Nourish Food Marketing – a full-service marketing agency with locations in Toronto, Montreal and Guelph that works exclusively with food, beverage and agricultural clients – will join North American agriculture communications agency AdFarm to form The Nourish Network powered by AdFarm, a platform that aims to bring consumer insights together with those from agriculture production.

Chris Forrest, VP of PR and content for AdFarm, tells strategy that it’s “a golden era” of food and agriculture production, and that the move is a partnership of equals to create compelling stories about the dynamic industry. He says the move builds off of the teams’ intelligence and research in their respective fields, combining AdFarm’s in farming and agriculture production trends with Nourish’s knowledge of food and consumer trends.

For example, the annual Nourish Trend Report provides insights into consumer attitudes toward food and food production. On the other side of the equation, AdFarm gathers “boots on the ground” intelligence from the farming community through Farm Voice, an annual qualitative research endeavor that shares key trends with clients.

“[It] finally connects these two worlds in a unique and powerful way,” Forrest says, adding that the two agencies’ clients often have a shared interest and common ground. And AdFarm president Ben Graham says consumers are making choices based increasingly on how their food is produced, in addition to factors like price, quality and taste.

The two agencies will continue to operate separately, but team up on strategic consultations, client projects and pitches through the Nourish Network strategic partnership, as needed. Forrest says AdFarm also brings a lot of horsepower to the table in terms of human resources and market penetration across North America (the company has locations in Fargo, North Dakota, Kansas City and Missouri, in addition to Canadian offices in Guelph and Calgary).

Nourish has previously worked with clients including Redpath, Felix & Norton, Sargent Farms, Bento Sushi, Food Banks Canada and Sufra. AdFarm’s clients have included the Alberta Wheat Commission, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, DeLaval, Egg Farmers of Alberta and Merck.