Influencer Marketing In 2026: What Actually Drives Sales For Food & Drink Brands?

The Craft of Ice Cream - Building a Luxury Heritage Brand with Granny Gothards

Scaling a premium food brand sounds exciting… until you actually have to do it. Because growth often brings pressure. More volume. More demand. More complexity. And with that comes the risk of losing the very thing that made customers fall in love with your product in the first place. In Episode 24 of Fuelling Foodies: The Food Marketing Podcast, Kate sits down with Amanda Ringelberg [https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-ringelberg-23364063/], CEO of Granny Gothards, the award-winning luxury ice cream brand built on craftsmanship, provenance and doing things properly. Over the last 14 years, Amanda has grown Granny Gothards from a small artisan producer into a nationally recognised premium brand, whilst staying true to the quality, people and values that sit at the heart of the business. Together they discuss: * How to scale an artisan food brand without compromising quality * Why premium brands need to communicate value before customers buy * The power of getting your product into the right hands * What founders often misunderstand about premium positioning * Managing growth whilst protecting brand identity * Understanding who your ideal customer really is * Why your team becomes your greatest asset as you scale * Amanda's biggest lessons from 14 years of building a successful food brand Whether you're building a challenger brand, scaling an established business, or trying to position your products more effectively, this episode is packed with practical insights from a founder who's done it for over a decade. LINKS & RESOURCES: * Follow @granny_gothards [https://www.instagram.com/granny_gothards/] and explore their luxury ice creams. [https://grannygothards.co.uk/] * Join the Food Marketing Club [https://www.foodmarketingclub.co.uk/] for just £57/month - your monthly hub for digital marketing strategies, templates, and support * Want tailored strategy support? Book a Strategy Call with Kate [https://kwmarketinguk.co.uk/food-marketing-agency/] * Follow @kwmarketinguk [https://www.instagram.com/kwmarketinguk] for food & drink marketing insights, email tips & digital strategy If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow founder building their brand - we love seeing how you're fuelling your growth 🔥

Influencer Marketing In 2026: What Actually Drives Sales For Food & Drink Brands?

Most food & drink brands don't have an influencer marketing strategy. They have a gifting list. Free product gets sent out. A few stories get posted. Everyone feels busy. But sales? Not so much. In Episode 23 of Fuelling Foodies: The Food Marketing Podcast, we unpack what influencer marketing actually looks like in 2026, and why so many brands are still getting it wrong. Because influencer marketing isn't dead. But blindly sending product and hoping for results definitely is. From choosing the right creators and understanding the difference between UGC and influencer content, to tracking performance properly and turning visibility into revenue, this episode breaks down the practical reality of influencer marketing for modern food & drink brands. Plus, the team debates whether influencer campaigns should be judged on direct sales, why micro-creators continue to outperform expectations, and why different generations buy in completely different ways. Here’s what we cover: * Why influencer marketing still works in 2026 * The biggest mistakes food & drink brands make * How to choose the right creators for your brand * Micro vs macro influencers * Why UGC and influencer content aren't the same thing * How to track influencer performance properly * How to brief influencers effectively * Building long-term creator relationships * How to repurpose influencer content into paid ads Whether you're spending £100 or £10,000 on influencer activity, this episode will help you approach it with far more clarity, confidence, and commercial focus. Because the goal isn't more influencers. It's better marketing. LINKS & RESOURCES: * Download our free guide: The Email Playbook [https://kwmarketinguk.co.uk/email-playbook-food-drink/] - How one food & drink brand made £56.7K in email sales (with no extra ad spend!) * Ready to level up? Join the Food Marketing Club [https://FuellingFoodies:TheFoodMarketingPodcast,] for more email strategies and support. * Need help with marketing? Book a Strategy Call with Kate [https://kwmarketinguk.co.uk/food-marketing-agency/] Subscribe, share, and leave us a review if this episode made you rethink your strategy and tag us @kwmarketinguk [https://www.instagram.com/kwmarketinguk/] to join the conversation.

