Food Matters Live Podcast

When Ben Christopherson was travelling, shortly after going to catering college, he knew he wanted to work in pastry - but nobody would let him have a go."On the continent they just would not let you in the pastry kitchen if you didn't have experience or a qualification. I didn't have either of those," he tells Elisa Roche in this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, made in association with the University of West London (UWL).But Ben says that experience is what drove him to get some qualifications in patisserie and go on to have a hugely successful career as a Head Pastry Chef.He ended up working at places like the luxury Goring Hotel, Harrods, and eventually launching his own business.All of that experience feeds into the work he does now as a lecturer in Food Studies and Hospitality at UWL.Ben describes the role as being a mix of teaching, competition training, creating new modules, liaising with industry, and of course, some admin.He says the variety is what he loves abut the job: "There aren't two or three days that are the same."Ben is also leading a brand new course at UWL that puts sustainability at the heart of cooking and eating. Future Food and Culinary Management covers all sorts, including how to create plant-based menus, learning how to source food responsibly, and following new eating trends that won’t harm the planet.Ben says one module focusses solely on pastry, but using only plant-based ingredients: "Patisserie and bakery lend themselves really well to using plant-based alternatives."And the course is not just aimed at people who want to become traditional kitchen chefs. Students go on to do all sorts of jobs from teacher to chocolatier, and development chef to entrepreneur. Listen to the full episode to find out more about Ben's varied past, why he ensures his course takes a holistic approach to learning, and how the UWL can help students with work placements. Ben Christopherson, Course Leader and former Pastry Chef, University of West LondonBen is a lecturer in Food Studies and Hospitality, and Course leader in Future Food and Culinary Management at the University of West London. During this period he has co-authored on Practical Cookery, travelled as a guest lecturer to Malaysia, led international culinary competitions to Paris and been invited on a culinary tour of Spain, by the Spanish Institute of Foreign Trade. His research investigates customer acceptance of plant-based alternative ingredients, focusing on their chemical and physical properties. Prior to his academic work he had a successful career as an international pastry, chef culminating in running his own company with products being sold in Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and developing items for Cadburys Cocoa House. His current academic focus concentrates on the practical application of sustainability within culinary education. BSc (Hons) Future Food and Culinary Management at UWL - what you need to know Study Options: Full-time, Full-time with placement, Part-time Duration: 3 years, 4 years, or 4.5 years Location: West London Entry Requirements: 112 UCAS points from level 3 qualifications (can include A-levels, BTEC Extended Diploma, HE Diploma) Mature Students: If you don't have the above qualifications but do have work experience, you can still apply Fees: £9,250 per year for UK students. £13,250 for international students. Start date: September 2022 Find out everything you need to know about the course and apply on the University of West London website.Get to know Ben - 5 Quick Questions What’s your career highlight so far?"Probably when I ran my own business and got my products into Selfridges. I was quite pleased with myself then. It was around the Royal wedding and I made a mini white chocolate wedding cake. It was featured in Vogue magazine as well." What would you like to see the industry at large doing more of?"It would be really nice to see more promotion of the careers of young chefs. We always hear all about the Executive Chef and the Head Chef, you never hear about the young commis chef. It would be really great if we heard more about them, their story, their progress, where they came from, and where they're going. That would be really good." What’s the most useful mistake you’ve made in your career?"I think the most useful mistakes I've made in my career are when I've been on the phone and I've been weighing up, which we do loads of in patisserie, and somehow along the way I've managed to weigh-up things wrong, because I'm not concentrating. And then the product I've made has been slightly different but in a really good way. Sugar is a big one. I've weighed up the wrong amount of sugar and started to realise you never actually need that amount of sugar. That's been a really happy accident." What do you wish you could tell your younger self?"Stop over-complicating everything! Particularly in patisserie dishes. Don't try to make dishes so complicated, just relax a bit, don't try to put ever

Millions of Muslims around the world have been marking the holy month of Ramadan, with celebrations reaching a crescendo with Eid al-Fitr.Food is central to Ramadan, and in this episode of the Table Talk podcast, we look at some of the history and tradition, but also the vital role of nutrition.We also pose some questions: Is the food industry in the UK doing enough to cater for people observing Ramadan? And is it missing an opportunity?Ramadan contributes more than £200m to the UK economy - but is enough being done to cater for specific needs?Listen to the full episodes to find out about the many different ways Ramadan is celebrated around the world, and why dates play such a central role in the breaking of the fast.We also look at the types of foods that are helpful when fasting during daylight hours, how some traditional dishes are being given a modern twist, and get some tips on how to make the traditional Turkish dessert Gullac. Mursal Saiq, Director and Co-Founder, Cue PointMursal was born in Kabul, Afghanistan to middle-class, educated parents. A few weeks into her birth, her family were forced to evacuate their home and give it up to members of the Taliban during the 1990s civil war. They fled their home and made their way to India, before being separated, with Mursal moving to London as a child refugee. Mursal went on to study political history at university, then straight to internships. She couldn’t afford to do them solely as she had to pay bills so she started to work @streeteastldn in the evening after her advertising internship, where she met Josh (the other co founder of Cue Point) and the rest is history. Cue Point is a British-Afghan smoked BBQ company, with an ethos of inclusive catering, designed to be accessible to people from a wide range of backgrounds. Mary Isin, Food HistorianHailing from Nottingham, England, Mary Işın met her Turkish husband Yavuz while she was studying philosophy at York University and moved to Ankara as soon as she graduated in 1973. In 1980, they moved to Istanbul, where she has lived ever since, writing up a storm of wonderful non-fiction books on Turkish and Ottoman culinary history and becoming a specialist on the topic in Turkey and abroad.Mary Işın has published three books in English and eight in Turkish, with her most recent being "Bountiful Empire: A History of Ottoman Cuisine". It examines how the culinary traditions evolved in the over five centuries of Ottoman rule and explores culinary aspects such as etiquette, cooks, restaurants and food regulations.Her book "Sherbet and Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts" was released in 2013 and is the English version of "Gülbeşeker," which won the Dünya Kitap Gastronomic Book of the Year prize in 2009.

Just how important is the history of beer when it comes to looking at the history of human civilisation?It might seem like a flippant question, but there's evidence that beer-making has played a crucial role in our species' past.The art of beer making is thought to go back as much as 12,000 years, with different cultures and societies all around the world brewing their own varieties.In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, we delve into the history of one of the world's most popular drinks and look to what the future of beer might look like.Listen to the full episode to learn about different methods for making beer in far-flung parts of the world, find out the proper way to taste beer (and why an early start can be useful!), and why prohibition never took off in the UK.We also look at the history of the British pub, why they've played such a central role in our culture, and what their future prospects look like. Pete Brown, Author, Broadcaster, Consultant, Beer LoverPete Brown is a British author, journalist, broadcaster and consultant specialising in food and drink, especially the fun parts like beer, pubs, cider, bacon rolls and fish and chips. Across twelve books, his broad, fresh approach takes in social history, cultural commentary, travel writing, personal discovery and natural history, and his words are always delivered with the warmth and wit you’d expect from a great night down the pub. He was named British Beer Writer of the Year in 2009, 2012, 2016 and 2021, has won three Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards, been shortlisted twice for the Andre Simon Awards, and in 2020 was named an “Industry Legend” at the Imbibe Hospitality Awards. After looking for a book that explained the British love for beer but not being able to find it, Pete wrote Man Walks Into A Pub: A Sociable History of Beer (2003, revised 2010). Its follow up, Three Sheets to the Wind (2006) and then Hops & Glory (2009, ) Shakespeare’s Local (2012), The Pub: A Cultural Institution (2016) and Miracle Brew (2017) have all been critically well received.

What's it like to be Head of Sustainability at a huge company like Nestlé UK and Ireland?To mark Earth Day 2022, we've been speaking to the woman who holds that role, Dr Emma Keller.Emma started out doing a biology degree at Imperial College London but, by her own admission, "was useless in a laboratory".She says that's when she realised she was "much more interested in the bigger picture, the systems-change piece".After doing a Masters in Environmental Technology, she went on to get a PhD in Environmental Strategy and Sustainable Systems at the University of Surrey.So, is studying an environmental subject the key to landing a job like Head of Sustainability at a multinational conglomerate such as Nestlé?Not so, says Emma: "We need a whole wealth of different talents and skills. There are lots of ways to get into this space."Listen to the full episode to find out how Emma rose to the top of her profession - including successful stints at Unilever and the WWF - what she loves most about her role, and how she once got to work alongside Sir David Attenborough.We also reveal where you can go to learn and what you can expect to earn if you would like to follow in Dr Emma Keller's footsteps. Dr Emma Keller, Head of Sustainability, Nestlé UK & IrelandEmma is Head of Sustainability for Nestlé UK&I, focussing on delivering the ambitious net-zero climate commitment and driving the business to be a force for good. Prior to joining Nestlé, Emma led a team at WWF on food system transformation and before that was in Unilever’s sustainability team working on bringing the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan to life. She also holds a doctorate in supply chain sustainability. Useful links The Nestlé Academy - apprenticeship scheme Nestlé Graduate Programme The Open University Course - Enterprise and the Environment The International Institute for Environment and Development - jobs and placements Hubbub.org.uk - information about sustainability, including jobs and paid work placements

Could adopting a climatarian diet be the biggest single change each of us could make to reduce global warming?It's a big question, and possibly a big change for many of us, but James Hand, Co-Founder of Giki Zero, thinks it could have the biggest impact.In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, James sets out why and attempts to bust some myths around climatarian diets.He says that the average person in the UK has a carbon footprint of nine tonnes per year, and in order to meet CO2 reduction targets, that needs to come down to two tonnes.Our diet is one of the areas we have a lot of control of, and when you consider that food makes up around 25 per cent of the average person's carbon footprint, it's clear that making a positive change would have a big impact.But how easy and how realistic is it to expect everyone to make such a change? What are the main challenges for the average consumer? And can those challenges really be overcome?When thinking about the carbon footprint of the food we eat, there are so many things to consider; farming practices, processing, packaging, delivery. So is it all just too difficult?And what are the worst foods when it comes to impacting the environment? Would simply removing meat and dairy from your diet make a big enough difference? Would switching your pet food to insect protein help? James tries to answer all these questions and more. Listen to the full episodes to find out what a climatarian diet might look like, how market forces are both helping and hindering moves towards more sustainable eating, and why James believes it's vitally important not to take the fun out of food. James Hand, Co-Founder, Giki ZeroJames Hand is a data scientist and carbon footprint specialist who co-founded Giki with his wife Jo in 2017. Before setting up Giki, James worked for 20 years in fund management at Ninety One where he was co-CIO, co-head of the 4Factor equity team and built the ESG team. James has worked with various academics, including Dr Richard Carmichael, on the role that individuals can play in achieving Net Zero and lectured on behavioural finance and personal carbon footprints About Giki ZeroGiki offers a step by step guide to reduce an individual’s footprint on the planet. It calculates, tracks and reduces environmental foodprints.

