Meet Your FDReviews ExpertS...
DR Shagufta Ahmed
FDReviewS Expert
Shagufta is our Pesto Specialist, having won the Nationwide Pesto making competition in 2013, at the Italian Embassy, London. Judges included the Italian Ambassador, the late Antonio Carluccio OBE (RIP) and the Italian tourism board.
She then went forward to representing the UK at the Global Pesto Championships in Genoa, Italy in 2014.
Subsequently she became the Founder and Principal Content Creator for the UK Brand, PestoChampion.
Since 2014, Shagufta has been invited to review food and drinks for countless clients including Hotels, Pubs, Restaurants, in the UK and abroad.
Experience:
PhD in Pharmaceutical Formulation and Research
Free-lance Presenter on social media since 2012
Winner Of Pesto Making Competition at The Italian Embassy, London in 2013
Represented the UK at the Global Pesto Championships in Genoa, in 2014
Founder and Principal Content Creator for the UK Brand, PestoChampion
specialist subjects:
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Pescatarian
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Vegetarian
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Halal Food
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Chocolate & Desserts
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Brand Awareness
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Social Media
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Photography & Videography
affiliations
Director Of a Start-Up - Building an App for Blogging in Hospitality
engagements
Principal Presenter for Implausible Blog since 2012
Principal Content Creator for PestoChampion since 2014
Red Carpet Gift of The Year Awards – Judge
Academy Of Chocolate – Judge
Quality Food Awards – Judge
Great Taste Award – Judge
Bellivita Awards – Judge
Dan Barron
FDREVIEWs Expert
Dan’s career in FMCG sales & marketing introduced him to the world of health food in 2003, launching brands in the UK on behalf of overseas brand owners long before plant based foods became mainstream. Persuading the British public to add more green food to their diet led to Dan taking an instrumental role in leading the green smoothie revolution in 2007 through an extensive PR campaign.
In 2016, Dan started his own sales brokerage for healthy and indulgent food brands, Provide & Conquer Limited and through his team has tested and brought to market more than 30 brands and concepts.
Learning from that experience, Dan has founded Lemon Leaf Distribution Limited, which is positioned to launch the Kurt’s Kitchen brand, a proprietatary brand that offers indulgent meal solutions that satisfy the demands of today’s consumer, i.e. organic, vegan and ethically sourced.
Having begun his working life as a seafood chef, Dan has remained interested in all aspects of cooking and exploring food culture around the world.
Experience:
Lemon Leaf Distribution Limited – Founder & CEO
Provide & Conquer Limited – Founder & Managing Director
Dan Barron Consulting Limited
specialist subjects:
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Plant-Based
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Organic
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Independent Stores
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Seafood
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Functional Food
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Food Supplements
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Japanese Food
affiliations
See LinkedIn
Chris Beech
FDREVIEWs Expert
Chris is a drinks pioneer. Early career development with Heineken gave him all the tools necessary to go on and create his own drinks brand. As founder of award winning Luhv drinks, he has created (and more importantly sold) delicious drinks with healthy purpose. As he says, using evidence-based scientific research, he wants to help make understanding our health a simpler task.
The Luhv drinks team worked with King's College London and a team of Biomedical and Dietetic scientists to scientifically understand how natural plant-based ingredients work and how they work with each other. That research was used to create a range of drinks that focus on different areas of the body and also to explain the natural ingredients and their functions on the back of the bottle.
Experience:
The Pressery Group – Founder
Nothing Wasted Club – Founder
Luhv Drinks – Founder & CEO
Heineken – Brand Ambassador & Trainer
Barnomadics – Brand Development Manager
specialist subjects:
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Soft Drinks
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Drinks Manufacturing
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Healthy Beverages
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Alcoholic Drinks
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Retail
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Vending
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E-Commerce
affiliations
Quality Food Awards - Judge
Simon Bell
FDREVIEWs Expert
Simon has over 30 years in the food industry, 25 years at board level.
He started at United Biscuits, spending 7 years in roles from sales rep to senior account manager selling branded and own label biscuits to major retailers.
