Businesses across Britain put beans on the menu as campaign celebrates year of growth

Businesses across Britain put beans on the menu as campaign celebrates year of growth 

• 49 businesses have joined the Bang In Some Beans campaign since it launched in November 2025, with 31 Keen Bean Pledgers making commitments to sell more beans including Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Marks and Spencer, Bidfood, Brakes, Elior and Baxter Storey
• Targets set by businesses have resulted in new bean products and bean dishes being launched in supermarkets and restaurants
• The campaign aims to double UK bean consumption by 2028, with 82% of Keen Bean Pledgers already reporting an uplift in bean sales
• 19% of people say they are eating beans 2 or more times a week (up from 14% in 2025)⁽¹⁾ 
• More than 1 in 4 people⁽²⁾ agree that the UK is talking more about beans and #BangInSomeBeans has had over 47 million impressions on social media
• Combined sales of beans, pulses, tofu and tempeh showed growth by 7.3% in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2025⁽³⁾ and sales of sandwiches containing beans (pulses and legumes) increased by 20%⁽⁴⁾ 
• 79% of schools taking part in the campaign reported their pupils ate more beans at lunchtime over the last year and this is set to increase further with the new School Food Standards in place from Sept 2027
• Bold Bean Co, Bidfood, Coop, Subway and The Powys/ Birmingham Supply Chain Pilot with the Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) win awards for the actions they’ve taken within their companies and communities to get people eating more beans
• New Keen Bean Pledgers announced today include Family First and Bold Bean Co and companies newly signed up to be Promoters for the bean cause include Greedy Guts, Greencore and Tilda Foodservice. 

Today at an awards ceremony at Jamie Oliver HQ, hosted by chef, author and food activist Melissa Hemsley, a number of businesses received recognition for their innovation and dedication to increasing bean sales as part of the Bang In Some Beans campaign.

The event marked the one-year anniversary of the campaign which has gone from strength to strength since it launched in November 2025, led by The Food Foundation and Veg Power and funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.

The campaign aims to double UK bean consumption by 2028, championing beans as delicious, nutritious, affordable and sustainable – packed with protein, fibre and essential micronutrients.

With diet-related disease on the rise, just 4% of UK adults getting enough fibre, only 17% eating their 5-a-day, and food prices and climate pressures mounting, beans could help to solve some of the UK's biggest challenges. And businesses, chefs and influencers across the country are getting on board with beans as the solution.

Forty-nine businesses are now signed up to support the campaign with 31 Keen Bean Pledgers making a commitment to increase bean sales, including big hitters such as Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Marks and Spencer, Bidfood, Brakes, Elior and Baxter Storey.

The campaign has also seen an explosion of bean coverage in the press and on social media, with more than 70 high profile food influencers and campaign ambassadors joining the bean movement and sharing recipes and tips online, including Hugh Fearnley - Whittingstall, Rhiannon Lambert (RNutr), Melissa Hemsley and Giles Yeo.

Bean innovations are now happening up and down the country and in unexpected places, from football stadiums to university campuses.

In the last year we've seen contract caterer Levy develop bean dishes for Premier League matchday menus, Walls has added beans to their Jumbo Sausage Rolls and Scotch Eggs making them high-protein and a source of fibre, Sainsbury’s has experimented with making beans more visible in store and Harvester increased the variety and visibility of beans on its iconic salad bar and incorporated them into mains and sides, whilst catering company Compass ran a pilot to test how revamped marketing for bean dishes could increase consumption in university canteens.

Children across the country have also been joining in with the Discover Beans schools’ programme which is available as a toolkit for primary schools and catering teams to implement to suit their own schedules.

With all this exciting activity going on, the Bang In Some Bean Awards aimed to highlight the individuals and organisations that are going above and beyond to drive the bean revolution! The full list of award winners is below:

Keen Bean Award: For a keen bean pledger that has thrown itself into the campaign, matched ambition with action, and delivered brilliant results. This is a data-based award, for the business who has made the biggest change in their bean sales in 2026.

Winner: Subway

Subway had the biggest increase in bean sales in 2026 and their new jacket potato product, Spudway and 5 Bean Chilli campaign, drove a whopping 70% jump in bean sales, all while their existing products maintain strong bean sales, thanks to marketing that celebrated beans as high in fibre and protein.

