I recently attended a breakfast briefing with key players from the convenience retail sector to hear an announcement from one of the leading trade publishers about changes they are making to the way they deliver content to convenience retailers. Read More
Over 250 of the great and the good in convenience-land gathered at London’s Barbican for the hotly awaited HIM Future of Convenience 2018 event. Here are my top seven take-outs and the key actions for convenience retail marketing communications that I think suppliers need to consider in the brave new world of convenience retailing.
When the rest of the world is kicking-up their heels, pulling crackers and donning their rather fetching paper hats in December, the world of hospitality is hard at work making it all happen. So it makes sense that the ‘Hospitality Rocks’ event took place last Friday night when all the excitement of Christmas was out of the way and those who work in the hospitality industry could draw breath and finally enjoy their Christmas party – and what a party it was!
The foodservice industry is changing. Consumers are no longer seeing the concept of food as a strict commodity. It’s becoming more of a lifestyle choice and experience. This coupled with their greater awareness of options – from the booming grab & go market to Michelin-starred restaurants – makes now the perfect time for operators in all global markets to get creative with foodservice concepts and offer consumers something fresh and exciting. Read on for the latest in foodservice trends. Read More
Once again we hit the streets of London for another MCA food safari, looking at some of the latest food and foodservice trends within the out of home market. Renowned for its eating out scene London offers an endless supply of options, tapping into some of the newest and most popular food trends. As the leading foodservice marketing and PR agency, we thrive on the knowledge and insight gained from this hands-on experience into what the ever-developing food and drink market has to offer.
As dedicated foodies we were keen to see what ‘Chef Creator’ Steve Drake (previously of Michelin Star restaurant Drakes in Ripley) would be cooking up at his new fine dining restaurant – Sorrel, down the road from us in Dorking. Watch our vlog to find out more…Read More
In the current challenging environment, togetherness is everything. Hearing from peers and sharing best practice can make for a better understanding of the world and our place in it. Crucially it can act as inspiration to think and do different.
As 2017 draws to a close in what has been one of the most tumultuous years in convenience retail, I wanted to find out how the industry is feeling and what they are doing to face up to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the sector.
The coveted Caterer Product Excellence Awards recognise and celebrate the very best food, drink and equipment products in the foodservice market. As such we are always keen to gain this solid-gold endorsement for our clients’ products and of course the acclaim it brings with it. To that end we spend a great deal of time in partnership with our clients identifying the products we feel are possible award winners and drafting that all important award entry. This year we had a record six products shortlisted for the awards, quite some achievement in itself, and as Lisa Jenkins took to the stage we were crossing our fingers along with all the other nominees.
The Arena Christmas lunch is quite frankly the official start of Christmas in the world of foodservice and this year was no exception. Held at the Landmark Hotel in Marylebone, the event kicked-off mid-morning with a talk from Peter Backman on the highs and lows of 2017 and what we might expect in the coming year. Taking us on a whistle-stop tour through the four quarters of 2017 some clear trends emerged…
At Jellybean we love to celebrate Christmas and we wouldn’t be a leading food and drink agency if we didn’t do something creative for the festive season. You’ve come to expect it from us I know!
Searching for winter sun usually requires adventuring far away, which becomes quite tricky for a short trip, but after some research I found the perfect place only two and a half hours away – Seville! Read More
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the traditional space race for festive sandwich Valhalla. Here, Nick and Neil taste five of the best in an attempt to decide conclusively which retailer has won Christmas 2017.
The collapse of Palmer & Harvey yesterday has sent a shockwave through the convenience and wholesale channel. It is deeply distressing for the 2,500 employees whose jobs have been terminated with immediate effect and of course extremely worrying for the 90,000 outlets who rely on P&H deliveries for their very livelihoods. Sadly however the demise and failed rescue packages have been well documented, so the writing was on the wall. The final nail in the coffin was perhaps Tesco’s £3.7bn takeover of food wholesaler Booker which got the go-ahead from the competition authorities. This effectively gave the green light for Tesco Booker to take in house the valuable contracts that P&H held to supply Tesco and One Stop stores. Neil Brenson of Food and Drink Agency Jellybean Creative sums up the situation as he sees it.
As the gender pay gap hits the headlines and organisations such as People 1st highlight the inequality of the sexes in hospitality, it was heartening to attend the FSM Awards this week, where each course was presided over by a female Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Award winner. Not only that, in an industry that is often seen as male dominated, there were a dozen female nominees, the same number as their male peers and two categories – the Education Award and the B&I Award – where all the three nominees were female. When it came to announcing the winners ‘girl power’ reigned in an impressive 5 categories, including the Lifetime Achievement Award which was presented to Sue Parfett and Kate Martin of Brookwood Partnership, for their amazing work in the education sector over the past twenty one years since they founded the business back in 1996.
Last night the Asian Media & Marketing Group hosted the 29th Asian Trader Awards. The event held at the Park Plaza, Westminster is one of the highlights of the year for the independent retailing industry and gathers all the key players together to recognise and reward the very best of independent retailing.
I love pizza, and pasta for that matter, especially after spending two glorious weeks touring Italy this summer. So it was with great delight that I accepted the kind offer to join our lovely continental cheese clients Futura Foods on their sponsors table at the 28th annual Pizza & Pasta Awards at London Lancaster last Thursday.
With People 1st estimating that 1.3 million employees will have to be recruited by 2024 to keep-up with the growth in the hospitality market and with the ever present concerns over the impact Brexit will have on immigration, the work of Springboard UK has never been more important. The charity has dedicated the last 27 years to promoting the hospitality, leisure and tourism industry as a great place to work. In partnership with organisations large and small and through education, awareness and specific initiatives like Future Chef, it is helping young people achieve their potential. It is also supporting adults who are unemployed or facing multiple barriers to progression get into a career in hospitality.
As a leading foodservice agency we always keep up to date with the latest trends in the market and as part of this on-going commitment we regularly attend the MCA de-briefs. This month we were particularly interested to see that their latest event covered the contract catering sector*, as this is an area of the foodservice market which many of our clients target and one that is often overlooked by the wider world, despite being responsible for feeding us from cradle to grave. The morning briefing encompassed both the wider market, from their Eating Out Panel and a deeper delve into the contract catering sector. The complete report is very comprehensive and available to MCA Forum members or to purchase, but below are some of our key take outs to whet your appetite.
I’m not a massive fan of meat, but I do love a crispy pancetta and the famous, award-winning Porky Whites’ Surrey sausages tucked up in a wrap on a Saturday morning too much to actually become a fully fledged veggie.