Following that, he spent 6 years at New Covent Garden Soup Co as Sales Director and then Managing Director.
He worked with Shippams / Princes in commercial roles before moving into food importing with Leathams, (Merchant Gourmet), and then in 2008 to VC backed Italian buyout Donatantonio, which I grew from £12m as CEO to £38m in 2020 through organic growth and acquisition.
As Simon says...
I have branded and own label experience in a huge range retail, foodservice and manufacturing customers as well as ecommerce.
In food import I’ve worked with a wide variety of small and larger suppliers across Europe.
Currently have my own consulting business and also work as non-executive director of Seafood and Eat It Ltd
Experience:
Simon Bell Food Industry Consulting Ltd – Owner
Seafood and Eat It! – Non-Executive Director (current)
Lupa Foods Ltd – CEO (2008 – 2020) Shareholder (current)
Leathams Ltd – Retail Director (2002 – 2008)
New Covent Garden Soup Co (Sales Director - Managing Director)
specialist subjects:
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Ready Meals
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Fresh Soups
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Sandwiches
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Ambient Ingredients
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Biscuits
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Crisps, Snacks & Confectionary
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Pasta
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Oils
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Vinegar
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Antipasti
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Tomatoes
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Pulses
affiliations
Quality Food Awards – Judging – 5 years
Royal Warrant Holder – 12 years Lupa / Donatantonio
IGD Diploma in Grocery Marketing
engagements
Seafood and Eat It! – Non Executive Director
Simon Bell Food Industry Consulting Ltd – Owner
Mina Booth
FDREVIEWs Expert
Mina has worked in all areas of marketing from multi-million pound advertising campaigns to locally focused digital ones. Adding to that, she has in-depth experience of website launches as well as launching a major ecommerce site.
Mina now works as a freelance marketeer, working with small food producers and local retailers as well as acting as a part-time remote marketing director for several businesses.
Its also worth mentioning that Mina was Global Marketing Director for Montgomery exhibitions for five years and is perfectly placed to advise on event strategies, ideas and selections.
She has also successfully set-up and managed many awards submissions and can advise on how to make entries that will really stand-out.
Experience:
Courage Breweries
Holland & Barrett
J Sainsbury’s
Boots Group
Montgomery Exhibitions
specialist subjects:
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Food-to-Go
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FMCG Grocery
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E-Commerce
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Marketing
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Cheese
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Charcuterie
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Ranging
affiliations
Great Taste Awards - Judge
Quality Food Awards - Judge
British Charcuterie Awards - Judge
Virtual Cheese Awards - Judge
austen bushrod
FDREVIEWs Expert & Co-Founder
Austen landed in the Hospitality space in 2001. Over the last 20 years he has become a well-known fixture in the industry, specifically focussed on Hotels & Leisure outlets.
Within hotels he has run the procurement organisations for both Accor and Radisson Hotels, developing and implementing new F&B concepts throughout their organisations - many of which are still operating.
He famously spent five successful years with The Rank Group, completely redefining the F&B offer for the UK Casino and Bingo industry. Eliminating school dinners and dried sandwiches and replacing with respected food choices became his purpose in life!
Later during his career, he flipped from the operating/buying side to sales when he joined Bunzl Catering Supplies as Head of Business Development.
Now a much sought-after consultant to the industry, he helps F&B manufacturers gain success by adjusting their offers to suit the hospitality and foodservice markets.
Experience:
Accor Hotels – Director of Purchasing UK & Ireland
Radisson Hotel Group – Procurement Director
The Rank Group – Director of Purchasing
Bunzl Catering Supplies – Head of Business Development
specialist subjects:
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Christmas Party
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Cheeses
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Crisps & Snacks
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Champagnes & Sparkling Wines
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Cakes
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Frozen Desserts
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Foodservice
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Sustainable Packaging
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Customer Focus
affiliations
Moving Food – Associate
HotelCostClinic.com - Founder
Amenity Warehouse – Director
Bushrod Consulting - Managing Director
engagements
Catering Forum – Guest Speaker
Economist Conferences – Guest Speaker
Hotel & Restaurant Show – Guest Panellist
Textile Services Association – Guest Speaker
Hotel Catey Awards – Award Presentation
Quality Food Awards - Judge/Chair
Daniela Paim Busseni
FDREVIEWs Expert
Danela is an FMCG specialist with 20+ yrs experience working for renowned companies such as Premier Foods, Sainsbury’s, Vibrant Foods, Pernod Ricard, Britvic-Soft Drinks and Bel UK. Throughout these roles she developed wide-range of skills from categorisation, shopper marketing and customer insights, to product development, brand management and business planning.
