Asia is currently ground zero for one of the biggest advances in the history of food. The need to feed booming populations, the emergence of incredible new food technologies, new ethics around food production and an influx of investor capital have brought together the best minds and ideas in the world.
Innovations such as cultivated, microbial and precision fermented and plant-based meat are just a few of the innovations that will transform how we feed more people with fewer resources in the years ahead.
For food tech startups, there is no better place to be. But it’s a crowded marketplace with intense competition for the attention of investors and potential partners. Creating a strong and compelling profile is key to making your startup stand out from the crowd.
This article will suggest three proven communications strategies that every food tech startup can use to create a strong foundation for success.
Craft the right story for your brand
People are hardwired to remember stories. While science, facts and numbers are vital parts of what you communicate about your business, it’s a compelling story that can truly set you apart.
I’ve spent most of my career creating strong narratives across a range of industries. I’ve seen first-hand just how powerful a rich, well-targeted brand story can be in cutting through the clamour.
A well-crafted story not only addresses a problem and offers a solution but also conveys a company’s purpose and values in an inspiring way. The best brand stories are:
- Authentic
- Focused on the customer
- Clear, simple, colourful and memorable
- Supported by facts and research
- Consistent no matter where it is told
- Reflective of your brand’s personality
The company in which I currently work, Nurasa, recently organised a food tech startup challenge wherein global startups participated, leading the way in sustainable food innovations to unlock growth opportunities.
During one of the learning sessions for the selected startup finalists, the chief growth and branding officers of the world’s leading food tech startups shared first-hand how finding and promoting your brand proposition is more critical than ever as players pile into the market chasing the same share of voice and growth opportunities.
In the area of alternative protein, we see many companies focusing on the amazing new technology in their pipeline when telling their stories.
While technology will always be a big part of their narrative, it’s also important they don’t lose sight of the fact that food is at the heart of what they do, and food isn’t just about science, but quality, taste, goodness, occasions, experiences and memories.
Ultimately, the story should resonate with consumers, evoke something on an emotional level and explain how your innovations translate into a quality dining experience.
Industries such as alternative proteins are in their infancy. Huge strides have been made in recent years in scaling solutions, building awareness and highlighting the ethical and nutritional benefits. But it is all just getting started.
As well as promoting your brand, your story should also seek to advance knowledge and understanding of alternative protein to help ensure your customer base is ready to grow when you are.
Humanise the business
People relate to people. Putting faces behind the business immediately creates a relatable and authentic connection with your audiences.
This is important in a crowded marketplace. All other things being equal, potential partners, investors and customers are more likely to gravitate to the business they feel they know and trust – and personal connections are the way to achieve this.
The faces of your startup are most likely to be those of the founding team. But what matters as much as their journey and their vision is the experience of the end user.
People want to know if the product delivers on its promise. Telling the stories of those who have been uplifted by the business, who have enjoyed the product and who can’t wait to tell others is a powerful and effective way to build a trustworthy and authentic brand.
A great example is my colleague, Nurasa’s Head of Business Development, Jolene Lum. She was key to raising the profile of Urban Tiller, an agritech start-up she founded in 2020.
Also Read: Continue to push boundaries and create value: Jolene Lum of Nurasa
While working with local farmers as a co-founder of an education venture, she gained an understanding of the challenges farmers faced maintaining their operations and way of life in land-constrained Singapore. This led her to create Urban Tiller, where she worked with farmers as a distributor and used their stories to raise awareness about the value local produce brought to Singapore’s food security.
Her work gave the farmers a voice and brought their lives into focus for a wide audience. This emotional connection compelled audiences to answer the call and support farmers’ livelihoods.
Network, network, network
Networking is essential for any business, but particularly so for startups. Businesses grow and flourish on a diet of connections. The more people who know about you, the larger the pool of people who can help – as partners, investors, key contacts, your biggest fans and even staff.
But many startups stumble at the how – they don’t know where to find the right platforms for networking.
One of the most exhilarating and fulfilling aspects of my current role has been discovering that the impact of communications extends beyond my company’s target audience, contributing to the growth and dynamism of the overall ecosystem in which our business operates.
Alongside my colleagues Jolene and Andrew Chee, Programme Manager for Nurasa’s Food Tech Innovation Centre [FTIC], we have been appointed as FoodHack Singapore Ambassadors by FoodHack, an influential global, Swiss-based community-driven platform for the food tech and climate tech ecosystem.
As Ambassadors, we have been organising exciting, fun, yet educational MeetUps for Singapore’s food tech community in the FTIC, providing opportunities for founders and funders to network and socialise in an informal setting.
In February and again in June this year, we’ve had an amazing turnout for our first and second FoodHack Singapore Meetups for the local food tech community. We brought in industry experts, including the Good Food Institute’s (GFI) President and Founder, Bruce Friedrich, GFI Vice President – Science and Technology Liz Specht, GFI APAC Managing Director Mirte Gosker, Esco Aster Pte Ltd CEO Xiangliang (XL) Lin, ScaleUp Bio CEO Francisco M. Codoñer, and Next Gen Foods COO Alex Ward, for fireside chats to unpack timely topics such as the region’s challenges and opportunities in pilot-scale manufacturing for alternative proteins, or the impact of science and technology in accelerating consumer acceptance of alternative proteins.
We’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees, who’ve enjoyed opportunities to network with a room of people relevant to their business and their vision.
For this, I’m immensely humbled and grateful to be in a position to help build and engage our ecosystem as we begin to expand our partner network and welcome more start-ups to our Food Tech Innovation Centre (FTIC), and look forward to organising regular networking events. These events will, hopefully, facilitate mutually beneficial connections that will advance the sector as a whole.
Also Read: Everything you should know about the future of futuristic food technology
Empowering startups’ stories in riding the wave of transformation
Food tech in Asia is an incredible story of a transformation in full swing.
Last year saw funding for alternative proteins across Asia-Pacific increase by 43 per cent as soaring demand for protein, increased climate disruption, and water and land scarcity placed further pressure on conventional animal agriculture.
Regional startups have been going from strength to strength, and governments are throwing in their support. The technology continues to advance at speed.
It is clear that the way forward will not be easy, but success will rely in large part on being able to stand out from the crowd and communicate a better and more sustainable future. Getting noticed, building partnerships and changing attitudes will be key to alternative protein’s growth story. There is no better time to seize the opportunity to turn innovation into a successful commercial reality, feed the world and shape the future.
What a story, hey?
All the elements for an enthralling narrative are in place: the struggles and failures, the tension and drama, a purpose-driven, world-changing vision propelling a global cast of vivid and colourful characters, the successes, triumphs and celebrations. And I’m one of the lucky ones who’ve managed to nab a prime front-row seat and get a chance to tell these stories.
So, tell me: what’s your start-up story?
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