When Hospitality Action’s Lunch Box Day rolled around on Friday 22nd September, we couldn’t wait to support one of our long-term charity partners and swap our packed lunches for a jellybeangroup lunch. The foodservice pr flew into action and were soon helping promote this worth event on all our social channels.
As you may have noticed we recently turned 30 and what better way to celebrate than with gin! As you’d expect from a foodservice marketing agency, we had to mark it with a marketing!
Thanks to our friends at The Gin Kitchen, jellybeantook the first batch of Dancing Dragontail Gin.
Let me preface this blog by saying that I love dairy products, and specifically I love cheese. Creamy pasta with oozing cheese, pizza with a perfect melting mozzarella, and the ultimate in indulgence, the cheese board – I can’t get enough of the stuff.
What was your favourite subject at school?
I really enjoyed art.
What was your best subject at school?
English.
What was your first ever job?
Working for a local bakery in Bookham – I got to take home a lot of doughnuts.
What was your worst ever job?
Packaging charity Christmas cards in the middle of summer…
What was the first music single you bought?
It was probably Spice Girls or East 17. My music taste has definitely improved since then!
Most entrepreneurial thing you have ever done?
I like to bake and word of mouth has led to me making quite a few of my friend’s wedding cakes. It’s always such a pleasure to be involved in their special day.
What is the funniest thing you have done to a work colleague?
Oh I can’t think of anything, I’m not much of a prankster!
What is your motto in life?
Everything happens for a reason.
If you were allowed one dream perk what would it be?
Oo it would be a house that magically cleans itself.
What’s your favourite movie and why?
Empire Records! It’s just a fun story about working in a record store and has a great soundtrack.
If you could pick a celebrity to join the agency who would it be and why?
My favourite cake maker Peggy Porcshen, she is so talented. If she joined the agency I would be able to get so many great baking tips and hopefully she’d bring in some delicious cakes too.
What luxury would you have on your desert island?
A huge jar of peanut butter.
What animal best reflects your personality and why?
A bunny rabbit – full of energy bouncing around the place, but if startled I do a good impression of a rabbit caught in the headlights.
If you could be anybody dead or alive who would that be?
Clare Bowen, she plays Scarlett on Nashville. I would love to be able to sing like her, such an incredible voice.
The New Forest is blessed with some of finest artisan producers and eateries in the country. The coastal market town of Lymington is home to many of them. As a leading food and drink marketing agency we went to check out some of the best places to eat and drink in this thriving foodie scene. From established fish restaurants serving locally caught crab and lobster, to a new Nordic deli serving Viking platters and a jewellery shop cafe fusion which caters for food intolerances; our team of intrepid roving reporters complied this video of our five foodie favs. And of course being Beans we had plenty of fun and lots to eat and drink along the way. Make sure you watch right to the end to see some of us in action as we visited restaurants and interviewed chefs and managers on our foodie safari. Enjoy.
In the wake of the Prudential RideLondon cycle event last week – 100 miles in and out of the capital via the Surrey Hills – I’m offering up a hellish post-watershed alternative to the children’s nursery rhyme ‘head, shoulders knees and toes’ entitled ‘head, shoulders knees and arse’. For that is the exact order of body parts hit by visitations of acute pain during the seven-hour challenge.
This Sunday (30th) a team of four Jellybeans; Nick, Laura, Sam and Neil, will take part in the Prudential Ride London cycle – 100 miles around the streets of London and leafy roads of Surrey, finishing at The Mall in London some seven hours later. Every penny raised of our £4,000 target will go towards furthering the work of DEBRA as jellybeancontinues its proud patronage of the charity. It’s true what they say – truly we are the foodservice marketing agency with the big heart.
For over 30 years jellybeanhas held its position as an award winning and leading food and drink agency, and as the founder I am delighted to announce the appointment of Susan Bolam to Managing Director from June 2017. Having set the company up in 1987 I have been closely involved in its growth and evolution across the last 3 decades and still feel passionately about this industry and company and so will continue to be involved in the business albeit in a much less visible way as CEO.
As jellybeancelebrates its 30th year in business, I take a moment to reflect on the year of 1987 when it all started in a small office for 2 in Croydon.
At that time the average price of a house in the UK was £44,000, a gallon of petrol cost £1.89, inflation was running at 4.2% and interest rates were at 8.4% and within this economic scenario Margaret Thatcher was re-elected Prime Minister for the third time. Little did I know (or anyone else for that matter) that we were just a spit away from a serious recession which I am pleased to say we survived.
Eating out is one of life’s luxuries and any opportunity for a meal out you can count me in, especially when you find somewhere you’d happily go back to time and time again. Last month on a sunny Saturday evening we headed to the small town of Biborough and the Tanner Brothers’ charming pub The Kentish Hare – where better place to take a food enthusiast on their birthday? On arrival, we were seated in the picturesque restaurant with a great view of the bustling kitchen and even managed to catch a glimpse of James Tanner in action.
Although the weather might not always agree, summer is just about upon us. And with summer not only comes warm weather, sunny days and a generally happier population, but also a time where the BBQ can be brought out of hibernation. (Ironically, I am writing this as rain is pounding against the window).
Earlier this year we launched our jellybeanshowreel. As part of the launch we ran a competition for foodie start-ups to win the chance to work with us for free to develop their brand story via video. Foodservice PR is an ever moving feast and video ought to be an essential part of your PR toolkit by now.
We might be challenged by a client to make a certain budget fit their end vision, or challenge outwards with a creative idea to push the envelope. A challenge could constitute the scaling of an outrageously high mountain, running or cycling an uncomfortable – or seemingly overwhelming – distance, facing a fear or a fight. The thing about a challenge is that it can be small or large, but ideally not a daily occurrence. Certainly not for something that we would ordinarily take for granted, like getting dressed, eating or drinking.
Forget Pokémon Go, Snapchat filters and the Mannequin Challenge, there’s a new craze taking over jellybeanTowers in the form of an activity tracker – the Fitbit.
Six of us Beans have already been swayed by the brightly coloured wristbands which promise to track your activity, sleep and food intake.
Our resident retail trade expert and former BBC journalist. Neil is a passionate food and drink marketer who has delivered award-winning integrated campaigns for a heap of leading household brands. Not to mention he’s a hockey player extraordinaire with international honours representing Wales in the Masters European and World Cup competitions.
I was recently invited to a Bruneian Supper Club through a friend of a friend. My instant question was ‘What is a Supper Club?’ It turns out, it’s a bit like a cross between a dinner party and a restaurant; it’s informal fun with friends and friends of friends, combined with amazing food, excellent service and no dishes to do at the end of the evening. Sounds perfect, I’m in.
Ever wondered what it’s like to work with the beans for a week? Well, it’s your lucky day, because I’m here to tell you about the experience I’ve had working at food marketing agency, Jellybean.
The popularity of food-to-go (FTG) has never been greater, showing stronger growth than both the eating out market and food retail market over the last few years. Quick service restaurants and convenience stores across the country are learning to quickly adapt to the growing demands of the consumer. The three pillars of food-to-go – tasty, good value and convenient, no longer cut it for the hard working, tech savvy customer. Now it needs to be fresher, hotter, faster and healthier too.
