“It’s only good nutrition if children are eating it!”
Nine words from Arena’s Feeding the Future event that every food and drink brand selling into schools should pin above the NPD whiteboard and the Government would do well to think consider. With new school food standards for England landing in September*, here’s who wins, who loses and who needs to reformulate fast.
Arena’s Summer Event took place this year at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in Knightsbridge, a day dedicated to shaping the future of foodservice and hospitality. Arena gatherings are always a reliable barometer of industry mood, and this one delivered sharp insight, honest conversation and a wonderful lunch.
Some evenings remind you exactly why we all love this industry. The Cateys did just that on the 7th of July, when nearly a thousand hospitality professionals filled JW Marriott Grosvenor House London for the awards fondly known as the Oscars of hospitality – The Cateys. Those lucky enough to have a ticket dusted off the black tie and donned their posh frocks to catch up with familiar faces and cheered some thoroughly deserving winners.
I came back from Lisbon last month having worked my way through more than ten pastel de natas, so my standards were pretty high. I say this because the first stop on our Shoreditch food tour cleared that bar within the first 5 minutes… yum.
As a leading food and drink marketing agency, we make it our business to keep up with the latest trends and insight. Abi and I were delighted to attend Lumina Intelligence’s Q2 Food Strategy Forum on behalf of Team Bean earlier this month, and we came back with a clear picture of the foodservice trends that 2026 is being shaped by.
Seven hundred chefs, operators and industry names gathered at The Westminster Park Plaza last Wednesday evening for the Craft Guild of Chefs Awards 2026. I was lucky enough to attend with my colleague Jess Clare, as guests of Dewberry Redpoint.
One in five UK adults is currently taking, has taken, or is actively considering a GLP-1 weight loss medication. That is a significant consumer base with significantly reduced appetites. Not great news for the food and drink industry, but as ever, any challenge can be an opportunity when armed with strong insight!
Marketing budgets are under more pressure than ever. Brands are being asked to achieve more, reach further and stretch campaigns without increasing spend. But a bigger food and drink marketing budget doesn’t automatically deliver better results.
We attend a lot of industry events, and Lumina Intelligence’s Food Strategy Forum is one we always make time for. Bringing together some of the sharpest minds in foodservice to share what the data is actually saying, we came away from the March session with a clear picture of where the eating out market is heading in 2026 and, just as importantly, who’s being left behind. Now that we’re deeper into 2026, it’s a good moment to reflect on how those insights are already playing out. Read More
By 2030, Gen Z will account for $12.6 trillion in global spending. That’s 18.7% of world consumer expenditure. We recently attended Lumina Intelligence’s Food Strategy Forum, where one session was devoted entirely to this generation: who they are, what they want and why so many food and drink brands are still getting them wrong. Here’s what stood out. Read More
It’s fair to say that 2022’s World Cup was a bit of a surprise package; one where the sumptuous theatre of the beautiful game managed to just about outshine – or at least temporarily mask with gilded wallpaper – the widely reported misdeeds of the host regime. It’s great news, therefore, that, this time around, one third of 2026’s expanded tournament is safely ensconced in the hands of a peace-loving nation with sensible, pragmatic leadership at the helm.
Last Thursday, 650 people packed into the London Hilton Metropole to celebrate the best in public sector catering. Nineteen awards. One brilliant evening.
I am absolutely thrilled that from April 2026, Neil Brenson becomes Managing Director, alongside Susan Wickes in a joint MD structure at jellybean that reflects both the growth of our business and the direction we are heading.Read More
Consumer confidence has been stuck between -23 and -17 since the summer of 2024. Job security worries are growing. And yet the UK food to go market has not just held its ground. It has grown.
Right now, someone is asking an AI tool which food brand to buy. Which sauce, which drink, which supplier to call. And the answer they get won’t come from a Google search. It won’t link to your website. It will be a single, confident recommendation from ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Perplexity and more. If it doesn’t include your brand, you simply don’t exist in that moment.
Food in Healthcare – It’s not about being cheap. It’s about quality and value.
Two firsts for Arena
Thursday the 5th of March marked a milestone for Arena. Not one, but two firsts; the Importance of Healthcare Catering was Arena’s inaugural breakfast event and its first ever sector-focused gathering.
The B2B Marketing UK Agencies Benchmarking Report 2026 is out, and we’re delighted that jellybean has been named both as a Top 10 UK Market and Strategy Planning Specialist (coming in at no.7) and a Top 40 UK B2B Marketing Agency (coming in at no.34).
A rallying call for UK foodservice manufacturers waiting out the storm.
When a jockey becomes unseated in the throng of hard-fought steeplechase; they are taught, as if it needed teaching, given the immediate danger of being crushed to buggery by pairs of onrushing fetlocks, to adopt the foetal position and pray.
