Food and drink UGC Basic package by Velena LifestyleBasic tier

Food and Drink UGC

One first taste, filmed once, with the sound recorded live

1 fully edited video with your product tasted, cooked or served on camera, in the length you choose, delivered 5 working days after it reaches us. Velena films and edits every order herself, and spent eleven months making content for Picsart, an AI creative platform used by well over a hundred million people. Organic only. No paid media rights at this tier.

★★★★★ 5.0 on Google from 10 reviews

Choose a length to add to your basket

Right tier if the video is going on your product page and your own channels. If it will ever run as a paid advert, order Standard instead, because Basic licenses no paid media at any spend. Prices are in pounds sterling and no VAT is added. Email us before shipping anything chilled or fresh so filming happens the day it lands.

1video
Livesound recorded
Organicusage rights
As featured inWomen's Health|Rated★★★★★ 5.0 on Google from 10 reviews
High Wycombe, BuckinghamshireLive sound, never libraryNothing inedible on cameraA real person, not a generated face
1fully edited video
4lengths to choose from
1 minor roundincluded
5 working daysfrom the product arriving

What you get

Exactly what is included, and what is not

The rows that say not included matter as much as the ones that do, because ordering the wrong tier is the most expensive mistake a food brand makes here. The limits are set out before you order rather than in an email afterwards.

ItemDetail
Videos1, filmed with your product.
LengthYour choice of 15, 30, 45 or 60 seconds, priced individually.
Formatone of 9:16, 4:5 and 1:1. Further ratios are a re-edit, not a re-shoot, and are quoted separately.
ScriptNot included. You set the concept and direction.
Hook variationsnone. Two openings to test start at Standard.
Live soundIncluded at every tier. Crunch, pour and sizzle recorded on the day, not replaced in the edit.
Usage rightsOrganic only. No paid media rights at this tier.
Paid advertisingNot included at this tier. Meta, TikTok and Google rights begin on Standard.
Raw footageNot included. The source files sit on Premium.
Chilled and fresh handlingAvailable at every tier. Email before shipping so a date can be agreed.
Currency and VATPrices are in pounds sterling and no VAT is added.
Revisions1 minor round.
Delivery5 working days from the product arriving, by shared Google Drive.

Why food video works

The reaction is the product

Food is the one category where the audience is buying an experience they cannot have through a screen. What closes that gap is not the plating, it is a face, and a face is the hardest thing to fake on camera.

  • First taste, filmed onceThe genuine first mouthful happens exactly once. We film it live rather than staging a reaction after four takes, because an audience that has watched a thousand food videos can tell the difference instantly.
  • Sound carries as much as pictureThe crunch, the pour, the sizzle. Food is the category where audio does half the persuading, so it is captured properly rather than replaced with library sound.
  • We say what it actually tastes likeTexture, sweetness, heat, aftertaste. If something is very sweet or very hot we say so, because a review that likes everything equally persuades nobody.
  • We will tell you if it did not landIf a product does not taste the way your brief describes, you hear it from us before delivery rather than from a comment section afterwards.

What we will not do

No glue, no motor oil, no fake steam

Food photography has a long tradition of substituting things that photograph better than they eat. Glue instead of milk, motor oil instead of syrup, cardboard behind the burger. None of it survives contact with a customer who then orders the real thing.

  • We film what you sentThe product that arrives is the product on camera. If it needs assembling or heating we follow your instructions rather than improving on them.
  • No inedible substitutesEvery technique used in the video is one a customer could repeat at home with the product they bought.
  • Steam and sizzle are realFilmed hot rather than added afterwards. It costs a faster turnaround on the day and it is the difference between appetising and uncanny.
  • Portion sizes as suppliedWe do not build a portion larger than the one you sell, because a portion built for the camera rather than the menu is the fastest way to produce a disappointed customer.

Why not just generate it

A real person on camera needs no AI label

Generated food video is cheap and useless here, because the thing being sold is a reaction and a sound that a model has never had.

  • The disclosure sits with you, not the toolMeta, TikTok and the FTC all require advertisers to disclose AI generated people, voices and lip sync, and the label measurably reduces click through rate. Filmed with a real person eating your actual product, none of this meets those definitions.
  • A generated mouthful has no soundThe crunch and the pour are recorded, not synthesised. In a feed with the volume on, that is most of the persuasion.
  • This is not an argument against the toolsVelena spent eleven months producing content for Picsart, much of it edited inside their own product.

The two things that cost the money

Raw footage and advertising rights

Not at this tier

Raw footage

The finished video only. The unedited takes are not included, and cannot be added once a shoot has been delivered.

  • No unedited takes
  • No re-cutting into new adverts later
  • Included on Premium
  • Decide before filming, not afterwards
Organic only

Advertising rights

Organic only. No paid media rights at this tier. Use on the channels you own, for as long as you sell the product.

  • Your product page, website and email
  • Your own Instagram, TikTok and Facebook
  • Your own marketplace listings
  • No Meta, TikTok and Google advertising

How it works

Order to delivery in four steps

  1. OrderPick your length above and it goes straight to your basket. No consultation needed.
  2. BriefSend your order number, brief and preparation instructions through the contact page. We reply within one business day. Tell us now if anything is chilled or fresh.
  3. ShipPost the product by tracked delivery to High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire with the order number inside. Chilled items go by arrangement so filming happens on arrival.
  4. ReceiveYour MP4 arrives by shared Google Drive within 5 working days, ready to publish.

