and perceive brands on social media. On top of that, they have a growing amount of power and influence over their following, which means they can, for instance, send more than 10k people to buy a product they recommend. 

For food and beverage brands specifically, customers want to know that trusted influencers like the food, restaurant, or drink beforehand. Nowadays, more than ever before, those trusted individuals are content creators. 

Luckily, too, these types of creators are growing on all platforms, which means they are getting more and more specific with the content they post. There aren’t just professional chefs anymore. Now, if your business sells wine, there’s everyday creators who solely post about and review wine. That way, you can identify a partner that aligns with your brand, your brand message, and your audience. But how do you find them?

How to find food and beverage content creators to work with

If you’ve been inspired by the above creators but you’re struggling to find food (or any industry) influencers on your own, look into search engines that cook up suggested creators using your pre-existing following and content theme. It takes the work off your plate and allows you to manage them directly in one place.

Or better yet, level up your creator strategy by tapping into an existing creator community like the Influenster App. Influenster is an end-to-end marketing platform powered by a community of over 7.5 million everyday content creators, where you can take advantage of authentic product content and connect with your own brand advocates in one fell swoop.

@influenster Allow us to reintroduce ourselves #greenscreenvideo ♬ Chrysanthemum Tea – Prod. By Rose

People are already creating content about your industry — photos, TikToks, or even just product reviews — you just need to tap into it. For example, when global beauty brand Rimmel wanted to raise sales of a certain eyeliner, they took content created by Influenster members and displayed it across their site and social channels, leading to a 44% sales lift.

The Influenster community represents trusted voices within their industry and can amplify your brand message to their highly-engaged, niche audiences. What more could you ask for? Learn more about it here or get in touch below.

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Google has been enacting parallel restrictions for advertising on its platform. This is significant because while Google’s junk food ads restrictions are still focused on UK consumers, they impact food & beverage (F&B) brands around the world.

And since it’s safe to assume health-related restrictions will only grow online, it’s wise to focus on how some brands are already adapting. As opposed to racing to figure things out in the near future. 

Note: The following is not intended as legal advice, and businesses with questions on legal compliance should consult their attorneys.

Businesses affected by the junk food ads ban

The regulations apply to businesses in the UK that employ 50 or more people. This includes online retailers and retailers who don’t primarily sell food or beverages. The regulations also apply to stores that are part of a franchise or symbol groups.

Specialist retailers and small and micro businesses (49 or fewer employees) are not affected. 

Restricted HFSS product categories

3 ways F&B brands can pivot to meet HFSS regulations

In anticipation of potential changes to regulations around HFSS, keeping ahead of evolving health-related regulations is just one aspect of F&B brands’ larger challenge: Learning how to thrive in an increasingly health-conscious world.

There’s three main pillars F&B marketers can (and should) focus on to drive sales as HFSS begins to take shape.

1. In advertising

The ban on digital advertising for HFSS foods leaves massive opportunity for F&B marketers to try a new approach. With brands being restricted in their own messaging and outreach, why not let your brand advocates do the talking for you?

We’re talking about user-generated content (UGC) — like customer reviews, images, and social posts. UGC isn’t only a way to let your customers do the heavy lifting for you, it’s also a surefire way to boost conversion, in-store and online (more on that to come).

While you may not be allowed to post certain adverts, your customers can. Let shoppers fill their social pages with authentic imagery of your products, and display these on your own social channels, product pages, and beyond.

There’s a number of simple ways to collect UGC. With a sampling campaign you exchange a product sample in exchange for an honest customer review. Or an automated review request email will invite customers to leave a review for in-store and online purchases. You could even turn to employee advocacy and let your employees share UGC on their social feeds for you.

However you slice and dice it, UGC will keep your sales healthy in spite of the new regulations. Just remember that UGC is still considered as a form of advertising, and like all advertising, there’s regulations and best practices to follow.

2. On the physical and digital shelf

With the gap between the physical (in-store) and digital (online) worlds closing, and 64% of consumers  having hybrid shopped in the past six months, brands need to meet shoppers where they are. Especially given that HFSS legislation is going to have an impact on both shelves.

In-store, products can no longer be promoted around checkout areas, the ends of store aisles, and in the vicinity of store entrances. Basically anywhere considered a “high-impulse purchase” area. Instead, items like confectionery are being placed into aisles where there’s increased competition for customer attention.

