Food Matters Live Podcast

By and large, consumers perceive that supermarkets have come out of the pandemic relatively well. After initial problems, they’ve been expanding delivery services, working to ensure the elderly and vulnerable receive provisions and sourced enough produce to ensure the nation is fed. Indeed, as one of the few permissible reasons to leave the home under lockdown, the weekly grocery shop became a source of relative normality. As we ease out of lockdown, what comes next for grocery retailers?To find out we speak to global professional services company and technology leader Accenture. How can grocers hold onto and build on the sense of mission developed over the last 12 months? Will shopping continue to be an experience that people look forward to, as we move to a more normal way of living? And how do they capture the attention of those consumers who wish to stay and shop local?All this and more is in focus in this fascinating chat with Suzanne Robinson, Director for Innovation in Consumer Goods and Retail at ?WhatIf!, part of Accenture and Matt Jeffers, Managing Director, Retail Strategy, Accenture UK. Join us! About our guests Suzanne RobinsonFormer UK MD for Happen Innovation, Suzanne is now Director for Innovation in Consumer Goods and Retail at ?WhatIf!, an innovation agency that’s part of Accenture. Suzanne explores emerging growth opportunities in the complex and yet exciting area of food for CPG and Retail clients. She unites her commercially proven foresight and insight expertise with the extensive Accenture resources to help accelerate innovation in this mature, competitive & fascinating food and beverage space. Matt JeffersMatt Jeffers is Managing Director, Retail Strategy, Accenture UK. He has led projects covering omni-channel strategy and ecommerce performance improvement for multiple retailers across grocery, DIY/building materials, apparel and luxury goods sectors. Prior to this, Matt led Tesco.com’s international development, launched it in China and oversaw the internal strategic growth plan for the Group. He also planned Tesco.com’s strategic development in Central and Eastern Europe and across Asia-Pacific.

The UK Government has committed to reduce carbon emissions by 78% by 2035, and it has been specifically recommended by the Committee on Climate Change that meat and dairy consumption are reduced by 20% by 2030, rising to 35% by 2050 for meat only. What role do our eating habits have on the environment, and will cutting meat and dairy consumption help the environment?Joining us to discuss these targets, and what change needs to happen for us to achieve them are Chris Venables, Head of Politics, Green Alliance and Dr Michael Clark, Researcher, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford. We find out the state of the challenge the government has to meet climate change goals, and what behaviour change needs to be encouraged in order for it to happen.About our guestsChris Venables, Head of Politics, Green AllianceChris runs Green Alliance’s Political Leadership theme. He works to build the political momentum for bold and ambitious political action on the climate and nature crises. He manages the Climate leadership programme for MPs and joint UK-focused advocacy work with business and civil society.He previously worked in the Houses of Parliament as the campaigns and political lead for Green Party MP Caroline Lucas on environmental issues. Before that, he led the work for the global health charity Medact on social and economic justice and worked in Brussels for a foreign policy think tank. He has been involved in grassroots organising and campaigning for over a decade. He has a BA in politics from the University of York.Dr Michael Clark, Researcher, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of OxfordMike's research interests include the environmental, economic, and health impacts of food systems. He uses models to provide quantitative estimates on the current and projected impacts of the food system, as well as the potential benefits of changing the food system (e.g. by changing diets, or the rate at which yields increases).Mike joined the Centre on Population Approaches for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention in August 2018, and is working on expanding the Centre's food system model to incorporate biodiversity and economic outcomes in collaboration with the Wellcome funded projected "Livestock, Environment and People", as well as with researchers from other departments across Oxford and international collaborators.Mike holds a PhD in Natural Resources Science and Management from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, and studied biology and ecology at undergraduate level.

We all feel better when we've had a good nights sleep, right? However, many people are finding it harder than ever to sleep, especially due to stress and anxiety which has been heightened due to the pandemic. The number of people suffering from sleep loss due to stress has risen from one in six to one in four, how is this sleep loss impacting physical and mental health?Joining us today to delve into the subject are Alanna Hare, Consultant in Sleep and Ventilation, Royal Brompton Hospitals Trust and Dr Neil Stanley, Director of Sleep Science at Sleepstation.org.uk. They'll explain the role sleep plays in our overall health, the impact of the pandemic and the latest developments in our understanding of how to improve sleep.About our panelAlanna Hare, Consultant in Sleep and Ventilation, Royal Brompton Hospitals TrustDr Alanna Hare is a consultant in sleep and ventilation at Royal Brompton Hospital with responsibility for specialist clinics in sleep disorders and domiciliary ventilationDr Neil Stanley, Director of Sleep Science at Sleepstation.org.ukDr Neil Stanley is Director of Sleep Science at Sleepstation.org.uk. He has been involved in sleep research for 39 years starting his career at the Neurosciences Division of the R.A.F. Institute of Aviation Medicine.In the early 1990s, he moved to the Human Psychopharmacology Research Unit, part of the University of Surrey, where as Director of Sleep Research he created and ran a 24-bed sleep laboratory for clinical trials. He is past Chairman of the British Sleep Society (2000-2004) and a member of the European Sleep Research Society; the American Academy of Sleep.He has published 38 peer-review papers on various aspects of sleep research and psychopharmacology and is widely quoted by the media as a sleep expert.