Experience:
Category Development Director - Bibrant Foods
Head of Category Management - Premier Foods
Category Controller - Bel
Category Manager - Britvic Soft Drinks
Category manager - Pernod Ricard
specialist subjects:
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World Foods
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South Asian Foods
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Cakes
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Grocery
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Soft Drinks
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Full Bakery
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Cooking Sauces
Marcus Carter
FDREVIEWs Expert
Marcus grew up in North Wales and left school at 16 to work on sheep, cattle farms, and land irrigation in Australia. He returned to the UK in 1988 to study Agricultural Management and went into sales for the dairy-farming sector but Marcus’s passion was always in food so he started his own BBQ sauce range having had experience working at Patchwork Plates for the family business for 10 years. Armed with this knowledge and personal experiences of the challenges that food producers faced Marcus created ‘Carter Food House’ a national wholesaler to butchers and fish shops, then followed this up with the ‘Virtual Farmers Market’ an online sales platform for producers.
“My passion to help independent food companies have a voice has been the driving force behind many of my ventures and is my primary incentive behind The Artisan Food Club”. Helping Artisan Food brands understand have independent shops buy it’s something I can help with. I also have a full 360 view of the independent food industry and understand that changing one thing can be good but also see the impact it has on other areas of your business."
Experience:
Artisan Food Club - Owner/Operator
Virtual Farmers Market - Owner/Operator
Patchwork Foods – Head of Sales
Carter Food House – Owner/Operator
Working in Farming
specialist subjects:
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Sauces & Condiments
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Artisan Products
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Meat
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Food Retail
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Sales Growth
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Retailer Understanding
engagements
Great Taste Awards - Judge
Abby Chicken
FDReviewS Expert
With 15 year’s commercial experience in the luxury food retail sector, Abby blends expertise in sustainability, food and restaurant strategy and customer service in what is the hottest topic facing the industry at the moment.
Experience:
Selfridges – Sustainability manager
Selfridges – Oxford Street Foodhall Manager
John Lewis – Oxford Street Foodhall Manager
specialist subjects:
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Food Retail
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Sustainable Diets
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Packaging
affiliations
Great Taste Awards judge
Speciality & Fine Food judge
engagements
Hotel Catey Awards – Technology Judge
Quality Food Awards – Lead Judge
Canadian Trade Board - Brand importer
Philippa Christer
FDReviewS Expert
Philippa has worked with food and drink companies for over 20 years, helping them understand how to grow their businesses through trade shows. She has worked with large export groups, government associations and launched food and drink events all over the world, helping exporters entering emerging markets.
Having worked for many years on Speciality & Fine Food Fair, she has first-hand experience of helping new to market food and drink companies make their first steps into supplying to the trade. She is passionate about helping companies successfully increase revenue and brand engagement through the power of live events.
A passionate foodie, and always interested in the latest food and drink innovations and trends, she is delighted her work within the food and drink sector has allowed her to sit on prestigious food awards panels, such as British Charcuterie Awards, Academy of Chocolate, Great Taste Awards, Free-From Food Awards and World Innovation Awards. She is currently Director of IFE, the leading event in the UK for food and drink suppliers.
