A founder’s story: what’s your name and where do you come from?

How can a founder’s story add depth to your food or drink brand? 

The founder’s story is somewhat ubiquitous with modern food and drinks brands. It is the equivalent of that bit on Britain’s Got Talent where they tell a short sob story before they start their synchronised dog routine.  

These stories, often found on the back of a pack, bottle or menu – and almost always found in the ‘Our Story’ section of a website – act as a potted history of how the company was founded and the journey they have been on since. While many industries have this sort of story, it is extremely prevalent in the food and drink sector as it aligns the brand with the notion of an artisan: Someone who loves the craft and the graft, on a mission against the world to create the perfect tabasco, cider, rhubarb tart, or whatever the next big brand is. 

So exactly why do brands need to tell these stories, and what does it add to the consumer perception and experience? 

To show that they are real: A brand of character, not a Unilever / own brand but something created with an intent and a recipe.  

To create a good company culture: Attracting the right employees, showing who you are to key partners, and setting out your stall for trade.  

The key components: A hero’s journey.  

Most of the founders’ stories I read follow a classic story setup, a simple beginning, middle and end.  

1. The eureka moment/something which started the process. ‘ 

I was at a dinner party when I discovered… I was on holiday when I first tried…  

2. Humble beginnings. Can this become a business? 

Starting on the kitchen table, trying to make a viable product.  

3. Initial signs of success/acclaim from loyal fans 

People were queueing out of the door… we were struggling to cope with the orders.  

4. A step towards legitimacy  

We opened our flagship store… We got investment from a larger business… we bought a factory.  

 5. Where we are today yet staying true to our roots.  

We are now in x many stores worldwide… we continue to innovate with new products…  

This is the standard story, but the brands that add a bit more of their character, tell a much more compelling yarn. I spent some time reading from a wide selection of origin stories to explore where these tales can add depth to your brand.  

How can a good founder story add depth to your brand? 

A bit more detail about the person.  

I love that Candy Kitten’s story doesn’t start with ‘Jamie had an idea to change the category’, their story starts with ‘His love of sweets’ (and the obligatory picture of the founder as a child).  

It makes sense because most people know who Jamie is and they know that he was already successful, so the storytelling is more interesting to bring it back to his childhood. It feels more real. Not only that but a key consumer of this product is young people, so what a smart way to connect to the need to sell better quality sweets to children.  

Why do people love you? 

The story of your brand isn’t just what you have done along the way, it is the people who have been there with you and supported you. Boldspace was lucky to be part of the international launch of the Greek Food brand DODONI. In Greece, DODONI is a household name, but in other markets, they are a relatively unknown challenger brand so for us to tell the story authentically it was worthwhile communicating that they are ‘Greece’s number 1 Feta’, because then the new consumer immediately understands this is a quality product with an important seal of approval.  

Make it feel like a documentary.  

To immerse the reader more brands, utilise historical documents, memories and often time-line style design 

Almost every founder story has Polaroid-style photographs of their early years (I never realised how many people had access to Polaroid cameras!). The brands that bring their story to life do so with subtle storytelling and real anecdotes. 

Hackney Gelato’s long and colourful founder story has great small details; the time they were almost sued (more than once in their story), the importance they give to landmark moments in their journey – ‘A hip new restaurant called Smokestak was opening in Shoreditch. They wanted a toasted oak ice cream for their menu’ – and a feeling of great honesty: ‘Sam got a message from his family in Sheffield to say they had just bought a tub in their local supermarket and had a little cry on the overground.’  

How can we inject some modern storytelling techniques into founder stories? 

There is a massive, missed opportunity for video.  

If I click on your site to read ‘your story’ I could watch a 60-second video, instead, I must scroll through long timelines.  

Video allows you to not just tell the story directly, but you can also  

-               Revisit that first shop. 

-               Hear the voice of the founder.  

-               Meet that first employee.  

-               Walk into the supermarket to see where you are now.  

Find the right story for you.  

If your brand is about challenging the status quo and moving an industry forward, make your story about that.  

If your brand is about a character, the founder, their passion and idiosyncrasies, make the story about that.  

These stories will continue to be told because we all love to go behind the scenes, it is what makes Diary of a CEO, the Apprentice or Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares so compelling; but they cannot all sound the same.  

The warts and all storytelling will bring the reader closer and add so much more depth to your brand.