The destruction of tropical rainforests to make way for palm oil plantations is a growing environmental crisis.It's forecast that by 2050, worldwide production of palm oil will triple, leading to the continued large-scale loss of habitat and rising CO2 emissions.So if it is so damaging to the environment, why is it so widely used and isn't the answer simply to ban it?In this episodes of the Table Talk podcast, we look at the reasons why palm oil has gained such a foothold, not just in the food industry but in other industries too, and investigate why banning its use might not be the panacea it's sometimes put forward as.Palm oil is in a huge number of products, with estimates suggesting it is in around 50% of all processed food.It is used as a primary cooking ingredient, an ingredient to increase viscosity, and it's also used in some biofuels.Part of the reason it is so popular, is because it is a very high-yielding crop - it produces five-times more oil per hectare than rapeseed, and is ten-times more productive than soya bean.Our guest on the podcast, Professor Chris Chuck, says palm oil itself isn't the problem, it is the scale of production that is of most concern.Listen to the full episode to find out more about why the growth in palm oil production in particular is bad news for the tropical rainforests, how palm oil underpins the livelihoods of many poorer rural communities, and why it's so difficult to find sustainable alternatives. Professor Chris Chuck, University of BathChris is a Professor of Bioprocess Engineering at the University of Bath, where he explores the production of novel foods and materials from sustainable resources. He completed his PhD in biofuel development at the University of Bath in 2008, before joining the Department of Chemical Engineering in 2011 as a Whorrod Research Fellow. He was promoted to full Professor in 2019. While he has published over 90 scientific journal papers in this area, he is also very active in bringing these discoveries to market. To achieve this, Chris is the co-founder of two start-ups, including the Clean Food Group to develop cellular agriculture in the UK, such as yeast-based alternatives to palm oil and with Kelpi, to commercialise biopolymers from seaweed.

The history of sugar is inextricably linked to the horrors of the slave trade.In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by evolutionary biologist and food historian, Neil Buttery, to reflect on that history.Sugarcane originated as a crop in New Guinea around 8,000 BC, but quickly spread through Asia.It played a role in the economy of the Persian Empire and was eventually cultivated by Europeans during the Crusades.This is when the story takes a dark turn, with plantations spreading across the continent, and the first African slaves used in sugar production on Madeira and the Canary Islands.When Europeans moved into the Americas, the sugar trade grew, and so too did the slave trade.Listen to the full episode to hear discussion on how much modern Britain benefits from the sugar and slave trades of the past.Neil also talks about why humans have evolved to crave sugar, and the impact the cultivation of sugarcane has had on the environment. Neil Buttery, Evolutionary Biologist and Food HistorianNeil Buttery is a food historian, chef, author, blogger, podcaster and scientist, who has been obsessed with historical and traditional British food since he began writing his food blogs in 2007 in an effort to improve his writing for his PhD in ecology & evolutionary biology. Ecology lost out in the end, eventually leaving science to pursue a career in food, first holding regular pop-up restaurant events, then a real restaurant. These days, however, he is kept busy writing about and studying (and eating!) food history for his books, and popular blogs and podcast. He has a particular love of offal and puddings.

"The food industry is a fantastic place to work. It can be challenging, but it can be so much fun. You will always be learning."So says Rachel Auty, New Product Development Controller at Greencore.Greencore make all sorts of food products that end up being sold in supermarkets, from soups, to sushi, and salads to sauces.Rachel works in the prepared meals sector and in this episode of the Career Conversations series, she reveals all about the process of getting a new product to market - from brief to shelf.It could all have been very different though. Rachel says a chance meeting on a bus when she was a teenager set her on her career path.She says that day "when the stars aligned" is the reason she is so passionate about sharing information with young people at the start of their food careers: "So they don't have to meet a certain person, on a certain bus, on a certain day to find out what they want to do."Rachel went on to study Food Marketing Management at Sheffield Hallam University and later became Marks and Spencer's first ever Product Development Graduate.Listen on to find out about all the different product categories you can work in, how asking the right questions is key to success, and how Rachel stays on top of the all the latest food and drink trends. Rachel Auty, NPD Controller, Prepared Meals, GreencoreRachel has more than 17 years of product development experience working in the food industry, across multiple different sectors. This journey has led her through some amazing adventures, she has worked in development within premium retail, food service and manufacturing, working for businesses both small and large. It is all this varied experience, combined with a huge passion for food and customer-focused development that she takes to work with her every day. Additional information and useful links Areas of Study:• Sheffield Hallam University run a range of food centred courses, both undergrad and post-grad• Cardiff Metropolitan University• University of Reading• Harper Adams University• University of Leeds• Bath Spa University Work placements:For industrial placement schemes of food internships, most good universities with placement degrees have a good network of contacts for this, but if you want to do your own research, try big brands such as Co-op, Pepsico, McCain & Bakkavor. Who to follow on Instagram:@mobkitchen@5oclockapron@poppycooks@salihacooks@sabrinaghayour@HotDinners@clerkenwellboyec1@rachelaliceroddy@georgiepuddingnpie@felicitycloake@aprilprestonandcoFollow Rachel too: @hungrytff_ Rachel also recommends... Flourish in Food is an excellent new mentoring scheme for people starting out with their career in food.

Quick Commerce, online services that deliver products to your door in minutes, appear to be booming at the moment.Boosted by a huge shift in consumer habits during the pandemic, new companies have been sprouting up all over the place. In some parts of the UK, it's possible to get groceries delivered to your home in just 10 minutes.But is a model where pickers, drivers and processing staff have to rush orders to customers in the time it takes to make a decent cup of tea financially sustainable?In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, made in partnership with Accenture, we delve into the world of Quick Commerce and look at where the evidence suggests the sector might be heading.Who is the target customer? Which markets are proving most fruitful? And is anyone making a profit?Promotional pricing and super-fast delivery times might attract new customers, but how long can they be sustained?Will the gig economy continue to be the staffing model of choice, or, as in some parts of China, will there be a shift to employing fully-trained staff in a bid to improve the customer experience?We discuss all of this and more, with the over-arching question: Is Quick Commerce here to stay and what might it look like in future? Matt Jeffers, Managing Director of Retail Strategy, AccentureMatt has led projects covering omni-channel strategy and e-commerce performance improvement for multiple retailers across grocery, DIY/building materials, apparel and luxury goods sectors. Prior to this, Matt led Tesco.com’s international development, launched it in China and oversaw the internal strategic growth plan for the Group. He also planned Tesco.com’s strategic development in Central and Eastern Europe and across Asia-Pacific.

Easter is an important time of year for the food industry, and is one of the pillars of the calendar for any company working in the sector.But the role of food goes way beyond planning stock or staffing restaurants, it has always played a key role in how Easter is celebrated.Easter symbolism is laced with food at almost every turn, from Shrove Tuesday, to Lent, Easter Eggs and the Holy Communion.In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, we explore the food-related traditions that go hand-in-hand with Easter.Why do we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday? Why is lamb the meat of choice on Easter Sunday? And when did chocolate Easter Eggs come to prominence?We also learn how the hot cross bun rose in popularity in the UK, was banned, and then returned.And we look further afield at the traditional Easter dishes being served up around the world. Emma Wells, Historian and Archaeologist, University of YorkDr Emma J. Wells is an historian and archaeologist of the medieval Church based at the University of York. She is the author of Pilgrim Routes of the British Isles (Hale, 2016), and the imminent, Heaven on Earth: The Lives & Legacies of the World’s Greatest Cathedrals (Head of Zeus, 2022). Her next book, currently in the works, is on relic merchants of the Middle Ages.

The history of gin has seen the drink rise and fall in popularity, and rise and fall in social status.Initially developed in the Netherlands as a medicine, it was drunk by soldiers there, giving birth to the phrase "Dutch courage".It quickly became popular in the UK, and a quirk of the tax system meant it was soon a hugely popular, very alcoholic, extremely cheap drink.At one point it would cost more to buy a pint of beer than it would to buy a pint of gin.But that all soon changed and, having once been so abundant that some people received their wages in gin rations, it was eventually taxed so heavily that it was forced underground and a black market for the drink emerged.In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, we look at the turbulent history of gin and gaze into the future to see what might be in store for the, once again, en vogue tipple.Find out what defines a gin, how tonic water ended up being so closely associated with it, and why, to this day, you still see images of cats on certain styles of gin.Discover what is meant by dry gin and how Navy strength gin got its name.And we try to answer the question: has the gin market peaked?Johan Wester, Head Distiller, Hernö Gin DistilleryJohan has been working at Hernö Gin Distillery, Sweden’s first dedicated gin distillery, since 2015.He is currently the company's Head Distiller.Besides distilling and product development, Johan has worked with market activities and communication.He is a father of two daughters aged 2 and 4.Hernö was founded in 2011 by Jon Hilligren. Jon had previously been a bartender in England in the 1990s and developed a special interest and passion for the craft. He came back to the UK and started a distillery and later that year the gin was bought by the government for the municipal stores. In 2013, Jon decided to enter the gin for an award so he could get a benchmark of how they were doing, they became the most awarded gin in Europe and have been expanding ever since.

