Food Matters Live Podcast

The use of cannabidiol, or CBD, in food and drink is booming in the UK.  CBD-infused drinks, ice cream, functional snack bars - you name it - have helped the sector to astronomical growth in recent years.  In 2021, the sector saw sales worth £690m. But with that growth have come some questions.  In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by two experts who can tackle some of...

Sometimes in life, you just know you need to make a change. For Lauren Mote, that realisation came as she approached the end of her international politics degree. "I was opening my Russian politics book and thinking 'I'm not interested in this," she tells Elisa Roche. "And then (I was) picking up Harold McGee's 'On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen'." Lauren says it wasn't that...

Where is the plant-based food sector heading? It's a simple question that formed the basis of a Food Matters Live event held in 2021. Hosted by Mandy Saven from Stylus Media Group, our panel of experts gave their views on what plant-based diets might look like in future. They tackle issues like how to make plant-based meat alternatives an attractive colour, how farmers are being persuaded to move...

How do you persuade people to move to a more sustainable diet? And how do we ensure that we're making choices that are good for our health as well as the planet? In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, brought to you in partnership with Kellogg's Europe Wellbeing Team, we delve into the world of sustainable diets, and look at the role plant-based foods have to play. Stefan Gates is joined by tw...

When Graeme Tomlinson started posting graphics on Instagram, it was just a side-hustle. "I was a personal trainer who was doing this in their spare time," he tells Elisa Roche in the second episode of the Career Conversations podcast series. Over the course of a few years, he'd built his Instagram following to around 30,000, then all of a sudden, things took off. "I think I'd done about 2,000 post...

There's no doubt about it, flavour is a key factor in the success of any alcohol-free drink, but it's also one of the most difficult areas to master. How do you match the flavour of a single malt whisky, the taste of a session IPA, or the burn of a shot of tequila? Is it even about trying to replicate the taste of alcohol or should efforts be focused on different aspects? In this episode of Table...

How can you build a brand when you can't advertise or launch promotions, and there are restrictions on where you can position your products in shops? It's a dilemma many food companies are facing ahead of new legislation due to be enforced in England from October 2022. It means there will be restrictions on how foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar - collectively known as HFSS - can be promot...

Rhiannon Lambert's path to becoming one of the UK's leading nutritionists hasn't always been a straight forward one. Years before she opened her own clinic on Harley Street, she was a successful singer, jetting off to perform around the world. But it was what she saw whilst singing at some of the world's biggest fashion shows, that encouraged her to pursue the career she has. Some of the models we...

The history of tea is as interesting and varied as the drink itself. In this episode we delve into that history to see what the past can offer present day tea makers. Stefan Gates is joined by Will Battle, Managing Director at Fine Tea Merchants, and author of the World Tea Encyclopaedia. They look back at the role tea has played in the economy of the world, in the past and today. The history of t...

Food brands need to work out what consumers will be eating in future, but how do they go about it, and what happens if they get it wrong? In this edition of the Table Talk podcast, we look at the business of predicting people's eating habits. How do companies work out what we'll all be reaching for in the supermarket in five years' time? What is the cost to them if they get it wrong? And how often...

In this edition of the Table Talk podcast, we're looking at the role of functional ingredients in low and no alcohol drinks.    Stefan Gates is joined by Dash Lilley, co-founder of Three Spirits, and David Begg, co-founder of Real Kombucha.    They discuss ingredients which lift the mood, as well as providing health benefits on the side. Functional ingredients have been one of the stories of the l...

From October 2022, new rules are set to be enforced around the sale of foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS). The HFSS promotion ban has been controversial since it was first devised and now retailers are calling for a further delay to its enforcement. The new rules will see the end of deals like buy-one-get-one-free, a ban on free soft drink refills, and restrictions on where HFSS pro...

Globally, alcohol consumption is thought to have declined by 6% in 2020. And between 2020 and 2024 the “low and no” market is expected to balloon by 31%. But what's next for the sector? What will we all be drinking in ten years' time? And how can "low and no" overcome some of the challenges it faces? In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by three experts to help answer...

