Guest Column: The importance of storytelling

By Elizabeth Horton

Strategic storytelling for the heroes of food, farming and fishing has taken me to cocoa forests in Madagascar, salmon farms in Patagonia, sugarbushes in Vermont and organic dairies in Wisconsin. Sense of place is powerful, and some of the best stories are at home in Maine.

Elizabeth Horton is president of Simmer Public Relations and a new MLMC board member.

In July, I joined more than 275 bakers, brewers, farmers and millers from across the country who descended upon downtown Skowhegan for a three-day gathering about whole grains. Although I learned and tasted a lot, my role at The Kneading Conference was strategic storyteller on behalf of The Maine Grain Alliance. The Kneading Conference not only supports Maine’s local grain economy but also has served as inspiration for conferences in other states and forged partnerships around the world. While sourdough, buckwheat chiffon cupcakes, grilled flatbreads and ice-cold IPA were on the menu, the main dish for the attending media was storytelling.

Strategic storytelling is the most effective approach to public relations. Complete with main characters, plot twists and setting, strategic storytelling fosters an emotional connection with audiences and connects them to their food system. The best stories in food not only tell where our food came from, but also who produced it, how, when, and why.

For The Kneading Conference, we started out storytelling about this year’s keynote speaker, an award-winning miller, baker and grain activist from North Carolina, and highly acclaimed and impressive presenters, including a Los Angeles baker and cookbook author. We skillfully landed local coverage on television and radio, and in print and online media. But what national reporters in Boston and New York really wanted were complete stories with sense of place, such as the revitalization of a small mill town, how a local grain economy was built, and why people were drawn year after year to a bread conference in Maine.

Journalists craved stories all along the food supply, including how Maine Grain Alliance executive director Tristan Noyes was raised by a farming family in Aroostook country and today runs an organic farm with his brother. They wanted to hear about Skowhegan resident Amber Lambke, who purchased an old jail and transformed it into a grist mill that is now the home of her company Maine Grains, and today works with 45 farmers and produces 2.5 million pounds of whole wheat flour, oats, spelt, buckwheat and all-purpose flour. They asked to learn more about Lambke’s twin sister, Heather Kerner, an occupational therapist turned grain entrepreneur who founded The Good Crust, a 100- percent whole grain pizza dough company that cooks nourishing pizza and creates inclusive work opportunities for Mainers with unique needs.

We interested a veteran food writer to join us in Skowhegan. She began her report reminiscing, “I’ll never forget the sense of wonder I felt as a young food writer discovering that every food had a story—cultural, environmental, usually both.”

As we revisit strategy for the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, we remember that storytelling and sense of place are integral to our marketing. In the past ten years, a lot has happened in the Maine lobster industry, which has weathered issues around right whales, certifications, climate change, decline in landings, a challenging economy, and COVID.

We’ve sensed competitive pressure from our northern neighbors and indirect competition from other seafood and proteins. And yet, we’ve been buoyed by determination, innovation, and resiliency displayed throughout the industry. We’ve shared new stories of family heritage and deep traditions along the coast of Maine. We market Maine lobster, one of the most delicious and arguably, most meaningful brands in the world.

Now more than ever, sense of place matters. At a time when international ingredients can be delivered to our doorstep with one click and most meetings take place on screens, we have lost community and connection. We are heartened by recent consumer research confirming that people who visit Maine are more likely to choose Maine lobster when dining out or preparing lobster at home after their visit. This is important as we evaluate our core audience and potential secondary audiences in the context of situational analysis, market pressures and opportunities.

The stories we tell about Maine lobster—hand-harvested from pristine waters, traditions passed down for generations, sustaining a vibrant working waterfront and healthy ocean—are essential to marketing our brand.