Food Matters Live Podcast (Food Matters Live)

2019 has been the year of the vegan. Whether it's pundits debating the Gregg's vegan sausage roll or the announcement of new alternative protein sources, scarcely a day passes without some new development that helps to feed the massive demand for plant-based food and drink.

Launched in 2014, Veganuary has been an effective advocate for plant-based eating, encouraging people to try abstaining from meat and dairy for a month. As a by-product it has created a huge opportunity for producers, who have a larger audience ready to consume their newest creations. In this episode we talk all things Veganuary, and are joined by Toni Vernelli, Head of Communications and Marketing International, Veganuary, Dr Carys Bennett, Senior Corporate Liaison, PETA and Nic Jones, Founding Partner, All Things Better – The Planets Agency, to gain their views on how plant-based eating will develop.

Find out more about Veganuary and sign up here

In this episode we focus on the rise of low and no-alcohol drinks, and how a new, young, health-conscious consumer is causing a surge in demand for these products. 

Joining us in the studio are Kantar, Three Spirit, and Club Soda: The Mindful Drinking Movement to discuss how the landscape has changed, the new products and development that are invigorating the market, and whether retailers should see the low and no-alcohol sector as a threat, or as an opportunity.

About our panel

Andy Crossan, Consumer Insight Director, Kantar

Andy has been with Kantar for over 10 years. In that time he has worked internationally as well as domestically within their Worldpanel division which delves into the shopping habits, consumption and attitudes of adults in Great Britain.

 

Specialising in Alcohol shopper and consumer behaviours for the past 6 years, Andy represents Kantar at conferences presenting on key topics such as the movement towards moderation and the low/no alcohol sector.’ 

 

Dash Lilley, Co Founder, Three Spirit 

Three Spirit is a functional, alcohol free, adult drinks company based in London.

 

Dash manages product and oversees everything to do with liquid development, ingredient sourcing and supplier / manufacturer relations. He also plays a key role in brand creation and development.

 

Dash has worked extensively as a drinks consultant for multiple innovative start ups as well as some large corporate clients. This has enabled a wide understanding of the market as well as the various challenges that can face both large and small business’.

 

Laura Willoughby MBE, Co-Founder of Club Soda; The Mindful Drinking Movement

Laura Willoughby MBE is co-founder of Club Soda, the Mindful Drinking Movement. Their aim is to create a world where nobody feels out of place not drinking. Club Soda has individuals, drinks brands, and social spaces in its membership.

 

Club Soda has over 50,000 individual members, have built a venue listing guide for mindful drinkers (clubsodaguide.com) and they run the UK’s only Mindful Drinking Festival which is now in it’s 7th edition. She is author of How to Be a Mindful Drinker, a new book for 2020 published by DK books. 

 

Laura is chair of Imbibe’s No & Low Taste Awards judging panel for 2020.

Club Soda's Mindful Drinking Festival, in association with Lindeman's, takes place at the Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London on January 18th and 19th, it is free to attend.

This episode focuses on packaging, and the challenges that packaging pioneers face as they work to reduce our carbon footprint and point us in the direction of a sustainable future.

Joining us to discuss how we can solve the important problems now are Gordon McSkimming, Sustainable Packaging Manager, Coca Cola European Partners, Suze and Jimmy Cregan, Co Founder's, Jimmy’s Iced Coffee
Robin Clark, Global Director of Restaurant Services and Sustainability, Just Eat. and Pierre-Yves Paslier, Co-Founder, Notpla.

Find out where we are, what developments are going to change the future, and practical ways small businesses can get involved in the sustainability movement.

As a really successful Veganuary wraps up many consumers who took the plunge for January will continue to consume plant-based food and drink in larger quantities than before. With statistics showing more and more people looking to reduce meat and dairy what will be driving new product development in the future, and is the industry ready?

In this Table Talk Podcast we pose these questions to businesses at the pointy-end of the supply chain, with guests from Deliveroo, Premier Foods, and Happen explain what innovation is happening, and how plant-based food and drink will evolve in 2020.

Joining host Stefan Gates this week are:

Kate Yateman-Smith, Marketing Controller, Premier Foods

After seven years at Diageo, and a year at Lindt, Kate moved to Premier Foods to deliver a new-to-world Health Brand as part of a strategic ambition. It has been an interesting and challenging journey to navigate the world of health, and now plant-based, but this is trend she firmly believes is only just getting started.

Tom Peters, Global Director New Businesses, Deliveroo

Tom Peters is Director, New Businesses at Deliveroo, the leading global food delivery platform. He has responsibility for launching new consumer concepts to help drive Deliveroo's mission to become the definitive food company and feed people three times a day.

Suzanne Robinson, Managing Director, Happen UK

Suzanne is Managing Director of Happen UK. Part of Happen Group, this global innovation consultancy helps clients create commercially successful innovation in crowded consumer markets. Over the past 10 years Happen have incremented over $5Bn in revenue for their clients.

In this episode of the Table Talk Podcast host Stefan Gates is joined on location at the food Matters Summit by three of the most exciting disruptors in food tech, all with a shared common goal of increasing sustainability.

Join us and find out how Shiok Meats are growing seafood using stem cells, how Protifarm are helping us get our protein from insects, and how Too Good To Go is aiming to make sure that no meal goes to waste.

Our guests this week include:

Dr Sandhya Sriram, CEO & Co-Founder, Shiok Meats

Dr Sandhya Sriram is the CEO and co-founder of Shiok Meats Pte. Ltd., Singapore. Sandhya is a stem cell scientist with over 10 years of experience. After graduating with a PhD from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Sandhya pursued her postdoc at A*STAR in Singapore. Following 4 years of postdoctoral work, she took up business development at a research institute. Alongside, she co-founded 2 companies, Biotech In Asia and SciGlo. Sandhya has been featured on Forbes Women in Tech for her entrepreneurial ventures and is an author for Nature Biotechnology blog. Currently her company, Shiok Meats, is employing cellular agriculture by growing sustainable seafood and meat using stem cells instead of animals; their first product being Shiok Shrimp.

Tom Morhmann, CEO, Protifarm

Tom Mohrmann has been Chief Executive Officer at Protifarm since 2018. Protifarm is a Dutch agri-tech leader producing functional and sustainable ingredients for the food industry from food-grade farmed insects. One of his goals is the international deployment of the effective ingredient line, AdalbaPro – made of the Alphitobius diaperinus (also known as the Buffalo Beetle). Besides digestible proteins, AdalbaPro ingredients also contain essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fibres, and healthy fats. The high quality food ingredients can add value to applications in for example sports nutrition, meat (alternatives), bakery and many more.

Jamie Crummie, Co Founder, Too Good To Go

Jamie Crummie trained as a lawyer before pursuing his mission of fighting food waste. He is the co-founder of Too Good To Go: the world’s largest marketplace for surplus food. The free app connects cafes, restaurants and food retailers who have unsold food available with local consumers who purchase, collect and enjoy it. Too Good To Go operates in ten countries (and counting!) and has saved over 13m meals globally. In the UK, over 600,000 meals have been saved to date.

Want to discover how tech is responding to the biggest challenges facing the food and drink industry? Join the most disruptive startups, investors and corporates sharing their insight at Food Tech Matters 2020.

The impact of plastic on the environment has become a global concern in the past few years, and the food and drink industry is experiencing understandable pressure to ditch plastic and move to newer sustainable packaging. However, it's not an easy transition, with plastic acting as a great way to keep food fresher for longer.

In today's podcast we're joined by Sian Sutherland, Co-Founder, A Plastic Planet, to discuss the scale of the problem the industry faces, and find ways that companies small and large can make an impact as we look towards a plastic-free future.

Sian Sutherland, Co-Founder, A Plastic Planet

Sian Sutherland is Co-Founder of campaign group A Plastic Planet. The campaign has a single mission - a Plastic Free Aisle in supermarkets.

Sian is also a serial entrepreneur with a varied background in advertising, Michelin Star restaurants, film production and brand creation design agencies. In 2005 she created Mama Mio, with her 3 partners, the first premium pregnancy skincare range and in 2014 launched Mio, again creating a new niche in a saturated market – delivering skin fitness to active women. She is often asked to speak about female empowerment, entrepreneurship and how to build positive, passionate, responsible brands people really connect to.

Sian will be taking part in Smart Food Matters, the first high level, international gathering in London addressing the key challenges facing the industry, and how technology and innovation can solve them. Get your delegate pass for more than £200 off here

The category of CBD-infused food and drink is booming, with revenue in the UK expected to top £1bn by 2025. Dominated by startups, new products are flooding onto the market in Europe to meet a surging consumer demand.

In this podcast we explore the science behind CBD-infused food and drink, what benefits it offers, why is there such a growing interest from consumers, what new launches we can expect in the next year, and what regulation will mean for manufacturers and retailers. Joining our panel are MMR Research, Botanic-Lab and Harris Interactive to share their experience and insight into the fascinating world of CBD.

Joining us on our panel are:

Amirah Ashouri, Associate Director, MMR Research

Amirah joined MMR in 2016, with a focus on making brands, packs and products work harder by enhancing the sensory experience. Amirah designs bespoke research approaches covering qual and quant techniques, working with a wide range of global FMCG clients. With a background in nutrition and sensory, Amirah is particularly interested in helping clients develop products which deliver on functional benefits, whilst also meeting taste expectations.

To find out more about MMR Research please visit www.mmr-research.com

Magdalena Jablkowska-Citko, Research Director, Harris Interactive

Magda has over 15 years of well-rounded experience in market research with a strong blend of quantitative and qualitative expertise. She spent nearly 10 years with Nielsen being responsible for developing and growing several key regional and global client relationships. She currently holds Research Director position at Harris Interactive with a strategic role of supporting the growth of the FMCG & pharma business sectors. She is passionate about innovative digital solutions and developing consumer and shopper insights to effectively drive business decision making.

To find out more about Harris Interactive please visit https://harris-interactive.co.uk/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/

Rebekah Hall, CEO & Founder, Botanic-Lab

Since 2015, Rebekah’s strategic vision and business acumen have been the driving force behind Botanic Lab, rewriting the rulebook on stereotypical ‘health drinks’ and catapulting the business to success in a very competitive landscape. Botanic Lab has become synonymous with high quality functional drinks and in 2018 Botanic Lab became the first brand in Europe to launch a CBD beverage, the multi award winning Dutch Courage. Botanic Lab products are unique in formulation and design and are unapologetically taking over the shelves of key retail players such as Sainsbury’s, Co-Op, Holland & Barrett, Ocado and Eat.

To find out more about their Dutch Courage CBD drink please visit https://botanic-lab.co.uk/collections/social-lubricants/products/dutch-courage-30-day-cbd-supply. Use code FOODMATTERSLIVE£5 in order to get £5 off a 30 day CBD pack.

The ingredients sector is constantly under pressure to deliver new flavours, experiences, and sensations. It's also expected to lead the way on health and sustainability. Consumer demand, amplified by social media, has led to a surge in new food trends in the last few years, and ingredients companies have had to react swiftly to support these needs.

In the latest podcast we sat down with four experts from Brenntag, Kalsec, GNT and FMCG Gurus who will explain how ingredients companies manage to respond to these changing trends, and what they see as the trends that will drive the future of food and drink.

Joining our panel today are:

Tayab Haq, Business Development Manager, Brenntag

Tayab is a Food Technologist with 18 years manufacturing experience. He has worked in NPD roles across a diverse range of categories for major UK food manufacturers; sandwiches, desserts, ready meals, herbs & spices, sauces and soups. Tayab has managed teams in the UK and France and even spent 6 months living and studying in France during his degree. Inspired to go into the food industry after a family friend got him tickets for an open day at an ice cream factory, he now enjoys helping manufacturers with technical and formulation advice on ingredients in his current role with Brenntag Food & Nutrition.

Helen Vine, Business Development Manager, GNT

Helen Vine is Business Development Manager for GNT UK and has extensive experience supporting the industry to create colourful and appetising food and drink products using EXBERRY® Colouring Foods. Helen’s background is technical having studied Food Science and Nutrition at Nottingham University and started her career as a Nutritionist for a Food Supplement manufacturer before spending 5 year in alcoholic beverage development for a major International brewery prior to joining GNT in 2005. Helen is an ambassador for delivering colour in the most healthy and natural way and takes pride in supporting successful product development and marketing from concept to launch.

Mike Hughes, Head of Insight, FMCG Gurus

Mike Hughes has over 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.

Gareth Jones, Protein Sector Specialist, Kalsec

Gareth Jones is Protein Sector Specialist for Kalsec Europe, working with the company’s natural spice and herb extracts to add value to food manufactures in Europe. Holding a degree in microbiology, Gareth has previously worked within the dairy sector alongside QSRs and retailers, with functional starches and wheat proteins, and with both natural and high intensity sweeteners. Gareth has also worked with natural antimicrobial products, specifically in the meat and poultry sectors. His current role for Kalsec focuses on partnering with customers in traditional meat and poultry applications alongside the continuously evolving alternative protein market.

Consumers are demanding more transparency from the brands they purchase. Today's shopper is focused on sustainability, and more than ever wants to know the story of the products they are buying.

In this podcast we talk to Danone, who are launching a new Track and Connect blockchain food traceability solution to its baby formula brands, to help consumers get a full picture of where the product has been from farm to fork. What challenges have they experienced, where do they see the technology going in the future, and why is it so important for them to provide this functionality for their customers?

To see an animated demonstration of the way this new functionality works, click here.

About our guest

Sumathi Manjunath, Director of Sustainability and Digital Infrastructure, Danone Specialized Nutrition

Danone manufactures sells and distributes dairy products, waters and specialised nutritional products, which include baby formulas across the world. Sumathi's tenure in the company started in July 2011, initially working in Danone’s Middle East regional organisation as Supply chain Director, Quality lead & Country manager. After 2 years she was appointed plant manager for a Danone production facility in Ireland. She then moved on to the global team being responsible for defining SAP core model & implementation across all manufacturing sites within Danone’s Specialized Nutrition business. In 2017, she moved to Danone’s Specialized Nutrition Operations board as the Nature & Sustainability Director for the division moving quickly to also take Systems & Central Master data on board.

Feeding more people sustainably is a challenge that affects the whole of the food and drink industry. With consumers focusing more and more on where their food comes from, and how it is produced, demonstrating that supply chains are sustainable will be key for many businesses that want to succeed.

The Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) is a leadership initiative established by global farmed salmon producers focused on making significant progress on industry sustainability. In this episode we speak to GSI CEO Sophie Ryan to find out how they are tackling the challenges the industry faces, and how they are helping to advance sustainability goals.

About Sophie Ryan

Sophie is CEO of the Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) - a leadership group representing 50% of the global farmed salmon industry committed to continuous improvements in their sustainability performance. Her work focuses on motivating environmental improvements, developing effective communication strategies to improve industry transparency, and building multi-stakeholder relationships to help achieve the group’s sustainability goals. Having worked with the group since it’s conception in 2013, Sophie has supported the growth of the group to where it is today and helped construct and launch the first industry-wide Sustainability Report in the food sector. Sophie also consults to the Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP).

Find out more about GSI here

Our gut microbiome has an important role to play in our health and wellbeing, with new research demonstrating the positive impact a healthy gut can have on our physical and mental health. What do we mean by a healthy gut, and what impact can changing our diet and fibre intake have on improving our gut health?

In part one of this two-part series, brought to you by the Wellbeing Team at Kellogg’s, we’re joined by two experts in the field of gut health, Professor Glenn Gibson, Professor of Food Microbiology, Head of Food Microbial Sciences, Reading University and Laura Tilt, UK Registered Dietitian and health writer as we explore the fascinating world of fibre and the gut microbiome.

Last week we joined Professor Glenn Gibson, Professor of Food Microbiology, Head of Food Microbial Sciences, Reading University and Laura Tilt, UK Registered Dietitian and health writer as took a fascinating look at our gut microbiome, and how it can be positively impacted by diet and fibre-consumption.

This week we join our panel again, brought to you by the Wellbeing Team at Kelloggs, to look even further into the potential of the gut, and how we can facilitate dietary change to benefit our gut, and benefit our physical and mental wellbeing. 

Achieving Zero Hunger and eradicating malnutrition by 2030 is the United Nations World Food Programme’s raison d’être. The World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters.

Hila Cohen, Head of Business Development at the United Nations World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator explains how they support entrepreneurs and startups working towards ending hunger. Find out how they apply a human-centred design and a lean startup approach to accelerate disruptive innovations as Hila joins us for a fascinating look into the UN WFP Innovation Accelerator.

About Hila Cohen, Head of Business Development and the United Nations World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Accelerator which was launched in August 2015 in Munich, Germany. The Innovation Accelerator’s aim is to accelerate disruptive innovations to reach a world without hunger. The accelerator supports entrepreneurs and startups working towards ending hunger applying a human-centred design and a lean startup approach.

Hila worked in WFP for more than three years before joining the Innovation Accelerator. Beforehand, she worked for 4 year as a hi-tech corporate lawyer in a leading firm in Tel Aviv. She holds an MBA from the SDA Bocconi School of Management (Italy) and a Bachelors in Law from the University of Haifa (Israel). She has an avid interest in the latest developments and trends in the technology realm.

Find out more about the UN WFP Innovation Accelerator here

Unpredictable variables throughout the manufacturing life cycle can cause a huge drain on productivity and waste. Understanding the impact of these changes helps food and drink manufacturers decide on the best intervention - before it’s too late. But with today’s technology, more connected supply chain and industry collaboration – there is light at the end of the tunnel. If every manufacturer were able to predict and control variability to intervene before it’s too late, the transformation could be huge.

In this episode, in partnership with Siemens, we look at the challenges facing the food and drink industry when trying to manage variability, what pinch points affect businesses and how these can be resolved through tech. Joining our panel for this fascinating debate are Siemens, Speedibake, Raynor Foods, Polestar Interactive and Digital Catapult.

To find out more about how Siemens is helping predict variability click here

More and more consumers are looking to better their physical and mental wellbeing through exercise. The rise of this new type of active lifestyle consumer has created huge demand for sports nutrition products, and is pushing innovation and NPD in the sector. 

In this Table Talk podcast we focus on this new consumer demand and what impact it is currently having, and will have, on future sports nutrition development. What challenges does the industry face as it develops credibility, and what will the future of sports nutrition look like? Will the move to plant-based proteins be reflected in the sports nutrition sector that has traditionally relied on whey? Join our expert panel including Luca Bucchini, Vice Chair, ESSNA (European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance), Ryan Page, NPD Manager, USN and James Markey, Managing Director, Nutrition X to find out.

The coronavirus COVID-19 has put a renewed focus on the immune system, and particularly how to improve individual immune response. What can consumers do to support their immune system through improved nutritional health?  With mis-information spreading widely around immune health on social media can the food and nutrition industry help ensure that the focus remains on science-based facts?

In this podcast, in partnership with Yestimun® Beta Glucan from Leiber GmbH, we investigate the role diet and nutrition plays in supporting a healthy immune system, how gut health impacts health, and how the industry is responding to growing demand from consumers for immune health supporting products, ingredients, and nutraceuticals. Joining us for this fascinating look at immune health are Eike Hagemann, Business Unit Director Health, Leiber GmbH, Samanta Maci, Senior Commercial & Technical Manager, EMEA, Kemin Human Nutrition and Health and Philip C. Calder, Professor of Nutritional Immunology, University of Southampton.

To find out more about Yestimun® Beta Glucan please click here.

To find out more about BetaVIA™ Complete from Kemin please click here.

As part of our series focusing on packaging, we will be joined by the CEO of Nestlé UK & Ireland, Stefan Agostini, to talk about how Nestlé are leading the charge on plastic reduction and making a significant financial commitment to tackle the problem of plastic waste.

What are the overall ambitions for Nestlé and its packaging commitment and what are the biggest challenges, and opportunities, in meeting the targets it has set for the future?

About Stefano Agostini

Stefano Agostini joined Nestlé in Italy in 1989 as Regional Sales Manager, rising rapidly through a range of senior roles until becoming National Sales Director for Nestlé Waters Italy in 2001.

He transferred to the UK in 2004 as Country Business Manager for Nestlé Waters UK, and was a member of the leadership team for Nestlé in the UK and Ireland market.

In 2007 Stefano was appointed President and CEO of Sanpellegrino, Nestlé Waters Italy. Under his leadership the Sanpellegrino and Acqua Panna brands delivered significant growth, with increased market share and profitability. In his ten years as CEO, Sanpellegrino tripled its international business.

Stefano became CEO of Nestlé UK and Ireland on 1 July 2017. He is a member of the Food and Drink Federation Board and President’s Committee, and chairs its Packaging Taskforce.

The growth in demand for plant-based products continues. New tech developments are providing more opportunities to not only bring plant-based diets into the mainstream, but make our plants work even harder to provide more protein.

In a fascinating and lively discussion we join three experts in the sector from The Meatless Farm Company, Natural, and Tasting the Future. Find out how the plant-based world is changing, what blockers still stand in the way of increased consumer adoption of plant-based food and drink, and what exciting developments lie ahead in the near future.

About our panel

Morten Toft Bech, Founder, Meatless Company

Morten is an entrepreneur and investor and started The Meatless Farm Co in 2016 with the ambition to help reduce overall meat consumption. He also aims to improve people’s health by promoting better eating, whilst supporting the environment and animal welfare.

The Meatless Farm Co’s plant-based products use a range of natural ingredients to create an experience that delivers on taste and texture and makes it easy to substitute meat. Morten has a background from finance and is a serial entrepreneur in the Technology sector. Combined with a passion for plant-based eating, he brings a wealth of business acumen and experience to The Meatless Farm Co.

Henrik Lund, CEO, Naturli

Henrik Lund is a front runner in shifting eating habits towards meat- and dairy-free alternatives. He is vegan and wishes to counter climate changes by distributing plant-based food to a broader audience. Led Naturli´ Foods to record earnings in 2018 and plans to grow further by taking on the United States next. Naturli’ Foods is present inn 16 markets around the world, from Norway to Australia. Naturli’ challenges long-established food products through sustainable product innovation, with the clear goal to offer people 1:1 non compromising plantbased food – it should not be a sacrifice choosing a meat and dairy free day.

Henrik Lund is 47 years old and has been in the FMCG business for more than 20 years. Since 2016, he has been CEO at Naturli and he has been in Naturli since 2010.

Mark Driscoll, Director, Tasting the Future

Having graduated from Wye College (London University) with a degree in Agriculture and environmental science, Mark has worked in the fields of sustainable development and sustainable food for over 25 years, having worked with organisations such as WWF and the National Trust. Mark has been involved in a wide range of innovative external food initiatives, working with governments and the food industry, both within the UK and globally. He sits on a number of governmental and business advisory boards and works with a number of global food businesses supporting the development of their sustainability strategies. In his spare time, Mark manages a smallholding in Herefordshire focussed on growing traditional varieties of fruit and vegetables.

In the past few weeks, the resilience and agility of the food and drink industry has touched people everywhere. Those working across the industry around the globe are rightly recognised as the ‘hidden heroes’ in the battle against COVID-19.  At the same time, the connections between health, nutrition and diet are rarely out of the media spotlight currently with public health voices joining industry providing advice on nutrition, key vitamins and the role of supplements in maintaining general health and immunity during these unprecedented times.

The food and nutrition sectors are key to a sustainable future but they are also facing a significant skills shortage with an estimated 140,000 new recruits needed in food manufacturing alone by 2024 according to the UK Food and Drink Federation. What can be done to help fill this skills gap, and how can academia and the industry work together to help make a difference?

Moira manages FDF Scotland’s skills initiative – A Future in Food – which is funded by Scottish Government through Scotland Food & Drink. A Future in Food helps educators, students, careers influencers and parents better understand the wide variety of careers food and drink has to offer and the skills required by employers. To achieve this Moira work with schools, colleges, universities, industry and a very wide range of other stakeholder organisations to develop and deliver innovative activities. These help participants understand where their food comes from and how it gets to their plate.

Moira is passionate about raising the profile the food and drink industry and making it a career destination of choice for a new generation of recruits. Prior to joining FDF Scotland, Moira worked with Scottish Enterprise’s food and drink team. She also spent a number of years working as an Industrial Engineer.

Emma studied Animal Physiology and Nutrition at Leeds University followed by a Masters Degree in Food Science. After working in Clinical Biochemistry research at the University of Oxford, Emma then moved into the food industry working initially as a Process Technologist, then in different Technical Management roles for over 14 years. She has experience in flour milling, bakery/snacks and a variety of chilled convenience food production operations.

Emma joined the University in May 2009 and gained her PGCHE within the University of Nottingham in December 2012 to support her predominately teaching role and has completed doctorate study part time. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Member of the Institute of Food Science and Technology.

Emma specialises in translating Food Science principles into realistic modern manufacturing and retail applications for students. She is also responsible for the problem based learning teaching aspects within other Biosciences course structures.

Rosina Borrelli has a background in change management consultancy and food education with a first degree in European Business with Technology and a mid-career Master’s in food. She has worked in a variety of areas of the food system including hospitality, manufacturing, retail and FMCG. Her most recent experience is with the Children’s Food Trust, the National Childbirth Trust and Slow Food where she specialised in early years food education. She has tri-sector experience and therefore brings a wide range of workplace skills and understanding to the programme.

Rosina is passionate about effecting change through your work-based learning experiences and your eventual options and choices after graduating. She connects the food sector with the programme and raises awareness of the value and uniqueness of IFSTAL participants while looking for possible and exclusive opportunities.