Note: While the promotion and sale of these products is restricted, promotion of the brands that represent them isn’t. Meaning, a business couldn’t place a sign promoting Coke or Pepsi products near its front door. But a Coke or Pepsi sign featuring only a brand logo would be allowed.

It’s the same story online too. For UK consumers browsing and shopping for F&B products online, the restrictions on junk food ads are meant to mimic businesses’ brick-and-mortar counterparts. 

Firstly, affected businesses can’t promote HFSS products on their landing page(s). They also can’t promote HFSS products to UK customers who are browsing other categories of food, when customers view their shopping basket, or on a “proceed to payment” page.

Brands need to find a way to maintain share of basket size and add-to-cart rate in this new normal. While a ratings and reviews program isn’t anything new, their value is often underestimated.

Ratings and reviews play an essential part of the shopper journey, with 88% of consumers consulting them before making a purchase. Historically, this only affected the digital shelf but our 2022 Shopper Experience Index tells us that 63% of shoppers research online before entering a store. Many even pull out their phones in-store to check.

So ensuring you have a strong ratings and reviews program, that’s constantly updated and syndicated across all your channels, will ensure you’re inspiring consumers to make purchases wherever they are.

3. With product shifts

One way to workaround incoming legislation is to develop new HFSS-compliant products. Some retailers, like Mars Wrigley UK, are already doing this. Mars has launched a range of non-HFSS chocolate bars, specifically aimed at adhering to government regulations.

But launching a new product, especially in today’s climate, can be tricky. Mars alone said its UK team spent, “thousands of hours working on every minute detail of the bars.” Not everyone has thousands of hours to spare though. What if you only have a fraction of that? You’ll need to glean shopper opinions fast and learn customer sentiment about new products. 

Brands, especially SMBs, are doing this with feedback found in ratings and reviews. Reviews don’t just help drive conversion, they often contain valuable insights.

Bazaarvoice customer Rael, for example, uses reviews to mine customer sentiment about new products and identifies ways to turn this feedback into action.

“UGC guides essential parts of overall marketing strategy by showing us how to speak about each product and position them based on what consumers like. Sometimes your customers tell you things that you didn’t consider on our own” — Sorah Park, CMO, Rael.

You’re already collecting reviews to display on your channels (if not, you should be). Using insights from these reviews to improve products will ensure they land with a bang and you won’t lose any basket size in the HFSS world.

Google brings the anti-obesity battle into the cloud 

It’s here, with some fairly modest regulations, where the UK’s HFSS restrictions end. But, non-coincidentally, this is where Google’s new rules begin. In turn, expanding the front lines in the war on “junk food ads” and setting a new digital marketing precedent in the process.

Google’s junk food ads restrictions started much the same way those in the UK had, with self-regulation.

Starting in October 2020, F&B marketers gained access to a self-declaration option for their accounts. By allowing marketers to flag their own content as HFSS related, Google ensured the way it served ads to UK consumers was compliant well before the UK’s regulations take effect.

In doing so, junk food officially joined Google’s list of other regulated content, including alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling. But this was only the first step for the ubiquitous search and advertising giant. 

In 2021, Google announced additional HFSS-related restrictions, and these weren’t voluntary. Marketers could no longer target minors in the UK or EU with Shopping ads containing HFSS content. Google stated these new restrictions applied to any Shopping ad featuring at least one HFSS food item, beverage, or meal in the ad itself. Or at the destination site of the ad. Thus, closing the loophole for brands that tried to display a logo but not a specific product.

For F&B brands, Google’s new rules seemed like the start of a trend to regulate how HFSS products can be marketed across the web. Fortunately, F&B marketers can learn from brands already in the process of embracing healthier products and marketing strategies. 

F&B brands embrace ways to pivot from junk food ads

In anticipation of potential changes to regulation around HFSS, keeping ahead of evolving health-related regulations is just one aspect of F&B brands’ larger challenge: Learning how to thrive in an increasingly health-conscious world. 

That’s why it’s beneficial to study how multiple brands are making this change. 

1. Mondelez International: Setting the table with a more balanced portfolio

One option for companies that own multiple brands is to shift their acquisition strategy to focus on healthy products. Citing, in part, the obesity-related concerns touched on above, Mondelez International is investing billions in new and healthier offerings to a product portfolio that includes Oreo, Cadbury Chocolates, and Toblerone.

As CEO Dirk Van de Put explains, “If you talk about health and wellness … for sure we want to launch brands, but launching new brands is not easy and acquiring brands that already have the prestige and the client base, and are starting to develop, is easier.”

