The FoodTalk Show

Masterchef winner cooks up a storm

Jane Devonshire, Masterchef winner joins Jamie Burrows of MiniCrops in the FoodTalk studio.

We didn’t check our calendars accordingly – it’s Burns Night tomorrow and we don’t have any Scottish specialities to enjoy on this episode. Before reading/listening any further, you’d best google some appropriate food.

It got us thinking though, what’s your favourite Scottish delicacy? Haggis, neeps and tatties, shortbread…whisky? They probably wouldn’t admit it, but we bet Sue, Ollie and Holly would secretly demolish a battered Mars bar.

So, we don’t have anything Scottish on this show, but we have plenty of Devonshire. Jane Devonshire to be precise. You will probably recognise the name if you’re a fan of BBC show Masterchef. She won the competition back in 2016.

You might think of Masterchef entrants as the types of people who have the application dates etched into their minds and wait by the phone for the producers to give them the green light. In fact, it was rather different for Jane, she described how her children did it all behind her back and only informed her at the last minute. Then, when producers did call, she’d forgotten all about it. Not the ideal preparation for winning, but she did it.

From TV show fame, Jane is now a champion of gluten-free cooking – something she's always done because of her son's health issues. Not only did she bring us her cookbook, she had been cooking at home for us and bought plenty of goodies made from the book. Blue Peter style. We like Jane.

We also like Jamie Burrows, but for different reasons. He's created Vertical Future. They produce MiniCrops, using agri-technology to reduce food miles and provide fresh, consistent, sustainable produce to households and restaurants. He's a food hero too.

The gold standard of food

Gordon Davidson from Morocco Gold joins Ross Forder of Halo Burger UK 

An apology…we know it’s getting to that point in January where those food and drink-related resolutions start to buckle under the pressure, and we didn’t help ‘Dry January’ participants with our boozy episode last week. We’re making amends this week though, particularly to those challenging themselves to Veganuary.

That’s right…whether it’s going fully vegan, partially vegan or just a simple pledge to cut down on meat consumption, we are offering a safe zone.

There’s not a drop of alcohol in-sight either, much to our presenting team’s displeasure.

There is, however, a drop of something quite wonderful though. Gold is something associated with being the best and Morocco Gold are certainly the best olive oil producers that we have ever come across; they even medalled in our FoodTalk Awards in 2018.

Gordon Davidson came to the studio to educate us all about the UK’s favourite cooking oil. Some of the learning was frightful, especially hearing about some of the cheaper brands you pick-up from the supermarkets. Looking for the best? It has to be Morocco Gold’s superior quality, single estate, extra virgin olive oil from olives grown and pressed in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. Case closed. 

From North Africa, our next guest is producing something just as lovely but a little bit closer to home. Camden’s street-food offerings have paved the way for similar foodie hubs to thrive and Pop Brixton is now one of the most popular foodie destinations in the capital.

Out of the vibrantly-decorated former storage containers, some great food is being cooked-up – none better so than Ross Forder’s Halo Burger unit. They boast the accolade of being the “world’s first” fast-food burger joint dedicated to serving only the “bleeding” vegan Beyond Burger. We strongly urge you to visit.

FoodTalk 2018 - the best bits

Well, well, well…what a year 2018 has been.

Brexit has gone bonkers, the Prime Minister is under the cosh, a couple got married and are now expecting a child, football nearly came home and we sizzled in summer as the mercury rose above the levels of Spain. Have we missed anything?

It has also been an incredibly yummy year too. We have had an awful amount of with The FoodTalk Show in partnership with Great British Chefs and, recently, the Speciality Magazine.

We met new and interesting guests every week and we are putting the cherry atop our year by presenting some of our favourite moments from the past 12 months.

Fatbergs, seaweed, cow auctions, sweetie horror stories, stinky cheese, and weedkilling…just some of the many things that standout. We hope you enjoy this special episode and be rest assured that we are working on some new and great material for 2019.

Like these snippets and want more? Below is a list of the guests in order of their appearance with links to their full interviews.

 

1. Tessa Stuart
2. Dr Seaweed
3. Rubies in the Rubble
4. Rootwave
5. The Jealous Life
6. Neil Nugent – Iceland Foods
7. Hilltop Honey
8. Growing Underground
9. FOGcheck
10. Feltham’s Farm
11. Cawston Press
12. Brewers Association
13. Keelham Farm

The story of William Chase

Catch our interview with William Chase, the man behind Tyrrells and Chase Distillery

Fancy an early Christmas present? Go on then…don’t tell anybody – it’s probably bad luck if you believe all that stuff.