Most Valuable Bean (MVB) Award: Celebrating individuals going above and beyond to champion beans within their business and beyond

Winner: Sara Occhipinti, Sustainability Executive, Bidfood, and Cate Hickey, Senior Policy Development and Campaigns Manager, The Co-op

Cate Hickey, Senior Policy Development and Campaigns Manager, The Co-op – Liaising internally to engage colleagues and drive sales of beans across a breadth of activities to maximise engagement from a wide variety of customers. From Point-of-Sale trials, launching new bean products and educating 19k customers on the benefits of beans via a video to encourage them to Bang in Some Beans.

Sara Occhipinti, Sustainability Executive, Bidfood - An amazing champion for the campaign both within her company and to Bidfood customers. She has helped to get a number of customers signed up to the campaign and has been getting chefs and key individuals motivated to cook with beans by sharing bean dishes and recipes at internal staff conferences.

Bean Together Award: For an initiative that best brought beans to their local communities in unique and inspiring ways during the campaign's first year.

Winner: The Powys/Birmingham Supply Chain Pilot with the Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF)

This project connects small growers in Wales with the government's Holiday Activities and Food programme in Birmingham, which provides healthy meals, enriching activities, and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. This means that participating HAF clubs are now sourced with agroecological fruit and vegetables that have been grown regionally and sustainably, including beans and peas.

Magic Bean Award: For a person or organisation who has shown an outstanding commitment to beans over the years. A lifelong achievement award, but for beans

Winner: Bold Bean Co

Bold Bean Co's enthusiasm for beans is extraordinary. From two Sunday Times bestselling cookbooks to their London Underground campaign and Soho Beanery pop-up, they've found brilliant, creative ways to get people excited about eating beans. They've championed British-grown pulses, driven engagement with foodservice, and worked directly with the UK supermarkets to grow the whole bean category. They've built a community so devoted to beans that people make artwork inspired by their jars. For their energy, imagination, and sheer determination to make us all bean obsessed, they thoroughly deserve this award!

Where Have You Bean All My Life Award: For dishes and products that make you wonder why you weren't already eating more beans

Winner: This will be chosen at the event and will be shared as a follow up email.

Melissa Hemsley, Chef, Author and Food Activist, said: "I'm delighted to host the first Bang in Some Beans Awards! I love that this campaign brings people together around food that's delicious, affordable, and good for us and the planet.

"These awards are just the beginning: a celebration of the brilliant things happening with beans, and an invitation to many more to get involved. I want more people to discover just how tasty beans are, so we can really put them at the heart of British food."

Mandeep Rana-Burke, EMEA Strategic Quality and Nutrition Lead, Subway, said: "We’re proud to be recognised by The Food Foundation for our contribution to the Bang in some Beans campaign. Subway is all about choice, so we made beans an easy one.

"From baked beans on our Spuds to the 5 Bean Chilli and Beef Chilli containing beans, guests can add more beans to their meal, their way. They’re a brilliant source of fibre and protein, and it’s great to see so many choosing them."

Sara Occhipinti, Sustainability Executive, Bidfood, said: "I’m absolutely delighted to receive the Most Valuable Bean Award! I’ve genuinely loved championing Bang In Some Beans and seeing the enthusiasm for the campaign grow.

"It’s such a simple idea that can make a real difference by getting more beans and pulses onto our plates. Although, as someone who genuinely loves beans, I might be slightly biased!

"And let’s just say my bean obsession isn’t stopping here. We’ve got something cooking that I’m very excited to share soon... watch this space."

Cate Hickey, Senior Policy Development and Campaigns Manager, The Co-op, said: "Leading Co-op’s campaigning to promote and champion beans has been a privilege.

"At Co-op, making healthier and more sustainable choices easier for our customers and members is important to us so we’re thrilled to be recognised by The Food Foundation for the work we’re doing to help more people discover the benefits of beans.

"I’m personally really motivated to make beans more desirable to everyone as they are not only an affordable, nutritious option, but they are delicious too!"

Sarah Newton Public Health Service Lead (Food System), Birmingham City Council, said: "It’s fantastic to see our work recognised. It has been a real collaborative effort, with lots of different people and organisations working towards the same aim of making healthy and sustainable food more accessible.

"A key part of our approach has been increasing supply and demand at the same time, creating demand for seasonal, nutritious food, including beans and pulses, while rebuilding supply chains between Birmingham and smaller farms in Powys.

"Through HAF, children are getting the opportunity to try and enjoy these foods too. We’re testing, learning and adapting as we go, using what we learn to build a stronger and more resilient food system for the future."

