Business

Sandy Hu Food Marketing LLC is a marketing communications agency with a singular focus on food, beverages and food-related products. It was founded on the more than 25 years of experience of Sandy Hu, who also maintains a position as senior vice president at Ketchum, which is considered an international top-ten agency with one of largest food practices in the world.

SANDY HU FOOD MARKETING PHILOSOPHY: Food marketing is about the FOOD first. All strategies, messaging and ultimately, communications, derive from understanding the consumer benefits of the food or food-related product and its performance against competitors. It is critical to experience the product first-hand in its totality – how it looks, how it works, how it fits within the target’s lifestyle and needs – as the first step in developing a communications plan.

With its commitment to understanding the food first, Sandy Hu Food Marketing has invested in building a professional kitchen where food products can be tested and reviewed. The full-equipped kitchen is shown as the iconic banner photo on this site.

Food marketing is unlike marketing any other category of product. Our relationship with food is intimate – we put it in our body. And constant – we need it daily. It can evoke visceral emotion, ranging from passion for the foods we love, to fear over issues of food safety. The equipment we use to prepare the food is an extension of this relationship

BUILDING YOUR TEAM: Sandy Hu Food Marketing is built around a network of like-minded food professionals. With her broad connections, Sandy Hu can selectively bring together the specific talents and experiences required to customize a team to fit any client needs. This model creates an organization that’s both flexible and nimble. Whether the assignment calls for a team of seasoned public relations professionals, media specialists, issues experts or food specialists – chefs, cooking teachers, recipe developers, cookbook authors, food technologists, registered dietitians or former food editors – Sandy Hu can orchestrate the right combination of talents to get the job done successfully.

EXPERIENCE COUNTS: There are no guaranteed media placements in public relations. So how do you pick the right agency? The underpinnings for success include: solid understanding of the client’s business and of the food business, smart strategic thinking, creativity, and flawless execution using an arsenal of tactics on command and the experience to know which ones work best for which end result. As a food marketing veteran and as a current member of the food media (she is a freelance writer who keeps her public relations work and clients separate from her writing), Sandy Hu knows what works.

CONNECTIONS HELP: Sandy Hu has built relationships of trust with food media and other food influencers. She is highly networked within the national food community. She is a member of many professional organizations including the International Association of Culinary Professionals; San Francisco Professional Food Society; and Les Dames d’Escoffier, the elite food and beverage organization where membership is by invitation only.