Every year, at Christmas, jellybean embarks on a mission to support charities close to our heart and spread festive joy.

This year, we ran a competition like no other! jellybean’s Great Christmas Sandwich Off saw six bean teams battle it out to compose a Christmas-themed sandwich that honoured their nominated charity.

Each sandwich was to be ranked by our esteemed judges: Managing Partner Consumer & Retail, Neil and none other than American legend, cater-tainer and BAFTA award-winning producer, DJ BBQ!

The prize? Bragging rights, of course, and a £500 monetary donation to the team’s nominated charity!

But, as it’s Christmas, and jellybean’s founder and CEO, Fiona Rickard is passionate about spreading joy, there’s not just one winner, but two runners up too who’s charities will receive a donation of £100 each!

The runners up will be special awards for stand out creativity, and best tasting!

For extra fun, we’ve also added a People’s Choice Award – meaning our wonderful social following will be able to pick their favourite sandwich, with the winning team receiving a £250 to donate to their chosen charity.

As we’ve mentioned, we love to spread festive joy and we don’t want any charity to miss out this Christmas – so our CEO has very kindly offered to donate £50 to all nominated charities whose don’t manage to walk off with an award.

The teams, their charities and their chosen sandwiches are as follows:

Sooz & Alvi – ‘Out Out Christmas Sandwich’ for Hospitality Action.

For Hospitality Action Ambassador, and jellybean MD, Sooz, there could only be one charity that the ‘Out Out’ girls (inspired by Micky Flanagan’s famous phrase) chose to support this Christmas! It was of course Hospitality Action. The charity provides a range of support to staff in the hospitality industry when in need. From on-site mental health training to financial aid, the charity has been supporting the industry since 1837.

The ‘Out Out’ Christmas sandwich tapped into a number of key hospitality themes including reducing food waste and the international nature of hospitality, with a nifty way to use up those delicious leftovers to make an Instagrammable sandwich we know you’ll LOVE.

From pigs in blankets to Swiss cheese this sandwich promised great things, gooey cheese and classic Chrimbo flavours!! Depending on your foodie outlook on life, bread in a sandwich may be sacrosanct and the ‘Out Out Girls’ certainly went Out Out, as their sandwich was built on Yorkshire Puddings!
Someone call Lad Baby, we have a new Christmas hit single idea.

First up to the judging panel, they set the bar high with standout presentation including the full-on eating out experience, with linen napkins replete with rosemary springs and a Christmas wreath base for their sandwich to get the Christmas feels going.

Melis & Emily – ‘Santa Paws Special’ for Dogs Trust

Our retail experts, Melis and Emily brought a ‘Santa Paws Special’ to the table in this mouthwatering competition with a flavour-packed combo that in the words of the judges ‘could easily be found in a Pret A Manger.’

Made with hot honey ham, cheese, a crunchy apple and cinnamon slaw (can you tell they’re big foodies, for this was a new idea they hadn’t tested!!) and finally a Gochujang cranberry sauce – this was deemed a ‘next-level toastie.’

Made with some of their pets’ favourite ingredients, this sandwich was in honour of The Dog’s Trust. The charity that helps to re-home thousands of dogs, as well as providing medical support, training and enrichment to the dogs in its care.

Meg & Clare – ‘Santa Paws Surprise’ for Cats Protection

Our resident cat-lovers Clare and Meg swooped into the competition with a sandwich that was composed of all things cats love – turkey, cheese, and even bread! (Clearly Ginger cat owners!) With a surprise star ingredient giving a touch of spice – just like our much-loved furry friends, the Santa Paws Surprise was in honour of Cat’s Protection.

The UK’s largest feline welfare charity, Cat’s Protection helps an average of 157,000 cats – EVERY YEAR. From rehoming, to supporting good quality of life, Cat’s Protection is all about cat welfare.

Cass & Abi – ‘FoaLa La La La’ for Foal Farm

As you can tell, we’re an office of animal lovers, and for our next sandwich, Cass & Abi looked to support Foal Farm, an animal rescue centre based in Kent. From pigs, to cats, cows to goats, Foal Farm has been rescuing and rehoming neglected animals for over 60 years.

It will be no surprise to you then, that this sandwich takes a veggie turn. Nestled within a brioche bun, the tantalising sandwich was made with vegan bacon, cranberry, stuffing, melted brie and rocket.

This was a sandwich that came with many layers (and wordplay) for if you list out the ingredients in full, you even come up with an anagram of Foal Farm! You can tell we’re a creative agency, right?

Find out more about Foal Farm by following them on socials @foalfarmanimalresuce

Nick & Courtney – ‘Ultimate Thriftmas Sandwich’ for FareShare UK

This thrifty pair may be all giggles, but their ‘Ultimate Thriftmas Sandwich’ is an ode to a very important charity and cause that is no joke – food waste. FareShare are a nationwide charity aiming to reduce food waste and improve food distribution. Using all the best parts of a roast dinner, that’s if you like a brussels sprout, this stuffed sandwich even had a potato waffle included.

Using ingredients sourced via Too Good To Go, this sandwich embodied how versatile leftovers can be!

The UK’s largest network of charitable food redistributors, FareShare UK is made up of 18 independent organisations. Taking surplus food from across the food industry, the charity works with 8,000 other charitable and community groups to help create almost a million meals for vulnerable people.

I’m going to spoil something for you, if you haven’t watched their dedicated video yet, they scored top marks for creativity – and that’s all we’re going to say! Head to @jellybeanagency on socials to find out why…

Jess & Liv – ‘The Grinchwich’ for Grocery Aid

Jess and Liv wowed the judges, and beans alike, with a Grinch-themed Christmas sandwich, in honour of Grocery Aid – a charity offering help to all workers in the grocery industry – from financial aid to wellbeing support.

We know how hard it can be to get your greens in when there’s so much on the table at Christmas, but with ‘The Grinchwich’ this was not a problem after all. Combining creamy mozzarella, pesto, turkey and bacon this toasted panini was certainly a delight!

The Results

The competition could not have been much closer, with maximum 4 points separating each teams’ sandwiches according to the judges. To find out who wins follow @jellybeanagency on Instagram and Tik Tok. The winners will be revealed in the run up to Christmas 2024 on socials – so don’t delay, get following today!