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Strategic Communications & PR for Food and Agriculture

We speak food and agriculture. And we know how to make your story travel. 6 Seeds Consulting is a Toronto-based strategic communications and research agency exclusively focused on food and agriculture. We help organizations build credibility, shape the conversation, and reach the people who matter. All backed by deep sector expertise and, uniquely, our own consumer research capability.

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6 Seeds Consulting — strategic communications and PR agency for food and agriculture brands, commodity boards, and agtech companies

If You Were Looking for Crave…

You're in the right place.

Crave Public Relations is now part of 6 Seeds Consulting. The same food and agriculture PR expertise, the same trusted relationships, now backed by deeper research, strategic thinking, and the tools to help your story travel farther.

Strategic Communications Built for Food and Agriculture

The best communications work happens before the press release is written. In the room where the message is being shaped, the position is being tested, and the strategy is being built. That's where we do our best work.

For food and agriculture organizations, that means getting the right message, to the right people, through the right channels, at the right moment. It's how you earn coverage, build reputation, influence policy, open markets, and connect with the communities that matter most to your business.

It's also how you show up when someone asks Google, or an AI, about your category.

Food Brands, Commodity Boards & AgTech: Who We Work With

Food Brands & CPG

You need visibility that drives sales, shelf space, and consumer demand. We help you launch, build buzz, and earn the kind of coverage that builds lasting credibility.

Commodity Boards & Agricultural Organizations

You're shaping how consumers, trade, health professionals, and policymakers understand your category. We help you influence the influencers, capture share of voice, and make your message land with producers and the public alike.

AgTech & Food Innovation Companies

You need credibility and positioning as a category leader. AgTech PR and communications requires translating complex innovation into compelling narratives for investors, customers, growers, and media. We make the technology story human.

Food & Agriculture PR Agency: Toronto, New York, and North America

Most of our clients are in Canada and the United States: food brands, commodity boards, agtech companies, and agriculture organizations looking to build visibility across North America or access new markets internationally.

Whether that means opening doors with retailers in the UK, building category awareness in South Korea, navigating a new market in continental Europe, or launching across Canada and the US, we know how to make your story travel far.

We understand Canadian and American media landscapes, regulatory environments, and consumer dynamics, from CFIA and Health Canada to the USDA and FDA. And through our global network, we help your story reach international audiences when markets call for it.

Our Strategic Communications & PR Services

Strategic communications is not one thing. It's a set of interconnected tools, and the skill is knowing which ones to use, and when.

Everything starts with the message. We help you find what's true, what's distinctive, and what resonates, then build a communications strategy around it. Key messaging, narrative frameworks, stakeholder mapping, communications roadmaps.

Earned coverage in the outlets that matter: national, regional, trade, and broadcast. We pitch stories directly to journalists, secure interviews, and manage the full arc of a media campaign from story development through placement and follow-up.

Getting your news in front of the right journalists and into the right feeds. We handle press release writing and news distribution via Business Wire, GlobeNewswire, and PR Newswire, plus targeted story pitching across Canadian, American, and international media.

Strategic communications doesn't stop at media relations. We plan and execute integrated communications programs: content strategy, campaign development, influencer programs, product launches, and consumer and trade engagement.

Reaching beyond media to the people who shape opinion and drive decisions: retail buyers, foodservice operators, health professionals, industry associations, and community leaders.

Specialized communications for food industry audiences: retailers, distributors, foodservice buyers, ingredient buyers, and international trade partners.

Connecting your brand with the chefs, dietitians, food creators, and community voices who can authentically carry your story to new audiences.

From new product launches to national public awareness campaigns, we plan and execute communications programs that move people to think, feel, or act differently.

Preparing your leaders to communicate with confidence: on camera, in interviews, on stage, and in writing. Op-ed development, spokesperson coaching, message preparation.

Op-eds, thought leadership articles, executive bylines, and content that builds authority and earns attention.

When things go wrong, speed and clarity matter most. We've managed communications through recalls, controversies, and reputational challenges, and helped organizations rebuild trust.

