Arachibutyrophobia, Alektorophobia, Phagophobia - the food fears you need to know about...1/21/2018 Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - let’s get it out the way, this is the fear of long words. And after seeing our title, you might be well and truly distressed by this. But, fear not this blog is not all about general phobias, it’s about our favourite topic, food and drink of course! We’re happy to say the GB team do not suffer with any of these food phobias - and if we did, we’d probably be in the wrong industry! But for others, the sign of certain foods will have their hearts fluttering and palms sweating. Take a look at some of the realest and strangest food phobias around… Arachibutyrophobia Is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. Why you ask? Because they fear that eating it will make their mouth stick shut FOREVER... Alektorophobia The fear of chicken. These people avoid KFC like the plague, fearing anything that was born from an egg. Carnophobia The fear of meat. Vegetarians choose not to eat meat but for these Carnophobias, they are literally terrified of cooked meats. And that beef burger you had for tea must send shivers down their spine… Phagophobia The fear of swallowing. Probably one of the worst phobias to have that can have a massive impact on eating and drinking. Many sufferers are often associated with anorexia because of it and it can also cause a gag reflex. Misophonia The fear of people eating. For many (including us at time), the sounds of people chewing, chomping and slurping can cause people to enter a stage of panic, rage and terror. Just close your mouth. Please. What is the strangest food phobia you’ve heard of? Let us know over on Twitter #GBLOVES
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Breakfast. The most important meal of the day. And our own personal favourite. Whether it’s a full English, cereal or something a bit fancierrr (yes, pancakes and eggs benedict, we’re talking about you) there’s something that we can all enjoy. Between 24- 30 January, National Breakfast Week will be taking place. And the reason for it? To raise awareness of the benefits of eating breakfast as part of healthy diet (don’t worry, we’re guilty of not always eating it too)! Here’s some of the reasons why we should be eating it ...
Check out some of the breakfast choices from around the world… Poland Heading to Polska? Then sample one of their gorgeous traditional breakfasts which is made up of scrambled eggs that are topped with keilbasa - sausage- and potato pancakes. Delicious. Indonesia Although we’d probably eat most of these dishes for our tea, Indonesia like to enjoy a selection of fried foods - from rice or fried fish, fried rice and an egg or chicken porridge. Israel ‘Shakshuka’ is the popular breakkie dish in Israel and is made up of eggs poached in a tomato sauce that’ served with cheese, tuna, olives, breads and omelette. We must say, it looks divine. What will you be enjoying for National Breakfast Week? Let us know over on Twitter #GBLOVES Popped corn. Who would have thought that heating a corn kernel could bring so much joy to our lives. We enjoy it in the cinema, at the theatre, at a sports game, in the circus, on the couch. We can get SO many flavours - sweet, salted, vanilla, coconut. What’s not to love about these fantastic little delights? With National Popcorn Day in mind, we’ve pulled together some poppin’ facts for you to enjoy on January 19th! History & invention of popcorn The history of popcorn has been associated with America for many, many years but the oldest popcorn to ever be discovered was in New Mexico in a ‘bat cave’ in 1948 by Herbert Dick and Earle Smith. They had found the cave which was will filled with small heads of corn along with popped kernels which are said to be around 5600 years old! Fast forward many years to the 1800s where New Americans loved the snack so much it vastly became on of the most popular snacks - with it often being served as breakfast with milk! During the WWll, popcorn become a snack that was affordable so could be enjoyed by all - and with the increase of cinema and theatre productions, the consumption of popcorn was on the rise. Soon enough, people were able to make this at home - and it’s reported that last year, an incredible 17 billion American’s popped their own corn at home! Fun popcorn facts...
