As planning for 2027 comes hurtling towards us you may well be looking for an agency to support your brand or brands in foodservice. Choosing a foodservice marketing agency is however a different exercise to selecting a general marketing agency, and treating it the same way is where most agency reviews go wrong.

Foodservice has its own buying cycles, its own trade press and its own mix of audiences including chefs, buyers, wholesalers and operators. It’s a world built on relationships and tends to be very incestuous. Once people find themselves in foodservice, or as it’s sometimes referred to as Out of Home (OOH), Away from Home (AFH) or HORECA, they rarely leave. An agency without direct experience in the sector will spend your first six months learning it on your budget. That’s not what you want.

This guide sets out what a foodservice marketing agency actually does, the questions worth asking before you shortlist anyone, what genuine sector experience looks like against a slide that only claims it and the warning signs to watch out for. Think of it as a helping hand to find the agency that’s right for you.

What does a foodservice marketing agency do?

A foodservice marketing agency plans and delivers marketing aimed at the trade side of food and drink: wholesalers, contract caterers, pub and restaurant groups, quick service chains and education, healthcare and workplace catering, rather than marketing aimed directly at consumers (although they can cover consumer pull through too). It is a complex B2B market with decision makers at each stage of the supply chain and a wide number of sectors within it (see more here). Unlike trade grocery, where in theory you can get all the key buyers in one room, foodservice has thousands of buyers and decision makers, from chefs to F&B managers, mixologists to purchasing directors, and face to face contact alone is never going to reach them all, even with a huge sales team. So your marketing function is key.

The work of a foodservice agency usually spans strategy, PR, digital and social, design/content creation and events, focused around a more specialist trade audience. It can also include bespoke insight but should always be grounded in market and sector insight. See our essential guide to foodservice marketing here.

How is foodservice marketing different from FMCG or retail marketing?

Foodservice marketing is different because it predominantly targets foodservice decision makers rather than the retail shelf. Consumer marketing demands the marketer put themselves in the shoes of the target demographic or need state. Foodservice marketing asks something different: understanding which sectors are a good fit for the product, what the drivers and barriers might be, how to pull through the supply chain by engaging operators and showing them the business benefit, and how to push into the wholesale channel to gain listings so operators can buy the product. To do this you need an agency that can build a compelling story that demonstrates demand with both operators and their end consumers. That’s why marketing is so critical in this sector, and working with the right agency partner can make or break your brand in foodservice.

The operator audience buys differently to a consumer one. A chef choosing a new ingredient, or an operator choosing a new supplier, isn’t making a shelf-edge decision. They’re making a menu decision, usually purchased through a wholesaler or distributor, often over a longer sales cycle than retail ever involves. Although our recent chef insight has highlighted how Amazon and brand websites are starting to encroach on this.

When it comes to foodservice marketing the audience, the channels and the timelines all shift. Retail marketing is built around shopper behaviour prior to store visit and at the point of purchase: pack design, in-store activation, promotional mechanics. Foodservice marketing is built around trade relationships: menu inclusion, distributor listings, chef and buyer engagement, and a trade press and events calendar that carries real weight in the sector, from Arena gatherings to the Cateys, The Publican Awards to The School Food Show and Forum – the list goes on.

Purchasing decisions in foodservice often run on longer cycles too. A new listing with a major contract caterer can take months of relationship building before a single case ships, which is a very different rhythm to a retail promotional slot booked for a six week window. Equally, if you have an undisciplined multiple like a contract caterer, where you are a preferred supplied at head office, the listing is just the first step on a long road to get your product into kitchens the whole estate. If any of these terms sound like double Dutch you definitely need a good foodservice agency to guide you.

What questions should you ask before you shortlist an agency?

A handful of direct questions will tell you more than any pitch deck:

  • Ask for two or three named foodservice case studies, not consumer campaigns with an element of foodservice thrown in.
  • Ask exactly which foodservice channels they’ve worked in. Contract catering, quick service, education and healthcare all behave differently, and a vague answer covering all of them usually means shallow experience in each.
  • Ask who will actually work on your account day to day. The team in the pitch room may know their onions but that may not apply to the team doing the work.
  • Ask if the team on your account is made up of full-time employees offering consistency and depth of knowledge, or of freelancers gathered together for the brief.
  • Ask how retainers are structured and what’s genuinely included, rather than accepting a single bundled number.
  • Ask how they approach visibility in AI search tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, not only traditional search engine optimisation. As AI search is increasingly important when it comes to B2B purchasing in foodservice.
  • Ask which trade titles and events they have genuine relationships with. A media list is not the same thing as a relationship.
  • Ask to speak to some existing clients to get genuine feedback on how it is to work with them.
  • Ask if they are happy to take you through an intro to foodservice if you are new to the sector.
  • Ask what their average client life-span is.

 

And of course, speak to your network, research their website and socials and get a real feel for who they are as an agency. Do they walk the walk or just talk the talk!

What does genuine foodservice sector experience actually look like?

