Category: Jellybean News

Big Birthday Celebrations

Foodservice PR Agency - Big Birthday Celebrations - Simpsons in the StrandA big birthday deserves a special celebration, which is why last weekend I spent the afternoon in London with my family to celebrate my step granā€™s 80th.

The afternoon began as every afternoon should ā€“ with cocktails. We met in the 125 year old American Bar at The Savoy Hotel, where the cocktails are ranked among Londonā€™s finest. The retro-glamour style combined with an extensive list of cocktails, all organised by historical eras, made this a really special experience. I went for the ā€˜Punk Rockā€™ ā€“ a mix of Rum, grapefruit juice, sugar syrup and Peychaudā€™s bitters.

After a couple of drinks, we made our way to Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, just a short walk from The Savoy Hotel. The restaurant itself is beautiful and they really create the perfect atmosphere. Simpsonā€™s is known for its Scottish beef which is carved in front of you from beautiful antique trolleys. The food was incredible and I would definitely recommend the restaurant to anyone looking for the perfect venue to celebrate a special occasion.

A snapshot of the dishes I enjoyed belowā€¦

Starters ā€“ Smooth chicken liver pate with grape chutney and toasted brioche.

Main ā€“ Stuffed pork tenderloin with parsley mash and confit garlic sauce.

Dessert ā€“ Sticky toffee pudding with Madagascan vanilla custard.

With full bellies, we finished off the day singing along to the hit musical Mamma Mia which was the perfect end to a great afternoon. As well as amazing food and drink, it was a really special day celebrating with family and one we will all remember.


Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice pr agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, food service marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

Cut-Out Christmas

Food Service Marketing - Cut-Out ChristmasEvery year Jellybean creates a magically-creative Christmas campaign to support our charity friends, Hospitality Action and Springboard UK. This year, as the leading foodservice agency, we showcased our creative, digital and social media talents with a digital take on the traditional Christmas card with our ā€˜Cut-Out Christmasā€™. Take a look here https://www.jellybeancreative.co.uk/christmas/ Ā – for each unique view our campaigns receive, we donate Ā£1 to the two charities.*

We wanted to share 2015ā€™s festive joy with the masses so we took to Twitter Ā to share our campaign. We encouraged Twitter users to follow a link and view our video-card ā€“ in turn raising funds for our deserving charities. To return the gesture of goodwill ā€“ itā€™s Christmas after all ā€“ we ran a free prize draw for those users who retweeted our campaign tweet, to win one of three luxury chocolate boxes, created by agency friend, UK World Chocolate Master Ruth Hinks!

Receiving 305 engagements including 94 retweets and making 7,797 impressions in just three days, we think itā€™s fair to say we spread the joy far and wide.

A big thanks to all who took part in the Twitter competition and those whoā€™ve helped support our Christmas campaign to date by viewing our ā€˜Cut-Out Christmasā€™ card.

Thereā€™s still time to get involved, so if youā€™d like to help us raise some money, have a watch of Cut-Out Christmas and weā€™ll do the donating: https://www.jellybeancreative.co.uk/christmas/

Now I suppose all thatā€™s left to say is, we wish you a very Jelly Christmas from all the beans!

*(50p to each, capped at Ā£500)


Jellybean Creative is a leading food service marketing and food service design agency. We help top brands with food service pr, food service marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

Lovely day for a GuinnessĀ®

Food Service Agency - GuinnessSettle and Savour. The words of one of the worldā€™s favourite drinks brand ā€“ GuinnessĀ® – a brand which claims that not everything in black and white makes sense. And they are right…

A recent adventure of mine took me to the GuinnessĀ® Storehouse in Dublin where I explored my way through the history and production of the brand we all know and love so much.

The GuinnessĀ® Storehouse offers a one-of-a-kind adventure, which can be enjoyed by all, and where I consumed my FIRST GuinnessĀ®, yes thatā€™s right my first glass of the dark stuff!

Now, working at a leading foodservice marketing agency such as Jellybean Creative Solutions, I have an undeniable love for advertising from the original Coca Cola Christmas campaign right through to the new John Lewis television adverts, but undoubtedly, GuinnessĀ® is one brand that never let me down.

GuinnessĀ® claims that imagination is something they have never been short of ā€“ and I canā€™t deny that. The Storehouse displays an entire floor of past and present advertising campaigns, which you canā€™t help but fall in love with all over again. Campaigns which take you back in time and always leave you wanting more. Going back over 80 years the range of print, digital and TV campaigns in the GuinnessĀ® World of Advertising can keep you entertained for hours!

What did I learn on my adventure you ask? Let me tell you…

Some see GuinnessĀ® as a brand; some see GuinnessĀ® as a drink… I see GuinnessĀ® as a love affair. As marketers we pride ourselves on our work and the work we do for our clients, but to have pure admiration of the creative, the branding, and the slogans means it must be good. Not just good, great! For GuinnessĀ® I have only two more words for you… well done!

A site worth visiting the GuinnessĀ® Storehouse is located in St James’s Gate, Dublin 8, Ireland ā€“ make sure to visit The Gravity Bar on the top floor to enjoy your GuinnessĀ® with a view!

www.guinness-storehouse.com


Jellybean Creative is a leading food service agency. We help top brands with food service pr, food service marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

A Winning Week

Jellybean is a Top 50 Agency - Foodservice Marketing AgencyItā€™s been a great week at Jellybean, a week when the very bedrock of our agency has been recognised and rewarded. For over 28 years we have been a fiercely independent agency conceiving and activating fully integrated communication campaigns for our clients. We have also been entrenched in foodservice, a specialist B2B sector. This week we have been recognised for both our integrated approach and our dedication to B2B marketing and I could not be more proud of the hard working team at Jellybean.

