Jellybean Helps Bring Saffron Summer to Surrey
We’re very excited to tell you about Saffron Summer…Surrey’s best kept Indian dining secret – and our new client!
Meeting back in April with a bag of jellybeans splayed across the table, Saffron Summer tasked us with heading up the PR and social media to help launch its fine-dining Indian restaurant, just a short number of weeks away! With our credentials boasting ‘PR and social media experts’, ‘foodies’, and local residents…it was a job made for us!
The Indian Haute Cuisine restaurant is conveniently located on the Claygate, Esher, Hinchley Wood and Surbiton borders. With this in mind we sent out a host of invites to the local press and a handful of coveted VIPS asking them to join us for the restaurant’s not-to-be-missed opening!
With a photoshoot, dedicated launch night menu and social strategy in hand, we opened the doors, alongside the gracious Saffron Summer team, to new friends (and hopefully returning customers!) last Wednesday evening.
Upon arrival guests were treated to street food live – a food station where Executive Chef, Awanish Roy, formerly of London’s famed Cinnamon Club, and team, prepared a selection of Indian street-food style dishes including Gol Gappa, Bel Phuri and Dhai Puri. Much like the full menu at Saffron Summer, the dishes are far from your typical British ‘curry house’ offering, and instead, take Asia’s familiar spices and flavours to produce exciting Indian dishes with an all-important contemporary update.
Following this reception a selection of canapés and bowl foods were served. Highlights included Tandoori Guinea Fowl Tikka, Lamb Seekh Kebab in Rumali Roti and the dish with perhaps the biggest surprise, Wild Boar Vindaloo over rice! Once again, this is where the true authentic Indian cooking style shines through at Saffron Summer; the overwhelming heat of a vindaloo us Brits are familiar with is nowhere to be tasted – instead the dish brings a warmth and rich flavour to your palette. A truly wonderful dish in my opinion!
Also enjoying the delights of Saffron Summer were the great and the good of Surrey. Guests included Taste Awards Judge, Jackie Mitchell; President of the Leatherhead Chambers of Commerce, Jackie Quinn, and The Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames, Councillor Geoff Austin with his wife, The Mayoress. From the décor, to the staff, the street-food to the mains, Saffron Summer was a hit with everyone! It’s different, it’s exciting, it’s true Indian cuisine but not as you know it!
Just check out the reviews on Facebook and TripAdvisor…the people of Surrey agree!
For everything Saffron Summer follow us on Twitter too and check out the website to book.
Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing and communications 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.
Caffe Culture 2016
With around 1.7bn cups of coffee sold each year in the UK, across more than 18,000 outlets, the coffee shop market is a substantial one which shows no sign of slowing. Indeed, predictions see it reaching 21,000 outlets by 2020, so it’s little wonder that this foodservice industry sector has its very own show – Caffè Culture – held over two days at Kensington Olympia 10-11th May. The show is targeted at groups like Costa and Nero, as well as the growing number of independent coffee shops, and indeed all those involved in the coffee market, which extends of course to the world of contract catering with operators like Compass, Sodexo, Bartlett Mitchell, etc. With 1 in 5 people in the UK visiting coffee shops in the UK, its big business for this boutique show. As your leading foodservice marketing agency, you’d expect us to be in attendance and report back, right? Too right. Here goes.
Recent research carried out by the Caffè Culture Show with over 1,600 consumers and 100 café owners found that over two thirds of café businesses saw an increase in turnover of over 10% YOY, with 51% seeing an increase in coffee sales, 42% seeing an increase in lunch sales and 26% seeing an increase in breakfast sales. A staggering 33% saw an increase in turnover of over £150,000. However, it seems the biggest challenge they face is driving healthy profits with 52% of established businesses naming this as a key issue and 41% of start-ups. Staffing is also a hot topic with 37% of established businesses identifying this as a key challenge, along with 41% of start-ups. Interestingly with so much focus on the on-the-go market Caffé Culture’s research showed that 60% of consumers choose to drink-in with only 40% opting to take-out.
As to what is driving customers through the door, well, great coffee is unsurprisingly the main driver with 81%, followed by a convenient location 45% and friendly and professional staff 30%, so get all these three right and you’ll be on to a winner. In general, 51% of consumers would like to see more independent coffee shops with 63% preferring to use an independent. They also want to see better quality coffee (42%) and more differentiation between coffee shops (35%).
