A company that sends food products to influencers on behalf of brands, and measures the impact of the resulting content, has launched a frozen distribution operation and revealed plans for international expansion.
Gifta has a network of 20,000 vetted nano and micro influencers in the UK, which brands can filter based on audience demographics, engagement rates, age, gender, location, or dietary preferences to “hyper-target” influencer gifting and seeding campaigns.
“Chilled and frozen fulfilment has been one of the biggest challenges in the market, with very few cost-effective solutions for brands to distribute products to influencers,” said Tom Higgins, Gifta CEO and co-founder.
“Handling chilled or frozen items requires specialist packaging, cold-chain logistics, and processes to ensure timely delivery, all of which are complex and expensive for brands to manage themselves. We stepped in with a solution designed to solve this.”
Gifta operates from two specialist warehouses across the UK, with its fulfilment teams managing ambient, chilled, and now frozen products. The operation “ensures products are delivered in perfect condition to influencers”.
Among the first to use the frozen offering was Premier Foods, which sent 700 boxes of Angel Delight ice creams – launched in April – to 350 nano influencers.
Once products have been sent out, Gifta’s platform tracks the content in real-time, so brands can optimise their campaigns accordingly.
Gifta has been used by the likes of Quorn, Yeo Valley, and Hellmann’s on influencer campaigns for chilled lines. Quorn has worked with 800 influencers, with a combined audience of 6.4 million, over the course of eight campaigns. These influencers delivered 2,823 pieces of content – an average of nearly four pieces of content per influencer.
The influencers leveraged were all “passionate advocates for the meat-free movement” with audiences “genuinely interested in vegetarian, flexitarian and vegan lifestyles, sustainability, and healthier eating”, Higgins said.
Lindsay Winstanley, head of digital at Quorn Foods, said: “Working with Gifta has been a game-changer for us at Quorn. Their ability to manage both the logistical complexities of chilled and frozen fulfilment, as well as nurturing closer influencer relationships, has alleviated some of the challenges in this area of our marketing strategy.
“The results speak for themselves and we have been blown away, with a 92% post rate and nearly four pieces of content per influencer. We’re connecting with our audience on a deeper level through authentic, engaging content that attracts new shoppers and reinforces loyalty with existing ones.”
Higgins told The Grocer the “next big step” for the company was international expansion.
“We’re scaling our operations and planning to enter new markets, where we can offer the same high-level service and innovation to global brands,” he said. “As we expand, we’re committed to maintaining the simplicity and efficiency that our clients love, while continuing to innovate and lead the industry in influencer gifting and seeding.”
The company is also working to integrate AI technology to further improve influencer/brand matching and expand its content tracking capabilities.
Higgins said brands were beginning to pay more attention to nano influencers – those with a small but highly engaged following of between 500 and 10,000.
“Brands and consumers alike are questioning the value of large influencer or celebrity endorsements,” he said. “Consumers are becoming more sceptical of paid, controlled content marked with #ad, and these large endorsements often feel impersonal and overly commercial. Nano and micro influencers, on the other hand, have closer, more authentic relationships with their followers. They are real people, sharing genuine experiences, which builds a deeper level of trust and engagement.
“Working with multiple nano influencers is also more cost-efficient than a single celebrity endorsement,” he added. “Brands can engage with hundreds of nano influencers, which allows them to test different approaches and collect a variety of content. This creates more authentic brand love and deeper consumer connections, leading to long-term advocacy and loyalty.”
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