The Friday Accelerator with Karen Green

Singapore has one of the world's great food cultures. But walk into almost any British supermarket, and you'll find Thai, Japanese, Indian, Korean and almost nothing from Singapore. Megan Tan noticed that gap when she moved to London. Leaving her career in corporate law, she started running supper clubs from her flat. Then she launched her first product - a ginger chilli sauce inspired by Hainanes...

Why are so few of the FTSE 100 led by women? If you asked a young person on the street to name a famous businesswoman, would they struggle? And if you're building a food business without a financial safety net behind you, would you expect to receive investment — not because you've been turned down, but because somewhere along the way you absorbed the idea that it simply wasn't an option for someon...

Ramona Hazan built the UK's #1 hummus brand (Ramona's) from a one-bedroom flat full of chickpeas to the chillers in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and Waitrose. In this episode, she reveals the exact supermarket listings strategy and retail negotiations that got her there - plus the brand pivot no one saw coming. If you're a founder chasing major retail, this is the playbook you need. In this conv...

Ros Heathcote founded Borough Broth in 2015 with no food industry background, no manufacturing experience and no contacts - just a gut health problem, a systems-thinking brain, and a butcher who was paying to throw his bones away. Within a year, she had a Selfridges listing. Today Borough Broth is stocked in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Ocado, Whole Foods, Planet Organic, Abel & Cole and more...

Huib van Bockel spent eight years as head of marketing for Red Bull UK and Europe before leaving to launch Tenzing, a natural energy drink inspired by what Sherpas drink when climbing Everest. Now approaching its 10th anniversary, Tenzing is the fastest-growing energy drink in the UK, stocked in all major supermarkets, and recently received investment from Heineken. In this episode, Huib shares th...

What made Ella Rauen-Prestes walk away from supermarket listings most founders dream of? Discover how the Fitbakes founder turned strategic pivots into challenger brand growth, moving from cakes to bars to bread. In this food entrepreneur interview, learn how successful FMCG founders prioritise profitable growth over scale and navigate product-market fit with real-world insights. Karen Green explo...

Milly Bagot co-founded ByRuby with a mission to create premium frozen meals that taste like "one of your really good friends - who happens to be a great cook - has filled your freezer for you." What started as a side project at Finn's deli in Chelsea transformed into a standalone business that grew fast and caught the attention of Charlie Bigham. In this conversation, Milly shares the story of tha...

Kelly Dowson is the managing director of FIS Group, the innovation and research business on a mission to help reimagine the future of food and drink. Listen to this episode of The Friday Accelerator to hear how this consultancy business went from front room to 40 people inside 15 years. Kelly shares her experiences, learnings and approaches to the personal and business aspects of that success. Lis...