Challenge
Fermentation is one of the hottest and most competitive CPG spaces. Bubbies Fine Foods, with its iconic grandma “Bubbie” brand, has been a major player in the industry for more than four decades. To expand retail opportunities, they needed to prove that even though they’re not the new kids on the block, they are still THE buzzy innovators and preferred brand in the field.
Results
In one year’s time, ROOT secured 66 pieces of coverage with a potential readership of 674 million. Top-tier compelling placements included Good Morning America, Better Homes & Gardens print issue and online, Time Magazine, Real Simple, Forbes, The Price is Right, Yahoo!, The Take Out, Nosh, Country Living and dozens of other outlets. Best of all, the 40+ year old company experienced 13 percent growth year-over-year.
In 2024, ROOT’s work with Bubbies won a PRSA Colorado Silver Pick award for Media Relations, Packaged Goods.
Solution
To grow consumer buzz and gain interest from b2c retailers, Bubbies needed to be in top-tier lifestyle publications that conventional and natural shoppers read, as well as business and trade publications. ROOT developed laser-focused key messaging and a media relations plan that concentrated on media outlets that Bubbies’ target audience – home cooks, b2c retailers, and health conscious individuals – rely on for ideas and advice on which products to purchase. After creating targeted media lists, ROOT sent out samples to interested top tier media, including New York Times, Food & Wine, Serious Eats, Good Housekeeping, Rachael Ray, Better Homes & Gardens, USA Today and more than 100 others. Compelling story angles that ROOT pitched included “Fermenting Your Farmers Market Haul,” “A More Functional Cocktail This National Cocktail Day,” “Tastiest New Gifts for Your Passover Seder Host,” and “A Pickle-Brined Turkey for Thanksgiving.”
“The ROOT Marketing & PR crew are elite at their craft – creative, resourceful, and strategic. Their creative approach, empathetic relationship-building, and strategic execution have consistently expanded our brands’ reach, far and wide. Their genuine empathy, commitment, and knowledge of the fermented and functional food industry sets them apart. They make each interaction both insightful and reassuring as we’ve grown. Highly recommended for any brand seeking a PR partnership that truly exemplifies elite mission, vision, and values.”
Challenge
Fermentation is one of the hottest and most competitive CPG spaces. Bubbies Fine Foods, with its iconic grandma “Bubbie” brand, has been a major player in the industry for more than four decades. To expand retail opportunities, they needed to prove that even though they’re not the new kids on the block, they are still THE buzzy innovators and preferred brand in the field.
Solution
To grow consumer buzz and gain interest from b2c retailers, Bubbies needed to be in top-tier lifestyle publications that conventional and natural shoppers read, as well as business and trade publications. ROOT developed laser-focused key messaging and a media relations plan that concentrated on media outlets that Bubbies’ target audience – home cooks, b2c retailers, and health conscious individuals – rely on for ideas and advice on which products to purchase. After creating targeted media lists, ROOT sent out samples to interested top tier media, including New York Times, Food & Wine, Serious Eats, Good Housekeeping, Rachael Ray, Better Homes & Gardens, USA Today and more than 100 others. Compelling story angles that ROOT pitched included “Fermenting Your Farmers Market Haul,” “A More Functional Cocktail This National Cocktail Day,” “Tastiest New Gifts for Your Passover Seder Host,” and “A Pickle-Brined Turkey for Thanksgiving.”
Results
In one year’s time, ROOT secured 66 pieces of coverage with a potential readership of 674 million. Top-tier compelling placements included Good Morning America, Better Homes & Gardens print issue and online, Time Magazine, Real Simple, Forbes, The Price is Right, Yahoo!, The Take Out, Nosh, Country Living and dozens of other outlets. Best of all, the 40+ year old company experienced 13 percent growth year-over-year.
In 2024, ROOT’s work with Bubbies won a PRSA Colorado Silver Pick award for Media Relations, Packaged Goods.
