Untold: Behind the Scenes in the UK Food & Drink Industry

Live episode recorded from Bread and Jam 2023.  We go behind the scenes with three unbelievable business leaders in the FMCG space.  We speak about:  The key watches of Burnout and how to deal with the symptoms Putting your self worth first   How to deal with a rapidly scaling business on a personal level  Direct feedback as a love language So much more! 

A must attend event for food and drink founders whatever stage of the journey! Use code Untold30 for 30% off tickets.  Bread and Jam is a feast of information. An electric buzz, a room filled with belief and opportunity! Some of the greatest heads in the FMCG startup world all together in festival over 2 days. it really is not to be missed. 

Join me in a captivating conversation with Nick, where he shares the remarkable tale of his entrepreneurial journey with Teo, co-founder. It all started when they met at the White Rabbit Pub in Oxford. Nick worked as a barman, and Teo's exceptional pizza-making skills caught his attention. Together, they saw an untapped market for vegan and free-from versions of Teo's irresistible pizzas. Scaling their idea rapidly, Nick and Teo faced the monumental task of establishing and managing their own factory. Overcoming numerous obstacles, their unwavering commitment and determination drove them forward. Nick reveals the daunting challenge of competing against major brands for shelf space. Their story exemplifies the importance of resilience in navigating the evolving FMCG landscape, while remaining true to your values. Throughout the conversation, Nick discusses the challenges of being a founder and the difficulty of switching off from the demands of running a business. He stresses the benefits of staying deeply connected to the brand, in enabling proactive problem-solving, while acknowledging the toll this can take on personal well-being.

Discrimination and determination, confronting inequality in the world of FMCG  Listen to an eye-opening episode of *Untold podcast with the remarkable Segun Akinwoleola, founder of The Gym Kitchen. Segun's story shed light on the discrimination he's faced as a black entrepreneur, both in meetings with supermarkets and while seeking funding for his business. He emphasised the urgent need for a level playing field in the FMCG industry. Segun's journey is a testament to resilience, determination, and the challenges that black entrepreneurs navigate daily. By sharing his experiences, Segun sparked a crucial dialogue about the inequalities in the entrepreneurial world. He's pushing for change, inclusivity, and equal opportunities for all, regardless of background. You won't want to miss this eye-opening and inspiring episode of the *Untold podcast. Segun's story will inspire you to take action in working towards a more equitable future for all entrepreneurs.

Join us as we delve into the world of wine and entrepreneurship with the incredible Jeremy May, co-founder of Nice Wine. Jeremy shares his invaluable insights on how to overcome obstacles, including the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Discover the power of honesty in effectively communicating with investors during uncertain times. Jeremy also emphasises the importance of embracing feedback as a love language for growth. Find out how this unique approach has played a pivotal role in Nice Wine's success and discover how you can apply it to your own entrepreneurial journey. You won't want to miss Jeremy's discussion on their recent fundraising round. He shares how Nice Wine, as an 80% female-run and 40% female-owned company, actively encouraged women to become their next investors.

This episode of Untold was an extraordinary challenge, as I had the opportunity to interview an exceptional founder who also happens to be a dear friend of mine. David's candidness during our conversation was truly remarkable, as he openly shared how the unwavering determination to keep his business thriving during trying times, was deeply rooted in the profound grief he experienced during his young adult life. I am immensely grateful to David for bringing such raw and genuine emotion to our discussion, making it a truly powerful experience that I know will resonate with others.

Leaving his secure job as an electrician, Adam Lyons pursued his passion for food, setting up a restaurant in York that specialised in mouth-watering vegan fried chicken. His plans were derailed by the pandemic, forcing the closure of his restaurant and placing his staff on furlough. However, Adam saw an opportunity amidst the challenges. Recognising the unwavering demand for his vegan fried chicken, Adam transformed the restaurant into a factory to deliver his creations directly to customers. Partnering with Matthew Glover, they embarked on a journey to build an activist Vegan brand with a mission to make a real impact.  By embracing change, and with the support of his team, Adam's grit and determination enabled him to learn on the job and build a brilliant company in an industry he knew nothing about when he started out.  

