Table Talk

2023 looks set to be another challenging year, and rising to those challenges is going to require innovation and new thinking about how the global food industry feeds a growing population. This episode Food Matters Live podcast is part of a short series shining a light on some of the start-ups who are shaping the future of the food industry. They are the big thinkers, with big ideas about how to solve some of the world's biggest problems. In this episode, we meet Jim Laird, CEO and co-founder of alternative protein company Enough. Enough grows ABUNDA mycoprotein, a fermented food ingredient which is rich in protein and fibre. ABUNDA is a highly versatile mycoprotein. It can be incorporated as a protein and fibre rich ingredient in established recipes or used to inspire new culinary creations. Listen to this short episode to find out more about the work Enough is doing, the company's ambitions for the future, and how investors and customers can get involved in their journey. Enough As a food-tech compa

Sophie Medlin is quite clear about why she loves her job as a dietitian so much. For her, it is all about making a difference to people's lives, something she describes as giving her "the best job satisfaction". Sophie has her own practice, City Dietitians, and is the London Chair of the British Dietetic Association. In this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, recorded in front of a live audience at our first Inspiring Careers in Food event, she tells us all about her journey to the top. She is one of the UK's leading dietitians and she is incredibly passionate about helping young people join the industry. Sophie says the best way to get experience as a dietitian is to go and work in the NHS. Although many people want their own practice, she says it is important to learn the trade in the national health service, where you will encounter a huge variety of issues. She thinks that stands you in good stead, should you wish to go it alone in future. Sophie specialises in gut health and says

2023 looks set to be another challenging year, and rising to those challenges is going to require innovation and new thinking about how the global food industry feeds a growing population. This episode Food Matters Live podcast is part of a short series shining a light on some of the start-ups who are shaping the future of the food industry. They are the big thinkers, with big ideas about how to solve some of the world's biggest problems. In this episode, we meet Kestutis Lipnickas, CEO of the insect protein company, Divaks. Divaks makes oils, powders, and proteins using from high-quality insect-derived ingredients. Its products are created for the food industry, and customised to meet the highest needs of both clients and consumers.  Listen to this short episode to find out more about the work Divaks is doing, the company's ambitions for the future, and how investors and customers can get involved in their journey. About Divaks Started in 2020 in Vilnius, Lithuania, Divaks is developing fully automat

We could be heading for a shortage of carbon dioxide.  Yes, you read that right, despite carbon emissions hitting record levels in 2022, CO2 for use in the food and drink industry is in short supply. CO2 is used all across the sector, soft drink production of course, but also meat processing, brewing, baking, and many many others But with the soaring price of natural gas, dwindling supply, and the shutdowns of CO2 plants in Cheshire and Teeside, there are fears that major shortages are just around the corner. We have been here before. Significant CO2 scarcity in 2018 sent shockwaves through the industry. But could we be facing an even worse situation this time around?   Prices of CO2 are already rocketing, so what can the industry do to prepare itself? Mark Lorch, Professor of Public Engagement and Science Communication, University of Hull Mark Lorch is a chemist, writer and science communicator. He started his research career working on protein folding and has since delved into many other aspects of

Good nutrition is vital during pregnancy, but how do you separate the myth from the science-based fact? During the time between conception and birth, there are significant changes in the body’s nutritional requirements. But of course there is no one-size-fits-all approach.   Changes during pregnancy are far-reaching and every woman requires different nutrition based on their body, their lifestyle, and their pregnancy. Join our trends panel: Nutrition insight panel: eating for two – what are the latest trends in pregnancy nutrition? There are other challenges too, myths and misleading stories about pregnancy would fill a very large book, or a never-ending twitter feed.   And with diet being so tied up with culture, it is hard to escape their pull.  In this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, look at the nutritional demands of pregnancy and discuss which aspects of diet are most important, and which advice and products are actually worth taking seriously. Hannah Love, Paediatric Nurse Hannah Love

Shiada Drysdale is a high-flyer, and not just because she works for Virgin Atlantic. As the company's Beverage Lead for Inflight Services, she selects the drinks that appear on all of Virgin's flights. There is so much thought and research that goes into the selection of drinks you get on a flight, and it is Shiada's job to make sure what's on offer is the perfect fit. That manifests itself in a number of different ways, from making sure the beverages chosen are the most popular with passengers, to ensuring the way they are packaged maximises use of space onboard. Throw into that the complexities of how our sense of taste changes at altitude, and working out the logistics of making sure there is the right amount of the right drinks on flights crossing the globe, Shiada's job is not one for the faint-heart. This episode of the Career Conversations podcast series was recorded in front of a live audience as part of our Inspiring Careers in Food event. Listen to the full episode to find out how Shiada worke

