Anyone who has been brought up on a diet of American films and TV knows the importance of Thanksgiving in the US. Celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November this public holiday originated as a harvest festival and the event that Americans commonly call the “First Thanksgiving” was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621.
This year National Curry Week is celebrating its 20th anniversary. It was started back in 1998, by Peter Grove, to celebrate Indian cuisine as part of the UK’s diverse culture. According to research, in the UK we spend over £250 million a year on Indian food and have 9,000 curry houses and restaurants. London also contains more Indian restaurants than Mumbai and Delhi combined. Apparently we crave a curry mainly due to the fact that the spices arouse and stimulate the taste buds. So, to stimulate your taste buds this National Curry Week I would like to share one of my favourite curry recipes. It’s nice and simple and tastes divine!
Salut! My name is Morgan and I am currently doing work experience at Jellybean. As a French student and lover of the Great British Bake Off I decided to base my post on the national cuisine of Manon, who has sadly now left the tent. According to the Telegraph, French food is the fastest growing cuisine with French ready-meal sales having risen by 27% in the last year and restaurants such as Tante Marie and Côte Brasserie increasing in popularity. But I realised, ahead of Patisserie Week on Bake Off, that I do not know much about the history of French food.
Held at the prestigious Royal Garden Hotel, I had the pleasure of attending the first BITES Live conference from H2O Publishing and hearing all about the latest trends and brands shaping the food and drink offerings on our high street.
BITES stands for Brands, Insights, Trends and customer Experiences, which was perfectly covered by the array of exciting speakers discussing hot topics from experiential hospitality to how technology is shaping eating out. Here are my top takeouts from the day:
The EDUcatering Awards held by H20’s EDUcatering Magazine celebrates the oft unsung heroes of catering in the education sector. School catering has seen its critics over recent years, but in stark contrast to the headlines, it has some of the most passionate and driven people in the world of foodservice. Dedicated to ensuring our children eat well and develop good habits early on, school caterers both in-house and in the contract catering arena take their responsibility very seriously and truly deserve this glittering night. As the leading foodservice agency we were lucky enough to attend this marvellous event hosted by Jamie Robins MD of H20 and Jason O’Rouke, Headteacher of Washingborough Academy.
Glory for Independents at the Retail Oscars! The Retail Industry Awards, widely regarded as “The Oscars” of the grocery retail sector is the annual get-together of the whole industry to celebrate and reward the best of the best, from the smallest independents, to the largest supermarket groups. Having hot-footed it from the Quality Foodservice awards the jellybeanConvenience Retail Marketing team were joined at the prestigious ceremony by many of our key retail clients to toast the great and good.
As a long-time supporter of Hospitality Action, we were delighted to support them by creating the marketing material for their Festive Fundraising Dinner: An Evening with Raymond Blanc OBE. This fabulous event will see Raymond Blanc OBE, his Executive Head Chef Gary Jones and Chef Pâtissier Benoit Blin from the two Michelin-starred Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons prepare a lavish Christmas feast at Chino Latino, at The Park Plaza Riverbank in London on Monday 26th November.
Last Thursday saw this year’s search for foodservice’s most innovative food and drink products (as well those of us involved in food and drink marketing) culminate in a glittering ceremony, as the highly prestigious UK Foodservice Quality Food Awards celebrated the very best of the industry. Held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, the event welcomed hundreds of the foodservice industry’s key players and of course as the leading food and drink agency with a raft of clients up for awards the we were there in force. Along with the beans and some of our lovely clients, including The Real Soup Company, Manilife and Savse, there was everyone from nationwide wholesalers to ground-breaking independents – all keen to see whose products had been judged good enough to receive a highly coveted Quality mark.
This month we visited the National Space Centre in Leicester for the launch of the hotly awaited Association of Convenience Store’s Local Shop Report. This annual report provides a wealth of information about the performance of the sector as a whole and highlights the key trends and developments that everyone working in convenience needs to know.