Stu, the founder of ManiLife, escaped his accountancy job and moved to Argentina where he discovered his love for peanut butter. He took a leap of faith and started his own peanut butter business, ManiLife, which still uses peanuts sourced from the same estate today! Stu speaks openly about how his drive and passion soon became an overwhelming compulsion, ultimately leading to burn-out. He reflects on the warning signs that we often ignore and how he was able to take time out to reset.  

Carl started Wholegood wholesale from an old disused bakery bootstrapped to 32 million. Carl opens up about his journey, why he stepped down from the CEO role, how the business doubled during covid and how he continues to find it difficult to switch off! 

Meenesh took an idea from a food trolley to being stocked in major retail distribution in the UK. We discuss the Multiple challenges that hit at once, how you actually close a business, dealing with a crippling health diagnosis and the magic of meditation! It's brave, inspiring and I was honoured to have a friend and fellow business owner on Untold. 

You have briefed your agency for a brand new pack design, had the over excited meeting speaking through it with them and then you wait.... Ever wondered what happens next, inside the room with the creatives! Faraz gets straight to it explaining the process from start to finish of packaging design and how to get the best out of agencies! 

James has worked with some of the biggest brands going and has built a social media following of over 565,000 followers. He has his own clothing range in Next, has featured in Men's Health and GQ magazines, all whilst running the fitness app, The PWER. James shares his top tips for working with influencers, the strategy for success and how to build your social media community. He also goes into detail about his mental health journey and how his fitness routine has changed to support his mental health goals.

*Untold live podcast to raise money for Movember! We go behind the scenes with Josh White co-founder of canO water, Harry Corin founder of Corin&Co and Teddie Levenfiche co-founder of Perfect Ted. Incredibly open and honest conversations about times that have had a real effect on their mental health, and unbelievably open chats about how they got through it.  

GLOBALLY WE LOSE A MAN TO SUICIDE EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY. What a horrific stat. LET'S TALK METAL HEALTH. Next week I would love for you to Join The Savourists LTD for our first ever *Untold Podcast live event. Doing our little bit to support Movember whose aim is to tackle head on Mental health and Suicide Prevention, Prostate and testicular cancer. we will be having an open and honest conversation around #mentalhealth and how it fits in to the culture in the workplace. Help us raise money for this wonderful charity! . Teddie Levenfiche - Perfect ted Josh White - CanO water Harry Corin - Corin & Co - mental Health consultancy. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lets-talk-about-mental-health-tickets-452713958637 Game on! All ticket sales go to Movember.

Lottie Unwin founder of The Copy Club... Traditional FMCG marketing doesn't work for startups.  A great episode where we hear from Lottie on all sorts of topics but the headline and key learning is that traditional FMCG marketing is very different to what is needed in the startup world. 

Buying Director Planet Organic to Partner at Wonderland Ventures. Al has had a wonderful career in the health, wellbeing and sustainability space. 19 years at planet organic working his way to buying director. He has now set up Wonderland Ventures  - A growth and change consultancy for businesses whose brands operate in the health, wellbeing and sustainability spaces. A fascinating episode that touches on: Trends, how to contact a buyer, the steps to getting a product on shelf and so much more! 

George Kruis has played 185 games for Saracens rugby team, won 45 England caps and is a British and Irish lion. An unbelievable career took him to Japan where alongside playing rugby he co-founded FourFive - Premium quality, independently tested CBD & Vitamin supplements. A wicked episode where George opens up about his experience playing rugby, retiring from rugby and running a business alongside.  use code Pod20 for 20% off fourfive products direct from their website. 

Sara speaks openly about the experience of setting up her fantastic business Healthy Nibbles. The importance of setting Non Negotiable Values from the off - experience that was learnt the hard way.  From toxic employees, to the phenomenal growth they have seen and everything in-between! 

Jack opens up and speaks about the incredible growth Dash have seen over the last 5 years. Taking the business to 16 Million in retail sales over 5 years is remarkable growth. Jack opens up about the challenges of leading a high growth business on a personal level. Of course we couldn't not talk about the recent above the line campaign, Mr Nobergine taking a leading role in aiding the brand to go viral! Some tangible takeaways as always. 

This week, we have a very exciting guest in Sam Akinluyi. Amongst being the UK&I MD for Innocent drinks, an advisor to Young Foodies and a veteran of the FMCG industry, Sam is a founding partner of the non-profit Psalt. Psalt works within retail to increase the uptake of talent from different backgrounds and under-represented communities. Sam shared anecdotes from the Add Psalt incubator programme which he's co-founded for black-owned brands, and hearing his perspective of how any size business can genuinely embrace diversity was fantastic to learn from. We can't wait for you to hear the hope and ambitions he has for the future - so go on, give it a listen and let us know what you think!

