28 August 2026Natalie Alibrandi
Before we dive into things, I’ll circle back on my cliff hanger from a couple of letters ago. There I was standing on the production floor hearing: “We accidentally added 10x the amount…”
I couldn’t believe it. After all the planning time spent, an ingredient (a gum, also known as a hydrocolloid) was accidentally added to production which was 10x the required amount. Basically making what was supposed to be a beverage a really gross-looking pudding that wouldn’t stop jiggling. It was a mess. Everything had to be cleaned, discarded of and worst yet, we almost wouldn’t make it for launch. I had to act fast and reformulate on the fly to re-do production one week after, which was Easter.
These are the types of stories no one hears about. People see the new product on the shelf, but they don’t see the years of work behind the scenes, the things that go wrong and how we navigate them. More consumers are looking to follow your journey and sharing the epic fails can create more authenticity and trust.
Trust is the most valuable asset a consumer brand has, and the easiest thing to lose. I’ve watched brands spend years building a loyal audience, only to damage that trust in a single misstep. Here’s what I’ve learned actually builds consumer trust, and keeps it.
1. Make sure your claims can survive scrutiny
This sounds obvious, but it’s one of the most common and costly mistakes I see. A “high fiber” claim, a “no added sugar” claim, a “clean label” claim: these aren’t just marketing phrases, they’re statements that need to hold up under real regulatory and legal scrutiny.
I’ve seen brands make a claim that sounded great on packaging, only to face a legal challenge or worse, a public callout because the product didn’t actually meet the standards the claim implied. And the damage from getting caught making an inaccurate claim is almost always worse than the marketing lift the claim gave you in the first place. Consumers are savvier than ever, and trust, once broken over something like this, is very hard to rebuild.
The rule I give clients: if you wouldn’t want to defend a claim under audit, in court, or on social media with receipts in hand, don’t make it.
2. Be genuinely transparent about your journey
Consumers increasingly want to know the story behind a brand, not the polished version, the real one. Where did the idea come from? What was hard about getting here? What does the process actually look like?
If you’re comfortable going further, pulling back the curtain on manufacturing, showing the actual production floor, the testing process, even the messy parts, like I shared above, it does something a lot of brands underestimate: it builds credibility precisely because it’s unpolished. Consumers have gotten very good at spotting over-produced, sanitized brand content. The behind-the-scenes reality, even when imperfect, reads as more trustworthy than a perfect narrative ever could.
3. Actually talk to your audience — don’t just talk at them
This is the piece brands most often treat as optional, and it shouldn’t be. Sampling product directly with your audience and genuinely listening to what comes back – not just the good feedback, the hard feedback too – is one of the highest-value things a brand can do, and one of the most underused.
Customers also want to know that there’s a real person behind the idea. Sharing your story – who you are, why you started this, what you believe in – gives your brand a face and a voice, and that authenticity is very hard for a competitor to copy. Nobody can copy your actual, unique story.
None of this is complicated, but all of it takes discipline, especially the willingness to be transparent when the polished version would be easier. In my experience, the brands that build real, lasting trust are the ones willing to do the less glamorous work: getting the claims right, showing the real journey, and actually listening.
What I ate this week that was delicious
I just got back from vacation in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where I got to have my first ever steak cooked on a volcanic rock that was 440C (824F)! Served with a truffle butter sauce that was perfection. For a sweet treat, I had my first goat cheese gelato with blackberry compote. No cheesy taste, just creaminess:)
Natalie
Originally published on Substack.