We’ve got a very special interview to get you in the Christmas spirit nice and early. One of the perks of the job for Sue is that she gets to travel around the country meeting some fabulous foodies who all have a great story to tell.

However, with that being said, the stories probably don’t come too much more interesting than William Chase’s. You will have heard of Tyrells crisps and you might have tasted something boozy from the Chase Distillery, but have you ever wondered how one person could build those brands?

Craziness, brilliance, hard-work? As Sue found out, it was a little bit of everything. She caught up with him at the fabulous Bread and Jam Festival for foodies recently. William was on-stage at the founders festival to receive a bit of a grilling from our presenter so we captured it for FoodTalk as it’s too good to miss. It’s an amazing story which encompasses the many lows and highs of the food industry.

Make sure you listen to this podcast, but you can also find out info on William here. Tickets are available for the Bread & Jam Festival in 2019; it’s a wonderful event that shouldn’t be missed, find more information here.

From Iceland with sweet treats

We chat with Imran Meza from The Jealous Life and Neil Nugent of Iceland Foods.

Can we just ban any talk of Brexit now? It’s really dampening the festive spirit – we want to see The Grinch, Elf or A Miracle on 34^th Street splashed across our screens, not the dour and dreary crew who work in those grandeur buildings of Westminster. 

To be fair, it’s a topic that stirs up some anger from our presenters. However, with two weeks until the guy in the red suit comes along, Sue, Ollie and Holly have promised to rein it in. 

If they go on about it too much, there won’t be any sweeties in their stockings on December 25^th. We kept a secret stash back from Imran Meza and his amazing Jealous Sweets.

This may surprise you to know, but the majority of big brand sweets are actually far from being vegan-friendly, which seems crazy but it’s all to do with the gelatine used. The Jealous Life are here to satisfy vegans with a sweet tooth now though. Their amazing tasting range is also free from a lot of traditional nasties and is generally just perfect!

As a kid, you’re always told not to have too many sweets before dinner as it will ruin your appetite. Luckily, we caught up with Neil Nugent of Iceland Foods before we raided the sweets.

Here’s a fun stat for you…Neil is thought to be responsible for feeding around 50% of the nation at one time or another. He is currently the head of product development at the frozen food specialists but has held similar roles with other major supermarkets in his career too.

The world of supermarket food is always a contentious topic with our presenting team and Neil fielded some tough questions but provided some fantastic responses which really help you understand the challenges that the big shops face.

 

Foodie adventures: from Cambridge to Japan

Andrew Chesters from Tazaki Foods and Ben Aveling of Radmore Farm Shops are today's guests

Honesty hour…the noise of cardboard being popped and cracked filled the living rooms of homes across the UK on Saturday to mark the start of the advent period but, hands-up, who has eaten a little more than their fair share of windows so far? Shame on you.

We do get it though. When you have something marked in your calendar for ages and ages, you just want it to happen already – how do you think we cope with patiently waiting for the FoodTalk podcast to be released every Thursday at 4pm?

It could be worse though, you could have an alcohol-filled calendar just like Sue, Ollie and Holly – they really know the feeling of being merry around the Christmas period, even if they claim it’s due to the excitement of this week’s guests.

Our starter has a distinctly Japanese feel to it. It’s a type of cuisine that continues to gain popularity in this country quicker than Usain Bolt on a 100m track – thanks in large part to companies like Tazaki Foods, who are making it more accessible to every day home cooks. They launched the Yutaka brand, which you’ll definitely recognise from the supermarket aisles – Andrew Chesters walks us through their story.  Sushi, anybody?

From one food that originates in Japan, our other guest is an advocate for food a little closer to home. Ben Aveling runs the fantastic Radmore Farm Shop. Their ethos is simple but brilliant; local produce, no mess, no fuss, great taste – happy food. Along with his wife, Ben runs a butchery and bakery – there’s something for everybody.

Enjoy this podcast while munching your way through the 20s of your calendar. You can always get a new one and they’re probably reduced too.

