Over the last ten years, Chef Paul Ainsworth has build a very special business in Cornwall that has expanded far beyond his eponymous Michelin stared restaurant in Padstow. Initially he took over a local restaurant that had been through many incarnations, creating an family Italian called Caffe Rojano. He went on take over a much loved local pub, The Mariners across the other side of the Camel Estuary, that is now regarded as the 3rd best gastro pub in the UK according to Estrella's list. On top of this there is a coctail bar, boutique hotel with 6 rooms and an academy that speaks volumes of his commitment to the local area and nuturing local talent. 

He has now released a cookbook, called For the Love of Food that is firmly rooted in his Michelin starred restaurant without being too fancy or complex. It is all sharing plates and clever takes on dishes that the family will love. His food is deeply rooted in his training with some of the best chefs in the UK but leans towards a relaxed and fun approach to food that he is known for.

Joining Ollie, who he knew back in the day when Great British Chefs was in its infancy, they talk about the changes in the food scene and the importance of backing small food and drink businesses. Both of them believe passionately in getting kids into food early and trade tales of culinary adventures of their kids. 

Edited by Stella Gent

Ollie Lloyd talks to Eoin Keenan, founder of Goodrays, one of the UK's first CBD brands offering drinks. Eoin shares his journey of discovering CBD in university whilst dealing with anxiety and sleep issues. After working on CBD farms in the US and Canada, Eoin returned to the UK to advocate for CBD legalisation. 

He founded Goodrays because he believed there was an opportunity to offer high-quality, accessible CBD products, focusing on beverages as the most mainstream and effective format. He believes passionately about the need to educate both consumers and regulators on the potential benefits of CBD. 

The brand which is positioned around the idea of offering a "deep breath for your brain," takes a very natural approach to the category rather than being explicitly counter-cultural. They offer a very strategic set of products designed to meet the key consumer needs of the day: oils (morning and evening), drinks (throughout the day), and gummies (on the go). They are the only CBD drink in Tesco and are expanding into Europe, working very closely with their retail partners to establish these emerging product forms.

As one of the most talked about ingredients of recent years, Eoin has a unique perspective on the CBD journey of the last 10 years.

Robert Thompson MBE is one of the youngest chefs in the UK to receive a Michelin star and has helped put the Isle of Wight on the culinary map.

At ten, he became interested in food, designing his own restaurant/club as part of a school project. He has worked at several top rated restaurants, from Winteringham Fields to Cliveden, before establishing Thompson's on the Isle of Wight. He was one of the first chefs to work with us at Great British Chefs and cooked a memorable lamb carpaccio at our press launch event and a smoked eel puff in Old Street (London) the day we launched the website. During lockdown, he re-invented his business with a chef-designed food box called You Be Chef, which he continues to run. 

In his chat with Ollie Lloyd, he discusses the changing nature of food on the Isle and how people's expectations have changed due to various factors, such as Instagram, home cooking trends, supermarkets expanding ranges, and the cost of living crisis. Making things work in the hospitality sector is not easy, but Robert is committed to making it work. He is incentivising his team so that they are part owners of the business, is about to launch two new restaurants and remains dedicated to working with a growing list of local suppliers. 

Edited by Jasper Schofield

Jane is in her element this week, talking about the topic closest to her heart . . . beer. She gives Sue a lesson in hops, brewing and tasting along with the experts from Cellar Head and Gadd’s. Want to know the difference between IPA, pale ale, lager and stout? What food pairings work well with beer and the difference between Kentish hops and the American kind? Listen in.

Sue admits that she just adores pigs but has to balance that with her love of charcuterie. Luckily, we have Chloe Wilcock of Oink and Udder who explains how she raises happy pigs in a stress-free environment, to ensure they make the best dried meats, bacon and sausages. Needless to say, after that Jane and Sue go on a marathon charcuterie tasting session.

Vegan chocolate? Is it a thing? It certainly is. Sue and Jane are bowled over by two producers who’ve been making vegan products for decades, well before ‘plant-based’ went mainstream. Apparently, milk chocolate (and some dark chocolate) contains milk powder which means they’re unsuitable for vegans. Not these delicious bites though.

The studio smells wonderful today – the lovely aroma of freshly ground and brewed coffee being prepared by two experts wafting around the microphones. We are joined by the founders of Garage Coffee and Cold Blow Coffee who share their knowledge and expertise on the subject.

A packed studio today with 3 guests from Kent vineyards. It’s an all female line-up from Terlingham Vineyard, Gusbourne and Wayfarer Wines. Jane explains how you should open a bottle of fizz and what glass you should use for serving – flutes are out apparently. Meanwhile Sue is very unkind about French champagne.

Sue and Jane rediscover the joys of milk. Proper milk that's been pasteurised and not homogenised like the supermarket stuff. It’s a revelation taking them both back to their childhood when doorstep deliveries in glass bottles was the norm and you got to drink a small bottle of free milk a day at school.

Talking cider with Julian Barnes and Jane Peyton. We’re back and we’re feeling good! The first all new FoodTalk Show kicks off with Sue Nelson as usual and her co-presenter Jane Peyton, one of the UK’s leading experts on beer and cider.

Have a listen again to our podcast from 2019 and marvel at how things have changed!!

Asma Khan, founder of Darjeeling Express, joins us to discuss her story and foodie trends of 2019.

Chocolate? Expiring Turkey trimmings? Cheese? Crisps? What’s filling up the bins outside your property as we head into a brand new year with bleary eyes and a sincere fear of going to work?

Don’t worry, we know that January is a horrible month and we want to make things a bit easier for you. Alas, we have the first FoodTalk podcast of 2019 here which is live and ready to be downloaded.