Unlike most communications agencies, we also conduct consumer and stakeholder research through our Ditto platform. Original research strengthens your story, sharpens your strategy, and gives journalists something worth writing about.

Learn About Our Research →

PR, Media Relations & AI Discoverability: How We Reach Your Audience

The message is the foundation. The channels are how it travels.

We work across the full mix:

  • Earned media — press coverage, editorial, journalist relationships
  • Owned channels — your website, newsroom, email, social
  • Paid distribution — wire services, sponsored content, targeted trade placements
  • Influencer and community engagement

And increasingly, we think about AI discoverability

When someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity which food PR agency understands commodity boards, the answer comes from credible earned media, not paid ads.

Every press placement and trade article now does double duty: reaching human readers today and training AI systems for tomorrow. This is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and it's one of the strongest arguments for investing in strategic communications right now.

Food & Agriculture Communications, Built on Connection

From producers to eaters, farmers to chefs, fishers to families. Food brings people together. It's culture, comfort, memory, and celebration.

That joy, that conviviality. It's at the heart of every story we help tell. We take the work seriously. We never take the fun out of food.

Proven Results in Food & Agriculture Communications

PR isn't about vanity metrics. It's about coverage that moves markets and builds reputation.

Pulse Canada

Elevating Canadian Pulses

  • ✓Earned hundreds of stories, built a national nutritional education platform, and drove a cross-country restaurant tour that put pulses on menus nationwide.
Yukon Agricultural Association

Shaping the Food Security Conversation

  • ✓Sparked national debate on food security, local agriculture, and the Yukon's role in Canada's food future.
Derlea

Driving Millions of Impressions

  • ✓Generated major media coverage for Derlea's pesto and onion products, introducing them to new audiences across the country.

From Newsrooms to Trade Journals: We Get Food and Agriculture Brands Seen

Our clients' stories appear in the publications that matter most: national newsrooms, agricultural trade media, food publications, and international outlets.

Canadian Grocer — food industry trade publication featuring our strategic communications clients
Nation's Restaurant News — restaurant industry media covering our food communications work
BEVNET — beverage industry publication featuring our food and beverage communications campaigns
The Grocer — UK food retail publication covering our CPG communications clients
Food Dive — food industry news outlet featuring our agriculture communications campaigns
Restaurants Canada — food service trade media covering our restaurant communications work
Food in Canada — Canadian food industry magazine featuring our food communications clients
The Globe and Mail — national news outlet covering our agriculture and food communications stories
BBC — international news media featuring our food and agriculture communications campaigns
The Telegraph — UK national newspaper covering our food and agriculture clients
CBC — Canadian Broadcasting Corporation featuring our agriculture communications stories
CNN — global news network covering our food and agriculture communications campaigns
Greenhouse Canada — agriculture trade publication covering our agtech communications clients
FoodBev Media — international food and beverage industry publication
CTV — Canadian television network featuring our food and agriculture communications stories

Coverage highlights include Canadian Grocer, Nation's Restaurant News, Food Dive, The Grocer, BEVNET, CBC, BBC, CNN and other influential outlets across agriculture, food and beverage.

Trusted by Food & Agriculture Leaders

We've earned coverage for some of the most respected names in agriculture, food and beverage. From global icons to emerging innovators, our work has helped brands build reputation, launch products, and secure lasting trust.

Canadian Food Innovation Network — agriculture innovation strategic communications
Gray Ridge Egg Farms — agriculture producer strategic communications and PR
Northfork Bison Ranch — protein and farming strategic communications
LOOP — food sustainability strategic communications
Pulse Canada — agriculture commodity board strategic communications
Grace Foods — CPG brand strategic communications and PR
Dairy Distillery — food and beverage innovation strategic communications
Summer Fresh — CPG food brand strategic communications and PR
Three Farmers — snack food strategic communications
Yukon Agricultural Association — farming organization strategic communications
Derlea — food brand strategic communications and PR
USA Rice — commodity board strategic communications and PR

