Focus: Latest

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How Hilton plans to kill off room service

Hilton Hotels are quietly killing off room service, replacing it with a more casual 'grab-and-go' restaurant. In a climate where controlling costs is essential, how can upmarket brands retain their prestige?

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Why Urban Outfitters applied for a liquor licence

Retailers are looking to the leisure industry to encourage longer visits and higher spending – treating their stores as part of a broader brand experience. Urban Outfitters' in-store bar will let customers relax during long shopping trips.

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Try The World: global experiences on your doorstep

In a climate where travel may not always be economically viable, but cultural diversity is in high demand, start-up subscription service Try The World brings expert knowledge from all over the world directly to consumers' doorsteps.

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Leftover profits: Rubies in the Rubble

Each year, almost half of the world's food is thrown away. Putting the wasted food to wider social and commercial use, start-up Rubies in the Rubble makes gourmet chutneys from surplus fruit and veg.

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Makr Shakr: bottom-up bar culture

As the technological advancements of the 'third industrial revolution' increasingly place power in the hands of consumers, conceptual bar Makr Shakr is providing a taste of the foreseeable future.

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Calorie neutral: Miele’s vision of balanced consumption

Calorie neutral pop-up restaurant Steam provided a vision of responsible indulgence. With it, Miele met a growing demand for balanced living – and proved, once again, that domestic appliances need not be boring.

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Meals in a Jar: bridging the gap between quality and convenience

In an age where time is as valuable as money, many consumers are economising on both. Convenient and healthy, Julie Languille's Meals in a Jar demonstrates that quality needn't be sacrificed for speed.

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Party food: late night eating at Voodoo Ray's

In a high-pressure culture, traditional routines are dissolving as people look for services that fit around their schedule. Voodoo Ray’s fuses a premium pizzeria with cocktails, music and dancing until the early hours.

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Honest Tea: communicating quality and provenance

At a time when food origins can be easily traced and disputed, brands are increasingly eager to open up and build trust. Honest Tea has a strong commitment to transparency, from their unconventional marketing to their organic products.

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EatWith: social dining experiences

The rapid rise of smart technologies can make creating and maintaining meaningful human relationships a challenge. In response, EatWith offers its users an authentic dining experience coupled with the opportunity to form new social bonds.

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A taste of authenticity: Wahaca's grasshopper fondue

Experimental eating is grabbing headlines, and Mexican street food chain Wahaca's new grasshopper dish is no exception. Can the foreign origins of these provocative products be harnessed to create an appealing sense of authenticity?

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How Red Bull moved from marketing to media

In the hunt for clicks, likes, shares and tweets, few brands have achieved the unique success of Red Bull, the energy drink that's fast becoming a global media powerhouse by creating content so compelling it’s impossible to avoid.

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Happy calories: Coca-Cola takes control of the obesity debate

If obesity is an international crisis, sugar is increasingly cast as the chief villain. In response, Coca-Cola, the world's most valuable brand, has openly pressed moral 'reset', throwing itself into the drive for collective health improvement.

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Haute dogs: how Bubbledogs pairs high with low culture

With luxury under threat by those lower down the ladder, is there an opportunity to blend high and low culture? Enter London’s Bubbledogs and its adventurous solution: the unlikely marriage of hotdogs and champagne.

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Kitchensurfing: making meals meaningful

Driven by the belief that food tastes better when you know the story behind it, Kitchensurfing brings talented chefs into homes for up close and personal dining. Can this new food experience service challenge traditional restaurants?

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Picard frozen food: overcoming stigma

Innovative products, a boutique ambiance and tailored marketing strategy help French brand Picard sell frozen food to a nation of foodies. It’s a testimony to the power of out-of-the-box thinking – and proof that no product is beyond redemption.

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Symbols of trust: Disney’s ‘Mickey Check’

Disney has redefined how it engages children with healthy eating as the first US media brand to create standards for food advertising that targets kids. Adjusting to the changing demands of parents, what’s behind their new ‘Mickey Check’ badge?

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How Chobani's yoghurt swept America

Shifting consumer needs can quickly become national trends for nimble companies to exploit. In five years Chobani has grown from nothing into a billion dollar yoghurt brand by using what others saw as a fad to re-invigorate a tired category.

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Purity and perfection at The Barn

No sugar, no milk, no laptop, no babies – The Barn in Berlin is a coffee shop only for connoisseurs. As terms like ‘artisan’ become diluted, discerning foodies are flocking to specialist producers whose pride and expertise borders on arrogance.

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BrewDog: personality, passion and punks

After releasing the world's strongest beer, punk Scottish brewer BrewDog reacted to criticism from regulators by releasing an even stronger beer, and packaging it in roadkill. This personality is exactly what keeps fans coming back for more.