Consuming heritage: The use of local food culture in branding

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to examine how specialised food marketing consultants interpret local and regional food culture and locality in branding food products to match consumer ideals. Interview data were collected from eight food marketing consultants. The interviews were conducted in two parts: semi-structured interviews, followed by confrontation with actual ‘stimulus products’. The data were analysed using current theories on country-of-origin. Results indicate that an association to an alleged origin in a local or regional food culture is seen as an attractive way to interest the urban consumer in new food product brands. The marketing consultants conceive of local and regional food culture as an invention to reflect urban consumers' ideas of the countryside.