IFSTAL is a pioneering learning community and resource to enable a step change in food systems thinking. We have already built a large and diverse community of over 1500 food systems thinkers, including students from a wide range of backgrounds, alumni and workplace practitioners. IFSTAL is available to all postgraduate students enrolled at the participating institutions. The programme equips participants with the skills to apply critical interdisciplinary systems thinking to issues of long-term food security through fostering intra- and inter-institution activities, and the means for taking new learning to the work-place.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed consumer perception of the food industry and supply chains, with workers in the industry being recognised for their resilience and being key to our health and wellbeing. The crisis has caused some noticeable short-term changes in consumer purchasing behaviour but how will it affect long-term consumer trends? Will the focus on health and nutrition that has resulted from the coronavirus pandemic continue for the foreseeable future? What about attitudes to plant-based alternatives, healthy snacking, new tastes or experiences and sustainability? Will consumers continue to re-evaluate their food choices in order to reduce their impact on the environment?

On this episode of the Table Talk Podcast, this time in partnership with Givaudan the global leader in the creation of flavours and fragrances, we find out the answers from the experts. Joining host Stefan Gates our panel from Givaudan includes Danielle Van Hees, Category Manager Snacks EAME, Mieke Acda, Product Manager, Naturals & Nutrition EAME, Sophie Davodeau, Innovation Director Sweet Goods & Dairy EAME, Lucas Huber, Category Manager for Protein EAME, and Anne Passemard, Innovation Director Functional and Nutritional Ingredients EAME. Listen in for a fascinating look at how consumer trends and purchasing behaviour will look in a post-Covid-19 world.

About our panel

Danielle van Hees, Category Manager Snack EAME

 

Danielle joined Givaudan in 2006 and has held various marketing roles within the different business units. Danielle is part of the Regional Innovation Team for Snacks.

 

Prior to joining Givaudan, Danielle worked in a number of IT companies before joining the FMCG market. Danielle studied Commercial Economics at the University of Utrecht. 

 

When not at work she likes spending time with her family playing LEGO with her kids, she also enjoys running, cycling holidays and reading. She is based in Naarden in the Netherlands.

 

Mieke Acda, Product manager natural and nutrition EAME

Mieke Acda has more than a decade of experience in technical and marketing roles in the food and nutrition industry.

 

Mieke joined Givaudan in 2018 and is managing the Innovation Platform Naturals and Nutrition for Sweet Goods, Dairy and the Beverages segments EAME. This platform is responsible for innovation in natural flavours and developing solutions for the nutrition industry.

 

Mieke has a background as nutritionist and a degree in marketing. She is based in the Givaudan Zürich Innovation Center in Switzerland. 

Sophie Davodeau, Innovation Director Sweet Goods & Dairy EAME

Sophie joined Givaudan in 2007 as the Head of Global Sensory; in 2015 she became the Director of Consumer Sensory Insights. In these roles she led teams driving commercialisation of sensory performant and consumer relevant innovation.

 

In November 2019 she was named the Innovation Director for Sweet Goods & Dairy EAME. 

 

Sophie has worked for Kraft Foods (UK), Bel Group (FR), and HJ Heinz (NL) in various roles in the domain of sensory science and consumer insights.

 

Sophie graduated from the Institut National Supérieur de Formation Agro-alimentaire with a master’s degree in Food Science. She is based in Naarden in the Netherlands.

Lucas Huber, Category Manager Proteins EAME

 

Lucas joined Givaudan in 2019 as Category Manager for Protein EAME. He is responsible for the strategic development of the meat and plant-based protein category.

 

Lucas has worked in various marketing roles for Pringles International, Kellogg Switzerland and Valoratrade accumulating a wealth of experience in the FMCG sector. He is based in the Givaudan Zürich Innovation Center in Switzerland.

 

Outside of work he enjoys cooking at home or experiencing vegetarian cuisine across the world. He is also a passionate wakeboarder, squash player and never misses an opportunity to go for a run outdoors.

 

Anne’s journey (and passion) in the food industry started more than 15 years ago as a food technologist, renovating and developing new products (soups/sauces, beverages and ice cream) for various consumer goods companies.

 

After 10 years developing the applications activities to support the growth of Naturex across the globe and help customers from the food industry to switch from artificial to natural and plant-based ingredients and additives, Anne took on the role Innovation Director Functional and Nutritional Ingredients at Naturex in 2020.

 

Anne graduated from AgroParisTech with a master’s degree in Food Science. She is based in Avignon in France.

Investment in European Agtech was expected to double to £2.3bn last year, what is causing such a flurry of activity in the space, and why are investors so drawn to investment in European Agtech?

Join our panel including Five Seasons Ventures, Rockstart, Yield Lab Europe, and Food For Thought as we investigate the trends that are driving the agri-tech investment boom. What’s the current landscape for agtech and food tech, what are the challenges and common mistakes that start-ups make when seeking investment, and what advice do they have for start-ups looking to break into the space.

It’s a fascinating look into the world of investment in agtech, and a great way for young businesses to get insight into what investors want.

Nicky Deasy oversees the day to day operations. Previously she ran Alta Corporate Finance, primarily advising early stage MedTech companies to raise venture capital, as well as other M&A advice. She was Director of Corporate Finance with EY, and Associate Director with KPMG Corporate Finance.

Mark is an entrepreneur with a focus on the agrifood industry. He grew up farming 350 ha of mixed production (arable/dairy/beef) in Scotland. As a member of the startup team of UrbanFarmers, a first-mover European vertical farming company, he led the expansion of the company from Switzerland to The Netherlands, and was part of growing the team from 3 to ~30 people. In his role as Managing Partner at Rockstart AgriFood, he is a founding partner of the fund and oversees the fund management between Denmark and The Netherlands. Mark is a qualified Scottish lawyer (LLB (Hons), PG Dip. LP) and holds an Executive MBA (cum laude & Student Award 2016) from Rotterdam School of Management.

Ivan has been an active venture capital investor for the last 20 years and he is the co-founding Partner of Five Seasons Ventures, the first European venture fund fully focused on Foodtech. He is passionate about product and technology innovation aimed at solving big challenges in the food industry: from alternative sources of proteins, to functional foods, from new models of food distribution to the reduction of food waste. At Five Seasons he invested in gene editing company Tropic Biosciences, pet nutrition company Butternut Box and three more companies yet to be announced.

His experience from previous venture funds in London, includes structuring venture investments, organisational and strategy development, setting up governance for growth and planning for successful exits. He was an early stage investor in Everbridge, Inc. (Nasdaq: EVBG), Tridion BV (acquired by SDL Plc), Gomez, Inc. (acquired by Compuware), Plazes AG (acquired by Nokia), among others.

Christine has dedicated her career to making ag innovation more open and collaborative. She created Thought For Food to inspire young people to get involved in developing the solutions their future depends on. Christine holds an MPA in Science & Technology Policy from Columbia University. She sits on the Board of Young Professionals in Ag Development and is a Founding Member of the Ashoka Changemakers League of Intrapreneurs

Tackling the impact of plastic pollution is key to building a sustainable food industry and a circular economy. How can the food and drink industry help become leaders in transitioning to an environmentally-friendly future?

As part of our packaging innovation podcast series, this podcast will explore the UK’s pioneering Plastics Pact, its ambitions and progress to date and how WRAP Global is now leading a global network to tackle the impact of plastic pollution and move to a circular economy. Joining us for this fascinating look into the Plastics Pact is Peter Skelton, Head of Strategic Partnerships, WRAP.

About Peter Skelton

Peter is WRAP Global’s Strategic Partnerships Manager.  In this role he works with WRAP’s strategic business partners in the UK and internationally to help deliver our shared vision on resource efficiency and waste prevention by informing, advising and helping shape their sustainability priorities.

Peter has worked on all four phases of WRAP’s pioneering voluntary agreement, The Courtauld Commitment, working extensively with leading retailers and brands to implement initiatives that deliver efficiencies and environmental improvements in the areas of food waste prevention, packaging, recycling and operational waste reduction. 

He has also worked with businesses on consumer engagement with WRAP’s LoveFoodHateWaste campaign. 

Peter led on the development and launch of The UK Plastics Pact – the first of a global network of Pacts to help tackle plastic waste and develop a circular economy for plastic packaging. He is therefore well placed to approach the challenge, and opportunities, of the packaging / food waste debate. 

His expertise is based on a strong combination of an extensive knowledge on environmental issues from 16 years at WRAP, with over 12 years’ in commercial marketing and product development roles in the UK grocery and retail sector. Peter has represented WRAP extensively in the UK, Europe and globally in delivering, developing and promoting WRAP’s work. 

Peter has a degree in Geography from the University of Manchester, diplomas in Marketing and is a Chartered Waste Manager with the Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM).  

As these times tell, the food and nutrition sectors are proven to be key to a sustainable future but they are also facing a significant food industry skills shortage with an estimated 140,000 new recruits needed in food manufacturing alone by 2024 according to the UK Food and Drink Federation.

Why is the food industry struggling with an image problem when it comes to getting bright and eager new recruits? In the second episode in a series of podcasts focused on careers in food, drink and nutrition we look at the problem from the industry perspective. Hear directly from industry experts who have built their own careers in the food and drink industry to explore their views on the challenges of not just attracting but also developing young talent so that the food and drink industry can keep innovating to ensure a sustainable future for both national and global food systems.

Helen McNair, Technical Director, Lionel Hitchen

Helen McNair is the Technical Director responsible for Quality Management Systems and Product Development in flavour ingredients manufacturing. Helen has over 30 years experience in the food and beverage industry including manufacturing, retail and food service, ensuring food safety, quality and innovation.

Jacinta George, Managing Director, Reading Scientific Services Ltd (RSSL)

Jacinta George is Managing Director at Reading Scientific Services Ltd (RSSL) and has a wealth of proven industry experience in the Food and Pharma Industry. Jacinta joined RSSL following her role as Mondelēz International’s Director for Ingredient Research and Wellbeing.

The latest in our focus on the gut microbiome, this episode takes a further look deep into our lower intestine to find out all about our gut health and how it impacts on our overall health and wellbeing. Why does our gut microbiome affect us so greatly? What foods can we eat to cultivate a healthy gut microbiome? How are popular diets and supplements affect this area of our health?

To answer all these questions and more, we've assembled an incredible panel of experts who will take us on a journey into our gut microbiome. Joining host Stefan Gates are Julie Thompson, Information Manager, Guts UK, Allison Clark, Nutritionist and Mariette Abrahams, CEO, Qina.

About our panel

Allison Clark has a masters in nutrition and health from Open University in Barcelona and a master in journalism. She is a freelance writer and nutritionist and has written various peer review papers about the role the gut microbiota plays in health, disease and endurance exercise performance. Allison is passionate about the role diet and the gut microbiota play in health and disease.

Julie Thompson is the Information Manager at Guts UK charity www.gutscharity.org.uk. She has had twelve years’ experience of working in the NHS as a dietitian specialising in gastroenterology. She has also written for the British Journal of Nursing, Nurse Prescribing magazine and NHD magazine. Professionally, she is a member of the Gastroenterology Specialist Group of the British Dietetic Association and was a member of the working group for development of UK guidelines on Irritable Bowel Syndrome and diet and a lay member of the NICE Quality Standards for IBS development group. She has also written a systematic review on probiotic treatment in IBS.

Guts UK have information booklets and pages on the website called ‘The role of gut bacteria in health and disease’ and also ‘Gut microbiome (poo) testing’  for people to read more on the subject. They can be downloaded from www.gutscharity.org.uk on the lifestyle page or contact info@gutscharity.org.uk or 07821 122246 for a hardcopy

Mariëtte Abrahams MBA PhD- Nutrition business consultant and founder of Qina, a boutique consultancy that provides nutrition expertise, nutrition data-science, speaking and innovation services with the goal of closing the gap between industry, technology, academia and health practitioners. She is a guest lecturer at London’s St Mary’s university on business innovation and entrepreneurship for nutrition professionals and a published researcher. She is passionate about prevention, how technology can be an enabler for equitable health solutions as well as ethical AI with a focus on inclusion. She is a regular speaker, panellist, and moderator on the topic of personalised nutrition and wellbeing at national, international and corporate events. She is currently based in Portugal and her mission is to challenge, to inspire and to connect.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a surge of focus on nutrition and the impact it can have on our health. Some of the most at-risk groups for severe symptoms from Covid-19 include those with health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, or heart disease – all chronic conditions that are impacted by our diet.

Sadly, those most vulnerable in our society often lack access to quality, affordable, healthy food. How can we address this imbalance in nutrition to create a fairer and healthier community, and what steps does the industry need to take to help support this? Joining our host Stefan Gates is an expert panel who will lend their insight into the problem at hand, including Michael Baber, Director, Health Action Campaign, Alison Smith, Chair of the Older People Specialist Group of the British Dietetic Association and Duane Mellor, Senior Teaching Fellow, Aston Medical School.

Duane Mellor is an experienced dietitian, researcher and educator having published over 60 papers in the fields of dietetics, nutrition and food science. Having spent the first decade of his career working in diabetes care as a dietitian he moved into research where he investigated the effects of dark chocolate on cardiovascular risk in people with type 2 diabetes. Recently he has moved into medical education at Aston Medical School, but still is active in diabetes care as part of the Diabetes UK Nutrition Working Group and British Dietetic Association Diabetes Special Interest Group committee.

Michael is Director of Health Action Campaign and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health. He is a former College Principal and Charity CEO. Health Action Campaign encourages government and businesses to make healthy choices easier for people. It is a member of the Obesity Health Alliance.

Alison has been qualified as a Dietitian for more than 20 years, and for the last 7 years has worked as a Prescribing Support Dietitian within a Clinical Commissioning Group. Her role focuses on appropriate prescribing of all products relating to nutrition, with a particular remit for appropriate prescription of oral nutritional supplements and appropriate identification and treatment of malnutrition. Her particular interests include malnutrition, care homes, dysphagia, dementia, frailty, pressure ulcers and end of life.

She is the chair of the Older People Specialist Group of the British Dietetic Association (BDA), and as part of her role she has represented dietitians working with older people on a number of national initiatives and spoken at many national conferences.

Set against the growing interest in supplements which has been heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic, this podcast will look at what role nutraceuticals and supplements might play in boosting immunity and the potential benefits this could bring to the health system.

What is the right advice to give to consumers and what role can industry play? Do nutraceuticals and supplements act as a good resource for boosting immunity? We explore the science behind the headlines and how industry, academia and policy makers can work together to deliver the right solutions that will help consumers and potentially benefit the wider public health agenda and system.

Professor Mairead Kiely, Professor of Human Nutrition and Head, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork

Mairead is co-chair of the Cork Centre for Vitamin D and Nutrition Research at UCC and led a Pan-EU project on vitamin D requirements, food fortification and health outcomes until early 2018. She leads the Maternal and Child Nutrition Programme at the INFANT Research Centre.

Mairead has more than 25 years experience in human nutrition and health research and she has worked on vitamins, minerals and bioactive food constituents throughout her career. She is a registered public health nutritionist with the Association for Nutrition and is currently the chair of the Irish Section of the Nutrition Society.

Professor Susan Lanham-New, Head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Surrey

Professor Susan Lanham-New is head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Surrey and is a registered Public Health Nutritionist (RPHNutr). She completed her BSc in Exercise Physiology at the University of Chicester and her MSc in Human Nutrition and Metabolism and PhD in Nutrition and Bone at University of Aberdeen. As a PhD student, Sue was awarded a PhD Scholarship by the Nutritional Consultative Panel, and has three times won the Young Investigator Award at the World Osteoporosis Conference, at the National Osteoporosis Society Conference, and at the Joint Meeting of ECTS and IBMS. Currently, Professor Lanham-New’s research focusses on the nutritional aspects of bone health, including specific projects such Interaction between diet and sunlight exposure on vitamin D status in Caucasian and Asian women (D-FINES) study, Extent of vitamin D deficiency in Saudi Arabian women and boys and girls, Impact of veiling on Vitamin D status in Kuwait adolescent girls: impact on bone mass and Protein and bone health: systematic review and meta-analysis. Professor Lanham-New is a member of the Academic Assembly Policy Committee, an Editor-in-Chief of the Nutrition Society Textbook Series and a member of NS Publications Committee.

Professor Judith Buttriss, Director General, The British Nutrition Foundation

Judy studied Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Surrey. She worked as a research dietitian in Professor John Waterlow’s obesity unit for about a year before returning to Surrey to study for a PhD concerning vitamin C and hepatic drug metabolism, which combined the disciplines of nutrition, biochemistry and toxicology. Equipped with a doctorate, Judy worked in various labs as a postdoc researcher, in particular on vitamin E and selenium at Guy’s Hospital Medical School. In 1985 she decided to leave the lab environment and joined the National Dairy Council (NDC) as Senior Nutritionist, where she stayed until 1998 when she joined the BNF as Science Director. She became the BNF’s Director General in October 2007.

Rob Hobson, Nutrition Consultant

As a registered nutritionist (Association for Nutrition), Rob's worked with many of the UK’s largest food and health companies and with training in public health (MSc public health nutrition). He also works with organisations including schools, care homes, government agencies and the NHS. With over a decade of work experience in the field of nutrition, Rob has also established an impressive network of health media and those working in the food and health industry including nutritionists, chefs, personal trainers and PR that have proven to be an invaluable resource.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the links between good nutrition, diet and overall health, and consumers are showing a heightened interest in the nutritional benefit that the food they eat offers. This interest is bound to grow, and will mean more demand for specialised nutritionists to improve health and wellbeing. Sadly, like many areas of the food industry that are facing a pronounced skills shortage, many are unaware of just how rewarding careers in nutrition are.

The third in our podcast series focused on the many rewarding careers available in food and nutrition, join our panel including Moira Howie, Health and Nutrition Manager, Waitrose, and Claire Baseley, Registered Nutritionist and Nutrition Consultant as they explain their roles discuss their day-to-day responsibilities, and talk about why it’s so rewarding to pursue a career in nutrition.

Moira Howie is the Health and Nutrition Manager for retailer Waitrose. Waitrose & Partners is provides a range of products, services and experiences to help its customers lead healthier lives. Earlier this year, the supermarket announced the launch of Healthy Eating Specialists. In a retail first, these shop floor specialists direct customers who ask towards healthier choices.

Claire Baseley, Registered Nutritionist and Nutritional Consultant

Claire is a highly qualified, experienced Registered Nutritionist. With a degree in Biological Science from Oxford University and a Masters of Medical Sciences in Human Nutrition from Sheffield University, Claire takes an evidence-based, professional approach to all her nutrition projects. Registered with the Association for Nutrition, Claire continually develops her expertise, so you can be sure you will always receive up to date, trusted advice. Claire is also passionate about health and nutrition and always goes the extra mile to achieve the best results.

Claire has worked for the Food Standards Agency and then with the Food Industry for many years, building up in-depth experience in areas as diverse as infant and child nutrition, weight loss, adult nutrition, sports nutrition, nutrition for older people. She is experienced in product development, nutrition communications and strategy building, nutrition legislation, copy writing, and recipe analysis.

Claire now runs a successful nutrition consultancy, CLB Nutrition Ltd offering a wide range of services for the food industry, individuals, families and the media. Claire has worked with the media for many years, appearing on ITV’s Save Money Good Food, Channel 4’s Jaime and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast and Food Unwrapped, as well as numerous TV and radio appearances to comment on topical nutrition news issues. A keen writer, Claire is often quoted in the press, particularly in OK! Magazine, as well as the Telegraph, Daily Mail and Mother & Baby Magazine.

Image credit: Chinnapong / Shutterstock.com

Today’s podcast takes a look at AI and machine learning and the significant potential they offer for automating processes, reducing costs and human error in the food industry. Joining hose Stefan Gates for this fascinating look inside the world of AI is Daniel Hulme, Founder & CEO of Satalia who gives us insight into the application of AI in the food industry and the opportunities that it offers.

Daniel Hulme is the CEO of Satalia, a London-based company that provides Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions to solve industry’s hardest problems. He is also the Director of UCL’s Business Analytics MSc, applying AI to solve business, governmental and social problems.

Hulme specialises in philosophy, technology, innovation and organisational design. He is passionate about how technology can be used to govern organisations and bring positive social impact. Hulme’s work outlines a framework for understanding data-driven decision making. He understands the capabilities of AI but also the future challenges and opportunities for AI, and how and why we need to embrace these emerging technologies.

Daniel Hulme’s expertise also spans both the philosophical and ethical issues surrounding these emerging technologies. He has a Masters and Doctorate in AI from UCL, lectures on topics in Computer Science and Business, and is passionate about how technology can be used to govern organisations and bring positive social impact.

Dr Daniel Hulme has advisory and executive positions across companies and governments. He holds an international Kauffman Global Entrepreneur Scholarship and actively promotes purposeful. He is a popular public speaker specialising in the topics of Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Decentralisation, Philosophy, Technology, Innovation and Organisational Design. He is a serial speaker for Google and TEDx, and is a faculty member of Singularity University (https://su.org/about/).

Satalia is an AI-driven organization developing its own products that optimize industries such as transport, retail and hospitality. Satalia’s tools and solutions are being used by names such as Tesco, BBC, PwC, DFS, to name a few. Satalia has implemented a unique organizational structure and culture that fosters autonomous decision making, self-sustainability, curiosity and exploration. Satalia has acquired Data Dog, UAB (currently Satalia Lithuania) in 2019, though the two companies have formed a deep partnership since 2014.

Essentially – Satalia came up with the algorithm for Tesco’s delivery logistics to work out the quickest and most efficient delivery journey.

The human body is a system of interconnected organs and functions. It is difficult to pinpoint the role of the gut in wider health and wellness, particularly when it comes to its relationship with the body’s natural defence and immune system. To help separate fact from fiction, Clasado Biosciences has teamed up with Food Matters to present a Table Talk podcast showcasing the impressive science powering modern nutrition. It highlights our current understanding of the gut microbiome and makes the complex area of gut health more digestible.

In the podcast ‘The role of the gut microbiome in immune health’ Stefan Gates moderates discussion with a panel of experts on the links between gut health and the effectiveness of the immune system. The discussion covers important foundational knowledge of the gut microbiome and immune system, including how they shift and change throughout the human life span.

The podcast then leans into the lifestyle factors and prebiotic supplements that can change or improve the function of the gut microbiome and how this may support the immune system. The discussion highlights many contemporary examples of research that connect the trillions of bacteria in the gut with immune health, as well as how success is measured and where the future of immune health study may lie.

Dr Caroline Childs is Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences within Medicine at the University of Southampton. Dr Childs’ research to date has investigated nutrients including dietary fatty acids, probiotics, and prebiotics. Experimental approaches have included assessment tissue composition, immune function, inflammatory status, immunosenescence, and the gut microbiota. Dr Childs is currently a Member of the ILSI Europe Expert Group on Immune Competence and Co-Chair of ILSI Europe’s Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation Task Force.

Dr Gemma Walton is a Lecturer in Metagenomics at the University of Reading. Dr Walton’s primary area of interest is the gut microbial community and how it is influenced by lifestyle and diet, how it supports health and how we can change this community through dietary intervention; such as consumption of prebiotics and probiotics.

Dr Lucien Harthoorn is R&D Director at Clasado Biosciences. He has an MSc in Biomedical Sciences with specialisation in Pharmacology from the Free University Amsterdam and holds a PhD in Metabolic Physiology from Utrecht University. Dr Harthoorn has held various R&D positions both in academia and corporate companies in Europe and the USA, leading research programmes in various health and disease areas. Dr Harthoorn is a guest lecturer in Pharmacology, Physiology and Nutrition.

To find out more, visit the Clasado website here

COVID-19 has changed the way that consumers shop, with online grocery shopping experiencing a boom of 33% after 4 years of consecutive decline. What does the future hold in store for retail, how is the landscape changing and what does this means for the supply chain?

As we now ease our way out of lockdown, this podcast will explore how COVID-19 has impacted on the future of retail, for the short and longer term. Can we expect change to continue, how must the supply chain evolve to meet with the demand.

About our panel

Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight, Nielsen

Mike Watkins is Head of Retailer and Business and Insight for Nielsen UK and is responsible for commercial development with food, non food and e commerce retailers. Having graduated from Loughborough University with an Economics degree, he worked for Co-operative retailers in various line management positions across buying, marketing and merchandising, before leaving to join Nielsen as Business Manager.

Before taking on his current role, he was Senior Manager for Retailer Services, with responsibility for strategic planning across the retail and wholesale channels in the UK. Mike is a lead contributor to white papers for Nielsen and regularly shares his viewpoints on the Retail State of the Nation with the media, and is a member of the Nielsen Global Thought Leadership team, supporting retailer, manufacturer and financial services clients with retail, business and shopper insight for the UK and Europe.

With over 25 years’ experience in retailing, his view is that over the next 5 years we will see the biggest ever change in how we shop, which will challenge the traditional industry business models.

Sam Roscoe, Senior Lecturer in Operations Management, University of Sussex

Sam is a Senior Lecturer in Operations Management and teaches in the areas of Operations and Supply Chain Management. Sam has published in the Journal of Operations Management on digital manufacturing in the aerospace sector. He has also published on dynamic supply chain capabilities in the International Journal of Operations and Production Management (IJOPM) and local volunteerism in disaster relief situations with the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR). Sam received funding from the EPSRC to investigate how 3D printing is reconfiguring pharmaceutical supply chains; moving production closer to patients and consumers. Sam's research interests are on how emerging technologies (3D printing, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence) are reconfiguring global supply chains. He is the research leader for the Supply Chain 4.0 Hub at the University of Sussex Business School.