Getting to the root of good beer

Lotte Peplow joins us from the Brewing Association and Andrew Diprose talks us through RootWave

It’s party season...as offices start spilling merrily (in more than once sense of the word) into the pubs and clubs, it also marks the point where there’s no turning back on the dieting front. You won’t be this skinny again until at least the end of January when that ‘new year, new me’ regime starts to take shape. 

We fully endorse the idea of listening to this podcast with a large glass, tab or bag of something rather yummy. Neither Sue, Ollie nor Holly need to be told twice.

To be fair, our first featured product is something that you definitely cannot consume. It’s actually an amazing bit of kit, and a perfect wildcard to kick off this week’s FoodTalk podcast.

Andrew Diprose is the CEO of the fantastic RootWave. It’s the leading solution to organically kill weeds without using chemicals; obviously a fantastic tool for farmers and gardeners alike. We could tell you more techy stuff, but you can check out their video to get a proper feel for it all.

Our second guest brings us something that is very easy to drink down…beer. We’ve met lots of UK beer companies in the past, but this time we’re learning about the state of beer from over the pond.

Lotte Peplow came to us to explain the role of the Brewers Association in the USA and how they help small and independent craft brewers at a time where the beer boom shows no sign of slowing. Bottoms up!

Jubelation & fighting allergies

This week we welcome Jesse Wilson of Jubel Beers and Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, an expert in sensitive eating

The last seven days have been completely dominated by Brexit…cabinet this, no-deal that. One imagines that being an MP at Westminster has probably never been more exciting, even if the rest of us are sick of hearing about it.

One of the rumours to come out of the whole saga is that we, the UK, could have a bit of a food crisis on our hands. Whichever side of the fence you sit though, you can only admire some of the homegrown delights that there are to enjoy. So, you know what, stuff your Brexit for one hour. We want to talk UK food. 

Sue Nelson, Ollie Lloyd and Holly Shackleton don’t need to be told twice. Our three-strong presenting team were delighted to get chatting with our two guests this week.

Our first guest is somebody who has her finger on the pulse in the world of food and food sensitivity in particular. Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, on the back of a dairy allergy diagnosis in the family, has written countless books and created 1000s of recipes for people with allergies. Most of her great work can be seen in her own online magazines, such as Foods Matter. Michelle also created the FreeFrom Awards.

Our other guest has enjoyed less time in the business but has had an amazing start and is already being stocked in the supermarkets. Jesse Wilson explained how he and his co-founder were sick of drinking the same old lagers on the market, so decided to take matters into their own hands

As a result, Jubel Beer was created. The brief…not to be like everything else on the market. Well they’ve certainly cracked that. Their two brews, Urban and Alpine, are brewed with elderflower and peach respectively – they taste amazing.

Crack open a cold one (or two) and forget about bloody Brexit!

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Dipna Anand from Dip In Brilliant joins us alongside Charlotte Downs of More Than Carrots 

Urgh, it’s unavoidable…Christmas. Decorations are in the stores, adverts are on the television and, if you scroll through your social media feed, you’ll see plenty of crazy people who have already done their shopping. People…it’s mid-November. 

Make the right decision.

That’s right, rather than spending your most recent payslip on presents for others, we’re advocating that you spend it on yourself and, specifically, on plenty of great food and drink. Thankfully this episode gives you some pointers.

This particular recording took place at the end of a busy day in the bustling capital. Therefore, it was a complete result that our guest, Dipna Anand, bought us some incredible treats from her restaurant, Dip In Brilliant.

Dipna is an award-winning chef who has graced our tv screens, so there are few better to talk us through some Punjabi cuisine. Just listening to this one will have you salivating.

While statistically the most-ordered curry in the UK is a Chicken Korma, there are plenty of amazing curries suitable for vegetarians up and down the country – it sets the scene nicely for our next guest.

Charlotte Downs was on-hand to introduce us to More Than Carrots. This platform has been created for pretty much anybody who is keen to cut down on meat consumption, be it through flexitarian(ism), vegetarianism or veganism. It allows users to easily scan through a whole host of popular local restaurants to see what the non-meat offering is like; whether you’ll have one mushroom risotto choice or a whole dedicated menu. Very handy indeed.

Now…back to the Christmas shopping.

 

Pressing play on juicy foodie chat

Steve Kearns from Cawston Press pays us a visit and we also chat with Kevin Srithevan, founder of Früt

There have been plenty of fireworks whizzing and popping around this week, and although Guy Fawkes night has passed, this podcast will have you doing cartwheels.

