Ever devoured a Gourmet Burger Kitchen burger? Or demolished a Crosstown Doughnut? Both are tremendous at every bite and put a smile on my face. That's why I was thrilled to interview @Adam Wills, co-founder of Crosstown Doughnuts and GBK. In 1997, Adam landed in the UK from New Zealand. On this wet little island, he pioneered the Casual Dining movement that we all love. Much like All Blacks rugby, our conversation ducks and weaves and glides deep into Kiwi culture. We surface with Gourmet Learn...
Jun 04, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 23
How Challenger Food and Drink Brands can scale from £0-£1 million sales - Mark Palmer, co-founder Cawston Press, L.A. Kombucha, ex-Marketing Director Green & Blacks “The SINGLE HARDEST challenge for food and drink brands is going from £0 to £1 million sales” Mark Palmer told me on our first podcast, several months ago. I scribbled down the sentence on my coffee-laden notepad with “Round 2” next to it. A carousel of questions percolated my mind over the past few months. Last week, I was fortu...
Jun 02, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 22
5 Crucial Lessons From Silicon Valley for Challenger Food and Drink Brands - Chris Dee, ex-CEO Booths, ex-Director of Food, Harrods. Imagine ripping up the Challenger brand playbook? Starting completely from scratch. Well, that’s what happened last week. I interviewed Chris Dee. Chris has a plentitude of retail experience; ex-CEO Booths and Director of Food, Harrods. Now Chris is voraciously slurping up Silicon Valley wisdom to fuel his tech venture: Malt Release Radar. F&B and Silicon Valle...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 21
“It was a frightening, exhausting experience – and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.” Her co-founder tried to kick her out of the business after 2 years of trading, resulting in 14 months of litigation and a 10-day court case. Recording this podcast was INTENSE. My stomach was in knots, sweat gushed down my brow, palms felt like they’d been dunked in Vaseline. When we stopped recording. All worry and concern relinquished, equanimity permeated my body. A feeling clung, a feeling that I could achieve ...
May 09, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 18
Against all odds, Sherpa Tenzing was one of the first men to climb Everest. Entrepreneurship and Everest are parallels. The climb Camaraderie Anguish Pain Joy Triumph It’s what makes the pursuit of the summit so palpably addictive. I was pumped to interview Huib Van Bockel the other week. Our conversation adventured and explored "How Food and Drink founders can summit their own Everest”. Tenzing is icy air, fresh snow, hot sun in a can - it Zings through your body, immediately feeling Ten/Ten. O...
Apr 26, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 17
Slumped on the sofa, scrolling-drooling, eyes bright white like fog lights. My inner glutton screams “FEED ME PAPPI, FEED ME PAPPI” Dish after dish - stupendously delish. A river of scrumptiousness flowing from the screen. Blonde-white creamy carbonaras, zingy-bountiful technicolor salads, down-and-dirty kebabs. J’ADOREEE Mob Kitchen, their content is 50 Shades of Banging. When Ben agreed to the podcast, the goal was to lift the bonnet of the MOB Machine and see how they’ve built a juggernaut th...
Apr 19, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 16
Why lie to ourselves? Food and Drink is completely dominated by males. When Lucy Wright agreed to the pod to explore female leadership in challenger Food and Drink I was filled with gratitude. Lucy is the co-founder of NICE, the UK’s first canned wine brand. Along with her co-founder Jeremy, NICE stampeded on a stale-crusty category and Made Wine Fun Again. ON TODAY’S MENU: 1. Top advice for female founders who may feel vulnerable in an industry dominated by males. LEAN IN. 2. Why founders must ...
Apr 07, 2021•47 min•Ep. 15
“What's the SINGLE best lesson you’ve learned from putting on 100’s of Bread & Jam events, seminars and workshops?” When Jason Gibb agreed to the HUNGRY. podcast this question incessantly percolated my mind. Why? Jason’s had a colossal and irreversibly positive impact on our industry. -The Food Hub, a community of over 10,000 f&b founders, catalysed the conversation between founders, sharing triumph and strife. -Bread & Jam, the first food and drink founders festival, took strident l...
Mar 24, 2021•54 min•Ep. 14
Gaz-Booth, co-founder of Holy Moly is the latest guest on HUNGRY. He's avocado royalty and the infamous Avoca-Don. Gaz is a hero who oozes Yorkshire charm and work ethic, in equal measure. Our conversation resembles a green, ripe and creamy avocado. Wholesome, fun, good for the soul. ON TODAY’S MENU 1. Why naivety is your greatest strength when starting out. Always ask naive questions. 2. How to create a successful NPD Strategy that *ACTUALLY WORKS* and doesn’t leave you scrambling around like a...
Mar 17, 2021•57 min•Ep. 13
Last week, I sat down the utter legend is Perry Hayden Taylor Perry is the founder of bigfish a marketing and design agency who's built a bevy of juggernaut brands. Gu Puds Charlie Bighams SipSmith Freddies Flowers Our conversation is a smorgasbord of tidbits, each containing scrumptious gems of knowledge to propel your business forward. ON TODAY’S MENU 1. Charlie Bigham's success story and crucial lessons for challenger brands 2. How to build a company culture where everybody LOVES to work (amb...
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 12
This week’s episode of HUNGRY. is with the Food and Drink Marketing Master, Mark Palmer. Mark has a glittering and illustrious career: Ex-Marketing Director: Green & Blacks, Pret A Manger. Co-founder: Cawston Press, L.A. Kombucha. Chairman: UNION Hand-Roasted Coffee. Marketing Manager: Burger King and United Biscuits. His experience provides a deep well of knowledge. I took as many buckets (and lessons) as possible. ON THE MENU: 1. How Green & Blacks Scaled From a £4m “Niche Organic” Bra...