Firstly, yesterday morning I opened the B2B agencies benchmarking report 2015 to find that we have retained our position in the top 50 B2B agencies in the UK sitting at No 46. This is quite an achievement in a marketing sector dominated by the mega high-tech equipment brands, the big spending pharmaceutical companies, not to mention the fast growing financial, data, security and IT business services sector, with multi million pound marketing budgets. So I am immensely proud that we are holding our own in such auspicious company and without doubt the reason we are able to hold our head up is because of our truly integrated and collaborative approach to foodservice marketing and our fantastic clients, with whom we create and maintain genuine strategic partnerships and as a result deploy their budgets to achieve an impressive return on investment.

This latest accolade came hot on the heels of last Fridayā€™s win, when we were awarded Gold for the Best Integrated Campaign by The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) PRide Awards, arguably the most credible in the public relations industry, for our multi-faceted campaign ā€œFor the Love of Chocolateā€ with our client, Callebaut. The judges recognised the inspiration and integration at its heart, from our stunning creative design, right through to the strategy, tone and message crafted by the marketing and PR teams. Here you can see an overview of the campaign.

As the founder of Jellybean I have always championed a fully integrated and business accountable approach to communications, to ensure that we help our clients achieve their commercial goals. We were never about the fluffy stuff or massaging our own ego with ā€œedgyā€ creative, but rather about hard hitting, effective and creative communications that delivered against specific business objectives. And as we come to the close of 2015 I can truly say that never before have we had to be so multi-skilled, always ā€œonā€ and accountable for real results – and quite rightly so. That is why this latest gong in our trophy cabinet means so much to us all, it validates the very heart and soul of the agency.

Frankly, nearly 30 years from the start of this journey I couldnā€™t be more proud of my team or more excited about the fresh challenges 2016 has to offer this industry.

Integration. Integration. Integration.

Food Service PR - Pride Awards 2015 - Gold WinnerItā€™s a word often spouted by PR and marketing bods the country-long, but what does it actually mean? I mean, I know what it means, but what does it really mean when an agency figurehead talks about a ā€˜specialist integrated approachā€™. Itā€™s easy enough to pick words and phrases like ā€˜harmonyā€™, ā€˜equalityā€™ and ā€˜shared goalsā€™ out of the sack, but in the case of our beloved agency what the word really represents is simple: a bunch of creative-minded souls pooling often very different skillsets and worldviews into one salient, sellable idea, all for the good of the client.

Earlier this year, PR Week talked of a ā€˜tipping pointā€™ for agencies ā€“ heralding 2015 as the advent of an integrated future. The article claimed that because of the rise of digital and clients becoming ā€˜much more agnostic about how they spend their money and think about marketing and communicationsā€™ that agencies needed to ready themselves to offer smarter combined services. Thankfully itā€™s something weā€™ve known for many years; that with channels of communication becoming so much more fragmented, the joined-up approach simply works better.

Last week our efforts were rewarded with the joyous news that Jellybean has been awarded the Best Integrated Campaign gong at The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) South of England PRide Awards.Ā  The awards are the most credible in the public relations industry and, as such, are judged by a high calibre of experts drawn from the very top of their fields. Those same judges saw fit to award us Gold for our work with client, Callebaut, in creating the multifaceted (and highly integrated) ā€˜For the Love of Chocolateā€™ campaign.

With inspiration and integration at its heart, ā€˜For The Love of Chocolateā€™ was a labour of love for all involved, from our dedicated studio, which turned out stunning creative, right through to the strategy, tone and message crafted by the marketing and PR teams.Ā  As well as inspire, the campaign looked to educate and engage chefs, focusing specifically around the disconnect between the consumer demand for chocolate desserts and the amount currently offered on menus.

The seven-month campaign ā€“ seen by almost 6.5m people in the foodservice industry ā€“ employed a mix of bespoke consumer research, PR and marketing, creative and a highly successful industry competition, to drive an extraordinary 15% YOY uplift in Callebautā€™s foodservice sales. A truly incredible result, one that could only have been achieved through our tried and tested joined-up, Jellybean approach.

To really hit it home, hereā€™s what the judges had to say: ā€œWe thought this campaign was literally chocolate. A holistic approach was taken, with research really informing the strategy and tactics. It successfully segmented the target audiences and the concept was universal across all audiences. The design work was beautifully executed and it delivered impressive results with 15% uplift in sales against a target of 10%. This campaign demonstrated that the brand really understands its UK market.ā€

Amen to that, and to Callebaut for trusting Jellybean with its reputation. Look out for more of the same in 2016 as year-two plans take shape.

Be sure to check out the ā€˜For the Love of Chocolateā€™ case study here: and while youā€™re there why not take a look at some of our other work to really get yourself integrated with Jellybean.


Jellybean Creative is a leading food service marketing and communications agency. We help top brands with food service pr, food service marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

Alternative CV – Clare Fellowes-Freeman

What was your favourite subject at school?
French.

What was your best subject at school?
P.E. ā€“ mum was a PE teacher, it was always a dead cert.