In light of this insight the show’s aim is to blend business and coffee in order to help big and small operators alike find new ideas and suppliers to build a profitable business. By its very nature there is a fair amount of coffee about (as you would expect), however, with coffee shops looking to differentiate their offer and cater to the growing demand for all day dining there was far more than just coffee on offer. Incremental sales of snacks, breakfast and lunch are a big revenue driver for coffee shops, as is offering a wide and varied beverage menu with added theatre, so it was little surprise to see the likes of Twinings there wowing the gathered visitors with their masterclass on the theatre of tea (it’s not all about coffee!). Whilst new and niche soft drinks looked to catch the eye of passing buyers with Birch Water, Aloe Water, the exhibitor award winning Peanut ‘Hottie’ (a delicious peanut version of hot chocolate – is the best way I can describe it), flavoured syrups, funky furniture, innovative packaging, crazy flavours of crisps and popcorn, shiny equipment, tempting cakes and melt-in-the-mouth biscuits, were all there to be viewed and sampled. And as the leading foodservice agency, frankly it would have been rude not to try it all (all in the name of market research you understand).
With a background accompaniment from the obligatory hipster duo on guitar and box drum, the show was small but perfectly formed to appeal to the coffee shop market. The packed line-up at the business theatre and masterclass stage, not to mention the cupping zone, independent coffee roasters village and artisan food market meant there was something for everyone. So if you didn’t make it along this year and the coffee shop market is ‘your bag’ make sure you have the dates in your diary for 2017.
To find out more about the show click here.
Sources: Market stats from Allegra Strategies & insight from Cafeconomy 2016 Results
Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing 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.
Arena Savoy Lecture 2016
As the leading foodservice agency we will always be found at the regular Arena events, keeping abreast of the latest news and gossip and networking with friends and colleagues. This Monday was no exception, as we headed to the Savoy to hear from Ken McMeikan, CEO of Brakes. The Arena speakers are of course always very informative, but to hear from the man at the helm of Brakes in the wake of the Sysco acquisition was certainly something of a draw! The evening began with bubbles and a selection of delicious canapés and then it was through to the River Room for the main event.
Ken McMeikan was introduced by Andy Kemp of Bidvest (which must have been a little strange for them both as direct competitors), who outlined his distinguished career which started in the Royal Navy and progressed through senior roles with Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Greggs and then of course onto Brakes where he took up the role of CEO in March 2013. Then it was time for Ken to take to the stage and address the audience. It was a polished and well researched piece, the key take-outs of which are below:
1) Brakes – Their market share is 21% in the UK, 6% in France and 14% in Sweden, serving 200,000 customer sites across Europe. They combined their IT systems and are now completely multi-temp having invested £125m in infrastructure. 2015 was a big year with the purchase of Fresh Direct (the national fresh food wholesaler) and Davigel from Nestle which extended their market share in Spain, Belgium and Luxemburg, and doubled their French market share. Then this year, having been on the brink of floating, they were at the very last minute purchased by US food giant Sysco in a $3.1bn deal which will complete in July and which is likely to signal further growth for Brakes as a pan European player offering further scale and efficiencies to the business.
2) Eating Out – Over the past 30 years the market has seen excellent growth at around a 3.5% compound annual growth rate with continued growth forecast. The growth in eating out is being driven by population growth which is predicted to increase by over 4.5m over the next decade, whilst a record 12.5m women are in work, creating 60% of duel income households with less time to cook. Also the influx of tourism which peaked in January 2016 with a record 2.5m visitors to the UK – over 6% more than in 2015. Indeed in 2015 it was estimated that there are 1million more adults eating out and that more people are eating out more often than ever before, but interestingly spending less as eating out becomes a lower ticket meal occasion, with generation Y key to this growth in eating out. And when eating out, 38% of adults say that food quality is the most important factor when choosing an outlet. Sadly, there is still an incredible failure rate for food businesses as 2014 saw 22,000 new business open but a staggering 20,000 close representing a high churn rate. It is of course still a positive growth, but more is needed to help businesses thrive in this sector as foodservice offers real promise for growth over and above retail.
3) Growth Trends – Well unsurprisingly Ken identified fresh produce as a growth trend (having bought Fresh Direct) which links in with the consumer demand for high quality. Also, fast casual and food on the go, along with locally sourced products and the demand for provenance which they are focusing on via their 25 regional distribution hubs. In Scotland alone they currently buy £75m worth of Scottish sourced products and intend to grow this to £120m by 2020.