For this one, we are looking into our crystal ball and trying to gauge what foodie trends will sweep the nation in 2019. There are a few surprising shouts from Ollie Lloyd, our presenter with the crucial Great British Chefs stats, so make sure you note his comments and set an alarm for December to see if they come off.

It’s not that we didn’t value the views of our regular team of Sue, Ollie and Holly, but we did want some fresh perspective on it all too. So to help us we were delighted to welcome Asma Khan into the studio. As well as looking at predicted foodie trends, she told us her incredible story.

Due to feature in Netflix’s ‘Chefs Table’ soon, Asma is earning huge plaudits in the cooking world thanks to her amazing Asian cooking skills. If you’ve ever visited the hugely popular Darjeeling Express in Soho’s Kingly Court, you’ll know what we mean.

There’s so much more to Asma than her cooking though…click play on this episode to see how her roots make this story even more unlikely.

What does 2020 have in store for our two exciting guests? Well none of us would have ever guessed it would have panned out quite how it did! Listen again to our podcast from January this year when life was much simpler.

It’s a brand new year and we’d like to wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2020.

To kick off the year, Ollie and Sue have invited two brilliant guests who are both at exciting stages in their food careers.

Marianne Lumb is a chef who reached the final of BBC’s MasterChef in 2009, going on to open her own London restaurant and also be a finalist in 2018’s Great British Menu series. The Saturday Kitchen Live regular is now considering her next gastronomic adventure and another restaurant could be on the menu, so watch this space…

Once they’ve finished devouring Marianne’s delicious cake, Sue and Ollie welcome Oliver Familoe of Oli’s Nectarous. This company won the Young Producer category at last year’s Future Food Awards with a range of amazing vegan-friendly, plant-based, gluten-free desserts made with natural sugar.

Oliver’s mum was a patisserie chef with Coeliac disease, so the young business graduate spotted a niche in the market for gluten-free, vegan desserts that genuinely tasted amazing.

Finally, the group discuss their foodie trend predictions for 2020. Will they come true or just be pie in the sky?

Listen again to our podcast from September 2019.

Food writing is the topic for this show – which book will be our flavour of the month?

Ollie is absent from the studio this week – off on one of his “hippy jaunts”, as Sue so delicately puts it – but the delightful Holly Shackleton is here and ready to talk all things food. As an added bonus, the pair are joined by an absolutely fabulous guest presenter and friend of the show, Kumud Gandhi.

Not only is Kumud the founder of The Cooking Academy, she’s also a published food author, which is pretty handy given our topic this week. Sue and Holly want to talk about the phenomenon that is food writing, in all its diverse forms.

Both Holly and Sue are, of course, published food writers but they want to hear from renowned foodie, Felicity Cloake, who is vice-president of the Guild of Food Writers. 

In the digital age, it’s never been easier for food bloggers to find an audience, but are they any good? And is it really that hard to write a cookbook?

Well, it turns out that writing your own recipe book is a true labour of love. Felicity should know, as she’s recently written a new book herself. Fortunately, Sue, Holly and Kumud don’t have to just look at the pictures, as Felicity has brought in some divine delicacies from the book for them to try.

Plus the team take a look at a selection of new food books that cover such fascinating regions as the Black Sea and Ethiopia.

Orlando Murrin has one of those careers in food that makes anyone who loves food jealous. He edited BBC goodfood, helped create Olive magazine and has also run highly successful hotel / restaurants in France and Britain.

He has now embarked on another career branch by writing a murder mystery novel about a chef who has an unexpected experience running a cooking school in Belgravia.

Edited by Stella Gent

Listen again to our podcast from June 2019.

This week Sue and Ollie have got guests from both ends of the flavour spectrum: sweet chocolate and savoury noodles. The one thing they have in common is that both producers love to experiment with exotic flavours.

Master chocolatier Paul A Young makes a very welcome return to the show and he’s brought more of his incredible treats for Sue and Ollie to try. Although he’s seriously famous and renowned in the foodie world now, Paul has not been tempted to abandon his artisan roots.

Inspired by the sights, smells and sounds of European patisseries, Paul’s unique and mouth-watering chocolates are still manufactured onsite at his three London shops but no oompa loompas in sight. Sue can’t wait to give her verdict on the buttered toasted hot cross bun flavour… 

Another familiar face returning to the studio is Damian Lee, the man behind Mr Lee’s Noodles. If you thought that noodles in a pot were just the preserve of students, think again. Mr Lee’s Noodles don’t contain the preservatives and ‘nasties’ like MSG and high salt and sugar levels that are found in many rival brands.

Damian talks about the challenges that his company has faced as a disruptor brand in the noodle space and how his noodles are now being served to the entire Australian Defence Force. He could even be about to attain the ultimate achievement of selling noodles to China!

We’re talking meat and fish with two of the best in the food industry. Listen again to our podcast of August last year. 

Robin Moxon of Moxon’s Fishmongers knows pretty much all there is to know about fish and the buying habits of the Great British public. Surprisingly, it seems that Brits are more adventurous with fishy flavours than Sue had realised – you’ll never guess the subject of Great British Chefs’ most popular Instagram post!

This kicks off a conversation about whether it’s difficult to cook fish at home and why people aren’t doing so much of it anymore.

If you like a bit of foodie TV, you’re bound to have seen our second guest at some point. Adam Byatt has appeared on the likes of Saturday Kitchen, Celebrity MasterChef and Great British Menu, but he’s not just a media man. His Clapham restaurant Trinity has one Michelin star and has won countless other awards, so he knows a thing or two about meat.

Sadly, the number of butchers in the UK has declined by 60% in the last 25 years. Yet it seems that in the meat world too, people are keen to break out of their comfort zones and try the weird and wonderful. Adam reveals his approach to getting the best out of food and even gives us some tips on the most underrated British produce – velvet crabs, anyone?

Listen again to our podcast of April 2019 to cheer us up in 2021.

