Just Eat is embracing the return of live events via a presence at Taste of London, using the food festival to reinforce its recent rebrand and promote the diversity of its restaurant partners.
Taste of London is taking place over two extended weekends (7-11 July and 14-18 July) at Regent's Park in London with over 100 exhibitors: food and beverage businesses keen to grow again after the pandemic.
Just Eat is using the partnership to reinforce its rebrand from nine months ago, as well as running a restaurant pop-up called "Daily specials".
The food delivery brand is hosting 20 different restaurants on a stand across the two weeks of Taste.
Matt Bushby, Just Eat's UK marketing director, told ±±¾©Èü³µpk10: "It's an opportunity for us to show some of the restaurants you might not expect to be on Just Eat. Then from a brand point of view, we went through a rebrand about nine months ago.
"We wanted to make sure we were celebrating that and really making sure that we were showing all the best of Just Eat in one place and that people could see all the fantastic things that are going on both from a restaurant point of view, but also from a brand perspective as well."
This time last year, Just Eat announced its new look after merging with various global food delivery players, including Dutch company Takeaway.com. It has since adopted an orange-hued theme, with the corporate ID rolled out across the 23 countries that the delivery firm operates in.
Meanwhile, other Taste of London on-site partner activations include Bacardi's "Patrón paloma bar", in partnership with Two Keys; Neff's "Cook & connect stage", running demos from independent producers, emerging talent and conversations hosted about key industry issues; and vinegar brand Aspall's "Picnic meadow", where five Aspall-inspired dishes will be paired with Aspall cyder and live music.
Other spaces include a Diners Club International "VIP lounge"; a chill-out space where chefs will host workshops; Accor's "Limitless live masterclasses" dining experiences and cocktail-making classes; and Champagne Laurent-Perrier's "Pret-a-portea experience", a masterclass and patisserie-pairing menu collaboration with The Berkeley, and bar area "Laurent-Perrier clubhouse".
Danny Brennan, Champagne Laurent-Perrier's UK PR and communications director, said: "What we're trying to do in the UK here at Taste of London is create memories with our Laurent-Perrier Cuvee Rose. We're probably one of the longest-standing, if not the longest standing partner to the show."
Laurent-Perrier has been partnering with Taste of London for 17 years. The brand believes live experiences are the best way to convert consumers. Brennan feels that the right on-trade partnerships across restaurants, hotels, bars, clubs and events are key.
Taste of London cancelled its 2020 event due to lockdown. It is returning this year by introducing measures to make the event Covid-compliant, with a 50% reduction to guest attendance per session, a digital ticketing system and fewer brand partners on site.
James Goode, senior vice president of strategic partners at Taste of London operator IMG, said: "We just want to make people feel as comfortable as possible in what is a new environment for people.
"To see people coming to the event, to be working with colleagues again that I haven't seen, to be working with brands and brand owners, to be working with the restaurants... The restaurant industry has had an incredibly tough time, it's been an amazing challenge for so many people over the last 10 to 12 months. We're just trying to help, we're trying to give back, we're trying to make sure that they are able to survive by introducing them to consumers."
Just Eat merged with Dutch online food delivery marketplace Takeaway.com last year in an $8.5bn (£6.14bn) deal, with the latter taking on the orange colour palette and house logo.
Image credit: Carolina Faruolo