Experience:
Director – IFE, International Food & Drink Event
International Project Manager – IFE Miami, IFE Hungary, IFE India, IFE Fresh Produce Moscow, IFE Poland
Event Manager – Speciality & Fine Food Fair, including Awards programme and Pitch Live
specialist subjects:
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Brand Visibility
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Export Markets
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Trade Exhibitions
affiliations
Women in Exhibitions – Board Member Vice President
engagements
Free From Food Awards – judge
Great Taste Awards – judge
British Charcuterie Awards - judge
World Food Innovation Awards – judge
Academy of Chocolate Awards - judge
Virtual Cheese Awards – Ambassador
Grub Club - member
Fin Coffey
FDReviewS Expert
Fin has worked in the FMCG industry for over 30 years and has an expert knowledge of the Out Of Home and Impulse sectors.
He has worked in Senior Management roles for some of the world’s largest Food business including Cadbury/Mondelez, Nestle and Unilever. His breadth of experiece includes negotiating and winning multi million pound contacts, managing the launch of some of the industry biggest NPD’s whilst working across a number of Food and Bev categories.
Fin was also responsible for the implementation of the Cadbury sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympics during Games time.
His experience spans both End User chains and Wholesale accounts and prior to his time with Cadbury was also National Sales Controller with Booker Food Service (now Bidfood).
Fin currently Heads New Business Development for the UK’s Number recognised Healthy Snacking brand, graze.
Experience:
Out Of Home Sales Director - Cadbury/Mondelez
Head of New Business and Out Of Home - Graze
Customer Development Controller End User - Nestle Professional
Head of Impulse - Belvoir Farms
National Sales Controller - Bidfood
specialist subjects:
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Snacking
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Hot Beverages
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Premium Drinks
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Food-to-Go
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NPD Development & Launch
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Wholesale
affiliations
Member of Arena
engagements
Presented awards at Cateys, Cost Sector Catering, British Beer and Pub Awards
David Cook
FDReviewS Expert
David started his career working as a qualified chef in the hospitality and leisure sector for ten years. He then started running a food ingredients company, followed by moving into the food production and NPD sector where he successfully set-up and ran a food manufacturing company for twelve years.
Now he is fully embedded in supporting businesses in their NPD requirements, from concept to fruition, helping to set them apart from the crowd. He is one of those industry titans who can be relied on to always add innovation and imaginative thinking - as well as driving quality standards by continual improvement.
His craft has been honed by working with some of the best companies in the hospitality and retail sectors – including Bill’s, The Ivy, Gaucho, Paul UK, PRESS Health Foods, Whole Foods Market, Caffé Nero, SSP Group, Carluccio’s, Nestlé, Little Dish, Renourish, Deliveroo, Coop Southern, Deliciously Ella, No. 1 Lounges and Sourced Market.
Experience:
Fairoak Foods – Head of Culinary
Ginger’s Kitchen – Founder and Managing Director
Wild Harvest – Managing Director
Cantaloupe Group – Head of Food Operations
Katsouris Fresh Foods (part of Bakkavor) - Development Chef
specialist subjects:
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Ready Meals
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Soups & Sauces
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Food-to-Go
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Chilled Salads
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Nutritionally balanced meals
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Plant Based
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Savoury Pastry
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Cooked and cured meats
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Sous Vide
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Wild and foraged ingredients
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Dark Kitchens
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Hospitality
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Manufacturing NPD
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Food Sales Growth
engagements
Quality Food Awards – Judge
Jason Danciger
FDReviewS Expert
Jason’s impact on the food industry over 40 years, and his influence on the sector, is immeasurable. Now entering his fifth decade, he is most renowned for steering the UK’s restaurant landscape, the man behind the term ‘gastro pub’, and has driven the success of some of the industry’s most renowned high street eateries such as Café Rouge, Chez Gérard, The Slug and Lettuce and Bertorelli’s. As Head of Hospitality at M&S, Jason managed more than 100 restaurants and 300 coffee shops in the UK bringing a new award-winning design concept to more than 450 stores in under 18 months, was responsible for introducing 50 new deli counters and managed more than 60 global operations. In 2016, he launched the UK arm of Hana Group, and has opened 180 units in five years, promoting the benefits of healthy food and creating over 600 jobs. Jason has always been a fierce advocate for sustainability, long before it became a ‘buzzword’ and has, throughout his career, driven this agenda and placed quality and environment before profit. He has successfully demonstrated that sustainability and commercial viability can work hand-in-hand. Jason is a considerable industry leader, respected by employees and peers alike, in fact, they have collectively named him the ‘Passion Director!’ such is the energy and enthusiasm he brings to each task he approaches.
