The FoodTalk Show

Tom Hunt is an eco-chef who has been championing the right food for years. He is passionate about inspiring people to think creatively about cooking and eating. He writes a column for the Guardian on Food waste, founded a zero-waste restaurant in Bristol, has lived off-grid with his family and recently created a genuinely Happy Meal with the Soil Association. He catches up with Ollie Lloyd and recounts stories of cooking with the legendary Francis Mallamann, milking goats as a child before school and his plans for a new ice cream brand. Edited by Stella Gent

Toby Hopkinson co-founded All Things Butter with chef / social media phenomenon Thomas Straker, who went viral on TikTok and Instagram with a series of recipes that incorporated flavoured butter and owns a highly regarded restaurant in Notting Hill. Their business is taking a somewhat different approach to many challenger food brands. It tackles an incredibly old-fashioned category, having been invented in 2000 BCE or maybe earlier, and is trying to modernise it by returning to the basics. They are focused on lovingly creating a product with some truly committed farmers (Brue Valley) that is organic, twice-churned, hand-salted and sometimes flavoured. They are taking on a category dominated by one mega player, Arla (who makes butter for other brands and retailers), which has been neglected for too long and, in some people’s eyes, is irrelevant. After a year, they have more social media followers than all other butter brands combined and are focused on creating content that inspires people to cook. Retailers are giving them listings, and they are raising money to fuel their ambition. Their product is premium, but at less than £3, you could easily argue that it is an affordable luxury that packs a punch in the kitchen.

Robert Thompson MBE is one of the youngest chefs in the UK to receive a Michelin star and has helped put the Isle of Wight on the culinary map. At ten, he became interested in food, designing his own restaurant/club as part of a school project. He has worked at several top rated restaurants, from Winteringham Fields to Cliveden, before establishing Thompson's on the Isle of Wight. He was one of the first chefs to work with us at Great British Chefs and cooked a memorable lamb carpaccio at our press launch event and a smoked eel puff in Old Street (London) the day we launched the website. During lockdown, he re-invented his business with a chef-designed food box called You Be Chef, which he continues to run. In his chat with Ollie Lloyd, he discusses the changing nature of food on the Isle and how people's expectations have changed due to various factors, such as Instagram, home cooking trends, supermarkets expanding ranges, and the cost of living crisis. Making things work in the hospitality sector is not easy, but Robert is committed to making it work. He is incentivising his team so that they are part owners of the business, is about to launch two new restaurants and remains dedicated to working with a growing list of local suppliers. Edited by Jasper Schofield

Orlando Murrin has one of those careers in food that makes anyone who loves food jealous. He edited BBC goodfood, helped create Olive magazine and has also run highly successful hotel / restaurants in France and Britain. He has now embarked on another career branch by writing a murder mystery novel about a chef who has an unexpected experience running a cooking school in Belgravia. Edited by Stella Gent

Ben Davies is the founder of VYPR, a consumer research business that is designed to metaphorically put the consumer on the shoulder of brand leaders as they optimise their mix or launch new products. Ben is a serial entrepreneur and an ex-supermarket buyer who passionately believes that most innovation processes are designed to produce sub-optimal products (and this is backed up data, as 85% of product launches fail after 12 months across Europe). He believes too many run processes that are rigid, take too much time and cost too much money. His platform encourages brand owners to ask lots of little questions, evolve their hypotheses over time and truly understand via A/B testing what is really working. Put another way he wants people to adopt a more agile way of developing products. He shares with Ollie Lloyd a whole host of examples of categories where most brands are getting things wrong and argues that a new approach can deliver a genuinely more interesting and successful outcome. The truth is that too often brands add too many reasons to believe on their packs, are more focused on what other brands are talking about than what consumers actually need and want. Decisions are made quickly and so brands need to get their messaging at shelf right or products fail. VYPR is a great example of a business that is trying to help brands get things right from the start. Edited by Stella Gent

Elin Roberts is the CMO and one of the Co-Founders of Better Nature, a tempeh company. She is leading the charge to inspire more people to embrace the world of tempeh and eat a little bit more sustainably. Tempeh is a weirdly neglected Indonesian product that is made from fermented soybeans. Whilst it is a stable of Indonesian cuisine it hasn't been embraced around the world even though it has a higher content of protein, fibre and vitamins than tofu. Already stocked in a broad range of retailers, from Tesco to Lidl, they have strong momentum and are focused on helping people understand that meat free products don't have to be highly processed.

Charlie Bigham, the founder of Bigham's, is one of the emerging giants of the food world. He is passionate about creating a food business that demonstrates the real benefits of long term thinking, a thing he believes we are sorely lacking in the UK at present. To understand his philosophy, all you need to do is look at the award-winning architect designed production facility (aka kitchen), in Somerset, that cooks over 50% of their food. During his chat with Ollie Lloyd on The Food Talk Show he explained how he is focused on improving their core products rather than getting obsessed by the excitement of innovation. He champions the idea of EFD (Existing Food Development) rather than NPD or NFD (New Food Development) as he calls it. He loves to climb into the metaphorical weeds of his supply chain to find the best possible ingredients. He hates fake meats and believes they are doing immeasurable harm, something it is hard to challenge. His approach is different but it is having a major impact and is winning with customers and retailers. A business that more should be looking to emulate. Edited by Stella Gent

Toni Vernelli, the head of communications at Veganuary, chats with Ollie Lloyd about the organisation's mission and how it came into being. They discuss what the best of vegan food looks like and how their mission is far from the militant view of veganism that some parts of the press would like you to associate with it. They understand that change is hard and are trying to encourage people to take a step towards more sustainable eating.