2018 - start of the new year, and before we know it start of wedding season. Who doesn’t love angreat wedding. If you’re anything like us, you’ll have experienced the wonderful, wacky, wild and sometimes weird. As the years go by, new trends will grace the wedding scene and are leapt upon by brides and grooms up and down the country. If you’re looking for inspiration for your wedding, or are attending one this year, here are some of the most popular trends set to make an entrance this year… Microweddings With the ever rising cost of getting married, more and more people are set to enjoy smaller, intimate ‘mircoweddings’ which are attended by close friends and family in a cosy location as opposed to a traditional wedding venue - saving them a lot of money and creating a very private and personal day. Colourful bridal attire Traditional white and ivory wedding dresses will be a thing of the past for many of 2018s brides with them taking on new bold bright colours such as pinks, blues and greys to shape up their big day. And we love it! Mini Tattoos Although tradition goes if you’re tying the knot, a wedding band will represent your marriage. However, come 2018 you might see a dip in this with many people choosing to have small tattoos inked on them to show their love and commitment to their husband or wife, forever. We think we’d prefer the ring, thanks… Not sticking to a traditional surname Changing your surname may be one of the biggest ways to show that you’re married BUT this year, people are rejecting this big change and are mashing up surnames and creating a new one - a bit weird, but hey, if this is what you want then it’s your wedding! What wedding trends are you looking forward to seeing in 2018? Let us know over on Twitter #GBLOVES January has arrived and if you’re like the GB Team, you’ll be fully aware of everyone who is participating in this year’s Dry January. It’s one of the biggest health campaigns that been put in place to encourage people to abstain from alcohol for a WHOLE entire month. This years has an astonishing 3.1 million people opting in to complete it - but if you’re like us you’re 100% not one of those! We took a look at some of the reasons why going dry in January can be a good move… Cut Down on Booze For those who like a daily tipple, this is one of the best reasons to sign up for the campaign. Studies have been carried out on those who have been ‘dry’ for the month and results have shown that they’ve reduced their intake of alcohol throughout the whole year as they realise that they don’t always need to drink. Lose Weight Yes, you might hear us sobbing on the insides but it’s true that alcohol is fattening - and contains the same amount of calories as pure fat. And when we drink, it just sits in the liver. So by avoiding it all together, you’ll be sure to see an impact come January 31st - that is providing you don’t go and compensate with food!! Better Night’s Sleep Although many people do claim having a drink before beds helps them get a good sleep, studies prove that this is wrong - and in fact can cause people to have a disruptive sleep. By cutting out the booze - you’ll have a health sleep routine, and find yourself dozing off much easier and quicker. Save Money Whether you’re buying your booze in the supermarket or you’re in the local pub, alcohol is expensive so what better way to start January by saving some money and losing a couple of pounds? Are you taking part in Dry January? Let us know on Twitter #GBLOVES One the Christmas and New Year celebrations are over, hospitality establishments can often see a drop in footfall come the early months of 2018. There are numerous, accountable factors for this such as people overspending - and are now cutting back, long periods from one payday to the next meaning there’s no disposable income - and the biggest one, the health and wellbeing resolution as they’ve often over indulged during the festive week. If you’re looking at ways to still maintain a steady profit for your business come January and February, here are a couple of ideas that just might help entice guests to pay you a visit… Discount food or drink As mentioned earlier, people are a little reluctant to spend too much, especially given they’ve probably spent most of their money on having a good time on that Christmas party night or buying too many gifts so they will be looking for a wonderful offer that’ll be fine with their available budget. Ensure that you introduce a strong offer - such as 50% off or 2 for 1 that’s really going to encourage a guest to visit without them worrying about spending too much. Offer a freebie Everyone loves a freebie - no matter what it is! Why not offer all guests dining or staying with you a token gift - this could be a glass of wine, of a free cocktail. You’ll be able to promote it across all social media platforms to showcase it, Work with neighbouring businesses If you’re an independent business, why not team up with independent shops close by? You could create a discount which could be used for every customer that shops there - who will receive say 20% off food and drink when they show a receipt. Are you following us on Twitter? >>> Make sure you do to stay up to date with the latest blogs >>> #GBLOVES Can you believe that in just over a weeks time, we will be preparing for the biggest celebratory night of the year, New Year’s Eve? We’re so excited to pop open the champagne, pop our party hats on and watch the drunks out the window try and remember the words (and dance) to auld lang syne. Across the world, there are some downright marvellous ways that people celebrate this time of year - we’ve picked a few of our favourites… Denmark For most of us waking up on New Year’s Day will be horrendous (cue too much Champagne). But for our Danish friends - they’ll be up and running down the stairs to see if anyone has smashed a plate on their step as apparently finding one means that you will create luck across the upcoming 12 months. Romania There’s a very old tradition for people in Romania, mainly those who live in the suburban regions, to dress up as a dancing bear as apparently is can chase away evil spirits. They also believe that doing so will help protect and heal people throughout the year and from photographs online, looks like a fantastic way to celebrate. Johannesburg If you’re looking for the New Year to be one filled full of exciting adventures, you’ll require two things - furniture and an empty suitcase. With the furniture, you’ll need to throw this out of a window (okay, probably quite dangerous and a bit time consuming) OR you can take an empty suitcase and take a walk down the street with it that will mean you’ll have adventures ahead. Brazil A very healthy way of celebrating New Year in Brazil is to eat lentils