Shane Brennan, Chief Executive, Cold Chain Federation

Shane leads the Cold Chain Federation team, having joined the Federation in July 2018. He is an experienced lobbyist and campaigner. He has worked in membership organisations across the food industry and brings a track record of running influencing campaigns that make a positive difference. Shane is a political geek, he can recite sections of early 2000’s political drama the West Wing verbatim (don’t ask him to!) He is also a part time supporter of Bristol City and father to two girls.

What is the circular economy? How would a food system built around it work? How would it help us meet the challenge of producing more food for a growing population in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way?

This podcast will explore how the Advance London programme is working with start ups and innovative food businesses on the nexus between circular economy, innovation and food and how London, as one of three Flagship Cities selected by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, is bringing to life the vision laid out in the Cities and Circular Economy for Food report.

With consumers asking more and more for sustainable products in order to make positive changes, and with business able to benefit from cost reductions of wasting less food, could now be the perfect time to focus on creating the circular economy for food?

Joining host Stefan Gates for this fascinating look at how it could work is Jean Billant, Senior Business Advisor at the Advance London programme of the London Waste and Recycling Board.

About Jean Billant, Senior Business Advisor, Advance London, London Waste and Recycling Board

Jean is Senior Business Advisor at the Advance London programme of the London Waste and Recycling Board, delivering circular economy focused support and advice to companies within London to help them scale-up existing circular economy operations or transition to more circular business operating models. Jean is leading Advance London’s work on the food and drink sector.

Jean delivers circular economy focused business support and advice to SMEs within London. Prior to this, he advised SMEs and manufacturing enterprises to design market-ready solutions around waste to energy, decentralised energy production and bio-based materials. His sound knowledge on technical related issues combined with business and financial skills give him a unique perspective on the development of innovative and low carbon business solutions.

In times of disruption organisations need to be agile in adapting to changing demands. How can food businesses innovate their processes, prioritise new ideas, and build customer-centric innovation pipelines?

In this Table Talk Podcast, in partnership with Sopheon, we join Hain Celestial and Sopheon to find out how food companies can successfully implement processes, approaches and tools to support innovation and new product development. Joining in this lively discussion are Jeff George, Senior Vice President, R&D, The Hain Celestial Group, Brad Eby, Client Executive, Sopheon, and Iain King, Global Enterprise Services Leader, Sopheon.

The Hain Celestial Group (NASDAQ: HAIN), headquartered in Lake Success, NY, is a leading organic and natural products company with operations in North America, Europe and India.

The company’s purpose is to create and inspire A Healthier Way of Life™. Their mission is to be the leading marketer, manufacturer, and seller of organic and natural better-for-you products.

The company is committed to growing sustainably while continuing to implement environmentally sound business practices and manufacturing processes.

Sopheon partners with customers to provide complete Enterprise Innovation Management (EIM) solutions including software, expertise, and best practices. The company has operating bases in the United States, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Germany, with distribution, implementation and support channels worldwide. Sopheon (LSE: SPE) is listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange.

Sopheon’s Accolade is a cross-functional collaborative decision-support software that helps intelligently navigate business and product innovation in our fast-moving, digital economy. Rich in embedded best practices, Accolade becomes the single source of truth that ensures innovation execution is aligned with corporate strategies. It gives business leaders the visibility and transparency needed to understand the future impacts of today’s decisions.

Tech innovation offers huge opportunities to make the supply chain more efficient and sustainable, de-risking previously challenging decisions for farmers and suppliers. What are the technologies that are going to have the most significant impact on the seed to plate supply chain? Join us as we explore the innovations on the horizon that promise to further disrupt the journey from seed to plate.

In this fascinating look at how the seed to plate supply chain is being disrupted, we join RethinkX, Eatable Adventures, iNewtrition, and the University of Reading to see how tech can truly revolutionise the way we produce food for the future.

Catherine Tubb is focused primarily on disruption in the agriculture and food industries and is co-author of RethinkX’s recent report “Rethinking Food & Agriculture 2020-2030”. Prior to joining RethinkX, she was a vice president at the equity research firm Sanford Bernstein, focusing on the chemicals sector, particularly the pesticide and fertilizer industries. Catherine has a PhD in Chemistry and a MSci in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University.

Dr David Rose is Elizabeth Creak Associate Professor of Agricultural Innovation and Extension at the University of Reading. He works on technology adoption and behaviour change in farming, as well as exploring the ethics of the fourth technology revolution. He is also conducting research on the co-design of the new Environmental Land Management Scheme in England. Research students in the group are exploring the implications of precision livestock farming for animal welfare (Juliette Schillings) and how farming futures can be made more inclusive (Auvikki de Boon).

Food Innovation expert with over 25 years’ experience working internationally for start ups and multinationals. After starting my career as a food scientist and technologist, I have led multiple technical, brand extension and business deployment projects with Johnson & Johnson, Wyeth, Pfizer and Nestle.

Paula Álvarez is responsible for analysing the different innovations encompassing the food system and integrating the relevant actors involved in Eatable Adventures Ecosystem. Eatable Adventures is a food business accelerator that connects new food ventures with main industry stakeholders through its online community www.gastroemprendedores.com and www.food.entrepreneurs.com. It helps organisations to understand the complexity of startups and selects the best approach towards successful partnerships. Paula holds a BSc Nutrition from the autonomous university of Madrid and a MSc Food Marketing and Product Development degree from Sheffield Hallam University.

Umami, the fifth taste, has been well known in Asian cuisine for centuries and comes from the ingredients and food processing methods used traditionally in that part of the world. In recent years umami has taken the world by storm as consumers have become more familiar with the fifth taste. There has been a rise in restaurants and food outlets which incorporate umami into their concept, imagery and menus as well as an increase in consumer products utilising umami in their marketing.  Consumers are actively seeking umami-rich products without unwanted flavour enhancers.

What are the latest umami trends and innovations? Why do consumers love umami? What does umami actually taste like?  What does consumer research tell us about the umami taste experience?

On this episode of the Table Talk Podcast, this time in partnership with Givaudan the global leader in the creation of flavours and fragrances, we find out the answers to all of these questions and more! Joining host Stefan Gates our panel from Givaudan includes Magdalena Olszowka, Product Manager Savoury EAME, Jean-Louis Thibaudeau, Team Leader Creation/Principal Flavourist EAME,  and Nicole Oelhafen, Senior Project Manager for Consumer Sensory Insights EAME.

Listen in for everything you need to know about umami, the fifth taste on everybody’s lips. 

About Givaudan

Givaudan is the global leader in the creation of flavours and fragrances. In close collaboration with food and beverage customers and partners, the company creates delicious flavour and taste experiences across several key segments, including beverages, sweet goods, savoury and snacks, dairy, and functional and nutritional ingredients.

About our panel

Nicole Oelhafen, Senior Project Manager for Consumer Sensory Insights EAME

Nicole joined Givaudan in 2004 as Sensory Panel Leader; in 2015 she became Consumer Sensory Project Manager for EAME. She helps to translate consumer insights into actionable concepts and solutions, bringing the voice of the consumer into the heart of the business.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Sciences and German Literature & Linguistics from the University of Zurich. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, cooking, and exploring nature. She is based in the Givaudan Zürich Innovation Center in Switzerland.

Jean-Louis Thibaudeau, Team Leader Creation/Principal Flavourist EAME

Jean-Louis Thibaudeau has over 35 years of experience in the creation of savoury flavours. He joined Givaudan in 1995 as a flavourist for savoury and is now Team leader creation / Principal Flavourist in the Regional Innovation Savoury team. He is passionate about taste in the culinary world.

Outside of work he enjoys photography, hiking and listening to jazz music. He is based in the Givaudan Zürich Innovation Center in Switzerland.

Magdalena Olszowka, Product Manager Savoury EAME

Magda joined Givaudan in 2005 as an Application Technologist in Vienna before moving onto a Key Account Manager position in Poland. In 2017 she took on the role of Product Manager for Savoury combining her technical and commercial experience.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Food Science and Technology from Warsaw University of Life Sciences. In her free time Magda enjoys travelling, outdoor activities and cooking with her kids. She is based in the Givaudan Zürich Innovation Center in Switzerland.

As the effects of COVID-19 are starting to show, will this force consumers to shift to cheaper, chemically modified ingredients & additives? Or, will the pandemic make consumers be more mindful in what they eat, leading to greater transparency in products? The latest Table Talk Podcast looks at the impact COVID-19 may have on the clean label movement.

Join one of the founders of Ulrick & Short, Adrian Short, and their R&D Manager, Danni Schroeter, as they discuss the origins of the clean-label movement, what the future of food transparency looks like, new trends on the horizon, and if clean-label itself will survive COVID-19.

Based in the UK & Holland, Ulrick & Short have been at the forefront of clean-label ingredient technologies for 20 years, designing & manufacturing clean-label starches, flours, fibres & proteins for all food sectors.

They offer industry leading expertise & technical support to food manufacturers across the world – www.cleanlabelingredients.com.

Back in the late 90’s Andrew Ulrick and Adrian Short could see what was then the niche category of ‘Clean Label Ingredients’ was going to become mainstream. With that in mind they combined their experience and expertise in ingredients, cereals and crops with application knowledge across all processed foods and founded Ulrick & Short Limited with a view to developing functional clean label ingredients for food manufacturers.

Now in its 20th Year Ulrick & Short has established itself as the leading British owned company in this field. Manufacturing in five countries around the world utilising crops such as Wheat, Tapioca, Waxy Maize, Rice & Potato we have created a unique range of starches , fibres and proteins with a whole host of functions for all processed foods, supplying them to food manufacturers in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, The Benelux countries and even as far Australia.

Ulrick & Short offer food manufacturers the opportunity to simplify their ingredient declaration, improve nutritional profiles and remove unwanted allergens without compromising eating experience and maintaining stability and textural requirements.

Danni Schroeter, R&D manager, has been at Ulrick & Short for the past seven years, concentrating on new ingredients and product innovation. Her most recent focus has been on sugar & egg replacement in a range of applications as well as researching and developing vegan and allergen free solutions. Danni, a chemistry Graduate from Leeds University is currently studying for a MSc in Food, Nutrition and Health – to further enhance her understanding of the functionality different ingredients bring to a product.

Another in a series of podcasts focused on how Covid-19 consumer behaviours are changing brings together Mintel, HeyHuman and Brand Potential to discuss how habits are changing and how brands and retailers can adapt to those changes.

The introduction of lockdown in the UK was a catalyst for a change in consumer behaviour with consumers panicking and stockpiling everyday essentials. With retailers and the supply chain swiftly responding to meet demand, and huge queues to get into supermarkets, consumers had to adjust to a new way of shopping. With these new restrictions, online grocery has seen a boom, the sector will grow by 33% in 2020 following 4 consecutive years of decline (Mintel). The traditional ‘big shop’ has come back, as seen by a significant reduction in weekly transactions.

Find out from those in-the-know how this consumer behaviour may continue, with the impact of the pandemic developing new trends in how we shop for, eat, and think about our food.

Kate is a Global Food and Drink Analyst at Mintel. She specialises in analysing the dairy sector, with previous experience in FMCG sales and marketing roles.

Liz is one of the three Managing Partners part of the Management buyout of HeyHuman. Liz was involved in the re-launch and re-positioning of the agency and developing alternative agency models. Throughout Liz’s career she has launched multiple brands, and has extensive experience working with a range of clients; from start-ups to big corporate businesses. Her experience has been invaluable to HeyHuman, as a growing business itself Liz has been part of HeyHuman’s growth and successes; from winning awards to new entrepreneurial clients as well as developing existing relationships with major clients.

Chris Molloy is a co-founder of Brand Potential, a brand and innovation agency that unlocks potential for ambitious brand owners and investors. Formed in 2010, we provide digital insight and innovation, brand positioning and design for global portfolio businesses and local entrepreneurial brands. We also work with Private Equity firms by providing brand due diligence support on buy-side and sell-side deals.

Chris leads client and new business development and is responsible for Brand Potential’s private equity practise. He has over 25 years’ experience both client and agency side and is passionate about translating insight into practical and commercially valid growth opportunities for clients.

Explore the evolution of the nutrition bar market from humble beginnings as a chocolate bar to the healthy alternative granola bar and on to high protein nutrition bars and back again. What do nutrition bars look like today compared to 10 years ago? Which ingredients have stood the test of time? On this episode of the Table Talk Podcast, the Glanbia Nutritionals Healthy Snacking team share their first-hand experience in the progression of the nutrition bar market and offer insight into their collaboration model and how they use it to build better bars & snacks with their global customers. Join Glanbia Nutritionals experts Brad Meyers, Paul O’Mahony, Jason Demmerly & Max Maxwell as they share their expertise on how and why nutrition bar formulations and ingredients have changed.

Glanbia Nutritionals (glanbianutritionals.com) is a global provider of innovative nutritional solutions through its extensive portfolio of dairy & non-dairy ingredients and capabilities. Glanbia Nutritionals provides a wide range of science-led solutions to customers across the globe. It is the number one supplier of whey-based nutritional solutions globally and leading provider of customized nutrient premix solutions. Glanbia Nutritionals is a part of Glanbia Plc, a global nutrition company, grounded in science and nature, dedicated to delivering better nutrition for every step of life’s journey. To learn more about Glanbia Nutritionals expertise in bars & healthy snacking visit https://www.glanbianutritionals.com/barsolutions

Paul is responsible for business development of functional dairy proteins and the healthy snacking portfolio of ingredients for Glanbia Nutritionals in Europe & the Middle East, particularly India. Paul has helped to develop Glanbia’s functional solution portfolio across the globe for many years.

Brad oversees the Healthy Snacking portfolio of ingredients for the Glanbia Nutritionals globally. Brad has been working in the food industry since 2004 and is considered a subject matter expert in specialty ingredients.

Max is the category expert for market insights & intelligence in Healthy Snacking category. Based in Madison, Wisconsin Max has a degree in Food & Nutrition from Evergreen State College, Washington, an MBA in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Jason is R&D director of R&D and specializes in research and development, innovation strategy, new product development and commercialization. Years of experience in mentoring and inspiring others to achieve personal and professional goals as well as desired outcomes of the business.

Where will the nutrition bar market go next? Should your brand go with it? The discussion continues with a survey of markets & products that have caught the attention of the Glanbia Nutritionals Healthy Snacking team. In part two of the nutrition bar series, Brad Meyers, Paul O’Mahony, Jason Demmerly & Max Maxwell share what brands should be aware of when exploring the nutrition bar market and what to consider when building a bar. They discuss technical challenges many brand owners face, their take on how taste & texture will affect regional trends, and the science of building a better nutrition bar. The conversation journeys into future trends they predict will drive innovation across nutrition bars, into snacks and beyond.

Glanbia Nutritionals (glanbianutritionals.com) is a global provider of innovative nutritional solutions through its extensive portfolio of dairy & non-dairy ingredients and capabilities. Glanbia Nutritionals provides a wide range of science-led solutions to customers across the globe. It is the number one supplier of whey-based nutritional solutions globally and leading provider of customized nutrient premix solutions. Glanbia Nutritionals is a part of Glanbia Plc, a global nutrition company, grounded in science and nature, dedicated to delivering better nutrition for every step of life’s journey. To learn more about Glanbia Nutritionals expertise in bars & healthy snacking visit https://www.glanbianutritionals.com/barsolutions

About our panel

Paul is responsible for business development of functional dairy proteins and the healthy snacking portfolio of ingredients for Glanbia Nutritionals in Europe & the Middle East, particularly India. Paul has helped to develop Glanbia’s functional solution portfolio across the globe for many years.

Brad oversees the Healthy Snacking portfolio of ingredients for the Glanbia Nutritionals globally. Brad has been working in the food industry since 2004 and is considered a subject matter expert in specialty ingredients.

Max is the category expert for market insights & intelligence in Healthy Snacking category. Based in Madison, Wisconsin Max has a degree in Food & Nutrition from Evergreen State College, Washington, an MBA in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Jason is R&D director of R&D and specialises in research and development, innovation strategy, new product development and commercialisation. Years of experience in mentoring and inspiring others to achieve personal and professional goals as well as desired outcomes of the business.

Professor Tim Lang published his new book this March, Feeding Britain, which argues that ‘UK is de facto, facing a war time scale of food challenge’. COVID-19 has put a sharp focus on the issues that Professor Lang raises in the book around our unsustainable food system. This podcast will explore what makes our current food system dysfunctional and what can be done to revert the damage.

Tim Lang has been Professor of Food Policy at City University London’s Centre for Food Policy since 2002. He founded the Centre in 1994. After a PhD in social psychology at Leeds University, he became a hill farmer in the 1970s in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire which shifted his attention to food policy, where it has been ever since. For years, he’s engaged in academic and public research and debate about its direction, locally to globally. His abiding interest is how policy addresses the mixed challenge of being food for the environment, health, social justice, and citizens. What is a good food system? How is ours measured and measuring up? His current research interests are (a) sustainable diets, (b) the meaning of modern food security and (c) the implications of Brexit for the food system.

He has been a consultant to the World Health Organisation (eg auditing the Global Top 25 Food Companies on food and health 2005), FAO (eg co-chairing the FAO definition of sustainable diets 2010) and UNEP (eg co-writing its 2012 Avoiding Future Famines report). He has been a special advisor to four House of Commons Select Committee inquiries, two on food standards (1998-9 & 1999), globalisation (2000) and obesity (2003-04), and a consultant on food security to the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House 2007-09). He was a Commissioner on the UK Government’s Sustainable Development Commission (2006-11), reviewing progress on food sustainability. He was on the Council of Food Policy Advisors to the Dept for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (2008-10), and is a member of the Mayor of London’s Food Board (2009 – present).

He helped launch the 100 World Cities Urban Food Policy Pact in Milan 2015. He was a Commissioner on the EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems (2016-19) which published the highly acclaimed ‘Food in the Anthropocene’ report (The Lancet, January 2019)

He and the Centre for Food Policy at City University London work closely with scientific and civil society organisations, the latter in the UK notably through the Food Research Collaboration (run from this Centre since 2014), Sustain (which he chaired in the past), the UK Food Group (of development NGOs), and Food & Climate Research Network (Oxford University). He has been Vice-President of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (since 1999) and President of Garden Organic (since 2008). He is special advisor to the Food Research Collaboration on Food and Brexit ((www.foodresearch.org.uk). He helped create City’s role in the 7 University IFSTAL partnership (www.ifstal.ac.uk) which shared food systems thinking for post-graduates in a wide range of disciplines (2015-19).

He has written and co-written many articles, reports, chapters and books. His most recent books are Food Wars (with Michael Heasman, Routledge, 2015), Unmanageable Consumer (with Yiannis Gabriel, Sage, 2015), Ecological Public Health (with Geof Rayner, Routedge Earthscan, 2012), Food Policy (with D Barling and M Caraher, Oxford University Press, 2009) and the Atlas of Food (with E Millstone, Earthscan 2003/2008), which won the André Simon award 2003. He writes frequently in the media and wrote a monthly column in The Grocer 2000-15.

The UK Government has committed to going 'net zero' by 2050. In practice this means getting rid of as many emissions as we produce. This can be achieved through removing harmful emissions as much as possible and in the instances where we still rely on fossil fuels, offsetting the emissions we produce.

This has particular ramifications for the food and nutrition industry, and will affect how businesses operate in the near future. From energy efficiency, to moving towards more sustainable practices, how will the industry be impacted? We join Emma Piercy, Head of Climate Change & Energy Policy at the Food and Drink Federation to find out, and to learn how businesses can take a proactive approach to do their part to achieve net zero.

About Emma Piercy

Emma Piercy, Head of Climate Change & Energy Policy - FDF

Emma joined FDF in October 2019 to lead the Food and Drink Federation’s work programme in Climate Change and Energy. With the UK’s target of net zero by 2050, Emma is currently focused on decarbonising heat in the manufacturing process, to feed into Government’s forthcoming Energy White Paper and Heat Decarbonisation Roadmap. Before joining FDF, Emma held a number of policy and regulation roles in the energy sector covering: RWE AG; RWE Npower Cogen; Elexon; Sustainable Energy Association; First Utility (now Shell Energy) and National Grid Gas.

Connoils™ was founded by Stacy Peterson in 2007 when the division of Cargill she was employed with closed operations. She was out of a job, the customer base was out of product and after a detailed discussion with her husband Keith, and Cargill management, Stacy decided to start Connoils™.

From the humble beginning of leased space in a certified food warehouse to a facility she thought she’d never outgrow and did, to a new state-of-the art green technology certified processing facility in Big Bend, Wisconsin, her goal then, and still today, is to listen, learn and educate to improve the health and vitality of peoples’ lives by creating, selling and growing a product line of nutritionally stable ingredients and bulk supplements for brands.

In this fascinating discussion, we speak to Connoils International Sales Director Michelle Coluccio, to find out about the Connoils story, and what differentiates them from other businesses with their offerings to manufacturers including their seed or berry-derived oils.

About Michelle Coluccio

Michelle Coluccio, International Sales Director, Connoils

You see a raw natural product. We see what it can be and how it can be restructured to encompass a large range of Finished Products. As the International Sales Director, I'm responsible for delivering the very best Natural Oils, Free Flowing Oil Powders, Water Soluble Converted Liquids and Bulk Vegetarian and Soft-Gel Supplements. Let Connoils, LLC be part of your vision in 2020!

To find out how Connoils can help you, contact them now

Find out more about Connoils here

Consumer demand for more sustainable and healthier products continues to grow, as does the focus on transparency across the supply chain. Ingredients, now more than ever, are an essential factor in customer decision-making and helping manufacturers deliver on consumer trends. Could ingredients careers be the perfect route to a rewarding role in food and nutrition?

This podcast will look at ingredients careers within this exciting industry, why it is an integral part of the supply chain and the challenges and opportunities for individuals working in the sector. It will explore how the industry is moving, the trends that influence this, and in turn how the workforce’s skillset must evolve, along with the personal types that are needed to give companies their competitive edge.

About our panel

Charlotte is the Lead Category Manager at Treatt, a trusted ingredients manufacturer and solutions provider to the global flavour, fragrance and consumer goods markets. She joined Treatt in 2005 following medicinal chemistry research in academia and has gained vast experience in bench to market product development. Charlotte has recently progressed from her role as Research and Development Manager to join the commercial team and establish a category management department at Treatt.

Charlotte leads the group’s global Category Management team, maximising cross business collaboration, sales and contribution. She ensures that Treatt is utilising maximum potential from our seven core product categories by delivering strategic plans and road maps for future success. Supporting a global sales team, Charlotte is on the frontline when it comes to customer training, knowledge sharing and collaboration. She has presented to some of the world’s biggest beverage brands, educating their internal teams on the cutting edge technology of our industry.

Charlotte is passionate about science and flavour and loves broadening her knowledge in these areas, particularly when food and drink is involved. She also enjoys the challenge of muddy obstacle course races. She is well-known and respected across the group as a colleague with extensive knowledge and experience, but also a relentlessly positive attitude and a truly creative outlook.

Tayab is a Food Technologist with 18 years manufacturing experience. He has worked in NPD roles across a diverse range of categories for major UK food manufacturers; sandwiches, desserts, ready meals, herbs & spices, sauces and soups. Tayab has managed teams in the UK and France and even spent 6 months living and studying in France during his degree. Inspired to go into the food industry after a family friend got him tickets for an open day at an ice cream factory, he now enjoys helping manufacturers with technical and formulation advice on ingredients in his current role with Brenntag Food & Nutrition.

Food Matters Careers has been launched to connect industry, academia and potential recruits who are looking to start a rewarding and fulfilling career in food and nutrition. Three events will be taking place in October and November this year, find out more by visiting Food Matters Careers.

This episode will focus on data-driven agriculture and its potential to transform the ecosystem. With an extra 2.5bn of the population to feed by 2050, and grappling with increasing land degradation and water stress, set in the context of the climate challenge, we explore how data-driven agriculture can become more efficient whilst being better for environment and the economy.

Data for and from farmers has become a growth area, driving expectations and investments in big data, blockchain, technology and precision agriculture. With new sources of information such as satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles and mobile weather stations providing mountains of data, how can farmers get value from this mass of intelligence? And what are the challenges to implementation?

About our panel

Calum is currently Head of Agriculture and Food at Innovate UK. He has led substantial publicly funded programmes for applied research in the agrifood sector and sat on the X Whitehall Group that delivered the 2013 AgriTech Strategy. He was an Interim Challenge Director during 2018 jointly responsible for establishing the £90m Industrial Strategy Transforming Food Production Challenge. Calum currently sits on Defra’s external R&D panel, and the Agricultural Productivity Working Group within the Food and Drink Sector Council structure.

Calum studied agriculture at Aberdeen University, started his career with the Ministry of Agriculture 1982 (ADAS) moving to David Anderson & Co in ‘85/86 then back north to SRUC in 1989. In 1995 he was appointed by Bank of Scotland as national agricultural specialist. Calum joined Innovate UK in Feb 2010.