You might already know that you want to work in the green sector, but how do you go about finding the right job for you? It's a question we've been asking on Table Talk throughout our Green Jobs series and in this episode, we get more fantastic advice from someone who can not only talk the talk, but is already walking the walk. Marc Zornes is CEO and Winnow Solutions - a company that helps commerc...

The Table Talk podcast is on a festive break, but that doesn't mean we stop providing top content. We've delved into our archive and pulled out some of the best interviews from 2021. In this episode, Stefan Gates met Josh Tetrick, CEO of Eat Just. Eat Just made history in 2021, following a regulatory approval decision in Singapore for lab-grown meat to be sold in a restaurant.  System change needs...

This episode is part of a special series we’re running to celebrate the fact we’ve now made more than 200 editions of Table Talk. We would like to thank everyone who has joined us on the podcast since it launched and we are so grateful to you for helping us to reach this milestone. To mark the occasion, we’ve invited some friends of the podcast to make their own mini-episodes, looking back at 2021...

This episode is part of a special series we’re running to celebrate the fact we’ve now made more than 200 editions of Table Talk. We would like to thank everyone who has joined us on the podcast since it launched and we are so grateful to you for helping us reach this milestone.  To mark the occasion, we’ve invited some friends of the podcast to make their own mini-episodes, looking back at 2021. ...

This episode is part of a special series we’re running to celebrate the fact we’ve now made more than 200 editions of Table Talk. We would like to thank everyone who has joined us on the podcast since it launched and we are so grateful to you for helping us to reach this milestone. To mark the occasion, we’ve invited some friends of the podcast to make their own mini-episodes, looking back at 2021...

This episode is part of a special series we’re running to celebrate the fact we’ve now made more than 200 editions of Table Talk. We would like to thank everyone who has joined us on the podcast since it launched and we are so grateful to you for helping us to reach this milestone. To mark the occasion, we’ve invited some friends of the podcast to make their own mini-episodes, looking back at 2021...

In this episode, we hear from Derek Sarno, co-founder of Wicked Healthy, LLC, and Executive Chef & Director of Plant-Based Innovation for Tesco PLC This episode is part of a special series we’re running to celebrate the fact we’ve now made more than 200 editions of Table Talk. We would like to thank everyone who has joined us on the podcast since it launched and we are so grateful to you for h...

The Table Talk podcast is on a festive break, but that doesn't mean we stop providing top content. We've delved into our archive and pulled out some of the best interviews from 2021. In this episode, Stefan Gates met Oliver Bennett; a British race car driver, turned energy drink entrepreneur. Oliver made his debut in the British Rallycross Championship in 2016 and fought for the title the followin...

Turkey, roast potatoes, Christmas pudding, Brussels sprouts - Christmas dinner hasn't always been this way. And there is certainly no reason to think it will stay that way in the future. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates delves into the history of the Christmas dinner with food historian Seren Charrington-Hollins. Seren reveals why Victorian Christmas traditions have endured...

Professor David Nutt, on the science behind hangovers and how new trends in the drinks market could help eradicate them for good. Alcohol is very much on the agenda as we approach the end of the year and look forward to a new one. Typically, in December we drink too much and in January, many of us think about cutting back. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by a very...

If you are kicking yourself for taking an arts degree when really you want to be working in the green economy - this podcast is for you. As part of the Table Talk podcast's Green Jobs series, Stefan Gates meets India Langley, Communications Manager for the innovative indoor farming company LettUs Grow. She reveals the secret to switching from the arts to science, the surprising opportunities that...

Most of us know that experiencing flavour doesn’t just involve our tastebuds, but what other factors are influencing us when we eat and why is it so important? In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by Betina Piqueras Fiszman, Associate Professor at Wageningen University. They discuss the history of taste and flavour, and the important role they have played in human evol...