A registered dietitian with more than two decades navigating the crossroads of nutrition science and brand communications, Janet Helm has joined FINN Partners as Head of Food and Nutrition Strategy — a newly created position reflecting the agency's growing ambitions in food and beverage marketing.
Helm's mandate covers strategy across the agency's food and beverage, agriculture, and culinary travel client portfolios. Her background spans work with food brands and agricultural commodity boards on nutrition storytelling, sustainability positioning, stakeholder engagement, and issues management — skill sets that are increasingly in demand as food brands face heightened scrutiny over health claims, supply-chain transparency, and shifting consumer trust.
Why the Hire Matters
For food and beverage operators and brands working with communications partners, Helm's appointment signals a broader industry shift: the agencies serving the sector are investing in credentialed subject-matter experts rather than generalist PR talent. With her dual standing as a scientist and a cultural communicator — she has appeared on Good Morning America, Today, and CNN to discuss food trends and nutrition — Helm represents the kind of hybrid strategist that brand teams increasingly need when navigating regulatory scrutiny, media skepticism, and consumer confusion around ingredients and sustainability.
"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 herself framed the moment in terms any brand operator will recognize. "Food is one of the most culturally relevant — and sometimes emotionally charged — topics right now," she said, "and that makes this an extraordinary moment to help brands and food industry organizations navigate today's increasingly complex foodscape."
Depth Behind the Appointment
Helm is Chicago-based and will work across FINN's global network of more than 1,300 professionals in 39 offices. Outside the agency world, she has held multiple leadership roles with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, including serving as a national media spokesperson. She is also active in the International Association of Culinary Professionals and Les Dames d'Escoffier, a global organization supporting women leaders in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries — affiliations that extend her reach into the culinary and hospitality industry communities FINN increasingly serves.
The hire is consistent with FINN's documented growth trajectory. Founded in 2011 with roughly $24 million in fees, the agency has scaled to approximately $200 million in fees over 14 years, expanding through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Adding Helm deepens a bench of specialists designed to bridge scientific rigor with brand storytelling — a combination that has become table stakes in food and beverage marketing as category complexity continues to rise.
For food industry professionals tracking where communications and strategy expertise is concentrating, FINN's move underscores that the most competitive agencies are positioning credentialed nutrition and food-system expertise as a core differentiator, not a niche add-on. The role's scope — spanning food brands, commodity boards, and culinary travel — also reflects how those segments increasingly overlap in messaging around provenance, health, and experience.
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.