"When I knew I was dyslexic.. and I read about it, everything made sense. Every condition that we have makes us unique and special."Rocio Egio, food illustrator and artist, has an infectious energy and attitude to life.She signs off all her emails "delightfully dyslexic" and tells Elisa Roche in this episode of the Career Conversations series: "All the capacity that I have now is because I have dyslexia. It's not something negative."Rocio's career started out on a very different path. She describes herself as "a super nerd" at school.Although she always wanted to be an artist, she says "everyone was telling me I had to study for a proper career, so I did architecture."Those years were happy ones, and she says, training to be an architect has had an effect on the work she produces today: "It was a different path to arrive at the same place."After a stint as a graphic designer, she moved into food illustration and has won big commissions with the likes of the New York Times and the Washington Post.In this episode, Rocio reveals how she goes about pricing her work, why she enjoys the flexibility of being a freelancer, and sets out the process she goes through from commission through to delivery.And she has some tips on how to smooth over the less creative side of a being a food illustrator. Rocio Egio, Food IllustratorOriginally from the Mediterranean coast of Alicante, Rocío Egío is a curious architect who speaks through illustration and design.Dyslexia is her superpower, she transforms the complexity of the common place in exhilarating visual simplicity.Rocío’s creations are filled with positive messages that inspire joy and are recognisable by their geometry compositions and vibrant colours.Living and working between Alicante and Lausanne, she uses visual language to burst life into projects, brands, ideas and stories.Among her most recent clients are The New York Times,Chronicle Books, The Washington Post and The United Nations.

The Coronavirus pandemic caused a shock to the grocery retail sector like none we've seen before. But with great challenges, often come great innovations. Technology now plays a bigger role in the average consumer's shopping experience than ever before and the changes we were all forced to make have opened the doors to even more innovation in the future. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by two experts to look at how technology has altered the grocery shopping landscape, and how it could shape its future too. They look at the biggest technological successes in the sector, as well as the biggest failures - the big winners and losers of the past few years. Will QR codes still play a key role a decade from now? How can mobile apps transform the shopping experience? Will automation become the norm? And what could all of the above mean for employment, data protection, and the price of food? Will blockchain develop to become the backbone of the grocery retail sector? Or will it be left looking like little more than a broken promise? Will the Metaverse become the new digital hypermarket? Or will it be consigned to the trash can? And which technological advances will we and won't we still be talking about in 10 years' time? Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight, Nielsen IQ Mike is Head of Retailer and Business and Insight for Nielsen IQ in the UK and is responsible for commercial development with food, non-food and e-commerce retailers. With over 30 year’s retail experience, he is a lead contributor of thought leadership and regularly shares his viewpoints on the `State of the Nation' with the media and at Conferences. As a member of the Nielsen IQ Thought Leadership team, he supports retailer, manufacturer and financial services clients with retail, business and shopper insight for Europe. Mike is also a member of the KPMG/Ipsos Retail Think Tank. Will Broome, CEO & Founder, Ubamarket Will started his career marketing Musical Theatre Productions in the USA. On his return to the UK, he joined one of the world’s leading PR Agencies, Ketchum Inc, where he managed the PR and live events for London Fashion Week, Wonderbra and Wrangler Jeans. He broke out on his own to set up one of the live event industry’s original ‘dot com’ tech successes and became one of the youngest UK Presidents of the International Live events association (ILEA). His passion for pioneering tech solutions led him to the retail industry where, for the last six years, Will has been immersed in research and development. The result is the launch of Ubamarket.

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, AKA, The Black Farmer, is a force to be reckoned with. A child of the Windrush generation, he left Jamaica and moved to Birmingham where he lived with 10 family members in a two-up two-down. Nobody would have believed then that he would go on to become a wildly successful farmer and entrepreneur – nobody except him, perhaps. Key to his success has been his attitude, “you have to be audacious”, he tells Elisa Roche in this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series. Even as a young boy, growing up in an area he describes as “the pits”, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones was driven to do better for himself. Roped in to help his dad on his allotment, bought to supplement the family’s income, he soon found his calling: “I absolutely loved being on our allotment as a child because it was an oasis away from the misery I was surrounded by. “At the age of 11, I made myself a promise, that one day I would like to own my own farm.” But before he could achieve his dream, he had an equally successful career working in the media. “I could hardly read or write,” he says. But he worked for free opening the gates for the security guards at the BBC studios in Birmingham, before moving up the ranks and eventually helping to launch the TV careers of the likes of Gordon Ramsey and Raymond Blanc. Listen to the full episode to find out how Wilfred decided to call his farm foods brand The Black Farmer, learn more about his passion for linking rural and urban communities, and why his motto is “never ask for permission, just ask for forgiveness.” Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE, AKA, The Black Farmer Wilfred is an entrepreneur, businessman, author and founder of The Black Farmer brand. He recently launched his online shop The Black Farmer Experience, which has been a long-held ambition. Here visitors can shop everything from the brand’s famous gluten free sausages; grass fed, free-range meat and poultry, and sustainably caught fish, Caribbean specialities, deli and unusual gifts. Wilfred is, in his own words, ‘a poor boy, done good’. He was born in Jamaica and then, after his parents came to the UK in the 50s as part of the Windrush generation, was raised in inner city Birmingham. A classic entrepreneur, Wilfred has vision; passion; enthusiasm; determination; the ability to inspire and motivate others; he never accepts the status quo; never takes no for an answer; never shies away from hard work.

How much do labels and packaging affect what we taste when we eat food?It's a question that Christopher T Simons, Associate Professor in Sensory Science at The Ohio State University, has given a lot of thought to.In his latest study, he presented people with three plates of identical biscuits, one labelled "customer complaint", one labelled "factory typical", and another labelled "new and improved"."People perceived them totally differently" he tells Stefan Gates in this episode of the Table Talk podcast.But why is that? And how can the food industry use studies like this to make their products more attractive to consumers?Professor Simons says there are important lessons to be learned, and many ways the findings can be applied, not least in new product development and marketing.And if labels and packaging, descriptions and pre-conceived ideas are so important, could they be used to help people switch to a healthier, more sustainable diet? Christopher T Simons, Associate Professor in Sensory Science, CFAES Department of Food Science & Technology, The Ohio State UniversityChristopher Simons earned his undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Oregon, his M.S. degree in Physiology from Portland State University, and his Ph.D. in Sensory Science from the University of California, Davis. Subsequently, Chris completed post-doctoral fellowships in the Laboratoire de Neurobiologie Sensorielle [Sensory Neurobiology Laboratory] at the Ecole Pratiques des Hautes Etudes in Massy, France and the Unités de Formation et Recherche de la Odontologie [Dental School] at the Universite Paris 7. From 2004 through 2012 Chris led the Sensory Research function at Givaudan Flavors Corp. and joined the faculty in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the Ohio State University in 2013. Chris’ research interests use a multidisciplinary approach to understand the perception of foods and how they are processed to influence reward and ultimately behaviour. One outcome of this research is to identify the neural and physiological correlates associated with perception, liking, and food choice through the use of a variety of methodologies including human sensory testing or psychophysics, electrophysiology and behavioural measurements. Another outcome is to leverage the knowledge gained from these types of investigations into the development of new methodologies that assist in the creation of better foods.

"I've learned to welcome (people saying) no. Each 'no' brings you a little closer to the next yes."It takes a lot to launch a successful food brand, but Sophie Baron, founder of Mamamade, says she couldn't have done it alone.She says she was lucky to have mentorship from women within the business world, particularly as she admits to being scared it wasn't all going to work out when she first started.In this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, Sophie Baron reveals all about what she calls her "non-linear" path to launching an organic baby food brand.Things could have been very different for Sophie. She started out studying Russian and French at university in New York, before working as an editorial assistant at Vogue.It was when she had her first child that she found her true calling: "My inspiration was wanting better food than I could find on the shelf."She launched Mamamade from the spare room of her home and the business has gone from success to success.Listen to find out how she did it, why she thinks the social media age makes it such an exciting time to launch a business, and how she dreams of one day selling up and moving onto the next chapter in her life. Sophie Baron, Founder and Chief Brand Officer, MamamadeSophie Baron is the Founder of UK based parent/baby digital start-up Mamamade; a fast growing direct-to-consumer business supporting parents with modern childcare products and services that improve health outcomes, normalise taboos, and increase happiness. Originally from New York, Sophie ventured to the UK to undertake a PhD before becoming Head of Operations at a fast-track tech company. In 2017, she gave birth to her first daughter and after six months, began to juggle the return to work with caring for her baby. By 2019 Mamamade had progressed beyond being a ‘side-hustle’ and is now the fastest-growing baby food subscription company in the UK.

How do you go about making a sustainable food system that is net positive when it comes to carbon emissions?How much comes down to changing consumer behaviour versus manufacturing practices?And if you are to change the entire food system, how do you go about getting all stakeholders onboard?None of these are easy questions to answer, but that's where a project in the Netherlands comes in.The Dutch Research Agenda is looking at these issues and trying to come up with solutions to some of the biggest environmental problems the food system faces.Their work in the Netherlands is important, as the country has a long history of trying to tackle sustainability issues, whilst also being known as "the tiny country that feeds the world."It has the highest density of livestock in Europe - more than four times that of the UK or France - with more than 100 million cattle, chickens and pigs.Having a wildly successful agricultural sector comes with it’s own unique set of problems.In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, we look at how the Dutch are leading the way on sustainability, what makes the Netherlands unique - societally - and the different roles consumers, manufacturers and politicians have to play in bringing about change.We also take a look at what the rest of the world learn from the Dutch approach. Frederike Praasterink, Professor Sustainable Food Systems & system innovation in agriculture and food, HAS University of Applied SciencesFrederike Praasterink is member of the Executive Board of HAS University of Applied Sciences. Her responsibilities include knowledge development, innovation & applied research and internationalisation. She has extensive international experience in the field of food and nutrition as a consultant and lecturer. She is also appointed as member of CTA's Executive Board for a term of three years and four months ending on 29 February 2020. Frederike is also the lead for the Transition to a Sustainable Food System project. Brian Dermody, Interdisciplinary Assistant Professor, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University I hold an interdisciplinary Assistant Professor position at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University. I am positioned within the Innovation Studies Department and work to build interdisciplinary collaboration among the 4 departments within the Copernicus Institute.

