The Essential Guide to Foodservice Marketing

The Foodservice Market Opportunity

According to Lumina Intelligence the UK eating out market is expected to grow +2.8% to a value of £99.4bn in 2024F, outpacing its pre-pandemic value by +8.2%. Food to go-led channels including sandwich & bakery, coffee shops/cafés and convenience & supermarket grab & go have achieved the most notable growth versus 2019. While service-led restaurants face a challenging outlook, as the only channel to remain behind its 2019 market value. Easing economic tailwinds, boosted footfall and record employment is expected to result in a market value of £106.7bn in 2027F. However, with a new Government in place which has already seen new tipping legislation (read more here) and a new employment bill, and October’s budget on the horizon, all of which is likely to impact the industry.

For the latest Lumina insights visit our insight section.

UK Foodservice Market

Foodservice, or as it is sometimes referred to – Out of Home (OOH), Away from Home (AFH), Hospitality or even HORECA (Hotel, Restaurants & Catering) is a challenging, but equally rewarding market. Now, as never before, the world of eating out and being a ‘foodie’ is as mainstream as it is aspirational, with the rise of chefs and cooking culture dominating today’s TV schedule.

Not only is foodservice a great market for food and drink brands, it also offers a vital channel to help you position your brand in the right setting, while at the same time sampling consumers which can often lead to follow-on retail sales. Independent research with 300 consumers showed that 76% have gone on to buy a product they have tried when eating out, so brands who don’t have a strong presence in the out of home market may want to think again.

The Challenges of Foodservice Marketing

There is a perception that foodservice is too complex, too fragmented and quite simply too much hassle. When it comes to the multiples you can fit all the decision makers to cover the market comfortably into one room; with foodservice it is quite a different story.

As highlighted by the market map above, the out of home market offers a wide range of sector opportunities, each with their own specific challenges. Defining focus and prioritising sectors for any food and drink brand is the first step on the path to successful food and drink marketing in foodservice. A common mistake is for brands to be pulled by the opportunities presented by the market, rather than setting out with a clear plan of action based on product fit to market and the size of the sector opportunity.

Where retail benefits from the copious amount of data available, this is far from the case out of home and estimating market value in the world of foodservice is a challenge in itself. Often a whole marketing budget could be spent trying to accurately estimate the market, so brands find themselves in the difficult and often uncomfortable position of having to go with their instinct based on limited data and insight. This is often a hard sell at board level and without a clear P&L and data to back up investment, many foodservice launches fall at the first hurdle. (See How to launch a Foodservice Brand & Mind the Foodservice Data Gap).

When you do have the company’s backing there’s the crucial point of understanding your end user, and here knowledge of and insight into your customer is key. Who are you targeting? Are they a buyer, chef, F&B Manager, owner, purchasing director, development chef – the list goes on. Understanding the decision-making process and influencers within each organisation is hugely important. Are they an independent site, a disciplined multiple with buying power at head office level, an undisciplined multiple with a listing at head office but freedom of choice day to day? What challenges does their sector hold? If they are in the hotel market they might be looking for ways to keep guests on site to eat; if they are a school caterer they’ll be looking for the holy grail of cost effective, healthy meals that kids will choose to eat; if they are a casual dining group consistency is everything; while B&I contract caterers are looking for on-trend flavours and street food inspired products to help them fend off competition from the high street.

The route to market for foodservice is also often perceived as a barrier and an added layer of complexity. In order to reach independent operators, you need to gain listings with wholesalers who service your target sector. There are the big national multi-temp players like Bidfood and Brakes along with the large Cash and Carry chains like Booker (who also offer delivered). But under this top tier there is a whole raft of regional or specialist wholesalers and buying groups, so if the big boys won’t play, there is still a way to reach the market by gaining listings with these operators to secure national coverage. Here you need to understand how you can offer the wholesaler value and help them grow the category and drive margin (See Launching into Foodservice). Indeed, margin is an important factor to consider when looking to grow your brand out of home, as the wholesaler will add a mark-up as will the operator, therefore you need to ensure your sell-in price is realistic to allow for both stages of mark-up not to mention listing fees and wholesaler marketing support.

Of course, the product format and fit for foodservice is also critical. Foodservice operators and wholesalers want products designed to meet their needs and the needs of their customers. The right pack and case format, the right packaging, the right prep or cooking technique, the right serve and the right price point on plate will all be crucial to your marketing. Simply taking a retail product and throwing it into the foodservice market rarely works. Remember when it comes to foodservice the operator is staking their reputation on your product, so it is essential it delivers.

Foodservice Market Trends

Sector trends, cuisine trends, day part trends, demographic trends, you name it – foodservice marketing needs to keep on top of them all. From health (in all its forms) at one end of the scale, to indulgence at the other, convenience to customisation and premiumisation, provenance and authenticity – at any one time there will be a range of mega trends at play in the eating out market. Some food trends turn out to be a flash in the pan and burn out as quickly as they hit the headlines, others become part of the eating out landscape. See Bidfood’s recent 2025 predictions here).

An easy way to stay in the loop when it comes to foodservice trends and insight is to check out our Insight section in jellybrain. Here you will find our latest blogs relating to industry trends and issues.

The World of Foodservice Marketing

As with any industry, building relationships with key organisations is crucial to any brand’s success. Publishers, associations, social media groups and charities all have their role to play. Here are just some of those who we work closely with at Jellybean and also on behalf of our clients:

Chefs

foodservice organisations for chefs

Charities

foodservice charities

Associations / Organisations

Foodservice Marketing - Associations

Publishers / Titles

Foodservice Marketing - Publishers

Reaching Foodservice Decision Makers

Food and drink marketing in foodservice is a fine art and only by understanding each sector and the dynamics therein can you begin to craft a brand positioning or a campaign which will engage with your key decision makers. Our experience of over thirty years in the market has been that integrated communications tailored to the sector work best. As technology has evolved, video, email marketing and social media offer us engaging ways to communicate key messages out to our market. Yet for some sectors there is still a place for high impact DM, and of course the role of industry titles both online and in print is hugely important.

Whatever the communication channel, be it trade press, online, email, direct mail, promotions, events or social media, it all has to start with the message and the ‘so what?’ The foodservice decision maker is a tough and discerning audience. Ensuring your brand or product offers a real benefit to them and getting that message across in no uncertain terms is key.

Insight in all its forms can help build a strong sell-in story, whether that is consumer insight to demonstrate demand, sales out analysis to show the category sell and demonstrate opportunities for growth, or U&A insight with your target audience to help identify what key product features they really value.

Creating a strong foundation based on insight, layering on strategy informed by market expertise and experience, and executing with stand-out creative – that’s the secret to strong foodservice marketing. The right team, the right angle, the right channels and there you have it, the recipe for success in the challenging market of foodservice.

You can see some examples in our portfolio here some of which are award winning!

Choosing the Right Foodservice Marketing Agency

Well, with thirty seven years’ experience, a truly integrated approach and a great team we know our stuff (as you can hopefully see from this article). But don’t take our word for it, here’s what others say about us.

Interested? Why not get in touch today?

NB: Please note all statistics are correct at the time of publishing in Oct 2024. However, as the foodservice market is a dynamic one, they are likely to change over time.

Jellybean Creative Solutions

jellybean is an employee-owned, award-winning independent food and drink integrated marketing agency, specialising in foodservice, convenience retail, trade FMCG and consumer. Offering a one-stop-shop, from consultancy to activation across design, marketing, PR, social and digital communications.

Contact Details…
  • Jellybean Creative Solutions,
    15-17 The Crescent,
    Leatherhead,
    Surrey
    KT22 8DY
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