Spending time outside, connecting with friends and family, and trying new foods—the perfect outing. With the weather cooling down and the holidays right around the corner, food festivals and markets are happening in cities worldwide, showcasing new food and beverage companies, iconic cuisine that reflects the cultural landscape, and innovation in the food and beverage industry. For food and beverage startups, this means the opportunity to present your creation to a wide, local demographic, which can transform into your newest and most loyal consumers. Not only can local food festivals allow small businesses to grow their consumer base, but they also promote networking and connections with top contenders in your local food scene.

I asked our PR and growth experts: How can startup food and beverage companies make an everlasting impact on attendees of food festivals? What steps should be taken by startup food & beverage brands to prepare for food festivals/markets? How can small food and beverage companies build brand loyalty through short interactions with potential consumers? Where can startup food and beverage companies find resources to be a part of food festivals?

Here are the experts' insights:

• Create a memorable, sensory experience
• Take time for genuine, meaningful interactions
• Create interaction through small experiences
• Practice the process of explaining a product in less than 20 seconds
• Speed of service and vibe of your stall
• Personalize fast—ask ‘sweet, savory, or spicy?’
• The most powerful experiences are around your positive energy
• Serve tasty products with a memorable story

Create a memorable, sensory experience

Tyler Desjardins, Owner at Pivot Creative Media

"When it comes to food festivals, first impressions matter. Startup food and beverage companies should focus on creating a memorable, sensory experience. Think beyond the taste itself. The booth setup, signage, and even the way staff talk about the product all contribute to how people remember you. A short, authentic story — why you started, what makes your product different, or a cultural tie — can make a brand stick with someone long after the sample is gone.

Preparation is everything. Have a clear system for sampling, collecting feedback, and capturing contact information. Something as simple as a QR code for social media or an incentive to join a mailing list can turn a five-second taste test into a long-term relationship. Small companies often underestimate how much brand loyalty can come from genuine, personal conversations at these events. A smile and a short story can build more connection than a flashy display.

Finally, resources are often closer than many founders realize. Local chambers of commerce, tourism boards, and even city event calendars regularly post calls for vendors. Networking with other small food businesses is another way to get leads on upcoming markets and festivals. Getting in early is key since spots can fill quickly, especially around the holidays."

Take time for genuine, meaningful interactions

Danyon Togia, Founder at Expert SEO

"Funnily enough - I gig almost every weekend at food and beverage markets in NZ.

Here's a link to me at one of them - this was early in the morning, but usually it gets to the point where there's at least 100 people in there for four hours straight.

So every weekend I see first-hand what the most popular stalls/businesses are doing to attract the most people that keep coming back.

Here are my observations:

1. Samples. The busiest stalls offer their best, most popular samples for people to try. Even if the people don't purchase, they'll have samples at the front of their stall and they get someone to walk around the event and hand out samples to people, too.

2. Preparation is key. I always see the stall owners setting up as I'm setting up for my gig. Layout/presentation of their product seems to be super important. The positioning of each product, which goes at the front vs which goes at the back.

3. It may sound cliche but the stall owners who have the most positive interactions are always the friendly stall owners. They're happy to take time to genuinely have honest, meaningful interactions even not related to the product. Then, they're also the most educated about their product; whenever the customers have questions, they have answer's ready-to-go."

Create interaction through small experiences

Joel Lim, Finance Expert at Becoin.Net

"Does a food and beverage startup create an everlasting impact at a food festival by creating experiences or just by selling products?

This can go all the way—from having an interactive tasting station to giving out stories about the brand to little takeaways that act as reminders of the brand days after the event.

Preparation includes the company having an understanding of the festival audience, perfecting product presentation, and training their staff to efficiently engage with festival attendees on the spot.

Interaction through small experiences, bits of information about the ingredients, and an engaging social media conversation during and after the event all can translate to brand loyalty.

Sources for getting involved in food festivals: local chamber of commerce; event directories; industry associations; networking—that's a good way to get started with other vendors and food incubators in the region.

When they spend ample time on strategic preparation, interactive tasting experiences, and revisiting outreach, small food and beverage startups will be able to easily transform casual tasters into loyal customers."

Practice the process of explaining a product in less than 20 seconds

Miguel Angel Gongora Meza, Founder & Director at Evolution Treks Peru

"The biggest blunder that a new food or beverage firm can commit when visiting a festival is to turn up without any idea on how to narrate a story. Individuals do not forget tastes. They recall the face behind the product, the genesis of an idea or the work that went into getting an ingredient. Telling that anecdote with good humour turns a booth into a stall. It makes it a memory.

Bigger than printing banners is preparation. It is practicing the process of explaining a product in less than 20 seconds and investing in the presentation making it inviting and thinking through every aspect of the senses starting with the odor of the product, to the material the guest is about to hold in their hands. Even a small staff should plan on traffic by rotating shifts, preparing twice the amount of their most selling foods and would even rehearse on the movement of people to ensure that no one goes home without taste.

The brand loyalty in a one-on-one interaction increases when the guests leave with an item which can be used back at home. A sample bag worth a dollar, a card with a recipe idea or a QR-code that leads to a lively video makes the relationship continue off the tent.

Resource-finding usually begins with municipal tourism boards, chambers of commerce, and even cooperatives of vendors, which rent common spaces. There are also grant programs or lower entry fees offered in many cities, so it can be possible to get a booth without bursting budgets."

