New Covent Garden Market

Background

New Covent Garden Market is the UK’s leading wholesaler, providing fresh produce to hundreds of retail and hospitality businesses and feeding millions of Brits across London & the South East every day.

In November 2024, the market celebrated 50 years at its Nine Elms (Battersea) site.

Objective

Raise awareness the market’s milestone 50^th anniversary, and educate on the market’s position as an integral part of the supply chain.

Insight

NCGM supplies the most discerning food lovers, from some of London’s five star hotels and Michelin starred restaurants to the animals of London Zoo.

Strategy

Showcase this customer breadth through an eye-catching picture moment that elevated the story beyond B2B press and to a wider consumer audience.

Activity

We worked with London Zoo to capture some of their exotic animals enjoying a bumper breakfast of high-quality, fresh produce provided by New Covent Garden Market. Our imagery featured Western lowland gorillas – a critically-endangered subspecies – eating aubergines, peppers, sweetcorn and cabbage, while pygmy hippo Amara, an endangered species from West Africa, tucked into a pile of frisee lettuce and kale.

Results

With more than 530 pieces of coverage, our story landed in national newspapers like The Times, Mail Online, The Independent & The Standard; leading broadcast outlets like ITV News, BBC News & London Live; trade pieces in key titles HortWeek, Fresh Produce Journal and Floral Daily; as well as digital coverage around the globe.

Sunny Side Up says:

“The capital’s fussiest eaters aren’t always happy to be known as such, but the animals at London Zoo offered us a brilliant route along which to tell our story.  Media loved the photos, and the stories behind, with brand messaging being consistently on-point.”

Antonia Paget, Senior Account Director