When the first lockdown hit in 2020, dried pasta, tinned tomatoes and blocks of Parmigiano Reggiano were among the first products to vanish from UK supermarket shelves, faster even than bread. It wasn’t panic. It was priority. Britain has been quietly obsessed with Italian food for a very long time, and in a crisis, people reach for what they trust. YouGov has named Italian cuisine the most popular in the world, with 91% of British people who have tried it saying they like it. For any Italian food brand weighing up the UK market, that’s one of the strongest tailwinds going in FMCG.
Walk into any supermarket this autumn and you’ll feel it before you even see it: a connection between brand and shopper. It’s on the pack, in the display, in the moment someone reaches for it – a moment where the shopper doesn’t think, they just instinctively reach. That instinct isn’t random. It’s been built by everything the brand has already said elsewhere, integrated long before the shopper ever gets near the shelf. When that connection is executed well, it’s rarely an accident. It’s there because the shopper marketing agency behind it worked integrated by instinct – understanding how that moment linked to everything else the brand does and stands for, even if shopper marketing was the only brief they’d actually been given.
Breaking into the UK market as an international brand presents unique challenges and incredible opportunities. You may be a household name in your home country, or even across multiple markets, but the UK requires a localised approach to truly succeed. At Jellybean, we’ve helped numerous international brands navigate this journey, including our globally acclaimed work with premium Italian tomato brand Mutti. Here’s your roadmap to UK market success. Read More
In partnership with jellybean the iconic Italian tomato brand Mutti has transformed the historic Queen’s House in Greenwich into the stage for a one-of-a-kind immersive dining experience.
We’re thrilled to announce that the Make It Mutti Immersive Dining Experience has been crowned Best Marketing Campaign at the World Food Innovation Awards 2025! Recognised for its bold creativity and immersive storytelling, the activity has set a new benchmark for brand activation in the food industry.
November 2021 saw the climax of an exciting cooking competition – Golden Tomato Cook – which we developed for our client Mutti, the Italian’s favourite tomato brand*. Inspired by Mutti’s Pomodorino d’oro award which is presented to the famer who supplies the best quality produce each year, this new consumer culinary competition recognises and rewards the UK’s best tomato cook. Menus were judged on making the tomato the hero of the dish, originality, presentation, menu appeal and taste. Mutti’s mission is to raise the tomato to its highest expression and this contest challenged consumers across the UK to do exactly that by creating a three-course tomato-based menu using the Mutti Essentials range.