What is the state of the relationship between consumers and the food industry? What do consumers think about the food they eat? How safe do they consider the food they buy to be? And what can the food industry learn from tracking consumer behaviour? In the UK, many of those questions can be answered by looking at the results of the Food Standards Agency's flagship Food and You 2 Survey. We all have individual concerns and behaviours around food, but what do these individual preferences add up to when scaled to the national level? And how can the food industry use that information? According to the survey, the biggest consumer concerns are food waste, the amount of sugar in food, and animal welfare.  More than 50% of respondents reported feeling worried about these issues. The environment has shown itself to be a key issue too, with one third of people who responded to the survey saying they have intentionally bought food which has a low environmental impact. Consumer confidence appears high, with 92% s

The hormones which charge around in our bloodstream are incredibly influential, but what role can nutrition play in regulating them? We are probably most familiar with oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone, the female and male sex hormones But they are just part of a vast endocrine system, affecting our bodies in countless ways. Things like appetite, metabolism, sleep, reproduction, body temperature, mood, you name it, there is a hormone controlling it.  But this is a delicate system and, if hormonal balance is out of sync, it can affect pretty much everything else.   So how does our nutrition interact with this system?   Is it possible to improve overall hormonal balance by tweaking what we eat?   And can we target specific things like better sleep or a more regulated appetite, without adversely affecting other aspects of the system?   Finally, in this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, we ask: Is the food industry aware of its effect on our inner hormonal lives? Suzie Sawyer, Clinical Nut

Sometimes the best ideas are born out of necessity, and that is exactly what happened for Jessica Harris, Founder of Little Bandits. Her journey into the food industry began when her son was diagnosed with a severe allergy to cow's milk. She had never worked with food before but was driven to create her own products after being disappointed with the free-from range that was on offer for children at the time. In this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, recorded in front of a live audience at our Inspiring Careers in Food event, Jessica tells us she was driven by a feeling that she did not want her son to feel excluded. The ultimate guide to setting up your food and drinks brand Little Bandits makes yoghurts which are free from the top 14 allergens, low in sugar, and free from additives. But Jessica says it is not just about making free-from products, her aim has always been to make them tasty and convenient. One of the big challenges was making sure the yoghurts were available in superma

How concerned are consumers with what is included on food and drink labels? To some, it might sound like something regulators are more concerned about than shoppers. But a European survey shows more than 80% of consumers believe product information is of major importance. So, it is crucial that food and drink producers get them right. In this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, which is part of a short series made in partnership with Brenntag, we take a look at the differences between clean and clear labels. We hear a lot about clean label products, but is there an agreed definition of what it actually means? Does it mean the same to regulators, producers and consumers? And what about clear labels? What is the difference?  What is needed? What could be improved? And what might a clear label look like in the future? More from Brenntag:  How to get a slice of the alternative protein market Functional drinks - more than just a question of taste In short, clean labels make it easier for consumers t

The United Nations Climate Change Conference is underway in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. In this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, we are taking stock to ask the food industry about its hopes for COP27. We have spoken to key figures from the sector to ask them: - What they want to see achieved - How hopeful they are that meaningful change can come about - Whether or not the food industry gets enough attention at these climate change conferences  And we ask them to reflect on COP26 and what progress has been made in the last 12 months. Dr Emma Keller, Head of Sustainability, Nestlé UK & Ireland Emma Keller 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 s

To mark National School Meals Week in the UK, the Food Matters Live podcast is making a series of episodes looking at the challenges around providing nutritious food for our children in the school canteen. In recent episodes, we have heard from the school caterer’s trade body, LACA, about the challenges they are facing, and from School Food Matters, a charity fighting to improve school meals. Rising prices and supply chain issues are leading to some providers saying they will have to change their menus. In this episode, we meet Dr Jennie Parnham, a researcher at Imperial College London who has studied the impact school meals can have on a child’s learning. Dr Jennie Parnham, Researcher, Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, Imperial College London Dr Jennie Parnham is a researcher based in the Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit at Imperial College London whose work focuses on the inequalities in diet and nutrition for low-income children and the policies which can be used to address these.  Through he

To mark National School Meals Week in the UK, the Food Matters Live podcast is making a series of episodes looking at the challenges around providing nutritious food for our children in the school canteen. In the last episode, we heard from the school caterer’s trade body LACA, about the challenges they are facing from rising costs and supply chain issues. There is no denying the difficulties being faced by school meal providers, but are there some innovative solutions out there? In this episode we meet Stephanie Slater, Founder and Chief Executive of the charity School Food Matters.  Look out for the next episode, where we hear from a researcher, who has studied the important role school meals can play in a child’s learning. Stephanie Slater, Chief Executive and Founder, School Food Matters Stephanie Slater is Founder and Chief Executive at School Food Matters.  She set up the charity in 2007 after successfully campaigning to improve the food at her children’s primary school.   In 2012, she was invit