Louise Sutherland is Director of the Ceres Agri-Tech Knowledge Exchange Partnership, a joint collaboration between five world-leading UK universities and three of the country’s top agricultural research institutes. Ceres provides funding and expertise to accelerate the commercialisation of agri-tech research coming out of its partner universities, ensuring that high-quality agricultural innovation is translated from lab to field. Louise’s extensive agri-tech credentials include chairing the Raspberry Breeding Consortium (a joint research and industry partnership) at James Hutton Ltd., as well as previously chairing both the AHDB Soft Fruit Research Panel and the Red Tractor Fresh Produce Scheme. Louise has also been a member of the AHDB Horticulture Board and the Assured Food Standards Board. She has over a decade’s experience working at Marks & Spencer, holding a variety of technical and commercial roles across their food business. Louise has a PhD in Plant Pathology from the University of Reading and worked on novel biocontrol systems for tree diseases during her time as a researcher at the Forestry Commission.

Find Ceres Agri-Tech on social media:
LinkedIn: @ceresagritech
Twitter: @AgritechCeres

Dave Ross (BSc Hons, PDip, AMIMechE, AIAgrE, FRAgS) is Chief Executive Officer of Agri-EPI Centre Ltd, one of the four UK Centres of Agricultural Innovation, with a specific focus on Precision technologies and engineered solutions. He is responsible for leading development of the Centre, both nationally and internationally. A trained engineer, Dave started his career in the defence technology sector, designing electro-optic systems. He moved to agricultural engineering and technology in 1990, taking the opportunity to move back to his roots (having been brought up on a mixed/dairy farm). He worked for more than 25 work as a Senior Research Engineer with Scotland’s Rural College, originally focusing on systems for crop monitoring and handling and post-harvest quality. More recently he has focused on livestock-related technologies. He has been involved in the research and development of several novel and patented developments across the agricultural production sectors. Some of these have been fully commercialised, and he has assisted with aligned spin-out and new company formations.

Emily heads up the Savills UK Limited Rural Research team, guiding the creation of insight and analysis into rural policy, data and benchmarking for Savills and its clients across the U.K. She consults for clients and government on rural policy and corporate strategy, with a particular focus on rural asset investment and strategic sustainability and climate response. Emily is a director of the Oxford Farming Conference for 2021-2023 and a Nuffield Scholar 2018.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the dangers that obesity presents to overall health and wellbeing. With obese people more likely to develop serious illness, and require hospitalisation, it's clear that the UK needs a new strategy to help tackle the growing obesity crisis across the country.

In response, the government has put together a strategy that they think will help to encourage healthy change, and address the obesity problem. The new measures include advertising regulations, ending buy one get one free deals on unhealthy food, and new labelling guidelines. Does it go far enough?

Joining us to discuss these new proposals is Jo Churchill MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care. Jo explains what the government is hoping to achieve, what success will look like, and how the industry can help in a fascinating look at this new government policy.

About Jo Churchill

About Jo Churchill

Jo Churchill was brought up in East Anglia and, before moving to Suffolk two years ago, lived and worked in the rural county of Lincolnshire, with her husband and four daughters. Her early career started in retail for both regional and global brands and led her into site development and the building industry. Since 1994, she has run two successful contracting companies.

As a mature student, studying part time as she worked, she achieved first class degrees at both BSc and MSc levels. She began to study for a PhD in Small and Medium Sized Enterprise and Social Responsibility at the University of Nottingham. Unfortunately, a second bout of cancer forced her to put her research on hold.

Her lifelong interest in politics became more focused five years ago, when she started campaigning for improved cancer outcomes. As a thirty one mother of two, she was first diagnosed with thyroid cancer and she was treated again in her mid 40's for breast cancer.

Her personal experience of the services and support available to patients, led to her involvement with Breakthrough, the Breast Cancer charity. In her time as a healthcare campaigner, she spoke in Parliament on cancer outcomes and undertook national awareness campaigns.

Her drive to improve everyday lives, led her to being elected as a Lincolnshire County Councillor. In this role she immediately took on an executive function covering and working with a broad range of external bodies, but still with a particular focus for health and business such as the Local Enterprise Partnership and Health and Well-Being Board.

As her daughters have grown up, she has been a Vice chair of Governors at one of the East Midlands top Grammar schools and has chaired their finance committee. She has also been a governor at a BESD school rated as outstanding and sat on a Sure Start Board.

Throughout her life, she has always juggled working, studying, raising her four daughters and a two time cancer diagnosis. She now brings her broad base of experience to the constituency and her home of Bury St Edmunds. First elected as a Member of Parliament and the first female representative for Bury St Edmunds in 2015, re-elected again in 2017. 

In July 2016, she was elected, with joint highest nominations to join the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). 

In July 2016, she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Rt Hon Mike Penning MP, Minister of State for Armed Forces. 

In 2017, she was appointed PPS to Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for the Department of Health. 

In 2018, she was appointed to Assistant Government Whip in HM Government. 

In 2019, she was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care in HM Government.

The Uk Government has announced a new obesity strategy which it hopes will tackle the growing problem of obesity in the country, and lead to more positive health outcomes. The Covid-19 pandemic has further highlighted the impact obesity can have on overall health and wellbeing, so focusing on this issue is important to everyone.

However, do the plans go far enough? Are these interventions likely to lead to a positive result or should they be addressing areas that could be more impactful? To get their insight we’ve assembled a panel featuring the Food and Drink Federation, University of London and Association of Convenience Stores to discover how these measures will impact industry, and whether they’re the right approach to solving the obesity problem.

About our panel

Martin trained as an EHO in Dublin before moving into public health and health promotion work. He was a founder member of the London Food Board and was the public health representative on the London 2012 Olympic Food Advisory Board. In 2012/13 he was the ‘Thinker in Residence’ at Deakin University, Melbourne and was the Australian Healthway’s fellow for 2008 and again in 2016.

His work covers the range from food access in local communities, through work on food taxes, school food, fast food to food banks and food poverty.

Martin has published over 160 articles, 5 books and 30 books chapters. He lives with his wife Maggie in west London and in his spare time he runs, reads, goes to live music events the cinema & theatre, gardens and plays with his four grandchildren (pre COVID-19).

Kate’s role involves the development, implementation and promotion of FDF’s nutrition and health policies across a broad remit, from product reformulation through to workplace wellbeing approaches. This includes extensive liaison with food companies to develop cross-industry policy positions and responding to scientific consultations. Previously Kate worked for the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency on a range of nutrition policies. Kate sits on the Nutrition Society Council representing industry and is a registered nutritionist.

Chris joined ACS in October 2009 having graduated from York University with a degree in English and Linguistics. As Communications Director, Chris is responsible for all ACS external and internal communications, media relations and a growing research portfolio which includes the industry leading Local Shop Report. Chris is an official spokesperson for ACS, appearing frequently on national and regional radio and television including BBC News, Sky News, BBC Breakfast and the Daily Politics show. Chris completed the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Diploma in 2013 and the CIM Strategic Marketing Masterclass in 2017.

Consumers are becoming more health conscious, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has only accelerated that trend. More than ever producers of drinks need to highlight the health benefits of the beverages they are producing in order to make an impact.

But what health benefits are consumers looking for? What are the trends that manufacturers are seeing in the drinks market? What does the future of healthy beverages look like? In the latest Table Talk Podcast in partnership with Givaudan we get their invaluable insight into the future of healthy beverages. Joining host Stefan Gates are Mieke Acda, Product Manager, Naturals & Nutrition, Marta Kusnierz, Category Manager, Sweet Goods & Dairy, and Carine Egoroff, Consumer Sensory Insights manager, Beverages EAME.

About our panel

Mieke Acda has more than a decade of experience in technical and marketing roles in the food and nutrition industry.

Mieke joined Givaudan in 2018 and manages the Innovation Platform Naturals and Nutrition for Sweet Goods, Dairy and the Beverages segments in EAME. This platform is responsible for innovation in natural flavours and developing solutions for the nutrition industry.

Mieke has a background as nutritionist and a degree in marketing.

Marta has more than 10 years of experience in sales and marketing in the food and home appliance industry.

Marta joined Givaudan in June 2020 and manages the Sweet Goods and Dairy category in EAME. This wide category consists of segments like chocolate, bakery, gum and candies, as well as dairy and plant based dairy.

Marta has a background in sales, marketing and category management and holds a degree in political science and communication.

Carine Egoroff has more than 20 years of experience in sensory and consumer science.

Carine joined Givaudan in 2009 as Senior Sensory Project Manager for EAME. In 2011 she became the Sensory Group Leader for Snacks. In 2015, she became the Consumer Sensory Insight Manager for Beverages, supporting innovation in various applications in alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Prior to joining Givaudan, Carine worked in the sensory research field for E&J Gallo winery in US, and PSA automotive company in France, exploring sound and tactile perceptions.

Carine graduated from the University of Technology of Compiègne in France with an engineer degree in Biology.

Apprentice schemes are in the spotlight, as governments look to encourage young people eager to jump on the path to a rewarding career towards them. With these schemes providing superb on the job, real world training experience, and a rich source of talent for companies we take a look at how the food and nutrition sector has embraced this opportunity with their own apprentice schemes.

According to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, food and drink manufacturing needs 140,000 recruits by 2024. As older workers retire and younger recruits are attracted to other more alluring sectors, the industry needs to ensure that it can attract new talent and bridge future skills shortages. Apprenticeships offer huge opportunities for both employers and employees and are seen as vital to the industry’s future. The PM and the Chancellor have both announced that they see apprenticeships as key to restarting the economy post COVID. 

With this in mind, the latest of a series of Table Talk Podcasts focused on connecting industry, academia and the brightest new recruits investigates apprenticeships and the numerous benefits they offer to the industry as a whole. Joining our panel to provide their unique insight are Professor Sharon Green, Deputy Head and Lead for Apprenticeships and Business Partnerships at the University of Lincoln’s National Centre for Food Manufacturing, Dave Everett, Apprenticeship Training Advisor / Internal Quality Assurance, Young & Co.’s Brewery P.L.C. and Jordan Brosnan, Apprenticeship Ambassador & Reliability Engineer, Coco-Cola European Partners.

New research into gut health and nutrition has revealed that our response to food is very individual. Even identical twins have shown to have different metabolic reactions when consuming the same meals in research studies. As this awareness grows, and consumers become conscious of its impact, the demand for personalised nutrition is set to sky-rocket as people focus on their long term health and wellbeing.

What are the scientific breakthroughs being made in the personalised nutrition space? How is data being used to give people a greater insight into their personal diet and health? How will technology advance in the future and what areas will see the most growth? Join our panel including TNO Healthy Living, Avansere, The Future Laboratory, The Naked Nutritionist, and Rabobank as the Table Talk Podcast looks at the exciting future for personalised nutrition.

About our panel

Nard Clabbers, Senior Business Developer, Personalised Nutrition & Health, TNO Healthy Living

As a committed mountain bike racer, nutritionist, strategic thinker and a type 1 diabetic himself, Nard believes that measuring aspects of your health, knowing your behaviour and using that information for personalised advice will be the future of food and healthcare.

For the Dutch knowledge institute TNO, he has set up a large international research consortium together with Wageningen Research that investigates the technical and social innovations that will enable personalised nutrition through consumer empowerment. This pre-competitive public private consortium is unique in combining different scientific expertise across the whole value chain of personalised nutrition and using real world field labs.

Tom Savigar, Founder of Avansere AS & Co-owner, The Future Laboratory

For two decades, Tom have been making a better future happen for the world’s best known corporations. However, more often than not, even the best foresight, strategies and innovations to deliver positive social and environmental impact lie on the shelf unused, or worse still on the workshop room floor. To tackle this, at the dawn of the 2020s, via Avansere Tom now focuses on what will really matter to all of us in the decades ahead — accelerating the transformation of industry systems that, if advanced, will ensure billions of people live well within planetary boundaries. Indeed, Avansere fullest expression and deepest satisfaction comes from foreseeing and solving complex future human and environmental need puzzles; and simplifying the transition through these puzzles so that everyone can move forwards and prosper.

Daniel O’Shaughnessy, The Naked Nutritionist

Daniel discovered nutrition through suffering from some personal nutritional issues, including acne and fatigue. Through genetic and functional testing, he was able to understand factors which helped alleviate his symptoms, giving him more energy, and a full understanding of how he was meant to function. He is a firm believer in personalised nutrition and wants you to understand your body holistically, transform your life, and feel great. His programmes have worked for thousands of people internationally who have benefited from weight loss, better skin, more energy, and less stress. Let him help transform you and get you to the place you want to be in your own skin. He has recently completed further training to become a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner which there are only about 30 practitioners in the UK. This is the Gold Standard in Functional Medicine training so his clients are assured he is working to the highest level possible.

Cyrille Filott, Global Strategist Consumer Foods, Rabobank

Cyrille Filott is global strategist for Consumer Foods, responsible for setting and executing the research agenda for the Consumer Foods franchise within Rabobank globally. This includes thematic and industry research as well as company insights. Within the sector he is focusing on thematic research and the baked goods chain. He and the team publish research that is relevant to food companies worldwide. Next to that Cyrille is the host of the Consumer Foods-to-Go podcast series, a bi-weekly podcast that discusses important topics in the food sector. Cyrille spends most of his time discussing sector issues with food & agribusiness corporates. He is very frequently invited at C-suite meetings to bring insights and to discuss business strategies in food.

The agri-foodtech space is one of the most dynamic and exciting sectors in tech focused on helping to build a sustainable future for our planet. In this Table Talk Podcast we speak to two women who are working in agri-foodtech to share their personal experience. What inspired them to work in the sector, how did their career journey begin, what challenges they've faced and what is happening to increase diversity in agri-foodtech.

Joining our panel are Claudia Roessler, Agriculture - Strategic Partnerships, Principle Program Manager Azure Global Engineering at Microsoft, and Mikayla Sullivan, Co-Founder, Get Kinosol. Find out about their story and how the work they are doing is helping to promote change.

Claudia Roessler, Agriculture - Strategic Partnerships, Principle Program Manager Azure Global Engineering at Microsoft

Claudia Roessler is Director Agriculture in Microsoft Azure Global Engineering. She is responsible for developing strategic partnerships for Digital Innovation and Technology in the Agriculture and Food Industry. She helps organizations to achieve growth through digital solutions enabled by data & advanced analytics. Claudia Roessler joined Microsoft in 1992 in Munich, Germany. Her career is focused on Industry Solutions and Business Development. She assumed international roles in several disciplines including Business Development, Strategy & Operations, Sales & Marketing, and Engineering.

In addition, Claudia Roessler is on the Board of Directors for Ag Growth International. She is Venture Partner for Radicle Growth. And, she supports “Women for Agriculture” as part of their Advisory Board for Women in Food and Agriculture.

Mikayla Sullivan, Co-Founder, Get Kinosol

Mikayla Sullivan is an entrepreneur on a global mission. After traveling to over 20 countries and witnessing similar problems with food insecurity, she co-founded KinoSol, a social good startup focused on decreasing food waste, via solar food dehydrators and educational programs. Over the past five years, Mikayla's grown KinoSol’s team and impact, while working to inspire other entrepreneurs to address global problems and assist them on their journey.

Sustainable packaging is no longer a nice-to-have, but a responsibility of all manufacturers and retailers to deliver on, as they face ever more scrutiny from consumers on their sustainability credentials.

It’s never been a more exciting time for a career in the sector, we’ll take a look at what is influencing developments in packaging, and the challenges and rewards of working within sustainable packaging. How has the skillset changed in order to meet the demands of the more eco conscious consumer and improve the health of the planet? What next-gen materials and packaging alternatives are on the horizon? Where is the next generation of packaging technologists coming from and how can we ensure that they are armed with the right skills to evolve sustainable packaging to the next level?

Joining our panel are two pioneers of sustainable packaging, Pierre Paslier, Co-Founder, Notpla and Kevin Vyse, Head of Technical, RAP UK.

About our panel

Pierre Paslier, Co-Founder, Notpla

Pierre is a London-based Innovation Design Engineer. After graduating from the RCA, he cofounded three startups, Notpla, Skipping Rocks Lab (edible water bottle) and Gravity Sketch (3D design tool). When he’s not working on these innovative startups, you can find him building 3D printers, home made drones and mechanical-drawing robots. He has given a number of conferences about his projects including TEDx conferences and has written for Wired Magazine.

Skipping Rocks Lab is a sustainable packaging startup based in London. We’ve created Ooho!, the edible water bottle. It’s a flexible sachet made of seaweed, entirely natural and biodegradable. Our goal is to create a waste-free alternative to small plastic bottles and cups. Oohos can encapsulate any beverage including water, soft drinks, spirits and sauces. At the heart of our solution is a machine to locally produce Oohos in the range of 10-150mL per sachet. Akin to a barista coffee machine, the business model of Skipping Rocks Lab is to provide machine and materials for marathons, festivals and takeaway restaurants to produce and sell fresh Oohos on site.

Kevin Vyse, Head of Technical, RAP UK

Kevin’s career has spanned three decades in packaging design and development. He has worked for many of the best known brands in the UK and Europe as well as for manufacturers and retailers. He also wrote the Plastic Packaging Strategy for Plan A – an initiative by Marks & Spencer that called for plastic to become a circular industrial resource, rather than exportable waste or environmental pollution.

The research that Professor Tim Spector has been involved in has been ground-breaking in revealing our highly individualised responses to food. In his latest book, Spoon-fed, he details how almost everything we've been told about nutrition is wrong.

Join us for a fascinating conversation with Tim about his book, and find out why he thinks that we need to have honest discussions about food, how to challenge outdated thinking about nutrition, and how the industry has to play a leading role in improving health.

About Tim Spector

Tim Spector is a Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Director of the TwinsUK Registry at Kings College, London and has recently been elected to the prestigious Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He trained originally in rheumatology and epidemiology. In 1992 he moved into genetic epidemiology and founded the UK Twins Registry, of 13,000 twins, which is the richest collection of genotypic and phenotypic information worldwide. He is past President of the International Society of Twin Studies, directs the European Twin Registry Consortium (Discotwin) and collaborates with over 120 centres worldwide. He has demonstrated the genetic basis of a wide range of common complex traits, many previously thought to be mainly due to ageing and environment.

Through genetic association studies (GWAS), his group have found over 500 novel gene loci in over 50 disease areas. He has published over 800 research articles and is ranked as being in the top 1% of the world’s most cited scientists by Thomson-Reuters. He held a prestigious European Research Council senior investigator award in epigenetics and is a NIHR Senior Investigator. His current work focuses on omics and the microbiome and directs the crowdfunded British Gut microbiome project. Together with an international team of leading scientists including researchers from King’s College London, Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts University, Stanford University and nutritional science company ZOE he  is conducting the largest scientific nutrition research project, showing that individual responses to the same foods are unique, even between identical twins. You can find more on https://joinzoe.com/ He is a prolific writer with several popular science books and a regular blog, focusing on genetics, epigenetics and most recently microbiome and diet (The Diet Myth). He is in demand as a public speaker and features regularly in the media.

There’s no arguing that more consumers are choosing to vary their diets with plant-based foods and drink, but what does this mean for the future of meat? Is a blanket ‘no meat’ future the best for sustainability? Or does that blanket approach show a lack of understanding for agriculture? On this Table Talk Podcast, recorded back in March 2020 as COVID-19 lockdowns were just taking shape in the UK, our panel argues that perhaps we should change the conversation around meat and future diets.

Joining us are Patrick Holden, Founder & Chief Executive, Sustainable Food Trust, Shefali Sharma, Director, IATP Europe, Ursula Arens, Author, One Blue Dot and Jimmy Woodrow from the Pasture Fed Livestock Association. Find out how they see the future of meat taking shape, in an increasingly plant-based world.

Patrick Holden is founder and chief executive of the Sustainable Food Trust, an organisation working internationally to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable food systems. Between 1995 and 2010 he was director of the Soil Association, during which time he pioneered the development of UK and international organic standards, policy incentives for organic production and the organic market.

His policy advocacy is underpinned by his practical experience in agriculture on his 100 hectare holding, now the longest established organic dairy farm in Wales, where he produces a raw milk cheddar style cheese from his 80 native Ayrshire cows.
Patrick is a frequent broadcaster and speaker, was awarded the CBE for services to organic farming in 2005 and an Ashoka Fellowship in 2016.

Shefali Sharma is the director of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) European office. From the global production of feed grains to meat processing and retail, her current work and publications focus on the economic, social and environmental impacts of the global meat and dairy industries. She continues to examine how international trade rules and global governance on food security and climate intersect with the sector. Shefali established IATP’s Geneva office in 2000 and led its Trade Information Project for several years. She has worked with and consulted for several other civil society organisations, such as the Malaysia-based Third World Network, as the South Asia coordinator of the Bank Information Center, based in Delhi, and ActionAid International. She has a MPhil from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in Sussex and a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from the College of William and Mary.

Ursula Arens is currently a freelance nutrition consultant writer. She is a monthly columnist with Network Health Digest magazine (www.nhdmag.com), which is read by 6000+ dietitians in the UK. She has a degree in Dietetics and has spent most of her career working in the food industry: with a retailer, with a pharmaceutical company and at the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF). She is a member of the Nutrition Society, the British Dietetic Association, and the Guild of Health Writers.

She is very interested in the environmentally sustainable diet: what it is, and what it is not. She is part of the expert group behind the report, One Blue Dot, produced by the British Dietetic Association.

Jimmy is primarily responsible for growing the market for Pasture for Life products through building public awareness of the PFLA’s activities and developing pasture-fed supply chains. In addition, he is leading on the PFLA’s upcoming ten-year strategy.

Jimmy started his career in corporate finance and has recently spent seven years in a range of senior roles within the food industry, including at Neal’s Yard Dairy and GAIL’s Bakery. He is now freelancing and focused on the financing and development of agroecological supply chains.

The food industry has shown incredible resilience in the face of the challenges presented by COVID-19, but what about food and agritech start-ups? How has the pandemic affected venture capital funding and investment in the sector?

We assembled a panel of experts to discuss this, and what the future holds for the start-up community in food and agritech. Spoiler alert: investors still have capital they want to invest, and are looking to support disruptive start-ups with funding. Find out the new opportunities they are seeing in this exciting space.

About our panel

Nicky Deasy, Co-Founder and Manager Partner, Yield Lab Europe 

Nicky is the Managing Partner at Yield Lab Europe. Nicky oversees the day to day operations, including investments, fundraising, portfolio, and company operations. This includes raising capital, dealing with the limited partners and investors, maintaining and managing a deal pipeline, running the due diligence process, and coordinating investments into portfolio companies.  She also works to set up the accelerator programming, and supporting those companies with financial mentoring, commercial mentoring and scaling support, and overall fund management. 
 

Nicky worked for 7 years as Associate Director at KPMG Corporate Finance in Dublin, where she ran the Food & Beverage M&A team, before moving to EY Galway to set up a corporate finance practice for EY’s regional offices, as Director of Corporate Finance, which she ran successfully for 5 years before leaving to set up her own corporate finance practice in Galway.  She was a mentor to the EI HPSU in the role of assisting companies go to market to raise equity.  She has worked with many early stage companies across a variety of sectors to raise seed and Series A equity capital, having advised on rounds totalling hundreds of millions over her 20 year career, and has extensive links with the venture capital and business community in Ireland, both in Dublin and Galway.

Costa Yiannoulis, Investment Director, CPT Capital 

Costa is the Investment Director at CPT Capital, the venture arm of Jeremy Coller’s family office. Costa has led the building and management of the CPT Capital food and materials tech portfolio including Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, Memphis Meats and Perfect Day amongst others. Costa sits on the boards of Geltor, Gathered Foods (Good Catch), Redefine Meat, and 3F Bio.

Prior to CPT Capital, Costa managed Jeremy Coller’s broader personal technology investments and advised Jeremy across both his corporate (Coller Capital) and philanthropic (FAIRR Initiative / Jeremy Coller Foundation) endeavours.

Previously Costa spent 3 years in Management Consulting with Bain & Company in London focussing on Strategy, Organisational Design and Private Equity across sectors; and 5 years within Deutsche Bank in London building the bank’s Emerging Markets platform across Africa.

Costa holds a BA(Hons) and MA in Economics from Cambridge University, and an MBA from INSEAD.

Andrew Ive, Founder, Big Idea Ventures

Andrew is the founder of Big Idea Ventures. Its purpose is to solve the world’s biggest challenges by supporting the world’s best entrepreneurs. Our first fund + accelerator (NY & Singapore) invests in plant-based foods and ingredients to impact climate change, animal welfare and personal health. Investors include Tyson Foods & Temasek. Advisory Board member for Tufts Nutrition Council. Friedman School Entrepreneurship Advisor. Harvard Business School graduate, Procter & Gamble brand management trained. 

Yield Lab Europe, CPT Capital and Big Idea Ventures will all be attending Food Tech Matters on 12-14 October 2020. Food Tech Matters is the place for disruptive agri-foodtech start-ups to meet investors and corporates focused on a sustainable future. Join them 

Alternative proteins have come a long way. With consumer demand rising for alternatives to meat for environmental, health and ethical concerns we take a look at the latest developments in the alternative proteins space. What is the future for plant-based substitutes, will consumers react positively to lab-grown meat, and where will the market grow in the future?

Joining us to answer this and more is a panel of experts in the field including Peter Verstrate, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer, Mosa Meat, Neil Stephens, Wellcome Trust Research Fellow, Brunel University, London and Dr.-Ing Florian Wild, Food Tech Consultant, Food Tech Consulting.

Dr Neil Stephens is a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow at Brunel University London. He is a sociologist who has been tracking the development of cultured meat since 2008.