Experience:
Managing Director UK and Ireland, Hana Group UK
Head of Hospitality & Fresh Counters, Marks and Spencer
Director of Purchasing, Catering and Marketing, SFI Group
Director of Food, Spirit Group
Commercial Director, Group Chez Gérard plc
Non-Executive Advisory Board Member, London International Wine Fair
Non-Executive Chairman, Food Development Association
London Division Chairman of Cookery & Food Association
specialist subjects:
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Beer
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Wine & Spirits
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Food-to-Go
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Retail
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Food Safety
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Allergens
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Restaurants
affiliations
See Linkedin
engagements
Judged Hotelympia, DBA, QFA, International Wine Challenge, Westminster College Competitions/Escoffier, Salon Culinaire and others.
Debbie Davies
FDReviewS Expert
Debbie is an agile category and insight expert, who works across a wide range of product sectors.
Over to you Debbie…
With over 30 years in the food industry, I founded Contigo Management in 2008 out of a passion to deliver relevant insights and strategies, blending the needs and wants of consumers and those of retailers and food outlets. With a proven track record of adding value, we unlock business potential by working with you to bring consumer insight to the heart of your thinking. Our client base includes major UK grocery multiples, their suppliers as well as established FMCG food brands. By its very nature, Contigo, translates from Spanish, meaning with you, which is how we operate.
Along with the team , I undertake one-off projects and long-term assignments in category management, marketing, and research, with considerable food industry expertise covering B2B and B2C. We are experts in picking up on the nuance of shopper behaviour and very familiar with the ways of supermarket and convenience retail (from brands to own brand suppliers) as well as other outlet formats. With significant experience in research and marketing working across a range of diverse markets and channels, we also have a good understanding of seasonal sales behaviours as well as a broad range of categories from Bakery, fish and produce, through to food to go and meal solutions.
I’m a foodie through and through, having trained my organoleptic abilities in the early stages of my career.
Experience:
Contigo Management – Founder
Finsbury Foods – Retained Category Manager
Bakkavor – Divisional Marketing (Category) Manager
Whitworths – Marketing Manager
Nestle – Brand Manager
specialist subjects:
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Bakery
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Chilled Prepared Foods
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Start-ups & Investors
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Customer/Retail View
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Plant-Based
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Category Management
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Brand Development
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Food-to-Go
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Seafood
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Sweets & Snacks
affiliations
Member of the Market Research Society
Member of Chartered Institute of Marketing
engagements
Retained in Bakery, Frozen Desserts and Fish
James Dempsey
FDReviewS Expert
Having worked for over 20 years in Food & Beverage procurement within the UK & EMEA, SEAC & Australia in a diverse number of multi-site business, ranging from Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, Airline Catering & National Garden Centres, James has an extensive knowledge of food & beverage, with a strong focus on NPD & Innovation, striving for a greater customer experience.
Over the years James has built strong strategic relationships with key suppliers & manufacturers across the world, resulting in a wealth of food & beverage resources.
Throughout James’s career he has been exposed to a wide variety of business from Global cooperate companies to SME’s he has always maintained the same philosophy of ‘start with the customer, then work backwards’.
