About Bianca
Specialist in food tourism and the marketing of food concepts. With over 25 years of experience from advertising agencies to Sweden’s marketing company Visit Sweden.
"The great passion for food and beverage concepts and the people behind them remains as strong as ever.”
SHORT SUMMARY OF BIANCA BRANDON-COX
From food photographer to Gastronomy Destination Stewardship!
I have over 25 years of experience in marketing, strategy and business development through work at advertising agencies and Sweden's marketing companies. Visit Sweden as well as being self-employed.
Today I am running Bianca Brandon-Cox Productions AB, At the intersection of food tourism, place development, destination marketing, sustainable development, and AI, where I work. I help companies, destinations, and organizations develop attractive, sustainable, and future-proof experiences where food, people, and the identity of the place are at the center.
My work combines strategic analysis, storytelling, workshops, lectures, and AI-driven tools to strengthen place brands, develop place-specific concepts, and increase digital visibility.
I regularly lecture on the future of the visitor economy, food tourism, consumer trends, AI, sustainable destination development, and how companies can create greater value through authentic experiences and clearer place identity.
In 2023-2024, I took several courses to strengthen my skills; Place Branding, AI in creative processes, Systematic sustainability work for destinations and GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program.
For the next visit to the business or knowledge day, please feel free to take advantage of my National expert networks, composed of food tourism specialists, business developers, concept developers, chefs, wild plants experts, brand specialists, place developers, project managers and moderators. All senior experts with sustainability as a guiding principle, excellent speakers who are passionate about their subjects.
BACKGROUND
Photography is a key to different worlds
Grown up in Gävle with a Grandma who was a photographer, I realized early on that photography was the magical key to different worlds.
Painting with light, which is what photography means, became my first passion. Already in high school I started freelancing as a photographer for the cultural pages of the Gefle Dagblad newspaper.
FROM DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY TO FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY & FILM
Reportage and food blog
As someone curious and interested in the world around them, documentary photography and reportage initially came naturally to me. My other passion in life turned out to be food, drink, meal concepts, dining experiences, and the people behind them. The next step in my development was therefore naturally towards food photography, food reporting, and starting a food blog.
Over the years, I have worked with everything from food photography and food film, props styling, and Content Manager at three different communication agencies and in my own company Bianca Brandon-Cox Productions. I have also worked as a freelance market manager, editor, project manager and trend analyst.
Swedish mathematical achievements in exports
Swedish food craft products on tour
In 2010 I was also given the great honor of being involved in launching Swedish culinary craftsmanship internationally through the project ”Fabulous Flavours of Sweden”In London, Tokyo and Paris.
During the same period, I created dining-related trend tours with retail visits, restaurant visits, and taste workshops for international and Swedish companies through ”FOOD PEOPLE – Trendtours & Events” (a self-owned concept founded together with Eric Persson).
PRIS-AWARDED COOKBOOKS
From tradition to innovation
Over about ten years, I contributed to about 30 cookbooks and several others. won awards in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for several consecutive years. For example the Sami cookbook ”The Taste of Sápmi – Tradition, Innovation and the Future”(Slow Food Sápmi). It was awarded, among other things, with the ”Best of the Best 25th anniversary 2020” in two categories; Local Region Book Sweden and Arctic Book. The book “Hävvi = Of course – Southern Sami food interpreted by Elaine Asp”received several awards in the GOURMAND WORLD COOKBOOK AWARDS. See more prices and awards here.
Over the years, there have also been 19 food photography exhibitions at everything from museums and art galleries to restaurants and grocery stores, bothdIn Sweden and abroad.
VISIT SWEDEN AND THE "EXPORT PROGRAM FOR PURPOSE-TRIP TOURISM"
Business and destination development to strengthen Sweden’s position as a food country
My most recent employment was at Sweden’s marketing company, Visit Sweden, where I spent 3.5 years as a project manager and theme specialist in cultural and food tourism. I was responsible, among other things, for the dissemination of knowledge within ”Export programs for meal tourism”also known as ”The Meal Tourism Program”And ”Knowledge bank Meal”. I worked to contribute to business and destination development throughout Sweden by spreading knowledge about the potential in food tourism, the needs and wishes of international and Swedish travelers, and food trends. I created product development guides where I created guides that”Step by step guide – to succeed in food tourism” and ”Opportunity Analysis – See your potential areas of development in the field of food tourism” As well as courses on how to optimize digital channels with a focus on social media. Over the years, I have also lectured nationally on ”The potential in food tourism”, ”Food tourism trends”, ”Platsunik Storytelling”, and ”How to communicate your sustainability efforts in practice”.
The Knowledge Bank Meal received over 100,000 visits in 2018-2021. Satisfaction results for packaging in 2019-2021:
Did you learn anything new? 94%. Value of your work? 96%.
The Meal Tourism Team also ran a national network within the field of meal tourism as well as Sweden’s largest event within the field of meal tourism ”Tomorrow’s Food Travel”2019, 2021 and 2022.”.
Satisfaction results:
93.8% of regional partners believe that the Meal Tourism program has contributed to an increased awareness of meal tourism in their respective region/city.
As a thematic specialist in the fields of cultural and dining tourism, I was a consultant to most of the teams at Visit Sweden, based on a variety of hats, primarily in the areas of dining and culture, but also in sustainability, trends, and current issues. I provided input for campaign ideas, web articles, trend and target group analyses, and Oneline Travel Agents such as Tripadvisor and Expedia. During 2022 at Visit Sweden, I developed a guide ”Guidelines for thematic text production” for the entire company and for external suppliers. The result was a more positioning and value-creating marketing communication with brand-specific tone and messages across all channels.
I was also responsible for driving forward the popular campaign concept ”The Edible Country” and ”The Drinkable Country” and engaged in ”Tomorrow’s Food Travel – TFT SWEDEN”.
FORWARD
Own business again since April 2023
Since 2023, I have again run Bianca Brandon-Cox Productions AB, where I work at the intersection of food tourism, place development, destination marketing, sustainable development, and AI. My work takes place in close collaboration with clients and partners, based on their needs, challenges, and future opportunities.
I work both strategically and operationally from inspiring lectures, workshops and training sessions on the future traveler, consumer trends, food tourism, AI and digital visibility to hands-on business development, storytelling and content production for destinations, hotels, restaurants and companies in the tourism industry.
My passion is to strengthen the food service sector and the tourism industry through value-creating place and destination development. With food as the driving force, I want to contribute to the development of businesses, brands, places, and regions that people want to visit, experience, and return to.
I help companies and destinations identify place-specific values, develop stronger concepts, and create clearer communication where human experiences, local identity, and future digital opportunities intersect.
Since 2023, I have been the workshop leader for Kurbit’s business development for the tourism industry, and in the spring of 2024 I had the pleasure of educating approximately 40 students in Tourism & Hospitality Marketing at IHM Business School.
I am also active in the national network Place Branding Executives and sits on the board of Friends of the Gastronomic Academy and the Mealtime Academy, two important forums for monitoring the external environment, knowledge exchange and development in the gastronomy, tourism and visitor industry.
My professional journey is driven by commitment, curiosity, and the desire to continuously develop myself. I believe in knowledge as a tool for change and in sharing my insights to inspire others to grow.
My goal is simple but important:
My professional journey is driven by curiosity, development and a strong belief in knowledge, collaboration and innovation as tools for change.
My goal is simple but important: To help companies, destinations and people grow while contributing to a more sustainable, attractive and vibrant tourism industry.