Peter is the food technician behind the world’s first slaughter-free hamburger. He has worked in the processed meat industry for over 20 years in various senior positions ranging from R&D to QA to Operations. He beings a deep knowledge of the meat business developed at international food companies including Sara Lee, Ahold, Smithfield, Campofrio Food Group and Jack Links. He also served as Managing Director of Hulshof Protein Technologies, a leading producer of collage proteins. Peter holds a Master’s in Food Science from Wageningen University. He is passionate about the environment and food security, and highly driven to find a sustainable way to feed the world. Peter co-founded Mosa Meat and as COO is focused on developing an affordable process for high volume production of cultured meat.

Florian works in applied research and development of plant protein ingredients and their application in food. Main applications are plant meat products with a similar fibrous structure and bite as known from various known animal products. He is one of the pioneers using high moisture extrusion for this purpose.

Florian Wild graduated as food technologist with a major in cereal technology from the Technical University Berlin in 2003. He joined the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging in Freising, Germany conducting more than 20 national or international research projects. Focus has always been in plant proteins, the development of functional ingredients such as from pulses, cereals and oilseeds as well as the application of such proteins in various foods. He formed the extrusion group and established research on premium meat alternatives using high moisture extrusion cooking to create meat-like fibrous structures. Since 2013, after founding an own business, he has been cooperating closely with companies in the field of food ingredients, meat and further plant based alternatives as well as pulses and cereal processors.

In this podcast we take a look at the impact of COVID-19 on plastic reduction. Have consumers become more aware of the plastic packaging and the impact on the environment of the products they buy or has the opposite occurred, with a focus on health and hygiene turning their attention elsewhere?

Joining us for a lively debate on where the future of plastic reduction is headed are Susan Hansen, Global Strategist, Food Packaging and Logistics, Rabobank, David Jones, CEO & Founder, Just One Ocean, Simon Ellin, CEO, The Recycling Association and Geoff Brighty, Founder & MD, Environmental Sustainability Associates Limited.

About our panel

Susan Hansen, Global Strategist, Food Packaging and Logistics, Rabobank

As the Global Strategist for F&A Supply Chains, Susan Hansen is responsible for developing Rabobank’s global research portfolio and sector expertise related to food packaging and food logistics. Food packaging spans all relevant packaging materials including metal, glass, corrugated paper, folding carton and plastics, while Food logistics mainly covers cold chains and food distribution. Food waste and sustainability are currently hot themes in Susan’s sector research.

Susan and her eight-person, globally operating, team is part of the RaboResearch Food&Agribusiness network of close to 90 analysts worldwide. The analysts are experts in various fields; covering the whole food value chain from farmer to retail, as part of Rabobank’s Banking for Food strategy.

David Jones, CEO and Founder, Just One Ocean

For more than 10 years David Jones, a professional underwater photographer and media specialist, has been raising concerns about the damage we are doing to our oceans, and in particular the effect of single-use plastics.

He has worked for a number of production companies including the BBC alongside TV personalities such as David Attenborough, Bear Grylls and Ben Fogle. As diving supervisor, cameraman and executive adviser he worked on the award-winning film,  ‘A Plastic Ocean’, which was 7 years in the making.

In 2009 he joined The Plastic Oceans Foundation where he worked as an education, science and sustainability adviser. Four years later he started his own venture Just One Ocean, a registered UK charity, in order to support research and promote awareness of ocean issues.

He is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Portsmouth researching the impact of microplastics on the coastal environment and the potential use of citizen science to help resolve the issue.

Simon Ellin, CEO, The Recycling Foundation

After initially graduating in environmental science and completing a PhD on the effects of various air pollutants on the ecosystem, Simon moved into the recycling arena nearly 30 years ago. Initially cutting his teeth as one of the first local government Waste Disposal  Authority recycling officers, with Staffordshire County Council.

Still based in Staffordshire, and married with two daughters, Simon has subsequently held a variety of roles in the recycling industry, spending significant periods as a mill buyer for first Cheshire Recycling (now Palm Recycling), and then Smurfit Kappa. Sandwiched in between was a period working in an operational role for Cleanaway (now Veoila), and in the facilities management sector.

Simon joined The Recycling Association in 2009 and is now Chief Executive of both the Recycling Association, and its trading company, IWPP Limited. Simon is very clear on the strategy for the Association over the next few years and lists the balance of supporting members through probably the most difficult trading conditions they have ever experienced whilst retaining compliance and quality as his greatest challenge.

Geoff Brighty, Founder and MD, Environmental Sustainability Associates Limited

Dr Brighty is a sustainability consultant with a career spanning 30 years in the environmental protection and regulation sector. He is a published research scientist, with a PhD in Fish Reproduction and Aquaculture, and has over 20 publications to his name on environmental pollution issues and flood risk.

After leaving his science and chemical regulatory role, in 2004 Geoff moved into the operational-facing part of the Environment Agency.  Here as a Deputy Director-Area Manager, he was responsible for waste, water regulation and flood risk management for an area stretching from Oxford to the East Coast, as well as customer facing work with local MPs and CEOs.

After leaving the Agency in 2014, Geoff established his sustainability consultancy working on environmental issues including flooding, water quality and climate change adaptation for Governments, universities and businesses. He also joined the NGO Plastic Oceans, where he led sustainability, science and policy activities for the release of the Foundation’s film A Plastic Ocean in 2017, and is currently Science Advisor. He is Trustee of the Rivers Trust, and the Norfolk Rivers Trust.

One of the major global challenges we are facing is unprecedented urban growth, where over half of the global population is urban and where by 2050 an additional 2.5 billion people are expected to live in urban areas. Urban areas currently consume over 70 % of the global food supply.

“So much of the food in the world is produced in a linear way, depleting finite resources and damaging the health of the ecosystem and humans,” says Emma Chow, food initiative lead, Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “We need to fundamentally redesign the system using circular economy principles. And cities are best placed to lead the change." Find out how this will work in practice, and how urban peri-urban food systems will help fuel the circular economy in the future.

Emma Chow, Project Lead, Food Initiative, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Emma Chow serves as the project lead on the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Food initiative, which brings together major industry players from across the food value chain, along with cities, to take a systemic approach to unlocking the powerful positive potential of the food system. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, Emma previously worked in business management consulting, social entrepreneurship and for environmental NGOs

About Ellen MacArthur Foundation:

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation was launched in 2010 to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Since its creation, we have emerged as a global thought leader, establishing the circular economy on the agenda of decision makers across business, government, and academia.

Our vision is a new economic system that delivers better outcomes for people and the environment. Business models, products, and materials are designed to increase use and reuse, replicating the balance of the natural world, where nothing becomes waste and everything has value. A circular economy, increasingly built on renewable energy and materials, is distributed, diverse, and inclusive.

This year is the first observance of the UN’s International Day of Awareness of Food Waste and Loss. However, many consumers are not aware that 1.3bn tonnes of food is wasted each year. Compared to awareness of plastic pollution, is food waste an equal or possibly an even greater threat to the environment? What role can plastic play in preventing food waste while being more sustainable?

Today we’re joined by experts in the field of sustainability, to debate how we can reduce food waste while simultaneously reducing our reliance on single-use plastic. Our panel includes Leela Dilkes-Hoffman, Project Manager – Innovation, New Plastics Economy, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Helén Williams, Associate Professor, Karlstad University and Toine Timmerman, Programme Manager Sustainable Food Chains, Wageningen University.

Leela is part of the New Plastic Economy innovation team. She uses her technical background to assess emerging innovation opportunities within the plastic packaging sector, specifically focusing on the exciting innovation and business potential offered by upstream solutions.

Helén Williams is associate professor in environmental and energy systems at Karlstad University. Helén and colleagues have for more than 10 years explored the services that packaging provide for and specifically focused on the packaging functions that reduce food waste in households. They have in several research articles calculated the environmental impact of packaging versus the impact from food waste in order to prove better basis for design decisions. The researchers have found that it is very important for the producer to make sure that the amount of food matches the needs of the consumers and that the provided information about product safety is improved. To meet the goals of halving food waste by 2030, we need a packaging development that takes a broad responsibility.

Toine Timmermans is Program Manager Sustainable Food Chains at Wageningen University & Research, and Coordinator of the EU projects FUSIONS and REFRESH. He is member of the steering committee of the joint effort to harmonise food loss and waste (FLW) assessment, via the global Food Loss and Waste Reporting and Accounting standard. He is also member of the European Commission Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste.

His current research themes are focused on radical technology driven innovations to increase resource efficiency in the food supply chain, by reducing food loss and improved valorization of resources. Also his research is performed to future closed loop supply chains in relation to the use of packaging materials and to reduce methane emissions in the dairy sector. Toine is project leader of the FLW reduction project within the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) with a focus on developing and emerging countries.

With a clear need to reduce the CO2 impact from farming, could regenerative farming be the answer to creating a healthier planet?

In this episode of the Table Talk Podcast, recorded in April this year just as the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to cause lockdown worldwide, Ethan Soloviev, Chief Innovation Officer, HowGood.com explains how regenerative farming works, how it can help reduce CO2 in the atmosphere, and provide much-needed security to our food supply chain.

About Ethan Soloviev

Ethan Soloviev is a farmer in upstate New York and the Chief Innovation Officer at HowGood.com, where he manages the world’s largest product sustainability database: 127 impact attributes across 33,000 unique ingredients and 1,000,000+ products.

He develops metrics for Fortune 100 retail and CPG companies that cut through inefficiency and radically transform business decision-making towards sustainability. Ethan is the author of Regenerative Agriculture, Regenerative Enterprise, and the monthly Regeneration Newsroom; you can read his latest articles on agriculture, business, and life at ethansoloviev.com

About HowGood.com

HowGood is a mission-driven, independent research company with the largest database on food and personal care product sustainability in the industry. With 1,000,000+ products rated, HowGood helps leading retailers and brands improve their environmental and social impact. As an Amazon Associate HowGood earns from qualifying purchases.

Consumers attitudes towards food are continuously evolving, as is the way they look at ingredient labels. How has the label-friendly trend evolved, what are the challenges for manufacturers of culinary products when trying to shift to cleaner labels, and what opportunities exist for reformulation with more familiar ingredients?

Joining us on this episode of Table Talk, in partnership with Cargill, are a panel of experts will answer these broad questions as well as give some practical examples. Joining us are Fiona Barnett, Business Development Manager Starch, Mike Baumber, Technical Account Manager, and Matthias Bourdeau, Marketing Manager. Listen in to get a unique insight on the label-friendly movement.

For more information on Cargill’s offer of label-friendly functional starches, go to www.cargill.com/simpure 

Working for the Nielsen Company and other research agencies, Matthias gained over 10 years of experience in consulting packaged food and beverage manufacturers across Europe and Africa on marketing their products in retail. Since joining Cargill’s Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers’ Business Marketing team three years ago, he supports new product launches and drives marketing campaigns. He is passionate about consumer research and market positioning. Matthias is based in Belgium and is a proud new dad.

Technical Account Manager for culinary and bakery customers in the UK. Mike’s role is primarily customer facing. He works together with customers’ in identifying solutions to their formulation challenges and helps them optimise Cargill’s ingredients. With Cargill for 5+ years, Mike has experience in jam manufacturing and has worked with other ingredient companies, as well as spending 8 years working as a chef prior to university. Mike is based in Manchester, UK with 3 kids, one wife, and likes rugby and gardening.

Fiona is based in the UK and has worked with customers of Cargill’s Starch, Sweeteners and Texturizing portfolio for over 15 years in sales and sales management. Just over a year ago she started to work closely with our product development teams as a Business Development Manager for Food Starches. Here she collaborates with our technical experts to develop starches that meet our customers changing needs, such as in the label friendly space. Fiona runs (slowly) in her spare time where she listens to podcasts about food, and tries to set her 2 children an example that it’s normal to exercise.

The objective of AppHarvest is to grow more with less resources and promote a sustainable approach to agriculture. AppHarvest is constructing the biggest greenhouse in the US and one of the largest in the world with the capacity to ship 45 million pounds of fresh produce annually across North America.

This podcast will explore how AppHarvest’s approach to production can bolster food supply and increase resilience in fragile local and international food systems.

AppHarvest is creating an environment where government, private businesses and universities (triple Helix approach) work together to support agricultural efforts, drawing heavily on the experience in the Netherlands. The Netherlands found themselves with a severe food shortage during WW2 and focused on growing their own food supply, the country is now the agricultural capital of Europe.

Kentucky native Jonathan Webb is turning his dream of a high-tech farming hub in Appalachia into reality with AppHarvest. The company is building some of the largest indoor farms in the world, combining conventional agricultural techniques with today’s technology to grow non-GMO, chemical-free produce. The company’s first greenhouse will span 60 acres and open this year in Morehead, Ky.

Why locate in Appalachia? Like many Kentuckians, Jonathan grew up knowing of the devastating job losses in the region. His grandmother was raised in Whitley County, where a coal mining accident killed his great-grandfather. Jonathan strives to work alongside the hard-working men and women of Eastern Kentucky and build a resilient economy for the future.

Before founding AppHarvest, Jonathan worked with the U.S. Department of Defense on what was then the largest solar project in the Southeastern United States. The project aimed to help achieve a White House goal of ensuring the military receives 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

A certified B Corp is a businesses that meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to  build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

Cotswold Fayre has been a certified B Corp since 2015. In this episode of Table Talk we join Founder and Chief Executive Paul Hargreaves to find out more about B Corps, and why he’s so passionate about Cotswold Fayre being part of the B Corp movement.

About Paul Hargreaves, Founder and Chief Exec, Cotswold Fayre Ltd

Paul Hargreaves is a well-known character within the speciality food world for both for his insightful views on the sector and general business “know how”. Paul’s blog “Speciality Bites” is widely read by retailers and producers alike, and he is often asked to contribute to debates and articles within the industry. His background includes an M.A. in Zoology and 10 years working in the charitable sector in inner-city London. He became involved in the Bala Children’s Centre seven years ago, as a way of giving back to the wider world community. Since then Cotswold Fayre has become the key partner in starting business projects in Kenya associated with the children’s centre with the goal of making the centre completely self-sufficient for its day-to-day running costs.

Paul is the Founder and Chief Exec of Cotswold Fayre Ltd, a speciality & fine food wholesaler supplying nearly 2,000 retail outlets throughout the UK. The business grew from the cellar of his house in London to become the leading wholesaler to farm shops and delicatessens in the UK. The company’s ethos of working in partnership with its suppliers makes it the most sought-after wholesaler for the many new brands launching in the sector.

Cotswold Fayre has been certified as a B Corporation since 2015. B Corps are companies that meet the highest standards of overall social and environmental performance and will become the “listened to” voice of business in the future as many realise that capitalism as we knew it is dead and the best objective of a business is to help change the world for better. Paul has had a book published recently on purpose-driven business called ‘Forces for Good’.

In 2015 Cotswold Fayre became one of the 60 or so founding UK B Corporations. Paul is currently a UK B Corp Ambassador. Cotswold Fayre is reported to be the first carbon neutral fine food wholesaler. “Cotswold Fayre has always had the planet as equals with people and profit, but we have recently declared a climate emergency. There are 10 years left before potential environmental meltdown occurs is businesses and people do not change their habits. The government’s target of being carbon neutral by 2050 is far too long and businesses must show the way and act more quickly. Their customers are demanding it, their employees are desiring it and the planet may die without action. I feel that it is important that Cotswold Fayre, as a speciality food wholesaler, leads the way amongst the much larger mainstream food and drink wholesalers and I believe that we are the first wholesaler to announce carbon neutrality.”

Consumer trends in wellbeing, healthy ageing and nutrient rich convenience food are creating significant opportunities for nutraceutical manufacturers, with the current market valued at $41.95bn (Market Data Forecast figures). This is expected to continue to grow as conventional pharmaceutical companies also turn their hand to this growing market.

In this Table Talk Podcast, recorded back in March at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re joined by a panel of experts who’ll provide their unique insight into this growing category in health and nutrition. Our guests are Nick Bennett, Head of Nutrition and Sustainability at IVc Brunel, Miriam Ferrer, PhD, Head of New Product Development, Cambridge Nutraceuticals, and Cheryl Fallow, MD, Viridian. We’ll focus on how the category is growing, the market accessibility and what it means in terms of product development and new opportunities. We’ll also investigate how regulation could affect manufacturers what significance any proposals in regulation could mean for manufacturers.

Nick Bennett is Head of Nutrition at Brunel Healthcare where he is responsible for Innovation, Communication and Sustainability. Nick has worked in the food supplement industry for more than 21 years specialising in all matters relating to product development, regulations and the support that appropriate nutritional supplementation can provide to health and well-being.

Nick qualified in Nutritional Biochemistry from Nottingham University in 1994 and has been a Registered Nutritionist since 2003. During this time he has worked in a variety of food supplement companies of different sizes from very small UK focussed, to very large international, before joining the UK’s number one food supplement manufacturer, IVC Brunel in 2009.

With a degree in nutrition and experience in food law, Aimee is perfectly placed to ensure Quality Control & Quality Assurance at Viridian Nutrition. Aimee is also the hub of education and technical services.

Miriam completed her Biology Degree at the University of Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain). She has a PhD from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), where she worked on cancer gene therapy. She moved then to Cambridge, as postdoctoral researcher at the prestigious MRC-Laboratory of Molecular Biology, where she further her experience in the DNA repair field working on BRCA1 (Breast cancer type susceptibility protein). She moved out of the research to work for Abcam, one of the leading manufacturers of life-science researchers. Miriam worked at Abcam for 9 years, 7 of them as Product Manager for the cellular assays range. Since 2017, she is Head of New Product Development at Cambridge Nutraceuticals (who commercialises food supplements under the brand FutureYou), where she is responsible for researching ingredients and developing new products. Key areas of expertise: science, role of science in food supplements

Food Matters Live On-Demand available now!

1.8 billion people have access to electricity but still cook with biomass. Four million people die each year from Household Air Pollution.  “Clean cooking” means cooking using non-polluting fuels.  The Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) programme aims to rapidly accelerate the transition from biomass to clean cooking on a global scale.

To understand the problem, and what they are doing to facilitate change, we are joined by four experts from the programme, Prof Ed Brown, Nick Rousseau and Anh Tran from Loughborough University and Simon Batchelor Director of Gamos Ltd.

Join them to hear about the challenges they see and find how you can partner with them to drive innovation in clean cooking.

If you want to find out more about the MECS programme and explore how you could get involved, email n.rousseau@lboro.ac.uk


In addition to the panel discussion, we have recorded interviews with some of our partners in Kenya so you can hear their perspective on the work and why it is exciting the interest of both cooks and utility companies.

An interview by Dr Jon Leary with Mourine Cheruiyot, African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS)

https://youtu.be/NCJ11SZFhNM

An interview by Dr Jon Leary with Warimu Njehia, Kenya Light and Power Company (KPLC)

https://youtu.be/s2QfT3xIA80

Ed Brown is the MECS Research Director. He is a Professor of Global Energy Challenges at Loughborough University with research interests in the fields of governance and international development issues with current research outputs focusing upon: questions of transparency and corruption; financial globalisation and the financial needs of the poor; and energy access and low carbon energy transitions. Ed has also long had a particular interest in the Central American region where he has explored the political economy of state reforms as well as the broader impacts of neoliberal globalisation. As well as being the MECS PI, Ed is the Co-Coordinator of the UK Low Carbon Energy for Development Network through which we are building bridges between the divergent branches of academia working on energy and international development issues. Through this he also leads the LCEDN’s involvement in DFID’s Transforming Energy Access initiative. He is (or has recently been) PI on three EPSRC/DFID-funded projects in this field. One involved networking the projects funded under the RCUK Understanding Sustainable Energy Solutions (USES Network) programme, whilst the other two were research projects, one exploring the implications of political decentralisation for energy governance in Africa (READ) and the other exploring the potential of solar nano-grids in the contexts of Kenya and Bangladesh (SONG).

Simon is the UK research and innovation co-ordinator. He has over 30 years’ experience in development. Starting in agriculture and water provision in the 80’s, he focused on Wind and Solar energy, contributing to the early development of renewable energy in Africa and Asia. In the 90’s, he designed and implemented an innovative programme of social mobilisation in Cambodia – which saw considerable impact over a ten year period. This experience influenced his interest in the importance of social factors in technology adoption, and led to stream of participatory research focused on the role of energy in development. In 2002, based on research in Africa, Simon began to Champion the potential of using Mobile Phones for banking the unbanked and lowering remittance costs. From 2010 onwards he has returned to his clean energy roots, and is currently part of a number of research teams on low carbon programmes. A practitioner at heart, he is currently Director of Gamos Ltd, which undertakes action research and learning on the social factors influencing development programmes.

Anh is one of the MECS International Liaison Managers and her focus is on humanitarian and displacement context in both urban and rural settings, gender and institutional cooking services. Before joining MECS, she was a Senior Lecturer in Humanitarian Engineering at Coventry University and the former head of research for UNESCO UNITWIN Network in Humanitarian Engineering. She has successfully secured over £1.5 million dollars in research funding from EPSRC, RAEng, Innovate UK, British Council and private businesses. Her research interests are in the area of Appropriate and Humanitarian Technology, with a focus on renewable energy, water and sanitation, sustainable waste management, humanitarian applications of 3D printing and drones, social entrepreneurship and engineering education. She has over 10 years’ experience on international development engineering projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, South America and Australian Indigenous communities. A daughter of refugees, she is passionate about empowering refugee and local communities to access modern energy cooking services and to enable them to thrive and not just survive. Anh has a Bachelor (Honours) and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Queensland, Australia.

Nick has over 20 years of experience of working in UK Government – his final role was Head of International Innovation Strategy at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. Nick led the innovation strand of the Newton programme and Government to Government policy dialogues. Nick’s consultancy, Unconventional Connections, focuses on innovation collaboration included work funded by DfID on harnessing the UK’s strengths in clean energy technology to increase access to clean energy in Africa and SE Asia. Nick has a personal interest in sustainable solutions to local and global food-related challenges – in 2015 he set up the Woven Network – UK-based network for those working on insect protein. Nick holds BA, MSc and PhD degrees in psychology from the universities of Cambridge, Loughborough and Sheffield with a focus on psychology and user-centred system design. Within the MECS project, Nick is one of the International Liaison Managers with a focus on driving growth in availability of modern energy cooking devices within the developing world.

Agriculture is central to both global challenges and solutions related to nutrition, the environment and economic well-being. PepsiCo believes that sustainable agricultural practices will be pivotal in meeting the increasing demand for food as the global population grows, while also addressing the need to manage natural resources.

In this episode of the Table Talk Podcast we join David Wilkinson, Senior Director Agriculture, PepsiCo Europe to discover how they maintain a secure and, crucially, sustainable supply chain, we explore iCrop 2.0 and precision agriculture as farmers face critical challenges as they look to supply more food to a growing population, and we learn about PepsiCo's commitments and goals for sustainability and what that means for their business and the wider supply chain. Get a fascinating look inside PepsiCo Europe's drive for sustainability with the Table Talk Podcast.

About our guest

David Wilkinson, Senior Director Agriculture, PepsiCo Europe

David Wilkinson leads our Agricultural procurement team and is responsible for sourcing our direct agricultural raw materials across Europe and maintaining the relationships we have with our farmers – some extending 3 generations. Farmers are a key part of our business growing the crops that are at the heart of many of our core brands - whether it’s the potatoes that make Walker’s and Lay’s crisps, the oats that make Quaker, or the maize that make Doritos. 

David has worked for PepsiCo for 21 years and was originally an engineer by training. He now leads PepsiCo’s team of agronomy experts across the Europe sector and oversees PepsiCo’s Sustainable Farming Programme. He is passionate about the role companies like PepsiCo can play in helping farmers to meet the challenges facing the food industry – from adapting farming techniques in the wake of changing climate conditions, to growing more crops using less water, energy and carbon.

Hear from some of our start-ups and investment experts who joined us at Food Tech Matters this year as they share their journey of being food tech disruptors. Our panellists will talk about how they have approached funding, about their experience of working with investors and corporates, their challenges and frustrations and their greatest learnings to date.

We speak to Matija Zulj, CEO, Agrivi, Hebe-Cecilie Nyquist Næss, former CFO and investment professional and Elsa Bernadette, COO & Co-Founder, Karma to discover the challenges and opportunities facing their business in what has been a very challenging year. Recorded back in March, we reflect on how the impact of the first COVID lockdown was affecting them. Join us for a fascinating look into disruptive food tech.

Food Tech Matters On-Demand offers the opportunity to join food tech disruptors like Karma, and the investment community, as they debate how the future of food and agritech will take shape. To find out more about Food Tech Matters On-Demand click here.

Elsa is Co-Founder and COO of Karma. Elsa is passionate about creating a motivated high-growth organization to galvanize the first zero food waste generation. Karma now has 55 employees globally, who have the collective goal to lead the way to a truly circular economy and ultimately solve global food waste.

Since launching, Karma’s 700,000+ users have diverted an average of 450 tonnes of edible food from landfill and reduced CO2 levels caused by food waste by 680 tonnes. In it’s Series A funding, Karma raised $12 million to expand its mission to counteract food waste across the globe.

Matija is the founder and CEO of Agrivi. Matija believes that if we provide knowledge and technology to all food producers, we can provide enough food for everyone and keep agriculture sustainable. He holds an MSc in computer science and an MBA. Agrivi is an agri-tech startup that is creating the global agricultural eco-system with vision to change the way food is produced. With an intelligent cloud farm management solution, we help farmers to increase their productivity and find buyers for produced food. Agrivi is the winner of World Startup Competition 2014.

Hebe is the former CFO for an ESG start-up company (N2 Applied). Responsibilities and experience weighted towards the financial part of the role with capitalisation, investments and IR as key focus areas. Her unique experience offers an inside look at how start-ups can gain investment in the food tech space.

