As natural-food industry grows, small firms need to focus on standing out

BOULDER — There’s a double-edged sword to being in natural foods: although the rise of the industry means healthy, local or organic products are becoming more popular, it also means big food brands are continuously entering the space making it more difficult for  smaller companies to set their products apart.

To fight those challenges, the best thing a small natural-food company can do is show customers who they are and why they make food, not just what they do.

That was the message Blake Mitchell, president of Interact On Shelf, a Boulder-based advertising firm that specializes…