Researchers in the US have discovered a way of turning food waste into a type of paraffin that can be used in jet engines. Now, the concept of bio fuels is not new, but normally biofuels have to come from ‘virgin’ vegetables that are grown especially for fuel. This alternative method is able to turn food waste, animal manure and waste water into a competitive, cleaner jet fuel. Could this solve two issues at once? Simultaneously reducing food waste and creating a cleaner jet fuel? Joining the Table Talk Podcast this week is Derek Vardon, Research Scientist and Project Team Leader, NREL to explain their research, how it will help, and how the first flights will be taking the air with Southwest Airlines in the US in 2023. About our panel Derek Vardon, Research Scientist and Project Team Leader, NREL Derek Vardon is a Research Scientist and Project Team Leader working at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, USA) to decarbonize aviation and heavy-duty ground transportation with low-cost, low-net carbon fuels produced from biomass and waste. He is the author of over 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications on biofuels and biobased chemicals, inventor on multiple pending and issued U.S. patents, and affiliate faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the Colorado School of Mines. He is most passionate when working to get technology out of the lab and into the marketplace with interdisciplinary teams that leverage national laboratory, academic, and industry capabilities to address critical technical barriers for sustainable transportation. Derek gained a hands-on appreciation for energy technology while serving 6 years in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear power Electrician's Mate following high school. Afterwards, he received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. About NREL NREL is the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory which looks to advance the science and engineering of energy efficiency, sustainable transportation and renewable power technologies, providing knowledge to integrate and optimise energy systems helping to shape a highly efficient and resilient energy future.

ZOE has been the source of some of the most groundbreaking research around nutrition and how the food we eat affects us individually. Formed three years ago when Tim Spector joined forces with Jonathan Wolf and George Hadjigeorgiou, ZOE was founded on the belief that new technologies could enable scientific research at an unprecedented scale, allowing us to understand individual responses in the real world.ZOE has given us a greater understanding of our highly individual responses to nutrients and stimulus, thanks to their pioneering studies. In this Table Talk we look back to the discussions we've had with Tim Spector, Jonathan Wolf and PREDICT 2 research lead Dr. Sarah Berry, and highlight the insight they've uncovered through their research.About our guestsJonathan Wolf, Co-Founder & CEO, ZOEJonathan is a cofounder and CEO of ZOE, a nutritional science company on a mission to help people eat with confidence.Previously he was Chief Product Officer for machine learning company Criteo, helping take the business in 7 years from start-up to NASDAQ IPO, 2,000 employees and over $1Bn revenue. Prior to this Jonathan worked at Yahoo, Atlas Venture and Boston Consulting Group.Jonathan attended Oxford University where he received the Gibbs prize for Physics and was President of the Oxford Union, and was then at Harvard doing a non-degree program.He has been a Foundation Fellow at Corpus Christi College Oxford since 2015.Dr. Sarah Berry, Senior Lecturer, Kings College London, and Research Lead, Predict 2Dr 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.Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Director of the TwinsUK Registry at Kings College, London, and Co-founder, ZOETim 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.