Who ate all the pies? Not Sue, Holly or Ollie, because Calum forgot to bring any with him. The extraordinarily talented pie maestro, who is the Executive Chef at the Holborn Dining Room, breezed into the radio studios to talk all things pastry covered. The star of the short film The Geometry of Pie has opened the Pie Room at Holborn with a new menu dedicated to perfectly crafted pies. Sue just cannot contain her enthusiasm and reckons that steak and kidney pudding is probably the best dish in the whole world ever. Calum's 80,000 followers on instagram might well agree.

Pie could go with sprouts but we're not talking Brussels! Sprouts are seeds that germinate to become young plants after a few days and are extremely nutrient. They're great in salads, soups, pasta sauces, wraps and stir fries and are becoming increasingly popular. How do you use these type of sprouts?  Ratna reveals all.

Listen again to our Boxing Day podcast from last year. 

Only Sue and Ollie have managed to struggle into the studio today, with straining stomachs after the usual Christmas excess.

However, they’re never too full to enjoy some fresh flavours, so they’re delighted to extend a festive welcome to three fascinating guests.

Charlie Holland from Gusbourne Estate in Kent has brought in some of their fantastic sparkling wine to keep the party going, which sparks a conversation about the quality of English wines today. How do our home-produced sparkling wines compare with France’s output?

If you’re looking for less alcoholic alternatives to beer or wine, you’ll be glad to hear about Binary Botanical. Boasting a prosecco-like taste, this lower calorie table beer is gluten and sugar-free and suitable for vegans. Danielle Bekker joins the team to explain more.

For those who are still in the mood for a cocktail, Tipplesworth produce “fun, faff-free” products to make mixology a breeze. Their range of ‘just add spirits’ cocktail mixers are quick and easy to use. Frankie Snobel has brought in a hot cocktail for the team to try, plus she reveals the secret of a great espresso martini with a Canadian twist.

Prepare for an education about the secret life of snails…by listening again to our podcast of December last year.

This week’s show is a very special edition because we’re meeting not one, not two, but three categories winners at the Future Food Awards.

Dorset Snails took the Farm to Fork crown when the judges were wowed by the incredible taste and texture of their produce. The company’s entire farming process also impressed the panel, so Sue, Ollie and Holly want to know more about this innovative firm.

David Walker is on hand to give us an insight into Dorset Snails’ methods and reveals some fascinating snail facts that leave our presenters speechless!

Astonishingly, half of the baby food packaging found in UK supermarkets can’t be easily recycled. Little Freddie stormed the Food Packaging category with their innovative pouches that can be effectively recycled and help to reduce parents’ carbon footprint.

Next, the team try out some vegan honey that’s been made from, wait for it – brown rice. Bee Approved won the Food Innovation category with its delicious honey alternative and the good news is, they’re thinking about launching a beer too!

Listen again to our podcast from February.

Food history and writing are both under the spotlight this week, as two culinary wordsmiths share their very different outlets for gourmet expression. 

Sam Bilton is a freelance food historian, writer and cook who also runs a supper club, Repast, where she showcases her modern interpretations of historical food. If you fancy a blast from the past, you need to get a seat at Sam’s table, but what is her own favourite gastronomic era? Her answer might just surprise you…

Once they’ve finished tucking into yesterday’s delicacies, Sue, Ollie and Holly welcome Zeren Wilson, acclaimed writer of Bitten and Written, which was crowned Best Food Blog at the 2019 Guild of Food Writers Awards.

After a lively discussion about the do’s and don’ts of negative restaurant reviews, Zeren’s experience in wine selling leads the team to explore the role of beverages throughout the ages.

While Sam and Zeren are no strangers to adding colour to their writing, Exberry has been doing that in a more literal sense for over 40 years. By using fruits, vegetables, edible plants and water, Exberry helps food manufacturers to make their products look amazing, the natural way. Paul Collins is here to tell us more about the company’s colourful history.

Non-alcoholic drinks innovation means you can enjoy the party without the hangover. Listen again to our podcast of December last year. 

It’s just two weeks to go until Christmas and Sue, Ollie and Holly are getting into the festive spirit. There’s talk of turkey versus chicken, the best Christmas breakfast and – most controversially – how early is too early to break out the alcohol?

Well, with the UK non-alcoholic drinks market on the rise, you might decide not to risk a Boxing Day headache at all. Innovators like today’s guests are working to offer drinks that won’t leave you feeling like you’ve been on Santa’s naughty list, just because you want to bypass the booze.

Ellie Webb is here to add a far-flung flavour to Christmas with Caleno, a tropical non-alcoholic spirit that balances exotic botanicals with citrus and spice.

Beer drinkers are becoming ever more discerning, but do you need to have the alcohol in order to enjoy great taste?

In the studio to contribute to the debate is Chris Hannaway from Infinite Session, a beer lover who wanted the freedom to enjoy both alcoholic and booze-free ales. Chris has brought with him samples of Infinite Session’s IPA, pale ale and pilsner varieties, to see if he can convince the team to down some alcohol-free pints this Christmas.

Re-listen to our podcast of 20 March 2020 - just before COVID-19 struck. 

This show begins with some fond reminiscing as Sue recalls the best meals she’s ever had at London’s Moro restaurant.

Luckily, among today’s guests is Sam Clark, who founded Moro with his wife in 1997 to celebrate the food of the southern Mediterranean. Both Sue and Ollie are huge fans, so they’re delighted to welcome a true food hero to the studio.

They’re joined by another chef with a very different style – Nick Deverell-Smith, whose menu at the Churchill Arms in Chipping Campden reflects its beautiful Cotswolds surroundings.

Nick has brought some fabulous spiced pear Bakewell tart for everyone to try, which goes brilliantly with our third guest’s offering. Coconuts Organic make all-natural ice cream from coconut cream and refined coconut sugar. It’s a vegan-friendly dessert that has an amazing taste and texture to rival traditional brands.

