Recipe for Greatness

Imran Merza - who is Imran? He is the founder of Jealous Sweets . I first came across Jealous Sweets in a coffee shop, they caught my eye, and they're absolutely delicious. They are stocked in Asda, Ocado and they are generating revenue in the millions.  Jealous sweets was set up back in 2010 and launched it in 2011 with his co-founder Taz, they started off in Selfridges as gifting boxes and...

Zan Kaufman is the founder of Bleecker Burger . You may know all about the their world famous burger winning award countless awards such as Best Burger In The World by Foodie Hub. Zan started off her career in New York as a corporate lawyer but after pondering some of lifes bigger questions, Zan started working in a burger joint. This burger and its taste changed Zan and her life - she left her co...

Thom Elliot is the co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims that he set up in 2011 with his brother James. Thom comes from an advertising background and James from tv, After a few pints in the pub they decided it was time to do something themselves. Pizza pilgrims was born but they realised they needed a pizza oven to sell pizzas - they decided to buy Piaggion Ape van and add a pizza oven - not wanting to pay...

Helenor and Mike are the founders of Troo - you may have seen their granola or porridge in places such as Sainsbury's or Waitrose. They create delicious granola, porridge and syrups that all promote gut health, with high levels of functional fibre, low sugar and made with all natural ingredients. Helenor started making granola at home for her son after seeing how much sugar is in shop bought...

Dominique Woolf is the founder of The Woolf's Kitchen - They make the most amazing sauces such as Tamarin Ketchup, Jalapeno and Lime and have just launched some new nuts! Dominique launched her business in the middle of lock, oh and she is also a mum of three all under the age of 5! Dominique talks all about how you find your calling for a business and the importance of tasting and experienci...

This week my guest is Olly Hiscocks who is the founder of Olly's . 4 years ago he entered the olive market and reinvented the category. They have gone on to do nuts and their most recent innovation has been snacking pretzels as a better alternative to crisps. What started off in his kitchen and a market stall, Olly's are stocked in Sainsbury's, Ocado, Selfridges, Virgin trains, Majo...

Stephen Tozer is one of the founders of Le Bab , Maison Bab and Kebab Queen that reinvented the kebab. When I say kebab - think Michelin star kebab. Stephen met him co-founder Ed at Oxford university which they parted ways, Ed to go train at Michel Roux Jr two Michelin Star restaurant Le Gavroche and Stephen to work in the city. After some time Stephen felt his long life passion for food and cooki...

Today’s guest is Sophie McGregor who is the co-founder of Griddle who make delicious whole grain pancakes with less sugar and no artificial flavours, they are available in Sainsbury’s and Amazon. This is such a great chat because Sophie really provides context of what it takes and how long it takes to come up with an idea, test the market, manufacture the product and get it in to a retailer. Not o...

Today my guest is Jason Mulhall who is the founder of Karnival . Karnival work with some of the biggest companies in the world and smaller start-ups and create pop up food experiences in their offices. We talk about his journey in to entrepreneurship and how he was actively brain storming ideas and problems to solve so he could create a company. Jason tried other business ideas and after experimen...

Eloise Head is the founder of Fitwaffle . If recently you have been on social media and you came across some mouth-watering food pictures or incredible home baking recipes there is a chance it was Eloise with Fitwaffle. She has over 1.2 Million followers and her recipes get picked up weekly by the national media and get tens of thousands of shares. If you want to have some home baking recipe inspi...

Sam Mensah started off in the music industry - playing on stage, talking to major record labels, touring the country, but in the background his parents were running a Ghanaian bakery, Uncle Johns Bakery , that they set up 25 years ago.  It was doing well but Sam believed it could do better. in 2015 he finally took the step and decided to john the family business. But this was not without challenge...

This weeks guest is Dan Pope - Who is the sales manager for ManLife, One of the leading UK peanut butter brands shaking up the category. Dan was employee number 2 at the company. Dan graduated university - all his other friends took jobs in London and followed the corporate route but Dan took a different journey that lead him to a few different places. Dan talks about the value of his non-conventi...

Asher Flowers is the founder of Rogue , they create the most exceptional jams and chutneys from the likes of Espresso Martini Marmalade, Negroni Marmalade and many others. Asher left his job in PR in London and moved back to Wales to set up his business. He started with £350 and began selling it at market stalls and trade shows. He got his break and pitched to Sainsbury's and Ocado and his na...

David Templer is a fitness and food enthusiast who has taken his side project in to a complete business. Also known as Temptation or the Shirtless Chef, David has around 400,000 thousand followers across his social media platform. David went away travelling and started a Instagram account and it has grown and taken him on to TV shows such as Hairy Biker's Chocolate Challenge and also had his...

Teddy Rigby is the founder of Abbeville Supper Club and was a MasterChef 2020 Quarter-Finalist. MasterChef is a well known annual cooking show hosted on BBC, the show receives (according to Google) 20,000 applications a year and chooses only 56. I talk with Teddy all about MasterChef and we get to hear a real behind the scenes look of what it is actually like to be on the show, applying, how it ru...

Hugo Campbell is the founder of Feast It , an events booking platform ranging from food and drink to staff and photographers. Launching in 2016 it has grown and has been shortlisted for "Disruptor of The Year" for Great British Entrepreneur Awards and named Number 7 in Start Up's top 100 UK companies in 2020. Hugo founded the business with long-term friend Digby. They have raised £2...

Angie Gewargis is the founder of My Cookie Dough who make the most incredible desserts. Since opening their first site in Cardiff they have expanded at a rapid pace and now have 14 sites operating across the UK and in the Middle East. Angie came across the idea while at university with her co-founder Ricki. We talk about how branding was the most important thing and how it needs to be one of the f...

Adam Wills is the founder of Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Crosstown Doughnuts. He moved over from NZ in 1996 and in 2000 launched GBK which he sold in 2005. In 2010 he opened up Kopapa restaurant headed by Peter Gordon and then In 2014 he founded artisan doughnut concept Crosstown Doughnuts. Adam is an exceptional entrepreneur with continued track record of success. We chat about his journey and how...

Claire Connor is the founder of A Pie Party. In this part of the series we are covering getting started. We will discuss Claire's journey, how she came to found her company, the struggles she had and how she got through. This is a great episode with an amazing story behind a great company. Please enjoy. If you want to learn more about setting up a food business then please head over to www.ja...

This is an introduction to the Recipe for Greatness podcast. The goal of this podcast is to share the stories of the people behind the best food companies in the UK and deconstruct how they did it, what skills and knowledge they used and most importantly, how you can get started. I wish there was something like this when I started my food business - I really struggled at the start so I'm hopi...