Berczy Hard Seltzer Founders Nick Graham and Nick Johnson speak openly about navigating through Co-Founder troubles, building a new category and their imminent launch in to America. 

Dr Will, from Dr Wills speaks to us about how they landed some incredible distribution, had an investor lined up to complete their full round in one go, the investor then goes silent!.... A Tesco launch without the resources to support! How the team changed this around to have one of the most successful crowd funding campaigns going! As always we uncover the tough times and the effect on founder mental Health! 

In true Untold fashion we dive in to the Untold story of appearing on Dragons Den. We chat to Harry about his experience from setting up The Savourists to appearing BBC1 Dragons Den. The Low Times, the high times and the lessons learned along the way!

Great to welcome Kitty to Untold as the new Co-Host. Sad to see Mariana move on to focus her efforts elsewhere but excited to be back to it with Kitty. Preview to Harry's Experience on the Den too! 

In this episode we chat with Helena Hills from TrueStart Coffee about taking the difficult decision to redo a much loved product and rebrand completely. Helena talks openly about the emotional side of making difficult but necessary decisions.  Helena Hills is the co-founder of TrueStart Coffee, an ethical family business that exists to spread massive positive energy and make you feel amazing! They make clean, healthy, vibrant, award-winningly tasty coffee that doesn't compromise on people or the planet. Helena and her husband and co-founder Simon have two little boys and live in Bristol, where TrueStart was born too. 

In this episode we chat with Joe Taylor, Co-Founder of Real Handful. Joe tells the dramatic story of a product recall that happened in while launching into  a major supermarket. He talks openly about how he managed to pull  through the episode and what he learned about looking after his mental health in the process.  Joe Taylor is the Co-Founder, with his wife Carly, of Real Handful snacks.  Prior to launching Real Handful in 2016 Joe worked in commercial and category roles at innocent drinks, Kellogg & Heinz.  He lives in South Manchester with Carly and their three boys and loves all things start-up and food & drink related.

In this episode we chat with Olly about the early days of Olly's Olives. Olly tells us how  he almost quit but managed to persist through the grind of knocking on doors, late nights of packing olives and being let down by funders. Olly turned down Medical School in 2017 to launch Olly's Olives and chase the snacking dream! Having built the business up from the West London Market stall, Olly's now is a Global Snacking Brand selling in over 20 countries with a range consisting of award-winning olives, nut mixes and brand new Pretzel Thins!

In this episode we caught up with the Renée Elliott, Founder of Planet Organic. Renée shares the story of how her co-founder tried to remove her from the business she had built culminating in an 11-day battle at the High Court. Renée lives and breathes her holistic approach to health. She shares her tips on how to stay healthy and sane in turbulent times. Renée founded Planet Organic, the first organic supermarket in the UK and now a successful multi-million pound brand. She is a successful author and co-founder of Beluga Bean, a business and life skills academy, and dedicates her time to supporting others live life with values and passion.

In this episode Ed Woolner shares with us the story of POW, an energy drinks company that he founded in 2014 and closed down in 2018. Ed speaks openly about deciding to close the business down after building up wide distribution in the multiples.  Growing up in wales Ed knew from a young age he wanted to live by the sea and never left it moving from Swansea to West Dorset straight after University. After four years at the world's first Fairtrade Organic Tea business Clipper, he developed a passion for fast moving entrepreunerial business; leading to a career of building brands and businesses from the ground up. In 2008 Ed joined Monster Energy and spend 5 years growing the UK and Irish business to over 90m. This journey inspired him to start his own business The Powerful Water company, which launched in 2014 took on the challenge of bringing health to the energy category. After four challenging years, some great distribution and a lot of learning the business was shut down in 2018. With 14 years experience in soft drinks Ed set up an incubator for Nichols PLC in 2019 and launched the purpose driven soft drinks brand Feel Good drinks in 2020 and is on a personal mission to make the world feel better one sip at a time.