This sparks a fascinating conversation about the evolution of food and the way that vegan sensibilities are – or aren’t – requiring chefs to adapt their menus to keep in step.

Listen to the repeat of our podcast from January 2020. What is the greatest food TV programme ever?

It’s a family affair in the studio today, as the team are joined by Ollie’s sister, Antonia – who just happens to be a BAFTA award-winning producer who has worked on many of the UK’s top food and drink programmes.

She gives us some behind the scenes glimpses of life in foodie television, such as MasterChef: The Professionals and The Great British Menu. Plus, we hear from two other guests who are no strangers to the small screen. Dr Sarah Jarvis MBE is BBC Radio 2’s resident GP and has appeared on numerous TV shows, while Sally Bee is a well-known healthy cook for ITV.

So, what are the greatest TV programmes about food ever made? Opinions vary as Sue, Ollie and Holly share their personal favourites and discuss the heroes and villains of the genre.

Looking to the future of food programming, Sally and Dr Sarah certainly know where they would like the spotlight to rest. As members of the advisory team to Lo Salt – the all-natural alternative that has 66% less sodium than regular salt – Dr Sarah and Sally want to see delicious, healthy food getting more coverage in mainstream cookery shows.

Sally has survived five heart attacks, so she knows about the importance of raising awareness and feels that TV has a huge role to play.

Renowned food journalist Sheila Dillon joins Sue for a very special show. Listen again to the interview from 19 December 2019.

Our host Sue Nelson is beyond excited for this very special, festive edition of The FoodTalk Show. She’s joined by legendary food journalist, Sheila Dillon, who has been presenting BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme for over 20 years.

Once they’ve finished sampling some tasty treats from Sheila’s native Lancashire, the pair get talking about Sheila’s remarkable life in food and the media. After starting out with a very public critique of her college’s unappealing dinners, Sheila’s career was driven by a passion for exploring the food industry and its impact on consumers.

Time spent in Finland and the US was followed by a return to the UK, where Sheila broke down more barriers in her pursuit of gender pay equality. Back in the 1970s, alongside some colleagues, Sheila brought a class action against her employers in publishing – and won.

After two decades on The Food Programme, the multi-award-winning journalist has some interesting thoughts on women’s rights, food trends of the future and a few pet peeves concerning food entertainment! She also shares her experience of using food to benefit her health after being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.

Don’t miss this audience with a real food heroine – then go and have yourself a very Merry Christmas!

Ben Davies is the founder of VYPR, a consumer research business that is designed to metaphorically put the consumer on the shoulder of brand leaders as they optimise their mix or launch new products. 

Ben is a serial entrepreneur and an ex-supermarket buyer who passionately believes that most innovation processes are designed to produce sub-optimal products (and this is backed up data, as 85% of product launches fail after 12 months across Europe). He believes too many run processes that are rigid, take too much time and cost too much money. His platform encourages brand owners to ask lots of little questions, evolve their hypotheses over time and truly understand via A/B testing what is really working. Put another way he wants people to adopt a more agile way of developing products.

He shares with Ollie Lloyd a whole host of examples of categories where most brands are getting things wrong and argues that a new approach can deliver a genuinely more interesting and successful outcome. The truth is that too often brands add too many reasons to believe on their packs, are more focused on what other brands are talking about than what consumers actually need and want. Decisions are made quickly and so brands need to get their messaging at shelf right or products fail. VYPR is a great example of a business that is trying to help brands get things right from the start. 

Edited by Stella Gent

The team go gonzo for the Garden of England in this very special episode. We're playing this podcast again from September last year in support of all Kent food and drink businesses hit by COVID-19.

Sue’s adopted home of Kent is the focus of this week’s show, with two great guests who share her passion for the south east county.

First up is Amanda Cottrell who, alongside many other prestigious titles, is patron of both Visit Kent and Produced in Kent. After 50 years living in the Garden of England, she’s highly knowledgeable about the country’s produce and a true champion of local producers.

Sue decides to test her guests and co-presenters on Kent delicacies – who knows what Kentish rarebit or Canterbury tart is? – before Amanda shares her bounty of incredible cheeses from around the county. Oh, and just wait for her story about driving sheep across London Bridge…

Next we hear from Lee Desai from Dr Legumes, a Folkestone restaurant dedicated to plant-based food. Not only is the eatery part of the amazing foodie renaissance that’s taken the seaside town by storm, Lee also believes that food and education can bring communities together. Well, maybe we’ll go and check out his nettle pesto and pea ballotine, just to be sure!

Listen in to find out whether Suffolk-and-proud Holly has been sold on Kent by the end of the show.

Today we’re talking about gin… and nothing but. Listen again to our podcast of October last year. 

There’s a serious challenge in store for Sue and Ollie this week, as the FoodTalk studio becomes a full-blown gin palace. Will they stay sober until the end of the show? The dynamic duo is made of pretty stern stuff so, fingers crossed!

Not one, but two gin experts have paid FoodTalk a visit, bringing with them tantalising tipples to test anyone’s temperance. Sue has some fun gin facts to share first – did you know that sales of gin have tripled since 2009? – before she and Ollie meet today’s ginspiring guests.

Jack Wareing is the only Englishman in Scottish company Porter’s Gin, which has embraced both the old and the new with its distillation techniques. By both harking back to Victorian preservation methods and exploring the latest thinking in gin production, the firm has produced gins to really tickle the taste buds.

Sue is particularly fond of the intriguing Tropical Old Tom, but steady on Sue, there’s more to come…

The geniuses at Pinkster Gin don’t just create the most delicious pink gin, they also take a ‘nose to tail’ approach to plants. When this sustainable ethos results in alcoholic raspberries, you’ll get no argument from us!