"The early part of my career was in food marketing roles, which I absolutely loved. But I really felt like I wanted to work for myself." And so began a hugely successful career as a vegan food blogger, author and podcast host for Niki Webster. Perhaps just as well known as the woman behind Rebel Recipes, Niki's rise to fame would have been difficult to predict when she was a student. "I did a degree in Sociology and Criminology," she tells Elisa Roche in the latest episode of Career Conversations. Her move into the world of food was something of a happy accident: "I just started applying for all sorts of graduate roles." Niki ended up working at a breakfast cereal manufacturer, then moved into marketing and social media, where she learned many of the skills that would stand her in good stead in the future. In this episode, Niki reveals all when it comes to what goes into writing a cook book, and offers some top tips on how to get the most of your Instagram food photos. Join our Smartphone food photography masterclass with Georgia Glynn-Smith She has advice on how to start out in food photography, food styling, and recipe development. And she answers the big question: "Have we hit peak vegan chef?" Niki Webster, Food Blogger, Author, Podcast Host Niki Webster is an award-winning blogger, a four-times cookbook author and podcast host. Niki started her journey due to her love of celebrating the wholesome simplicity, vibrancy, flavours and colours of vegetables. She launched her blog Rebel Recipes in 2015, which has held its own at the forefront of the plant-based sector for more than six years and continues to do so, as the online platform now reaches an army of food-based fans across the globe and transcends into four incredible plant-based cookbooks - Rebel Recipes, Be More Vegan, My Vegan Year and Rainbow Bowls. Follow Niki on Instagram @rebelrecipes or via her website www.rebelrecipes.com

In the battle against food waste, increasing the shelf-life of products is one weapon we have at our disposal. The latest figures suggest we still produce around 143kg of waste per person per year in the UK. But many traditional methods of increasing shelf-life don’t fit with consumer concerns about healthy eating – additives, salt, sugar and fat just aren’t on trend. And those manufacturers keen to have as clean a label as possible aren’t generally shouting from the rooftops about the presence of Nisin or Trisodium Phosphate. Join the Millbo Masterclass: How to deliver product longevity in the clean label way In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, made in partnership with Millbo, we look at one potential solution to the conundrum. Millbo says X-tra Guard can increase shelf-life by around six days and, crucially, it is made entirely from Rowan berries. That means it ticks the box when it comes to having a clean label. Find out how the company found the solution, how they negotiate the regulatory landscape, and why consumers are leading the clean label charge. Arpit Wason, Vice President- Enzymes & Shelf-life Solutions, Millbo Arpit joined Millbo in June 2021 as Vice President Enzymes and shelf-life solutions. Arpit holds a Masters’ degree in Molecular Biotechnology from Bonn university and worked as Research scientist in Biochemistry at Cologne, Germany. Arpit has worked with different enzyme manufacturers and uses his knowledge to support the development of enzymes and shelf-life solutions. Janet Maidment, Area Manager, Millbo Janet Maidment has many years’ experience in the food industry, primarily bakery ingredient sales, mostly in exports. This has included cake ingredients, and bakery flour and bread products. She has worked for Millbo for over 15 years and is currently Senior Business Development Manager, with responsibility for the UK and Ireland, plus a number of other countries, including Australia and New Zealand

The amount of salt, or specifically sodium, we consume is a global health problem. The World Health Organization says most people around the world consume double the recommended amount every day - and it's leading to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and heart attacks.But, we seem to be addicted to the stuff and, despite high-profile health campaigns, we're not really seeing much in the way of salt reduction in our overall diets.This episode of the Table Talk podcast is made in partnership with Saltwell, a company that may have found a solution.Saltwell has found a type of salt mineral in the South American desert that contains both sodium and potassium.Potassium can counteract the negative effects of sodium, so this salt contains less of the bad stuff - 35 per cent less.Crucially, Saltwell says the natural product behaves exactly like standard salt and tastes exactly the same.Listen to the full podcast to discover why humans crave salt, why salt is so prevalent in processed foods, and get a brief history of salt reduction in the UK. Fredrik Enander, Managing Director, SaltwellFredrik has been working with Saltwell since 2018.During this time we have gone from mainly selling the product in US to today having a global coverage and distributor network.He is an experienced manager within business development, sales and project management.His other areas of expertise are strategy building and implementation, business model development and product/offer roadmaps.

Does being an entrepreneur in the food sector mean doing everything yourself?Not according to Ayesah Grover, CEO and founder of strp'd, a company that makes flour, milk and flakes out of tigernuts.In the episode of the Career Conversations series, Ayesha tells Elisa Roche that collaboration and outsourcing are hugely important: "I don't think anyone can do absolutely everything."She says, although she is a one-woman team, she outsources some of her social media content, product development and package design.That doesn't mean being hands-off though: "I'm very involved in every process."In this episode, Ayesha reveals what tigernuts actually are, and how she came to find them and turn them into a number of successful products.She also tells us how she benefited from joining the Amazon Launchpad programme, and how disaster turned to success when the first Covid lockdown hit just as she was about to launch her brand new product. Ayesha Grover, CEO and Founder, strp'dAfter a number of years working in London, graduating with an MBA in NYC and launching a fitness business in Mumbai, Ayesha finally returned to the city where she grew up - Lagos, Nigeria.Whilst working in Nigeria, she discovered an incredible super-ingredient: tigernuts! Don’t be fooled by the name, tigernuts are NOT nuts, nor do they come from tigers but in fact are nutrient-dense tubers. Ayesha was intrigued by this allergen-friendly superfood that tasted delicious and proved to be a powerhouse of plant-based nutrition. She launched tigernut-based brand, strp’d in 2020 for everyone to enjoy delicious foods, regardless of dietary restrictions.

The ketogenic diet is everywhere you look, promoted as a quick way to lose weight.It seems to tap into something within many of us and comes with the added attraction of appearing to be based in some scientific theory.There is also the fact that there is evidence that, under proper medical supervision, the low-carb diet can be effective for children with drug-resistant epilepsy.But is it all it's cracked up to be when it comes to weight loss and could there be some damaging effects?Keto certainly has a number of high-profile supporters, but there are just as many people warning of the dangers.In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by the London Chair of the British Dietetic Association, Sophie Medlin, to explore the science and bust the myths.She sets out what a typical keto diet meal plan might look like, how ketosis works, and why the diet is proving so popular.She also discusses potential risks to gut health, the impact the diet can have on our relationship to food, and concerns about the lack of evidence around its long-term effects.Sophie also offers some advice on how to establish a sustainably healthy diet. Sophie Medlin, Consultant Dietitian, Director of City Dieticians, and Chair of the British Dietetic Association for LondonSophie worked for many years in hospitals before moving to a career in academia where she was a lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at King’s College London before leaving to run City Dietitians and work as a consultant. In her clinical work, Sophie specialised in managing the nutritional needs of people with intestinal problems. She is considered a leading specialist in the dietary management of bowel conditions such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticular disease and the nutritional management of colostomies and ileostomies. Sophie carried this through to her research which focuses on the nutritional consequences of bowel surgery. Her experience in complex nutrition support sees her overseeing the nutritional management of patients with complex feeding needs such as tube feeding and intravenous nutrition support.

Rising inflation is hanging over every household and business in the country. In January 2022, overall prices were rising at around 5 per cent, with food a key contributor.So how will rising prices affect the food industry?In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by two experts in this field.Tim Lloyd is Professor of Economics at Bournemouth University, Fraser McKevitt, is Head of Retail and Consumer Insight at Kantar.They look at how today's rate of inflation compares to recent - and not so recent - history, the factors that are driving prices up around the world, and they discuss who is likely to be worst-affected.Will supermarkets keep prices down to protect their market share? Will that lead to even more pressure on suppliers? And what can companies and individuals do to mitigate against the worst effects? Tim Lloyd, Professor of Economics, Bournemouth UniversityTim Lloyd is Professor of Economics in the Business School. He was appointed in July 2015 having previously been Associate Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Nottingham. Professor Lloyd’s research interests lie in the fields of agricultural and food economics, particularly pricing, diet and health and competition in the food industry. Recent work, funded by both the European Commission and the UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has focused on the transmission of prices through the food chain and food price inflation in the UK and EU Member States. Fraser McKevitt, Head of Retail and Consumer Insight, KantarIn over a decade at Kantar, Fraser has helped advise some of the UK's biggest FMCG brands and supermarkets. All of this advice has been powered by real observed behaviours from Kantar’s purchase and consumption panels, widely used throughout the grocery industry. He keeps a close eye on changing consumer and shopping behaviours, explaining how and why these trends influence and impact both manufacturers and retailers. He describes, analyses and comments as the grocers battle competitively for market share each month, through the Kantar ‘Grocery Market Share’ release.

When Mark Whalley was doing his degree in English Literature and Creative Writing, he had no idea that he would end up happily working as Consumer Insights Controller for a major food company."I didn't know what consumer insights was," he tells Elisa Roche in the latest Career Conversations episode. "I thought I would be a primary school teacher."But it was when he saw a job advertised that he thought it was worth a shot. He says he didn't apply because he had a particular interest in the sector, he just thought he would be good at it.And, it turns out, he was. He now works for Greencore, a major food manufacturer, supplying lots of different types of convenience foods.Greencore make just about everything, from ready meals, to soups, sushi, and quiche.Mark describes it as "the biggest company you've never heard of".He says that after a couple of years working in the sector, he discovered a real passion for working out what shoppers want.Although he studied English, he says anyone who is curious about people can excel in the role. And people with a psychology or sociology background are often well-suited.Listen on to find out what an average day looks like for a Consumer Insights Controller, why you will often find Mike hanging around supermarket aisles, and how his job has taken him all around the world. Mark Whalley, Consumer Insights Controller, GreencoreMark has spent more than a decade working in consumer insight, starting on the “agency-side” with business intelligence company Datamonitor, where he wrote on a diverse range of topics from fibre, to skincare, to trends in incontinence products. This saw him work with some of the biggest brands in the world, including Unilever, Pepsi, and Heineken.He is now the Insight Controller for Greencore – one of the largest manufacturers of convenience foods in the UK. He is responsible for commissioning all market research within the company’s “Food-For-Later” division, which includes categories such as prepared meals, cooking sauces, and salads.He works closely with both the Commercial and Product Development teams, where his experience in consumer trends and shopper behaviour help guide the company’s innovation agenda and product category strategy.

Benjamina Ebuehi says for a long time, she never saw baking as a career. "I didn't want to work in a restaurant kitchen or run a bakery," she says. "And I didn't really know what else I could do with it."So she carried on with her degree in Economics at the University of Leicester, and kept baking for friends at the weekends.But that all changed, when she appeared on The Great British Bake Off in 2016.In this episode of the Career Conversations series, Benjamina tells us all about her time on the show: "As a watcher, it does look like a lot of fun.. but being in the show is definitely more intense than I was expecting."You're practicing at home all the time, every single day... it was tough but really enjoyable."And being on Bake Off wasn't her only career-defining moment. Benjamina says one day she was making a cake for a food video, when she met a food stylist - and that sparked something in her. Sign up for our Food Photography Masterclass with world-renownd food photographer Georgia Gylnn-SmithFind out how she was turned on to being a food stylist, how hard she had to work to get her foot in the door, and how her economics degree still stands her in good stead to this day. Benjamina Ebuehi, Food Stylist, Recipe Writer, BakerBenjamina is a baker, food stylist and recipe writer. Born and raised in south London, she has always had a love for food and being creative in the kitchen, and quickly became the person who made all the birthday cakes and desserts for friends and family. Benjamina was a contestant on The Great British Bake Off in 2016, finishing as a quarter finalist. Since then, she has gone on to work full time within food, publishing her first cookbook, The New Way to Cake, in 2019, writing a bi-weekly baking column in Guardian Feast magazine, food styling and developing recipes and social media content for numerous brands.She is an ambassador for Luminary Bakery and is co-founder of The Sister Table.

