The FoodTalk Show

Danni Malone, the Chief Network Officer of the Trussell Trust, an anti-poverty charity that supports a network of food banks across the UK, joins Ollie Lloyd and Susie Warran-Smith to explain the challenges they face. The Trussell Trust is campaigning and working towards a vision where we no longer see food banks in communities. Their network of 1,400 food banks, all run by independent charities, provide emergency support and food parcels to people who are left without enough money to afford the essentials. Danni explained how around 75% of people referred to their food banks have some sort of disability or someone in the house has a disability. Whilst the actual number of food banks in the UK is pretty static, the level of need and the number of people being pushed through their doors is increasing year on year. In fact, last year they distributed 3.1 million emergency food parcels through their network, which is the highest level ever, and over a million of those were for children. This reflects a 94 per cent increase over the last five years. Despite getting both Ollie and Susie depressed by all the statistics and need - it is clear that people want this issue changed. It feels like their is increasing will to tackle some of these long term challenges and whilst this podcast was recorded before Labour's landslide election win, the idea of change was already feeling like a reality. Edited by Stella Gent

Dr Duncan Robertson, from Dogtooth, joins Ollie Lloyd and Susie Warren-Smith, to talk about a new way to address the labour shortages that are impacting seasonal fruit and vegetables, a problem that Susie has seen first hand in her role as Chair and Executive Director, Produced in Kent. Dogtooth, are working on a revolutionary plan, which involves bringing robotics to farming. This isn't a far off dream, it is actually happening and at scale in farms in the UK. Using computer vision and machine learning, they are creating robots that can pick ripe soft fruits. Imagine an army of robots, often working through the night, collection the best berries, under the watchful eye of human managers who make sure things don't go wrong. Dogtooth, doesn't want this kind of technology to be limited to mega farms and is exploring ways of working with small scale producers too. Is it possible that in 20 years all the strawberries at Wimbledon will picked by robots? Edited by Stella Gent

Freddie Webb, is the founding partner of Father, a creative music and sound design studio. In this episode he explains to Ollie Lloyd why he passionately believes that many brands are missing a trick when it comes to the way they use sound. He thinks that sound should be an integral part of brand design and used strategically. Father have worked with brands like EE, Aston Martin and The Modern House Company to help them create distinctive sonic palettes that helps them stand out. There are a few food and drink brands that are doing this, Magnum Ice Cream being a rare exception. In crowded categories, where brands are pumping out digital content, there is a need to be strategic in both the images you pick and the sounds you choose. If you have ever wondered how to start this process it is worth listening to Freddie's experience in this area as it is certainly gets one asking questions. Edited by Stella Gent

Scott Davies, the founder of Hill Top Honey has built an incredible business with the combination of tenacity and a £5,000 bank loan. He was a bricklayer who hurt his back and decided to change tact and set up a honey business. He came on the Food Talk Show with Ollie Lloyd and Susie Warran-Smith many years ago, but alot has happened in the last 8 years. Hill Top Honey, based in Newtown Wales, now turns over £43 million and has more than 130 employees. He had to be patient at the beginning, paying himself tiny amounts, exhibiting at trade shows to get close to his consumers and ultimately living within his means. He got a local Welsh packaging agency to create his early designs for £500 and admits that he didn’t even know what a brief was when he first started. He has taken a radical approach for a challenger brand where he has decided to be cheaper than the market leader and fundamentally better, on taste and method of production. Scott thinks too many brands splash the cash and waste money on getting people to buy their products once. He thinks he hasn’t made a sale unless someone buys his brand twice. He is a committed employer and only recently got his B-Corp status to allow him to talk more meaningfully about their approach to business. As he says, it matters to him that his team can afford to live well, and in a small town, everyone knows how you run your business. The business recently did a big packaging refresh with Big Fish. He has waited this long because it is only now that he thinks the business is ready, as it knows where it is going and has the funds to do this. As the saying goes, it is often the tortoise that wins the race. Edited by Stella Gent

Harriet Lamb, the CEO of WRAP (the climate action NGO behind Love Food Hate Waste and Food Waste Action Week), strikes a positive note about tackling food waste and how so many people from different sectors are trying to tackle this seemingly intractable challenge. In her chat with Ollie Lloyd, she talks about innovative businesses like Dizzie, which is creating reusable packaging for groceries, and Notpla, which is manufacturing single-use compostable sachets from seaweed (that the CEO will eat on stage to show how good they are)! They discuss the positive benefits of personally getting involved by volunteering with charities like The Felix Project and apps like Olio. There is so clearly a community of people who have the time and will to go the extra mile to make an impact and lead from the front. There is also a debate about how banana bread is better when made with blackened bananas and why moths are great as they encourage people to do visible mending, something Ollie has tried from time to time. Edited by Stella Gent

Ben Branson is a true pioneer in the non-alcoholic drinks space. He created Seedlip, the first of the major brands in this sector, thus sparking an arms race and setting the stage for a new exciting era in the industry. He chats with Ollie Lloyd on the FoodTalk Show about his home experimentation with herbs and how a £50 home distilling kit purchased online led to something bigger. Sometimes, things felt completely out of control, and rarely, for an entrepreneur, does he admit to hating these moments. But he persevered and ultimately sold the business to Diageo but is still involved to this day. However, he has now started something new, Seasn, that is as he describes it, the "Salt & Pepper" for drinks. He is taking on an industry that has been dominated by one player, Angostura, for ever but believes that now is the time for change. As if this isn't enough, he has recently set up a podcast, the Hidden 20%, that is trying to tell engaging stories about Neurodiversity. Having recently being diagnosed with ADHD he felt he had the opportunity to give back and encourage the 80% to understand more about Neurodiversity. Edited by Stella Gent

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.