Bread & Jam

What Bread & Jam does

Bread & Jam (legally Jam in the Middle Ltd, company number 10234296, incorporated in England and Wales) is a privately-held UK events and community platform founded in 2015 by co-founders Jason Gibb and Tara Mei and headquartered in London. The company organises the annual Bread & Jam Festival — positioned as the largest gathering of FMCG challenger brands in the UK and held at the Business Design Centre, Islington — alongside a portfolio of complementary products including the Foodservice Summit, Plant Based Summit, The Bread Winner competition, Breaking Bread podcast (powered by Harmonic), Monday Motivations free monthly webinars, Social Series networking events in London, and the Foodhub Facebook community of 12K+ food and drink entrepreneurs. The core technology layer is lightweight: ticketing is delivered via Eventbrite, the website runs on Squarespace, and the operational differentiator is the curated matchmaking between challenger brands and 100+ national, international and speciality buyers (including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Ocado, Whole Foods, Selfridges, Planet Organic and Co-op).

The business model is predominantly event-based. Revenue is generated through two main streams: (1) festival ticket sales across Early Bird (£275 inc. VAT, sold out), Standard (£335 inc. VAT, sold out), and Late Bird (£450 inc. VAT, on sale 11 July) tiers, plus paid add-ons such as the Tasting Panel and POD POD sessions; and (2) event sponsorships from industry partners and exhibitors, with GS1 UK acting as the official 'power partner'. Documented customer outcomes include Better Nature Tempeh launching into Tesco and Bath Culture House listing in Selfridges following pitching at the festival. The company serves a broad, distributed customer base of early-stage and growth-stage FMCG challenger brands, with no single enterprise customer concentration and a small core team of co-founders plus a handful of named operational staff.

Name

Bread & Jam

Legal name

Jam in the Middle Ltd

Website

https://breadandjamfest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bread & Jam is a UK events and community platform serving early-stage and growth-stage FMCG challenger brands through the annual Bread & Jam Festival, vertical summits, the Breaking Bread podcast, and the 12K+-member Foodhub founder community, monetising via ticket sales and sponsorships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

akta.pro primary industry

Food, Beverage & Hospitality Trade Shows Organizers (THAHABAI)

Keywords

• FMCG industry events
• Food brand networking
• Retail buyer pitching
• Entrepreneur community platform
• Challenger brand festivals

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Festival Ticket Sales: Revenue from selling tickets to the annual Bread & Jam Festival and other events. Tiers include Early Bird (£275), Standard (£335), and Late Bird (£450). Additional revenue from add-on experiences like Tasting Panel and POD POD sessions.
2. Event Sponsorships: Revenue from industry partners, sponsors and exhibitors who pay to showcase their services at the festival marketplace

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Bread & Jam organizes and runs the annual Bread & Jam Festival at the Business Design Centre in London, the UK's largest gathering of FMCG challenger brands, where food and drink entrepreneurs pitch to 100+ retail buyers, meet angel and VC investors, and access 70+ hours of educational content. The company supplements the flagship event with free monthly Monday Motivations webinars, free Social Series networking events in London, the Foodservice Summit, Plant Based Summit, The Bread Winner competition, and a year-round community via the 12K+ member Foodhub Facebook group and the Breaking Bread podcast.

Product overview

Bread & Jam is an events and community platform for food & drink entrepreneurs. The core offering is the annual Bread & Jam Festival (the largest gathering of FMCG challenger brands in the UK), complemented by free online webinars (Monday Motivations), networking events (Social Series), industry summits (Foodservice Summit, Plant Based Summit), the Breaking Bread podcast, The Bread Winner competition, and buyer pitching sessions. The company operates The Foodhub Facebook Group as a community resource.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Breaking Bread Podcast: A podcast hosted by Jason Gibb, co-founder of Bread & Jam, featuring founders, investors, buyers and industry professionals discussing food and drink brand building.
• Monday Motivations
• Foodhub
• The Bread Winner Competition

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GS1 UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGS1 UK is the official power partner of Bread & Jam Festival. They offer attendees 20% off first year membership and provide barcode solutions essential for food & drink brands entering retail.
• HarmoniccoreGTM or Marketing PartnerHarmonic powers the Breaking Bread podcast, hosting conversations with founders, investors, buyers and industry professionals about building food & drink brands.
• City HarvestminorOthersCharity partner that receives proceeds from the Producers' Shop at the festival. City Harvest redistributes surplus food to vulnerable people, donating over 1.1 million meals monthly.
• EventbritecoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary ticketing platform for all Bread & Jam events including the annual festival.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Natural & Organic Products Europe: London-based trade show for natural, organic and healthy FMCG brands; serves an overlapping challenger-brand and retailer-buyer audience as Bread & Jam, particularly in the natural-products segment.
• IFE — International Food & Drink Event: London-based flagship food and drink trade show organised by Easyfairs; directly comparable as a UK FMCG exhibition targeting buyers and producers, although at materially larger scale than Bread & Jam.
• Food & Drink Expo: UK trade exhibition for food and drink manufacturing, retail, and foodservice; serves a similar buyer-attendee base to Bread & Jam and competes for sponsorship and exhibitor revenue.
• Food Matters Live: UK event series combining a trade exhibition, conference, and awards for the food, drink and nutrition industry; overlaps with Bread & Jam on audience (challenger brands and buyers) and content programming.
• Casual Dining Show: UK trade exhibition for the casual dining and pub restaurant sector; directly overlaps with Bread & Jam's Foodservice Summit on audience and exhibitor pool.
• lunch! (food-to-go trade show): UK trade event focused on the food-to-go and convenience channel; serves similar FMCG challenger brands and retailer buyers, competing with Bread & Jam for sponsor and exhibitor revenue in the same broader category.
• Speciality & Fine Food Fair: Major UK-based annual trade fair for fine food and drink producers and buyers; competes for the same exhibitor and buyer-attendee pool as Bread & Jam and operates a similar ticket- and sponsorship-driven revenue model.
• Plant Based World Expo: Dedicated UK and US trade show for plant-based food and beverage brands; directly competes with Bread & Jam's Plant Based Summit for retailer attention, exhibitor spend, and ticket revenue.

Emerging players

• Taste of London: Consumer-facing food festival in London showcasing chef-driven and challenger brands; useful adjacent comparable for Bread & Jam's festival format and London event footprint, although its audience is primarily consumers rather than B2B buyers.

Broad incumbents

• FoodBev Media: Established B2B media and events business covering the food and beverage industry; operates conferences and awards at greater scale than Bread & Jam and serves the same broad FMCG buyer/supplier audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@breadandjamfest
• Facebookfacebook.com/groups/thefoodhubforum
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/breadjamfest

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bread & Jam