The push to be a more sustainable business is in full swing across the world, with almost half of UK companies planning to increase their environment-related spending between now and summer 2021, according to HSBC’s Made for the Future report. Consumers are becoming ever more environmentally conscious and are actively looking to buy from companies that are sustainable and purpose driven.

This sustainable business focused podcast brings together experts from four companies leading the charge on sustainability, it will explore what interventions, challenges and innovations are required to enable industry to become more sustainable. Where should companies be investing both money and effort to enable them to achieve zero waste landfill and zero carbon? How can you build a sustainable business? Joining our panel are Anna Pierce, Director of Sustainability, Tate & Lyle, Katie Leggett, Sustainability Cheerleader, Innocent Drinks, Alex Smith, Managing Director, Alara Wholefoods and Andy Griffiths, Head of Value Chain Sustainability, Nestlé.

Anna Pierce is the Director of Sustainability at Tate & Lyle, a 160-year-old business-to-business ingredient supplier. She is working to refocus the company’s sustainability programme on initiatives and partnerships that provide the greatest opportunity for positive impact in support of the its purpose – Improving Lives for Generations. She is leading Tate & Lyle’s efforts to infuse sustainability throughout the company’s operations.

Anna joined Tate & Lyle after spending her career in various Environment, Health and Safety roles at General Electric. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science, a minor in Environmental and Occupational Science and Health, and an MBA from Gannon University. She also maintains accreditation as a Certified Safety Professional.

Katie is the innocent drinks ‘sustainability cheerleader’ specialising in internal engagement and sustainability communications. Katie has worked with the WBCSD Sustainable Lifestyles team as well as in Corporate Responsibility reporting at ArcelorMittal. Katie joined the innocent sustainability team in 2014 and has since led their approach to human rights, made sure everyone at innocent has sustainability in their objectives and written innocent’s first ever ‘good all round’ report. Katie believes that – since a business is only made up of the people who work within it – it’s really important that sustainability teams invest time to make sure their colleagues are proud of, and can actively support, their company’s commitment to sustainability.

Alex Smith founded Alara in 1975 with £2 he picked up in the street. Along with others, Alex was very active in the squatting movement of the 1970s and he decided to live without money for almost a year. The day after he decided to start using money again, Alex found £2. He spent the money taking a van around New Covent Garden Market to gather fruits and vegetables which were to go to waste and sold them on in a squatting shop. That shop became one of the first health shops, selling flakes, fruits, dried fruit, seeds and nuts. By 1977, they were producing a mix of these ingredients that became the first muesli recipe with no added sugar. Alara’s focus has always been on clean, healthy food. In 1988, Alara was licensed by the Soil Association to produce the first Organic certified cereal in the world.

Andrew leads Nestlé’s environmental sustainability strategy across its businesses in the UK and Ireland. He has worked for Nestle UK&I for over 20 years, primarily in operational and engineering roles. Andy is both a chartered engineer (IET) and chartered environmentalist (IEMA). He is focused on bringing together the engineering expertise, operational experience and environmental insights of the organisation alongside collaborative partnerships with academia and key delivery partners to develop and implement robust and effective sustainability programmes.

There has always been a compelling moral case for diversity and inclusion, but equally there is a compelling business case for it too, from broadening market reach to bringing fresh perspectives to strategic planning.

In this week’s podcast we will explore how forward thinking businesses are championing inclusion and diversity in their workforce to create positive change and stronger engagement with customers. Joining our panel are Amanda Scott, Director of Talent, Learning and D&I Compass Group, Catherine Gillespie, HR Director, Coca-Cola European Partners, and Dan Robertson, Director, Vercida Consulting.

Are you responsible for your organisation’s inclusion strategy or are you championing inclusion and diversity within your organisation? Do you want to get people more engaged in your workplace? In a highly interactive new masterclass from Food Matters Careers, you will receive practical advice and top tips to help you progress your inclusion strategy across the workforce and make a difference. Click here to find out more

Amanda is an experienced HR professional with extensive generalist, talent and D&I experience across a range of industry sectors including energy, financial services and hospitality. She has a proven track record in designing and leading delivery of the HR agenda for top FTSE companies.

Amanda started her career in the NHS before moving into financial services and then oil and gas. She spent over 15 years with BP in a number of HR roles including leading the Global Graduate Programme. She then joined Compass in 2018 to lead the Talent, Learning and D&I agenda for the UK & Ireland. Amanda is passionate about inclusion and creating an environment where people from all backgrounds can join and progress their career.

Catherine is people and culture director at Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP). She has 20 years’ experience in human resources management, holding senior business partnering roles as well as experience across learning and development, organisation development and talent acquisition.

Catherine is passionate about inclusion and diversity and specifically working for gender equality and facilitated the Women’s Network at CCEP before being a catalyst for the Inclusion culture change programme. In her current role, Catherine leads a team of senior business partners who together with the business have a strong focus on people, culture and capability. Catherine is proud of the philosophy at CCEP, where every employee is encouraged to ‘Be Yourself, Be Valued, Belong’.

Dan Robertson is the Director of VERCIDA Consulting. Dan has a particular expertise in the science and application of unconscious bias and inclusive leadership. Dan is Chair of the Lord Mayor of London’s Power of Inclusion programme. In 2019 he was named by Hive Learning as one of the top 50 Most Influential D&I leaders globally. He is a contributor to the 3rd edition of the Inclusion Nudges Guidebook.

As part of our future-gazing podcast series, we speak to a panel of ingredients experts who will share their unique perspective about what to expect from the year ahead. Personal nutrition? Immune system-supporting functional ingredients? More plant-based developments? We’ll find out which ingredients trends will shape 2021.

Joining host Stefan Gates are, Carole Bingley, Sr. Associate Principal Scientist Product and Ingredient Innovation, RSSL, Anna Cheely, Senior Scientist, Kalsec and Tony Gay, Head of Technical Sales & NPD, Nutrition, Prinova.

Carole is a Technical Specialist working in the Product and Ingredient Innovation Team at Reading Scientific Services Ltd (RSSL). During her time with RSSL, she has undertaken both ingredient evaluation and product development projects on a contract basis for clients across a wide range of food categories including development of dairy alternatives and vegan meat alternatives based on plant proteins. Carole has also worked extensively on sugar reduction evaluating both high potency sweeteners and bulking agents in beverages, confectionery and baked goods.

Tony has built up 20 years of experience within the sports and health supplements industry and has worked for a number of global brands including Natrol, Cytosport and the retailer GNC. Tony joined Prinova in 2013 and over the last 7 years has built out a technical sales division within the company. Tony’s role with Prinova includes product management of specialist ingredients, NPD, sports nutrition and beverages blends and technical support.

Anna is a Chef and Senior Scientist at Kalsec’s head office in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. She works in the applications department finding solutions for customers, from seasoning and sauce manufacturers to CPG companies. Anna began her career at culinary school and worked in New York restaurants, followed by a Master of Science at the University of Georgia in sensory and food science. In her current role she combines the world of culinary techniques and knowledge with food science to give customers multifaceted solutions. She has spent summer 2020 building a pizza oven, fermenting anything she can get her hands on, and (slowly learning to) becoming a seasoned mixologist!

Sports nutrition and active lifestyle consumer markets have been expanding rapidly. The coronavirus pandemic has increased awareness of health and fitness, and protein, in aiding the immune system. A key goal for this new group of consumers is ensuring that their nutrition is supporting their healthy active lifestyle, and helps to support their immune system.

Protein is a key component to help support active lifestyle consumers, and whey and dairy protein provides a particularly rich source that they need. In this episode of the Table Talk Podcast we delve into the science of whey with the experts at Volac International, who produce a range of market leading solutions as Volactive. Joining us for this fascinating look at protein, immunity and active nutrition is Dr. Elisa Glover, Nutrition Specialist at Volac International.

To find out more about Volactive products, click here

Dr Elisa Glover is the Nutrition Specialist at Volac International. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics (University of Guelph, Canada) and a Master’s degree in Pharmacology (University of Western Ontario, Canada). She completed her PhD at McMaster University, examining the effects of inactivity and amino acids on muscle protein metabolism. Before Volac she worked at GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare in New Product Research and Medical Affairs. Elisa’s scientific interests include protein intake and physical activity across the lifespan, the role of protein quality, and functional properties of dairy components.

WGSN identify patterns and trends from millions of social media posts and online retail shelf data. This proprietary combination of technology, data science and human ingenuity gives a valuable visualisation of how trends will shape the future of food.

In this episode of the Table Talk Podcast we find out how WGSN use social and consumer market data to identify the consumer trends that will shape the future of food, and find out what they feel will be the trends that will define 2021.

Find out how WGSN food reports can help you here.

An established food trend expert, Kara leads WGSN’s team of strategists in creating insightful reports and forecasts on global food and drink trends. Kara has years of experience in the strategic innovation sector, researching, writing and speaking about how to translate trends for new product development. She has shared insights with numerous food brands and previously worked at CCD Innovation, Sterling-Rice Group and CEB Iconoculture Consumer Insights.

Based in San Francisco, Kara has experience as a restaurant pastry chef and holds a master’s degree in food studies.

Jen heads up a global team of food and drink strategists, analysts and trend forecasters. Always starting with customer insight, she delivers data-led trend content that enables clients to make confident decisions.

Having worked in the food and drink space for over 15 years, Jen has consulted with brands across the globe to develop future strategies. As content director of Retail Week, she set the vision for its intelligence resource, Retail Week Prospect, to provide access to the strategies and financial data of UK retailers.

Jen is passionate about the natural world and is a member of several conservation groups.

In this episode of the Table Talk Podcast we’re joined by the Food Standards Agency to provide information to businesses on the changes that will come into play after the Transition Period ends on 1st January 2021 in relation to food safety risk advice. From January it will be the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) that are responsible for carrying out risk assessments and making recommendations to Ministers on whether to authorise certain food and animal feed products, as well as any new products or processes for the UK market.

We find out what this means for food and drink businesses who will need to adapt their processes accordingly.

Joining our panel are Phil Flaherty, Head of Risk Analysis and Trade Policy Unit, Mark Willis, Head of Chemical Contaminants, and Dr Amie Adkin, Head of Risk Assessment, Food Standards Agency. They’ll explain how the landscape is changing, and what they’re doing to make the process simple for businesses, and how the agency works to assess food safety risks for consumers in the UK.

Find out more about regulated products: https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/placing-a-regulated-product-on-the-market-from-1-january-2021

Find out more about the risk analysis process: https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/food-and-animal-feed-safety-risk-analysis-from-1-january-2021

Philip Flaherty has worked as a Head of Unit within the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) Policy Directorate since January 2019. He has been a British civil servant for over 20 years, starting at the Health and Safety Executive before joining the FSA in 2003 to work on the implementation of the General Food Law Regulation. After this he held a range of roles in the organisation, including Head of EU Regulatory Reform and Head of Meat Hygiene Policy. Between 2014 and 2019 he worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as First Secretary for Food and Veterinary issues at the UK Representation to the EU. He is currently Head of Risk Analysis and Trade Policy Unit.

Mark Willis has headed up the Food Standards Agency’s Chemical Contaminants and Residues Branch since 2016. Prior to that he worked in and then lead the Food Additives, Flavourings and Food Contact Materials Branch. He has been a British civil servant for over 20 years, starting at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) in 2000 just prior to the formation of the Food Standards Agency in April that year. He has previously worked in a range of policy roles including on food additives, flavourings and nutrition and general labelling. Between 2005 and 2009 he undertook a secondment into the European Commission as desk officer on food additives and the development of the new food additives regulation.

Dr Amie Adkin is Head of Risk Assessment at the Food Standards Agency where she has managed the Risk Assessment Unit since 2018. The Unit is comprised of around 50 scientific staff involved in assessing the risks to food and feed from chemical, microbiological, physical, allergen and radiological hazards as the competent authority, and supports three independent Scientific Advisory Committees in the areas of Novel Food and Processes (ACNFP), Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT), and Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF). Amie has a background in animal and public health risk assessment and particular interest in Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies.

Fibre has the potential to be the next big thing! This podcast covers the important role fibre can play in our overall health, and how California Prunes can help our gut health. We explore how much fibre we need, why we don’t get enough, and the impact on society. 

We examine how plant-based diets could help our gut health and immune system, review how dried fruits can help us get more fibre - and can also help add much-needed value to businesses.

About our panel

Jennette Higgs, Registered Dietitian, Food to Fit

Jennette is a Registered Dietitian, Registered Nutritionist and Principal Consultant for Food To Fit Ltd, a well-established international Nutrition & Dietetic Consultancy, working with food industry clients on strategic, marketing, PR and nutrition research issues. Jennette is a nutrition consultant to the California Prune Board.

Kevin Verbruggen, European Marketing Director, the California Prune Board

Kevin has over 25 years’ Marketing and Innovation experience with Cadbury’s, Kellogg’s, Johnson & Johnson, and Weetabix – latterly winning an IPA Marketing Effectiveness Award for the “Have You Had Your Weetabix?” campaign. He has been a member of senior leadership teams and has advised businesses on achieving profitable growth. Kevin leads the teams across Europe, as well as providing strategic direction from Japan to the Gulf Cooperation Council. 

Consumers worldwide are increasingly demanding information about where the products they buy come from, and proof that what they purchase is safe and sustainable for both people and the planet. With transparency driving sustainable change, how can data be used to support your efforts?

In this episode of the Table Talk Podcast we investigate the data insights platform AtSource, to discover how end-to-end insights can help you to build trust, repetitional value and be able to report confidently of the impact and progress in your sustainability programmes. 

Joining host Stefan Gates for this fascinating look inside AtSource, and to investigate how insights and data can help further sustainable change, is Roel Van Poppel, CEO AtSource, Olam International. Hear why AtSource was created, how it has developed and how it will directly impact sustainable change across the supply chain.

Roel Van Poppel, CEO AtSource, Olam International

Roel van Poppel currently holds the position of CEO of AtSource, the customer focused sustainability proposition of global food and agri-business Olam. Roel has more than 20 years of experience in the food industry, working in product line and commercial roles for companies including Olam, Cargill and Wild Flavors. He has a strong experience in leading global teams, strategy development and roll-out, global strategic account management, business development, and change management.

Roel was involved in the inception and creation of AtSource, which combines Olam’s key differentiators of total supply chain ownership and purpose delivery, with true customer focus. He holds an MSc in Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University.

Each year Tetra Pak produces a global consumer research study, the Tetra Pak Index. COVID-19 has unsurprisingly impacted greatly this year's index, with the impact of the pandemic affecting communities worldwide. In this edition of the Table Talk Podcast we find out how it has transformed the 2020 consumer landscape and created new concerns and needs, and what this means for the industry.

Joining host Stefan Gates is Libby Costin, Vice President Marketing, Tetra Pak. Find out how COVID-19 has disrupted the status quo, focused consumers minds on health, hygiene and food safety, and how manufacturers can build trust through transparency with consumers. What effect will the influence of COVID-19 on the 2020 consumer landscape have on the future? Join us to find out.

Find out more about the Tetra Pak Index here

Libby Costin leads Marketing for Tetra Pak Packaging Solutions. In her role, Libby is responsible for marketing strategy, consumer and industry intelligence, category management and portfolio deployment for the Tetra Pak Packaging business globally.

She also oversees the development of extensive, proprietary research on key beverage categories such as Dairy, Juice, Still Drinks, Food and Wine, developing a strategy to identify and drive new business opportunities worldwide.

Prior to joining Tetra Pak in February 2012, Libby held a number of senior sales and marketing positions in the food and beverage industry. During her 15 years at PepsiCo. she led a sales team in China of 10,000 people, developing business growth strategies and “go-to-market” planning. In the US she led the integration of Tropicana, Gatorade and Quaker foods upon acquisition of Quaker by PepsiCo.

Libby holds a BA degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Veganuary, the annual pledge to give up eating animal products for the month of January, has been growing exponentially in the past few years. With new products hitting the shelves to tie-in with the campaign, what can we expect to see from Veganuary 2021, and how is the movement growing so rapidly year-on-year?

Joining us to answer this and more is Ria Rehberg, CEO of Veganuary. Find out how and why the annual Veganuary challenge has become so popular, how working with manufacturers and retailers is helping to introduce new flexitarians to plant-based food, and what Veganuary 2021 participants will have to look forward to.

Sign up to Veganuary 2021 here

Ria Rehberg is the CEO of Veganuary, a UK based charity that encourages people worldwide to try vegan for January and beyond. Since 2014, Veganuary has inspired and supported more than one million people in 192 countries to try vegan. Additionally Veganuary works with hundreds of businesses to drive up vegan food provision in shops and restaurants, and have made veganism more visible and accessible through their work with national and international media.

With a small amount of arable land, and a climate that has little rainfall, the UAE faces significant natural challenges standing in the way of its goal to be self-reliant and a champion of food security in the Middle East.

In this episode of the Table Talk Podcast, host Stefan Gates is joined by two experts to discuss the efforts the UAE is making, how investment is being utilised and what opportunities and challenges the region faces on the way to meeting its sustainability goals. Joining our panel are Henry Gordon-Smith, CEO and Managing Director, Agritecture and Hina Kamal, PhD Research Scholar, Future Food, Beacon of Excellence Program, Unversity of Nottingham. They’ll explain how behavioural change will be key to overcoming the unique challenges the UAE faces, but if this can be done the opportunities for the region are huge.

Henry is a sustainability strategist focused on urban agriculture, water issues, and emerging technologies. Henry was born in Hong Kong and has lived in Japan, Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia, Canada, Spain, Austria, and the United States. Henry earned his BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, coursework in Food Security and Urban Agriculture from Ryerson University in Toronto, and an MSc in Sustainability Management from Columbia University. In 2011, Henry started exploring urban agriculture and launched the blog “Agritecture” to share case studies and analysis from around the world. In 2013, Henry Co-Founded the Association for Vertical Farming (AVF) and served on the board until July 2017. In 2014, Henry responded to a global need for technology-agnostic guidance on urban agriculture by launching the advisory firm Agritecture Consulting which has now consulted on over 100 urban agriculture projects in over 20 countries. Agritecture Consulting primarily helps entrepreneurs with vertical farming feasibility studies, recruiting, and systems design. In 2018, Henry was voted top 10 in Produce (USA) and 40 under 40 food policy influencers (NYC). In 2019, Henry was accepted as a Guelph University Food Policy Fellow and an advisor to the Ryerson University urban agriculture and food security curriculum development committee. Henry was named as a top 20 influencer in food and agriculture by Rabobank in December 2019. Henry serves on the advisory board of numerous AgTech startups including Smallhold and Foodshed.io. Henry serves on the board of directors for the not-for-profit food access organization Teens for Food Justice in NYC. Henry has spoken on the topic of urban agriculture in 4 continents and has been interviewed about urban and vertical farming for the WSJ, Futurism, Men’s Health, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, Arabian Business, CNBC, and many more. Henry is based in Brooklyn, NYC. Follow him on social media @theagritect.

Hina Kamal is a PhD research scholar at Future Food, Beacon of Excellence Program, University of Nottingham. Currently her research is focused on sustainability development goals (SDGs) in reference to food waste protein recycling and product development. Earlier she has been associated with United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), where she was a Research Associate at the College of Food and Agriculture. She has won the Alltech Young Scientist Award, USA and is an active researcher primarily in areas including food waste, biodegradable products, dairy chemistry and functional foods.

The loss of taste and smell have been key symptoms of COVID-19, and many sufferers have had a long-term impact from the illness on their senses. The ZOE COVID symptom app has reported that as many as one in 20 people who have had COVID suffer from symptoms for more than eight weeks. How has this impacted their lives, and what does this sensory loss mean for people’s experience of food, now and in the future? As many sufferers from loss of sense and smell can only experience tastes that are highly salty or sweet, will this lead to a health and nutrition impact that lasts

Joining host Stefan Gates is Barry Smith, Professor, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of London. Barry Smith is the UK’s lead for the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research (GCCR) and is studying the long term impact of loss of taste and smell in Covid-19 sufferers. He provides a fascinating insight into the issue, reveals how COVID is causing some to experience smell loss (anosmia), get better and then suffer from smell distortion (parosmia), a situation that hasn’t been seen before, and offers ways that sufferers can reach out for help for their sensory loss.

Barry C Smith is a professor of philosophy and director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study, as well as the founding director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses, which pioneers collaborative research between philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists. He is also the UK lead in the study of the long term impact of the loss of taste and smell in Covid-19 sufferers.

He has held visiting professorships at the University of California at Berkeley and the Ecole Normale Superiéure in Paris, and in 2012 he was appointed as the AHRC Leadership Fellow for the Science in Culture Theme, as well as Pro-Dean for new academic initiatives at the School of Advanced Study.

Barry Smith mentions two charities within the episode that can provide support for those who are suffering from loss of taste and smell, they are Abscent and Fifth Sense. Both are specialised in helping those suffering from the long-term loss of taste and smell through COVID, and have specific resources that can help.

With the UK leaving the EU on January 1st, what will be the impact on the UK food supply chain long-term? Will new regulations impede deliveries and create new hurdles for producers and manufacturers importing and exporting into the country from Europe? We assembled an expert panel in the run-up to Brexit to find out.

Recorded on December 16th, 2020, with the Brexit trade deal hanging in the balance, our panel looks at the future of food in the UK outside of the EU. Joining host Stefan Gates are David Wells, Chief Executive, Logistics UK, Dr Elitsa Garnizova, Director of LSE Consulting’s Trade Policy Hub, Ian Wright, Chief Executive, Food & Drink Federation, and Tony Heron, Professor of International Political Economy, University of York & Co-Investigator, IKnowFood Project.

David Wells is Chief Executive of Logistics UK, representing industry’s freight interests by road, rail, sea and air. Logistics UK has over 16,000 members who operate more than 220,000 goods vehicles (half of the UK fleet) consign over 90 per cent of freight moved by rail and 70 per cent of sea and air freight.

David joined Logistics UK (previously FTA) in April 2009 as Finance and IT Director; subsequently taking on additional responsibility for the Association’s Vehicle Inspection Service, Training and Tachograph Analysis Service. David became Chief Executive in early 2015 and since then has seen membership grow by 10%.

Having completed an Engineering Degree in Liverpool, David studied for membership of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, qualifying in November 1993 whilst working in industry. His career has centred around engineering and service businesses and has both European and North American finance and operations experience.

Dr Elitsa Garnizova is the Director of LSE Consulting’s Trade Policy Hub (TPH), a dedicated unit offering trade and investment policy research and advice. She is responsible for business development, project management and research for a variety of European and UK clients. Elitsa has worked on a range of projects for the UK government and EU institutions, focusing on barriers to trade and investment in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the US. She has recently worked on a range of projects, focusing on the vulnerabilities of the UK supply chains post-Brexit, impact and implementation of trade agreements and sustainability issues. She holds a PhD in international political economy from LSE, focusing on EU trade negotiations and the inclusion of regulatory issues, an MA in European Studies from KU Leuven, Belgium, and a BSc in International Economic and Management from Bocconi University, Italy.

Ian Wright is Chief Executive of the Food & Drink Federation. FDF is the representative voice of the companies and trade associations which make up the UK’s largest manufacturing sector. He joined in March 2015. Before then he spent 14 years with Diageo plc – the world’s largest drinks business. He was the executive committee member responsible for its reputation as it became one of the world’s most trusted and respected companies. Earlier, he worked for Boots The Chemist, Mars Confectionery and Pillsbury and had spells in consultancy and politics.

He received a CBE for political and public service in August 2015.

Tony Heron is Professor of International Political Economy. He is currently serving as a Parliamentary Academic Fellow to the House of Commons International Trade Committee. Tony is the author of three books and numerous articles and book chapters on different aspects of trade politics. Tony’s current work is centered on interdisciplinary global food systems research, sustainability governance in global value chains and the political economy of agriculture in the context of the UK’s exit from the EU.

Meat alternatives continue to increase in popularity, with consumers more likely to choose a flexitarian approach to eating that substitutes alternative proteins for traditional meat products. What are the trends and science behind meat alternatives and how will this growing section of the food and nutrition industry continue to grow?

In this episode of the Table Talk Podcast host Stefan Gates is joined by the experts in meat alternatives from Cargill. Together they explore the trends, consumer expectations and science behind meat alternatives, the challenges of developing a product with great taste, appearance and texture, and to find out what the future of the meat alternative market will look like.

Working for the Nielsen Company and other research agencies, Matthias gained over 10 years of experience in consulting packaged food and beverage manufacturers across Europe and Africa on marketing their products in retail. Since joining Cargill’s Starches, Sweeteners and Specialties Business Marketing team three years ago, he supports new product launches and drives marketing campaigns, with a specific focus on solutions for meat alternatives and dairy alternatives. He is passionate about consumer research and market positioning. Matthias is based in Belgium and is a proud new dad.

Beatrice is working for Cargill since more than 3 years now. She started in the edible oil business directly after university as a Technical Management Trainee, where she gained experience in the different production processes of oils and fats and the quality system around that. In her current role as Technical Account Manager she is building on this knowledge to develop new edible oil solutions to answer the various needs of her customers. Beatrice is based in Germany and her passion is around understanding food trends and studying the used ingredients. This is the major root cause why she sometimes spends hours in supermarkets even though she wanted to buy only the food for one week.