The market for plant-based food and drink is undoubtedly growing, but what does that mean for the types of products we might see on the shelves in 2022?This year's Veganuary was the biggest ever, and Marks and Spencer alone has added 175 new plant-based products to its range this year.But with a seemingly every-expanding customer base, how do producers understand what it is they want? How do you target what used to be niche products, when your customers have so many varied needs and desires?And if more and more people are looking to buy plant-based, what does that do to the types of products that are being produced? Join one of our plant-based Masterclasses March 9th 2022 - Latest retail and consumer trends in a growth category: plant-based foods March 30th 2022 - Launching a Plant-Based Brand: from niche to opportunity In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by two experts in the market to discuss who will be buying plant-based food and drink in 2022.Rohini Alam is Global Brand Manager for Plant Based at Nestle Professional, and Philip Linardos, Co-founder and CEO at ShelfNow offer their insights into what could be a standout year for the sector.They look at the role big brands are playing in making plant-based more mainstream, how the pandemic accelerated changing eating habits, and they look at how consumer demographics are shifting. Rohini Alam, Global Brand Manager for Plant Based, Nestle Professional SBURohini has many years of experience in the FMCG industry and is transitioning from her current role as Category Manager for Food at Nestle Professional to Global Brand Manager for plant-based brands working across multiple markets. She successfully launched the company’s plant-based brand in the UK Food Service Industry where the Garden Gourmet brand is going from strength to strength. Rohini is passionate about innovation and has experience in establishing new categories, developing communication campaigns, and creating and executing long term business and brand strategies that deliver value to the consumers. Philip Linardos, Co-founder and CEO, ShelfNowPhilip brings his experience in technology to ShelfNow to shape and develop the direction of the business. Previously, he led operations at Bizzby to transform the first on-demand marketplace for home professionals in Europe. Furthermore, he spearheaded the sales team at DynaRisk, a cybersecurity SaaS company to scale the company within 18 months. He also brings experience in venture capital at CyLon, Europe’s first cybersecurity startup accelerator, to ShelfNow. At ShelfNow, he heads business operations, market development and the shaping of the company’s vision, aiming to establish ShelfNow as the leading marketplace for small and medium-sized brands and retailers in Europe.

How do we inspire young people to become fascinated by food? It's a question food teachers up and down the country are answering every day - but is their work being valued?In England, there has been a big decline in children taking a GCSE in food and nutrition, and it is the only national curriculum subject that doesn't have an A-level.That's despite the crucial role learning about food and nutrition can play in our efforts to tackle the obesity crisis.In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by Louise T Davies, Founder of the Food Teachers Centre.They discuss the shortage of food teachers in our schools, the importance of giving children hands-on experience in the kitchen, and the disconnect between what is being taught in lessons and what is being served up in the school dinner hall.Louise also gives some top tips on the best way to get your children fascinated by food. Louise T Davies, Founder, The Food Teachers CentreLouise has been in food education for more than 30 years as an experienced teacher and subject leader. She recently worked for the United Nations School Food and Nutrition Education programme and is the OFQUAL subject adviser for exams in Food Preparation and Nutrition and Home Economics. She was adviser to Department for Education for the new 2016 Food Preparation and Nutrition GCSE.After senior positions at Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and as Deputy Chief Executive at the D&T Association (creating Food in Schools, Licence to Cook, Active Kids Get Cooking and the School Food Champions), she founded the Food Teachers Centre. She is recognised for leading one of 131 most impactful on-line communities in the world through the Facebook Community Accelerator Award. The Food Teachers Centre offers national innovation in curriculum and professional development to over 12,000 members, with over 500 training events and 16 unique on-line learning platforms, as well as delivering Kitchen Angels, Fish Hero, Schools Game Changer, Chefs Back to School and Teach Food programmes.

As work placements go, it's fair to say Laura Bradshaw wasn't too impressed when she was sent to a chicken producer in her third year of university."All my peers were going off to well-known brands like Cadbury's, Nestle and M&S," she tells Elisa Roche in this episode of Career Conversations, "and I was going off to a chicken factory."But, Laura now says it was a pivotal moment in her career: "It was the best grounding I could have hoped for."She describes how she got to work on product trials in France: "I was totally thrown in at the deep end. I had a great experience."Fast-forward to today, and Laura is a New Product Developer (NPD) at Pilgrim's, the UK's biggest pig producer and manufacturer.Her job is to develop new food products, which means spotting the very latest trends, and developing meals and snacks around that theme to appear on supermarket shelves.She says it's a mixture of glamour - eating in fancy restaurants to see what's titillating the trendiest tastebuds - and very hard work - sometimes she finds herself on the factory line at 2am.But all-in-all, Laura says it's a job she really enjoys: "I live for the euphoric moments when you get a product over the line."Find out what a typical day is like for a New Product Developer, how she manages to keep up with the very latest food trends, and we tackle some of the acronyms new starters might be coming across for the first time. Laura Bradshaw, Innovation and NPD Controller, Pilgrim'sA food product development professional with over 15 years’ experience within the chilled and ambient food sectors. Working with all of the top retailers within the UK to develop great tasting, commercially viable products. Passionate about product innovation, food trends and creating great relationships. A parent outside of work with a young family, quickly learning how to juggle the career and home life. Enjoys cooking, visiting new restaurants, travelling, reading (mostly recipe books!) and walks with the family.

What role can probiotics play in helping all of us, whether we're casual runners or elite athletes, achieve our fitness goals?The link between diet and sports performance is a fascinating area. At its heart is the gut microbiome - that colony of microbes that digests our food and regulates our metabolism - it can also affect our behaviour, our emotions, and our overall health.In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, in partnership with Lonza, Stefan Gates asks: What is the relationship between the gut microbiome and sports performance?And what role can probiotics play in that relationship? Shane Durkee, VP platform Innovation, Capsules and Health ingredients, Lonza Shane Durkee is the vice president of platform innovation, ingredients, and dosage form solutions at Lonza. An internationally trained R&D executive with more than 25 years of experience in the consumer healthcare industry, Shane has a background of developing new and innovative products, platform capabilities and technologies. Shane leads the Global Platform Innovation Team responsible for all R&D activity on the ingredients and dosage form solutions businesses. He is passionate about improving people’s lives through the latest in technology, nutrition and clinical research. Lindsey Toth, Director, Global Product Management for Nutrition Products and Services At Lonza, Lindsey is responsible for overseeing global product management for the nutrition portfolio, including value messaging, go-to-market strategies, and product innovation and life-cycle management.

It's well known that insects are a good, and abundant, source of protein.But just because we can eat them, should we be considering whether we should? And if we should eat them, do we need to start thinking seriously about how we farm them?In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by Adam Hart, Professor of Science Communication at the University of Gloucestershire.They discuss some of the ethical issues around using insects as a source of protein.Professor Hart explain what an insect is (clue: it's about more than just having six legs), and tells us how scientists try to go about measuring what an insect is feeling.And he tries to answer the biggest question: Is it morally better to feed many people with one large cow, or kill thousands of worms to feed the same number of people? Adam Hart, Professor of Science Communication at the University of Gloucestershire, Fellow of the Royal Entomological SocietyA biologist, broadcaster and author, Adam works on a range of topics including African ecology and conservation, insects and citizen science. He has made more than 30 documentaries for BBC Radio and World Service, most recently the series Tooth and Claw, eight programmes examining our complex relationships with predators. His last book, Unfit for Purpose, discussed how our evolution has made us a bad fit for the modern world we've made. Coming out in 2022, his new book Eaten explores our difficult interactions with the world's greatest predators, and how we can balance conservation with development to create a world where predators and people can thrive.

It's not every day you get a phone call that changes the course of your life, for Ellie Webb it left her "half over the moon, half terrified". Sainsbury's were calling to say they wanted to stock her new non-alcoholic drink, Caleño. At this point, Ellie was working alone, making the drink in her kitchen - Sainsbury's wanted to stock it in each of their 500 stores. "I thought to myself, I either go for this or I don't," Ellie tells Eliśa Roche in this episode of Career Conversations. She did go for it and it worked out really rather well. Caleño is now a huge success, stocked in Sainsbury's, Waitrose and M&S. It all came about when Ellie had a brainwave on a night out. She wasn't drinking alcohol, but she didn't see why that meant she had to drink sugary drinks all night. Find out how she turned her dream of creating an adult-tasting, sophisticated, non-alcoholic drink into a reality. Ellie reveals what she thinks makes the differences between dreamers and doers, how she overcame a certain amount of boardroom sexism to get to where she is today, and how she once ended up with 1,000 ruined bottle labels. Ellie Webb, Founder, Caleño Before starting Caleño, Ellie gained experience working in the drinks industry, which she came to love, and soon she became keen to find her own place within it. The lightbulb moment came when Ellie was doing Dry January and out dancing with friends. She was disappointed by the lack of choice on offer when it came to grown-up non-alcoholic drinks and realised there wasn’t anything accessible, that suited her lifestyle or reflected her sense of adventure when it came to drinks. Born in Kent to a Colombian mother, Ellie has always had an entrepreneurial streak, and even when she was young she would make ‘jugos’, Colombian fruit juices, and sell them to her family. So it felt natural for Ellie to take matters into her own hands and create something that she wanted to see on the shop shelves. Ellie worked on her idea for a new non-alcoholic spirit for two years before quitting her day job, during which time she explored and experimented with different botanicals in her kitchen and took a trip back to Colombia for more inspiration and research.