4) Closing the Gap – Ken believed that when he started with Brakes that foodservice was 10-15 years behind retail but believes the gap is closing and will continue to lessen as foodservice companies make the most of advances in technology including ecommerce, data analytics around tracking orders and the rise of internet penetration which is forecast to hit 7.6billion in 2020.
5) Three Risks – He also identified three key risks to the industry: cost challenges, skills shortage and obesity. The first is of course top of mind with the National Living Wage taking the over-twenty-fives onto £7.20 per hour with a view to rise to £9 per hour by 2020. It is estimated that this may result in the loss of 60,000 jobs across the hospitality sector. These unintended consequences are something he believes could have been avoided with greater government consultation with businesses and may very well result in hikes in prices. The skills gap has long been talked about and with 51% of catering colleges seeing a downturn in enrolment and 11,000 chefs needed by 2020 (according to the recent People 1st report) and 870,000 staff needed to simply replace those leaving the industry there is likely to be a substantial experience gap on the horizon. It could be that the industries potential growth could be limited by lack of people and relevant skills, therefore we need to attract good people into the industry by making a career in foodservice more enticing, which it should be as few industries offer such an opportunity for creativity and entrepreneurialism. Finally health and nutrition is key both to our nation and our sector with 400,000 deaths in the EU attributed to excess weight. Six out of ten of us are overweight and over 30% of children are overweight or obese. The sugar tax has of course hit the headlines and personal accountability must play some part, but Ken argues the industry must do its part and help to reduce hidden sugar in food much like they have done with salt and trans fats. Companies must take a proactive role and help us overcome the obesity crisis.
6) Meals & More – Ken believes passionately that businesses should help the less fortunate. It is true that ‘hunger is born of poverty and inequality not food scarcity’, as global food production is 1.5 times enough to feed us and globally the statistics on the amount of food wasted is terrifying at around a third. In the UK 1 in 4 children will only have a hot meal in school which highlights the importance of the free school meals programme. However, in school holidays children are going hungry which is one of the reasons Brakes has launched its charity initiative, ‘Meals & More’ offering regional clubs to feed children after school and in the holidays. In September 2014 it had raised £370,000 through 31 suppliers to help feed hungry children who for whatever reason were not getting the right food to help them thrive. If you’re interested in supporting this initiative you can find out more here: www.makelunch.org.uk/blog/meals-more
7) What I love – When it comes to foodservice there’s a lot to love, but Ken picked out these key points: the most amazing people, a heritage of food innovation leading retail, changing consumers experience’ with food from around the world and helping to build the high street brands of tomorrow. All in all a dynamic and exciting industry.
8) Four Predictions – The UK eating out of home market will grow to be more like the US, accounting for over 50% of all food consumed (in 2014 it accounted for 42%). Casual dining will continue to grow and help to make our high streets more attractive. Under 30s / Gen Y will be hugely important to market success and technology will be key to reaching them. Finally, (and perhaps this is a hint at the future of Brakes?) Ken sees more consolidation in the market ahead as bigger players buy up smaller ones to generate growth.
Ken then went on to face some challenging questions from the floor where we saw his personality and quick thinking come to the fore. His opinions? Well on Brexit, unsurprisingly for the CEO of a pan-European company he’d prefer to avoid uncertainty and stay in (as the thought of renegotiating all those trading agreements isn’t an attractive one) – but with no crystal ball it’s too close to call. On leadership, the way ahead is to listen to colleagues and customers and develop a plan for leaders and future leaders around the outputs (as they have). On procurement vs. quality, purchasing well is key as customers want the best price without compromising on service, quality and innovation (easy said!). On the future of foodservice, he sees technology playing a greater role in the kitchen with gains in efficiency from using pre-prepared food and even robots for basic tasks. And finally on the Sysco purchase, he feels Brakes would have suited floating well and have offered an opportunity for investors to buy into a growth sector but the Sysco synergies and cultural match is a good one and he sees a bright future with increased scale and opportunity ahead.
Having digested Ken’s food for thought it was time to enjoy a fabulous meal prepared by the team at the Savoy and finished off with an impressive cheese board from sponsors Futura Foods. Well done to Lorraine and the team at Arena on another outstanding event and to Ken on an informative talk at a very interesting time!
Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing 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.
Horizon's Annual Briefing 2016 Ten Top Take Outs
As the leading foodservice marketing agency we were lucky enough to be invited along to the ‘invitation only’ Annual Horizons Briefing, at the world’s largest firm of lawyers, Dentons. As ever the great and the good of the foodservice world gathered to hear what Horizons FS had to say on the state of the ‘out of home’ nation. The day kicked off as usual with a confidential talk from a leading economist on the wider macro setting which of course influences the foodservice market. Then it was on to the specifics of the out of home market. There was as ever a huge amount of information to digest from Peter and his team, not to mention the pearls of wisdom from M Restaurants, GBK and Dentons, as part of the panel discussion and Q&A session, but here are my top ten takeouts from the day…
1) The foodservice market (based on food and beverage sales) rose to around £47.9bil in 2015 and is growing at around 2%, taking us back to similar levels seen in 2008 – an expanding market at a slower rate of growth. But there are, as Horizons put it ‘stones in the road’ to bear in mind such as the slowdown in the economy, consumers becoming more cautious, Brexit, national living wage, rising rents and business rates and even England’s future football performance! However, the long term forecast is positive with 2020 set to see the market hit £56.1bn
2) QSR, Hotels and Pubs (and education) are doing well with strong growth, whilst staff catering, healthcare and services are in decline. Food and drink sales in QSR, restaurants and hotels are forecast to grow in 2016. As for overall winners and losers, on the winning side are pizza and pasta restaurants, pub restaurants, coffee shops, sandwich shops and of all things, holiday camps (!), whilst the losers (lowest performers) are tenanted and leased pubs, airlines, off shore, fish & chips / kebab shops and traditional cafes.
3) The smaller casual dining chains are driving innovation in the market with ones to watch like Creams, Turtle Bay and Filmore & Union.
4) Discounting and vouchers are still around but operators are far more savvy, using more sophisticated techniques to drive brand loyalty via online marketing or brand apps and clever vouchering to drive traffic in downtime or to upsell around occasions.
5) After some dips, eating out penetration is back to 72% where it was back in June 2012. Burgers remain no.1 on menus, whilst healthier food to go is also on the rise demonstrating how consumers want to be good but only sometimes!
6) New twists on old favourites are coming through on menus, such as Lobster mac ‘n’ cheese, arctic roll, toasties and even popping candy. Whilst Wagyu beef, cholla buns and chilli jam fillings along with wellbeing superfoods and gluten free options seem to be cropping up more and more.
7) The trend seems to be for acquisition, whether it’s Sysco buying up Brakes or larger high street brands to buy up the smaller ones. However, bucking the trend and still independent are ‘bubbling under brands’ like Shoryu Ramen, Almost Famous Burgers, Tootoomoo, Snowflake Luxury Gelato and M Restaurants.
8) As far as operator trends go, coffee shops, Mexican fast casual, Italian casual dining, sandwich bars, healthy quick service and juice bars seem to be doing well. London is still key but other large conurbations offer eating out ‘hot spots’.
9) The restaurant market could learn a thing or two from the airlines when it comes to things like being able to choose your table prior to dining and re-marketing online to traffic that has visited their site and then shops around online. Whilst with the rise of the likes of Deliveroo, restaurants need to make dining-in attractive to drive bookings by offering a real experience, differentiating it from the delivered option whilst still benefiting from the incremental sales ‘delivery’ can offer.
10) Finally a word of wisdom on menu innovation from a very experienced operator – simply put…try stuff and see if it sells – sounds fair enough to me!
So in summary for 2016, as Peter Backman puts it, ‘There are lots of opportunities, but also plenty to stumble on!’
#HrznsAB
Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing 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.
Easter and the Egg
Here’s something we all know: Us Brits love chocolate. In world league tables of per capita consumption, the UK takes joint fourth place behind Switzerland, Germany and Austria. On average, each person in Britain eats approximately 9.5kg of chocolate per year, and Easter sees consumption of the sweet stuff rocket. Figures show across the UK, approximately 80 million chocolate eggs are sold, with Easter chocolate sales making up 10% of our annual chocolate spend.
The origin of the Easter egg is often lost in the chocolate frenzy, but Easter is as we know a Christian festival which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Eggs have traditionally been used to illustrate new life, just as Jesus began his new life on Easter Sunday after his resurrection. Others however, believe the new life celebrated refers to the coming of the new season, Spring.