Listen again to our podcast from June last year.

It’s Hari’s last week as guest presenter on the show, so she’s making the most of the goodies our guests are offering up. Black pudding and milkshake make a bit of an odd combination… But hey, why not?

The first mention of black pudding can be found way back in Homer’s Odyssey. The family business of our first guest, Colette Twomey, doesn’t go back quite that far, but Clonakilty Blackpudding Company certainly has an impressive history.

Founded in the 1880s and still family run, the company produces truly delicious black pudding, along with equally tasty sausages. When she fails to get the secret family recipe out of Colette, Sue has a few questions about how a business retains authentic quality when their product becomes Ireland’s favourite black pudding.

With a farming background, Andy Howie knows plenty about sausages, but he’s now a connoisseur of the dairy side. Inspired by the poor quality of drinks on offer at a festival, Andy and his wife Jodie launched Shaken Udder Milkshake. They wanted to create something that was worlds apart from the instant powdered stuff and holy cow, have they succeeded – what’s more, they’ve done it without any investors.

Listen again to our podcast from August last year. Neal’s Yard Dairy has been a Covent Garden fixture and cheese champion for four decades, so it’s very exciting for Sue, Ollie and Holly to welcome Jason Hinds to the studio. He quite naturally knows a thing or two about cheese.

The consuming public’s love affair with British farmhouse cheeses has been flourishing for some years now, so the team are delighted to see that Jason has brought a selection of the company’s UK and Irish-produced stock for sampling.

There follows a masterclass on the various types of cheese available too, so pay attention – who knew that different parts of the same cheese could boast different flavours? Oh, and if you’re using clingfilm to store your cheddar, stop immediately!

Here to offer some insight into Polish cheeses and to talk about his country's native food and vodka is Jan Woroniecki from Kavka Vodka, a Polish distillery that has turned to the production methods that were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. The result is a distinctive, characterful taste, which Sue admits wasn’t quite what she was expecting.

With all the cheese in the studio, this naturally sparks a debate about the best drinks to pair with cheese. You might be surprised to learn that the consensus is – not red wine!

Listen again to our podcast from July last year.

Ollie is wearing a noticeably flowery shirt to the studio this week, which may draw some amused comments from Sue but is also remarkably apt.

One of this week’s brilliant guests is the gloriously named Peverel Manners, from Belvoir Fruit Farms. Their refreshing fruit cordials and presses are supermarket staples today, but it all started in 1984 with the humble elderflower.

Pev tell us how to make the perfect cordial – which is pretty tricky when, like Belvoir, you refuse to add artificial flavourings, colours or preservatives. Sue has made elderflower gin (of course) but not cordial, so this is educational stuff. 

Ever felt guilty about the amount of food waste you throw out of your kitchen? Well, maybe you should, but not quite as guilty as the food sector, which chucks 3.4 million tonnes every year.

Too Good To Go is tackling this huge problem by connecting consumers with restaurants and stores that have unsold food available at the end of the day. People can simply download the app, go and ‘rescue’ the perfectly good, edible food and feel like a waste warrior at the same time. What’s not to like?

Listen again to our podcast from March this year.

The lost arts of home cooking and proper use of salt

Sue has finally returned from her exotic adventures in South Africa, with lots of stories to tell. You’ll need to tune in, if only to hear about the bath on the train…

Our first guest, Rosalind Rathouse, hails from South Africa originally but her mission is not an exotic one. As the founder of Cookery School at Little Portland Street, Rosalind wants to encourage more people to get into the kitchen and get cooking.

Apparently, one in eight people in the UK avoids cooking from scratch, but with the school’s help, they can learn the basics of good home cooking and discover the joy of real food. Oh, and Rosalind has brought in some samples, of course.

Another key basic of cooking is how to use salt, yet it’s something that a surprising number of home cooks don’t really understand. Jess Lea-Wilson, from Halen Môn, is here to shed some light and tell us more about their natural Anglesey sea salt.

Sue and Ollie are delighted to find that Beth-Anne Smith of The Lismore Food Company has also brought some tempting wares, in the form of their amazing sweet and savoury biscuits.

Listen again to our podcast from November last year.

Ultra convenience and almost zero food waste – the food solution that has supermarkets on the run.

After presenting The FoodTalk Show together for about a year, it’s finally occurred to Sue and Ollie that they don’t know much about Holly’s day job. As the editor of respected industry magazine Speciality Food, we know she’s a bit of a food expert, but what does it take to pull a top magazine together?

This leads the team to discuss the delicate balance that must be achieved between editorial integrity and essential advertising revenue. Getting relevant press coverage is always tough for new food and drink companies, so listen in for some useful insights.

Someone who knows about taking on the big boys in a difficult market is Tim Boldt from Gousto, a company that has been offering an alternative to the supermarket for seven years. 

Customers can choose from a huge selection of online recipes, then the ingredients – in the correct amounts – appear on their doorstep, ready to cook. As well as offering high levels of personalisation, this could be the ultimate low-waste business – Gousto boasts an impressive 0.35% waste rate in the supply chain and factory. This may well be the shopping mechanism of the future.

Listen again to our podcast of March last year.

Ollie, Holly and Sue admit that today's taste combinations are not exactly well planned, but they decide to push on ahead anyhow. Watercress and iced coffee are today's topics. While we now have a great coffee culture in the UK, we're still way behind the Scandinavians who are easily the biggest consumers of coffee in the world. It must be all that cold weather.

Jimmy Cregan is mad on iced coffee rather than the hot stuff. He was travelling around Australia trying his best to be a surfing hero, when he discovered the stuff and became obsessed with it. He couldn't find just what he wanted when he came back to the UK though, and so started making his own and selling it in his sisters cafe in Christchurch. Jimmy's Iced Coffee is determined to take on Starbucks and all those high street chain and he's now heading to a turnover of £5 million.