To mark National School Meals Week in the UK, the Food Matters Live podcast is making a series of episodes looking at the challenges around providing nutritious food for our children in the school canteen. School meals are under pressure. Rising costs and supply chain issues are leading to some providers saying they will have to change their menus. So what does that mean for the food that is provided and the children who are eating it? Later in the series we will speak to a researcher, who has studied the impact of school meals on a child’s learning, and a school food charity. But in this episode we meet Brad Pearce, Managing Director of the school caterers trade body LACA, to find out more about the challenges they are facing and how they are hoping to overcome them. Brad Pearce, Managing Director, LACA Brad started his local government career straight from school at 16 joining Devon’s Trading Standards Team before taking up Client roles for Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) in cleaning and school

What is it like to work for one of the most well-known and growing brands in the food industry? That's exactly the position Dr David Lloyd, Senior Research and Development Manager at Huel, finds himself in. In this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, the first to be recorded in front of a live studio audience as part of our Inspiring Careers in Food Series of events, he reveals all about his journey to the top. Dr Lloyd's role as Huel is heavily science based and includes a lot of project management. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering, which he got at Loughborough University, and he has a PhD in Formulation Engineering from the University of Birmingham. Before joining Huel, he was chief scientist at the huge multinational Unilever. Listen to the full episode to find out how Dr Lloyd found the move from Unilever to Huel, how much you can expect to earn if you follow a career path like his, and enjoy some questions from our audience of students who attended the event. Dr David Lloyd,

The food industry is arguably one of the most innovative sectors in the world, but what are the strategies and ideas that underpin successful product innovation? Innovation is big business in the food and drink industry. On the Food Matters Live podcast, we are often meeting people with great new ideas or tapping into growth trends, whether that is wellness, nutrition, plant based, ag-tech, or a whole host more. In this episode, made in partnership with Sopheon, we dig deep into the art and science of innovation, and ask: Are there certain practices that support most, if not all, successful product innovation projects? Which approaches can drive product innovation forwards? And what are the key questions innovators should be asking themselves? The modern world is ultra-connected, things are manufactured and assembled in multiple countries, team members work in different time zones, products are sold in different places.    That creates plenty of opportunity for innovation, but it can throw up challenges

Functional beverages may have begun life as a niche part of the drinks market, but with them now generating billions of dollars in revenue globally, it is a sector that cannot be ignored. Just go to your local supermarket or convenience store and see how many are on offer. But where is the market heading? What are the latest developments in terms of ingredients? And what does the data show consumers are after? In this episode, which is part of a short series made in partnership with Brenntag Food and Nutrition, we seek to answer those questions. Functional drinks have a market value of around $120 billion and that covers a whole range of different products. Some are attractive to people looking to stay active and mentally alert, but there are lots of different reasons people are attracted to functional drinks. The difficulty can be in seeing which way the market is moving and where the opportunities might be. There are other challenges thrown up by adding functional ingredients to drinks, not least get

Energy prices are soaring and having a profound and growing impact on businesses of all kinds. But the hospitality sector has faced incredible pressure across two years of the Covid pandemic. So, how is it coping with this latest, significant challenge? It is a sector where showing a positive, welcoming face to your customers is vital. But businesses in the sector are reporting energy price rises of 95%, and many are being forced to raise prices, drastically reduce energy use, and cut trading hours. In the UK, the Government has offered support in its Mini Budget.   But, with a tough winter looming, will that help be enough?   Will the smile be back on the face of the hospitality sector in the medium term? In this episode we hear from two people who can offer a rounded view of how the energy price crisis is affecting the industry. Gareth Fulford is chef and patron at a restaurant in Cheltenham, where he is feeling the effects every single day. His business, like many others, is fighting battles on tw

Anne Marie Butler did not always want to work in the food industry, in fact, she had originally hoped to become a lawyer. But she ended up becoming the "queen of cheese" at the dairy firm Edlong, thanks in part to a chance bit of work experience. "I just didn't bother to arrange anything," she tells Elisa Roche in this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series. She ended up doing at stint at Kerry and so began her lifelong passion for food innovation, flavour and dairy. Anne Marie tells Elisa she believes everything happens for a reason and that work placement really has seen her land on her feet. She is now Edlong's Global Director of Innovation and Commercial Development. Like many people in the industry, she started off with a science degree and moved into new product development. Anne Marie says she believes everything happens for a reason and she urges others to "follow their gut" when making career decisions. Listen to the full episode to find out how she made it to her current role. A

There is no doubt that the alternative protein market is growing, but how can food companies make their own mark in this area? We are certainly hearing more and more about these products and there is no doubt that it has never been easier to find them on our supermarket shelves. In this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, made in partnership with Brenntag Food and Nutrition, we explore the challenges and the solutions for creating meat and dairy-free alternative products that excite the taste buds and entice consumers. Meat-alternatives, in particular, throw up a number of challenges, but work is being done right around the world to get things like the taste, texture and nutrient profile just right. And the prize for achieving those things is huge. It is predicted that the alternative protein market will grow to $26 billion by 2024. So does that mean we are all about to adopt a vegetarian diet? It seems the answer is no, with a growing number of consumers declaring themselves to be flexitarian. Th