What was your first-ever job?
Waitressing at the local golf club

What was the first music single you bought?
Sophie Ellis Bextor ā€“ Murder on the Dancefloor

What is your motto in life?
Everything happens for a reason

If you were allowed one dream perk what would it be?
Unlimited cake

Whatā€™s your favourite movie and why?
The Parent Trap – when I was little I watched it constantly with my best friend, but I still havenā€™t found my long lost twin!

If you could pick a celebrity to join the agency who would it be and why?
Michael McIntyre I think, for the endless laughs

What luxury would you have on your desert island?
A kindle

What animal best reflects your personality and why?
Probably a cat. Iā€™m very independent but do like my creature comforts!

If you could be anybody in the world (alive or dead) who would you be and why?
JK Rowling, not only did she create the books which represent my childhood, she is a fantastic human being


Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing, foodservice pr and communications agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

 

Alternative CV – Rebecca Lordan

What was your favourite subject at school?
I loved PE.

What was your best subject at school?
Hmm, probably best at Science or English Lit.

What was your first-ever job?
A waitress in a little local bakery/cafƩ.

What was your worst ever job?
Without a doubt, a terrible telesales job over the summer whilst at Uni. I lasted a day!

What was the first music single you bought?
Aqua, Barbie Girl.

What is the most entrepreneurial thing you have ever done?
I used to buy loads of really popular music festival/concert tickets and sell them on for a lovely profit.

What’s the funniest thing you have ever done to a work colleague?
Rugby tackled a male colleague by accident.

What is your motto in life?
Be able to laugh at yourself.

If you were allowed one dream perk what would it be?
A top of the range company car.

What’s your favourite movie and why?
“Catch Me If You Can”. Just an unbelievable story of Frank Abagnale Jr’s life and his mischievous ways. I love “Meet Joe Black” too, there is something magical about that film and the soundtrack.

If you could pick a celebrity to join the agency who would it be and why?
I think it would have to be The Two Greedy Italians, chefs Gennaro Contaldo and Antonio Carluccio! I love their chemistry and they would make amazing lunches for us all.

What luxury would you have on your desert island?
Not so much a luxury item, but I would be very happy with a lilo – perfect way to catch the sun whilst floating in the sea all day long. Maybe throw in a few cocktails to keep me company tooĀŠ.

What animal best reflects your personality and why?
I think a dog. Very happy, loves to be around people and is extremely trusting and loyal.

If you could be anybody in the world (alive or dead) who would you be and why?
I’m quite happy being me, thanks.


Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing agency and communications agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

Alternative CV – Jess Clare

What was your favourite subject at school?
Biology ā€“ my teacher was hilarious.

What was your best subject at school?
Maths

What was your first-ever job?
Barmaid at a golf club!

What was your worst ever job?
Waitress at a fancy hotel restaurant. The maitre dā€™ made me cry because I couldnā€™t serve round bread rolls with the back of two spoons (itā€™s impossible).

What was the first music single you bought?
Some Sugababes single, I was given it at a school disco so technically I didnā€™t buy it but itā€™s the first CD I remember!

What is the most entrepreneurial thing you have ever done?
The golf club I worked at didnā€™t sell cigarettes anywhere on site. When they hosted the PGA one year I bought a load of cigarettes before I came to work and then sold them on for Ā£10 a packet… Easy money!

What is your motto in life?
It can always be worse

If you were allowed one dream perk what would it be?
An unlimited supply of money (and time!)

Whatā€™s your favourite movie and why?
The Lord of the Rings trilogy, probably the second one if I had to choose.

If you could pick a celebrity to join the agency who would it be and why?
Tom Hardy. Eye candy during stressful times.

What luxury would you have on your desert island?
Sad to admit but probably my phone.

What animal best reflects your personality and why?
An owl, not because Iā€™m wise but because I can never sleep!!

If you could be anybody in the world (alive or dead) who would you be and why?
Angelina Jolie ā€“ sheā€™s incredible.


Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing and communications agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

Jellybeanā€™s Lunch Box Day

Food and Drink PR - Jellybeanā€™s Lunch Box DayThroughout the calendar year Jellybean shows its support for various deserving causes ā€“ Hospitality Actionā€™s Lunch Box Day being our most recent fundraiser. On Friday 23rdĀ October we joined many a business in the hospitality and foodservice sector to raise money for the charity. Supporting all those who work or have worked within the industry in the UK and find themselves in crisis, we stuffed our faces, dug deep in our pockets ā€“ and snapped some selfies!

For Hospitality Actionā€™s first ever Lunch Box Day, the charity asked participants to donate the money they would have spent on lunch that day. Thankfully the beans were lucky enough to be treated to a range of goodies all kindly supplied by Jellybean MD, Fiona! Subway sandwiches, crisps, fruit, cookies and cake (any excuse for a good cause) were all on the menu. A group #SandwichSelfie later and we were all tucking in.

Hospitality Action is one of the charities Jellybean is proud to actively support and its first ever Lunch Box Day was a great way in which everyone could get involved to help raise some money for a fantastic cause. Hereā€™s to next yearā€™s!


Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing agency and communications agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, food and drink pr, digital and foodservice design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

From Mexico City to The Abbeville Road

Food Service Agency - ComensalWell, after many years of Mexican being heralded as the next big thing in the UK foodservice market it would seem its time has finally come. Having been in foodservice marketing for fourteen years I can recall many a debate at the NRA show with my British counterparts on the issue of ā€˜will the UK follow the US when it comes to Mexican cuisine?ā€™. The stock answer was very much a ā€˜probably not, just look at the demographic of the US population, of course Mexican food is popular, the UK is very different, I canā€™t seeing it taking off over here.ā€™ Oh how they must be eating their words now, as in 2015 our appetite for Mexican eclipses all other cuisines it would seem. In fact Mexican food has overtaken Indian in the ready meal wars with spend up 12.8% to Ā£264million in one year*. Mexican cuisine is now an established out of home flavour trend observed by the likes of Horizons, Technomic and Allegra, with restaurants including Wahaca, Chipotle, Tortilla and Las Iguanas dominating our high streets.

Itā€™s nice therefore to see that in this sea of chains there are some stand-out independents. One such restaurant is Comensal on The Abbeville Road in Clapham Common. It is run by John Sim and Cati Bego, who met in Mexico City in 2013 and decided to bring a taste of authentic Mexican cuisine to the UK. With all the food freshly prepared by an in-house team of Mexican chefs, Comensal positions itself as ā€˜an authentic taste of modern Mexico, in a leafy neighbourhood settingā€™.

Now I might never have found this South London gem had they not taken it upon themselves to leaflet the local area offering complementary margaritas for local residents coming for the first time when it opened last June ā€“ so firstly congratulations on your launch marketing. This proactive approach led my friend who lives a few streets away to suggest an evening out to sample what this new addition to Claphamā€™s foodie scene had to offer.

Well, all I can say is one year on I am a complete convert and have been back numerous times, tempted by the huge (Iā€™m not joking) bowls of delicious homemade guacamole and tortilla chips, not to mention the amazing margaritas, fabulous Mexican street food and naughty, but very nice, churros. With its relaxed atmosphere and great food itā€™s good to see they are holding their own against the big boys by offering a more personal approach and possibly the best Mexican food I have ever eaten. So although I may still be seen in a Wahaca now and again (I love their Hibiscus Mojitos) my heart lies in Clapham with Comensal.

Next time you find yourself in Clapham make sure you drop in to enjoy this vibrant independent Mexican restaurant, you wonā€™t regret it! www.comensal.co.uk (Indeed, if there is any justice in the world they should definitely win ‘Best Newcomerā€™ in the Time and Leisure Magazine food and drink awards 2015 ā€“ I for one have voted for them.)

*The Mirror

Jellybean Creative is a leading food service agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

Sun, Sea, Tapas and a Beautiful Wedding

To have one of your best friends getting married is exciting enough, to have them getting married in Spain…AMAZING! Valencia to be precise. So what else is there to do than to take four days off and fly out three days before the wedding to enjoy some sun, sea, cocktails and tapas.

Having never been to Valencia before, I didnā€™t know what to expect, but when I got there, I quickly decided it was one of the most beautiful places that Iā€™d ever been to. The sandy beach went on for miles and as with all good beaches, a walk along the beach promenade allowed me to venture into the many different cocktail bars to test the local frozen margaritas.

The wedding was set in the Spanish mountains, the view was spectacular, the venue beautiful and overall it was a very happy and emotional day for everyone involved. Not to mention hot, it was a scorching 35 degrees!

To round off an already fantastic day, the Valencian food was incredible. After an assortment of stunning looking canapĆ©s to start with, I was able to sit down with friends and devour Mediterranean prawns in a spicyĀ  garlic sauce, followed by a gin sorbet. Now Iā€™m not a huge gin fan, but it was the perfect palate cleanser and was a very much needed refreshment in that heat! Pork in a rich red wine sauce came shortly after, but it was the dessert that topped it for me. Torrijas, a typical Spanish pudding. This is very similar to our bread and butter pudding, but soaked in wine and honey ā€“ to say that my appetite was satisfied is an understatement.

All in all, I had a fantastic time and I will definitely be going back to Valencia to explore more of the fine food,Ā  the cocktail barsā€¦and the culture of course!

Jellybean Creative is a leading food service agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

Northern Ireland in three days and 300,000 calories

Food Service Agency - Northern Ireland in three days and 300,000 caloriesA pint of Guinness, a side of tobacco onions and non-existent portion control. That was my lunch for three days running. Well, maybe not the tobacco onions every day, but the stout and hefty portions, well theyā€™re in fact understatements!

I arrived on the Tuesday just in time for lunch. The bite of the cool summer air (10 degrees lower than Englandā€™s I might add!) instilled in me quite the appetite, so on to The Wildfowler Inn, in County Down, I went.

An early morning flight on an ā€˜Eatā€™ bacon roll and orange juice was just not enough to sate my hunger. As I sat eagerly awaiting my pub lunch I treated myself to my first ever pint of Guinness. They say you canā€™t beat Ireland and its Guinness ā€“ how right they are. The velvety black mass with its creamy white top is a wonder to behold.

The wow moments continued for me at The Wildfowler Inn, as soon after arriving, in front of me was a meal fit for a King. Two handfuls of fries, two handfuls of tobacco onions, and a ten ounce beef burger smothered in cheddar. Youā€™ll see from the picture, it needed a trough! Soaked in beer, the beef burger paired with the crunchy tobacco onions and relish proved a delight. Someone should have warned me though, a pint of the black stuff is a meal in itself and itā€™s safe to say my eyes were bigger than my belly in this instance. Still, what I managed was wondrous.