Inside the Coastal Spirit - How Salcombe Gin Became a Premium Icon

Most premium drinks brands don’t fail because of the product… they fail because they can’t stand out. And in a category like gin, where every bottle looks beautiful on the shelf, that’s a serious challenge. In Episode 22 of Fuelling Foodies: The Food Marketing Podcast, Kate sits down with Howard Davies [https://www.linkedin.com/in/hodavies/], Co-Founder of Salcombe Gin, to unpack how the brand became one of the UK’s most recognisable premium coastal spirits brands. From market positioning and storytelling to loyalty, experiences and luxury branding, this episode explores what it actually takes to build a premium drinks brand people remember, emotionally connect with, and buy into long term. Because premium brands don’t just sell products. They sell a world people want to be part of. Here’s what we cover: * How Salcombe Gin was built from a shared love of sailing, spirits and the Devon coast * The importance of storytelling in saturated categories * How packaging, design and detail shape perception * Why emotional connection drives long-term loyalty * Creating a lifestyle brand instead of just selling a product * Scaling without diluting brand identity * Partnerships, collaborations and experiential marketing * The future of the premium gin category This episode is especially valuable for premium food & drink brands looking to stand out in crowded markets, strengthen brand positioning, and create deeper customer loyalty. If you’re building a premium brand, this episode will change the way you think about storytelling, experience and growth. LINKS & RESOURCES: * Follow @salcombegin [https://www.instagram.com/salcombegin/] and explore their luxurious spirits. [https://salcombegin.com/] * Join the Food Marketing Club [https://www.foodmarketingclub.co.uk/] for just £57/month - your monthly hub for digital marketing strategies, templates, and support * Want tailored strategy support? Book a Strategy Call with Kate [https://kwmarketinguk.co.uk/food-marketing-agency/] * Follow @kwmarketinguk [https://www.instagram.com/kwmarketinguk] for food & drink marketing insights, email tips & digital strategy If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow founder building their brand — we love seeing how you're fuelling your growth 🔥

Your Q2 Growth Plan: What to Test, Build & Stop Wasting Money On

Brands don’t stall in Q4. They stall in Q2… and only realise it later. While many food & drink brands wait until peak season to scale, smart brands use Q2 to build the foundations that drive predictable growth later in the year. In Episode 21 of Fuelling Foodies: The Food Marketing Podcast, we break down what food & drink brands should actually be focusing on between April and June - what to test, where to invest, and what to stop wasting money on before Q4 arrives. Because when peak season hits, it’s too late to fix your foundations. Here’s what we cover: * Why Q2 is the most important growth window for food & drink brands * Why creative is now the biggest performance driver (not targeting) * How bundles can increase AOV by 15–30% * Why selling occasions converts better than selling products * The biggest wasted spend we’re seeing right now * Why acquiring new customers in Q4 is often the wrong strategy * Why testing now leads to stronger Q4 performance This episode is especially useful for food & drink brands doing £20K–£100K per month who want more predictable, profitable growth heading into peak season. If you're planning for Q4, this episode is your Q2 roadmap. LINKS & RESOURCES: * Buy your #FUELLIVE tickets here [https://kwmarketinguk.co.uk/product/fuel-live-2026-food-drink-marketing-event/]! * Download our free guide: The Email Playbook [https://kwmarketinguk.co.uk/email-playbook-food-drink/] - How one food & drink brand made £56.7K in email sales (with no extra ad spend!) * Ready to level up? Join the Food Marketing Club [https://FuellingFoodies:TheFoodMarketingPodcast,] for more email strategies and support. * Need help with marketing? Book a Strategy Call with Kate [https://kwmarketinguk.co.uk/food-marketing-agency/] Subscribe, share, and leave us a review if this episode made you rethink your strategy and tag us @kwmarketinguk [https://www.instagram.com/kwmarketinguk/] to join the conversation.

Penrhos Spirits on Building A Premium Spirits Brand: Retail, TV Ads & The Reality Of Scaling

In this episode of Fuelling Foodies: The Food & Drink Marketing Podcast, Kate sits down with Harriet, Co-Founder and Marketing Director of Penrhos Spirits - a beautifully British farm-led gin brand turning wonky fruit into premium spirits. What started as a farming problem, £30,000 worth of unsellable strawberries, became the foundation for a challenger gin brand now stocked nationally in Sainsbury’s, sold across Amazon and travel retail, and recognised for its pioneering recycled aluminium packaging. Harriet shares the honest story behind building a spirits brand from a family farm in Herefordshire, navigating one of the most competitive categories in food and drink, and the reality of scaling when your product suddenly lands on 400 supermarket shelves. We spoke about: 1. The Penrhos origin story - how a surplus of fruit sparked the idea for a gin brand 2. Why provenance, transparency and “price with justification” matter more than ever 3. Standing out in the crowded gin category 4. What really happens after landing a national retail listing 5. The moment Penrhos aired its first Sky TV advert (and what it did for sales) 6. Community-led marketing: farm tours, “Sip & Walk” experiences and founder storytelling 7. The realities of scaling a family business - from big wins to “can we actually sustain this?” moments 8. Why collaborations, partnerships and email marketing are powerful growth levers for challenger brands If you're building a food or drink brand right now, particularly in a competitive category, this episode is packed with real founder insight on how to grow while staying true to your brand! LINKS & RESOURCES: 1. Follow @penrhosspirits [https://www.instagram.com/penrhosspirits/] and explore their premium spirits [https://www.penrhosspirits.co.uk/]. 2. Join the Food Marketing Club [https://www.foodmarketingclub.co.uk/] for just £57/month - your monthly hub for digital marketing strategies, templates, and support 3. Want tailored strategy support? Book a Strategy Call with Kate [https://kwmarketinguk.co.uk/food-marketing-agency/] 4. Follow @kwmarketinguk [https://www.instagram.com/kwmarketinguk] for food & drink marketing insights, email tips & digital strategy If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow founder building their brand — we love seeing how you're fuelling your growth 🔥