Is the amount of information on food labels helping or hindering us when it comes to making choices about what we purchase?Consumers are said to be demanding transparency regarding the foods they eat – from animal welfare to sustainability and health and nutrition information, they want to know it all. Surely a better-informed consumer can make better choices for their health, right? This may not be the case with some research suggesting labelling could even be contributing to the obesity crisis.So, are the regulations surrounding food labelling a failure? Or are consumers simply ignoring the signs?A product might boast that it is low in fat, but are shoppers interested enough to read beyond the headline and find out that it is high in sugar?In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, in partnership with Ashbury – The Product Information People, Stefan Gates delves into the fascinating world of food labelling.He is joined by Ashbury's Regulatory Affairs Director, Pete Martin, as they look at the psychology, regulations and language that is at play as businesses try to make a profit while following the law and protecting the health of consumers.They investigate labelling’s worst offenders that appear to lead to some consumer confusion and discuss how best to get the most useful information in front of consumers' eyes. We also learn how companies like Ashbury work with brands to ensure they get the most from their labelling and delve into the possible impact Brexit will have on food labels. Pete Martin, Regulatory Affairs Director, AshburyWith a 30-year career working in technical law for grocery and retail providers, Pete Martin brings a wealth of industry knowledge and expertise to his role as Regulatory Director at product information specialist, Ashbury. From providing practical support and advice to clients, through to carrying out in-depth audits, delivering compliance information, and ensuring complete due diligence, Pete is not only hugely experienced in working with both food and non-food products, but is passionate about protecting brands and end consumers.At Ashbury, Pete specialises in helping clients innovate within the lines of the food regulation law - ultimately helping them to grow their brand, maximise existing markets, and develop best practice labelling compliance management.

What do you do about food security if your country is mostly surrounded by desert? It's a growing problem, particularly for the United Arab Emirates. It's estimated that around 120,000 square kilometres of land is lost to the desert each year. Countries like the UAE rely heavily on imported food, but efforts are being made to turn desert land, into fertile land. In fact, it's already happening - there are melons being grown in the desert around Dubai right now. But the challenge is to increase the diversity of crops being grown, as well as the size of the crops themselves. Two companies, recognised as one of the food related Expo Live global innovators at Expo 2020 hosted in Dubai, are working on some solutions. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast we find out how they are going about making the desert fertile and the cost of failing to act. Dr Dionysia Angeliki Lyra, Halophyte Agronomist, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture Dr Dionysia Angeliki Lyra has been working as a Halophyte Agronomist at the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) in Dubai United Arab Emirates since 2013. She has been evaluating halophytic germplasm like Salicornia in inland and coastal desert areas exploring multiple uses (food, feed, biofuel production, etc.). After running a successful project funded by USAID in 2016, Dr. Lyra was announced as one of the 29 global innovators for EXPO2020 of the 1st phase of the EXPO Live program in 2017 and received a grant for the project “Inland and coastal modular farms for climate change adaptation in desert environments”. The successful implementation of the project led to a 2nd granting phase from EXPO LIVE program focusing on the value chain development for innovative halophyte-based food products in collaboration with UAE and international partners. Atle Idland, Co-founder, GM and Managing Director, Desert Control Atle is the Co-founder, GM and Managing Director at Desert Control ME LLC, co-leading the company’s Climate Smart Agri-technology – first of its kind - Liquid Natural Clay (LNC) growth and advancement here in UAE and MENA region. Desert Control's Liquid Natural Clay (LNC) restores and protects soil, reducing water usage for agriculture, forests, and green landscapes. LNC enables sand and degraded soil to keep water and nutrients. Atle has in the past, been part of the Oil & Offshore Industry in Norway, where he was pivotal in leading and driving accelerated business growth internationally and globally in ABB Oil & Gas and was awarded Innovator of “Joint Value Creation “business tactic instrument for his partner collaboration and motivation. Atle is also a Blue Ocean Strategy practitioner.

"I used to struggle at university," Dr James Morehen says. "I really had to put the effort in if I wanted to get a good grade."James says that struggle remained part of his studies through his undergraduate degree, his Masters and his PhD."I had to re-sit a module during my Masters," he tells Elisa Roche in the latest in our Career Conversations series. But he says that was when he knew he had to show some resilience and prove himself.He certainly has done that.As well as completing his PhD, James has worked with some of the world's top athletes, including the England Women's football team and West Ham United.He is currently working as the Performance Nutritionist at the rugby union side, the Bristol Bears.And those early struggles during his studies must seem like a distant memory now, as he has recently released a book "The Performance Nutritionist".In this episode, James sets out the main differences between what he does for a living and what other nutritionists do, as well as giving advice on the best way to follow his career path.Listen on to find out how James set about embarking on his incredible career, the importance he places on a "no d*ckhead" policy, and how something called the Dunning-Kruger effect left him standing in an empty room instead of a sold-out seminar. Dr James Morehen, Performance NutritionistJames currently works with professional, elite-level athletes and global organisations. Alongside this, he is passionate about supporting individual athletes and clients with their own nutrition, exercise and performance goals.James has spent 9 years in higher education obtaining a BSc in Sport Science, MSc in Sports Physiology and PhD in Sports Nutrition all from the very well-respected Research Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences from Liverpool John Moores University.

An innovative company in Malaysia is aiming to transform the lives of refugees in the country, through food delivery. PichaEats, based in Kuala Lumpur, helps refugees who can cook to sell their food and make an income. Suzanne Ling is the company's co-founder and she puts it simply: "They can cook but don't have access to the market. We have access to the market, but we can't cook." And she is clear that this isn't charity work. The chefs are paid more than they spend on ingredients, and PichaEats makes a profit too - after paying marketing and distribution costs - by charging customers even more. "The chefs are partners," says Suzanne. "They're not employed by us." PichaEats is one of the food related Expo Live global innovators at Expo 2020 hosted in Dubai. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Suzanne tells Stefan Gates about how she came up with the idea for the business whilst still a student, why making a profit is seen as an important driver for what they're trying to achieve, and how the pandemic almost completely destroyed the business model. Suzanne Ling, Co-Founder, PichaEats Suzanne is the co-founder for PichaEats, an impact-driven business that aims to serve delicious meals and enable change among communities through food. Founded in 2016, PichaEats partners with chefs from displaced communities, sharing their delicious cuisines from their home countries, including Palestine, Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan to conferences, events, homes and more.

There is an organisation in Japan which is taking a different approach to helping people living in food poverty.Second Harvest's Marugohan initiative doesn't simply deal in handouts, it asks for something back in return.That could be a good deed, or even, paradoxically, a small donation of food.The idea is to give people in need, some agency, a sense that they are not merely the receivers of help, but also the givers.It was started by Charles McJilton, who says he doesn't define what Second Harvest does as "helping" but more like providing a service. He compares it to a public library or hospital.In this edition of the Table Talk podcast, we focus on one of the food related Expo Live global innovators at Expo 2020 hosted in Dubai.Stefan Gates talks to Charles about how cultural factors often prevent people seeking help with food poverty in Japan, how trust of charities is low, and how Covid has affected Second Harvest's work.And they try to answer the question: 'Could this model be copied around the world?' Charles E. McJilton, Founder, Second Harvest JapanCharles first went to Asia in 1984 with the US military, and returned to Japan in 1991 to conduct research at Sophia University. At that time he lived in a religious community in one of the poorest sections of Tokyo (Sanya) where day-laborers and homeless lived. It was this experience that set him on his current trajectory. In 1995 he founded “Let’s Build,” a self-help centre dedicated to providing tools for those living on the streets to either help themselves or die with dignity. While he felt he understood many of the issues of those in his community, he felt something lacking. So from January 1997 to April 1998 he lived in a cardboard house among the homeless along the Sumida River in Tokyo. This experience radically changed his worldview and deeply influences his approach to providing aid and developing organisations. He has founded four organisations in Asia that deal with food security. In 2002 he incorporated the first food bank in Japan (Second Harvest Japan). In 2010 he created a 501(c)3, Second Harvest Asia, to promote food banking in Asia. In 2012 he incorporated the first food bank in the Philippines (Salu-Salo: Food Bank Philippines). And in 2013 he established a public-interest foundation, registered at the Japanese Cabinet Office, Alliance of Japan Foodbanks (formerly Second Harvest Japan Alliance) to develop a national network of food banks in Japan. He has taught NGO Management at Sophia University since 2009. He is married with four children.

Millions of people will be giving and receiving chocolate on Valentine's Day, and even more will be doing so around Easter. But do we really understand the true history of it? In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by food historian, Emma Kay, to reveal the often very dark history of chocolate. The slave trade was used to exploit millions of people, who were forced to work on plantations. It may sound like something that could never happen today, but accusations of slavery in the cocoa industry persist in parts of Africa. Not only that, but land is often destroyed as part of the farming process, and that can lead to the deaths of many. So how did it come to be that such value was put on chocolate? In this episode we venture back more than 4,000 years to the very first communities known to have experimented with cocoa beans. How the Mayans saw it as a powerful aphrodisiac, how it ended up in Europe, and the changes that led to the type of chocolate we eat today - very different from what was being consumed in 2,000 BC. Emma Kay, Food Historian Emma is a food historian, author, and prolific collector of Kitchenalia. She lives in the Cotswolds with her husband and young son. Her articles have appeared in publications including BBC History Magazine, The Daily Express, Daily Mail, Times Literary Supplement, and the Victorian Review (Johns Hopkins University) . She has contributed historic food research for a number of television production companies and featured several times on Talk Radio Europe, and multiple BBC radio stations.

"I was worried at the time. I didn't know what I wanted to do."Kate Halliwell was in her twenties and, despite studying biochemistry at Oxford, she wasn't sure which career path to follow.So she upped sticks and went travelling for two years. "I refer to it as my quarter-life crisis," she tells Elisa Roche in this episode of the Career Conversations series.It wasn't long before Kate was back in academia, gaining a Masters in nutrition, which led to civil servant roles and eventually, to joining the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).In this episode, Kate talks about National Apprenticeship Week, something the FDF is keenly involved in. "The food sector as a whole needs new people to join," Kate says, adding that there's work to be done to educate people about the diversity of roles on offer.She also points out that many of the jobs that exist are high-skilled as food manufacturing is "becoming effectively high technology".Listen on to find out all about what the FDF does, learn more about Kate's role, and be inspired to keep plugging away until you find the career that's right for you. Kate Halliwell, Chief Scientific Officer, Food and Drink FederationKate is accountable for the FDF’s food safety, food law and labelling, and diet and health policy briefs. The role involves extensive liaison with food and drink manufacturing companies to develop cross-industry policy positions and responding to scientific consultations. Previously Kate led the FDF’s diet and health policy work, and before that worked for the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency on a range of nutrition and legislation policies. Kate is a member of the Institute of Food Science and Technology and is a registered nutritionist.