Genuine foodservice sector experience looks like years working consistently in the sector, direct relationships with chefs and buyers rather than only marketing managers, and named brand examples spanning more than one sub-channel, not just a slide that claims it. Breadth without depth is easy to claim and hard to check, so push past the summary slide and ask for the detail behind it. You can see what that looks like in practice in our own case studies.

It’s also worth checking whether the agency can cover strategy, PR, digital and design under one roof, or whether you’ll be coordinating three or four separate suppliers yourself. An agency that’s been doing this for decades, rather than a couple of years, will usually have the trade press relationships and event presence to show for it, not just claim it.

How much does a foodservice marketing agency cost?

There’s no single figure that applies across the board. As a rule of thumb, retainers scale with complexity, so a narrower PR-only retainer sits well below a fully integrated retainer spanning strategy, PR, digital, design and events. Any agency quoting one number without asking about your scope first is worth a second look. The best will not offer an off the shelf productised offer but a bespoke solution designed around your brand’s specific needs.

Project-based pricing is also common for a single launch, an NPD campaign or an events push, rather than an ongoing retainer. The more useful question isn’t “what’s the number”, it’s “what exactly is included in that number”, since two similarly priced quotes can cover very different levels of service.

What are the warning signs of a weak agency fit?

  • No named foodservice case studies, only consumer or FMCG work presented as though it transfers directly.
  • A pitch team that’s noticeably different from the team named for delivery.
  • Reluctance to name current or former clients.
  • No mention of trade press relationships or sector events when you ask how they’ll get you visibility beyond your own channels.
  • Vague or confused answers when asked how they approach AI search visibility, or an answer that only describes traditional SEO.
  • Little or no visibility on the team outside of the core management team – suggesting a freelance model or high staff turnover.
  • No mention of their values, ESG/CSR commitments.

A quick comparison checklist

Use this across every agency on your shortlist, including jellybean, so you’re comparing on the same criteria each time.

What to check Strong sign Warning sign
Foodservice case studies Named, sector-specific, across brands you admire Generic FMCG work relabelled
Trade press relationships Named titles they’ve secured coverage in and contacts they can name A media list with no track record attached
Team continuity Same people from pitch through to delivery Pitch team unavailable once you’ve signed and been passed on to juniors
Company structure Full-time team with in-depth knowledge and consistency Freelancers, heads for hire fronted as “team members”
AI and search visibility Clear, specific answer on AI search approach with digital lead No answer, or confuses it with basic SEO
Industry relationships Website shows how they are embedded in the industry High level talk but no obvious signs they are out and about in the industry
Channel breadth Contract catering, quick service, wholesale named specifically with examples “We cover all of foodservice” with no detail
Pricing clarity Retainer scope laid out line by line A single bundled number with no breakdown
Industry expertise Happy to run you through an introduction to the market Not keen to share industry knowledge
Culture They not only do good work, they share your values No mention of anything cultural or CSR/ESG

 

Do you need a specialist foodservice agency, or would a general FMCG agency do?

If most of your growth sits in out of home or foodservice channels, a specialist foodservice agency will typically outperform a generalist, simply because the buying audience, trade press and sales cycle are genuinely different to retail. A generalist agency can still work well where foodservice is a smaller part of a wider retail-led brand, provided they’re honest about where their experience runs thin. The danger though is that foodservice becomes a Friday afternoon afterthought, given to a junior rather than afforded an experienced dedicated resource that genuinely understands the market.

If you need all bases covered across foodservice, retail and consumer, an agency with specialist dedicated teams within one agency is a great solution.

Where jellybean fits into this

We’ve been working in foodservice for nearly four decades. It’s where we started and it’s in our very DNA. We have a dedicated foodservice team with over 183 years of combined expertise in the market, all genuine jellybeans, food and drink obsessed. Plus, we’re employee-owned, which tends to show up as a more motivated team driven by client success, with lower staff turnover than agencies run purely for shareholder or VC profits and quarterly figures. As our positioning line says, “we own it”.

What’s more, if you’re looking for consumer, shopper, grocery or convenience retail support, our retail and consumer team can help, and if pure digital is your focus, our in-house digital team has you covered. This doesn’t mean we’re less focused on foodservice, just that we have more strings to our bow and the ability to handle your brand across all markets, which comes in useful in a world with increasingly blurred boundaries, where convenience often merges into foodservice and foodservice brands often launch retail ranges. Our experience in other areas helps us see the full picture without losing focus on foodservice.

Our work spans strategy, PR, digital and social and design, all under one roof, across clients including Maldon Salt, McCormick, Unilever, Booker and LaSavista amongst others. As well as great work, we aim to be a force for good. Expertise is key, but it sits alongside our other three core values: care, collaboration and courage.

That doesn’t mean we’re the right fit for every brief. Use the checklist above on us, as well as everyone else on your shortlist. Even better, get in touch and speak to us directly. Foodservice is a people business, and we believe our people are our strongest asset. Get in touch to find out if we’re the right agency for you, with a free 30-minute consultation here.

Susan Wickes
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