In Their Own Words:
“The ROOT Marketing & PR crew are elite at their craft – creative, resourceful, and strategic. Their creative approach, empathetic relationship-building, and strategic execution have consistently expanded our brands’ reach, far and wide. Their genuine empathy, commitment, and knowledge of the fermented and functional food industry sets them apart. They make each interaction both insightful and reassuring as we’ve grown. Highly recommended for any brand seeking a PR partnership that truly exemplifies elite mission, vision, and values.”
After near-immediate success with their first store, Savory Spice quickly grew both via online sales, and brick and mortar stores (now at 30 locations across the US.) Savory Spice hired ROOT with an initial focus on landing mentions in e-commerce gift guides.
learn moreORIGIN Milk launched Colorado’s Whole Foods Markets, Sprouts and specialty market shelves bringing nutrient rich, delicious and beautifully-hued heritage A2 milk to shoppers. The problem was, no one knew had a clue about the Ohio-based dairy company nor about heritage-breed A2 dairy products.
learn moreAward-winning OAK at Fourteenth was doing all of the right things with their phenomenal service-focused team and innovative wood-fired cooking, but realized they needed to partner with a local PR agency with strong relationships with Colorado influencers and media.
learn moreSenior PR Account Manager Emily Tracy has more than a decade of experience in food, beverage and hospitality PR. Emily was drawn to PR from her desire to support the small businesses who create the foundation of strong communities. She creates and implements award-winning PR campaigns with a heavy focus on strategic media relations and compelling content.
After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a dual major in journalism (PR sequence) and political science, she was the lead content specialist and an account manager for a full-service communications firm in Atlanta. During her time there, she managed two PRSA winning campaigns, one in content marketing and one in crisis management.
Today, she’s fulfilling her dream in Colorado by representing some of the finest good food businesses in the U.S. and beyond, including Bubbies Fine Foods, The Plant Based Seafood Co., Savory Spice, Table22, Birdcall, Motherlove Herbal Company, Boulder County Farmers Markets, Naturally Boulder and others. Through her work at ROOT, she has won a silver or gold award every year she’s applied from the Public Relations Society of America (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 – so far!)
Kuvy Ax is the founder and owner of ROOT, a seasoned and award-winning PR, marketing and social media agency dedicated to supporting good food – to those who grow it, make it, sell it and bring it to life.
For more than 20 years, Kuvy and her team have handled public relations and marketing for almost every type of food or beverage-related company, program, and event. Her nonprofit/volunteer work has included positions as President of Pollination Planet, Co-President of Slow Food Boulder County, as a member of the Board of Directors of the World Travel Association, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Les Dames D’Escoffier. She has also been a member of the CTO and Dept. of Agriculture’s Heritage & Agritourism Committee, and volunteered for the Flatirons Food Film Festival for many years.
The ROOT team has earned seven PRSA CO Chapter Awards since 2021.
In 2022, Kuvy was a judge for the New Hope Network Expo West and Expo East NEXTY Awards, and was also a speaker at both Expo West and Expo East. She was also a judge and trainer for New Hope’s inaugural Press Pitch event.
In 2023, Kuvy was a New Hope Network Expo West Pitch Slam semi-finalist judge and mentor, as well as emcee for the actual event.
Kuvy loves nothing more than traveling, eating, and eating while traveling.
Anna Wilhelmsen is a seasoned communications professional with over a decade of expertise in food, beauty, wellness, and lifestyle PR. She leverages PR as a tool for positive change to drive meaningful results while aligning with her client’s business objectives.
Anna has represented renowned figures in the restaurant industry such as Wolfgang Puck, and food CPG brands including McConnell’s Fine Ice Cream and Vital Farms. Her corporate communications experience in-house at leading consumer brands like The Bouqs Co and Beautycounter honed her skills in navigating the complexities of high-growth environments. She works with clients to provide strategic PR and communications planning, media relations, corporate communications, brand partnerships, brand positioning, and more.
Becky’s 15 years of marketing experience includes large and small agencies, startups, social media and event-focused agencies, and full-service agencies.