So, now we’re on the same page regarding why we have chocolate eggs at Easter – the egg symbolises new life, whether that is a religious belief or whether it is to mark the birth of Spring and they’re chocolate because, well…chocolate makes money!
In fact the Easter Egg market is the number one gifting occasion worldwide and the second most popular time of the year for eating chocolate. The UK market is worth in excess of £220 million with shell eggs representing the oldest and largest sector.
Did you know the first chocolate Easter egg was produced by Fry’s in 1873? Now, 143 years later Cadbury dominates the market with more than a 50% share! So this begs the question, what’s your favourite Easter egg? Tweet us and let us know. Happy Egg-eating.
Sources:
www.eauk.org/culture/statistics/easter-facts-and-statistics.cfm
www.cadburyworld.co.uk/schoolandgroups/~/media/CadburyWorld/en/Files/Pdf/factsheet-easterbrands
Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice pr 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.
Why Wagyu?
Working for one of foodservice’s leading agencies means that I’ve been lucky enough to sample a range of amazing new cuisines and food trends over the years. One opportunity that hadn’t crossed my path until now was Wagyu, which appeared on my local’s menu, The Bell in Godstone – well worth a visit if you’re ever in the area – as their new premium burger.
Well this raised my curiosity, I was aware of all the buzz around Wagyu being the beef equivalent of champagne and caviar, but why was Wagyu so darn expensive? With a table booked to sample this ultimate burger, I set upon doing some research and this is what I discovered.
1. Wagyu is a Japanese beef cattle breed, ‘Wa’ means Japanese and ‘gyu’ means cow.
2. There are just four breeds that are considered Wagyu in Japan, though export now means it can be found in America, Australia and Britain.
3. Wagyu is the world’s highest grade of beef and the most expensive.
4. Wagyu’s high fat marbling is what makes for its unique taste and a velvety texture, prime beef contains 6-8% versus Wagyu’s 20-25% marbled fat, which melts like butter when cooked.
5. It’s Wagyu’s superior genetics and painstaking care that lead to the meat’s higher marbling, they are not fed grass but given a special diet of corn, soybean, barley, wheat bran and aren’t slaughtered until 3 years old.
6. The mono-unsaturated to saturated fat ratio is higher in Wagyu than in any other beef making it healthier.
Sharing my findings with my fiancée that we were actually being healthy by eating this burger, we headed to the pub. The burgers proved a taste sensation! Topped with smoked cheddar, crispy onions, relish and gherkins with a side of sweet potato fries Wagyu’s ‘melt in the mouth texture’ and flavour was delicious and well worth the £16 price tag given the care that goes into this delicacy.
If you’ve sampled Wagyu I’d love to hear your thoughts on the world’s most expensive beef, as for me I’m already planning when I get back to my local to sample another!
Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing and communications 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.
Award Winning Work – FPA Marketing Award 2016
As the leading foodservice agency we pride ourselves on creating strategically-led, highly creative, integrated campaigns for clients. Frankly it’s our job, and what’s kept us in business for nearly twenty nine years, working for some of the leading out-of-home brands. But it has to be said that it’s always nice to get a bit of recognition for a job well done and last night at the FPA Awards we got just that.
When Wrap Film Systems came to us last year to help them convert chefs and caterers to their Wrapmaster dispensing system for cling film, foil, parchment and more, we put our best heads on the brief and the ‘Wrap Smart’ campaign was conceived. This integrated campaign across digital, social, design, print, video and PR drove trial and conversion, along with chef engagement and brand awareness. Not only did it go down a storm with Wrap Film Systems themselves, but it also had great feedback from distributor partners and national accounts. However, most importantly, it drove sales – delivering an impressive 15% uplift for the brand during the campaign! Little wonder the esteemed panel of judges from the FPA Awards saw fit to select it as the winner of the marketing award last night.
Paul Feery, Marketing Director Wrap Film Systems had this to say about the award winning campaign “We’ve really enjoyed working with Jellybean Creative on what has been a very successful foodservice campaign. As a member of the FPA we really value this award especially as we were up against some great work from other entrants. We look forward to building on the success of the Wrap Smart campaign as we continue to work with Jellybean and hopefully create more award-winning campaigns.”
