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. Read More
Poutine has been around for a while now. Chips, gravy and squeaky cheese curds have been turning up on London’s late-night menus for over a decade, from the four branches of Dip & Flip to Caribou Poutine in Liverpool, the UK’s first dedicated poutine restaurant.
“It’s only good nutrition if children are eating it!”
Nine words from Arena’s Feeding the Future event that every food and drink brand selling into schools should pin above the NPD whiteboard and the Government would do well to consider. With new school food standards for England landing in September*, here’s who wins, who loses and who needs to reformulate fast.
Arena’s Summer Event took place this year at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in Knightsbridge, a day dedicated to shaping the future of foodservice and hospitality. Arena gatherings are always a reliable barometer of industry mood, and this one delivered sharp insight, honest conversation and a wonderful lunch.
Some evenings remind you exactly why we all love this industry. The Cateys did just that on the 7th of July, when nearly a thousand hospitality professionals filled JW Marriott Grosvenor House London for the awards fondly known as the Oscars of hospitality – The Cateys. Those lucky enough to have a ticket dusted off the black tie and donned their posh frocks to catch up with familiar faces and cheered some thoroughly deserving winners.
Seven hundred chefs, operators and industry names gathered at The Westminster Park Plaza last Wednesday evening for the Craft Guild of Chefs Awards 2026. I was lucky enough to attend with my colleague Jess Clare, as guests of Dewberry Redpoint.
One in five UK adults is currently taking, has taken, or is actively considering a GLP-1 weight loss medication. That is a significant consumer base with significantly reduced appetites. Not great news for the food and drink industry, but as ever, any challenge can be an opportunity when armed with strong insight!
Last Thursday, 650 people packed into the London Hilton Metropole to celebrate the best in public sector catering. Nineteen awards. One brilliant evening.
Consumer confidence has been stuck between -23 and -17 since the summer of 2024. Job security worries are growing. And yet the UK food to go market has not just held its ground. It has grown.
Food in Healthcare – It’s not about being cheap. It’s about quality and value.
Two firsts for Arena
Thursday the 5th of March marked a milestone for Arena. Not one, but two firsts; the Importance of Healthcare Catering was Arena’s inaugural breakfast event and its first ever sector-focused gathering.
The B2B Marketing UK Agencies Benchmarking Report 2026 is out, and we’re delighted that jellybean has been named both as a Top 10 UK Market and Strategy Planning Specialist (coming in at no.7) and a Top 40 UK B2B Marketing Agency (coming in at no.34).
This week saw Lumina Intelligence host a webinar that challenged many of our assumptions about sustainability in the food and drink sector. The session revealed a significant shift in consumer attitudes around sustainability set to impact foods and drink brands in 2026.
There’s something genuinely uplifting about seeing 89 faces on a Teams call at 9am on a weekday morning. Not because they have to be there, but because they want to be. That was the opening to Hospitality Action’s Ambassador AGM, and it set the tone for what turned out to be one of the most moving hours I’ve spent in front of a screen in a long while.
At this year’s Arena Christmas Event heavyweights from UK Hospitality, The Evolv Collection (previously D&D), Gather + Gather (contract caterers) and RedCat Independent Pubs assembled on the stage at the Mandarin Oriental for a compelling panel discussion. Given the recent budget there was a lot to discuss. Below are my key takeaways, the good, the bad and the ugly…
Simon Stenning has spent the last 18 years predicting the future of foodservice. His latest insights reveal an industry adapting fast to changing appetites, tighter wallets and a population that’s simultaneously more health-conscious and more indulgent than ever. Here’s what you need to know.
This week saw The Caffè Culture Show return to The Business Design Centre in Islington. So, we headed along to see what’s hot in the coffee shop market. It was little surprise to see a huge array of small coffee roasters along and associated coffee sundries like syrups, disposables, uniforms and more. Of course, matcha was a big focus – no surprises there!
If you work in food and drink marketing, you’ll know our industry is never still for long. But the upcoming ASA/Government restrictions on advertising Less Healthy Food and drink (LHF) products are a particularly big step change – one that’s going to require more than a tweak here and there.