Part of this strategic shift included Mondelez reducing its stake in soft drinks and coffee maker Keurig, Dr Pepper, and JDE Peet’s in 2020. And in addition to the re-allocations to healthier products, Mondelez is also advocating for healthier approaches to eating more generally, including mindful snacking and portion control.

2. Coca-Cola: Working out healthier products (and ways to promote them)

Another option for brands is to develop and highlight healthier versions of their existing product line. The beverage industry has been at the forefront of this trend.

Diet or not, soft drinks aren’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think “wellness.” But soft drink brands specifically have been racing to keep up with increasingly health-conscious consumers. For example, in 2016, Coca-Cola was already working on launching a marketing strategy aimed at increasing awareness of its zero-sugar and reduced-sugar beverages. 

According to a company representative, “We recognized an opportunity to give Coke Zero a boost and encourage more Coca-Cola fans to try a delicious zero-sugar product. Through in-house innovation, we developed an even better-tasting recipe that delivers real Coca-Cola taste with zero sugar and zero calories.”

While Coke’s pivot to a lite version of its flagship product is inspiring, anyone inside knows that improving well-established products and expanding to other offerings is challenging and complicated. Customers are finicky, and it’s hard to get them to step outside their comfort zone to try something new. That’s why many F&B brands leverage product sampling to test new products and reinvigorate old ones. 

In 2021, Coca-Cola used product sampling to raise awareness of its very first energy drink. In-store sampling in the early months of COVID was a non-starter. So, Coke took advantage of the groundswell of online grocery pickup services by including a free sample in every order. 

Soon, other big F&B brands like General Mills and major retailers like Walmart began to embrace this modern take on traditional product sampling, creating new revenue streams in the process. 

3. Zevia: Harnessing the power of UGC and influencer marketing

While giant multinationals try to change their products and their images, the shift toward wellness has created an opening for smaller F&B brands. Zevia, a healthy upstart in the carbonated soft drink (CSD) category, is using modern marketing to build on its reputation as a healthy alternative to sugary sodas. 

For Zevia, the key has been positioning a product with an unfamiliar ingredient (stevia) as something recognizable (flavors like cola and ginger ale).

Writing for HBR in 2013, CEO Paddy Spence explained, “a healthy alternative’s best chance for success lies in keeping the product familiar, which allows you to educate consumers quickly and cost-effectively. Most purchasing decisions in packaged goods are made at the shelf, so it’s critical for shoppers to easily identify how a new product fits into their diet.”

Now, nine years later, user-generated content (UGC) and influencer marketing are proving to be a perfect complement to Zevia’s “familiarity” approach to marketing.

In addition to celebrating fans of the brand on their own Instagram feeds, Zevia actively reaches out to partner with health-conscious influencers. Together, they create and feature unique drink recipes using Zevia, encouraging followers to share mini-reviews and their own recipe ideas.

What’s more, Zevia also partners with other influencers in fashion, mommy blogs, and lifestyle categories. By doing so, Zevia proves a healthy CSD brand can transcend its own category to play a more holistic role in the broader health and wellness market.

Healthy marketing works (you just need the right amount of influence)

As more health-related regulations converge with consumers in search of healthier living, and junk food ads are increasingly banned, the food and beverage industry will only get more interesting. And this is why it’s so important to learn from the F&B brands working on pivoting now.

But what brands are doing is only part of the puzzle e-commerce managers need to solve. The other part is learning how modern tactics like user-generated content and influencer marketing pay off for brands who use them correctly.

Learn more ways to stand out in food & beverage on our dedicated F&B page.

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These days, grocery brands face increased competition for consumers’ food budgets. With inflation causing rising food prices, 42% of consumers say they’re looking for ways to save money on grocery shopping this year, according to McKinsey & Co. Shoppers are also researching promotions, switching to less-expensive brands, and buying private label brand products to slash their grocery bills. 

Attracting shoppers now is the latest issue the grocery industry has faced over the past two-plus years. The COVID-19 pandemic changed grocery (and all) shopping habits, spurred the growth of grocery e-commerce, and caused supply chain issues.

Grocery marketing trends for 2023

Bazaarvoice recently attended Groceryshop, the leading event for grocery and consumer packaged goods (CPG), where global retailers and industry experts discussed current trends, as well as what’s next for the industry. 

