Table Talk

Max Jamilly has a vision - a world where the industrial farming of animals is a thing of the past. With its impact on the environment, human health, and the health and wellbeing of animals, his vision is not unique. But where Max Jamilly differs from many others, is the work he is doing to make that vision become a reality. Max set up Hoxton Farms in 2020 alongside his childhood friend Ed Steele. The company is a cellular agriculture and biotech start-up that cultivates cell-grown fat which can be added to meat-alternative products. The idea is that you get all the desirable things about cooking animal fat, without harming any animals. In this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, recorded in front of a live audience as part of our Inspiring Careers in Food event, Max reveals all about his career so far. Sign up for the next Inspiring Careers in Food events in 2023 Listen to the full episode to find out what drove Max and Ed to set up Hoxton Farms, their ambitions for the future, and how

Everyone knows that we are not all the same, there is wonderful diversity in our bodies, our genetics, our lifestyles, and our preferences. And yet, when it comes to nutrition, the most successful public health messages are the broad guidelines, which suggests one size can fit all.   Think five-a-day, taking Vitamin D through the autumn and winter, and so on. At the same time, the science behind nutrition, the understanding of our metabolism and of our gut microbiome, has been increasing at a fantastic rate. The question is: how do you bring these two worlds together?   How do you bring the best of intricate nutritional science to a broader population? Could the answer lay in precision nutrition?   It is an emerging and exciting field which helps tailor dietary recommendations and nutritional guidelines, and there is some evidence it can have remarkable health impacts. It is an area which seems to offer huge potential, but exactly how much is yet to be discovered. Karen Vousden, Principal Group Leade

Eating is a multi-sensory experience, all our sensory mechanisms working together to judge taste, flavour, texture, and assess the underlying nutrition. Humans have evolved to become incredibly good at this, which can be a problem for innovators, particularly for those in the plant-based sector. Because despite the huge amount of brainwork going into developing the taste and texture of plant-based meat alternatives, the bottom line is, we can often tell that it is a substitute.    Our senses tell us that it is not the same. Now for some that is all part of the fun, having new taste experiences. But for many, the lure of animal protein is just too strong and they want an exact replica just without the animal. So could artificial intelligence be the answer?   Could we use machine learning to match animal products to meat-free ingredients at the molecular level?  To outsmart our senses and, possibly, save the environment at the same time. That is the question which the people at the food tech company NotC

Over the past few years there has been increasing public discussion of mental health.   The food industry is a big part of this trend, with foods, supplements and nutraceuticals promising to boost energy, aid concentration, and banish lethargy. The relationship between nutrition and mood is complex.   So increasing our understanding of this area seems really important, not just for consumers hoping to lift their mood or reduce anxiety, but for the food industry too. But this a world where on the one hand there is pseudo-science and creative marketing, and on the other very generalised government advice; think 5 a day and plenty of exercise. So how should consumers find their way to a diet which can really help mental wellbeing?   And what lessons from science should the food industry be taking on board? Jackie Lynch, Nutritionist Award-winning nutritionist and author, Jackie Lynch is the founder of the WellWellWell nutrition clinic, where she specialises in women’s health and the menopause.  Keen to

Whichever way you look at it, Freya Cox is a trailblazer. In 2021 she was the first vegan baker to appear on the popular TV cooking show The Great British Bake Off. She took part in the gruelling filming schedule whilst studying for a degree in psychology and since the show, she has built a huge online profile. Freya is no shrinking violet. A quick look at her Instagram account shows her penchant for colourful fashion, and that bold approach is reflected in her work. She has a new book out "Simple Vegan Baking" which is full of colour and, most importantly, a plethora of delicious vegan bakes. In this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, recorded in front of a live audience as part of our Inspiring Careers in Food event, Freya reveals all about her career so far. Sign up for the next Inspiring Careers in Food events in 2023 She lifts the lid on life in the Great British Bake Off tent, opens up about life in the media spotlight, and tells us about her ambition to launch a career as a food

