A Weekend in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is one of the most popular European tourist spots – the city attracted around 20 million tourists per year pre pandemic. Famous for its art, culture, canals, and bikes on every corner I was eager to sink my teeth into everything the iconic city had to offer! So much so, my first trip to Amsterdam was a whirlwind of food and fun.
the jellybean factor
You might be wondering…what’s it really like to work for jellybean?
Some Like It Hot
As Hallowe’en, Bonfire Night and (dare we utter) Christmas roll around once again and the summer heatwave feels like a distant memory, classic winter warmers are popping up all over the place. Roast season has well and truly returned, and soup, casserole, and pie inspiration seem to be saturating social media feeds.
10 ways to get the most from your show
So, you’ve booked your events and exhibitions for 2023, whether you’re planning a host of regional shows, focusing on a niche sector, or perhaps going big at the next William-Reed expo, there are some simple things you can do to boost awareness around your stand, get more traffic and help market your business pre, during and post show. As a leading food and drink marketing and PR agency we know a thing or two about foodie shows and how to make the most of them. So here are our 10 top tips…
Why Brands Need to Keep Supporting Chefs
As a leading food and drink agency with over 35 years working with chefs us beans are used to working closely with chefs. Indeed, over this past month I was incredibly lucky to spend time in the company of many brilliant chefs. Chefs of all ages and levels, they had either shined at the Salon Culinaire, Zest Quest Asia, or were in training to compete at the highest level – representing England at the World Culinary Olympics this November.
World Food Day 2022
Food brings people together in a huge variety of ways, from family gatherings or a friendly pick-me-up to first dates or peace-offerings. Everyone has a favourite food, ranging from pizza to pasta, cookies to cakes, and all the good stuff in between! So many amazing dishes and ingredients are available to indulge in today, and World Food Day (16th October) celebrates them all.
National Curry Week
If you ever needed an excuse to indulge in a curry, and believe me as a leading food and drink agency we need very little excuse, well, here it is. This week marks National Curry Week during which we have been hugely excited to launch an on-pack retail promotion for Cinnamon Kitchen. A newly launched brand which offers Indian fine dining at home with a range of premium ready meals developed by celeb chef Vivek Singh of The Cinnamon Collection. The range which is available exclusively through Tesco includes everything you could need to re-create fine Indian cuisine at home, without any of the hassle or effort – result! Having tried it myself I can testify to the quality and frankly my local Balti may have some serious competition on its hands.
Piña Coladas in Croatia
If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that we beans enjoy a cocktail or two in the sun. Never has this been truer, than when I went bar hopping in the serene and scenic harbour town of Cavtat in Croatia with my best friend, sampling Piña Coladas whenever possible.
Let me take you through our experiences, rating each Piña Colada along the way.
Lumina Food Strategy Forum Top Takeout’s
You may recall my last Lumina food strategy forum exec summary blog was split into the good news and the bad news. I’m sad to say that the weight of bad news is rather overwhelming this time around, however that isn’t to say there isn’t some good news. As ever things are changing on a daily basis as this debrief happened on 21st September two days before the Chancellor’s ‘mini budget’. However, that said, it offers up a useful snapshot of the market. My top take outs from the debrief are as follows:
Contract Catering’s StrEAT Food Awards 2022
Earlier this month, we made our way to the Islington Metal Works in London for the 2022 StrEAT Food Awards, hosted by Contract Catering Magazine. The event saw some of the UK’s biggest and best contract caterers including Amadeus, BaxterStorey, Elior, Lexington and Sodexo, battling it out to take home one of three coveted titles including Street Food Dish of the Year, StrEAT Food Chef of the Year and Meat-Free Dish of the Year.
National Hospitality Day – 30th September 2022
National Hospitality Day was launched last year to celebrate the brilliant, resilient restaurants, pubs, hotels, bars, cafes, and the amazing people who work within them. Despite the worst of the pandemic, the industry demonstrated just how hospitality makes our communities better. Last year, over £50,000 was raised as businesses were asked to incorporate a fundraising element into their activities to support charities (specifically Drinks Trust, Springboard, Hospitality Action, Only a Pavement Away and Licensed Trade Charity).
A Heavenly Food Tour Around Angel
The Lumina team are no stranger to a food tour, well versed as they are with the hottest new concepts in town. But this time they wanted to mix things up a bit and treat the Food Strategy Forum members to a tour around not Soho, but Angel and not one, but three meals! Had I had known I perhaps would have opted for an elasticated waist but that frankly is my only complaint.
Being a Vegan in Paris
Note to self: when you book a last minute, spontaneous trip to Paris with your vegan friend, make sure you do your foodie research.
If you didn’t know before (which I certainly didn’t), France isn’t the most ‘up to date’ when it comes to vegan and vegetarian options. Practically every menu in traditional Parisian restaurants offers meat-only dishes, with minimal vegetarian choices and zero vegan options – making it impossible for a carnivore and a vegan to eat together *sobs*.
Summer Snacks and Foodie Hacks
We’re encountering some of the hottest weather this country has ever seen, and I for one, am LOVING IT. However, as we’ve reached record-breaking temperatures in the UK this summer, we need to maintain a sensible body temperature, stay hydrated, and ensure we don’t go gaga with the heat.
A Stirring Time

As a leading food and drink agency we’re rather partial to a classy cocktail (or three) as you may have seen from our World Cocktail Day blog. So last Friday, to mark our 35th anniversary, Fiona our CEO organised a cocktail making masterclass for all the beans. Held outside in glorious sunshine our mixologist Simeon founder and MD of Soul Stirrer greeted us with a deliciously sweet and sour jellybean cocktail ‘jellybean fizz’, complete with mini pack of jellybeans delicately clipped to the side (nice touch!).
jellybean makes a splash for National Marine Week
As time goes on, we are learning more about our earth and our oceans, and how they impact our day-to-day life. It is no longer just about living side by side with planet earth, everything is linked and intertwined. Essentially, we have a symbiotic relationship with nature – something we have been treating as a parasitic relationship. We have been taking more than we can give, and it is time to start giving back. We already know that climate change is a real danger, and that our oceans store large amounts of carbon dioxide – so what steps, however small, can we do as individuals to help?
Passion and purpose drive performance.
I have many passions in life but top 3 on my list must be 1) my business jellybean, 2) my sport golf and 3) doing good whilst having fun. No offence to my partner Ian or my dog Kenzo they of course are right up there too. Last Friday I had the opportunity to combine all three of these passions by sponsoring and organising a ladies charity golf day at Sunningdale Heath where we raised much needed funds for the Ukraine Crisis Children’s Appeal via Plan International.
MAD//Fest – The Marketeers Festival
The start of this month saw the kick-off of MAD//Fest’s three-day long festival. Full of forward-thinking, fraternising and food, the bean team were in attendance not only to join the hub of innovation but to collect a Wing Award from the Alliance of Independent Agencies. That’s right, jellybeanhave scooped up the best B2B campaign for yet another year, this time for our campaign with Philadelphia – ‘You Don’t Know Philly’.
