With working life increasingly dominated by virtual meetings, the opportunity to step away from the screen and engage in face-to-face interactions is a refreshing change of pace, so it was an absolute pleasure to attend the Arena event ‘An Audience with Tom Aitkens’ on Friday 15 March, held at the esteemed Rosewood Hotel in London.
As a leading food and drink marketing agency with a passion for foodservice and eating out, we make it our business to keep on top of all the latest trends in the food and drink arena. The world of food to go, or quick service restaurants as it’s sometimes referred to, is a hotbed of innovation and has proved to be one of the most resilient sectors of the eating out market, both during Covid more recently the cost-of-living crisis. So, we hot-footed it along to The Ham Yard Hotel last week to hear from some of the key players in the food to go market at MCA’s Food to Go Conference.
Anti-marketing is seemingly on the up once more, with Oatly, Surreal and Days all leaning into, whilst simultaneously calling out, traditional marketing methods. Although outwardly work-shy in approach, this tactic is entirely well-thought-out and speaks to increasingly savvy consumers in a relatable, funny and memorable way. It seems the subtle art of not giving a f***, actually includes giving many f***s, and could be paving the way for a new type of tongue-in-cheek advertising.
Last week I was fortunate to attend the Casual Dining, lunch! and Commercial Kitchen show. I spent the day exploring the stands showcasing innovative products to taste, try and discover, as well as catching-up with the jellybean clients who were exhibiting. From the 27th to the 28th of September, ExCeL London was transformed into a hub of culinary excellence and innovation, bringing together industry experts, exhibitors, and passionate foodies.
As a foodservice digital agency we are always looking at the best ways and techniques to improve our clients’ websites and the rankings they achieve within search engine results – both via the search engine optimisation of their websites on-page and off-page.
As the leading food and drink agency we pride ourselves on staying ahead of the game when it comes to innovations and trends. Today, we delve into the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on the world of food and drink marketing. It’s the hot topic of the moment and as with any new development of this scale, there are a number of pros and cons when it comes to harnessing the potential of AI.
The annual Arena Savoy Lecture is a highlight of the foodservice calendar and as the leading foodservice agency we dusted off our gladrags and headed up to town to join the great and the good of the industry.
Leveraging the consumer pull of a restaurant brand to create a range of products in retail is not a new idea by any means. Indeed, since 1998 Pizza Express has had their incredibly successful FMCG range in retail. Then followed Nando’s, Itsu, Greggs, YO!, TGI Fridays, Ed’s Diner, Chiquitos and Harry Ramsden’s. There is also Carluccios’s, Zizzi, Wahaca, Wasabi, Wagamama and more! In fact, we recently worked on the launch of Cinnamon Kitchen into Tesco, a range of premium Indian fine dining ready meals developed by Vivek Singh of The Cinnamon Club group of restaurants (you can read more here).
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…
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.
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.
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:
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 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).
In foodservice marketing we’re used to magazines, but this was a first. It wasn’t the kind you thumb through like Stockpot or The Caterer. No, this was ‘Magazine’, the venue located just a stone’s throw away from the O2, where this year’s annual Craft Guild of Chefs Awards was held. As ever, it was the hot ticket, playing host to the great and good of the chef world. Raymond Blanc no less was in attendance, along with celebrated chefs from across the industry. Guests and nominees enjoyed a fabulous meal (no pressure catering team!) the highlight of which was for me the fish course, sponsored by our client McCormick’s and featuring their amazing hot sauce – Cholula, which I applied liberally to mine.
Lumina Intelligence estimate the food-to-go sector will reach £23bn by 2025.
More than 200 people attended the MCA Food-to-Go conference in London on March 9th, where Lumina Intelligence spoke, and delegates heard presentations from a range of food-to-go operators including Café Nero, Greggs, itsu, Leon, Pret and Pure.
As the leading foodservice marketing agency, keeping a close eye on market developments is part of our bread and butter. And although the Coronavirus pandemic was an incredibly tough period for our industry, it also inspired chefs, suppliers and operators to get creative and adapt their businesses, resulting in a multitude of new trends.
Social media marketing is often treated as a numbers game. The bigger the figure, the better you’re doing, but we understand that when it comes to effective marketing, quality always trumps quantity.
Valentine’s day is a popular holiday to celebrate with our loved ones – whether this is a partner, family or even a pet (27% of people would buy a present for their pet and one third would rather spend the day with their pet than their partner (National Retail Federation) – Whisky, will you be my valentine next year?
Between inflation, supply chain issues and energy prices, it seems price rises are never-ending. And sadly, the brewing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is signalling yet more price increases for their primary exports: wheat, gas, and fertiliser.
