The people and brands who made a mark in 2025 weren’t just riding viral moments – they fundamentally shifted how we talk, think and behave. They’re in it for the distance.
This series celebrates who our experts believe shaped culture in 2025. Some will have been capturing attention for the first time. Some may have broken through before and are breaking through again. Because cultural endurance isn’t just about arrival. It’s about reinvention, resilience and knowing when to make your move.
Today, our Brand Futures Director, Nat Moores, highlights an FMCG success story that exploded in one of the humblest of categories…
Bold Bean Co
The Breakthrough Moment of 2025
The humble bean is recognised by celebrity chefs as a top shelf item, not back of the cupboard staple, and Bold Bean Co led the charge.
The Cultural Shift
Bold Bean Co is a UK-based, founder-led brand capitalising on the cultural shift towards gut health – proving that even the humblest category can become culturally relevant with the right positioning.
Why Bold Bean Co matters
Founder authenticity meets market opportunity: Here is a female founder with a genuine passion for changing the perception of beans, identifying a gap in the market and building a brand around it. In an era of manufactured brand stories, Bold Bean Co’s origin feels refreshingly real.
Riding a genuine cultural wave: Bold Bean Co tapped into a broader cultural shift around people becoming more health conscious. Beans are full of fibre and protein and are vegan – even Jamie Oliver endorsed the movement with his “Bang in some beans” campaign. Bold Bean Co didn’t create this trend… but they positioned themselves to lead it.
Building brand equity through strategic B2B visibility: Founder Amelia Christie-Miller has built a strong presence on LinkedIn, generating significant engagement and building influence across two crucial audiences. Whilst most FMCG brands focus solely on consumers, Bold Bean Co understands that retailers, stockists and buyers are just as important – especially for an independent underdog competing against established players. This dual-audience strategy creates visibility where it matters: on shop shelves and in shopping baskets. It’s a clever way to build distribution power whilst building brand love.
Distinctive brand DNA: Bold Bean Co has a strong visual identity, and they’ve combined it with an engaging, memorable tone of voice. This isn’t just “premium beans” – it’s a brand with genuine personality that people want to engage with. They even call their bean-obsessed consumers ‘THE LEGUMINATI’. They come in a giant jar where you can see the product, not a tin. That’s the foundation for lasting cultural relevance, not just a fleeting health trend.
The Endurance Play
Bold Bean Co proves that cultural endurance in the FMCG space isn’t about having the biggest budget – it’s about having the strongest brand DNA – a passionate founder, engaged community and a distinctive voice. When the next health trend emerges, these fundamentals will allow them to evolve rather than fade. That’s what makes a true category disruptor.