Ever since wine production began 8,000 years ago, people have suggested it can do remarkable things. Whether it increases courage, passion, happiness, is good for your heart, bad for your heart, good for your mental health, bad for your mental health, claims and counter claims are still made to this day. But in this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, we are looking at the evidence, not the stories.  Red wine is particularly intriguing for health researchers because there are so many claims about it reducing cholesterol, improving heart health, being beneficial for our bones, and so on. But, we know that drinking too much alcohol is bad for us. So, do the health claims stack up? Are some wines healthier than others? And how much is too much? Alex Glover, Senior Nutritionist, Holland & Barrett Alex is senior nutritionist within the global R&D team at Holland & Barrett and graduated with an MSc in Clinical Nutrition from the University of Aberdeen.  He has published research in the fie

For many, 2022 has felt like a very long year. Even after the turmoil of 2020 and 2021, the last 12 months have been particularly difficult, and last Christmas seems like a very long time ago. On the positive side, there has been possibly more innovation, ideas and forward thinking in the food sector than ever before. Stacked up against that have been an incredible number of challenges. Drought, floods, political comings and goings, the continuation of and the fallout from the pandemic, rising energy prices, avian flu and, of course, the war in Ukraine. There has been a lot to take in. So to reflect on a turbulent 12 months, in this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, we scrutinise our traditional Christmas dinner, and consider how the food and drink we are going to enjoy on December 25th has been affected by the events of 2022.   We are joined by three fantastic guests, offering their insights on the year that was. Paul Kelly is Managing Director of KellyBronze Turkeys, Tom Bradshaw is Deputy Pre

Jamie Keeble is the man behind one of the most recognisable sausage brands in the UK. HECK products are seen on supermarket shelves up and down the country and, for Jamie, it is a lifelong passion. By his own admission, he struggled at school, and went to work in the family business making sausages. In this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, recorded in front of a live audience as part of our Inspiring Careers in Food events, we hear all about Jamie's journey to launching HECK and beyond. Jamie started on the factory floor, sold sausages at markets, and worked long and hard hours. He eventually started out on his own, launching HECK, which makes a wide variety of meat and meat-free products. Listen to the full episode to find out how they managed to secure deals with major retailers, and why Jamie believes flexitarian diets are a key driver for the company's future growth. Sign up for the next Inspiring Careers in Food events in 2023

How well crops take up and use nutrients from the soil is of vital importance, in terms of crop yield, soil health, and the wider environment. In this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, made in partnership with Anglo American, we investigate why nutrient use efficiency is taking on evermore importance in the world of farming. The increased global demand for food and the depletion of many natural resources, including our soils, has posed a big challenge for farmers. Namely, getting the right nutrients into crops to meet the ever-increasing demand in a way that is sustainabl, whilst also being gentle on the environment. Fertilisers play a critical role in making this possible by providing essential nutrients to the soil. Previous episodes featuring Anglo American Biodiversity in soil - why it matters to us all How do we stop the rapid erosion of essential soils? Can regenerative agriculture fix our food system? What can be done to ensure that agricultural practices are sustainable? As with anyt

In this episodes of the Food Matters Live podcast, Stefan meets Grace Dent. Grace is a restaurant critic, broadcaster, author and podcaster. She is well known to audiences in the UK in particular, having written for the Guardian and Evening Standard newspapers, making regular appearances on MasterChef, and presenting The Untold, a series on BBC Radio 4. She has also written a number of novels and her award-winning memoir “Hungry”, as well as hosting the hugely popular podcast “Comfort Eating with Grace Dent.” Listen to the full episode to find out about the one meal that has made Grace cry with joy, why she once dressed up as a Christmas pudding, and why she generally prefers a restaurant with one Michelin star over one that has three. Oh, and there is a quick-fire round which reveals some of her more controversial food opinions! Grace Dent, Restaurant Critic, Author, Broadcaster Grace Dent is an award-winning restaurant critic who regularly writes for The Guardian and is a frequent guest judge on the

