Two of my favourite things came together this bank holiday weekend – the coast and food! The Foodies Festival is the UK’s biggest food festival and celebrates food from across the globe in a tour around the UK including Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Oxford, as well as one of my favourite places, Brighton. Your leading foodservice marketing agency reports back with the skinny on the all that took place!
Last month I travelled across the globe to the culinary mecca that is Vietnam, home to thousands of independent street vendors, bars and restaurants. I started off my trip in the bustling and vibrant capital of Hanoi. Hanoi is known for its busy streets of cars, mopeds and motorbikes (which can sometimes be spotted carrying a family of four!). You soon get used to the bustling streets and the process of crossing the road (you just walk, and the traffic will weave around you). As with all our adventures, we take our findings back to Leatherhead and use it to inform what we do as a food service agency.
I am delighted to report that Jellybean’s School initiative with Plan International progresses apace. The construction materials and contractors have been secured, and construction was scheduled to begin this month – we look forward to a further update soon.But let’s be honest no one wants to look at photos of a building site, so I thought I would share with you some inspiring images from a neighbouring project in the Gambella region in Ethiopa so you can see the vision rather than the current reality.
Rome brought together two of my favourite things – history and gelato! In six days, we got to see all the famous sights from the Colosseum and Roman Forum to the Trevi Fountain and the breathtaking Sistine Chapel. What made our historical visits complete was taking it all in with a couple scoops of gelato. All in a day’s work for someone from a foodservice pr agency.
Despite the pun, surprisingly our social media campaign this Easter wasn’t Easter egg based, but rather hot cross bun themed. As a specialist food and drink agency, we get more than a little egg-cited about Easter and all its foodie treats. This year we were impressed to see a number of food brands inspired to create hot cross bun themed products and saw fit to offer a hamper of these delights as the prize in our Easter competition. The hamper included: hot cross bun truffles, hot cross bun biscuits, hot cross bun chocolate and a range of actual hot cross buns, along with a nice bottle of red to help wash down your Easter Sunday Roast. It would seem this seasonal hamper didn’t just appeal to us, it had quite the draw on social media, as we offered up a chance to win it by simply retweeting and @ mentioning a friend on Twitter, or commenting and tagging a friend on Instagram. Along with a short and sweet homegrown video to promote the competition (which to date has clocked up over 4,000 views across Twitter and Instagram), all it took was our talented social media team and a ‘Twittersphere’ and ‘Instasphere’ hungry for some hot cross bun action!
I have always loved cooking. I find the whole process relaxing and very rewarding. But throw a new baby into the mix and suddenly our fridge was looking rather sparse and the idea of heading down to the supermarket with an ever-so screamy little one was too anxiety-inducing to handle.
Chr. Hansen is a leading, global bioscience company delivering natural innovative solutions that address global challenges by advancing food, health and productivity. We have been working with their Food Cultures & Enzymes (FC&E) division which develops and produces cultures and enzymes for the food industry.
Today marks the official launch of an exciting new jellybean’ platform and service for challenger brands wanting to take-off in the food and drink market. JellyPad has been created especially for innovative and disruptive brands and offers a suite of essential food PR & marketing services from our expert team who have a wealth of experience and a proven track-record in launching and growing new food and drink brands.
January has a canny reputation for making us all feel a bit doom and gloom. Christmas is all but a distant memory, jeans are twenty inches too tight and temperatures are twenty degrees too low. At such a time, positive mental attitude is key; if we look for things to bring us joy, we’re going to find them, right? Equally, if we look for an excuse to feel miserable, let me tell you, we’re going to feel miserable. This January, I have been determined to feel the joy. Let me tell you about an initiative I have encouraged my fellow beans to join me in supporting, this month…
Hot off the press, the B2B Agency Benchmarking Report for 2019 has been issued and I am delighted to announce that Jellybean is ranked 57th overall (so top 60) for all UK B2B agencies and is in 33rd place in the top Integrated B2B agencies in the UK. Drilling deeper we are in the top 25 agencies with less than 50 employees. How proud I am of the hardworking and dedicated team at jellybeanwho make this business what it is.