Meanwhile James Harper, the Commercial Manager at The Watercress Company explains how to grow the perfect watercress and why it's so damn good for you. Based in Dorchester in Dorset, they have a team of 300 from seasonal staff to technical specialists. They have even started to grow wasabi, which apparently is pretty tricky in the UK weather - who knew?

Two great British products, but probably not best consumed together.

As food and drink lovers, we couldn’t let Valentine’s Day pass without helping you create some lovely cocktails for a special evening. Whether it’s your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, dog or cat – this episode of the FoodTalk Show is best enjoyed over a candlelit dinner with that special person or thing in your life.

We're incredibly lucky to welcome Paul McFadyen to our studio. Paul is a master of cocktail mixing and a brand ambassador for Maison Ferrand – a producer of fine spirits.

Not only did he tell us a bit about the brand and educate us on alcohol, he also whipped up some amazing cocktails for our gracious presenting team. We know you can’t taste these through the airwaves, but just take our word for it, they're delicious.

Sue got a bit carried away and already feeling merry on the cocktails, was delighted to welcome the amazing Pippa Murray back on to The FoodTalk Show. You can’t have missed her Pip & Nut peanut butters in all of the major supermarkets, and here she tells her amazing story from museum worker to award winning entrepreneur.

Jane Peyton teaches us about the School of Booze and Mardi Roberts raises a glass to Ridgeview Wine Estate. Listen again to our podcast from January 2019.

How are those resolutions going?

Whether it’s eating healthier, exercising more, saving money, or committing to giving to charity – statistically its estimated that 80% of resolutions fail by the time you turn your calendar over to February. So, as we’re nearly at mid-January, we can safely say that around 40% of you have failed already.

A popular resolution for many is to partake in Dry January (just forget any drinks you had during Auld Lang Syne with Jools Holland), so it would be pretty mean of us to feature booze on this episode. Sorry folks, we’re going to be mean and please the 40%.

We’ve got not one, but two companies that specialise in varying types of booze for this episode. Sue, Ollie and Holly didn’t put up too much of a fight when they saw the schedule.

First up, we had the fantastic Jane Peyton with us. As far as drinking buddies go, she is pretty premium. Jane is an alcoholic drinks expert, broadcaster, pub expert, writer, public speaker, and founder of the School of Booze. The school is the education establishment that everybody wishes they spent six (or so) years at. Beer, cider, wine, sherry or champagne tasting sessions – there’s something to satisfy any tipple.

All good things come in pairs. Our other guest also knows more than a thing or two about alcohol production. Mardi Roberts has been with the fantastic Ridgeview Wine Estate for almost 20 years.

Ridgeview has been at the forefront of the recent evolution of English sparkling wine production. Based in the South Downs National Park, their wines are exported around the world and served at many prestigious occasions.

Cheers to the 40% - we’ll raise a glass to the 60% who can join us in a few weeks.

Elin Roberts is the CMO and one of the Co-Founders of Better Nature, a tempeh company. She is leading the charge to inspire more people to embrace the world of tempeh and eat a little bit more sustainably.

Tempeh is a weirdly neglected Indonesian product that is made from fermented soybeans. Whilst it is a stable of Indonesian cuisine it hasn't been embraced around the world even though it has a higher content of protein, fibre and vitamins than tofu.

Already stocked in a broad range of retailers, from Tesco to Lidl, they have strong momentum and are focused on helping people understand that meat free products don't have to be highly processed.

Two companies that are striving to tackle the single-use plastics problem.

Coffee capsule machines are big business these days and everyone seems to have one (except Sue). But they are, in the opinion of Lex Thornley from Blue Goose Coffee, the next environmental disaster just waiting to be acknowledged.

Blue Goose coffee capsules are compostable, while still being compatible with many of the popular machines on the market. In addition, their boxes are all sustainable sourced, printed with vegetable ink and assembled with plastic-free glue.

Most importantly, of course, he’s brought along some of his delicious coffee for Sue and Ollie to taste.

Frugalpac are also driving the environmental cause forward with their product, which is the only paper cup that can be recycled as part of the mainstream waste process. George Rumble is here to explain how their unique manufacturing process makes a cup that is easily recycled and to discuss what the future holds for the recycling issue.

Great chocolate and delicious coffee that are gentle on the environment.

Coffee is a big deal in Ollie’s world, so Guy Wilmot from Bird & Wild Coffee is under pressure to impress. Luckily, he’s up to the challenge – Bird & Wild is the UK’s only bird-friendly and shade-gown coffee.

Although coffee naturally grows in the shade, it’s commonly grown in the sun by commercial producers in order to increase yields and speed up the process. This has a negative impact on bird populations, due to the removal of nesting sites and the presence of insecticides and pesticides.

Once Sue and Ollie are amped up on coffee, it’s time to chill out with some amazing treats from Prodigy Snacks. The chocolate is plant-based and vegan-friendly, plus it’s free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar. It’s even plastic-free, thanks to the recyclable packaging.

Prodigy are on a mission to reinvent the classics, so you can enjoy the taste of your favourite chocolate bars while consuming only low levels of natural sugar. Sue thinks they’re out of this world…

We’re hot to trot with this exotic episode.

There’s a spicy atmosphere in the studio this week and for once, it’s got nothing to do with Ollie’s shirts.

Arun Kapil from Green Saffron has brought in an array of fabulous spices, which the company provides in a variety of different blends. They aim to create blends that bring out the best in each element on a plate and treat spice as a flavour ingredient, not just a regional touch.

Jack Galliano of Galliano Dining is well aware of the challenges of keeping the spice in mass catering – how do you feed 600 people and still serve up top quality food? Jack has some interesting insights into feeding the masses, along with his views on the new dining trends to watch.