Beth Latham, Head of Category and Strategic Projects, Bold Beans Co, said: "What I love about Bang In Some Beans is how many people it brings together.

"Brands, retailers, food service, restaurants - everyone has a part to play if we’re going to genuinely change how much the UK eats beans. This isn’t about one single brand trying to do better.

"It’s about all of us pulling in the same direction, and that’s where real momentum comes from and what makes it so inspiring. Beans tick every box: they’re delicious, affordable, nutritious and so versatile. Getting the UK eating more of them is a win win for both people and planet!” 

FOOTNOTES

1. YouGov research commissioned by The Food Foundation, 2025 and 2026
2. YouGov research commissioned by The Food Foundation, 2025 and 2026
3. Madre Brava’s analysis of NielsenIQ data
4. Food Foundation's analysis of NielsenIQ data 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Please contact: Juliet Grant, Senior Communications Manager, The Food Foundation, on 07929 075489 or email juliet.grant@foodfoundation.org.uk

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW

Chloe MacKean, Food Business Transformation Manager at The Food Foundation, is available for interview.

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ABOUT THE FOOD FOUNDATION
The Food Foundation is a charity working to influence food policy and business practice, shaping a sustainable food system which makes healthy diets affordable and accessible for all. We work in partnership with researchers, campaigners, community bodies, industry, investors, government and citizens to galvanise the UK’s diverse agents of change, using surprising and inventive ideas to drive fundamental shifts in our food system. These efforts are based on the continual re-evaluation of opportunities for action, building and synthesising strong evidence, convening powerful coalitions, harnessing citizens’ voices and delivering impactful communications.
Registered Charity Number 1187611.  

ABOUT THE PROJECT
Thanks to National Lottery players, The Food Foundation, alongside Veg Power CIC and Kent University Student Union, will encourage people across the UK to eat sustainable food sources such as beans, lentils and pulses, as a way of helping them take achievable and affordable climate action.

The project has received almost £1.4m from The National Lottery Community Fund, the UK’s largest funder of community activity, and aims to reduce the impact of diets on greenhouse gas emissions, whilst creating a long-term shift towards healthier and more sustainable dietary habits.

With the support of local and national food businesses, activities will include a digital campaign to engage the public. This grant comes from the Climate Action Fund, a £100 million commitment over 10 years from The National Lottery Community Fund to support communities across the UK to take action on climate change and involve more people in climate action.

This forms part of one of the funder’s four key missions in its 2030 strategy, ‘It starts with community’ - supporting communities to be environmentally sustainable. On top of encouraging participation from national food businesses, other activities include a schools' programme and outreach, running student focused activities with Kent Students’ Union, and working with Birmingham City Council to activate the campaign at a local level.

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY BEANS?
Our campaign refers to beans as a short-hand for talking about all pulses, beans, lentils and legumes given the limited familiarity of these terms among the public. While the public facing part of our campaign is focused on pulses, we include both pulses and other legumes within the more ambitious business commitments to our programme in order to allow for greater innovation and opportunity. Peanuts are excluded from our campaign given their nutrient profile is more in keeping with the nut category where they are typically categorised.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL LOTTERY COMMUNITY FUND
We are the largest non-statutory community funder in the UK – community is at the heart of our purpose, vision and name. We support activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK.

We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with Government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives. As well as responding to what communities tell us is important to them, our funding is focused on four key missions, supporting communities to:

• Come together
• Be environmentally sustainable
• Help children and young people thrive
• Enable people to live healthier lives.

Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, we distribute around £500 million a year through 10,000+ grants and plan to invest over £4bn of funding into communities by 2030. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life. National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £47 billion has been raised and more than 670,000 individual grants have been made across the UK - the equivalent of around 240 National Lottery grants in every UK postcode district. Website: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/

ABOUT VEG POWER
Veg Power is a not-for-profit alliance dedicated to improving children’s diet by making healthy, sustainable eating irresistible. Through collaboration, creative communications, and real-world insight Veg Power gets kids excited about fruit, vegetables and beans and empowers parents to make healthy eating easy.

Our current campaigns include:

• Eat Them to Defeat Them the multi-award winning campaign which has seen 1.8m children eating more veg.
• Growing to Love, a tomato growing project for 30,000 primary school children across the UK in partnership with Aardman Animation
• Attack the Snack to encourage children to eat more fruit and veg snacks in partnership with Netmums
#SeasonalVeg social media influencer campaigns to increase consumption of British vegetables