The power of social media foodies

I nearly started this article by saying ‘Hi tweeps’ which (to the
uninitiated) is a nod to the growing number of social media foodies out
there. Because this week sees a lot of ‘tweeple’ celebrating a victory
for the ‘little man’, for community-based action and for social media as
the mighty Woolworths loses a battle against Frankie’s soft drinks.

It’s
not often you see the underdog coming out on top and a large part of
Frankie’s success is due to the huge number of people who tweeted,
posted and shared information online. As the rather awkward statement from Woolworths SA CEO Ian Moir admits, they have ditched the drinks
not because of the ruling, but because “public sentiment is against
us”, proving that a small business who uses social media correctly
really can take on the big boys and win.

In fact there are lots of small businesses who are ‘winning’ with social media. Richard Bosman’s cured meat business is going from strength to strength thanks to his energetic tweeting, whilst NoMu recently managed to get themselves mentioned around the world when they cheekily suggested they become the hashtag for the NOvak Djokovic/Andy MUrray match at the Australian Open!

You can follow the fortunes of restaurants, bakeries, brewers, fishmongers, butchers, organic gardeners, boutique family wine producers on Facebook and Twitter
and all this activity has one aim – putting consumers in direct touch
with the people who make their food and drink. We want to know more
about what we eat and drink and increasingly it’s the small guys who’ve
got the time and inclination to tell us.

So we’d like to know
from you – who are the best foodie folk using social media in SA today?
Do you have an amazing fishmonger who tweets out his fresh tuna? Who
gives you 24/7 advice on growing your own herbs? And whose bacon
croissant makes you race out of the door the second you hear they’ve
left the oven? Tell us your faves and let’s all support the ‘little
guys’ for a change! Email us at editor@food24.com with your favourite tweeps!