Feb 23, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 11
"Covid changed consumer habits. Speciality is BOOMING. How do we enter the market?" “My brand isn’t a B-Corp yet, but how can we do better as a brand today?” “How do we make our brand REALLY work in speciality?” Asking yourself these questions? I’ve just THE podcast episode for you. Feast your ears on this week's Ep of ManiLife Conversations (soon to be called something else) with Paul Hargreaves, founder of Cotswold Fayre. Paul has over 20 years experience in speciality and is one of the early ...
Feb 03, 2021•50 min•Ep. 10
“But I don’t have a big marketing budget to drive a listing?” “How can I compete with the big corporate brands” “How are we ever going to hit RoS targets” Having this conversation with yourself or team, right now? Keep reading. Last week, got very saucy on the podcast, with my broski Liam White co-founder of Dr. Wills In Lockdown 1, Dr Wills, like so many brands, were ransacked by Covid with food service and hospitality forced shut. 2020 was trudging through treacle. BUT fast forward a year - th...
Jan 20, 2021•30 min•Ep. 9
Before Christmas, I interviewed Chris Dee ex- CEO of Booths and Director of Food at Harrods. At Harrods, Chris launched The Perrier Jouet Champagne Terrace, Harrods Brasserie, Tiffany Blue Box Cafe. But recently he's crossed the chasm to follow his passion: Whisky and is co-founder of MALTDAQ, a secondary buyers/seller’s market for Whisky. This episode was so much fun, I learnt a SHED load - 1. Your Ego stops you leaving your safe job. Be comfortable moving from Secure Master to Insecure Novice....
Jan 05, 2021•50 min•Ep. 8
"But I’m not a big brand with a big budget, where do I start?" “WTF?! - what brand am I even trying to create?" “Ye but, How do I stand out in crowded categories?" Need answers to these questions?? Keep reading — Last week, I interviewed Lottie Unwin, Founder of The Copy Club and Ex-PROPER Head of Marketing. Lottie has the ability to cut through the “marketing jargon" and KEEP. IT. SIMPLE. We talk lots about my good friends over at Dr. Wills who’ve embraced the old school grit and hustle to driv...
Dec 09, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 7
Shutting restaurants and pubs shut off peoples's happiness. Eating out is irrevocably life’s greatest pleasure. Walking through a restaurants doors abruptly melts away stiff-edges of stressful day. Swift service lays the table for an evening of delicious conversation with loyal friends. In a world overcooked with data and technology, a plate of food is the umbilical cord back to the bosom of intuition and creativity. Food never judges, only cuddles. Fold in some Malbec and neighbouring chitter-h...
Nov 17, 2020•37 min•Ep. 6
I had the joy of interviewing Guy Hacking founder of TRIBE . Guy is an absolute MACHINE - he ran 39 Marathons in 39 days in aid of fighting child trafficking and has built a big brand in an unconventional way. I learnt BUCKET LOADS from this interview!! ON THE MENU: 1. Be Authentic + Consistently show up + Lots of time (and failures) = SUCCESS 2. No food and drink startup journey is ever linear - it’s squiggly, left-right, side-to-side, up-down journey. 3. In Running/Business/Life always remembe...
Nov 12, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 5
Last week, I interviewed the fantastic and knowledgeable Zoe Howorth for Episode 4 of ManiLife Conversations. Zoe has 23 years of experience working for World-leading brands at Proctor & Gamble and Coca-Cola. Recently, Zoe's moved to a Non-Ex role at SME brands in different industries: Water Babies, Houston PR and Play Finder. Giving Zoe a very unique and holistic view of what makes Great Brands and successful businesses. My goal with the episode was to unpack Big Brand Lessons that small Ch...
Oct 25, 2020•35 min•Ep. 4
Yesterday, I had a delightful conversation with Olly Hiscocks from OLLYS for We ran slightly over 30 mins - yup, time flies when you’re knee deep in chinwag! ON THE MENU: 1. HOW TO SELL YOUR STORY AS A BRAND, HOW OLLY GOT HIS OLIVES INTO SAINSBURYS 2. HOW TO STAND OUT VS. BIG CORPORATES WITH BIG BUDGETS. 3. HOW TO POLITELY HARRAS/PATIENTLY PERSIST WITH BUYERS - (DON’T SEND: “CAN I HAVE A MEETING EMAILS”) 4. HOW TO USE N.P.D TO STAY RELEVANT - FOCUSING ON CORE VS. PUSHING NEW LINES 5. WHEN IT GOE...
Oct 24, 2020•38 min•Ep. 3
Alastair is the ex Marketing Director of Invesco and FTSE International. Today, he is the founder of Linguabrand, which work with ADIDAS, Cadburys NZ, Johnson & Johnson and Beam Suntory. They use Artificial Intelligence and Psychology to listen intently to consumers, and the brands they could choose from, to: ON THE MENU: 1. Understand WHY consumers pick up brands off supermarket shelves 2. Learn THREE types of language to communicate EFFECTIVELY with consumers. 3. Understand HOW brands must...
Oct 24, 2020•51 min•Ep. 2
A couple of weeks ago, I recommend a book by David Gluckman called "That Sh*t Will Never Sell" It's fantastic. David and I have talked in great depth about all things Food and Drink. We decided to film one of our conversations to help other challenger brands. There’s a lesson in execution here: Did I have any idea what I was doing? Absolutely not. Was the sound quality shoddy? YES. Can I sit still? No. Was I nervous? Yes. Could it be improved? Absolutely. If you've got an idea, execute IMMEDIATE...
Oct 24, 2020•41 min•Ep. 1