"You wouldn't have wanted to have been my friend when I was at school," says Club Soda Founder, Laura Willoughby. " I'd have had you doing all sorts of things." Laura describes herself as a doer: "When I see a problem, I want to fix it." That level of drive has seen her career move in a number of different directions, but always with politics and social change playing some role. In this episode of the Career Conversations series, recorded in front of a live audience at our Inspiring Careers in Food event, she reveals all about her journey. It started with student politics, progressed to a powerful role in local politics, and even saw her dabble in Westminster politics. Throughout all of that, alcohol was a feature.  Laura says she never got to the stage where she needed help, but says she started to bore herself and found she was drinking without even thinking about it. After a period of turning up to pubs with teabags so she had something intersting to drink whilst still socialising, she decided to st

In 2015 a book was published that, for millions, was their first introduction to the gut microbiome. “The Diet Myth: The Real Science Behind What We Eat” looks at the relationship between microbes, genetics, and diet. A few years later, along came “Spoon-Fed” – a book which claimed to expose the bad science behind many government diet recommendations. The author of both is, of course, Tim Spector, one of the most interesting, engaging, and knowledgeable speakers in the world of food. He is also one of the most qualified. He is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, honorary consultant physician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital, and he is one of the top 100 most-cited scientists in the world. He has been on the podcast before, and we were delighted to welcome him back to talk about his new book “Food For Life”. Tim Spector, Professor of Epidemiology Tim Spector is a medically qualified Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the TwinsUK registry at King’s College London.  His cur

Eating food is one of the most multisensory, emotional experiences we can have.    It is not something we are always that conscious of, but the smell of food cooking in the lead up to mealtime can take you back to your childhood, and the taste of a certain meal can transport you halfway around the world to a holiday that lives somewhere in the depths of your memory. Even on a day-to-day basis, tasting food is one of life’s pleasures. A bit of joy on an otherwise dull day, it can be the focus of your evening, even a comfort at times. So for people whose senses have been altered by illness, cooking and eating can become joyless, even isolating. It is something lots of people have experienced with Covid. But it can be true too for people suffering other illnesses or going through invasive treatments, and the effect can be profound for people’s wider health and wellbeing. So in this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, we are exploring sensory cooking techniques which can help people to start enjoying t

2023 looks set to be another challenging year, and rising to those challenges is going to require innovation and new thinking about how the global food industry feeds a growing population. This episode Food Matters Live podcast is part of a short series shining a light on some of the start-ups who are shaping the future of the food industry. They are the big thinkers, with big ideas about how to solve some of the world's biggest problems. In this episode, we meet Jim Laird, CEO and co-founder of alternative protein company Enough. Enough grows ABUNDA mycoprotein, a fermented food ingredient which is rich in protein and fibre. ABUNDA is a highly versatile mycoprotein. It can be incorporated as a protein and fibre rich ingredient in established recipes or used to inspire new culinary creations. Listen to this short episode to find out more about the work Enough is doing, the company's ambitions for the future, and how investors and customers can get involved in their journey. Enough As a food-tech compa

Sophie Medlin is quite clear about why she loves her job as a dietitian so much. For her, it is all about making a difference to people's lives, something she describes as giving her "the best job satisfaction". Sophie has her own practice, City Dietitians, and is the London Chair of the British Dietetic Association. In this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, recorded in front of a live audience at our first Inspiring Careers in Food event, she tells us all about her journey to the top. She is one of the UK's leading dietitians and she is incredibly passionate about helping young people join the industry. Sophie says the best way to get experience as a dietitian is to go and work in the NHS. Although many people want their own practice, she says it is important to learn the trade in the national health service, where you will encounter a huge variety of issues. She thinks that stands you in good stead, should you wish to go it alone in future. Sophie specialises in gut health and says