Using insights from the event, and our own industry research, here’s the top six grocery marketing trends for you to incorporate into your strategy to grab the attention of food shoppers and boost e-commerce sales.

1. Capture customer data to offer more personalization 

Shoppers want to tell you about themselves, and it’s crucial for you to listen. Encourage ratings and reviews, answer their questions, and engage with them on social media to offer more personalization, which customers are growing to expect.

Companies with stellar personalization programs can generate 40% more revenue than their competitors, according to McKinsey & Co. 

With the growth of grocery e-commerce and loyalty programs, retailers and brands have amassed more data than ever. You can see which brands shoppers interact with and ultimately purchase. All of this data can be overwhelming, though. But learning to manage it, such as by using a customer data platform, will help you transition grocery shopping from “transactional to inspirational,” as Instacart CEO Fidji Simo put it during Groceryshop. 

Use first-party data to improve the customer experience, empower shoppers, and get ahead of customers. Instacart, for example, makes 300 million grocery item replacements using data to predict the best recommendations for its shoppers. 

2. Convenience e-commerce, not just convenience stores 

Grocery e-commerce accelerated during the pandemic, and it’s here to stay. Shoppers enjoy the convenience of online grocery pick-up and delivery, but still want to shop in stores. Our 2022 Shopper Experience Index found that 64% of shoppers enjoy hybrid shopping that blends both worlds. 

Everyone shops with their phones in hand. Being able to use your phone to scan products and get information about items adds value to the grocery shopping experience. So does visiting an e-commerce grocery site and seamlessly loading up your shopping cart and checking out quickly. No matter how and where they shop, consumers expect similar pricing, promotions, and products in stock across channels, as well as personalized recommendations and deals. 

Retailers and brands must take an omnichannel approach and stop thinking about online and in-store shopping as separate entities. Grocery store chain Albertsons, for example, has debuted several digital tools, including curated shopping lists, online meal planning, ready-made meal delivery, and a scan-and-pay mobile tool.

And to create value for omnichannel shoppers, Instacart launched several in-store tools, including electronic shelf tags, smart carts, and digital list-making.

3. Lean into social commerce and shoppable moments 

People already spend hours on their phones every day — checking email and scrolling through their social media feeds. But now they’re looking for things to buy, too.

While most brands already sell products on social media, there’s huge opportunities for you to jump on the grocery marketing trend of social commerce by utilizing shoppable content.

Expanding e-commerce beyond your website to social media and even partner sites and email lets you get in front of shoppers wherever they are — and inspire their shopping journeys. Grocery may be behind other industries when it comes to social shopping, but it’s rapidly catching up.

Consumers just want the content to be authentic (more on that below), showcasing real people in real situations. If it feels too scripted, it’ll be a turn-off. 

Some ways grocery brands are embracing social commerce and shoppable content include shoppable recipes that link directly to grocery e-commerce sites to purchase ingredients. Shoppable live streaming and short videos are other avenues that brands are exploring, according to brands featured at Groceryshop. These features let shoppers learn about products and purchase them in real time. 

4. Make sure your messaging is authentic 

Being authentic gains consumer trust, which will inspire them to become loyalists. Younger consumers, especially, expect brands to show up authentically, actively support causes, and share their values. Lean into storytelling to connect with consumers—and make sure your content reflects the real world. 

For example, center messaging around affordability and deals to connect with customers as food prices are rising and budgets are stretched. Online grocery shoppers or those who embrace hybrid shopping still care about speed and convenience, but the desire for lower prices remains their priority. 

One way to drive authenticity is with user-generated content (UGC). UGC isn’t necessarily a new grocery marketing trend as much as it is a proven method to consistently boost e-commerce sales. 50% of consumers want to see UGC on brand and retail webpages and social channels. According to the 8,000 global consumers we surveyed, this is because:

So give shoppers what they want. Share photos from real customers using products or discussing how they use a certain ingredient in new and exciting ways. This visual UGC connects with consumers more so than professional, highly stylized shots and makes them want to buy things.

And, don’t sleep on written UGC either — retail giants like Walmart are already prioritizing this. Make sure your products feature plenty of ratings and reviews, which are an easy method of boosting shopper confidence and inspiring purchases. The combination of the two as an unbeatable combo.

Working with influencers also heightens authenticity. Consumers trust influencers as much as they trust family and friend recommendations and are inspired to purchase based on their suggestions. 