Covid-19 patients suffer a deterioration of overall health and weight loss,  and while nutrition can be integrated into their treatment to aid recovery it is often overlooked. In this week’s podcast we talk to Dr Riccardo Caccialanza and Shane McAuliffe to explore the role nutrition can play in aiding COVID-19 recovery. Is there any practical, clinical guidance that can be shared to help those who have been affected? What specific nutritional needs do those who are impacted by COVID have? We find out. About our panel Dr Riccardo Caccialanza, Head of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics Unit at Policlinico San Matteo Medical Doctor specialized in Clinical Nutrition. Director of the Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics Unit of the Research Hospital Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia (Italy). Author of more than 100 scientific papers in the field of Clinical Nutrition. Contract Professor at the University of Pavia (Degree Course in Dietetics; Specialization Schools of Gastroenterology and Oncology). Secretary of the Survivorship Care and Nutritional Support Working Group of Alleanza Contro il Cancro (ACC); past Secretary of the Italian Society of Artificial Nutrition and Metabolism (SINPE), current Representative of the Oncology area for SINPE. Teacher of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN). Associate Editor of Clinical Nutrition ESPEN (Elsevier) and BMC Cancer (Springer Nature). Editorial Advisory Board Member of Nutrition (Elsevier), Supportive Care in Cancer (Springer Nature) and Nutrients (MDPI). Shane McAuliffe MSc, RD, ANutr Originally from Cork, Ireland, I hold a BSc in Nutritional Sciences from University College Cork. Further to this I am an Associate Nutritionist (ANutr) with the Association for Nutrition (AfN). I have also completed an MSc in Human Nutrition and Dietetics in the University of Chester, UK. I am a Registered Dietitian (RD) with the Health & Care Professionals Council (HCPC) in the UK and currently working clinically in the NHS, in Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. In addition, I am working with the NNEdPro Global Centre for Nutrition and Health, where my primary role is as Science and Digital Communications Lead, BMJ Nutrition Prevention and Health Liaison and Deputy Co-Chair for our COVID19 Taskforce.

UK households still waste 4.5m tonnes of food a year that could be eaten, in fact the majority (71%) of edible food waste in the UK happens in the home. To succeed in reducing food waste, the public need to be engaged and motivated to reduce their own waste. Could encouraging behavioural change and providing access to pioneering apps like Olio be essential tools to create this social movement? Joining host Stefan Gates are David Hall, Founder & Executive Director, Behaviour Change, and Tessa Clarke, Co-founder & CEO, Olio to share their viewpoints on what needs to happen for consumers to reduce the amount of food they waste. About our panel David Hall, Founder & Executive Director, Behaviour Change During a thirteen-year career in advertising, David created a series of step-changing campaigns; his multi award-winning strategy for Skoda helped transform perceptions of a car that had long been the butt of jokes. In 2006, David became International Campaign Director at The Climate Group, working with the likes of M&S, O2 and Tesco to develop their consumer engagement strategies on sustainability. Since setting up Behaviour Change he has gained a reputation as a leading strategic thinker and researcher on tackling challenging behaviours. Tessa Clarke, Co-founder & CEO, Olio Tessa is Co-Founder & CEO of OLIO, a free app tackling the problem of food waste by connecting neighbours with each other, and volunteers with local businesses, so that surplus food can be given away, not thrown away. OLIO has grown to over 3 million users in 5 years, and its impact has been widely recognised, most notably by the United Nations who highlighted OLIO as a "beacon” for the world, and by Vivatech who awarded OLIO "Next European Unicorn". Prior to OLIO Tessa had a 15 year corporate career as a digital Managing Director in the media, retail and financial services sectors, and she met her co-founder Saasha whilst they were studying for their MBAs at Stanford University. Tessa is passionate about the sharing economy as a solution for a sustainable world, and about ‘profit with purpose’ as the next business paradigm.

“Innovation is often the result of partnerships.” A unique standing relationship with partner brands and the newest cutting-edge technology with Cambridge Commodities and Gencor. This podcast will have you wanting more.Cambridge Commodities (CC) have joined their very first table talk podcast with Food Matters Live to bring you a deeper insight into the latest trends and innovation in the food & beverage, health & wellbeing, and sports nutrition sectors. Mariko Hill, Product Development Executive from CC’s partner brand Gencor, and CC Innovation Specialist Zeke Stevens, join host Stefan Gates to delve further into this partnership. In the podcast we explore how manufacturers can benefit with their new AquaCelle® delivery system from Gencor combined with CCs’ sustainably sourced fish oil while expanding product applications to help meet consumer demand, amongst an array of insights. What partnership means to CCWith 22 years of experience, it is this knowledge that has allowed CC to join many successful partnerships over the years. They have over 6 partner brands and over 14 exclusive ingredients in their portfolio. This range of partner branded ingredients enables them to supply research-backed, clinically proven products every day to consumers.As supplementation continues to be an increasingly prevalent part of modern healthy lifestyle, they have broadened the growing selection of softgel offerings in the form of Omega 3 50/25 TG with Lemon Oil & AquaCelle® softgel. The first 50/25 strength softgel to implement Gencor’s unique AquaCelle® aqueous delivery system, it provides a robust solution to a variety of consumer need states and effectively allows for smaller doses. Listeners can hear all about the process in this podcast.Discussions to also look out for:· Key milestones for Cambridge Commodities· Ingredient diversity that includes finished products· Technological solutions from AquaCelle® to LipiSperse®· How CC source innovative suppliers· Partnership in corporate social responsibility (CSR)Grab a hot drink and listen to the full podcast to learn all about this unique relationship with their partners now