Inspired by 12 years of doing PR for innovative food brands, Hannah Glasson has launched the new INTUNE range of fruit and botanical drinks to share the benefits of CBD. Having found that CBD helped to boost her concentration at work while undergoing medical treatment, Hannah wanted to share her discovery with the world in a tasty, refreshing way.

Amazing sourdough and gin fuelled by romance – what more could you want?

Ollie has temporarily moved house and he’s now living above an amazing bakery. But there’s no time for Sue and Holly to feel jealous, because there’s some delicious bread right here in the studio.

Lovingly Artisan Bakery has a mission to return bread to the centre of the table. Baker Aidan Monks makes incredible double fermented artisan sourdough from heritage grains that has been a huge hit with discerning shoppers. Of course, he’s brought some along for the team to try, much to Sue’s delight.

We all adore a good love story and there’s a true romance behind the origins of Manchester Gin. You’ll have to tune in to hear Seb Heeley’s tale, but suffice to stay it has resulted in a fabulous brand that started life in his dining room and is inspired by Manchester’s industrial heritage.

What’s your favourite Spanish or South American tipple? Lucy Shaw, editor of The Drinks Business, is here to share her love of these countries’ produce and give her views on the impact of the burgeoning English sparkling wine industry.

We hear about the state of the drinks industry and the new ideas bubbling up.

Sue starts this week’s show with a pop quiz – can our hosts and guests guess at the bestselling spirit brands? Or the most popular lagers, tonic waters and soft drinks? There may be a few surprises in there…

One of today’s guests has some insider knowledge about this topic. Richard Chamberlain from Drink Warehouse has some interesting insights of his own to add, along with a top tip for low and no-alcohol drink producers.

Fran Pearce is no stranger to fun alcoholic products, thanks to her work with Smith and Sinclair. But today she’s here to talk about a new venture, Pollen, which is taking the growing trend for CBD products one step further by exploring the use of CBD in cocktails and gummies.

Finally, Jess Latchford from Waste Knot explains how they’re helping to build relationships between farmers and chefs. When farmers have surplus fruit and vegetables that they can’t sell through their usual channels, Waste Knot can connect them with chefs who are looking to buy great quality produce – thus reducing food waste in a big way.

Tracking down the best dishes in town and shaking up FMCG.

Where can you get the best cheese toastie around? Or the most delicious doughnut? Or the most sensational sushi?

Well, it’s time to share your recommendations because a new app is taking the guess work out of making your next gourmet discovery.

Originally inspired by a hunt for raspberry sorbet, Eaten compiles user reviews of dishes, rather than restaurants. So, if you’re in the mood for a great Sunday lunch and don’t have time to search endless restaurant reviews or websites, Eaten can cut out the middle man and take you straight to the best roast joint in town. Co-founder Jeeho Park is in the studio to tell us more.

The world of fast-moving consumer goods, or FMCG, is a pretty daunting one, but it’s also where more and more food start-ups are making their debut. Young Foodies is a business hub and community that helps start-ups deal with the challenges of getting their products onto retailers’ shelves and scaling up when the big players come calling, as Theadora Alexander explains.

Plant-fuelled passions surge with this week’s trio of innovative products.

This week’s show gets underway with a discussion about alcoholic drinks, including a truly heroic cocktail recommendation from Ollie.

It’s not the most apt start though, as this episode focuses on healthy alternatives that don’t involve alcohol. Rosh Amarasekara from Humble Warrior is here to tell us about her range of plant-based drinks aimed at the health-conscious adult soft drink market.

Using extraordinary plants to create extraordinary flavours – such as reishi and pineapple – Humble Warrior is offering a really different alternative to booze and sweet soft drinks.

Luhv Drinks is taking health beverages to a whole new level and they won the Drink Innovation category at last year’s Future Food Awards.  Through their collaboration with Kings College London, they’ve created drinks that benefit particular parts of the body – currently these focus on the skin, the heart and the mind, with more in the pipeline. Chris Beech joins the team to explain more.

The line-up is completed by another Future Food Awards winner in Seaweed & Co, which triumphed in the Mission Driven category. Dr Craig Rose, aka Doctor Seaweed, tells us why he’s so passionate about seeing this Eastern food staple become as popular in the West. He also reveals the rather surprising reason why he decided to study marine biology…

Charcuterie is on the menu today, along with some visionary chocolate.

So, how are your New Year’s resolutions going? If you’ve fallen off the sugar wagon already, don’t worry – our first guest will make you feel good about giving in to gourmet chocolate.

Edinburgh-based Coco Chocolatier not only allow its visionary chocolatiers free rein to explore amazing flavours, they also work with artists to create fantastic designs for the packaging.

Calum Haggerty is in the studio to tell us more about the brand, which sources ‘origin made’ chocolate from Colombia. This enables more of the product to be created at the source, rather than just the beans, resulting in a fairer and more sustainable trade.

We get to the real meat of the matter with Thomas Whitaker from award-winning Tempus Foods, a charcuterie company founded in 2014. Both Thomas and his co-founder Dhruv Baker are MasterChef finalists, with Dhruv having won the title in 2010. 

He fills Sue and Ollie in on the secrets of the charcuterie world, ways to do it at home and how to avoid the common pitfalls of amateur curing.

Don’t miss this show if you love chocolate, as there’s a special discount available for FoodTalk listeners at Coco Chocolatier – but you’ll have to listen in to get it!

How will AI transform the way you shop and eat in 2020?

Holly has finally given up her globetrotting in order to re-join Sue and Ollie in the studio. Once they’ve checked in on how their New Year’s resolutions are going, they take a look at tomorrow’s world by investigating the hot foodie topic of artificial intelligence (AI).

From self-service supermarket checkouts to the algorithms that push online advertising at us, we interact with AI every day. But how is it being put to good use in the food sector?