Edinburgh, the home of Haggis, Whisky (no, not the office dog) and the Loch Ness Monster. What better way to spend the lead up to Christmas than enjoying all the sights and foodie delights Edinburgh has to offer by fully immersing ourselves in everything festive. Hannah Burchell of Hospitality Marketing Agency jellybeanreports back from north of the wall…
As Great Britain faces the challenges surrounding business and economic planning and the impacts of the political and social unknown, jellybeancan be sure of one project that is close to our hearts which definitely knows where it is heading. We are now 6 months into our Safe Schools Project in the Gambella region in Ethiopa and I’m delighted to report that Plan International has made some important progress, often against the odds.
The Jellybean Safe Schools project in the Gambella region of Ethiopia is progressing and we are look forward to construction commencing early in 2019. I am delighted that our contribution will be helping people like Sarah* whose harrowing story is shared below. Initiatives like this not only help refugee children get into school but also help their parents get an education too through the Community Learning Hubs which provide numeracy and literacy support, life skills training, and peace-building initiatives.
As a leading food and drink agency we are regular attendees at Arena networking events. This December their Christmas event was long-awaited, as it marked not only the unofficial start to Christmas (in my humble opinion), but also the very first function to be held at the Mandarin Oriental since its fire and refurbishment. As well as the draw of the opulent surroundings of the Mandarin Oriental, the running order of the day boasted a presentation from Peter Backman and a talk from Chef Patron of Lympstone Manor, Michael Caines MBE.
For over 31 years jellybeanhas preached the mantra of a fully integrated approach to communications, where we deploy complementary elements from each discipline to maximum effect for our clients. And to ensure we stay ahead in a fast paced, highly competitive industry, we continue to invest in training and development of our people, all of whom have a deep-rooted passion for food and drink and an in-depth understanding of the market. I am often asked what sets jellybeanapart from other agencies and I still maintain it is our integrated approach, but above and beyond that it is our people, individuals who are encouraged to be individuals, people who really know their stuff, care deeply about what they do and whose clients love to work with. These values and the deliverables they bring to our clients business are highly valued, which is why we have some brands that have worked with us for over 25 years.
Last Thursday saw this year’s search for foodservice’s most innovative food and drink products (as well those of us involved in food and drink marketing) culminate in a glittering ceremony, as the highly prestigious UK Foodservice Quality Food Awards celebrated the very best of the industry. Held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, the event welcomed hundreds of the foodservice industry’s key players and of course as the leading food and drink agency with a raft of clients up for awards the we were there in force. Along with the beans and some of our lovely clients, including The Real Soup Company, Manilife and Savse, there was everyone from nationwide wholesalers to ground-breaking independents – all keen to see whose products had been judged good enough to receive a highly coveted Quality mark.
This month we visited the National Space Centre in Leicester for the launch of the hotly awaited Association of Convenience Store’s Local Shop Report. This annual report provides a wealth of information about the performance of the sector as a whole and highlights the key trends and developments that everyone working in convenience needs to know.
Now I know I’m no Bob Geldof or Mother Teresa but when I started jellybeanin 1987 with a mighty team of 2 (me and a PA) not only did I want to brave the waters of building a successful new business, I also had a vision to make a small difference to the world at the same time. That’s why jellybeanhas always supported children around the world through Plan International and during our 31 years in business we have helped literally hundreds of children in underprivileged countries around the globe. From the very first day and throughout our growth we have adopted/funded at least one child for each employee from countries as far apart as Timor Leste to Ecuador, from Thailand to Egypt and many countries in between and will continue to do so.
jellybeanis working in partnership with Plan International UK to fund the construction of five school buildings in the Gambella region of Ethiopia. The Safe School project helps refugees access safe and high quality education, reaching 39,550 children aged 3-14, many of whom will have gone through the terrifying and scarring experience of fleeing their homes in South Sudan. In Gambella they will benefit from a better education in permanent school buildings with good quality teaching and access to specialised counselling to help them overcome the challenges of being away from home.
As my two weeks at jellybeannear the end, it is the perfect time to reflect on my experience with food and drink design.
I was greeted on my first day by a very welcoming and friendly team, and briefed on what the next two weeks at jellybeanhad to offer. My schedule had been thoughtfully planned allowing me to spend time with both marketing and PR teams, giving me a broad understanding of each department and the work of the company as a whole.