2023 looks set to be another challenging year, and rising to those challenges is going to require innovation and new thinking about how the global food industry feeds a growing population. This episode Food Matters Live podcast is part of a short series shining a light on some of the start-ups who are shaping the future of the food industry. They are the big thinkers, with big ideas about how to solve some of the world's biggest problems. In this episode, we meet Kestutis Lipnickas, CEO of the insect protein company, Divaks. Divaks makes oils, powders, and proteins using from high-quality insect-derived ingredients. Its products are created for the food industry, and customised to meet the highest needs of both clients and consumers.  Listen to this short episode to find out more about the work Divaks is doing, the company's ambitions for the future, and how investors and customers can get involved in their journey. About Divaks Started in 2020 in Vilnius, Lithuania, Divaks is developing fully automat

We could be heading for a shortage of carbon dioxide.  Yes, you read that right, despite carbon emissions hitting record levels in 2022, CO2 for use in the food and drink industry is in short supply. CO2 is used all across the sector, soft drink production of course, but also meat processing, brewing, baking, and many many others But with the soaring price of natural gas, dwindling supply, and the shutdowns of CO2 plants in Cheshire and Teeside, there are fears that major shortages are just around the corner. We have been here before. Significant CO2 scarcity in 2018 sent shockwaves through the industry. But could we be facing an even worse situation this time around?   Prices of CO2 are already rocketing, so what can the industry do to prepare itself? Mark Lorch, Professor of Public Engagement and Science Communication, University of Hull Mark Lorch is a chemist, writer and science communicator. He started his research career working on protein folding and has since delved into many other aspects of

Good nutrition is vital during pregnancy, but how do you separate the myth from the science-based fact? During the time between conception and birth, there are significant changes in the body’s nutritional requirements. But of course there is no one-size-fits-all approach.   Changes during pregnancy are far-reaching and every woman requires different nutrition based on their body, their lifestyle, and their pregnancy. Join our trends panel: Nutrition insight panel: eating for two – what are the latest trends in pregnancy nutrition? There are other challenges too, myths and misleading stories about pregnancy would fill a very large book, or a never-ending twitter feed.   And with diet being so tied up with culture, it is hard to escape their pull.  In this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, look at the nutritional demands of pregnancy and discuss which aspects of diet are most important, and which advice and products are actually worth taking seriously. Hannah Love, Paediatric Nurse Hannah Love

Shiada Drysdale is a high-flyer, and not just because she works for Virgin Atlantic. As the company's Beverage Lead for Inflight Services, she selects the drinks that appear on all of Virgin's flights. There is so much thought and research that goes into the selection of drinks you get on a flight, and it is Shiada's job to make sure what's on offer is the perfect fit. That manifests itself in a number of different ways, from making sure the beverages chosen are the most popular with passengers, to ensuring the way they are packaged maximises use of space onboard. Throw into that the complexities of how our sense of taste changes at altitude, and working out the logistics of making sure there is the right amount of the right drinks on flights crossing the globe, Shiada's job is not one for the faint-heart. This episode of the Career Conversations podcast series was recorded in front of a live audience as part of our Inspiring Careers in Food event. Listen to the full episode to find out how Shiada worke

What is the state of the relationship between consumers and the food industry? What do consumers think about the food they eat? How safe do they consider the food they buy to be? And what can the food industry learn from tracking consumer behaviour? In the UK, many of those questions can be answered by looking at the results of the Food Standards Agency's flagship Food and You 2 Survey. We all have individual concerns and behaviours around food, but what do these individual preferences add up to when scaled to the national level? And how can the food industry use that information? According to the survey, the biggest consumer concerns are food waste, the amount of sugar in food, and animal welfare.  More than 50% of respondents reported feeling worried about these issues. The environment has shown itself to be a key issue too, with one third of people who responded to the survey saying they have intentionally bought food which has a low environmental impact. Consumer confidence appears high, with 92% s