Heading off in a food-induced coma I retreated to my cottage nestled in the green fields, mentally preparing for my next meal.

Wednesday came and I was fortunate to be given a longer break before a food coma enveloped me once more. It was the day of my cousinā€™s wedding and a hog roast awaited us in the evening. Served in a bun with a hefty spoonful of apple sauce the bun and its filling covered half my plate. But that wasnā€™t enough for these hearty Northern Irish caterers. Then came the potatoes (yes, I did pronounce this with a high pitched voice), sweet chilli noodles (questionable choice), salad and pasta. Not one to stand on ceremony, I scooped the lot on to my plate. Then very proudly devoured the lot. And Iā€™d learned my lesson by day two and had my Guinness well in advance of the meal!

The dessert spoiled us even more: a trio of gooey chocolate sponge, strawberry cheesecake and honeycomb ice cream and miniature cone. My mouthā€™s watering all over again.

In true party style we washed these down with a strawberry daiquiri and saved the Guinness for later.

Sore heads and swollen bellies greeted us in the morning. A stroll around Belfast city centre in the fresh breeze was on the cards. But we all know what some exercise and fresh air can doā€¦hunger pangs.

So, in the early hours of the afternoon we stopped off at The Fountain Bar and Restaurant. True to its roots, the building was plastered with Guinness wraps, signs, wind breakers and awning.

Scanning the menu I couldnā€™t help but notice our lovely client, Moy Park Foodserviceā€™s ā€˜Chicken Teddiesā„¢ā€™, succulent chicken breast perfectly shaped to look like a teddy bear. Naturally my three year old cousin opted straight for that.

I on the other hand opted for a lighter snack and went for the Chicken and Bacon Caesar Wrap ā€“ forgetting the lack of portion control I was in shock when I received what can only be described as two bricks of Chicken Caesar goodness. The tobacco fries made a welcome appearance on the plate as well. But alas, the hearty meal was too hearty for this English girl, and a lot was left on the plate! (Apologies to the chef!)

Heading to the airport later that day with a very heavy belly, although everything told me not to, I had to round off the mini-break with a final half pint of Guinness.

I can still feel the bubbles and taste the creamy smoothness now.

Northern Ireland, Iā€™ll be back! (I just need a little rest-bite to recover from my culinary tour)

If youĀ  fancy a taste of Ireland you can find out more here.

Jellybean Creative is a leading food service agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

Social Media Foodservice Agency

What the Bean Made Me

The incessant cacophonous thundering of keys under manicured fingers, barely visible through an opaque fug of cigarette smoke and scotch whiskey fumes which drip invisibly from the ceiling panels like condensation from the roof of a cave hidden behind a waterfall. This is how business is done. In the 60s. In Mad Men. In the modern business element of social media foodservice agency Jellybean there is a different sight.

Upon my first arrival I am greeted by a delicious home-made loaf of cinnamon and raisin cake, an assortment of tasteful bean-related puns and a warm atmosphere built by a friendly and welcoming staff. Certainly a far sight from the raucous post war office drama, which gives off such a different atmosphere that my comparison between the two makes as much sense as a lemonade giraffe.

I decided to compare these two to demonstrate that I, like everyone else around me, am shaped by my interactions with all forms of popular media. It has become impossible for me not to compare my every day, pedestrian life to the lives of those I see on screen, in papers or on walls.

Every blonde child on the train is actually a tyrannical megalomaniac ruling a fictitious, dragon-ridden fantasy realm under an iron fist. Every man with a twirly moustache is a dangerously bubbling volcano of opera, constantly on the brink of singing car insurance deals directly at my face.

What Iā€™m trying to say is that, from a consumerā€™s perspective, marketing and media such as that produced by Jellybean are very important parts of my life, and this realisation is what led me to seek out, and ultimately find my place here. While I have yet to fully experience the range of Jellybean departments, a busy morning of introductions, food photography and much needed social media training has left me hungry for more and even though Iā€™ve barely started I already feel like part of a quality team of professional beans.


Jellybean Creative is a leading social media foodservice agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.


Keep reading! Why not read our blog on Being ā€˜Socialā€™ at the Foodservice Quality Food Awardsā€¦

A Night of Mother's Ruin

Foodservice Marketing Agency - The City of London Distillery Tour with WirehiveThere are few things that will motivate me to head into The City of London on a hot and sticky Wednesday evening, but luckily for Wirehive, gin ranks very highly amongst these few things. So I hot-footed it (quite literally) from the end of the tube line at glamorous Ealing Broadway via the lovely Central Line to The City of London Distillery, a hop, skip and a jump from Chancery Lane tube, to mix and mingle with digital gurus and geeks alike at the Wirehive gin tasting event. Wirehive is a digital hosting company and also well known for its Wirehive 100 Awards (which we eagerly await the shortlist for!). And I have to say I rather like the companyā€™s approach to new business, which is far less ā€˜hard sellā€™ and far more ā€˜get ā€˜em tiddly on gin and have a chatā€™. Now it is safe to say that our Digital Director Andy was very much amongst his own, surrounded by other men in jeans and shirts talking UX and disaster recovery galore. I however may not be a fully-fledged digital geek, but with the help of our regular internal workshops from the digital team and a bit of extra-curricular reading I managed to keep up and throw in the odd salient point here and there.

