Many food businesses begin with a brilliant product. That is exactly as it should be. The difficulty comes when the product needs to become a brand. Suddenly there are questions about packaging, language, photography, websites, campaigns and retail presentations. Without a clear position, those decisions quickly become matters of taste.

A food brand positioning strategy gives creativity somewhere to go. It establishes who the brand is for, what matters to them, what the product offers and where it sits relative to competitors.

Perhaps the opportunity is provenance. Perhaps it is indulgence without ceremony. Perhaps it is performance. Perhaps it is making an intimidating category feel accessible. Perhaps it is taking something traditionally worthy and making it genuinely desirable.

Different positions lead to very different creative answers. Understanding the category matters too. Every food category has visual and verbal conventions. Some are useful because they help customers understand the product quickly. Others have become clichés.

Positioning helps decide which signals to retain and where there is permission to behave differently. It also forces choices, which is where things can become uncomfortable. Founders naturally want the brand to appeal to everyone who might conceivably buy the product. But trying to communicate natural, premium, accessible, indulgent, healthy, traditional, innovative and sustainable simultaneously rarely creates richness.

Usually it creates noise. Strong brands decide what matters most. Once those strategic choices are clear, packaging becomes much more interesting. Colour, typography, imagery, naming and tone of voice can all work towards the same idea. Creative conversations become less about whether somebody personally likes orange and more about whether the design expresses the position.

The pack may be where customers first meet the brand. But the thinking that makes that meeting meaningful should happen before anyone opens Illustrator.