Markus Stripf from Spoon Guru explains how his company set out to become the “Google of food”, enabling consumers to search for the products that suit their particular dietary needs.

How often have you visited a restaurant or ordered a takeaway and struggled to understand which dishes are truly right for you? Helping people to eat with convenience, control and transparency is a passion for Nick Popovici of Vita Mojo. The company provides an ultra-personalised menu, allowing customers to control macros, calories and quantities.

What does gut health mean to you? Possibly not very much, so it’s good that Helena Rogers from Troo is on hand to explain why it’s so important to our wellbeing. The vegan-friendly brand has created high-fibre products that contain no potential gut irritants, plus they’re a plastic-free company.

From space age food to hot new talent, we’re looking at the flavours of the future.

There’s a packed studio this week as three fantastic guests drop in to chat with Sue, Ollie and Holly.

First up, we hear from Nourish3d – the cutting-edge company that wowed the Future Food Awards judges enough to be unanimously voted Supreme Champion. Melissa Snover explains the science behind the world’s first truly personalised 3D printing daily nutrition stack, plus she’s brought in a sample that has been specifically tailored for Sue’s needs.

Once Sue has had her vitamin boost, she can’t wait to introduce the next guest. Jason Hirst from Evogro has been impressing some of the country’s top chefs with his plant growing system, which enables the production of perfect, delicious herbs and salad leaves right there in the kitchen. It’s not long before the team are clamouring for an Evogro of their own…

Finally, we get a glimpse of tomorrow’s talent with a visit from Bianca Tia Mesuria, who met some pretty impressive standards in order to win the prestigious Julia Child Scholarship with Le Cordon Bleu training schools. Luckily, the team don’t just have to trust that she’s highly talented – Bianca has brought in a tasty example of her cooking talent to prove it!

Charlie Bigham, the founder of Bigham's, is one of the emerging giants of the food world. He is passionate about creating a food business that demonstrates the real benefits of long term thinking, a thing he believes we are sorely lacking in the UK at present. To understand his philosophy, all you need to do is look at the award-winning architect designed production facility (aka kitchen), in Somerset, that cooks over 50% of their food.

During his chat with Ollie Lloyd on The Food Talk Show he explained how he is focused on improving their core products rather than getting obsessed by the excitement of innovation. He champions the idea of EFD (Existing Food Development) rather than NPD or NFD (New Food Development) as he calls it. He loves to climb into the metaphorical weeds of his supply chain to find the best possible ingredients. He hates fake meats and believes they are doing immeasurable harm, something it is hard to challenge. His approach is different but it is having a major impact and is winning with customers and retailers. A business that more should be looking to emulate.

Edited by Stella Gent

Forget squash – we’re talking classic cordials with a modern twist.

Until fairly recently, cordial has had a bit of an underwhelming reputation. If you associate it with elderly ladies or over-sweet squash drinks, this week’s show has a surprise in store.

Natasha Steele is in the studio to share the story of Urban Cordial, a brand of which Sue is already a big fan. For centuries, cordials were viewed as medicinal concoctions and in some parts of the world, the term refers to a tonic, syrup or low-alcohol beverage.

Not only is Urban Cordial making a big splash in the non-alcoholic market with refreshing flavour combinations – Raspberry and Rosemary is a particular hit in the studio – the company is also committed to sustainable production.

After starting out as a hobbyist, making cordials from the produce of her own allotment, Natasha made the decision to take her idea to market. Concerns about the huge food waste problem, however, prompted her to use surplus fruit in the production of Urban Cordial. To date, the company has saved over 40 tonnes of fruit from going to landfill.

In this week’s show, Ollie gets his first taste of Urban Cordial’s delights and also reveals some rather odd drinking habits that leave Sue and Holly scratching their heads…

Will trying truffles in lots of different forms finally win Ollie over?

The team are busting myths and testing preconceptions all over the place this week, starting with the much-adored truffle.

Perhaps surprisingly for a foodie, Ollie isn’t a big truffle fan and isn’t sure if they’re worth the (often very expensive) price tag. Nigel Whitehouse from Truffle Hunter is in the studio to see if he can tempt Ollie over to the dark – or light – side with a selection of tasty truffle-based treats.

From mayonnaise to cheddar, there is a veritable smorgasbord of delicacies for the team to try. You’ll have to listen to find out whether any of them are successful in winning Ollie’s approval…

If you feel increasingly confused by the wealth of conflicting information about diet and nutrition, Check Your Food could be heaven sent. Designed to make nutritional information accessible and understandable, the website allows you to check out the chemical and biological makeup of foods and make smart choices about your diet.

Matt Wright is here to tell us more and there are a few surprises as he reveals the truth about some of our favourite foods – how will milk, carrots and even the doner kebab line up?

Oriental flavours and American beers are set to blow the team’s socks off.

It’s a full complement in the studio this week, as Holly takes a break from her gastro adventures to rejoin the team. What a great week to return, too – with food and drink that has the potential to split the crowd…

First, we meet the person with probably the best job title in the world: Head of Beer. Andrew Morgan from Beer Hawk Fresh explains just what it means to be head honcho of hops and introduces the team to some exceptional beverages. It’s a mixed reaction to the peanut butter milk stout, which Andrew washes down with a fascinating insight into American hops. Next, we find out which tipple would be his ‘desert island beer’ – we hope you’re taking notes!

Does wasabi go well with beer? Sue, Ollie and Holly are about to find out, as Nick Russell from The Wasabi Company provides an education in what the Oriental staple should really look and taste like. As experienced watercress farmers, the company has great expertise in growing plants in flowing water, so tasting the products turns out to be a bit of a life-changing moment for the team.

Plus, we hear about finger limes, Buddha’s hands and some exciting news for vodka fans.