What we learned from 100+ food & drink brands at Bread & Jam 2026

There are certain moments in business that make you stop for a second. Standing on stage at Bread & Jam 2026 was definitely one of them!

When I started KW Marketing back in 2017, I never imagined we’d one day become an Official Bread & Jam Festival Partner, have our own stand at one of the UK’s biggest food & drink events, and be invited to deliver a Marketing Masterclass to hundreds of ambitious founders. Yet that’s exactly what happened last week!

Bread & Jam has become a real milestone in our calendar. Last year we hosted a Roundtable focused on email marketing and Q4 planning. This year, we were incredibly proud to return as Official Festival Partners and speakers. If you’d like to see how the conversation has evolved, you can read our reflections from Bread & Jam 2025 here.

Our stand barely stopped for two days. We met founders launching their very first products, caught up with brands including Superfoodio, Perfect Ted, Bold Bean Co, Slurpz-Drinks, and Carico Coffee, and spoke to businesses stocked in retailers such as Ocado, Waitrose and Selfridges.

Some conversations happened at our stand. Others happened after my Masterclass. Some lasted two minutes, while others turned into half-hour strategy sessions over coffee.

Along the way, we shared our Free Email Playbook with founders looking to strengthen customer retention ahead of Q4, caught up with existing clients face-to-face, and had the privilege of stepping onto the Bread & Jam stage to deliver our marketing masterclass, “More Marketing. Same Sales? Here’s What’s Missing,” to a packed audience.

It was, without doubt, our biggest Bread & Jam yet. And if I’m honest, I came home completely exhausted, but incredibly inspired.

By the time we packed the stand away, one thing had become incredibly clear. Despite every brand being completely different, almost everyone was asking versions of the same questions.

Speaking at Bread & Jam wasn’t about having all the answers

Our Masterclass was called “More Marketing. Same Sales? Here’s What’s Missing.”

The title came from a conversation we seem to have almost every single week. Founders tell us they’re posting more on social media than ever before. They’re investing in Meta Ads. They’re trying TikTok. They’re sending emails. They’re launching products. They’re working incredibly hard. Yet sales still feel unpredictable.

The reality is, most food & drink brands don’t have a marketing problem. They have a connected marketing problem. Every channel is working independently instead of supporting the customer journey together. That was the message we shared on stage, and judging by the conversations afterwards, it clearly resonated.

The conversation I wasn’t expecting

One topic kept coming up over and over again… wholesale!

Many of the founders we spoke to had done exactly what every food brand dreams of doing. They’d secured incredible retail listings. Some were stocked in Ocado. Others had products in farm shops, independents and national retailers across the UK.

But almost every one of them asked a very similar question… “How do we build a relationship with customers we never actually get to meet?”

It’s such an interesting challenge because it’s completely different to most eCommerce businesses. If somebody buys directly from your Shopify store, you know who they are. You know what they bought. You can email them. You can encourage a second purchase. You can reward loyalty and increase customer lifetime value.

When somebody buys your product in Ocado or another retailer, that relationship often ends before it even begins.

The retailer owns the customer. You own the brand.

That single sentence probably summed up more conversations than anything else across the two days. We found ourselves discussing QR codes on packaging, competitions, sampling campaigns, lead magnets, exclusive recipes, loyalty incentives and email capture far more than we discussed social media algorithms.

Because ultimately, the brands that continue to grow are the ones building an audience they actually own.

If you’re not sure where to start, our Free Email Playbook walks through exactly how we’ve helped food & drink brands turn email into one of their highest-performing revenue channels.

Email marketing isn’t about sending newsletters anymore

If there was one channel that came up more than any other, it was email. Not because founders wanted to send more campaigns. Because they wanted more predictable revenue.

With acquisition costs continuing to rise, founders are beginning to look much more seriously at customer retention.

• How do we encourage a second purchase?
• How do we increase average order value?
• How do we stop customers disappearing after one order?
• How do we stay front of mind when customers usually buy us in supermarkets?

These are exactly the conversations we love having because they’re commercial conversations, not marketing conversations.

Email isn’t just another marketing channel anymore. It’s one of the most valuable assets a growing food & drink brand can build, especially when it’s supported by a well-planned email marketing strategy that focuses on customer retention rather than simply sending newsletters.

Founders don’t need more tactics. They need more clarity.

Another thing that really stood out was how few people were asking tactical questions.

Nobody asked us how often they should post on Instagram. Nobody wanted another list of marketing hacks.

Instead, founders were asking things like:

• Where should we actually invest our marketing budget?
• Should we prioritise retention or acquisition?
• Is AI worth investing time into?
• What would you do if this was your business?

They’re brilliant questions. Because they show that founders are becoming far more strategic.

The businesses that will win over the next few years won’t necessarily be the ones doing the most marketing. They’ll be the ones making the best decisions.

That’s exactly why we created our Strategic Growth Workshop. Before talking about channels or tactics, we help founders understand where their biggest growth opportunities actually are.

Why Bread & Jam matters so much

Events like Bread & Jam remind us why we love working in the food & drink industry.

Yes, there are challenges. Margins are under pressure. Advertising is more competitive. Consumer behaviour continues to evolve. But there is also so much innovation, ambition and willingness to learn.

We came away with pages of notes, dozens of new conversations and plenty of ideas we’ll be sharing with clients over the coming months.

Most importantly, we left feeling incredibly grateful! To everyone who came to our session, visited our stand, entered our competition or simply stopped for a chat… thank you.

Being trusted as an Official Bread & Jam Festival Partner and being invited to speak on stage was a huge milestone for us. We’re already counting down to next year!

If there was one thing Bread & Jam reinforced, it’s this… the brands that continue to grow won’t necessarily be the ones spending the most on marketing. They’ll be the ones that truly understand their customers, build relationships they own and make better strategic decisions. That’s exactly where the biggest opportunities lie!

Could your brand benefit from a fresh perspective?

If reading this has made you think, “That sounds exactly like us,” you’re probably not alone. Whether you’re trying to grow your Shopify store, build stronger customer retention or work out how to turn wholesale customers into loyal brand advocates, we’d love to help. Get in touch with our team or explore our Strategic Growth Workshop to discover where your biggest opportunities are hiding.