as these represent money and by eating them, you will have great fortune and finance for the year ahead. There’s some very interesting and quite peculiar ways to spend New Year - even here in the U.K. Remember if you’re out celebrating, the first person back into your house must be in there at the stroke of midnight - and tall, dark haired men are usually the luckiest (if you can find any around). Happy new year from all of the GB Team! If you liked this post, make sure you head over to see our Christmas traditions from around the world blog here. With new year just over two weeks away (ahh) it’s the perfect time to set new goals and resolutions. Not only is it important to set personal goals for yourself, it’s also important to think of resolutions for your business and brand to make a clear plan on what you really want to achieve from 2018 as a result of your marketing strategy. As it’s a very busy time of year, we thought we’d would help you out and present you with three marketing resolutions that will help you until the very end of next year. Do let us know what you think over on Twitter! Introduce a Content Calendar If you’ve been following the GB blog over the past couple of weeks, you’ll have seen us sharing a range of content on creating a successful marketing strategy for the new year. One article in particular was focused on the importance of the content calendar which highlights all key industry and relevant dates which throughout the year will help enable you to plan content; on social and online, around key dates. As a result, you’ll be able to plan content accordingly. If you make one change next year, let it be this. For more information, check out our content blog here. Regular Reports If you’re a smaller business, chances of finding time to carry out full reports of your social media and website content can be a nightmare - with some businesses not really understanding the importance of reporting. We’d recommend you set a aside the minimum of one hour per month to report. You’ll be able to find out what posts have been successful and engaging with your audience, which ones haven’t - and where there’s a bit more room for improvement. By monitoring your website, you will be able to see where traffic is coming from - and see which of your social media platforms is most effective! Schedule , schedule, schedule One of the easiest and most organised ways of maintaining a social media strategy is to plan ahead. By using your trusted content calendar, you’ll be able to plan activities or content around relevant industry dates. Platforms such as Hootsuite or Sprout Social allow the user to scheduled content for weeks in advance which will ensure your business channels are constantly updated - without long dry periods which could lead to losing followers. Let us know what you think over on Twitter #GBLOVES Whether it’s a blog or a website, it’s vital that any business ensures that its online content is continually updated. There are numerous reasons for this practise, and plenty of ways on keeping content fresh - from sharing the latest company news, writing a interesting blog post or just perhaps sharing an offer - or an overview of a new product. By consistently updating your website or blog, it shows to your audience that you want to engage with them - and also helps showcase your offering. For those of you who are perhaps wondering just exactly how content can have this impact on your marketing, take a look at some of the most important reasons below... Good for SEO Search engines LOVE content - especially new content. By continually sharing fresh content that is detailed, engaging and knowledgeable can help increase your authority (as you're posting relevant information related to your industry) which over time, will help increase your ranking online. Keeping audience updated and informed Many visitors might be looking for more information on your business- whether that’s checking out the latest offer or just simply making a reservation. By updating your content and sharing what’s happening in your business, guests will be delighted that you’re providing this information direct to them at ease- without them having to go out of their way to contact you via phone or email which shows that you care about producing content for every potential customer. Content for social One of the easiest ways to drive traffic onto your website is through the power of social media. If you’ve produced a new blog - or added a new piece onto your website make sure you share it on social media with a short and sweet message, link and picture (social posts that are presented this way have a higher engagement rate).At the end of the month, make sure to check back to monitor your Google Analytics to see how many people have come through to your website - and to find out which content you shared was the most engaging - this will help you plan ahead for future campaigns! How often do you share new content? Let us know over on Twitter #GBLOVES For us Brits, Christmas day is about spending time with family, enjoying a full Christmas Dinner (and double chocolate gateau and cream) and most importantly, relaxing in our PJs with a huge tub of celebrations and watching the christmas soaps. Perfect. Compared to some of the other countries around the world, we seem to have a somewhat normal way of spending the day. Take a look at some of the most bizarre ways other countries celebrate... Slovakia Before Christmas Eve dinner begins, the head of the house takes the spoon of the LoKsa - a traditional Slovakian dish that’s made out of bread, poppy and seed filler- and then throws it at the ceiling. Folklaw believes that the more mixture that’s left stuck to the ceiling will show how richer his crops will be next year. Imagine trying to scrape it off! Venezuela If you’re visiting Venezuela for Christmas, make sure you pack your ice skates! Tradition goes that all those wishing to go to Church on Christmas morning all skate there as the country ensures its roads are shut during this time. Russia Christmas in Russia is not celebrated on December 25th, it’s on January 7th. This is due to the country following its orthodox religious ‘Julian’ calendar for religious celebration days. For the traditional old Russia, people sometimes fast for 39 days before Christmas until a star appears in the sky on Christmas eve and then they will begin a feast of 12 dishes - one for every apostle. Japan The winner of the most bizarre Christmas traditional goes to Japan who celebrate the biggest day of the year with fried chicken from KFC. And it’s so popular that guests have to reserve a table in the outlets for the day. Let us know your favourite Christmas tradition over on Twitter #GBLOVES |
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