Interviews: Foodservice professionals

Interviews with the key industry professionals, business leaders, researchers and thinkers in the UK foodservice industries

Interview: Pret’s labelling leader

The high street chain has moved quickly to introduce full ingredient labelling following two allergen-related deaths. Nick Hughes reports. Tom Sugarman is reflecting candidly on how Pret A Manger has accepted the role of standard bearer for the foodservice response to recent allergen tragedies. “We were all devastated by what happened,” says Pret’s UK shops…

Interview: Moira Howie, nutrition and health manager, Waitrose

At the Asset 2018 conference in Belfast last year, Moira Howie suggested that truly personalised nutrition is “within our grasp”. Footprint caught up with her to find out more. Footprint: How is personalised nutrition defined? MH: The tailoring of information and advice that can help individuals optimise their diet according to their specific dietary needs…

The pint-sized drinks business setting the bar high

Ahead of the launch of Footprint’s new drinks section in January, chief executive Stephen Glancey explains why C&C Group remains an industry outsider despite this year’s acquisition spree. By Nick Hughes. One can only assume Stephen Glancey is being modest when he describes C&C Group as a "small, local" business. With net revenue totalling over…

Interview: Prime cuts – why it’s time to rethink our meat habits

The new head of Eating Better wants businesses to back a target to halve meat consumption by 2030. Simon Billing tells Footprint why the ‘less and better’ message is starting to cut through. By Nick Hughes. Nick Hughes: You’ve been with Eating Better for almost six months now. How do you assess the strength of…

Interview: innocent’s CEO Douglas Lamont

The B side: innocent’s CEO Douglas Lamont speaks to Amy Fetzer about beating the market, embracing failure, tackling plastics and not getting too big for their boots AF: You already have a reputation as a responsible business. With budgets tight in foodservice, can continuing to invest in sustainability really help to beat the market? DL:…

Personalised nutrition has plenty of potential for foodservice companies provided they can overcome the privacy concerns, says Barbara Bray. David Burrows (DB): How is personalised nutrition defined? Barbara Bray (BB): The concept of personalised nutrition was first introduced by RJ Williams, an American biochemist (1893-1988), who said: “Individual patients are far from standardised specimens and…

James Whetlor of Cabrito tells Footprint why he believes British goat can be the next big food trend. By Nick Hughes. It was serendipity that led James Whetlor to supply British goat meat to the foodservice sector. Whetlor had worked as a chef in top London restaurants for 12 years when he was offered the…

Champion of the right to food Olivier De Schutter tells Nick Hughes why it’s time to change a system that is failing citizens and the environment. Olivier De Schutter is a man not afraid of a challenge. The lawyer, who has spent much of his career defending the economic and social rights of some of…

On Wednesday the Food Ethics Council will celebrate its 20th anniversary by convening a panel of experts to discuss the future of food. Its executive director Dan Crossley talks to Nick Hughes about how our perception of food ethics has shifted since the scares and scandals of the 1980s and 90s that inspired the Council’s…

Interview: Gary Hunter on sustaining talent

Footprint (F): Gary, firstly how important do you think Sustainability in Education is? Gary Hunter (GH): For us at Westminster Kingsway College, sustainability in education is just as important as teaching our students about knife skills. We have always included a lot of theoretical and gastronomy work alongside our skills development and engage our students…