As everyone gathered in the private area of the basement bar there was a seemly never ending stream of gin and tonics with pink grapefruit (no complaints here!). We then moved onto the business of the evening – the gin tasting, with four gins to taste, either on their own or with a little water accompanied by a detailed description of the flavour profile and ingredients of each. I have to say my favourite was the sloe gin, but equally the gin and tonics with pink grapefruit went down a treat too and Andy was very taken with the Square Mile Gin (even buying a bottle at the end of the evening).Ā  Then it was time to hear all about the history of gin. From its oriā€˜ginā€™s (see what I did there?) with the Dutch (hence ā€˜Dutch Courageā€™), through to its use as an alternative to water for the poor (good thinking!) and on to its reputation as motherā€™s ruin, all the way up to the modern day renaissance of gin, with niche distilleries crafting distinctive high quality gins for the connoisseur. As fate would have it, just a few short steps from our private table, The City of London Distillery houses just such a craft distillery where they create some very fine gins! The beautiful copper stills shone in the basement lighting as Luke, our host for the evening, talked us through the finer details of the distillation process. Then it was back to our table for more chat, more gin and tonics (would you believe it!) and a charcuterie and cheese board ā€“ very much required after the amount that everyone had imbibed.

So after both an enjoyable and informative evening it was time to wend our way back to Surrey, stopping-off at the bar to give a bottle of Square Mile Gin a good home (it had to be done). Congratulations must go to Rob (MD and official bag guard) and the team at Wirehive (namely Amelie who I am led to believe was very much the brains behind the night) on a fabulous event. Not forgetting of course Luke and the team at The City of London Distillery who have an amazing place and some fabulous gins. If you havenā€™t been I would highly recommend it ā€“ you can find out more here and even order their gins online! I for one will definitely be back!

Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

Heading southwest for cider

Food Marketing Agencies - Stable Pizza(The following blog contains ā€˜west countryā€™ slang for which the author apologises and translation has been dutifully offeredā€¦.)

Although I am now living the Surrey life, I was born between the rolling hills and roaring sea in the deepest depths of the West Country. I am well and truly a Janner (a Plymouthian for those not familiar with the term).Ā  Although a proud Plymouthian, during my 24 or so years there I probably didnā€™t live West Country life to the fullest. Sure, I couldnā€™t walk past a pasty shop without the smell drawing me in, but when I visit home now I am well and truly a grockle (holiday-maker) and keen to try everything my beloved home-town is known for.

My latest adventure involved, amongst other things, a cream tea in Cornwall (thoroughly betraying my Devonian roots by having jam first, then cream ā€“ itā€™s the only way), and attending a pirate festival. This was more by chance than choice, but we were entertained by a pirate choir singing witpot (nonsense) sea shantyā€™s – were those lyrics really ā€˜Hey ho, chicken on a raftā€™?

It was a particularly warm weekend in Plymouth so as the day rested into dimpsy (twilight), we wandered down to the harbour in need of some refreshment and decided upon Stable Pizza, a chain of restaurants specialising in pizza, pies and cider. We were, on this occasion, solely there for a gurt big pint of thee best zider (hopefully translation isnā€™t needed here). To my shame, traditional cider is never a drink I have frequented, always leaning more towards Plymouthā€™s other famous beverage, Plymouth Gin (which is world class). So what better way to be initiated into proper cider than trying one of Stable Pizzaā€™s tasting platters ā€“ a half a pint of five chosen local ciders. I am keen to point out this was shared, not solely for me. The five ciders we sampled were:

ā€¢ Sandford Old Kirton – Quite dry and strong ā€“ I could only manage a little bit!
ā€¢ Pubeck Dorset Draft – This was lovely and crisp, quite light to drink.
ā€¢ Gert Lush – Definitely the most ā€˜west countryā€™ cider I tasted ā€“ still, tangy, and quite a strong taste!
ā€¢ Sandford shakey Bride – Quite sweet and apple-yā€¦yum!
ā€¢ West Country Perry – Technically not a Cider as itā€™s made with pears, but definitely my favourite.

Although I may have brought shame on my roots for thinking some of the ciders a bit too strong in taste, it was great to be able to try so many different types. We may not have been there for the food, but we couldnā€™t resist ordering some garlic bread to soak up all that cider. If the delicious garlicy goodness on a sourdough base was anything to go by, trying some more of their food is a must.

They may be mainly based in the West Country at the moment, but donā€™t be surprised if you see a Stable Pizza near you soon. With openings lined up for Southampton and Winchester, itā€™s time to bring the best cider (and pies and pizza) to the rest of the country. Plus with a menu that focuses on locally sourced food for each restaurant, youā€™d be maze as a brush (silly) not to try it!

Find out more about Stable Pizza at Stable Pizza or follow them on Twitter @_TheStable


Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing and communications agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

LACA – The Main Event 2015

Social Media Foodservice Agency - LACA - The Main Event 2015It was an exciting and busy week for Jellybean and clients last week as the annual LACA Main Event and conference came to the UKā€™s second city. Up bright and early, I jumped on the train and headed north to see our wonderful clients, Hobart UK, Tilda Foodservice, Dr Oetker, Pritchitts and Aviko UK who were all exhibiting.

