Annette Davidson – The Chefs Advocate

BY NOEL CUNNINGHAM

“Advocating for chefs isn’t the easiest task. The hardest part is getting chefs to open up about issues they’re struggling with and to trust the folks they’re sharing with.”
Annette Davidson

Throughout her career, Annette has broadened market visibility for well-known brands, having worked for powerhouses such as: Liz Claiborne, Oscar de la Renta and Donna Karan New York in various marketing roles. In 2009 her passion for marketing and event planning led her to launch her own company, Icon Food Marketing. It would become the epicentre of her vast knowledge and connections throughout the United States, Australia, Japan, Jamaica and Europe.

Growing up Annette was a very picky eater, however, as she got older and throughout her travels for business and pleasure, Annette says she became “The Accidental Foodie.” It wouldn’t be long before Annette would unite her passion for food with her business, and ultimately her Caribbean roots. After much research, she realized that Caribbean flavours and artisanal food manufacturers are at a great disadvantage competing for consumers’ attention in the US marketplace.

Her interest in this niche market was further sparked as those who had a strong desire to bring their homegrown sauces, spirits, and baked goods to the masses inspired her. What she noticed was that many of them lacked the industry know-how and connections. Annette decided that she wanted to be a solution to the problem by bringing her global expertise to those who needed it most. Hence, the birth of Icon Food Marketing, a boutique agency whose clients have successfully been integrated into key distribution at: Whole Foods, Wegmans, Krogers and other upscale specialty food retailers. After experiencing a drastic shift in the food marketing space, Annette pivoted and shifted her focus to working with chefs.

Since forming The Chefs Advocate (a subsidiary of Icon Marketing), Annette was dealt a blow with the passing of her first client. Upon finding out the cause of her client’s death, she became an advocate for the chef’s welfare inside and outside of the kitchen.

By forming The Chefs Advocate, Annette has made it her goal to educate, empower and inspire chefs to be their best inside and outside of the kitchen. She has secured media placements for her clients and herself in publications such as: the NY Times, Forbes.com, Black Enterprise, Food & Wine, Dove Magazine (Italy) and on Ripl.com (Small Business in the time of the Coronavirus). She has also garnered onscreen placement for her clients on cooking competition shows such as Chopped and Supermarket Stakeout.

While obtaining media placements for her clients, Annette is also a curator of food events. She is responsible for curating ‘Savour Jamaica’ at the famed James Beard House in New York City. Savour Jamaica was a celebration of Jamaica’s culinary contribution to global gastronomy. Annette is a graduate of Endicott College in Beverly, MA, and serves on her alma mater Endicott College Alumni Council.

Kitchen Talk Live
Have you heard the saying by Winston Churchill, “Never let a good crisis go to waste?” Annette Davidson is doing just that. “One month into the Coronavirus lockdown, I was forced to look at the current state of my business (The Chefs Advocate). After being smacked by the reality that the next few months were going to be very rocky. I had to admit I was praying the pandemic would last no more than three months. With much reality and disappointment, we’re still dealing with it and the restaurant/hospitality industry is ravaged by it across the globe.”

Like many others, she turned her lemons into lemonade and started an Instagram show ‘Kitchen Talk Live.’ Annette explains that Kitchen Talk LIVE was a concept she had for at least fourteen months.

The original concept included meeting: chefs, food and beverage professionals and other industry supporters in their natural habitat (i.e. farmers market, kitchen, bar, office etc.), interview them, and learn about what motivates them, what keeps them going. Tossed into the mix will be some cooking and mixology demos.

The first episode of Kitchen Talk aired on Wednesday, April 8th, 2020, and I was lucky to be the first guest. As a chef, I can tell you that the concept of Kitchen Talk was well needed especially at the start of COVID when most creatives were at home wondering what’s next?

Advocating is very important to me and topics for discussion have been centred on advocacy. Some topics covered have been: Alcohol Awareness, Mental Awareness, Building Community (The rise of Commercial Kitchens), The Future of Culinary Education, and Celebrating Caribbean Heritage.

If you want to catch any of these episodes, you can follow the culinary journey and conversations @thechefsadvocate , featured on Instagram and Facebook.