Congratulations must go to all the nominees and winners from the night and of course to the team at FPA on arranging another fabulous event. As the celebrations went on into the wee small hours there’s sure to be a few sore heads today. As there is one thing you can say for the foodservice packaging industry – they work hard but they can party even harder.
Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing and foodservice pr agency. We help top brands with food service pr, food service 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.
Hotelympia 2016
As the UK’s largest foodservice and hospitality event, Hotelympia has always been the exhibition to visit for anyone looking for the latest developments in the foodservice industry not to mention unrivalled networking.
The PR team here at Jellybean has been trusted with running the show’s press office for the last four consecutive events, as well as that of its sister show, Hospitality, in alternate years. What’s more, with many of our clients involved in the show, including Tilda, McCormick, Hobart, Ferrero and Essential Cuisine, Hotelympia showcases Jellybean’s handiwork in a variety of forms, from stand design and on-site management to press liaison and literature design.
And 2016 was no exception. Over the four days of the show, the ExCeL London played host to 26,000 visitors all hungry to see what the 1,000 strong food and drink, technology, catering equipment, interiors and waste management companies had to offer. Running the press office for a show of such a scale is no mean feat, but one which, in between writing press releases and tweeting updates, undoubtedly has its perks; meeting and greeting famous speakers, sampling stand goodies and listening in on top-tips from chefs, to name a few!
Strolling around the show the wealth of talent on display was second to none, from The Staff Canteen Live – Skillery, which saw a line-up of chefs with no less than 24 Michelin stars between them presenting live on-stage demos, to the incredible entries on display for the International Salon Culinaire. The Innovation Awards showcased the best of what’s to come in hospitality, whilst The Stage provided a platform for debate for some of the industry’s most pressing issues, including: the chef shortage with Jellybean client Martin-Christian Kent of People 1st, the proposed taxation on sugar, and the national living wage.
The stands themselves were equally impressive. On the show floor, Artis’ wonderland stand wowed passers-by, long queues formed for a taste of Carpigiani’s freshly made gelato, Hobart impressed with its range of catering equipment and Essential Cuisine made a stir with the launch of its new Asian Range. And things only got better after Nutella on toast at Ferrero’s breakfast bar (delicious!).
It was all-systems-go on all fronts and though jam-packed, it was a fantastic, eye-opening experience for a first-time visitor like myself and one which left me with little doubt as to why it is the industry’s most distinguished exhibition. Bring on 2018!
Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing agency. We help top brands with foodservice web design, pr, food service marketing, foodservice digital marketing and foodservice design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.
The Big Event 2016
Hotelympia is always a busy time for us at Jellybean, whether it’s preparing clients to exhibit at the show, or running the PR, show press office and social media for Fresh Montgomery, you can guarantee there will be a buzz in the office (and possibly the odd nervous breakdown). But as the leading foodservice agency we try to take it all in our stride and somehow make time for the social side of the show as well, especially The Big Event!
This gala dinner – in aid of Springboard and its good work helping the young and underprivileged into careers in hospitality and promoting the sector as an attractive career choice – is one of the highlights of the Hotelympia calendar. Attracting exhibitors and visitors alike, this year the ‘do’ was themed around the date of the event –1st of March…St. David’s Day. From the cheer of ‘Oggy Oggy Oggy’ to kick off the evening to the dulcet tones of the London Welsh Rugby Club Choir, followed by the hip thrusts of Tom Jones (AKA Ian Anthony) and the belting high notes from Shirley Bassey (AKA Paula Randell) the entertainment came straight from the valleys! The food, thankfully ( no offence to the Welsh) was not traditional Welsh fare, but instead a sophisticated menu featuring what else but Welsh Lamb. All prepared by the team at Compass under Nick Vardis, the meal was a triumph (and even included a little help from our client Vegetarian Express). But as with all of these events it’s the company that makes it and we were lucky enough to host a table (which was kindly given to us by Springboard for creating their new Team Velo Challenge Website) and were joined by some of our lovely clients exhibiting or speaking at the show including: Hobart, Essential Cuisine, Ferrero and People 1st.
As the champagne flowed along with the conversation, the night seemed to speed past in a blur of good food, good company and quite a few bids on the charity auction, not to mention a hotly contested ‘Shirley or Tom’ (a new take on heads or tails) and some impressive ‘Dad dancing’ to the RPJ Band. Possibly the most poignant part of the evening however was hearing from two Springboard beneficiaries. With a difficult background Rocky has made-good and now works for Bartlett Mitchell, and having come through the Future Chef programme Ruth is now working at the Ritz no less! Inspiring stories which really demonstrated how Springboard makes a difference to people’s lives. After a fabulous evening all too soon it was time to do a Cinderella and depart for our carriages.