Working in such different spectrums of the industry has provided her with the opportunity to be an expert in field trends, better analyze the effectiveness of marketing programs, and further understand the importance of having a strong strategic focus in all campaigns.
She graduated from Champlain College, located in Burlington, VT, and has since lived all over the country! She brings her go-with-the-flow attitude and problem-solving skills to her role at ROOT as resident “figure-it-outer.” When she’s not writing social content or brainstorming campaigns, she can be found doing a myriad of duties including our newsletter, website fixes, client research, and organizational tasks. In her spare time, Becky can be found drinking copious amounts of coffee while trying to wrangle her two sons (dog and human).
Every month, the ROOT team digs deeper into good food and marketing trends, news and tips. Sign up here.
Every month, the ROOT team digs deeper into good food and marketing trends, news and tips. Sign up here.
Josephine Agrawal, our Social Media Strategist and Influencer Marketing Manager, is a grammar-obsessed marketing conference nerd who brings 6+ years of digital marketing experience in social media, content strategy and brand voice development to the table.
Josephine loves the challenge of conveying brands’ personalities and real-life passion through their social media channels.
Josephine entered the world of social media marketing while working with MerleFest, one of America’s most renowned and oldest Bluegrass music festivals. With a passion and ear for music, Josephine moved to Nashville, Tenn., and became a go-to social media marketer for local restaurants, renowned musicians, and the Nashville Public Library system. She specialized in event promotion for some of Nashville’s most beloved events, helping to draw crowds that exceeded 100,000. Josephine has also worked extensively in the media world, handling social media for publications like Ed Helms’ The Bluegrass Situation, Edible Nashville, Nashville Scene and the Nashville Post.
She left Music City in 2018 to become the Digital Marketing Manager at Lucky’s Market in Niwot, Colo, where she orchestrated social media strategy for more than 15 new store openings, strategically implemented all paid digital advertising, and taste-tested lots of tasty (and not-so-tasty) veggie chips.
These days, Josephine handles social media strategy for businesses of all sizes, as well as social media training to empower businesses to effectively handle their own social media. When she’s not hashtagging, she can be found cooking Indian food, doing yoga or watering her plants.
Her favorite healthy meal to make is a fresh arugula salad with toasted pine nuts, lemon, olive oil and parmesan cheese.
Kristine Root is a branding and marketing authority with over a decade of experience leading market research, positioning, brand development, and planning for food, beverage and wellness brands.
Kristine’s unique approach blends creativity and innovation allowing her to build holistic marketing plans that level up to business objectives and deliver measurable results. Her 14+ years of experience in marketing strategy and consumer insights is coupled with an unmistakable passion for delivering impact.
Kristine currently manages brand and marketing strategy for ROOT Marketing & PR where she designs growth marketing programs and directs strategic initiatives for the agency’s growth minded clients looking to position for market expansion.
Having held positions in the agency and brand side, Kristine understands the complexity of marketing from both perspectives. She started her career at Whitney Morse, a prominent advertising and branding agency in Minneapolis, MN where she learned the ropes of brand strategy and the value of great design. Kristine was the co-founder of Purple Bamboo, lead the 200% growth initiative for Biodentist, and served as the Director of Business Development and Marketing for The Pineapple Agency — an experiential marketing agency focused on creating raving loyal fans for clients like Noosa Yoghurt, Outdoor Industry Association, Hansen’s Soda, and Under Armor.
Kristine holds a BA in Marketing Communications from Gustavus Adolphus College and digital marketing nano degree from Udacity.
After-hours, you will find her reading cookbooks and books on marketing strategy with equal vigor. She enjoys going to the market, playing with new recipe ideas, camping, biking, skiing, and practicing soccer skills with her family.
Her favorite healthy dish to make is grilled Colorado peaches with mascarpone and fresh mint. But you may want to ask her again tomorrow, she’s always trying something new.
Every month, the ROOT team digs deeper into good food and marketing trends, news and tips. Sign up here.