Commodity Boards & Associations: Pulse Canada • USA Rice • California Walnut Commission • Argentine Olive Oil Association • Wines of Valdepenas • Yukon Agricultural Association

CPG & Food Brands: Three Farmers • Summer Fresh • Derlea • Grace Foods • Dairy Distillery • NWC Wild Rice • Granny's Poultry

AgTech & Innovation: Grodan • Just Vertical • LOOP • Canadian Food Innovation Network

Why Food and Agriculture Organizations Trust 6 Seeds

Saskia Brussaard, Managing Partner and Co-founder of 6 Seeds Consulting, food and agriculture PR and strategic communications agency

Saskia Brussaard

Managing Partner & Co-founder, 6 Seeds Consulting

LinkedIn

Saskia Brussaard has spent over 20 years earning coverage and shaping conversations for food and agriculture organizations across Canada, the United States, and internationally.

Before co-founding 6 Seeds, she built and led We Are Crave (later Crave Public Relations), one of North America's most respected boutique food and agriculture PR agencies. Her work spans commodity boards, CPG brands, agtech companies, trade associations, producer groups, and food advocacy organizations.

She's known for sharp messaging, deep industry relationships, and an ability to distill complex stories into narratives that resonate, and travel.

Strategic Communications & PR: Your Questions Answered

What is strategic communications for food and agriculture?+
Strategic communications is the planned, purposeful work of shaping how your organization is understood by consumers, media, trade, government, and other stakeholders. For food and agriculture organizations, it encompasses public relations and media relations, message development, stakeholder and community relations, trade and B2B communications, influencer outreach, crisis communications, and reputation management. It goes beyond any single campaign or press release. It's the ongoing work of making sure your story is told accurately, credibly, and in the right places at the right time.
What does a food and agriculture PR agency do?+
A food and agriculture PR agency earns media coverage, builds reputation, and manages communications for brands in the agriculture, food, and beverage sectors. Our work includes media relations, press releases, product launches, public awareness campaigns, commodity board communications, agtech public relations, stakeholder engagement, media training, op-ed development, and crisis communications, all tailored to the unique dynamics of food safety, sustainability, supply chains, nutrition, and consumer trust.
How is food and agriculture PR different from general PR?+
It requires deep sector knowledge that generalist agencies don't have. We understand commodity markets, farm-to-table narratives, food safety regulations, nutrition science, sustainability claims, harvest and regulatory timelines, and the specialized media landscape, from agricultural trade publications to national food writers to broadcast food segments. That expertise means faster results, more credible storytelling, and access to relationships that take years to build.
What's the difference between commodity board PR and food brand PR?+
They're fundamentally different mandates. A food brand's communications goal is usually driving consumer purchase: awareness, trial, shelf presence, loyalty. A commodity board or producer organization has a broader, more complex goal: shaping how an entire category is understood by consumers, trade, health professionals, policymakers, and sometimes international markets, all at once. Commodity boards also have a dual accountability that brands don't: they answer to producers who pay the levy, and to the public audiences they're trying to influence. That means the messaging, the channels, the success metrics, and the stakeholder map all look different.
Why does strategic communications matter more than ever in 2026?+
Three forces are reshaping how food and agriculture organizations communicate. First, media fragmentation means your audience is harder to reach through any single channel. Second, consumer trust in food is increasingly fragile, shaped by social media, misinformation, and competing health claims. Third, AI systems are now a primary discovery channel, and they rely on authoritative earned media to determine what they recommend. Strong strategic communications addresses all three.
What is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and why does it matter for food and agriculture brands?+
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of building the kind of credible, authoritative presence that AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI overviews draw on when forming answers. When someone asks an AI about sustainable plant proteins or which food PR agency understands commodity boards, the AI looks at earned media coverage, expert mentions, trade articles, and authoritative third-party sources, not paid ads. If your brand or category isn't represented in that body of credible content, you may not exist in the AI's answer at all. The coverage you earn today is the AI signal you build for tomorrow.
How do you handle press release writing and news distribution?+
