Food Matters Live Podcast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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