That’s right…it may now be dark when you leave the office in the evening but we still strive to lighten your lives with a bit of FoodTalk.

This week we’ve got a brand that you should all be quite familiar with. With the numbers of people who drink alcohol dropping, there is plenty of room for growth in the soft drinks industry. Cawston Press are definitely taking advantage.

Steve Kearns came to our studio to explain how the brand have managed to rise above their many competitors to install themselves as a regular fixture in our fridges and cupboards with their sparkling juices.

Also on the show this week is a company looking to help you this winter. As already discussed, it’s dark when you leave the office and it’s barely bright when you wake up in the mornings. The last thing you want to be doing in the evening is heading to a supermarket. 

Online grocery shopping is undergoing a huge boom at the moment and we heard from Kevin Srithevan, who is winning plaudits with his Früt company. Keep your eyes on these guys...delivering to a doorstep near you soon.

Giving food waste the cold shoulder

In a food waste special, Michael Minch-Dixon joins us from Snact and Miles Hawley explains the role of Precipice Design

Ollie is upset…he thinks people are lying to him.

We’ve all heard the shocking stat that 1/3 of all food produced for human consumption is thrown away but, ever the one to jump into the mind of foodies, Ollie’s Great British Chefs research shows that we aren’t all sticking our hands up and admitting responsibility.

Whether you are honest or not, there’s no denying that food waste is a massive problem. Our half hour podcast won’t give us enough time to fix it all, but we’re hearing from some companies that are trying their very best.

Michael Minch-Dixon is not a stranger to The FoodTalk Show. We heard about his fruit rescue snack bars back in our early days, he also won a FoodTalk Award earlier this year thanks to his compostable packaging. He’s here to give his thoughts on how the big-boy companies can cut their food waste stats.

Alongside Michael is Precipice Design’s Miles Hawley – the company have also been on with us in the past. Their design consultancy business is pointing them towards lots of fantastic and innovation companies who are designing systems to keep the waste down.

A brilliant breakfast bonanza

Breakfast heavyweights this week; we meet Liz Baker of Wilkins & Sons and Scott Davies from Hilltop Honey

As producers of this show, we often take pleasure in arranging our recording days so that our presenters are drinking some sort of strong alcohol early in the morning.

Maybe we’ve turned a new leaf now though, because we arranged a session which was quite breakfast themed…and this was recorded on a sunny London morning. Go us! 

It was good timing for Holly Shackleton, who joined for the first time as guest presenter. The Editor of the Speciality Magazine came to us on an empty stomach…shame on her.

You don’t need much introduction to our guests…Tiptree and Hilltop Honey are two brands which have cracked the supermarkets in UK and both are favourites of ours when it comes to a breakfast spread.

We were delighted to chat to Liz Baker from Wilkins & Sons – makers of the Tiptree brand. They know what they’re doing; they’ve been going since 1885, have survived two World Wars, a hurricane, and have even had a visit from The Queen. Like your jams and preserves…these guys are for you.

Next up, there was a buzz around the studio…who can guess what we were talking about? That’s right honey, we bee talking honey.

We had Scott Davies of Hilltop Honey come to the studio to explain how he turned from ‘normal’ jobs to be a beekeeper and the maker of some amazing honey products. We learned the difference between normal products and ‘Manuka Honey’ but there was one taster which had Sue running for the water…

Special deliveries

Santiago Navarro introduces us to the fantastic Garçon Wines

Special deliveries are the theme of our podcast this week.

One impending special delivery hit the headlines this week. You might have successfully avoided the Royal Wedding volume two (sequels are always rubbish – sorry Prince Andrew), but it wasn’t safe to pop your head above the parapet. Royal baby coverage is even harder to avoid.

That’s right, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been…busy…creating a new entry into the royal succession line. Cue seven months of incessant news bulletins and magazine inches. Listeners, please pass us the wine. 

In fact, why don’t you send us the wine? We love new innovations in the food & drink industry and creating a wine bottle that can fit through a letterbox is right up our street.

Founder, Santiago Navarro, is the inventor of full-size, flat wine bottles; innovative, slimline designs in 100% recycled PET. Remember the name of Garçon Wines – we absolutely love this idea.

Needless to say, Ollie and Sue were quite taken with this one. Ollie even bought some dodgy looking spirit in the studio to celebrate…we won’t be putting that in Santiago’s bottles anytime soon.