Sending from outside the UK

How this works if your product ships from abroad

We work with food and drink brands worldwide, and this range needs the real product on camera. Perishables make the timing tighter than any other category, so this matters more here.

  • Email before you ship anything perishableA date is agreed first so filming happens the day it lands. A fresh product that sits in a depot over a weekend cannot be filmed at all.
  • The clock starts on arrival, not on orderSend by any tracked international service to our High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire address. The working days quoted run from the day it reaches us.
  • Mark it a commercial sample, pay duty at your endWe cannot clear a package held at customs, and food held at a border is usually food that can no longer be used.
  • Send more than one unitAnything cooked or opened cannot be reset. A second unit means a second take is possible.
  • What you are chargedPrices are in pounds sterling and no VAT is added. If you are ordering from outside the UK your card issuer sets the exchange rate, and anything due in your own country is outside our invoice.
Organic rights, stated plainlyBasic licenses the video for the channels you own and nothing else. It does not license paid media on Meta, TikTok and Google or anywhere else, and we would rather say that here than have you discover it afterwards. If there is any chance the video ends up in an ad account, order Standard.

Compare

The other packages

Same creator, same standard of filming on every tier. What changes is the script, the hooks, the rights and whether the raw footage comes with it.

  • Food and drink UGC Standard package by Velena LifestyleStandard

    Standard

    from £235 per video

    Script, 2 hooks, all three formats, 12 months on Meta, TikTok and Google

    View Standard
  • Food and drink UGC Premium package by Velena LifestylePremium

    Premium

    from £360 per video

    3 hooks, raw footage, whitelisting, planned preparation

    View Premium
  • Food and drink UGC three video bundle by Velena LifestyleBest value

    Bundle, 3 videos

    £610 for all three

    3 Standard videos, 6 in total hooks, three products tested

    View the bundle

All four on the food and drink packages page, finished work on the food and drink UGC portfolio, other categories on the UGC portfolio hub.

Featured UGC portfolio

Food first, then the rest of the range

  • Food and Drink UGC videos by Velena Lifestyle

    Food and Drink

    Real client work, filmed and edited in house.

    View the work
  • Lifestyle UGC videos by Velena Lifestyle

    Lifestyle

    Real client work, filmed and edited in house.

    View the work
  • Hotels and Restaurants UGC videos by Velena Lifestyle

    Hotels and Restaurants

    Real client work, filmed and edited in house.

    View the work
  • Unboxing UGC videos by Velena Lifestyle

    Unboxing

    Real client work, filmed and edited in house.

    View the work

Every category is on the UGC portfolio hub.

Bespoke

A full menu, or an ongoing retainer?

Some food and drink briefs do not fit a package: a whole menu shot in one session, a seasonal launch with a fixed press date, a monthly retainer feeding an ad account, or filming on location at a restaurant or venue. When that is the shape of it we scope the work rather than pushing you into the nearest tier.

Quotes are prepared individually. Send us the shape of the problem and we come back with scope, timings and a fixed figure, usually within one business day.

  • Full menu or range shoots
  • On location at a restaurant or venue
  • Launches with a fixed press date
  • Monthly retainers for ad accounts
  • Higher volume than three videos
Request a quote

Client reviews

What clients say, word for word

★★★★★

“Velena was a pleasure to work with, she worked solely with the brief provided and was even ahead of her deadline. The content produced was clean, professional and on brand. We would love to work with Velena again in the very near future.”

Lauryn Middleton, Social Media Manager, Smirk. Client testimonial, October 2023.
★★★★★

“Velena is truly one of our standout creators at Picsart. She consistently brings fresh, innovative ideas to the table and is always tapped into the latest trends. What we especially love is how seamlessly she incorporates AI into her content in a way that feels natural and engaging.”

Kaline Tchamitchian, Senior Social Media Manager, Picsart. Google review, 5.0.
★★★★★

“If you want a self-starter with the ability to think strategically and minimize the time between ideation and creation, Velena is your go-to. She has done a phenomenal job with managing our UGC portfolio, curating and creating our content.”

Naila Abbasova, Enara Wellness. Google review, 5.0.

Every review is reproduced word for word. Read them all on the reviews page.

Who you work with

One team, from the first brief to the last hand off

Velena Nikolova, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Velena Lifestyle

Velena Nikolova

Co-Founder and Creative Director

Velena leads the filming and the edit, so the idea and the execution never pass between strangers. A lifestyle creator with 13,000 Instagram followers, featured in Women's Health. More on the about page.

Dragos Nistor, Co-Founder and Business Strategist at Velena Lifestyle

Dragos Nistor

Co-Founder and Business Strategist

Dragos runs the brief, the schedule and the delivery, and is on camera for couple and male led work. Named a LinkedIn Top Entrepreneurship Voice in 2024. More on the case studies.

Questions

Before you order

Why it works

Basic in practice

Why food is the hardest category to fake

Every other product can be photographed convincingly by someone who has never used it. Food cannot, because the persuasion happens in a face and in a sound, and both give themselves away when they are performed rather than had. That is also why food UGC outperforms studio food photography on paid social so consistently: the studio version is beautiful and the creator version is believable, and only one of those makes somebody hungry.

What a good food brief contains

How to prepare it, how it is meant to be eaten, the one flavour note you most want mentioned, and whether anything is chilled. Four lines. The preparation instruction is the one people forget and the one that most often costs a reshoot.

Not sure this is the right tier? Tell us about the product and we will say so plainly, including when the answer is a cheaper one.

One video, one fixed price, 5 working days

Pick your length above and it goes straight to your basket. Brief us straight after.