Now I know I’m no Bob Geldof or Mother Teresa but when I started jellybeanin 1987 with a mighty team of 2 (me and a PA) not only did I want to brave the waters of building a successful new business, I also had a vision to make a small difference to the world at the same time. That’s why jellybeanhas always supported children around the world through Plan International and during our 31 years in business we have helped literally hundreds of children in underprivileged countries around the globe. From the very first day and throughout our growth we have adopted/funded at least one child for each employee from countries as far apart as Timor Leste to Ecuador, from Thailand to Egypt and many countries in between and will continue to do so.
jellybeanis working in partnership with Plan International UK to fund the construction of five school buildings in the Gambella region of Ethiopia. The Safe School project helps refugees access safe and high quality education, reaching 39,550 children aged 3-14, many of whom will have gone through the terrifying and scarring experience of fleeing their homes in South Sudan. In Gambella they will benefit from a better education in permanent school buildings with good quality teaching and access to specialised counselling to help them overcome the challenges of being away from home.
This Arena Autumn event rang the changes, with a new venue in the shape of the imposing Banking Hall in the heart of the City of London. The line-up included a talk on the market from Simon Stenning of MCA and the headline interview hosted by Mark Lewis of Hospitality Action with Frank Gleeson, CEO and Regional President of Northern Europe Aramark and Jon Knight, CEO of Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group. With the day billed as ‘When contract catering meets the high street’ for obvious reasons, Simon took to the stage to take us through an overview of the eating out market and then onto the dynamics affecting the branded restaurant and contract catering world. Some of the key take-outs included:
On my quest to discover the good and the great/the interesting and the innovative at this year’s Lunch! Show, I was delighted to learn of the wonders of Kombucha. I’ve shared my new discovery with my friends at Foodservice and Retail Marketing Agency, Jellybean, and now I would like to share them with you…
KIN TOH serves up a Mayan-Mexican avant-garde cuisine that combines methods and local ingredients from our native cuisine with international elements to offer our guest an experience where all senses are involved in each dish.
jellybean is a leading food service agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.
Our passion for food and drink across foodservice, hospitality, retail and consumer is what drives us, and has done for the last 31 years. We take an integrated approach to help our clients grow their brands and hit the sweet spot. It’s what we do and what we love. Great people, great clients, great work. Take a look below and we think you’ll see what we’re all about.
Foodservice
Profit sector, cost sector, out of home, on-the-go, chefs, buyers, front of house, back of house, – whatever your target, we’re the food service agency that knows it inside out. Foodservice is our heartland and we’ve been trusted by leading brands to guide them through this dynamic and complex market for the past thirty years.
Convenience Retail
Convenience retail is growing fast and it can be a highly lucrative market for food and drink brands. Using our vast experience and relationships we know how to get your product flying off the shelves and even more importantly, how to get it there in the first place! From category management to retailer engagement, start-up to blue-chip brand, whatever your challenge, we can help.
Consumer
Of course, we’re all consumers, but it takes a certain special magic to cut through and engage with the right creative message, on the right channel, catching your target audience at the right moment and we know just how!
When people think of Dubrovnik they often conjure up the spectacular citadel of the old town (a UNSECO World Heritage site) or the beautiful rugged coastline and crystal-clear waters of Croatia, which of course is a big part of visiting this beautiful city. However, from a foodie’s point of view the city and surrounding areas also offer up some fabulous culinary experiences, which are not to be missed. All in the line of duty, we visited the following wonderful restaurants enjoying some great meals along the way (well what else would you expect from the MD of a food and drink agency!?) …
When Ray Kroc, the first McDonald’s franchise restaurant opened its doors in Illinois, 1955, fast food dining became the latest breakthrough in the eating out sector. The fact that food could be ordered and ready to eat within a significantly short amount of time was considered to be something of the future. Fast forward to 2018 where all the advances in technology mean service throughout the foodservice industry is quicker than ever. So, what sorts of technologies are now shaping the foodservice industry and out of home eating?
With the UK casual dining sector going through a challenging period driven by cost pressures, we thought it was a good time to see how the fine dining sector was coping with industry challenges.
One of my ‘bucket list’ holiday destinations has always been Vietnam, and as my daughter, Rachel, lives in New Zealand we recently decided to meet half way and tick it off my list!
Although the idea of ‘veganism’ originated in the 1940s, there was not a valid definition confirmed until the late 1970’s when ‘The Vegan Society‘ became a registered charity. So, what is the definition of being a vegan? ‘The Vegan Society’ states “A philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals”. Ellie Murrell from food and drink marketing agency jellybeanreports.