Speed of service and vibe of your stall

Deepak Shukla, Founder & CEO at Pearl Lemon Catering

"At Pearl Lemon Catering, we tell startups: don’t just hand out samples, stage a memory. At one London market, we gave out vegan sliders with neon-green buns. Half the crowd took selfies before taking a bite. That photo outlasted the taste, and suddenly our stand was the one everyone was posting about. If your booth isn’t Instagrammable, you’ve already lost.

The mistake most F&B startups make is over-prepping food and under-prepping logistics. Your power isn’t in the recipe, it’s in the speed of service and the vibe of your stall. I once saw a brilliant vegan taco brand run out of forks halfway through the day, they lost the lunch rush. Bring double the utensils, double the signage, and triple the energy. Your menu should be tight, not sprawling.

You’ve got 15 seconds to turn a stranger into a fan. Our trick is to teach them something quirky as they taste. For example, when handing someone matcha, we’d drop a fact like ‘This has more antioxidants than ten cups of green tea.’ Suddenly, it’s not just a drink, it’s a story they repeat to their friends. Education + taste = loyalty.

Festivals don’t list themselves in one neat place, you’ve got to hustle. We built our early pipeline by DM’ing organizers on Instagram, not waiting for forms on event websites. Start with local councils, farmers’ markets, and university event boards, they’re always looking for vendors who bring energy. Your first big break usually comes from a small gig."

Personalize fast—ask ‘sweet, savory, or spicy?’

Nadav Levy, Marketing Strategist

"Lead with one hero product and a 10-second story (what it is, how it’s made, why it’s different). Pair a memorable micro-ritual—a warm bite, a quick garnish, an aroma—with an instant QR→SMS offer so the moment becomes a purchase and a relationship.

Design the booth like a mini funnel: Attract (bold signage, aroma, motion), Demo (pre-portioned bites + one-liner), Convert (QR/SMS festival offer), Exit (card with reorder link). Do a one-hour stress test the week before: full setup, offline-capable POS, power/ice/water checks, permits/COI/temps, and a hand-wash kit.

Personalize fast—ask ‘sweet, savory, or spicy?’ and sample accordingly. Offer a festival-only ‘Founders Club’ (SMS/email), then follow up within 48 hours with a thank-you, the exact serving tip they tasted, and a one-click reorder.

Start with your city’s tourism board and chamber/BID calendars, plus farmers’ market associations and local food incubators. Monitor Eventbrite and vendor FB groups for open calls—and ask one organizer for intros to three more; good vendors travel by referral."

The most powerful experiences are around your positive energy

Riley Westbrook, Co-Founder at Valor Coffee

"The most powerful experiences are rarely based around just the product, but around the positive energy of the people. At Valor, when we began with a mobile coffee cart, we found people remembered us way more for the conversations and laughs we had while handing them a cup of coffee, than the actual drink itself. It is important for startup food and beverage companies to treat every interaction as if it could contribute to how customers remember their brand. If you can create a sense of happiness, warmth and authentic enthusiasm in your booth, people carry that long after the festival has ended.

Preparation is more than just bringing the right amount of product. The experience you create matters. Think about what your booth looks like from 50 feet away, how easy it is to order, and how quickly someone can understand what you are offering. Obviously, we kept our menu simple at our early events with three drinks - making lines shorter, service quicker and provided headspace to be present with each person. By streamlining the menu and design, startups can create an effortless experience for customers.

Loyalty can begin in seconds, and it often begins with a small gesture. A simple personal touch, such as remembering a name or offering a small extra sample, can change a random passerby into someone who comes back to find you. At Valor, we created so much good interaction with a group of people that 2 hours later they came back with 10 of their friends in tow to tell them they had to try our coffee. Not because of the drink, but because of the interaction that made them feel welcome. When building startups, the lesson is not to focus on the sales pitch, but rather the feeling someone has after talking to you.

Most cities have organizers who are excited to incorporate new food and beverage companies, so a direct message is frequently the quickest way to get started. We joined our first events by directly messaging local coordinators of markets who wanted variety and were thrilled about providing a new vendor with a chance. Another underutilized resource is your entire community. Their customers who believe in your product can often point them towards events or even help connect them with organizers. Those connections are often the pathways to opportunities which you may or may not find in a formal directory."

Serve tasty products with a memorable story

Mimi Nguyen, Founder at Cafely

"An impression that makes an everlasting impact can be achieved through serving tasty products with a memorable story. Taste brings customers to your booth, but a compelling story makes them remember your brand. This is how we market Cafely’s products. We do not only serve quality coffee products but we also share a story that will stay with the customers. For example, by posting our journey of sourcing in the local farms of Vietnam, we are building connections with our consumers while advertising our products.

I believe the best preparation is to rehearse and organize everything like it’s a performance. Segregate tasks, practice what’s the final setup, how the serving of food will go. Practice every process because a smooth operation builds more trust than a fancy signage.

Consumer loyalty can be built through giving small tokens and incentives. It can be discount codes, sample packs, or even a thank you sticker. These small details contribute by showing customers they are valued and appreciated. Just like at Cafely, we provide discounts to first time buyers and include appreciation notes in the box before shipping it.

Start small and local like city chambers of commerce, cultural associations, and entrepreneur groups because they often list upcoming festivals and markets before big outlets do. These may be small events but they are valuable, especially in building traction."

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