We are back for Season 2! Our first guest is Ed Hauck co-founder of the Curators. We chat with Ed about his career in FMCG and the early days of setting up the Curators. Ed opens up about the challenges of getting manufacturing up and running in the early days and the journey of finding the right product. Ed Hauck has had a colourful 20-year career in FMCG spanning household names such as L'Oreal, Levis and Puma. Ed sold his first brand Suso in 2011 and co-founded The Curators in 2017. 

In this episode we catch up with Lucy Wager about her seven year journey with Pudology.  Lucy shares her story about closing down Pudology after building distribution in the multiples all while growing a family.  An experienced product developer turned entrepreneur, Lucy launched a first-to-market plant-based brand, Pudology in 2012 and has more recently become co-founder of free from kids brand Little Bandits.  She also supports start-ups and established Food Brands in the product development process and beyond at her consultancy business Out to Launch Ltd.  

In this episode we chat with Mark Palmer about difficult times during his career in marketing. Mark shares some fascinating insights from his time at Green & Black's during the Cadbury takeover and how he navigated through the transition period.  Mark's career in marketing began at United Biscuits, where he worked on promoting popular snack brands including McCoy's and Hula Hoops. Moving on to Burger King, where he spent four years as marketing manager, Mark moved to Green & Black's in 2001 where his role as Marketing Director took sales from £4m to £40m, and turned the brand from niche organic to premium everyday chocolate.   In 2012, Mark became Marketing Director of Pret A Manger, overseeing the brand's development globally. Pret now has 500 shops worldwide and sales of £900m. In 2016 Pret was voted brand of the year by the UK marketing industry, not least for its pioneering Veggie Pret initiative. In 2017, Mark transitioned to a part time board advisory role at Pret and now combines this role with a range of other activities. He is the co-founder of soft drinks company Cawston Press, co-founder of LA Brewery Kombucha and Chairman of Union Hand Roasted coffee.

John Stapleton needs no introduction in the UK food and beverage industry. He is a founder, mentor and investor who has definitely been there and done that. In this episode we catch up with him about his experiences with Glencoe Foods Inc. John speaks candidly about the decisions leading to closing it down and the life lessons he gained from it. John Stapleton is a founder member of the start-up team that set up and built New Covent Garden Soup Co Ltd. (1987), which pioneered and grew the fresh soup category in the UK. They sold The New Covent Garden Soup Co in 1998 to The Daniels Group (later Hain-Daniels). He then co-founded Glencoe Foods Inc., tasked with bringing the fresh soup concept to the US.  In 2005, John co-founded Little Dish, which supplies healthy, natural and convenient meals and snacks to children over one year old. Little Dish created the chilled toddler food category, developing full UK retailer distribution and became the go-to brand in fresh toddler food and healthy snacks. He exited Little Dish in 2017 to a US-based private equity firm. John now provides business growth advice and mentorship to growing businesses. He actively manages an investor/Non-Executive Director portfolio contributing value-added business growth advice, guidance and mentoring to business owners. 

In this episode we chat with Mike Stevens Co-Founder of Peppersmith about a rough period when he was seriously considering administration. He shares the dramatic story of how he got through this time and managed to build the business back and exit in 2018. Mike started his career working for a US Software company. He was one of the first employees at Innocent where he spent 8 years.  Mike founded Peppersmith in 2009 with a colleague from innocent, Dan Shrimpton. The goal was to shake up the confectionery industry with healthier, more natural, sustainable products. The next 10 years were spent establishing the brand, scaling it in very turbulent times and eventually selling it in 2018. Mike now works as a consultant and has various side projects, including writing a book on DTC brands and building a software tool for cofounders.

In this episode we chat with Fiona Fitzpatrick from Brand Growth Heroes about some very challenging times in her 20+ year CPG career. Fiona speaks very openly about her struggles with eating disorders and how therapy is a fantastic tool for founders and business leaders alike.    Fiona Fitzpatrick is the host of the Brand Growth Heroes Podcast, which uncovers the fascinating stories of game changing scale up brands. Her day job is being a strategy consultant for CPG businesses that are scaling up, training, lecturing and mentoring founders. Fiona has spent 20+years working for blue-chip CPG & global consulting firms including Gu, Nestle UK and Chobani. 

In this episode we catch up with Hugh Duffie, co-founder of Sandows, UK pioneer of cold brew coffee. Hugh speaks candidly about the experience of closing the business down in 2020.  A barista by training, Hugh co-founded Sandows in 2014. Since deciding to close Sandows in 2020, Hugh has been working as a consultant focusing on strategy, positioning, E-Commerce and digital marketing for fledgling DTC brands. 