5. Showcase sustainability initiatives 

More Americans are moving toward plant-based diets and seeking to live more sustainable lifestyles. In a recent Bazaarvoice survey of 25,000 global shoppers, 60% of respondents said that sustainable/eco-friendly products are important to them.

U.S. sales of plant-based foods alone grew 6.2% in 2021 reaching $7.4 billion, which is an all-time high, according to the Plant Based Foods Association. Food brands and grocery retailers should emphasize their plant-based offerings to attract these customers.

Consumers are concerned about other aspects of sustainability, too. You can connect with them by highlighting your environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies and values, related to supply chain, packaging, and food production. Not only is this what shoppers want, but they’re willing to pay more for it.

Shoppers think brands have a responsibility to make the world a better place, and they’re more likely to buy items that have a positive impact on the environment. Our own research shows that 51% of consumers look at brand websites for information about their sustainable practices, and they want more content from brands about these initiatives. 

Sustainability isn’t exclusively a grocery marketing trend but with today’s consumers, especially Gen Z, will to pay more for green prodcuts, it’s an effective way to drive e-commerce growth.

6. Retail media networks

Retail media networks are a hot grocery marketing trend, expected to only get hotter with retail giants like Amazon and Walmart already in on the act. But first you might be asking what a retail media network (RMN) actually is?

Similar to a brand retailer partnership, a retail media network is where a retailer gives its brand advertising partners access to its first-party customer data and channels, like SMS, email, e-commerce site, and physical stores. This allows for better engagement with customers along the buying journey and allows brands to reach customers while they’re already in the purchasing mindset.

Essentially, the retailer becomes the vendor and the brand becomes the buyer.

This speaks back to our first trend of customer data, because, as Chrissie Hughes of Kelloggs explained during Groceryshop, it’s difficult to get the historically siloed CPG sector to solve problems and approach new opportunities only based on data. This is where retail media networks come in — a single source of data that provides improved insights and better decision making.

Stay tuned for more grocery marketing trends

The grocery sector has seen lots of changes over the past few years. Arguably more than any other. And it’s always on the move. The key to success is always staying on top of emerging trends. But for now, focusing on these grocery marketing trends will help you connect with shoppers in authentic ways, ensuring you maintain healthy e-commerce sales now and well into 2023.

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Shopper preference report 2022

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More and more brands today are using product sampling campaigns to generate user-generated content (UGC) in the form of ratings and reviews. Why? To boost awareness and increase conversions. Bazaarvoice found that for every 50 samples we send, we get about 45 reviews back. Even if a product has just five reviews, purchase likelihood is 270% greater than for a product with no reviews.

T2 is a brand that aims to turn the traditional art of brewing tea on its head and create a community of tea lovers. They knew they needed to get creative to get shoppers to fill their cups. So, they recently launched product sampling campaigns to put their products right in front of customers. This way they can try before they buy.

The brand sells over 100 teas, and employees travel the earth to find the best quality ingredients for their products. While T2 is a global brand with physical stores in five countries, it’s had to rely on its e-commerce presence and product sampling during the COVID-19 pandemic because brick-and-mortar stores were closed. 

T2: Launching a new tea 

UGC is a brand’s greatest asset. The majority of shoppers (92%) trust peer recommendations more than brands or retailers. Plus, one Bazaarvoice study found that 77% of U.S. online shoppers read reviews before purchasing for more than half the products they buy. When customers understand more about products, they buy more. It’s really that simple.

T2 understands the power of UGC. The brand was set to launch a new tea in 2020 but knew that customers would be hesitant to buy a product they couldn’t actually taste. That’s why they partnered with Bazaarvoice to send samples to their most loyal customers and our Influenster community to gather UGC for the new product. 

In our brand new case study, we detail how T2 executed this product sampling strategy to help customers overcome purchase hesitation. T2 then uses the actionable insights they gain from UGC to inform business decisions. Like which discontinued products should be brought back. 

We also showcase how T2 took advantage of their increase in UGC to upgrade their marketing materials, like in-store displays, website banners, and email campaigns. 

Read the full case study here to discover exactly how the global tea brand increased conversion by 174%. Not to mention a significant increase in revenue per visitor. Read the full success story here. 

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Building sampling into a successful brand strategy

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The Australia-based tea maker T2 successfully creates brand loyalty and fosters a sense of community among customers. How? By empowering loyal customers to share their experiences, as Sally Lennox, Head of Digital at T2, explains below.

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