Dr Morgaine Gaye, a food futurologist joins Ollie Lloyd on The Food Talk Show to discuss the evolving food landscape and how brands can tap into consumers changing attitudes. With discussions ranging from the adoption of new food traditions to hyper local consumption and the challenges around plant-based food. Edited by Stella Gent

Pete Russell joins Ollie Lloyd on The FoodTalk Show to tell him about his mission to connect small scale farmers with their local consumers. As the founder of Ooooby, an online platform that provides the tools for farmers to manage fruit and veg boxes, he is passionate about finding a way to put customised technology into the hands of farms. Already working with 70 farms and food hubs across the UK, his business is helping growers connect with local communities. He believes passionately that this model has the potential to create new employment opportunities on farms, help people get closer to the food they eat and also provide a new revenue stream for small scale growers. Episode edited by Stella Gent

Rupert Pick, Co-Founder and CEO of Hot Pickle, shares his lessons from 14 years at the cutting edge of experiential marketing. His career started at Unilever, included time as an Inventor at !What If?, and an MBA from Cambridge, all of which explains his strategic approach. He talks about the need to create content platforms far beyond events that engage consumers in a dialogue they care about. He warns brands to avoid being narcissistic and focus on the human element of experiences. But ultimately he convincingly argues that experiential marketing can be both a profit centre and a way of delivering growth if done right. So listen in to learn from one of the masters of this space.

Joanna Allen, the CEO of Graze, comes to our virtual studio to tell Ollie Lloyd all about how she is helping a teenager become a leading voice in the B Corp community. Graze recently turned 15 and is on a mission to help people make small changes that can have big impacts, from both a sustainability and health perspective. Graze was one of the early innovators in D2C, dropping boxes full of healthy snacks through consumer’s letterboxes. Nowadays D2C only makes up 20% of its business and it plays a more nuanced role. The team use it as a way of collecting data, for media targeting, product testing and selection and as a recruitment vehicle for a cohort of fans that can spread the word on social media. The story Joanna tells, reminds us that the brands trying to do the right thing from a sustainability and health perspective are choosing the harder road. It just comes down to consumers to back these choices, which isn't always easy during a cost of living crisis.

Marcus Wareing comes into the FoodTalk studio to talk about his work with Angela Hartnett, Gordon Ramsay and Michel Roux among others. How potatoes have shaped his life, Masterchef ("it was like being asked to be in The Beatles") and his new BBC 2 series Tales From A Kitchen Garden. Fascinating stuff with Susie Warran-Smith and Ollie Lloyd.

Listen again. Susie is overjoyed that this week's programme is about porter and stout - her favourite type of beer. AJ prefers the hoppy taste of IPAs but as always is open to trying anything. Luckily Clare Pope the beer writer is in the studio to take them through the tastings of the black stuff in an orderly fashion. In the end they all agree that the best is an extraordinary stout that is a mind-blowing 11% ABV.

Join hosts Susie Warran-Smith and AJ Sharp for an exciting episode of the Food Talk Show. In this episode, they are joined by guest experts Joe Moruzzi from Pleese, the pioneers of frozen cheesecake, and Andrew Chelley from Pots & Co, the innovators behind delectable desserts. AJ is as excited as ever to taste sweet treats, but Susie takes a little more convincing.

Join hosts Susie Warran-Smith and AJ Sharp who are joined this week by two guest experts. John Chater from Dug Drinks, the mastermind behind an incredibly authentic and delicious plant-based milk alternative. And Nat Cooper from Simply Roasted Crisps, whose revolutionary technology has given birth to the crispiest, healthiest and tastiest crisps in town. Nat sheds light on the cutting-edge techniques employed to achieve such a delectable crunch. Can you guess what crisps and plant-based milk has in common?

This week, Susie Warren-Smith is back in the studio with AJ Sharp and they’re talking about heritage this week. Our experts are Scott Goodfellow from Tiptree and Neil Franklin from Brogdale, home of the National Fruit Collection Heritage Orchards. We learn why heritage is really important for topfruit farmers. And although it’s one of her favourite condiment producers, Susie is keen to quiz Scott on why Tiptree is also called Wilkin and Sons.

This week, AJ is joined again by the lovely Suzy Pelta who is a food presenter, demo chef, food judge, recipe writer, brand consultant and condiment enthusiast! This week AJ and Suzy are very excited to meet Lian White from Dr Will’s and Roddy Perkins from Barries, as they deep dive into the world of condiments, from vegan mayos to perfectly balanced ketchups. And Suzy is really excited and interested to hear about the new developments happening around Sriracha!

Our co-host and Taste Expert AJ Sharp is back in the hosting hot-seat, and she is joined again by guest presenter Suzy Pelta, who is a food presenter, demo chef, food judge, recipe writer, brand consultant. They are joined in the studio this week by Ed Rigg from Eager Drinks, and the team taste their way through the entire bar range and talk about the developments in drinks. And whether or not sugar really is as bad as they say it is!

Our co-host and Taste Expert AJ Sharp is back in the hosting hot-seat, and she is joined again by guest presenter Suzy Pelta, who AJ describes as an all-round foodie legend! Together they get very excited about what might be described as the World’s best hot chocolate, as Jen Knoop from Knoops joins them in the studio. From 72% to 54%, who knew how multifarious the world of hot chocolate could be?! Are you a chocolate orange lover? Or is it a tiny pinch of sea salt which really floats your boat? There’s something incredibly comforting about Knoops hot chocolate.