Did you ever hear the term “You eat with your eyes”? Food should look good. You should see the texture of the food and want to taste it. Arguably, the most important part of production may be lighting food & beverage videos. First you backlight the food. Use a soft box to resemble window light coming from behind the table. Then add a kicker light at a low angle to add texture to the food. Use a spot light or barn doors to concentrate the light on the food first, then some light can spill onto the tabletop and other props if it adds to the ambiance. Here is a link to the video.
Glass and translucent beverages require backlighting to show the color of the beverage and make them glow.
I will color balance the cameras to the main light which will be white. Then I add gels to the kicker and side lights to add warmth to the food and/or the table top as I did from both sides of the beer set in the above image. 1/2 CTO or a full CTO filter works well to create the ambiance of a restaurant or amber lights in a home.
Cameras and lenses:
Selective focus is important to draw the attention to the food or drinks you are promoting. I will record with 2 cameras for 2 different angles for pouring beverages or when recording slow motion. I like to record the action in normal speed as well to have that option in post. In post I may also blur what is not important. I may soften some background props if they draw the viewers eye away from the featured item. Using the gaussian blur in post is important because I can match the look of the 2 cameras because the depth of field may differ according to the focal length of the lens or the distance from the product when recording.