Interviews: Foodservice professionals

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

Interview: All aboard the Vegetarian Express

Soaring demand for vegan and vegetarian foods has been a gift to the foodservice distributor. Now, MD David Webster wants to show customers how they are benefiting the planet by choosing plant-based. Nick Hughes reports. David Webster could be forgiven for exuding a sense of anxiety. It’s 13 March when we speak and the spread…

Interview: Just Eat – reuse and refill models are too costly

Just Eat works with 34,000 restaurants that deliver to 95% of all UK postcodes, serving over 12.7 million customers. The single-use packaging footprint of the operation is considerable. Robin Clark, Just Eat’s business partnerships director, talks to David Burrows about why choosing materials keeps him awake at night and why it’s a struggle to make…

The Leon co-founder and author of the School Food Plan has been tasked with leading the development of England’s first National Food Strategy in 75 years. He talks to Nick Hughes about why the time is right for a rewiring of the food system, and why foodservice has a key role to play. NH: Given…

A universally supported and adopted climate label for food could do great things, but it won’t be easy to set up, says Sarahjane Widdowson of Ricardo Energy & Environment in an interview with Footprint Footprint recently reported on how consumer-facing carbon labels (remember those?) could be set for a comeback. Three in four adults would…

Global drinks sector player embraces social sustainability

As the judging for the inaugural Footprint Drinks Sustainability Awards gets underway, Footprint caught up with Malin Stålnacke, Global Sustainability Manager at Pernod Ricard's Kahlúa to talk about their pledge to source 100% of coffee from sustainable communities by 2022. Footprint: To be public about your objective of sourcing 100% of your coffee from sustainable…

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:…