Why storytelling is so important – and how to do it well

I love feeling connected to the food that I eat and being able to talk about the people behind the brands. Even if supermarkets put pictures of their farmers on their packs, it does feel really different to being able to say “oh I picked this up from this great stall at my farmers market and they are so lovely”.

In my world, I am lucky enough to meet my fair share of founders. I recently met the team behind both Warrendale Wagyu, the Yorkshire family farming business that has, since 2017, built a network of more than 750 British farmers rearing wagyu cattle, and Girl Gone Wild, Mel Phipps’s Yorkshire start-up turning wild venison into Great Taste award-winning ready meals. Both brands have great products but they also have great stories.

Why does it matter?

The question one has to ask is am I just an outlier in valuing this stuff or does it matter to others. I recently commissioned some research with The Staff Canteen with 122 chefs and operators across the UK and it’s clear I am not alone. Nearly eight in 10 agreed that diners value transparency and storytelling around ingredients.

Asked which provenance claim matters most to their customers, “local” came first by a distance: 65% ranked it top, ahead of high animal welfare (32%) and lower carbon footprint (30%).

Strikingly, it is chefs outside London (67%) who say local provenance is the claim that matters most to their diners. And it pays: 71% said they could charge more for verified provenance, with more than a third adding 6% or more to the bill.

This insight should matter to the specialty food scene as this is a story they can tell really well. Put your egg producer’s name on the shelf talker, not just “local eggs”: the farm, the family, the breed. Give the start-up baker delivering your sourdough a counter card and the occasional Saturday tasting. Brief your team so that every one of them can say “I’ve met the maker” and mean it.

A supermarket can print “farm fresh” on a label; it cannot put a real name, a real face and a true story next to the price.

Make the most of the opportunity

Coming back to Girl Gone Wild, they believe we should all be eating more venison because it is both delicious and sustainable. Their ready meal format makes it accessible to those who are fearful of cooking a protein they don’t know how to handle.

Citizens of Soil are curating a regular stream of unique olive oils that champion small-scale growers and help take the guesswork out of what is good. So often I walk around a farm shop and feel like the storytelling is lacking. Big brands can’t tell stories with the authenticity of a local grower – and independents should be milking it for all it’s worth.