Hannah has more than 13 years in Cargill Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers with strong industry experience in ingredients solutions and sales across all market categories. Since joining Cargill she has worked in supply chain and commercial roles before moving into the INFUSE by Cargill™ team almost 2 years ago where she now leads them in developing new concepts and creating solutions for emerging and current trends. She is passionate about customers and development and solving challenges. Hannah is based in the UK and enjoys keeping fit in her free time.

Zuzana has worked within R&D teams at ingredient solutions providers to food industry and processed meat manufacturer, gaining 17 years of experience in meat business across Europe on formulation of seasoning and functional ingredient blends. Since joining Cargill Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers Europe business four years ago, she gives technical support to customer request, tests in application and develops Value Proposition for new Cargill solutions in meat and meat alternative space. She is passionate about food and food innovation. Zuzana is based in Belgium and is proud mother of two teenagers.

The Agriculture Act has been regarded as the first landmark piece of post-Brexit legislation by the UK Government. Passed in November, the act sets out how farmers and land-owners in the country will be rewarded for adopting sustainable food production practices.

What impact will it have, and how is the act viewed by farmers and land-owners? Will the new legislation change farming and food production for the better? We’ve assembled a panel to discuss these points and more. Joining host Stefan Gates are Professor Jane Rickson, Professor of Soil Erosion and Conservation, Cranfield Soil and AgriFood Institute, Vicki Hird, Head of Sustainable Farming, Food and Farm Policy, Sustain, Emily Norton, Head of Rural Research, Savills UK and Mark Coulman, Chair, Tenants Farming Association.

Professor Jane Rickson has over 30 years’ experience of research, consultancy and teaching in soil and water engineering, specialising in soil degradation processes and sustainable land management. Her work has focused on better understanding of soil functions and their role in the delivery of ecosystems goods and services, including water regulation, agricultural production and carbon storage. She uses multi-disciplinary approaches to integrate fundamental and applied land resources science at a range of spatial and temporal scales.

Her work is directed at Research Councils, industry, farmers and policy makers. Recent projects include: Development of a Soil Management Information System (AHDB); Better understanding of the soil protection landscape (Defra); Developing a conceptual framework for a soil impact metric for agricultural and commodity supply chains (Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge; CISL); Review of the England and Wales soils evidence base (Welsh Government); Provision of research to develop the evidence base on soil erosion (Committee on Climate Change, Adaptation Sub Committee); and The total costs of soil degradation in England & Wales (Defra).

Vicki Hird is an award winning author, expert, strategist and senior manager who has been working on environment, food and farming issues for over 25 years. As part- time Sustainable Farm Campaign Coordinator at Sustain, Vicki manages the farm policy and related campaigning and provides comment and guidance on these issues.

Prior to this role, she was director of Campaigns and Policy At War on Want. Previously she was the Senior Campaigner heading up the Land use, Food and Water Programme for Friends of the Earth and Policy Director of Sustain. She was Policy Director of Sustain, 1999 – 2004 and has been an expert consultant for NGOs and institutions (including for RSPB, WSPA, The Sustainable Development Commission, Greenpeace, The Plunkett Foundation and HEAL). She has launched many major food and environment campaigns, from local to global in scope, has blogged frequently and published numerous reports and articles on the sustainability of food systems and published Perfectly Safe to Eat? (Women’s Press 2000).

She has an academic background in pest management and is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and the RSA. Vicki is on the board of Pesticides Action Network, and the Keo Foundation, was chair of the Eating Better Alliance and has sat on numerous government advisory groups over the years. She also runs an independent consultancy undertaking campaigning and research.

Emily heads up the Savills UK Limited Rural Research team, guiding the creation of insight and analysis into rural policy, data and benchmarking for Savills and its clients across the U.K. She consults for clients and government on rural policy and corporate strategy, with a particular focus on rural asset investment and strategic sustainability and climate response. Emily is a director of the Oxford Farming Conference for 2021-2023 and a Nuffield Scholar 2018.

Mark Coulman has been a TFA member for over 20 years, serving as East Midlands Regional Chairman, National Vice-Chairman and now Chairman on the retirement of James Gray in March 2020. Having graduated in Agriculture and Food Marketing from Newcastle University, and undertaken consultancy roles and sales and marketing roles within the agricultural software industry, Mark returned to the family farm in 1993, succeeding as tenant in 1997. Farming 235 hectares of arable land, cropping wheat, rape, sugar beet, peas amongst other things, as well as flower growing which diversified into a successful flower import, packing and distribution business.

Mark has managed several diversified businesses and believes in the ability of farmers to be successful entrepreneurs. Currently, the farm is involved in developing a care & social farm enterprise, providing opportunities for adults and children dealing with challenges to improve their health and well-being. The opportunity to develop this offer within the public money for public good framework is a particular interest. Mark is a firm believer in the ability of the tenanted sector to deliver successful, sustainable farm businesses which both produce quality food and environmental sustainability for the good of the wider rural community.

One year a go, trend forecasters were predicting that food-on-the-go would be the dominant trend for the year ahead but obviously the global pandemic completely changed that. With COVID-19 still out of control in most major countries across the world, we assembled a panel of experts to explain how that will affect which retail trends will grow in 2021, and what the longer post-COVID future looks like.

With history showing that ‘black swan’ events like global pandemics can accelerate long-lasting change, how will plant-based food, personalised nutrition, and health and wellbeing and other retail trends in 2021 potentially be impacted? Joining host Stefan Gates are Mark Driscoll, Director, Tasting the Future, Laura Swain, Editor – Food & Beverage and Travel & Hospitality, Stylus and Simon Waring, Managing Director & Owner, Green Seed UK Ltd.

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.

Mark graduated from Wye College (London University) with a degree in Environmental science. He sits on several advisory boards for business, government and non-profit organisations. He also writes and blogs extensively on issues and trends impacting on the food system.

A trained journalist and life-long foodie, Laura tracks the latest trends and developments in product innovation, technology and consumer culture in the food, beverage and travel sectors. Before bringing her passion for food, drink and hospitality to Stylus, Laura tested her chops working with brands agency-side on PR projects – brands like Mondelez and Unilever.

Stylus are experts in trends intelligence, equipping the most forward-thinking brands and agencies with the creative insights they need to make transformative business decisions.

Simon Waring is owner and managing director of Green Seed UK Ltd, a marketing and business development consultancy focused exclusively on the food and drink industry. Green Seed works with both UK and international food and drink brands, helping them to understand UK trends and market opportunities, with route to market strategy and outsourced sales and marketing. It also guides UK exporters on their international strategy with teams to implement in markets.

The Green Seed Group is an international network of food and drink specialist marketing teams with its own offices based across Europe and North America, and associates in Asia. The Green Seed Group was formed by the former international teams of Food from Britain in 2009. An Oxford University modern languages graduate, Simon worked in marketing roles in France and Germany before joining global market and consumer analysts Mintel International Group, where he was Marketing Director. He then became Director General of the British Food Export Council and, prior to his current role, was International Managing Director of Food from Britain, during which time he developed and managed a network of operations across Europe, North America and Asia, and advised and supported 100+ small, medium and larger companies in strategy and business development in the UK and its key export markets.

Last year we took a look at the start-up environment for food and agri-tech post-COVID 19, and continuing the series we speak to two leading investors to get a sense of the outlook for food and agri-tech investment for 2021. What challenges and opportunities do investors see in this market, and where will they be looking to invest in the future as they focus on health, nutrition and sustainability?

Joining host Stefan Gates are Paul Rous, Director, Open Data Exchange & co-founder, Shake Climate Change and Rogier Pieterse, Managing Director, PYMWYMIC. Together they debate how the investment community will help support the innovators creating solutions to support data-driven agriculture, plant-based meat alternatives, and more.

Paul is a Director of the Open Data Exchange, a joint initiative between Yara and IBM to enable data sharing throughout the agriculture sector. He is also a co-founder of the UK’s first agritech investment programme, Shake Climate Change, supported by Rothamsted Research, UCL, Hertfordshire and Cranfield Universities.

Paul has been involved in investment, innovation, and agriculture for over a decade, having founded two venture capital funds, Fuel Ventures and Blackfinch Ventures focusing and investing in early-stage UK technology. He has also been involved in the launch and scale of tens of companies and had over five successful exits. After serving as an Officer in the Army and at Goldman Sachs, he took an active role in the family’s arable farm.

Paul has been involved in the rural economy and farming whilst serving as Chairman and Committee Member for the Country Landowners Association, District Councillor – East Suffolk, and Board Member for the East of England’s tourism board. Paul holds an MBA from Imperial College London where he held a position on the Dean’s Advisory Council and was awarded the Dean’s award for sustainable business. He is currently undertaking a Ph.D. with Cranfield University and Rothamsted Research focussing on agricultural innovation ecosystems.

As a former entrepreneur himself and being passionate about bringing change and support to those who want to do good, Rogier has been leading PYMWYMIC since 2016. Since then, Pymwymic has fully focussed on the required transition in our food system. Rogier has an investment background with extensive experience in evaluating, negotiating, structuring deals (equity and debt) and creating shareholder value by scaling and initiating successful businesses. Previously CEO of family owned Transmark Holdings Group, Founder/MD of Green Giraffe Investment Management, Investment Manager Ampere Fund/ Triodos and Investment Banker at NIBC. Rogier holds a M.Sc. in Economics from University of Amsterdam.

Like many countries across the world, consumers in the UAE are showing a clear preference for cleaner, more ethical and sustainable food. Eating and consumption habits are changing, what does this mean for the food and drink industry in the region? What food and nutrition trends are growing in the UAE in 2021?

In this episode of Table Talk we investigate all this and more, joined by two experts on the UAE and its food supply and consumer habits, Ananya Narayan, Managing Director, Hunter Foods Limited and. Monique Naval, Senior Analyst, Euromonitor International. With host Stefan Gates they'll discuss how attitudes toward health, nutrition and wellbeing are developing, how this is impacting the food and nutrition trends that are growing in the UAE, and how the country intends to become food secure and sustainable.

Ananya Narayan, Managing Director, Hunter Foods Limited

Ananya Narayan, Managing Director of Hunter Foods, has been recognized in growing his family business rapidly in the Better For You gourmet, quality, healthier foods and snacks. Prior to joining Hunter Foods, he has worked in the hospitality industry, with Preferred Hotels & Resorts as Executive VP - Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa for nine years, and with Hyatt Hotels Corporation as Director of Strategic Marketing prior to that. While he was at Preferred, he expanded his hotel portfolio drastically from 13 hotels to 191. Over the last 5 years, he has tripled Hunter Foods’ revenue and added over 20 export markets. His aim is to transform Hunter Foods into a leading major innovative and healthier foods and snacks manufacturer and supplier within the GCC and the world. He has a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Masters in Marketing, both from Northwestern University, USA.

Monique Naval, Senior Analyst, Euromonitor International

Monique is a Senior Analyst with Euromonitor International in the UAE. In her current role, she is part of the global Food and Nutrition team that provides strategic recommendations to the world’s largest FMCG companies, shaping the food industry. She leads the Middle East and North Africa research and actively engages with main industry players. She creates datasets, authors annual reports, and is regularly featured as a thought leader in numerous local and international media outlets.

Monique holds a degree in Communication Research and has over ten years’ research experience having successfully handled international projects with different industries such as Utilities, FMCG, Retailing, Banking, Government, Travel and International Development. A seasoned speaker, she has delivered keynote presentations in international conferences and webinars such as Gulfood, Yummex Middle East and ‘More than Food’ webinar hosted by the European Union.

Gulfood 2021

Monique and Ananya will both be in attendance at Gulfood 2021, held on 21-25 February 2021 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Gulfood 2021 gives food and beverage brands the perfect opportunity to: 

To find out more, visit Gulfood 2021 here

For people around the world to be truly healthy, they need access to a balanced diet containing all of the essential primary, secondary and micro nutrients. Where does our food get its nutrients from? The soil. How can we build a sustainable future, feed a growing population, and protect our soil nutrients and arable land at the same time?

The key is promoting farming practices that are profitable for farmers, environmentally sound, and good for communities, and the correct use of fertilisers has a key role to play. In this podcast, in partnership with Anglo American’s Crop Nutrients, we look at the challenges farmers face, and how balanced crop nutrition and sustainable crop production offers the perfect solution.

Robert Meakin manages the research and development, crop science function and the POLY4 global agronomy programme. POLY4 is the trademark name of Anglo American Crop Nutrients polyhalite product. Polyhalite is a naturally occurring, evaporite mineral that will be mined at the Woodsmith Mine in North Yorkshire, England. Sustainability and low environmental impact is a central theme which runs through the entire Woodsmith Project, one of the largest engineering projects in Europe. It has been specifically designed to blend into the landscape, with all key infrastructure hidden beneath the surface. As a whole company, Anglo American have targeted a 30% reduction in operational GHG emissions by 2030 and have a long-term plan to become carbon neutral across the operations by 2040.

Multi-nutrient and low chloride POLY4 fertiliser contains four of the six essential macro nutrients – potassium, sulphur, magnesium and calcium – required for crop growth and a range of micro nutrients including iron, boron and zinc. Using this natural material means that it not only improves yield and quality of crops through provision of a balanced nutrition but, due to an environmentally considerate production process, POLY4 can also be used by farmers who choose to adopt organic farming practices.

Santiago is the innovation director at Cefetra – a Spanish farmer services company that is part of BayWa, the Bavarian farm services giant. With their platform Sembralia.com they serve farmers and ranchers across all Spanish geographies and crop types providing fertilising solutions and digital farming services, promoting the use of technology to optimise farmer income, reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and bridge the rural gap.

Marshall, together with his eldest daughter Caroline, runs a dairy herd farm near Taunton in Somerset. They now run around 280 cross-bred milk cows to produce a profit from milk off grass that is then also used in the production of local cheeses. At Marshall’s Volis Farm, profit is optimised by focusing on soil health. A soil system in nutrient balance, which respects the environment, maintains ecosystems and returns carbon to the soil, is Marshall’s target for optimum performance.

Our world is changing in ways we never imagined. The way we live, work, socialise and entertain ourselves has evolved. During the pandemic, we have collectively experienced life-changing events and circumstances that have caused us to recalibrate and adapt. Whether it’s communicating virtually, working remotely, staying indoors or washing our hands, signs of this new way of life are abundant. Givaudan have conducted in-depth consumer research to find out how their preferences in food and beverages have evolved in recent times – and what this means for our customers. Will these consumer food and drink preferences change for the long-term following the impact of the pandemic?

This episode of the Table Talk Podcast aims to answer that question, in partnership with Givaudan, the global leader in the creation of flavours and fragrances. A recent Givaudan consumer survey of over 5,000 consumers across Europe, Africa and the Middle East identified four major trends in food and beverage consumption.

Find out how consumer attitudes will influence innovation in food and beverages with our panel featuring Basak Oker, Head of Consumer & Sensory Insights Europe, Danielle Van Hees, Category Manager for snacks Europe, Marta Kusnierz, Category Manager for Sweet Goods and Dairy Europe, Nely Vlasblom, Product Manager for Beverages Europe, and Virginie Philippe, Category Manager for Culinary Europe.

To find out more about Givaudan’s research, click here

Basak has 15 years of experience in marketing, innovation, digital business and consumer insight generation. She joined Givaudan in 2015 as the Category Manager for Beverages EAME; she was named Head of Consumer & Sensory Insights EAME in June 2020. Prior to joining Givaudan, she held various marketing and innovation roles in FMCG companies within personal care and toy industries.

Basak holds an MBA from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and a BA in Business Administration from Koc University in Istanbul.

Danielle joined Givaudan in 2006 working in various marketing roles within the different business units. Danielle is now part of the Regional Innovation team for Snacks. Prior to joining Givaudan, Danielle worked at a number of IT companies before joining the FMCG market. Danielle studied Commercial Economics at the University of Utrecht. When not at work she likes spending time with her family playing LEGO with her kids, she also enjoys running, cycling holidays and reading. She is based in Naarden in the Netherlands.

Marta has more than 10 years of experience in sales and marketing in the food and home appliance industry. Marta joined Givaudan in June 2020 and manages the Sweet Goods and Dairy category in Europe. This broad category consists of segments like chocolate, bakery, gum and candies, as well as dairy and plant-based dairy. Marta has a background in sales, marketing and category management and holds a degree in political science and communication.

Nely has 15 years of experience in sales, marketing and innovation. In 2017, she joined Givaudan as a Regional Product Manager for the Beverages, Dairy and Sweet Goods. In this role, she ensures market needs are translated into Givaudan’s innovation programmes. Prior to this role, she worked in food and biotechnology for B2B companies. Nely holds an MSc degree from Wageningen University in The Netherland in which she chose a commercial and technical specialisation. Part of the education program was fulfilled at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (USA) and the University of Khon Kaen in Thailand.

Virginie Philippe, Category Manager Culinary

Virginie joined Givaudan in 2011 as part of the Sweet Goods and Dairy team where her primary focus was on Sweet Goods. In 2018 she added Dairy categories to her expertise for the EAME region. In 2020, she took over responsibility for Culinary applications including ready meals, sauces, soups and more. Virginie holds two Masters degrees, one in International Marketing and another in Marketing applied to Fragrances & Flavours. Prior to joining Givaudan, she worked for other F&F companies including Takasago. Virginie is passionate about food and enjoys tasting new dishes, travelling and spending time with her family.

Danielle Nierenberg, President of Food Tank, has spent spent two years visiting more than 35 countries, including sub-saharan Africa and Asia, investigating environmentally sustainable ways of alleviating hunger and poverty. She’s also explored extensively the impact of COVID-19 in the US and how the domestic food policy could, and should, change as a result. In this podcast, her unique insight gives us a picture of the global challenges affecting our food system, and the ways in which we can address them.

From sustainable farming, to governmental policy changes that can help our environment, to changes we each can make individually that will make a significant contribution to a more sustainable food system, Danielle provides a comprehensive look at how the industry can create a brighter, healthier food future.

Food Tank is for the 7 billion people who have to eat every day. We will offer solutions and environmentally sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity, and poverty by creating a network of connections and information for all of us to consume and share. Food Tank is for farmers and producers, policy makers and government leaders, researchers and scientists, academics and journalists, and the funding and donor communities to collaborate on providing sustainable solutions for our most pressing environmental and social problems.

Food Tank highlights hope and success in agriculture. We feature innovative ideas that are already working on the ground, in cities, in kitchens, in fields and in laboratories. These innovations need more attention, more research, and ultimately more funding to be replicated and scaled-up. And that is where we need you. We all need to work together to find solutions that nourish ourselves and protect the planet.

In 2013, Danielle Nierenberg co-founded Food Tank with Bernard Pollack, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. Food Tank is a global convener, research organization, and non-biased creator of original research impacting the food system.

Danielle also conducts extensive on-the-ground research, traveling to more than 70 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. She has met with thousands of farmers and farmers’ groups, scientists and researchers, policymakers and government leaders, students and academics, as well as journalists, documenting what’s working to help alleviate hunger and poverty while protecting the environment.

Her knowledge of global agriculture issues has been cited widely in more than 20,000 major print and broadcast outlets worldwide, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, BBC, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, CBS This Morning, The Guardian (UK), The Telegraph (UK), Le Monde (France), the Mail and Guardian (South Africa), the East African (Kenya), TIME magazine, the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France Presse, Voice of America, the Times of India, the Sydney Morning Herald, and hundreds more.

Danielle is the recipient of the 2020 Julia Child Award.

She has an M.S. in Agriculture, Food, and Environment from the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and spent two years volunteering for the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic.

Are you tapping into the the experience economy? Consumers experience brands on a variety of levels, and not all of it is conscious. A great deal of your 'brand effect' will be non-conscious. Specific sensory attributes deployed across your pack and product will be generating deeper, more meaningful levels of engagement. Could creating meaningful consumer experiences help your brand?

Host Stefan Gates is joined by a panel of experts including Andy Wardlaw, Chief Innovations Officer, MMR Research, Mike Faers, Founder & Chairman, Cubo Innovation, and Paul Thomas, Director, The Forge to find out how a decision to go beyond 'liking' on your next development project could be the start of your quest to fully realise your brand's sensory power.

About our panel

Andy Wardlaw, Chief Innovations Officer, MMR Research

Andrew’s career in food and drink began with selling fish paste to local stores and wholesalers for the Shippam’s brand in the south of England. That was in 1992. Since then he has gone on to develop insight and ideas for Old El Paso, Haagen-Dazs and Nature Valley – all at General Mills, as well as stints at functional dairy brand Benecol and every little person’s favourite Ella’s Kitchen.

Now he heads up ideas at the MMR Group, which helps brands develop products that are not just liked, but beautifully aligned across all moments of truth – across brand, pack and product - to create more powerful user experiences. MMR partners with over 2/3 of the world’s leading food and drink manufacturers and has had a very busy 2020 as companies invest in a new consumer landscape.

He lives in Great Missenden, world famous for the writer Roald Dahl, which might explain his love to all things chocolate…

Mike Faers, Founder & Chairman, Cubo Innovation,

CEO and Founder and all round Innovations guru, Mike has a huge amount of experience from the kitchens of Le Gavroche to heading up Product for McDonald’s Europe and then globally. Growing tired of working with agencies who could talk the talk but failed to deliver, mike left his role at McDonalds to start FIS in 2010. Having run and established manufacturing plants, innovation academics and working extensively with many of the UK’s major retailers and brands, Mike offers strategic planning, troubleshooting and innovation best practise to Cubo’s clients, using decades of expertise to ensure that businesses operate efficiently and innovate brilliantly.

Paul Thomas, Director, The Forge

Paul is a Director at the Forge, a strategic insight consultancy. Prior to that, Paul has spent the majority of his career in Head of Insight & Innovation roles at food & drink clients – Asahi, Diageo and Ferrero. Paul specialises in branding, comms and innovation – and believes deeply that brands must bring experience to consumers, especially as his own personal favourite experience, the pubs, are closed at the moment.

About MMR

MMR Research Worldwide is part of the MMR Group; privately owned and proudly independent. This allows us the flexibility and freedom to adopt a strategy focused around innovation and employee empowerment. For our clients, that means outstanding service and access to specialist sensory, fieldwork and online expertise.

The meat alternative market has plenty of burgers, sausages, and steaks to meet the demands of an increasingly flexitarian marketplace. However, seafood alternatives have been scarce compared to the options available for beef, pork and chicken. Why is this the case? Well, seafood presents some unique experiential challenges, primarily with mouth feel and texture, that are part of what we associate with eating fish. In this podcast we look at these challenges, and the opportunities, that seafood alternative producers are confronting to create new and tasty fish alternatives.

Joining host Stefan Gates are a panel of global experts in the field, including Tom Johannsson, Co Founder & CEO, Hooked Seafood AB (Sweden), Jen Lamy, Sustainable Seafood Initiative Manager, The Good Food Institute (US) and Chris Kerr, Founding Partner, CIO, Unovis Partners; CIO New Crop Capital; Co-Founder, Gathered Foods (US). Join them to find out the scope of the challenges they are overcoming, and to find out how big the market could potentially be for fish and seafood alternatives, and the impact their success could have on the environment.

Tom is the Co-Founder & CEO of Hooked Seafood AB. He has an engineering background but with experience from The Boston Consulting Group and Procter & Gamble. With an increasing concern about the climate, food system and a desire to make a meaningful change he started Hooked Seafood with his Co-founders Emil and Peter in 2019. Hooked is now one of the most ambitious and promising startups to unlock the plant-based seafood market in Europe with a €500k seed round just closed to fund their launch in 2021.

Jen manages GFI’s cross-programmatic Sustainable Seafood Initiative to ensure that it proceeds strategically and with the input and involvement of key stakeholders. She works with members of GFI’s Science & Technology, Corporate Engagement, and Policy teams to accelerate the development and commercialisation of alternative seafood through foundational research, open-access resources, and strategic engagement with external partners. Jen holds a master’s in environmental management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and a bachelor’s in economics and environmental studies from Wellesley College.

With almost thirty years of leadership experience with start-ups and venture capital investing, Chris Kerr has spent the last decade focused on impact investing in the plant-based foods sector. Chris is a co-founder of Gathered Foods and its Good Catch plant-based seafood brand and has worked with and helped launch many game changing companies in the plant-based sector, including Beyond Meat, Daiya, Alpha Foods, NUMU and many others.

He is the Chief Investment Officer for Unovis Partners, which is the asset manager for New Crop Capital, one of the world’s most active investors in the plant-based foods and cellular ag technology sectors.

Also, Chris is director of Trellis New Endeavors, Wicked Healthy, Pitcairn Financial Group, and Anark Corporation.

In this Table Talk Podcast episode we explore why a one size fits all approach to diets doesn't work, and what the latest scientific research tells us about our nutrition, the impact of our gut microbiome, and what this means for a more personalised approach to diet and nutrition.

To explain the significance of the research and its findings we're joined by Dr. Sarah Berry, Senior Lecturer from Kings College London and one of the leads on the PREDICT 2 study, to explain what this latest research means for our understanding of our gut microbiome, and the impact it can have on our overall health and well being, and how it debunks the idea of a one size fits all diet.

Dr. Sarah Berry will be presenting a nutrition spotlight session at Food Matters live in March. To find out all about this fascinating session, and how to register, click here.

About Dr. Sarah Berry

Dr Sarah Berry’s research interests relate to the influence of dietary components on cardiometabolic disease risk; with particular focus on postprandial metabolism and vascular dysfunction. Since commencing her research career at King’s College London in 2000, she has been the academic leader for more than 30 human nutrition studies in cardio-metabolic health. Sarah’s ongoing research involves human and mechanistic studies to elucidate how markers of cardiometabolic health can be modulated following acute and chronic intakes of different fatty acids and interesterified fats, as well as studies to investigate the influence of cell wall integrity on macronutrient and micronutrient release from different plant-based foods. Sarah is also the lead nutritional scientist on the world’s largest ongoing programme of postprandial metabolic studies (the PREDICT studies), assessing the genetic, metabolic, metagenomic, and meal-dependent effects on postprandial metabolic responses.

