Well, we’re certainly glad to see the end of January is in sight. As ever, the resilience of the country and perseverance in the face of continued separations from family and friends, home working and home-schooling is showing no signs of weakening. A huge well done and keep going to everyone! The date of the 8th of March mooted in the media recently has given everyone a goal to work towards.
What’s going on?
We’re working on Valentine’s Day, Pancake day, Mother’s Day and Easter now. With summer photo shoots well underway every time there’s a drop of sunshine to be had.
We have noticed quite a lot of changes in the media, certainly many of the usual January topics (Veganuary, healthy eating and dry January) have been replaced with lockdown and vaccines. But we have seen some new trends too, more online food & wine tastings with cook-a-longs and gifts to deliver to loved ones. The launch of Re-genuary is a new broader take on Veganuary with focus on regenerative farming and sustainability.
We have had a busy start to the year putting together 12-month strategic PR plans to guide us through the next year. And we are thrilled to welcome Tempeh Meades to the line-up.
Keep up with the Tempeh (Meades)
Tempeh Meades is an unpasteurised tempeh producer. The business launched in 2019 and after much success supplying the local restaurant industry, it can now be ordered online for home delivery. We love the name, it’s a play on Bristol’s main train station (Temple Meads) which is close to where the business is located, combined with the founder Ben’s surname (Meade).
We love a good pun at Sharp Relations, AJ has some excruciating cheese-related puns she likes to share with us on a regular basis!
Coming Up
There’s lots to keep us busy, Macknade has launched a Valentine’s Hamper that can be collected or delivered locally, and Produced in Kent is set to launch a new campaign which will encourage residents of Kent to Change One Thing in their quest to help the county become more sustainable and environmentally conscious. OGGS is always incredibly busy with egg alternative aquafaba recipes and cakes for all occasions. And so many other projects in preparation in the background.
Insights
There has been a lot of planning this month, we stay up to date with the latest insights from the media and wider food industry by regularly attending webinars. And it’s well worth the effort. Each publication, in fact each individual journalist has a unique set of criteria from delivery of information to time they wish to be contacted to the way in which they like to be contact and the angles they will consider.
In the past month, we’ve attended webinars hosted by The Times, Hello! Magazine and Indigo Media. AJ enjoyed a Guild of Food Writers webinar on Future Trends recently and attended some excellent webinars run by the FSB Federation for Small Businesses.
AJ also is the Communications Lead for the No Food Wasted Forum, a county wide initiative to reduce food wastage. The forum includes county leads from retail, hospitality and charities. If you’re interested in getting involved, please email aj@sharprelations.com.
Sharp Relations Webinar
Did you happen to catch the Sharp Relations PR Strategy session for 2021 run by AJ last week? This was the second session that Sharp Relations ran and both ticketed events were very well attended by businesses from all over the country, as well as a handful from our wonderful county of Kent. To hear about further events that we will be running.
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We are all looking forward to crocuses and daffodils and getting back into our gardens to enjoy the spring sunshine but until then, stay safe!
Until next month,
Amy x
This update is brought to you by one of our account managers. Feel free to contact Amy directly if you would like to hear more about what we can do for you or to ask any questions: Amy@sharprelations.com