This week’s podcast is also available on YouTube – so check out the bottle for yourself by clicking here.

 

Takeaway Expo special

Catch all of our favourite interviews from the Takeaway Expo 2018 

Did somebody say Takeaway?

It’s only Thursday, but we’ve got the menu out one day early and we’re ready to enjoy a tasty special podcast from the Takeaway Expo.

With Ollie Lloyd busy (probably dining at London’s fanciest establishments as per usual), Sue Nelson took a trip to London’s Excel Arena to hear from some of the most interesting companies who are advancing the world of food.

Over the course of the next half hour, we can promise plenty of variety, a world’s first, something to make you wish it was still summer and something else that might just put you off food for the rest of your life (we’ll let you find out more by pressing play, but be thankful that smells don’t transfer through computers.)

We’ll drag Ollie away from his fine dining adventures to make sure that we are back to the usual format next week.

 

Thirsty Thursdays!

Oliver Bolton runs us through the brands that his Waterbomb company produce

It’s dark by dinnertime, it’s dark when the alarm goes off, Halloween seems more pointless every year and, yep, Christmas bits are popping up everywhere. Hunker down guys, we’re in for a long winter. We’ve been spoilt by summer which makes it so much more difficult.

Surely there’s a last hurrah though – we’re ready to push for it with some summery drinks.

Poor Sue though, she reckoned herself to be a rose between two thrones for this episode or, more accurately, a Sue between two Olivers. Please sir, we don’t want any more. 

Why so much Oliver though? Joining our presenter and GB Chefs CEO Ollie Lloyd was this week’s guest and drinks entrepreneur, Olly Bolton. His company, Waterbomb, are quenching the thirst of health conscious soft drinkers across the country with their products.

Their flagship brand, WhatAMelon Water, is sweeping the country and already has listings in M&S, Co-op, Sainsburys, Ocado, Waitrose and others. Not just keen to conquer the watermelon world though, they are also pushing Drink Fact – an all-natural, zero sugar sparkling water, and we were privileged to be given a taste test.

 

Seaweed & spice

Dr Seaweed talks us through Weed & Wonderful while Trusha Patel discuss The Spice Sanctuary

It all started with a story… the first few minutes of this podcast could easily be mistaken for an audiobook but, trust us, Sue’s true story about the French Soldiers in the Isle of Wight refusing to fight unless they’d had their garlic is relevant. Anyway, if the Brexit stories are to be believed, war and food could soon become commonplace!

Sue’s story is a pre-curser to our conversation with Dr Seaweed (seriously, he has a PhD in Marine Biology)… Dr Seaweed also goes by the name of Craig Rose. He’s come to the studio to tell us about his Weed & Wonderful brand. Their goal? They want to bring premium Scottish Seaweed to plates across the country. 

You’re probably thinking about crispy seaweed that you get from a Chinese takeaway at this point, but this is different (and better). While we aren’t ready to stomach a full plate of seaweed just yet, Craig explains how their healthy seaweed oil and capsules are gaining popularity in this country. Most importantly, it passes Sue’s taste test. 

From oil to spices (this is a bit of a pantry special) – did you know that there used to be wars over spices? Now the average foodie has up to 40 in their cupboard alone. Alas, we were delighted to finally chat to Trusha Patel. We first came across Spice Sanctuary over a year ago for our inaugural FoodTalk Awards – their spicy milk blends were certainly a new sensation for our palate, but certainly something that we think will take off. 

***Video won’t kill the radio star – however, we are delighted to say that this episode is also available on YouTube. Have a nose around the studio and see Sue & Ollie trying some seaweed and spices here.***

Wok a way to live

We welcome James Law from Longflint Drinks & meet Jeremy Pang who discusses his career and The School of Wok.

It’s that super busy time of year for the food industry – the school holidays have ended and the trade exhibitions are coming thick and fast. We wouldn’t have it any other way though. 

After spending the last fortnight enjoying the action from the Speciality & Fine Food Fair, we are back in the comfort of our London studio and revert to our usual format and, oh what a shame, we’ve got some booze for Sue and Ollie to enjoy. We recorded this one on a rainy morning too…work calls.

To get Sue and Ollie off to a bit of a flier we welcomed one of our FoodTalk Awards winners. Now, full disclosure, we’d committed the crime of having never heard of Longflint Drinks before we did the awards but gosh we know them now (now you see why we do the awards) – they are creating the most amazing craft spirits and their Hibiscus & Gin Tonic won our Gold Award. James Law talks us through the story of how he went from beer to spirits… oh and he bought us lots of drinks to try. We like James. 