For those that arenā€™t aware, The Main Event, aka the Education Catering Exhibition, is the only show in the UK which is dedicated to the school meals market. Not only does it offer visitors the chance to meet with companies in this all-important sector, the exhibition also offers the following features:

Ā· Finishing Touches – 10 classes for school caterers to compete in and two for students
Ā· Innovation Zone – coveted product awards for exhibitors to enter and delegates and visitors to vote for
Ā· LACA Demonstration Theatre – sponsored by our very own client, Hobart Cooking Solutions, where live demonstrations take place each day

So, for visitors and delegates alike, the Main Event provided a host of spectacles and networking opportunities.

But what about Jellybean clients? What were they up to this year?

Well, Hobart Cooking Solutions sponsored the Demonstration Theatre and supplied a Bonnet Precijet 6 Grid and a set of induction pads for chefs to cook on. One particularly exciting session was with School Caterer of the Year, Kate Davies who cooked up a firecracker chicken curry, with help from the Bonnet equipment.

Tilda Foodservice had development chef, Simon Hall on stand to tingle visitorsā€™ taste buds with a delicious chilli and Tilda Brown ā€˜nā€™ White rice dish. The Brown ā€˜nā€™ White was a hit, and check out the burrito in the picture ā€“ plenty of serving options for school caterers to delight their students with! This, along with the pre-launch of the Tilda Together schools campaign, saw their stand buzzing.

Dr Oetker and Chicago Town, positioned by the Demonstration Theatre were in the midst of action. The Stuffed Crust Ham & Pineapple Pizza was a delight. And who would believe it complies with school meal guidelines when it tastes so good? Who knew a reduced salt, reduced fat (to the minimum!) pizza could be just as good as the ones in the supermarket!Ā  Looks like they are on to a winner with this new addition to the range.

Pritchitts captured the interest of passing school caterers with its extensive product line up on stand: the education sectorā€™s favourite milk range, Viva Flavoured Milk and Modern Milk ā€“ the new flavoured milk for over 16 year olds ā€“ as well as new Millac Gold Single a school friendly cooking cream (with only 15% fat). The newly launched Viva Weekly Win campaign also caught the interest of visitors with a weekly prize of a pair of Beats headphones up for grabs to students!

And finally, Aviko ā€“ it was almost impossible to get to the front of the stand where they showcased Avikoā€™s latest range of gluten-free and FSA salt compliant options for school caterers. Delicious!

Having taken in the whole show it was clear that the exhibition itself had a great feel to it; everyone was energised and excited to showcase and learn about the latest trends, products and services the school meals market had to offer.

I travelled home with a belly full of food and the knowledge our clients had a great show. Well done to the team at Dewberry Redpoint on another successful year.


Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing and social media foodservice agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

Foodservice Digital Agency

Connie and the Jellybeans

So, the time came for me to pick a work experience placement and with my favourite and keen interests in art and English top of mind, a design agency seemed like the way to go. I set out to scour the internet to find a friendly design agency in Surrey. Lo and behold, dazzled by the orange effulgence of the website header, I discovered foodservice digital agency Jellybean. I was immediately charmed by the smiling aesthetic and chirping tone of the text and I found myself marvelling at the strength and consistency of brand running through the website. Other, less engaging, design agencies had drifted past my observation as they took a neutral stance, opting for a ā€˜blank canvasā€™ approach. Jellybean Creative Solutions, however, boldly presented their charismatic and vivacious spirit. Excited by their brand personality and impressed by their client list I only enquired with Jellybean and was duly rewarded with a resounding yes. Phew……..

A week into my two week placement Iā€™m still confident that I made the right choice. Firstly, there is a room full of multicoloured beanbags and a sign on the girlā€™s bathroom that says ā€œjellybabesā€ and a series of delightful custom made sticky notes adorning most surfaces. Unlike the work experience placement in which my friend dwells, nobody has sneezed in my face, bitten my leg or pulled out a chunk of my hair (sheā€™s working in a nursery) so I consider myself lucky. I spent my first day writing a blog on steak from my favourite restaurant which was soon featured on the Jellybean website! The next day, the very same restaurant emailed me commending my work and offering me a free meal for two! You see, Jellybean and food are like Ant and Dec (you canā€™t have one without the other). Amongst riveting conversations about whether chocolate should be kept in the cupboard, fridge or freezer Iā€™ve also delved into the ever complex world of press releases; it truly is a feat of man to communicate so much information so clearly and quickly. On day three I was up in the design department. Like a potato with arms I floundered with the elaborate software until I was commissioned to design 5 infographics using my old friends; pencil and paper. A significant merit of the design floor is the range of euro pop, R&B and alternative rock you will hear. Amongst the spotify playlist and the frequent banter breaks, youā€™d be surprised how much work gets done. I watched an important logo get designed to a deadline, and with 5 minutes on the clock the team had decided exactly how much green should in fact be used.

Everyday so far Iā€™ve been having so much fun Iā€™ve been reluctant to take a lunch break, today I altogether forgot! (But itā€™s okay because I had a mega pack of prawn crackers in my bag) Iā€™m pretty sure that Jellybean is the best place to work for miles around: Everyone is a friendly bean, radiating the day glow orange charisma we see in the website, not to mention the smiling presence of coco the Labrador, often sprawled on the floor between 3 desks, awaiting attention. Even though itā€™s barely my second week here, I canā€™t even develop a marginal hint of discontentment vaguely associated with the idea of Mondays yet. Did I mention thereā€™s a mini golf set in the design room?


Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing and foodservice digital agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.