Press release writing and news distribution is a core part of our media relations work. We write releases to journalistic standards and advise on the right distribution approach for each announcement, whether that means a major wire service like Business Wire, GlobeNewswire, or PR Newswire, targeted direct pitching to specific journalists, or trade-specific channels like Food Dive, Canadian Grocer, BEVNET, and Nation's Restaurant News. The distribution strategy is as important as the release itself.
How long does it take to see PR results?+
It depends on the story and the goal. Product launches and timely news can generate coverage within weeks. Reputation and category-building campaigns typically show meaningful momentum within three to six months. Crisis communications requires immediate response. We set realistic expectations based on your goals, media landscape, and story readiness, and we measure what matters, not vanity metrics.
Do I need a strategic communications agency if I already have a marketing team?+
Yes, and the two work best together. Marketing controls your owned channels: your website, advertising, email, and social. Strategic communications and PR earns third-party credibility through journalists, editors, and authoritative outlets, the kind of trust that paid media can't replicate. Many food and agriculture organizations use marketing for awareness and customer acquisition, and strategic communications for reputation, launches, and crisis management.
What's the difference between PR and advertising?+
PR earns coverage. It's a journalist or editor choosing to tell your story because it's newsworthy. Advertising is paid placement where you control the message but lack independent endorsement. Consumers trust earned media far more than ads, which makes PR especially valuable for food brands navigating skepticism around health claims, sustainability, and transparency. The two work best together: PR builds trust, advertising drives action.
Does strategic communications include content and campaign work?+
Yes. Strategic communications encompasses the full range of planned, purposeful communication, which includes content strategy, campaign development, influencer programs, product launches, and consumer and trade engagement. These aren't separate from communications; they're part of how a well-built communications strategy gets executed. The strongest campaigns are built on a strong story, not the other way around.
Can you help with crisis communications in the food industry?+
Absolutely. Food industry crises like product recalls, contamination events, supply chain failures, or reputational challenges, require immediate, strategic response. Our approach includes rapid stakeholder assessment, message development, media and spokesperson preparation, transparent communications, and reputation rebuilding. Speed, honesty, and a clear plan are everything.
Do you work with both Canadian and American food and agriculture organizations?+
Yes, and this is core to how we work. We understand both the Canadian and American media landscapes, regulatory environments, and consumer dynamics. In Canada that means navigating CFIA guidelines, Canadian Grocer, CBC, and the French-language market. In the US it means FDA, USDA, Progressive Grocer, Food Dive, and a very different media ecosystem. Many of our clients operate across both markets simultaneously. We also work with international organizations from the UK, Europe, and Asia looking to enter or build presence in Canada and North America.
Do you only work with consumer-facing brands?+
No. We work with CPG brands and organizations that never appear on a supermarket shelf: commodity boards, producer groups, trade associations, B2B ingredient and technology companies, and advocacy organizations. If your organization has a story to tell and stakeholders who need to hear it, we can help.
How much does food and agriculture PR cost?+
PR investment varies significantly depending on scope, market, and objectives. A focused project, a product launch, a single campaign, a market entry, typically looks different from an ongoing agency-of-record relationship. Rather than publish rates that may not reflect your situation, we prefer to have a conversation about your goals first and propose accordingly. We work with organizations that are serious about communications as a long-term investment, not a one-time expense.
What does working with 6 Seeds typically look like?+
Most engagements start with clarity: understanding your goals, audiences, key messages, and the communications landscape you're operating in. From there, we build a roadmap that might include a messaging framework, media strategy, story pipeline, campaign or launch plan, and ongoing media relations. We can act as your communications agency of record or support your team on specific projects, markets, or moments.
How does research fit into your communications work?+
Research is central to how we work, and it's what sets 6 Seeds apart from most communications agencies. Through our Ditto synthetic qualitative research platform, we can test messages, explore how audiences perceive your category, and uncover the insights that sharpen strategy before you go public. Original research also gives journalists something genuinely worth writing about, making it one of the most reliable ways to earn meaningful media coverage.

Ready to Tell Your Story?

Let's discuss how strategic communications can help your food or agriculture organization earn coverage, build reputation, and drive results.

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