We probably should have lined our stomachs beforehand, but we did what our parents told us not to do and had food after alcohol. It was pretty damn good food though. 

You might have seen Jeremy Pang on your television screens as the Asian cooking expert on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch show, but we had him in our radio studio to give his full thoughts on the state of Asian cooking in the UK and told us how he managed to grow his School of Wok. 

Speciality & Fine Food 2018 (part two)

On the menu this week is Natural Umber, The Wasabi Company, Fierce Botanics and Noveltea

All good things must come to an end eventually, and it’s time for us to finish our coverage of the Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2018. As ever, we had a fantastic time perusing the 500+ stands & exhibitors, each with a story to tell and, more often than not, something tasty to get down our necks.

The silver lining? It means we’ve got the second instalment of our special podcast to give to you.

Wasabi, tea, tonic and vinegar…not usually a foursome to try in the space of half hour, but that’s what we’ve got.

Natural Umber have won awards for their cider vinegar, so we find out what the fuss is all about. The Wasabi Company then show us exactly what real wasabi tastes like. We needed some tonic to temper the heat of wasabi, and Fierce Botanicals were on hand to refresh our palates. Finally, Noveltea showed us exactly why they are novel tea.

We hope you enjoy this episode, but don’t forget our normal format returns next week where Ollie from Great British Chefs joins Sue to sample the latest in UK food innovation.

 

Speciality & Fine Food 2018 (part one)

On our first Speciality Show special we meet La Tua Pasta, O'Donnell Moonshine, La Mare Wine Estate, Dadima's and Fentimans.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…no, don’t worry, we aren’t joining the ridiculous Christmas hype like some of the supermarkets just yet. In fact, the Speciality & Fine Food Fair is the best date to watch out for in our diaries.

We undertook our annual pilgrimage to Olympia, hoping to meet some weird & wonderful foodie producers for the first time. We weren’t disappointed, we never are.

There’s a bit of an unintentional worldwide angle to the first of our special podcasts from the event. Italian, America, India, the Channel Islands (and England too) – we’ve got a flavour of everywhere.

We start by doing some serious carb-loading with the great guys of La Tua Pasta. We then take a journey back in time and, great scot, we’ve landed in prohibition times with O’Donnell Moonshine. Closer to home, Le Mare Estate follow by giving us a taste of Jersey. Before we finish off in the UK with a taste test of the Fentiman’s range, we find out what makes Dadima’s Indian-style cooking quite so special.

Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty more companies to talk to tomorrow in the second of our Speciality Show podcasts. 

Wonders in the waste

We are delighted to welcome Joanna Vierod of Rubies in the Rubble & Karen Cunningham from Generation Juices. 

It’s that time of year again. Nope, we aren’t talking about the nights starting to noticeably draw-in (they are though). Nope, we aren’t talking about the football season being back either. We’re talking about the foodie television show of the year – Great British Bake Off have announced their contestant line-up…

Weeks of soggy bottoms, inedible dough, over-proving and under-baking lie in wait. Of course, none of those issues would ever effect cooking experts like Sue or Ollie. This podcast is also their break from the kitchen though – fantastic guests bring fantastic products straight to the studio. It was no different this week either. 

If you’ve never heard of Rubies in the Rubble, what on earth have you been doing for the last couple of years? Unless you have the blinkers on, you may have noticed that we have a bit of a food waste crisis. We hear a lot of talk, but Rubies are doing a lot of action. It’s tasty action too.

While they’d have a job to save the 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink thrown away each year – they are able to get their hands on plenty of fruit and vegetables and are then able to turn them into the most amazing products. Joanna Vierod came to the studio to discuss the Banana Ketchup which scooped gold at the FoodTalk Awards – but there’s so much more, and we really need to try their Blueberry BBQ sauce too. 

From great food, we then visited some innovation in the drinks world too. The consumption of juices and smoothies are on the rise in this country, it must be because we’re all getting nice and healthy. Karen Cunningham joined us on the microphone to discuss some of the fantastic technology behind the Generation Juice machines which are suppling all different kinds of industries.

***Don’t forget that The FoodTalk Show is now on Spotify. If you’re too busy to listen now – give us a play on that platform later***