I suspect if you happen to be walking around the show on Wednesday you’ll see a few sore heads but be gentle, it was all in a good cause! To find our more about the great work Springboard do and how you can get involved visit http://springboard.uk.net/
Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice pr agency. We help top brands with foodservice web design, pr, food service marketing, foodservice digital marketing and foodservice design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.
The Asian food trend that’s taking over my life
Did you know that Asian food is the UK’s fastest growing cuisine? With a market value of £3bn!* The rate of growth in popularity for this style of food is insane, but I can totally see why, because since I started experimenting with Asian ingredients (specifically Pan-Asian) I literally can’t stop.
It all came about when a few of my clients started manufacturing Pan-Asian ingredients and I began to research and find out more about this fascinating, absolutely delicious cuisine. I’ve always been a fan of a noodle broth but now I’m experimenting daily with more unusual (for me) ingredients. Edamame beans, miso, Sriracha, udon, rice wine vinegar, Gochujang, the list goes on.
And limes. I’m sure everyone agrees that limes literally make everything taste like a million dollars (but much less papery).
Next on my list to tackle – KIMCHI.
If you work as a caterer in the hospitality market I would massively encourage you to try Essential Cuisine’s new Asian range. So good. I never want my sample pots to end! Check them out here:
Photography by Essential Cuisine.
Source: Zest Quest Asia 2015
Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice pr agency. We help top brands with foodservice web design, pr, food service marketing, foodservice digital marketing and foodservice design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.
The Casual Dining Show 2016
The Casual Dining market has been the success story of the past few years with the sector thriving and branded concepts attracting the all-important millennial market. Little wonder therefore that the Islington Design Centre was buzzing with visitors at the Casual Dining Show this week. Buyers, owners, managers and chefs all descended on North London to see what was new and network with colleagues and contacts. With four of our clients exhibiting it was a busy time for us as well, with journalists to host, press releases to draft and of course, the stand design and management to top it all off. But as we took to the aisles to take-in the show it was clear that all the hard work was well worth it. From sampling delicious smoothies and fat free frozen yogurt at the Coolicious* stand, to treating ourselves to a sweet potato fry (or two) at Aviko’s diner themed stand, not to mention trying the delicious new Chicken Ballotine from Moy Park’s new casual dining range on their street food inspired stand and of course catching up with the guys at Essential Cuisine – frankly there was hardly time to draw breath, let alone take in the rest of the stands and catch-up with the familiar faces that seemed to be around every corner. But as the leading foodservice agency we did of course scout the show for some interesting new products and brands. So what did we find? Top of my list was Twinings Super Fruity infusion which was very refreshing indeed, the new LOVO low cal Vodka RTD concept with coconut water (yum) and last, but far from least, the Sechuan Button which has to be tasted to be believed, as this seemingly innocuous looking little yellow flower can do things to your mouth you cannot imagine – I dare you to try one from Koppert Cress – it’s quite a taste sensation!
As well as sampling the myriad products on offer at the show there was also the inaugural Casual Dining Restaurant & Pub Awards and the National Burger Awards. Driven by our love of the dirty burger we headed to the Islington Metal Works for possibly the most edgy awards night of the year as this industrial venue hosted a burger grill corner and a street food van open bar, both of which were very well received. The show and the awards were both winners for us, but of course congratulations must go to the real winners of the evening – the results for both of which you can find here:
Casual Dining Restaurant and Pub Award Winners
National Burger Award Winners
Well done to Diversify on the show and the first year of their Casual Dining Awards and to H2O’s Casual Dining Magazine on the second successful National Burger Awards – I for one will be beating a path back to both next year. But that’s enough about Casual Dining, as this week draws to a close the biennial goliath of a show that is Hotelympia is soon to be upon us and I must rest my weary feet in preparation, as our PR team gird their loins to run the press office and social media at the show for what is sure to be a fun if hectic four days!
*Finalists in the Casual Dining Show Innovation Awards
Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing agency. We help top brands with foodservice web design, pr, food service marketing, foodservice digital marketing and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.