FINN Partners has appointed Janet Helm, MS, RDN as Head of Food and Nutrition Strategy, a newly created position that places a registered dietitian at the center of the agency's food and beverage, agriculture, and culinary travel client work.

The Appointment

Helm brings more than two decades at the intersection of nutrition science, brand strategy, and earned media. Her roster has spanned packaged food brands and agricultural commodity boards — clients that routinely require defensible nutrition narratives, sustainability positioning, and issues management when public scrutiny spikes. She has served as a national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and holds active membership in the International Association of Culinary Professionals and Les Dames d'Escoffier, the hospitality-focused organization supporting women leaders in food, beverage, and hospitality.

Based in Chicago — a hub for major food manufacturers and ingredient suppliers — Helm will operate across FINN's global network of 39 offices. The role signals a deliberate push by the agency to embed scientific credibility alongside conventional brand storytelling, a combination increasingly demanded by food and beverage marketers navigating regulatory scrutiny, front-of-pack labeling debates, and the growing consumer appetite for transparency in sourcing and production.

Why It Matters

"Janet brings a rare combination of scientific credibility and cultural fluency to our food and beverage practice," said Peter Finn, CEO and Founding Managing Partner of FINN Partners. "Having a strategist with her depth will help provide a global perspective to the evolving conversations around what we eat, how food is produced and the forces shaping the future of food."

Helm framed the timing as deliberate. "Food is one of the most culturally relevant — and sometimes emotionally charged — topics right now," she said, noting the complexity of today's food environment as an opportunity to help brands and food industry organizations build awareness and secure trust.

For foodservice operators and food manufacturers tracking the communications landscape, the hire reflects a broader pattern: agencies serving the food sector are racing to add credentialed nutrition expertise as the regulatory and media environment around health claims, ultra-processed foods, and agricultural sustainability grows more demanding. The food and beverage marketing segment has seen a measurable uptick in RFPs that specify dietitian or food-scientist involvement at the strategy level, not just as media spokespersons.

FINN Partners reported approximately $200 million in fees in its most recent disclosed figures, up from roughly $24 million at founding in 2011, with more than 1,300 professionals across its network. The food and beverage practice sits within a broader portfolio that competes for commodity board retainers, ingredient marketing assignments, and restaurant and hospitality brand communications — categories where the intersection of science, culture, and consumer trust is increasingly the decisive pitch differentiator.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.