It's clear that the use of CBD in food and drink products in the UK is rising rapidly, but just how big can the market become?In this second Table Talk episode focussing on CBD, Stefan Gates is joined by two experts on how the supplement can be put to use.Lauren Lovatt is Founder of Plant Academy, and Dave Gibson is Founder of Gibsons Goodology.Both have extensive experience in the opportunities and challenges of producing CBD products in western markets.In this episode, they discuss why the UK has become such a big market for CBD products already, why there's still some uncertainty among consumers about how to use the supplement, and how regulation and limits on online advertising are affecting sales.Listen to our previous episode, where we looked in more detail at the facts around the CBD, and asked the question: Is the regulatory system working? Lauren Lovatt, Founder of Plant AcademyLauren is a plant-based chef and entrepreneur. She is the founder of the Plant Academy in London and the woman behind MIND FOOD, a project dedicated to delicious food specifically designed to feed your mind.Lauren has openly shared her journey with mental health over the years, which led her to discover a burning passion to inspire others through food. Early on in her career, Lauren set up an aspirational vegan restaurant – Asparagasm – which led her to host her own plant-based pop-up nights for some years; from these experiences, she has a wealth of experience developing recipes, writing menus and creating events. Dave Gibson, Founder of Gibsons GoodologyDave says he's been on his CBD journey for the last 7 years, having invested in a THC dispensary in Canada years ago, it growing to 28 stores, then setting up another cannabis company in London, before starting up Gibson's Goodology, with the likes of Blair, one of the leads for Start Ups at Google HQ, marketers from the Pharma space, engineers and lawyers who specialise in cannabis.

The use of cannabidiol, or CBD, in food and drink is booming in the UK. CBD-infused drinks, ice cream, functional snack bars - you name it - have helped the sector to astronomical growth in recent years. In 2021, the sector saw sales worth £690m. But with that growth have come some questions. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by two experts who can tackle some of the most pressing issues around CBD. Clinical lecturer, Dr Mikael Sodergren, explains how the supplement works, and addresses some of the "mystique" and "anecdotal claims" that surround it.Lawyer, Sarah Ellson, sets out the dos and don'ts when making claims about products containing CBD, and addresses the surprisingly complicated question of whether or not it's legal to produce it in the UK.Sarah also raises significant questions about whether the regulatory system is working. Dr Mikael Sodergren, Imperial College, LondonMikael Sodergren MBChB, DIC, PhD, FRCS is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at Imperial College London and Consultant Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He leads the Medical Cannabis Research Group - a research programme which evaluates and develops novel therapies targeting the endocannabinoid system through a framework of in vitro, in vivo and clinical translational activities. Sarah Ellson, Partner, Field FisherSarah is a partner at law firm Fieldfisher where she co-leads the firm’s regulatory group and specialises in healthcare and life sciences regulation. She acts for numerous regulators but also for a diverse range of private providers in the cannabis, pharmaceutical, optical, pharmacy and wider healthcare sectors and particularly supports new clients looking to enter or expand in the English/UK market. She has worked with many businesses involved with cannabis products, on supply chain and transactional due diligence as well as licensing and compliance.

Sometimes in life, you just know you need to make a change. For Lauren Mote, that realisation came as she approached the end of her international politics degree."I was opening my Russian politics book and thinking 'I'm not interested in this," she tells Elisa Roche."And then (I was) picking up Harold McGee's 'On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen'."Lauren says it wasn't that she'd lost interest in academia, just that the subject matter had changed.Fast forward 24 years and she's been named one of the best bartenders in the world, became Diageo's first ever Reserve Global Cocktailian, and has launched a number of successful businesses.Her career in hospitality didn't start with quite so much glamour, although she does say she got "gratification" from her job as a singing hamburger dresser when she was 16.Listen on to hear about the strong female figures who inspired Lauren to succeed, how she sees herself as still very much on a career journey, and get her top tip for avoiding a hangover. Lauren Mote, Drink Consultant and EntrepreneurLauren Mote is a sought-after consultant and expert in the global spirits industry. Lauren is a Founding Partner of Bittered Sling Bitters, Chard & Laver Agency, Nightcap Media and Kale & Nori Culinary Arts. She's also the co-founder of Women Celebrate, a social media initiative to highlight women and fem folx in the drink industry and their achievements.An active member and educator within the global spirits industry, Lauren has led seminars at Bar Convent Berlin and Sao Paulo, TED, Vancouver, Barometer and presented at World's 50 Best Bars Awards. Lauren is a part of the Tales of the Cocktail’s Culture, Education and Spirited Award committees. She was recognised by her industry peers as one of the top 4 "International Brand Ambassadors of the Year 2019", top 4 "Best Bar Mentor 2020" at the annual Spirited Awards and the first Canadian woman inducted into the “Dame Hall of Fame” by Tales of the Cocktail. Lauren is often included in the industry's best lists, including the Bar World 100 by Drinks International, celebrating the very best of the global drinks industry.

Where is the plant-based food sector heading? It's a simple question that formed the basis of a Food Matters Live event held in 2021. Hosted by Mandy Saven from Stylus Media Group, our panel of experts gave their views on what plant-based diets might look like in future. They tackle issues like how to make plant-based meat alternatives an attractive colour, how farmers are being persuaded to move from growing crops for feed to growing crops for food, and the increasing importance of clean labels. And some new questions were raised too… Is mimicking meat the right approach for younger generations? How healthy are some of the plant-based products we see on our shelves? And - is fish the new frontier in plant-based innovation? Mandy Saven, Director of Consumer Lifestyle, Stylus Media Group With over 15 years’ experience in trends, consulting and journalism, Mandy is an expert at distilling food culture and consumption, flavour and ingredient innovation, and the future of food. She also holds a strong commercial understanding of the travel and hospitality spaces, as well as the drivers propelling them forward. Prior to joining Stylus, experts in trends intelligence, Mandy was executive editor at GDR Creative Intelligence, where she worked with clients such as Marks & Spencer, Coca-Cola, LVMH and Starwood Hotels. Mark Driscoll, Founder and Director, Tasting the Future Mark is Founder and Director of Tasting the Future, a purpose and values driven sustainable food systems consultancy. He is a global expert in and a passionate advocate for the need for food systems change. He has over years 30 experience of working with businesses, governments and civil society organisations on solutions that address some of the key social and environmental challenges confronting our global food system. He has developed and led large sustainable food programmes with organisations including WWF and Forum for the Future, focussing on policy and practice which supports sustainable nutrition – the intersection of health, nutrition and sustainability. Carole Bingley, Sr. Associate Principal Scientist Product and Ingredient Innovation, RSSL Carole is a Technical Specialist working in RSSL’s Product and Ingredient Innovation Team. During her time with RSSL, Carole has undertaken ingredient evaluation and product development projects on a contract basis for clients in different food industry sectors. A Food Science graduate from Reading University, with a Master’s degree in Nutritional Medicine from Surrey University, Carole has over 25 years’ experience in the food industry. Maija Itkonen, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Gold & Green Foods Maija is an industrial designer, brand builder, tech lover, and entrepreneur. She is Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Gold & Green Foods, a food tech start-up born out of Helsinki that develops plant protein products using Nordic oats and legumes. Henrik Lund, CEO, Naturli Foods Henrik has a long career working as Sales Manager for companies like Beavais, Danæg, Royal Greenland and Dragsbæk before starting Naturli’ Foods in 2016. “At Naturli’ Foods, we are known as first movers within plant-based foods for consumers, offering a cross category assortment from dairy to meat, targeting mainstream consumers – Naturli’ is present in 19 markets around the World." Naturli’ says it challenges conventional thinking to stop climate change through what we eat and drink….without sacrificing anything.

How do you persuade people to move to a more sustainable diet? And how do we ensure that we're making choices that are good for our health as well as the planet?In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, brought to you in partnership with Kellogg's Europe Wellbeing Team, we delve into the world of sustainable diets, and look at the role plant-based foods have to play.Stefan Gates is joined by two world-leading voices on the topic. Dr Giles Yeo, programme leader at the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Hazel Wallace, Doctor and Founder of The Food Medic.They look at some of the psychology behind the food choices we make, and why changing people's diets is often more about persuading than dictating.They discuss how cereals are often under appreciated for the role they can play in a healthy plant-based diet.And they highlight three factors; price, time and knowledge, which they say affect the food choices many of us make. Dr Giles Yeo, programme leader at the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit at the University of Cambridge, and Honorary President of the British Dietetic AssociationGiles Yeo got his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1998, after which he joined the lab of Prof Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, working on the genetics of severe human obesity. Giles Yeo is now a programme leader at the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit in Cambridge and his research currently focuses on the influence of genes on feeding behaviour & body-weight.In addition, he is a graduate tutor and fellow of Wolfson College, and Honorary President of the British Dietetic Association. Giles was appointed an MBE in the Queen’s 2020 birthday honours for services to ‘Research, Communication and Engagement’. Dr Hazel Wallace, Doctor and Registered Associate Nutritionist, and Founder of The Food MedicDr Hazel Wallace, founder of The Food Medic, is an NHS medical doctor, registered nutritionist (ANutR), and best-selling author.She started ‘the food medic’ blog in 2012, as a medical student, in a bid to bridge the gap between conventional medical advice and the latest thoughts and developments in nutrition and other areas of lifestyle. She is currently working as a COVID doctor during this pandemic.Dr Wallace hosts her own podcast “ The Food Medic” interviewing leading experts in their field and sharing actionable advice on how we can live healthier lives and features on James Martin Saturday Morning Kitchen as their resident doctor.

When Graeme Tomlinson started posting graphics on Instagram, it was just a side-hustle."I was a personal trainer who was doing this in their spare time," he tells Elisa Roche in the second episode of the Career Conversations podcast series.Over the course of a few years, he'd built his Instagram following to around 30,000, then all of a sudden, things took off."I think I'd done about 2,000 posts at that point," he says. Today he's only done about 800 more but he has over one million followers.Graeme's posts, under the name The Fitness Chef, are quite simple at first glance, but they are extremely effective.Often he posts photos of two bits of food, maybe toast with avocado next to toast with chocolate spread, and highlights the surprising difference in calories.So how did he become a social media superstar? How does he cope with being bombarded with requests for advice online? And why did he once lose his rag in a health food store?Listen now to find out all of that, as well as Graeme's top tip for building your personal brand online; be consistent about your identity and what it is you're offering people. Graeme Tomlinson - Nutrition CoachGraeme is a Scottish nutrition coach and personal trainer. In March 2018, Graeme began posting on Instagram about the ironies, myths and pitfalls of diet plans.With his trademark graphics and microblogs, he brought food facts to life, amassing hundreds of thousands of followers around the globe.With their support, he continues his mission to show that quick-fix diet plans and food guilt are neither necessary nor effective, and a calorie deficit through adjustments to your existing diet is the only sustainable way to lose weight.Graeme has released a new book in 2022 called Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind.

