As we usher in 2025, the food and drink industry is poised for exciting changes. As a leading food and drink marketing agency, we’re here to help you navigate these trends and turn them into actionable strategies. Here’s a deep dive into some of the trends set to shape the industry in 2025 and how you can leverage these insights to stay ahead.
As we step into Christmas, the UK’s food scene is abuzz with innovative flavour profiles, cultural influences, and consumer-driven trends. I’ve been on an internet hunt to find and combine the top categories trending across ingredients and dishes from newly released Christmas menus, retail launches, and social media trends. Here’s what I found…
In the world of foodservice, the official start of Christmas is undoubtably the Arena Christmas Event. This year’s was sold out with a waiting list, which says it all. Little wonder though when you consider the venue – The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park and of course the stellar line-up. With over 220 guests in attendance, it was an ideal occasion to catch-up with industry contacts old and new and hear from experts in the field, on their foodservice market predications.
As the leading food and drink agency, jellybean was delighted to attend the latest Lumina Intelligence Q4 Food Strategy Forum to explore insights and strategies shaping the UK foodservice industry.
The sector is experiencing a dynamic shift as operators adapt to evolving consumer preferences, economic conditions and trends – here are some of the highlights:
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.
As social media and YouTube continue to skyrocket, it’s clear that brands can’t afford to ignore the power of video. With 90% of businesses integrating video into their marketing strategies, and audiences spending an average of 17 hours a week watching content online1, video is where brands need to focus in order to generate leads, attract new audiences and raise awareness.
“When you own your breath, nobody can steal your peace” Anon
Working in a fast paced communications agency has its challenges and requires energy, dedication and resilience, which is why we take the mental health* and wellbeing of our team very seriously at jellybean. We regularly carry out internal surveys to check-in and see how our team are feeling and identify where the professional pinch points are.
jellybean has been a long-time supporter of the great work Hospitality Action does for those in need in the hospitality industry. As a Hospitality Action Ambassador, I am also personally keen to do all we can to support their great work. Some row across the Atlantic (see Spirit of Hospitality), me, well I’m more of a nice dinner at a posh hotel kinda girl, so when we saw the line up for the Winter Chefs’ Dinner at Raffles OWO we were in!
Earlier this month I attended the Alliance of Independent Agencies’ Festival of Happiness, a day dedicated to exploring the role culture and wellbeing has within a business. Taking place at Google’s Kings Cross HQ, this year’s theme was focussed on leadership – that to achieve as a high performing agency, leaders must pay attention to the wellbeing and happiness of their people.
Anyone who knows me well is aware of my mildly unhealthy fascination with smells. I’m like an olfactory David Attenborough, but with less authority, gravitas, respect, knowledge, experience, expertise, grace, standing and qualifications. Basically, I’m the Steve Backshall of odours.
jellybean was delighted to attend the MCA Live Restaurant Conference at the Ham Yard Hotel on November the 7th. The event featured insightful discussions from industry leaders on a range of topics, including menu engineering, tech innovations, delivery, and gender diversity. Here are the key highlights:
I was recently featured in an article by grocery industry bible The Grocer on the hot topic of Tesco’s Club Card AI. Tesco CEO Ken Murphy recently said artificial intelligence could be used to monitor how customers were shopping to help persuade them towards healthier choices. He said: “I can see it nudging you over time, saying: ‘I’ve noticed over time in your shopping basket that your sodium salt content is 250% of your daily recommended allowance.”
I recently spent the perfect Autumn get away visiting Chania in Crete, not only did we enjoy the sunshine, we also had the best time sampling the delicious local foods and trying top restaurant hot spots. For any foodie, when going on holiday food is top of the agenda. My key method of research recently has been focused more on social media, especially TikTok to help me decide where to eat – which has offered up some great recommendations for recent trips. Again, this did not disappoint for Chania, resulting in us eating at amazing restaurants throughout the trip! Here are some of my favourites that are well worth a try if you are visiting the old town.
Halloween 2024 is fast approaching, and so is the surge of creative brand collaborations in the food and drink sector. This year, even the most traditional brands are stepping out of their comfort zone and teaming up with partners to deliver innovative, attention-grabbing products and campaigns. Whether it’s an unexpected flavour twist, or quirky, cross-industry partnerships (think sausage roll socks by Greggs and Primark), these collaborations are letting brands tap into each other’s audiences while generating buzz and excitement through limited-edition, themed offerings.
The Royal Lancaster Hotel, based on the edge of London’s Hyde Park, has recently collaborated with the Natural History Museum, for a Blooming British Afternoon Tea – a floral-inspired twist in celebration of British flowers and fauna. The tea takes inspiration from the Museum’s archives, as well as its newly transformed gardens – an idyllic source of nature within the city’s bustling centre.
In the fast-evolving digital landscape, B2B food and drink brands are leveraging social media to build stronger networks, drive sales, and boost brand visibility.
LinkedIn, as the world’s largest professional networking platform and the oldest (21 years this year and counting), has become an important tool in these efforts, offering unique opportunities to connect with the right audiences.
As further news on the employment bill hits the headlines we take a look at the changes to tipping laws which came into effect at the beginning of the month (1st October 2024). As consumers we are of course keen to see our tips go to those who deserve them, but how will the new tipping legislation affect the hospitality industry? We take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of this new change to tipping laws.
In an ever-changing digital world, with AI exploding and hospitality businesses seeking new ways to drive customer experience and business efficiencies, digital transformation was the obvious topic for Arena’s Autumn Event. As the leading foodservice agency, we jumped at the opportunity to catch up with industry friends and contacts, whilst getting to hear from innovative events catering company Freemans Event Partners and Jeremy Blain CEO of Performance Works International, not to mention the chance for a sneaky peak behind-the-scenes at Lords Cricket Ground.
After a short hiatus for a worldwide pandemic, the Universal Cookery and Food Festival was back with a bang this year. With the location set appropriately in the Garden of England (Kent) the imposing big top at Loddington Farm played host to a wide range of brands, along with a trends and debate stage and The Staff Canteen Live. Not only was the event, dubbed Glastonbury for chefs, awash with food and drink, it also offered farm and foraging tours for those up for braving the elements and getting back to nature.
My cousin recently came to visit from Bermuda, and since she’s vegan and I’m always keen on trying new plant-based dishes, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take her on a vegan food safari in London. We decided to explore Soho and Fitzrovia – two lively areas known for their exciting food scenes. From street-food-inspired eats to refined dishes, we indulged in some truly delicious flavours. Here’s a recap of our vegan adventure!