In this episode we catch up with Andy Allen, partner at Biff's Kitchen. Andy opens up about how he navigated through the complex emotions of transitioning from one start up to the next. Andy is a self confessed ‘F&B start up geek', who's currently involved with a number of brands. His day job is as commercial director and partner of Biff's kitchen, which is the UK's leading plant based delivery brand. He's also an NED/Advisor/Investor in brands including OGGS, Olly's, Willicroft and Stroodles.  Prior to a personal pivot into a plant based focus, he was co-founder and CMO at Snaffling Pig, where he won the Virgin Foodpreneur award and had a successful trip to the Dragons' Den. Pre being bitten by the F&B bug he founded and ran an advertising business. 

In this episode we catch up with Jason Gibb Co-Founder of the must attend Bread & Jam events. He bravely opens up about his experiences of setting up multiple food businesses and partnerships.  Jason is an experienced food and drink entrepreneur with a colourful career path – he has been a successful TV producer, a book author, a PhD-qualified biochemist and an olive oil producer. His career in food started when he threw in a 10 year career as a Hollywood TV producer and bought an abandoned olive grove in Le Marche, Italy. He created an olive oil brand called Nudo which was sold around the world and in British stores such as Selfridges, Harrods, John Lewis and Waitrose. After 10 fruitful years Jason successfully exited from the olive oil business and co-founded Bread & Jam, the UK's first food founders' festival. This annual conference is a one-stop shop for any food or drink FMCG business looking for start, scale or expand. He also created the FoodHub Forum on Facebook, which is a lively community of over 10,000 food and drink entrepreneurs and is most recently focused on launching Unruly, a plant-based business with that uses his experience of following a plant-based diet for over 40 years. He has lined up some ground-breaking NPD in the pipeline for 2021.

In this episode we chat with legendary entrepreneur and investor Giles Brook. Giles shares his stories about leaving Vita Coco and selling Bear. Giles also talks about how he actively encourages founders to manage their mental health. His recent investment in Bio&Me also raises the hot topic of the link between mental health and gut health. Giles Brook is a renowned serial start up CEO, entrepreneur & investor and has been a leading factor behind the success of flag ship challenger brands such as innocent, BEAR, Vita Coco & Pip & Nut.  Giles has just relinquished his role as CEO of Vita Coco EMEA which he launched in Europe over a decade ago and has built to £60m in retail sales across the EMEA region. The leading coconut water brand tells one of the biggest global success stories in non-alcoholic drinks over the last decade. Giles remains an advisor to the founders and main board.

In this episode we catch up with Thea Alexander, co-founder of Young Foodies about helping the Young Foodies community navigate through 2020.  Thea started her career in banking and went on to Proper where she worked as a Director of Operations. Thea co-founded Young Foodies in 2017 to support high growth challenger brands with training, advice and community. The Young Foodies community includes more than 1000 high growth challenger brands today.

In this episode we chat with Dan Broughton from Dalston's Soda Co about navigating some of the trickiest periods of his career in the food & beverage industry. Dan started his career at PJ Smoothies and went on to Green & Blacks, Cadburys and Cawston Press before we he co-founded Dalston's Soda Co in 2016.

In this episode we chat with Anthony Fletcher about how he managed the aftermath of a dramatic overnight change in cost structure that put their whole business model in question. Anthony Fletcher is an experienced leader with an impressive career at Graze.com the UK's number one healthy snack brand. Over the past ten years Anthony was responsible for taking the business to the US, achieving a $32m run rate in the first year, launching the brand into retail securing distribution in over 40,000 stores, as well as leading the sale of the business first to private equity group Carlyle in 2012 and then to leading global consumer group Unilever in 2019.

Say hello to Untold. The brand new podcast where we go behind the scenes in the food and drink industry to discuss the stories that are not normally told. Join us for stories about sleepless nights, fallouts- all the craziness that goes on when no one is watching. We started this podcast at this unprecedented time because we wanted to shed a light on founders' mental health. Never more than now has there been a need to share and encourage others to do the same.  Join us for a weekly episode on Fridays when we uncover untold stories from brave founders and business leaders. Launching on January 22nd.