Food & drink UGC creators

In food, sound carries as much as picture: what sizzles, what cracks, what pours. And the final shot has to be appetising without retouching.

What to pin down in the brief

Live sound
If you want the sound of the preparation, say so: it is captured on the shoot, not afterwards. Music laid over the top replaces it, it does not recreate it.
A recipe, or the product alone
A full preparation and a product shot take neither the same time nor the same creator. Decide before proposals come in.
Mandatory wording
Allergens, storage, the legal wording of your sector: list the ones that must appear, on screen or spoken. That is what a brand will look at first.

From raw product to plate. Long to shoot but highly reusable, and the best at showing what an ingredient is for.

The product tasted to camera, reaction included. Short, and the sound makes the shot: the crunch, the pour, the seal breaking.

A few steps, a result. The format for products sold on convenience rather than on taste.

Is live sound essential?: In food it is often the subject itself. If the crunch, the pour or the seal have to be heard, write it down: a creator who lays music over it has not betrayed you, they have filled a gap in your brief.
Who buys the ingredients?: Say so in the brief. If the creator fronts the shopping, it is a cost they build into their price, and they are entitled to refuse.
Do the mandatory statements have to appear?: Nutrition and health claims are regulated. Write down what may and may not be said: it is the brand that answers for what is claimed, not the creator.

Searching…

Arbitrary order, drawn again each day. Nobody is put first.