In this episode of Table Talk we explore the development of bio based plastics, the latest innovations in the space and their true potential as viable alternatives to plastic. Are they the sustainable plastic solution we need to save the planet?Joining us to explain what bioplastics are, and to shed light on the impact they could have are two experts in the field, David Newman, Executive Director, BBIA and Constance Isbrucker, Head of Environmental Affairs, European Bioplastics. Join us in a fascinating look into the world of bioplastics.About our panelDavid Newman, Executive Director, BBIADavid Newman lived in Europe and the Middle East until 2014 when he returned to the UK. He was the Executive Director of Greenpeace Italy 1994-1997; from 1999 until 2014 he led the Italian composting and biogas association CIC and he led the Italian Bioplastics Association from 2011 to 2015.From 2012 to 2016 he was President of the International Solid Waste Association in Vienna and initiated the 2015 Global Waste Management Outlook report written by ISWA and UNEP. During this time (2012-13) he was personal advisor to the Italian Minister of Environment, Andrea Orlando. David founded and leads the Bio Based and Biodegradable Industries Association UK since 2015 which works to promote the bioeconomy in the UK.He is President of the World Biogas Association since November 2016, co-author of the report Global Food Waste Management, an Implementation Guide for Cities, published in May 2018 by the WBA with C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. He also worked on the 2019 report published by WBA “The Global Potential of Biogas”. He is a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Group at DEFRA and a chartered member of the CIWM. His book “Everything is Connected “ is due to be published in the autumn of 2020.Constance Ißbrucker, Head of Environmental Affairs, European BioplasticsConstance Ißbrücker holds a degree from the University of Jena, Germany, specialized in macromolecular and bioorganic chemistry. Before joining European Bioplastics in 2013, she worked in different research groups at universities in Berlin and Jena where she gained valuable experience in the modification and analysis of polysaccharide derivatives and the synthesis of chiral amines by biocatalytic processes. In 2016, she has been promoted to Head of EnvironmentalAffairs at European Bioplastics and is, among other things, responsible for the Product Groups Biobased and Biodegradables, standardisation of bioplastics, and the Seedling trademark.

FareShare is the UK’s largest food redistribution charity, with more than 30 Regional Centres across the country. It takes food from the food industry that can’t be sold in shops, either because of packaging errors or a short shelf life. FareShare has worked with Tesco since 2012 to help alleviate poverty in the UK by ensuring surplus food within its supply chain is used to feed people and doesn’t end up as waste. Joining host Stefan Gates for a fascinating look into how charities, brands and retailers are working together to alleviate food waste by distributing surplus food to those who need it are Helen Davies, Retail Partners Senior Manager, FareShare, Claire de Silva, Head of Community and Local Media, Tesco, Nicola Mackay, Community Food Programme Manager, Tesco and Dr Mansukh Morjoria, Trustee, Shree Jalaram Mandi.About our panel Helen Davies, Retail Partners Senior Manager, FareShareHelen Davies is a Senior Commercial Manager at FareShare. She manages relationships with some our key retail partners, particularly Tesco, and is also responsible for business development and management of new partners joining the FareShare Go programme. Helen moved into the charity sector five years ago after a long career in mobile communications where she has run CSR for EE and Orange, communications and engagement for UK R&D and far too many projects in retail to mention!Claire de Silva, Head of Community and Local Media, TescoClaire de Silva is Head of Community and Local Media at Tesco where she leads a team delivering multi-million-pound programmes that support thousands of local communities across the UK and a number of core proactive media campaigns. She began her career as a journalist working for a number of weekly, daily and evening newspapers before moving into public and media relations leading communications at John Lewis, Merlin, Whitbread, Travis Perkins and Centrica and the Hospice of St Francis.Nicola Mackay, Community Food Programme Manager, TescoNicola (Nicki) Mackay is Community Food Programme Manager at Tesco where she plans and deliver Tesco's operational strategy on food redistribution and food poverty via the delivery of two key community programmes; Tesco Food Collection, the annual food collection in stores in support of the FareShare and The Trussell Trust, and Community Food Connection in partnership with FareShare and FoodCloud, which offers daily edible food surplus to charities to collect for free.Dr Mansukh Morjoria, Trustee, Shree Jalaram MandiMansukh Morjaria is a Trustee at Shree Jalaram Mandir, a temple situated in Greenford, London, supporting people with food in the local community. As a not for profit organisation, they collect food through Tesco via FareShare Go – the back of store programme where charities and community organisations can collect end of day surplus food. Shree Jalaram Mandir is linked with lots of Tesco stores in London and has been collecting food through the programme since 2017. Throughout the pandemic, they have been supporting a wide range of people in the area, as well as homeless people, through fresh cooked meals and food parcels.