Written by Megan Shelley – Junior strategist at Family (and friends)
Last Wednesday the Family (and friends) team decided to have a day at Lunch! And we must say it was a great decision!
One of the most anticipated times of year for the food and beverage industry, is when the Lunch! exhibition comes round giving brands the chance to share their products with the world. Hosted yearly at Excel London this massive event gathered over 500 incredible exhibitors ready to showcase what their brand is doing differently and lucky for us, last week creative director Alex, designer Matt and I went and looked around.
We are always super excited for events like this as it’s the perfect place for us to see what’s going on in the FMCG world and see what brand designs and strategies are trending which is key to helping us understand how to set our brands apart from the rest.
You almost don’t know where to start when you walk into the endless rows of stalls, but our attention was grabbed by the baby pink Grocery store Grind had set up to display their range of products.
It’s clear that ready to drink iced coffees are becoming increasingly popular additions to brands lineups and it’s fair to say we tried a good share of them on Wednesday. Personally, I’m not a massive coffee drinker so I opted for trying some of the other cold canned drinks brands had to offer such as Perfect Teds iced strawberry matcha which was truly the perfect balance between sweet and earthy. Just what I needed to fuel me for a day full of tasting treats and chatting to exhibitioners.
Another cold drink brand that stood out to us for its unique branding was BOS iced tea. This packaging instantly catches your eyes with the bold use of colours and typography on their bottles as well as their interesting use of empty space which unexpectedly is something we all agreed worked well.
So, what’s this year’s most popular products?
There were two products we saw lots of during our time at Lunch! The first being daily health shots, something we like to think we are super knowledgeable through our creation of Deeply® .
A lot of brands were focused on taste, introducing new flavours to their ranges whilst still ensuring your getting your daily does of goodness. Some of the standout exhibitioners that we visited where B zest, Zinger – who had some extra unique flavours such as sour cherry and lime and chill, Plenish, Moju, and unrooted – my personal favourite of the day.
The other products we saw a lot of brands showcasing were healthier snacking alternatives such as nuts, seeds, crisps, fruit snacks and biscuits.
One of the brands that we all agreed really stood out for its unique snack and interesting branding was Kooky, who create wonderful, crunchy, freeze-dried fruit snacks. Kookys motto is ‘Pretty unique fruit “and we’d agree that’s the prefect description. These tasty treats were certainly unlike anything else we tasted at the show and ill defiantly be on the lookout for these in the future.
Another brand that caught our attention was Boundless, who are the first ever gut health snack brand! And I must say that they are truly moorish, and I’d be more than happy to swap my normal pack of much less healthy crisps for these. With some eyes catching packaging the brand feels less artificial and presents itself as a more premium snacking option. We also got a chance to talk to the brand about their new brand concept of activated snacking which sound like an exciting new direction the brands starting to take when looking at being a ‘gut happy’ snack.
The last healthier snack brand that got us really intrigued was Teffie, these guys are great, and they are doing something different to everyone else which entails them using teff grain, something no one else has done which seems crazy when you hear about all the amazing benefits it can have. And trust us when I say they taste great, these treats are what I’d describe as a cookie alternative, with absolutely no compromise on taste or texture and were super excited to see what these guys are going to do next.
Whose doing good for the planet?
At family and friends, we are always really interested to see how different brands are working on being as ethical and sustainable as possible. It was certainly clear that a lot of brands are doing their part in making a difference, weather that being through their product being vegan, ethically sourced or perhaps both! or through their packaging being recyclable and plastic free.
My favourite way a brand was innovatively working towards change was Flawsome Drinks Why should it matter what the fruit in your drink looks like if it’s all blended and pressed into a juice anyways? Wonky fruit drinks are cold-pressed drinks made from surplus fruit, helping eliminate waste and support a sustainable planet. Offering a range of delicious fruit drinks, sparkling juices, functional shots and fruit water you’re sure to find a product you love. We were lucky enough to get to try their new addition ready for fall, which is a Pumpkin and apple spiced tonic water, and its sure to be the perfect thirst-quenching drink for your crisp walk in the autumn sun.
As you can probably tell there was certainly a lot of brands that we could have spoken about at the exhibition this year and I’m already looking forward to seeing what’s trending in the industry next year and exploring what’s changed for the brands we met this time round, we definitely would say it was a day well spent at Lunch!