There's no doubt about it, flavour is a key factor in the success of any alcohol-free drink, but it's also one of the most difficult areas to master.How do you match the flavour of a single malt whisky, the taste of a session IPA, or the burn of a shot of tequila?Is it even about trying to replicate the taste of alcohol or should efforts be focused on different aspects?In this episode of Table Talk, brought to you in partnership with Kerry, we delve into these questions, as well as the science and the art of flavouring low and no alcohol drinks.We find out just how much work goes into getting the right flavour, including the sniff, taste and session tests.It's no surprise that good quality ingredients are seen as a major factor, but our experts say provenance is becoming increasingly important too, as is sustainability.And find out the one alcoholic drink each of our panel would really love to replicate but without the booze. Michel Aubanel, Flavour Ingredients Global Development Director, KerryMichel Aubanel, MSc is the Global Flavour Ingredients Director linking teams in various regions, including China, North America, Brazil, and Europe. Michel’s job is to explore new raw materials all over the world and find ways to improve not just the health of people, but also the planet. Michel holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering and Organic Chemistry from University Marseille in France.He has 35+ years’ experience in the flavour industry, has worked with companies like Mane, Sanofi/Degussa, Cargill and Kerry Taste & Nutrition. This year he celebrates 10 years with Kerry.His knowledge and expertise have been captured on 8 scientific publications. He also holds 3 patents and a great number of scientific publications. He specialises on Natural Extracts, Chemistry, biochemistry, liquid flavours and powder flavours. John Kelly, Senior Strategic Marketing Manager – Beverages, KerryWorking in Kerry Taste & Nutrition as the Senior Strategic Marketing Manager for the beverage category, leading the beverages marketing strategies across Europe & Russia. Over 20 years’ experience in the global beverages industry working across all sectors of the industry, driving brand and business growth. Extensive consumer FMCG and B2B marketing expertise and wider business leadership gained through working in a broad portfolio of leading beverages companies including Diageo, Molson Coors, Glanbia Consumer Foods, and Almarai across the Middle East and currently Kerry Taste & Nutrition. Danielle Bekker, Co-Founder, Good Living BrewDanielle Bekker, founder of Good Living Brewing Co, is a supply chain professional with over 20 years’ experience in the brewing industry including Global Brewing Innovation Director for SABMiller. A qualified chemical engineer with an MBA and an MSc in Malting & Brewing she loves beer, innovation and food – all of which Binary encompasses. Craig Hutchinson, Founder of a portfolio of no-alcoholic spiritsCraig is the founder and former CEO of CEDER’S which he developed and grew to be sold in over 20 countries before the successful sale to Pernod Ricard in 2020.He has since launched CELTIC SOUL Non-Alcoholic Dark Spirit and M&C’s CBD Botanical Spirit.

How can you build a brand when you can't advertise or launch promotions, and there are restrictions on where you can position your products in shops? It's a dilemma many food companies are facing ahead of new legislation due to be enforced in England from October 2022. It means there will be restrictions on how foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar - collectively known as HFSS - can be promoted. The new rules will see the end of deals like buy-one-get-one-free, a ban on free soft drink refills, and restrictions on where HFSS products can be placed in a store – think sweets at the till. So what can affected brands do to make sure consumers are still aware of their products? In this episode of Table Talk, Stefan Gates is joined by three experts in this field who discuss the challenges and opportunities on the horizon. They discuss how marketing teams are going to be forced to think more creatively, why 2022 is going to be key for building up a customer database, and why premium HFSS brands are hoping to actually see an increase in sales. Rob White, Co-Founder at ZEAL Creative After 18 years in advertising, Rob set up ZEAL Creative with his partner Stewart Hilton. Together they have built a multi-award winning marketing agency which is currently the most effective brand activation agency in the UK and their team are The Drum’s most recommended for client service. As an expert in marketing, Rob plays a key role in advising multi-national brands such as Kellogg’s & Nestlé on brand strategy, understanding shopper behaviour and winning with retailers. As well as being a director for the for the Institute of Promotional Marketing, Rob also acts as a mentor with new business start-ups for Tech Manchester. Jeremy Stern, CEO of PromoVeritas Jeremy founded PromoVeritas after a successful career as a senior marketer with Kraft, BT and Tesco. It was when he was the European Promotions Director at Coca-Cola that he identified the need for a service that provided independent promotional compliance advice. Someone to bridge the gap between agencies with amazing ideas and lawyers with a preference for caution. PromoVeritas is now a team of 40+, with its own legal team, hundreds of clients and they ‘run it right’ for thousands of promotions every year in the UK, Europe & globally – writing terms, picking winners of draws, judging competitions and hiding those instant win golden tickets. Ben Greensmith, Lord Chocolonely iii, aka Country Manager at Tony’s Chocolonely Tony’s Chocolonely has a mission is to make chocolate free of child-labour and slavery; not just its chocolate but all chocolate worldwide. Ben has been working for Tony’s since September 2018 as employee number 1 setting up the UK operation. Prior to this, he spent 3.5 years at Propercorn, most recently as Chief Operating Officer taking the business from a start-up to an SME and into national distribution. Before joining Propercorn Ben was UK Commercial Director at innocent drinks having joined in 2007. He joined innocent after 5 years at Unilever in a mix of sales and category roles.

Rhiannon Lambert's path to becoming one of the UK's leading nutritionists hasn't always been a straight forward one.Years before she opened her own clinic on Harley Street, she was a successful singer, jetting off to perform around the world.But it was what she saw whilst singing at some of the world's biggest fashion shows, that encouraged her to pursue the career she has.Some of the models were swallowing cotton wool to feel full, without putting on weight."It repulsed me," Rhiannon tells Elisa Roche in this first episode of the Career Conversations series. "I didn't feel comfortable there."Rhiannon says later, her own unhealthy relationship with eating pushed her to "learn more about food" and go to university. Fast-forward a few years and she finds herself in another uncomfortable situation, this time after she was mis-quoted in some national newspapers.She describes it as a "really tough period" in her life, and says it made her realise the value in having a mentor.Rhiannon Lambert is the opitome of hard work; as well as running a hugely successful clinic, she is a best-selling author (her third book, The Science of Nutrition, was published in 2021), a chart-topping podcast host, and a new mother.And it's clear from her conversation with Elisa that success has not come overnight.Listen as Rhiannon busts the myth that being a social media star is "easy work", find out what she studied to reach the top, and get her top tips for starting out in the world of nutrition. Rhiannon Lambert, Registered NutritionistRhiannon founded Rhitrition, a renowned Harley Street clinic, which specialises in weight management, sports nutrition, eating disorders, and pre- and post-natal nutrition in 2016. As an evidence-based practitioner, Rhiannon is committed to the benefits of a scientific approach to nutrition. In 2017, she published her first book, the best-selling Re-Nourish: A Simple Way To Eat Well.Rhiannon hosts the top-rated ‘Food for Thought' podcast, which gives listeners practical, evidence- based advice on how to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Follow Rhiannon on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

The history of tea is as interesting and varied as the drink itself.In this episode we delve into that history to see what the past can offer present day tea makers.Stefan Gates is joined by Will Battle, Managing Director at Fine Tea Merchants, and author of the World Tea Encyclopaedia.They look back at the role tea has played in the economy of the world, in the past and today.The history of tea includes its use as a currency and how smuggling brought it to the masses in the UK.We also learn why one tiny parcel of tea was once worth more than a limousine. Will Battle, Managing Director, Fine Tea MerchantsWill Battle is Managing Director of Fine Tea Merchants Ltd, a business-to-business tea importing, trading and wholesale company. Will’s critically-acclaimed book The World Tea Encyclopaedia is in its second edition and won a ‘Best in the World’ award at The Gourmand World Cookbook awards.

Food brands need to work out what consumers will be eating in future, but how do they go about it, and what happens if they get it wrong?In this edition of the Table Talk podcast, we look at the business of predicting people's eating habits.How do companies work out what we'll all be reaching for in the supermarket in five years' time? What is the cost to them if they get it wrong? And how often do they get it right?Stefan Gates is joined by Sophie Davies, Senior Buyer at Planet Organic, and Mike Hughes, Head of Insight and Research at FMCG Gurus to try to answer those questions.They offer their insights into how the industry works, as well as setting out their predictions for 2022.Sophie Davies, Senior Buyer, Planet OrganicSophie has been at Planet Organic since March 2015 and is the Senior Buyer for the Fresh Food & Drink department, spanning across Grab&Go, Fresh Groceries including Fruit&Veg, Bakery and Chilled take home. Planet Organic has 14 stores in Central London and an online store, which distributes fresh products nationwide. Planet Organic prides itself on being at the forefront of innovation and leading on product trends within natural food and wellness. Sophie and her team are always on the hunt for exciting, innovative and delicious products to revolutionise the food and wellness scene.Mike Hughes, Head of Insight and Research, FMCG Gurus Mike Hughes has more than 13 years’ experience analysing consumer trends, attitudes and behaviours, and currently heads up the research and insight division at FMCG Gurus. Mike has a particular interest in highlighting how consumer attitudes and behaviours can often differ and what the true meaning of trends are for the industry.

In this edition of the Table Talk podcast, we're looking at the role of functional ingredients in low and no alcohol drinks. Stefan Gates is joined by Dash Lilley, co-founder of Three Spirits, and David Begg, co-founder of Real Kombucha. They discuss ingredients which lift the mood, as well as providing health benefits on the side.Functional ingredients have been one of the stories of the last few years, but the question is – can they also provide the beguiling and beautiful tastes to match the best in the sector? In this episode, Stefan, Dash and David explain what we mean by functional ingredients, debate what needs to happen to move the sector forward, and answer the question: Does the lo and no alcohol sector still have an innovative, entrepreneurial feel - or is it just big business now?