Ever dreamed of what it’s like to live a stress-free life? Me too. Whether you are stressing over work, life problems, or even just that one niggling thought that won’t go away – it is natural. For Stress Awareness Month, I have asked the beans for some of their top tips for destressing after a hard day’s work!
Whoever told you not to play with your food was wrong (in my opinion)? It’s certainly OK some of the time, especially on April Fool’s Day. Here’s a round-up of some of our favourite foodie pranks and jokes this year. So, grab yourself a box of Gherkish Delights (yes you read that right), sit back and read on.
When people think of Pennsylvania (PA), they often think of cheesesteaks and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, steel and sports in Pittsburgh, and of course between the two cities…farms. To me however, this is what I called home before I moved to England.
The spring equinox has come and gone, the clocks are poised to spring forward this weekend and with the sun shining it feels, dare I say, that winter may be behind us. With the changing of the seasons, there’s also natural shift in the food we eat, as talk of soups, stews and casseroles fades out and a wave of comms around Easter and even BBQ arrives.
‘I never wanted to be employed simply because I was a token woman to fulfil a quota.’ This was what jellybean CEO Fiona said when asked about barriers in her career. Many women still feel this way and insight suggests there is still inequality in many industries. Even now, in 2022, it is likely to take 30 more years to reach gender parity at senior levels of the financial services industry*. In the advertising industry, 45% of women sit in leadership roles, however, a 10% pay gap still exists, with this gap rising to 24% as a whole**.
As creatives we are continuously absorbing every type of media, in search of new inspiration and perspective. Books will always be a wonderfully rich source for this.
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.
I can’t believe it’s Pancake Day again. Honestly, it just crêped up on me. Joke aside – if anyone was to ask me what my favourite holiday was, my answer is always the same – Pancake Day. A day of fluffy goodness where you can eat as much as you like – guilt-free – with a wide range of toppings. What could be better?
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?
TikTok is dominating consumer social media and continues to grow, with 1 billion users internationally, up from 54 million in 2018. With such an impressive reach, TikTok viral food products and recipes have the power to monumentally influence business and consumer purchasing.
An international experience even the pandemic can’t get in the way of
Brazil is a vast and diverse country, with strong regional characteristics, looks and tastes. But if you are planning a visit – or just curious and can’t wait until the pandemic is over to try the South American flavours – you can easily find Brazilian restaurants in England. These are a few dishes you must not leave without trying.
It’s a truism that if the roast is the king of dinners, then the Christmas dinner is the irrefutable king of the roasts. Turkey is traditional but can be bland and polarising. It’s also notoriously easy to ruin by overcooking, especially if you have ‘self-medicated’ with a pre 8am libation. Though many plump for tradition, the choice of Christmas roast centrepiece is uniquely individual to each household. Can we do better? Dare we? Here, I weigh up the festive proteinoid centrepiece alternatives so you don’t have to.
Whether you’re embarking on your own health journey or jumping on the back of a new health craze, the past decade has seen increased media attention on healthy living.
Back in 2019 I wrote about dog friendly dining (a subject close to my own heart, as Mum to our ‘office dog’ Whisky). Since then, we have seen dog ownership explode. With Covid lockdowns and more working from home, those who had always wanted a dog but felt they couldn’t, took the plunge and got a furry friend. Whether it was for company, for the kids, or just because, UK citizens opened their homes to man’s best friend. Indeed, the BBC reported back in March that UK households had bought 3.2million pets in lockdown (a large proportion of them dogs)! Whilst according to the Pet Food Manufacturers Association (PFMA) a third of households now have a dog. That’s 12.5 million dogs. Great news for the members of PFMA, but also a huge opportunity for hospitality businesses.
Gone are the days of complex baking cookbooks and inaccessible recipes. The past five years have seen a massive increase in the self-made baking blogger, releasing easy, contemporary, and innovative recipes for all online. They now occupy a space that used to be inhabited only by top pastry chefs and the formally trained. Not only do we look to baking bloggers to review and recommend the best baking ingredients, but we also turn to them for recipes on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and now buy their published cookbooks.
The hospitality and retail sector continue to be plagued with problems, from staff shortages to supply chain chaos. However, pop open the (English) bubbly! As there is hope to be had where British booze is concerned!
As London Cocktail week is now all of October (nice!) we thought we’d share some of the Beans’ favourites. According to international research from Brandwatch, Margaritas are the most popular cocktail followed by Martini, Mimosa, Bloody Mary, and Manhattan. But closer to home it is safe to say, us Beans have found solace in a wide range of cocktails over the past 18 months (of course, all drunk responsibly!). We are after all a leading food and drink agency so really, it’s research. Isn’t it?
Long ago if you wanted to make sure your promotions didn’t fall foul of the law you simply had to turn to ISP (Institute of Sales Promotion), check the CAP code and ASA guidelines. Of course, these days it’s not ISP it’s IPM (Institute of Promotional Marketing)and often times it’s not an on-pack promo or ad, but a social media promotion.
The Latest from Lumina Intelligence’s Food Strategy Forum
As a leading food and drink agency we make it our business to keep up to date with the latest eating out market trends. Each of the Lumina briefings is hotly awaited to see what they have to share with us as we use these key market insights to inform our planning and strategy for clients in foodservice and the hospitality market. This session looked at the current status of the market and predictions up until 2024 with a focus on the pub and bar sector pulling on findings from their latest report.
