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We believe that understanding the people who buy food is the key to building great brands. That’s why we created Specialty Foodies—a free resource that gives the entire food & beverage industry access to the deepest specialty food consumer segmentation ever built.
We’re not here to gatekeep research. Just like open-source software fuels innovation in tech, we believe open-source research can fuel better marketing, smarter product development, and more successful food brands.
We built Specialty Foodies to remove the guesswork—so brands, retailers, and industry professionals can understand their customers, make better decisions, and connect with the right people.
Our mission is simple: help food and beverage brands grow by solving the right problems. Too often, businesses make decisions based on incomplete data, gut instinct, or outdated market research. We wanted to change that.Instead of keeping our findings behind a paywall, we’re giving away our research for free. Why? Because we believe that a stronger, smarter food industry benefits everyone. When brands understand who they’re really selling to, they waste less money on bad marketing, create better products, and grow faster.
We don’t just work in food—we’re a part of this industry. We know the challenges brands face, and we’re committed to helping solve them. Specialty Foodies is our way of giving back, sharing what we’ve learned, and making sure no great food product fails because it didn’t find the right customer.
Whether you’re a startup looking for your first customers, a legacy brand adjusting to new trends, or a retailer stocking the right products, this data is yours to use.
Let’s build better food businesses—together.
Specialty Foodies is built by Schaefer, the only buyer psychology agency in the food & beverage industry—and that means we do things differently. While most agencies focus on selling tactics, we focus on why people buy in the first place. That’s why we built the "Why People Buy" Pyramid, a framework that breaks down the real motivations behind consumer behavior—from emotional drivers to subconscious decision-making.
We combine deep market research with smart marketing strategy to help food brands connect with the right customers, craft better messaging, and grow faster. That’s why Clutch ranked us as the Top U.S. Market Research & Marketing Strategy Firm in 2024—because we don’t just crunch numbers, we solve real business problems.
Schaefer isn’t a massive agency, and we don’t want to be. We’re a boutique firm, meaning we stay small on purpose—so we can go deeper, work smarter, and be selective about who we partner with. Our clients aren’t just accounts to us; they’re partners in redefining the future of food & beverage.
At the helm are Seth Waite, Sidnee Schaefer, and John Schnettgoecke, a team of strategists, researchers, and industry experts who are love solving food industry problems. We built Specialty Foodies because we believe that sharing knowledge makes the entire industry stronger.
This is what makes Schaefer different:
✔️ We study food consumers like no one else.
✔️ We give brands the clarity they need to grow.
✔️ We share our insights freely—because better data leads to better decisions.
Want to learn more about how we help food & beverage brands win?
Visit Schaefer.co →
