As Jellybean celebrates its 30th year in business, I take a moment to reflect on the year of 1987 when it all started in a small office for 2 in Croydon.
At that time the average price of a house in the UK was £44,000, a gallon of petrol cost £1.89, inflation was running at 4.2% and interest rates were at 8.4% and within this economic scenario Margaret Thatcher was re-elected Prime Minister for the third time. Little did I know (or anyone else for that matter) that we were just a spit away from a serious recession which I am pleased to say we survived.
According to newspaper reports Sainsbury’s has entered into exclusive discussions with Nisa about a potential acquisition of the retail business for a reported £130m.
Eating out is one of life’s luxuries and any opportunity for a meal out you can count me in, especially when you find somewhere you’d happily go back to time and time again. Last month on a sunny Saturday evening we headed to the small town of Biborough and the Tanner Brothers’ charming pub The Kentish Hare – where better place to take a food enthusiast on their birthday? On arrival, we were seated in the picturesque restaurant with a great view of the bustling kitchen and even managed to catch a glimpse of James Tanner in action.
The reputable Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards 2017 took place on Monday evening hosted by Restaurant Magazine at the Hurlingham Club, a very suitable venue for such an auspicious event. Fortunately for me, working at a leading foodservice marketing agency an invitation had kindly been extended to both myself and PR Director Sam Rooke.
Although the weather might not always agree, summer is just about upon us. And with summer not only comes warm weather, sunny days and a generally happier population, but also a time where the BBQ can be brought out of hibernation. (Ironically, I am writing this as rain is pounding against the window).
Back in August 2015, Facebook added a new feature to their social media platform: the ability to broadcast live video streams. It’s now taken off and we’re seeing all sorts of brands getting involved.
The Hospitality Action quiz is one of our favourite industry events – delicious food, great company and a dose of healthy competition – what’s not to love?
We were lucky enough to attend the prestigious Craft Guild of Chefs Awards on Thursday evening, and what an evening it was. Black tie all round, fantastic food and wine (as you’d expect) and of course a great crowd of chefs and industry fellows alike.
Earlier this year we launched our Jellybean showreel. As part of the launch we ran a competition for foodie start-ups to win the chance to work with us for free to develop their brand story via video. Foodservice PR is an ever moving feast and video ought to be an essential part of your PR toolkit by now.
Approximately one third of children in the UK are now classified as overweight and the government are working hard to reduce this in order to save lives and prevent health conditions later in life. Plans set out over the next ten years include clearer food labelling, a soft drinks industry levy, reducing sugar by 20% in products and improving physical activity programmes in schools. Our very own Neil Brenson recently blogged on the Public Health England guidelines around this sugar reduction plan, read it here.
Shopper marketing and shopper loyalty in convenience can sometimes be unnecessarily over-complicated and over-thought. That’s the positive conclusion I came to after attending the him! Convenience Tracker Programme (CTP) Unveil event. The headline findings show it’s all pretty simple stuff as to why convenience shoppers shop and what needs to be done to keep them coming back and spending more.
This year the Arena summer event headlined Mark Fox, CEO of Bill’s Restaurants, along with a panel discussion around the importance of the supplier/operator relationship, chaired by Peter Martin VP of CGA. As a leading food and drink agency we were of course in attendance at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower to hear what everyone had to say. The panel discussion featured representatives from operator-side M&B and Gaucho, and supplier-side Reynolds and Brakes. M&B cited the challenge of Brexit as a key issue for the business having put a £12m hole in their forecasts back on June 24th when the referendum result was announced. Of course operators are keen to get the best commercials out of suppliers, but they also appreciate that if they want good reliable suppliers that the relationship needs to be a sustainable one, whether that is guaranteeing volumes or other reassurances of commitment. The frustration of suppliers coming to operators with ‘solutions in search of a problem’ was highlighted by Chris Hopkins of M&B who urged suppliers to focus on the right innovation, i.e. innovation that shows how they can meet the needs of their customers better than they do currently. This of course requires suppliers to understand the customer mind-set and need states, so with this in mind it would serve suppliers well to do research to identify issues or opportunities to focus their innovation (something Jellybean can of course help with! – plug over).
Back in the day (circa 1985) food to go was an M&S sandwich or a Ginsters pasty from a petrol station. Today, as our lives get busier and our tastes more adventurous and eclectic, the food to go market has risen to the challenge. With street food, healthy choices and cuisines from around the world, matched with lightning fast service and convenient locations, food to go it seems is getting it right. Food to go really is delivering for the ever more so discerning consumer exactly how they want it, when they want it and where they want it. So you would be forgiven for imagining that the humble sandwich has been overtaken by some of the more glamourous new-comers, but you would be wrong. Despite the rise in wraps, salads, bagels, soup pots, porridge pots, curry pots, paninis, bento boxes, poke, burritos, sushi, burgers, and much more, sandwiches are still no.1. As they are the most popular lunchtime food product to go according to MCA Insight and their Food to go report.
At the annual Association of Convenience Stores Summit we heard from a host of speakers about their perspectives on the convenience market. One key recurring theme throughout the event was food-to-go, which is perhaps unsurprising given a third of delegates in the room said it was the no.1 priority focus for their business. So with the IGD predicting that food-to-go will be worth over £21bn by 2021, here are seven key take-outs. Neil Brenson of leading food and drink agency Jellybean reports.
The annual National Convenience Show and Farm Shop and Deli Show have just taken place at the NEC in Birmingham. Around 600 food and drink brands across a huge variety of different categories were there in all their glory, trying to capture the attention of what was a record attendance of retailers and operators this year. As you’d expect from a leading integrated agency that specialises in all things food and drink, we were there taking in everything that these great shows have to offer.
The MAA run monthly events called #GreenJam which are designed to get account handlers together with industry experts to knowledge share, with the topics changing each month. I personally find them really interesting and inspiring as the insights can be applied directly to our work here at Jellybean. You even get a free glass of wine on arrival – bonus.
As the leading foodservice agency we make it our business to stay abreast of the latest trends and developments in the eating out market. To that end we always make sure we attend the MCA forum debriefs to get the latest market insight. This week we joined the great and the good of the world of operators and manufacturers to hear the latest news on market dynamics, menu trends and consumer demand in the eating out market. As ever there was a huge amount of great information, but here are our top ten take outs…
The cost sector is often seen as the somewhat unglamorous slide of the catering world, but if you were lucky enough to be at the Hilton Metropole on Thursday night it certainly didn’t look that way. The annual Cost Sector Catering awards from Cost Sector Catering Magazine celebrate the amazing work across contract catering, education, healthcare and much more and it has to be said everyone scrubbed up rather well for the night.
We might be challenged by a client to make a certain budget fit their end vision, or challenge outwards with a creative idea to push the envelope. A challenge could constitute the scaling of an outrageously high mountain, running or cycling an uncomfortable – or seemingly overwhelming – distance, facing a fear or a fight. The thing about a challenge is that it can be small or large, but ideally not a daily occurrence. Certainly not for something that we would ordinarily take for granted, like getting dressed, eating or drinking.
Food is an incredibly important part of Easter traditions for families up and down the country and as a nation we spend millions of pounds on food at Easter every year. This is something that hasn’t escaped the attention of the supermarkets and out of home operators who continue to pull out all the stops to cash in. It’s a real battleground. Whether it’s hot cross buns for Good Friday, Easter eggs for gifting, a pub lunch, an evening meal out, or the traditional Lamb and trimmings to cook at home for the family – our nation’s appetite for food continues to grow.