Keep reading! Why not read our blog on My experience of the bean life

The steak that almost made me cry

Foodservice PR - The steak that almost made me cryAs your average skinny jeaned teenager, I have many a time, indulged in a ā€œCheeky Nandosā€. Satisfying food at a manageable price range was once enough. Alas, whilst my skinny jeaned comrades crave mango & lime Ā¼ chicken with spicy rice and creamy mash and garlic bread and chips and the odd dab of coleslaw, I am now blind. I am blind to the taste of all that is not Wahaca.

My father, raving about a new Mexican restaurant in Southbank dragged us (my mum and I) through rainy London on the eve of my science exam. Upon arrival I was immediately charmed by the general aesthetic of the restaurant and under a grudge and a soggy raincoat, I took a seat on a bench facing the kitchen. Spicy food intimidates me so I opted for a ā€œBritish steak, the Mexican wayā€. What arrived in front of me was a beast of a steak, lovingly smothered in cheese, accompanied by green rice and a bean salad. Such a simple description seems devastatingly patronising to what was the best meal of my young years. Oozing with gratitude to the bull that died for this steak, I imagined that he was the strongest in the field, a friend to all, a social lighthouse of cow society. I finished the meal in eight minutes flat and was left gazing into the kitchen. Watching the chefs prepare meals that werenā€™t for me, speaking angry Spanish, at one with the unnecessarily large fires on which they cooked the best food in the world, I planned at least thirteen birthday meals into the future.

Whilst I will always enjoy a ā€œCheeky Nandosā€, my enjoyment of most cuisines will never be the same after the taste sensation that is Wahaca and the finishing touch of a complimentary packet of chilli seeds I received with the bill. I am changed for life by what I would call ā€œa food epiphanyā€. Iā€™m a girl obsessed, rendered somewhat insane. Pork Pibil or Chicken Tinga, Iā€™d wager that Wahaca provides planet earth with a strong reason against an apocalypse.


Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice marketing and communications agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

A Picture is Worthā€¦

Nick Carman - Jellybean Foodservice PR AgencyHere at Jellybean we love to push the boundaries when it comes to food photography, and itā€™s great when our clients feel the same. This joined up thinking between ourselves and McCormick allowed us to experience the pleasure of working with a fantastic photographer, Nick Carman.

Weā€™re currently working on an exciting NPD launch for McCormick Food Solutions and our client, the lovely Al, was very keen to collaborate with Nick after seeing his work on the recent KFC burrito campaign. Itā€™s clear to see that the images in this particular campaign are really stand-out and are a fresh approach for the brand. With this in mind, we were of course eager to work alongside Nick on creating stand-out visuals for our own campaign.

With much careful planning by our very own Julie (or Juliebean as we like to call her) the shoot, which was held at Nickā€™s Highgate studio, was a great success ā€“ achieving more shots than we had originally anticipated, all of which look fantastic.
A big thank you to Nick and his team for all their hard work pre, during and post shoot.Ā  Itā€™s lovely to collaborate with a team who share your enthusiasm and passion for the brand and really take the time to understand and explore the brief.

Hang on, I know what youā€™re thinking, ā€œwhere are these amazing photographic creations?!ā€ Well we canā€™t share them with you just yet, but keep an eye on our Instagram for them in the future.

Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice pr agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.

PR Agency Foodservice - Jellybean Creative

Jilly Bean at Jellybean

Having only just finished my student career, and spending the last 21 years being referred to as Jilly Bean, it was almost fate, and definitely something I couldnā€™t turn down when the opportunity arose to spend a few weeks getting some work experience with foodservice digital agency Jellybean.

Studying Journalism and PR for the last 3 years allowed me the chance to discover all kinds of fields I potentially wanted to explore in-depth as a career, but my graduation came at the right time. I definitely felt I was ready to put endless days (and nights) in the library behind me, and replace it with some real life experience in the working world.

Donā€™t get me wrong, my 6.30am alarm was to come as a bit of a shock after three years of having no real need to get out of bed until 10am but I was too excited to sleep and made it out of bed before the piercing sound of ducks quacking was due to wake me up.

Upon entering the office, I was greeted by, what can only be described as a beautiful symphony of welcomes, hellos and smiles from my future fellow beans. The smiles on their faces were setting a precedent for just how happy the team was to be at workā€¦ regardless of it being a Monday morning.

While Iā€™ve only been here a few days now, I love every minute of it and already know that when the day comes when I have to leave ā€“ knowing me ā€“ I will get emotional.

I really do want to test out all of the different aspects of the marketing and PR world, but where I seem to have become a social media expert in my own time I feel like this could potentially be my forte in the working world as well ā€“ only time will tell.

But what I have learnt so far is that behind everything you see online, and on paper in your day to day life, there is more than meets the eye. There is a wonderful group of hardworking beans that get a thrill out of making these things as exciting and fulfilling as they can possibly be.

Iā€™ve always been a bit nosey, and a massive people watcher, and through observation within the office, thereā€™s one predominant thing I have noticed ā€“ it all comes so naturally to them. While this is daunting to me, itā€™s also (excuse the cheese) inspiring. Thereā€™s always one person as a kid you aspire to be, but something tells me over the next few weeksā€¦ it will no longer be just one person for me, it will be a group of hard working peopleā€¦ the beans ā€“ and Iā€™m like a kid at Christmas with my level of excitement.


Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice digital agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.


Keep reading! Why not read our blog on My experience of the bean life