About the PREDICT studies

The landmark study published in Nature Medicine and presented at the American Society of Nutrition shows dietary inflammation varies dramatically among healthy adults, pointing to the need for personalisation in eating.

To find out more about PREDICT and ZOE, click here

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed food consumers online in huge numbers, with shoppers moving to delivery services to minimise their trips to supermarkets. Additionally the crisis saw many businesses create their own direct-to-consumer marketplaces, cutting out the middle man altogether. Waitrose polled 2,000 people across the UK and found that 77% now do at least some of their grocery shopping online, compared with 61% the year before. Is your brands e-commerce and direct-to-consumer strategy tapping into this growing marketplace?

In today's podcast, host Stefan Gates is joined by Dean McElwee, Integrated Commercial Lead E-Commerce The Kellogg Company and Francis Nicholas, Group Digital Director, Nomad Foods, to hear their experience of e-commerce and direct-to-consumer, and to learn their recommendations for businesses across food and retail.

About our panel

Francis Nicholas, Group Digital Director, Nomad Foods

Francis first got involved in the space more than a decade ago and was responsible for launching many of P&G’s brands into various Pure Plays (in particular Amazon) across multiple European markets. He also worked to drive the Online businesses with multiple Bricks & Clicks retailers. At Nomad Foods, Francis is responsible for driving the Online sales of Family Favourites such as iglo, Findus and Birdseye. Whilst this space has challenges, the consumer is ultimately the boss.

Therefore it’s crucial for Brands and Retailers to understand how they can deliver against increasing consumer expectations whilst at the same time addressing the resulting business challenges – something Francis focusses on.

Dean McElwee, Integrated Commercial Lead E-Commerce, The Kellogg Company

Dean is the Integrated Commercial Lead, eCommerce for Europe at The Kellogg Company. Dean is a commercially focused E-Commerce leader with a broad commercial background with over 18 years’ experience in Retail Consulting and Sales Leadership for blue-chip multinational organisations. He has enjoyed a career spanning both emerging and developed markets across multiple channels. He has broad experience across both emerging and developed markets across multiple channels.

The world is searching for practical, quality, environmentally friendly foods to sustain the growing population and satisfy surging demand. Food Matters Live Award winner Equinom is paving the way, strategically breeding non-GMO/non-gene edited smarter seeds with super-traits: superior nutrition, improved functionality, enhanced organoleptics and robust yield – for a healthy, nutritious and sustainable food future.

In this episode of the Table Talk Podcast we speak to Equinom Founder and CEO Gil Shalev to find out how they're using science and innovation to create smarter seeds. What are the challenges they've faced and what are the opportunities they see for seeds that can support healthy plant-based eating? Join host Stefan Gates to find out.

About Gil Shalev, Founder & CEO, Equinom

Founder and CEO, Gil Shalev, is the driving force behind food-tech seed innovator, Equinom. He earned his Ph.D. in plant genetics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Faculty of Agriculture and has expertise in plant genomics and breeding. Gil’s scientific achievements include developing an integrated sequencing technology for breeding and discovering new genes and gene combinations in numerous plants.

Gil has positioned Equinom to be a trailblazer in non-GMO seed breeding to enable global supply chains to provide food companies with grain varieties that precisely meet each application’s functional needs.

Plant-based dairy continues to surge. The key motivators of dairy-free diets include health reasons (allergens, lactose intolerance, digestive discomfort), animal welfare, and environmental concerns. However, many omnivores are also attracted to dairy-free options because they want to try and experience something new. How are dairy-free producers reacting to the potential of this growing market?

To answer this we're joined by the experts from Cargill once again, who give us their unique insight into the state of the current dairy-free market, and where they see the greatest potential for future NPD and growth. What are the challenges of replacing dairy in products, what products are capturing the most attention from consumers right now, and what will the space look like in the future? Join host Stefan Gates to find out.

About our panel

Matthias Bourdeau, Marketing Manager Texturizers, Cargill Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers Europe
 
Working for the Nielsen Company and other research agencies, Matthias gained over 10 years of experience in consulting packaged food and beverage manufacturers across Europe and Africa on marketing their products in retail. Since joining Cargill’s Starches, Sweeteners and Specialties Business Marketing team three years ago, he supports new product launches and drives marketing campaigns, with a specific focus on dairy alternatives and meat alternatives. He is passionate about consumer research and market positioning. Matthias is based in Belgium and is a proud new dad.

Hannah Keenan, Business Development Manager, INFUSE, Cargill Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers Europe (CSST)

Hannah has more than 13 years in Cargill Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers with strong industry experience in ingredients solutions and sales across all market categories. Since joining Cargill she has worked in supply chain and commercial roles before moving into the INFUSE by Cargill™ team almost 2 years ago where she now leads them in developing new concepts and creating solutions for emerging and current trends. She is passionate about customers and development and solving challenges. Hannah is based in the UK and enjoys keeping fit in her free time.

Caroline Delabrousse, Technical Business Development Manager, Dairy, Cargill Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers Europe

After her BSC degree in Food technologies in 2001, Caroline started in dairy world working in milk production at Lactalis. Then she moved to Paris as Food technologist to start her experience on texturising solutions in ice cream at Rhodia Food. In 2005, Caroline joined Dupont, Danisco and extended her skills on texturising, emulsifiers and sweeteners solutions in France and also in Aarhus, DK. Here she was promoted as Application Specialist  supporting sales teams in Europe and Africa on beverages, Frozen and dairy desserts applications.

In 2016, Caroline joined Cargill CSST EMEA as dairy specialist tagged to North Africa, Germany, Turkey and Iran to local technical team across all dairy applications such as yogurts, cheeses, frozen desserts, drinks & desserts. It was also the opportunity to come back to Normandy, her birth place. Today she still enjoys a lot sharing and learning about dairy categories within a multicultural environment.

Dries Cauwenbergh, Technical Business Development Manager – Dairy, Cargill Global Edible Oil Solutions Europe

After obtaining his master’s degree in Bio-Engineering, Dries stayed 4 more years at the university of Ghent as technical manager of the service providing lab at the department of Food Technology and Nutrition. From the non-routine analyses and R&D projects for SME’s, it was quite a step-change moving to the East of Belgium to be a Food Safety consultant. The 5 following years in Liège, next to becoming fluent in French, he also developed his skills and expertise in food safety and crisis management.
In 2010, Dries joined Cargill Refined Oils Europe as Technical Account Manager tagged to the British isles and the French/Belgian sales teams across all food categories and applications. In that role, he has been the technical voice of Cargill in front of customers and vice versa, handling virtually all nutritional, physical-chemical, contaminant, sustainability and quality aspects of refined vegetable oils. Today, Dries still enjoys that same role, albeit with the new title of ‘TBDM’ and an increased focus on Dairy. Since 2020, Dries is also Dairy Category Team lead for Cargill Global Edible Oil Solutions Europe and as such he’s putting the dairy Category’s interests and needs on the Cargill agenda and vice versa.

Cellular or lab-grown meat is being touted as one of the greatest solutions to environmental and food system challenges. It allows people to enjoy the taste of meat, but without harming animals or increasing the carbon footprint. But how do you convince people to put down the hamburger and pick up the slaughter-free steak?

Guests:

Che Connon, Co-founder and CEO, 3D Bio-Tissues Ltd

Alongside being CEO of 3D Bio-Tissues, I am also Professor of Tissue Engineering at Newcastle University and co-founder of CellulaREvolution which aims to solve critical issues in scale up of cultured meat.

Didier Toubia, Co-Founder & CEO of Aleph Farms

Didier Toubia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Aleph Farms, a cultivated meat company that is shaping the future of food by growing slaughter-free beef steaks directly from cow cells, preserving natural resources, and avoiding the use of antibiotics. Prior to Aleph Farms, Didier co-founded and led IceCure, which went public in 2010, and served as the CEO of NLT Spine, which was acquired by SeaSpine in 2016. Didier was trained as a Food Engineer and Biologist and holds a joint executive MBA from Kellogg and Recanati. He is also co-Founder of BlueTree and Yeap.

Peter Verstrate, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer, Mosa Meat

Peter is the food technician behind the world’s first slaughter-free hamburger. He has worked in the processed meat industry for over 20 years in various senior positions ranging from R&D to QA to Operations. He beings a deep knowledge of the meat business developed at international food companies including Sara Lee, Ahold, Smithfield, Campofrio Food Group and Jack Links. He also served as Managing Director of Hulshof Protein Technologies, a leading producer of collage proteins. Peter holds a Master’s in Food Science from Wageningen University. He is passionate about the environment and food security, and highly driven to find a sustainable way to feed the world. Peter co-founded Mosa Meat and as COO is focused on developing an affordable process for high volume production of cultured meat.

The UK is world leading in its food standards and laws around animal welfare. However, trade deals with the US and Australia could mean these standards will be lowered to allow cheap imports. From chlorinated chicken to hormone beef this could have a huge impact on the quality of our food and the ability of our farmers to compete on price.

About our panel

Anna Sands, Trade Policy Specialist, WWF UK

Anna Sands is trade policy specialist at WWF UK. She leads on advocacy for the UK’s new independent trade policy to work for climate, nature and people. Prior to WWF, she worked at the Global Economic Governance Programme at the Blavatnik School of Government, a research centre focusing on how the global economy could be governed in a more sustainable and equitable way.

David Baldock, Senior Fellow, Agriculture and Land Management Fellow, Institute for European Environmental Policy

David's background is in philosophy and economics. He joined the Institute in the mid-1980s to establish a programme of work on agricultural and rural environmental issues. He became Deputy Director in 1992, Director in 1998 and active Senior Fellow in 2016. As well as being an authority on European agricultural policy and the environment, David's specialist areas include EU strategies for climate, natural resources, and public investment. He has an active interest in sustainable development and the growing implications of building a bio-economy. Current external commitments include membership of the Commission's high-level group on the competitiveness of the car industry in Europe.

Liz Webster, Founder, Save British Farming

Save British Farming (SBF) was founded by Liz Webster, a farmer in Wiltshire, with the objective of protecting our food standards and our farmers’ livelihoods.

Sophie Medlin, Director and Specialist Dietitian, City Dietitian & Chair of the British Dietetic Association for London

Sophie Medlin is a well-recognised consultant dietitian and is the Chair for the British Dietetic Association for London. Sophie has expertise in gastrointestinal and colorectal health. She worked in acute hospitals specialising in gastrointestinal diseases before moving into academia, where she worked as a lecturer at King’s College London. Sophie is a go-to spokesperson for media when it comes to evidence-based nutrition, regularly featuring in print, broadcast and social media.

The shock of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed huge inequalities in health outcomes across society. What role has nutrition played in exacerbating the pandemic? How has our nutrition affected susceptibility to COVID-19 and what lessons do we need to learn to protect society in the future?

Joining host Stefan Gates to discuss this fascinating subject is Philip Calder, Professor of Nutritional Immunology, School of Human Development and Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, who has recently led a review in the role of nutrition in immunity and host susceptibility to Covid-19. We'll take a look at how the food we eat, our gut microbiome, and the nutrients we consume can impact our health, and what recommendations have arisen from this fascinating research.

About Philip Calder

Philip Calder is Professor of Nutritional Immunology and Head of School of Human Development and Health at the University of Southampton in the UK. He is currently President of ILSI Europe. Professor Calder is an internationally recognised researcher on the metabolism and functionality of fatty acids with an emphasis on the roles of omega-3 fatty acids in immunity, inflammation and cardiometabolic disease. He has also conducted recognised research on amino acids, antioxidants, prebiotics, probiotics and natural products. His research addresses both life course and translational considerations and includes research in cell and animal models and in healthy humans and patients. Professor Calder has published over 600 scientific articles (excluding abstracts) and according to Web of Science his work has been cited over 33,000 times. 

He has a Web of Science h-index of 100, a Google Scholar h-index of 130 (i10 index 489) and has been included in every listing of Highly Cited Researchers. He has received many awards and prizes for his work including ESPEN’s Cuthbertson Lecture (2008), the Ralph Holman Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Oil Chemists’ Society (2015), the prestigious Danone International Prize for Nutrition (2016) and the DSM Lifetime Achievement Prize in Human Nutrition (2017). Professor Calder was President of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (2009-2012), Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) (2012-2016) and President of the Nutrition Society (2016-2019). He is currently President of the Federation of European Nutrition Societies. He was Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Nutrition (2006 to 2013) and is currently Associate Editor of Clinical Science and Journal of Nutrition. 

He previously served on many Editorial Boards of journals in the nutrition, lipidology and biochemistry fields. Professor Calder has a long association with ILSI Europe having served on its Scientific Advisory Committee, as Scientific Co-Chair of one of its Task Forces, and as a member (including Chairing) several Expert Groups.

The psychology of why we eat the food that we do, even if it isn't good for us, provides a unique insight into human behaviour. Is it our personality, our upbringing, or the stimulus that we are exposed to that control our choices and have us reaching for the unhealthy options?

In the first in a series delving into the psychology of food choices and eating behaviours we join Professor Jacqueline Blissett, Chair in Childhood Eating Behaviour, Co-Director of Aston Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment, Aston University Early Career Researcher Facilitator and Patrick Fagan, Associate Lecturer in Consumer Behaviour, Goldsmith and Lecturer in Consumer Psychology, University of the Arts London to explore why we make the choices we do, and how we can make better choices in the future.

About our panel

Professor Jacqueline Blissett, Chair in Childhood Eating Behaviour, Co-Director of Aston Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment, Aston University Early Career Researcher Facilitator

I have been working in the field of children’s eating behaviour for over twenty years. In that time much of my research has focussed on the biological, affective and cognitive factors of parents and their children which influence parent-child interaction, particularly in the context of feeding and eating problems. I have a particular interest in children’s fussy eating including poor fruit and vegetable acceptance, emotional eating, and obesity.

My broad research interests are: 

Patrick Fagan, Associate Lecturer in Consumer Behaviour, Goldsmith and Lecturer in Consumer Psychology, University of the Arts London

Patrick is a behavioural scientist who specialises in ‘turning minds into money’ - that is, practically applying psychological science for commercial outcomes. On the academic side, Patrick is a part-time lecturer at two universities, has authored papers on topics from facial expressions to Facebook psychology, and published a book on comms psychology with Pearson. On the commercial side, he has been consulting and running research for blue-chip clients for over a decade, and was previously Lead Psychologist at Cambridge Analytica. He is now Chief Scientific Officer at behavioural science outfit Capuchin

Why do certain foods stimulate our appetite even though we aren't hungry? How do certain foods or meals satiate our appetite more than others? How can we be more attuned to satiety to eat healthier? Do certain foods help control our appetite better than others?

In this second episode of the Table Talk Podcast focused on satiety, the feeling of being full, and the science behind foods that create this feeling we're once again joined by Alexandra Johnstone, Scientist, The Rowett Institute, and this time by Kathryn O’Sullivan, Nutrition Scientist and Registered Dietitian, HRS Communications to unpack the science of satiety and to see if there are foods that can help control our appetite.

About our panel

Kathryn O’Sullivan, Nutrition Scientist and Registered Dietitian, HRS Communications

Kathryn is a Nutrition Scientist and Registered Dietitian, specialising in public health communications. She holds a BSc in Human Nutrition and a Ph.D in clinical medicine from Trinity College Dublin, and has over 25 years of experience working in the food industry and academia. With 10 years international experience working for the Kellogg Company throughout Europe and the Middle East markets, Kathryn now works as an independent nutrition consultant providing expertise in nutrition science, marketing, communications and regulatory affairs to international food companies. She occasionally lectures at universities and health conferences, and has published extensively in peer reviewed journals, healthcare and consumer press.

Kathryn has a special interest in EFSA Nutrition and Health claims. In her spare time, she works as a ceramicist.

Alexandra Johnstone, Scientist, The Rowett Institute

Alex leads a research team to assess eating as a form of behaviour at The Rowett Institute, part of the school of medical sciences, dentistry and nutrition. She obtained her PhD in 2001 and has extensively published scientific papers on the role of appetite across the life course. Appetite is a major influence to what and when we eat and she has conducted diet trials in studies with children through to the elderly, to particularly assess the role of dietary protein on motivation to eat. Her science knowledge has been developed straight to the supermarket shelf with the development of the ‘Balanced for You’ range of food for Marks and Spencer plc, in 2010, an established food range. She is a key collaborator with EU colleagues and leads internationally competitive work through EU and UK Research Council grant awards. As a UK registered Nutritionist, she enjoys working with local, national and international food industry sector colleagues, to develop evidence to support the relationship between diet and health.

The COVID pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have created a unique 'perfect storm' for the work place and health and wellbeing. With uncertainty affecting many, and remote working leaving many employees feeling more isolated, how can businesses support mental health and improve the wellbeing of their staff? What lessons can we learn from this time that can be applied for the future?

Joining host Stefan Gates is an expert panel including Amanda Scott, Director of Talent, Learning and D&I, Compass Group, Sally Wilson, BSc, PhD, FRSA, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Employment Studies and Maggi Rose, Head of Programme Evolution, Mental Health at Work. They'll share their own experience, and offer up some practical ways we can all keep our workplace mental health in focus.

About our panel

Amanda Scott, Director of Talent, Learning and D&I, Compass Group

Amanda is an experienced HR professional with extensive generalist, talent and D&I experience across a range of industry sectors including energy, financial services and hospitality. She has a proven track record in designing and leading delivery of the HR agenda for top FTSE companies.

She started her career in the NHS before moving into financial services and then oil and gas.

Amanda spent over 15 years with BP in a number of HR roles including leading the Global Graduate Programme. Joined Compass in 2018 to lead the Talent, Learning and D&I agenda for the UK & Ireland. She's passionate about inclusion and creating an environment where people from all backgrounds can join and progress their career.

Sally Wilson, BSc, PhD, FRSA, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Employment Studies

Sally is based at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) in Brighton and has twenty years of research experience in occupational health, safety and wellbeing. She has worked with Mind, Macmillan, Epilepsy Action and the Government Inclusive Economy Partnership to inform health-related guidance and training for employers and is currently undertaking a project for the Rail Safety and Standards Board focussing on health behaviours. She has also competed work on food safety cultures for the UK Food Standards Agency. In a European context she has completed research for EU-OSHA (the European Agency for Occupational Safety and Health) as well as the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) in Brussels. Sally’s background is in behavioural and health sciences having completed a PhD in neuropsychology at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. Prior to joining IES, Sally was employed by the Health and Safety Executive and the University of Sheffield.

Maggi Rose, Head of Programme Evolution, Mental Health at Work

Maggi Rose is the Head of Programme Evolution for Mental Health at Work’s learning and development programmes. She has an extensive clinical and academic background in the field of mental health and brings hands-on experience of the specific drivers and challenges to improving mental health awareness in the workplace across a wide range of organisations, industries and sectors. Maggi’s personal mission is to bring positive change to all workplaces by helping de-mystify mental health, bringing clarity and confidence in the language used and making a difference to individuals and their wider community through reducing stigma. Known for her unique facilitation style, Maggi maintains a fine balance between challenging and supporting delegates to bring about an enjoyable, engaging training experience that brings immediate and tangible benefits. Always going the extra mile to ensure the training is fit for purpose, Maggi is grounded, practical and realistic about organisational and culture change. A key part of MHAW since inception, Maggi has been instrumental in developing and moulding specific relevant and highly relevant workshops.

The growth in popularity and scope of E-sports in the past ten years has created a new type of performance athlete. With tournaments such as the League of Legends World Championship, which was watched by 99.6 million people in 2018 alone, gaining huge audiences and offering substantial prize money the stereotypical image of a video gamer has been replaced by serious E-sports athletes who have nutritional needs just like in traditional sports.

Joining us today, in partnership with Gelita, is an expert panel who will give us a look inside the world of E-sports to find out how this growing group of athletes can be supported through nutrition. Host Stefan Gates meets Oliver Weingarten, Founder & CEO, LDN Utd, Franziska Dolle, Gelita and Daniel Herman, Founder, Bio-Synergy to discover how nutrition can maintain the peak-performance an e-sport professional needs to compete at the highest level, and avoid injury and fatigue.

About our panel

Oliver Weingarten, Founder/CEO, LDN UTD

Oliver trained as a lawyer and spent 7 years as General Counsel specialising in commercial and intellectual property matters at the Premier League, where he was also Secretariat of the Sports Rights Owners Coalition. In 2011 Oliver joined the Formula One Teams’ Association where he had responsibility for working with the Teams to shape the regulatory, commercial and governance direction of the sport. Upon dissolution of FOTA, Oliver formed OW Advisory Limited in 2014 providing clients with a boutique offering related to sports rights, lobbying and fan engagement, and organised Fans’ Forums with F1, Formula E and PDC Darts. In October 2014 Oliver also took on the part-time role as General Secretary of the inaugural Formula E Teams’ Association.

From July 2015 to July ‘18, Oliver worked for Virtually Live as a Sports Rights and Partnerships Advisor and thereafter as Director, Content Development building relationships and contracting with sports rights owners, technology companies, managing activations, creating esports offerings, as well as curating content for broadcasters, and formulating strategy around platform, user acquisition and monetisation for mobile gaming.

Oliver is now Founder/CEO of LDN UTD, an esports org that unites with social responsibility, using its platform to address social issues, whilst providing opportunity and accessibility for grassroots gamers to take the path to pro. With a track record of delivering physical and online events to build community, whether on knife crime in Lewisham Shopping Centre, loneliness/mental health, nutrition or anti-racism. The most project fused education and esports in partnership with the Mayor of London.
 
Franziska Dolle, Gelita

Franziska Dolle (MSc) is a nutritional scientist and an expert for collagen peptides, who is always focused on and passionate about empowering people to improve their nutritional and active lifestyle.

Her goal is to implement population-wide health promotion concepts and effective measures for disease prevention. In pursuit of this goal, she examined the importance of protein intake to prevent sarcopenia – the muscle loss in the elderly.

For the last five years Franziska has co-created and implemented innovative lifestyle nutrition products with Bioactive Collagen Peptides®. In “The White Tissue” guide from GELITA she presents the new role of proteins in Sports Nutrition.

At GELITA AG Germany Franziska Dolle is Product & Account Manager Health & Nutrition. In this role she is in charge of New Business Development and Global Product Management for the brands BODYBALANCE®, FORTIBONE® and CURADERM®. As Account Manager she is responsible for sales of GELITA’s collagen peptides in Northern Europe and Germany.

Daniel Herman, Founder, Bio-Synergy

Before I founded Bio-Synergy, it was my dream to become a contender on Gladiators. To give myself the best chance of winning, I amped up my gym training and started taking supplements. Much to my disappointment, I found the products did not meet their promises and tasted worse than cough medicine. So in 1997, I put my Gladiators dream to one side (although years later we supplied the show) and launched Bio-Synergy. It was my passion for fitness and nutrition that drove me to create our first protein shake, as well as my dislike of drinking raw eggs (thanks, Rocky!). That shake and Creatine Plus was where it all started. From then on, my goal was to create the first clean, effective and high quality range of sports nutrition products to support the goals of all athletes, from elites to weekend warriors. I’m also proud to say we’ve been at the forefront of innovation ever since, launching the first all-in-one shake in 1999, the first ready-to-drink protein powder in 2000 and, unlike many of our competitors, we’ve never lowered the protein content of our powders.   More than two decades later, over four million passionate sports and fitness enthusiasts have chosen Bio-Synergy to help them achieve their goals. 

Derek Sarno, co-founder of Wicked Healthy, LLC, and Executive Chef & Director of Plant-Based Innovation for Tesco PLC, has taken a fascinating journey on his path to revolutionising plant-based food across the world. From personal tragedy, to discovering compassionate eating in a Buddhist monastery, to bringing plant-based food to the masses his story provides a unique window into what drives his passion for change.

Host Stefan Gates joins Derek to hear his story, and to discover what's next at Wicked Healthy and Tesco for plant-based food and drink.

About Derek Sarno

Derek Sarno is the co-founder of Wicked Healthy, LLC, and also serves as Executive Chef & Director of Plant-Based Innovation for Tesco PLC, where he is leading the company’s efforts to bring delicious, unpretentious vegan foods to market.

Prior to co-founding Wicked Healthy and partnering with Tesco, Derek served as the Senior Global Executive Chef for Whole Foods Market, where he oversaw global research and development for the company’s prepared foods department, worked with suppliers and leadership to develop and promote plant-based foods across the organisation, and served as Culinary Director for the WFM Academy for Conscious Leadership.

Derek is a serial entrepreneur, founding several award-winning restaurants and food service companies in the United States, including the One Hundred Club, Mahalo’s Catering, and Mizuna’s. Derek also served as the resident Chef & Gardener at Padma Samye Ling, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and retreat center in upstate New York. During his years at the monastery, Derek grew and cooked the meals for the Sangha, and learned how to sit quietly. This time helped him become less of a jerk.

Derek is the co-author of the Whole Foods Market Diet cookbook (Fall 2018), and the Wicked Healthy Cookbook (Spring 2018). He is the proud father of Jake (a human boy), and proud foster-dad to Mildred (a ninja squirrel in Portland, OR) and Buddy (a red fox that hangs out behind his house in London.)