Experience:
Urbnherd – Business Owner
Senior Category Manager - IHG Hotels
Group Procurement Manager – Wyevale Garden Centres
General Manager Procurement & Supply chain – DHL
Category Manager – Gate Group
specialist subjects:
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Foodservice
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Cakes
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Traybakes
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Sandwiches
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Allergens
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Sweet Treats
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Impulse Lines
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Ready Meals
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Christmas Menus
affiliations
See Linkedin
engagements
Quality Food Awards – Judge
Ruth Dolby
FDREVIEWs Expert
Ruth has a Cordon Bleu and Home Economics grounding and has worked in the food industry for 40 years. Her experience is across the food sectors covering all angles of New Product Development and Application from guiding diversifying farmers, through food service, processing, manufacturing and retail of products and machinery. Her practical approach and hands-on development have given her the experience to balance business acumen with applying new technical and cutting edge scientific discoveries launching a succession of commercial products. Ruth has been a judge for Ecotrophelia, the Q Awards, Scottish Retail Awards as well as for some grant funding bodies. She is currently as Associate of Nutrition at the University of Nottingham and Visiting Lecturer at Birmingham City University; she leads Food Science Fusion, a company offering practical product development services and mentoring and a founding associate of How Many Beans? training for entrepreneurs and growing food businesses.
Experience:
Food Science Fusion – founding Director 2015
How Many Beans founding Associate - Training & Consultation
20 years + Freelance New Product Developer
Tesco (8+ years)
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Product evaluation, NPD selection & QA
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Tesco Technical Auditing
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Buying Controller
specialist subjects:
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New Prodcut Development
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Recipe Market Analysis
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Quality Consistency
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Ingredient Application
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Test Kitchens
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Production Scaling
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Food Science
affiliations
Institute of Food Science & Technology – Fellow
University of Nottingham – Associate of Nutrition
engagements
Quality Food Awards –Judge & session chair
Scottish Retail Awards - Judge
Birmingham City University – Visiting Lecturer in Dietetics & Food Science
Kelly Dowson
FDReviewS Expert
Kelly’s experience spans the majority of food & beverage channels, food service & hospitality, packaged goods in retail and manufacturing as well as direct to consumer. She specialises in innovation and consumer behaviour.
Experience:
Food Innovation Solutions – Director
Good Sense Research – Director
Kicr Innovation – Director
Future Noodles – Shareholder
Food Republick – Director
specialist subjects:
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Food Sales Growth
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Consumer behaviour
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Consumer research
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Dark Kitchens
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Food Retail
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Food and beverage strategy
affiliations
Realise Futures – Non-executive Director
Nick Bradley Racing – Strategic advisor
Future Foods – Partnership with the food people
engagements
Montgomery Group – Speaker
Quality Food Awards – Judge
International Cheese Awards – Judge
George Dunn
FDREVIEWs Expert
I have held roles from General Management to Managing Director, looking after areas of Operations, Finance, Purchasing, Commercial and Supply Chain. An in-depth sales management approach has offered me positions with both major Accounts Directors. My experience across retail, foodservice, convenience and wholesale offers a wider opinion & a honest and solid view.
Knowledge of frozen, chilled, and ambient markets offers a range of opportunities.
Experience across many retailers including:
Tesco, J Sainsbury, Waitrose, Morrisons, Asda Wal*Mart, Coop, Iceland, NISA, Farmfoods, Budgens, Shell, P&H, BP, Spar, Costco, Ocado, Spice, Brakes, Bidfood, Fairway, Reynolds, JJ, Beacon Purchasing, Sodexo, Aramark, Compass, Mite, Booker, Makro, Bestway, Batleys, Shearings Hotels, Oxford Hotels, Q Hotels, La Tasca, Asda, E-Foods, G1 Group, Belhaven, Gather & Gather.
Experience:
FMCG Interim Ltd – Founder & Managing Partner
Campbell Brothers Group – Managing Director Fresh Meat
BFD Group – Sales Director Delicatessen
McCain Foods (GB) Ltd – Trade Sector Manager
Baxters of Speyside – Sales Director
specialist subjects:
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Vegan
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Vegetarian
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Bakery
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Investors
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Fresh Meat, Fish, Poultry
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Foodservice & Retail
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Manufacture & Supply
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Crisps & Nut
affiliations
Member of the Institute of Directors
Jan England
FDREVIEWs Expert
With a passion for food and farming, Jan has run England Marketing for over quarter of a century. The company is the only market research agency to specialise in gathering insight across the length and breadth of the food supply chain and in 2018 opened The Research Hub where taste testing and product profiling is undertaken.
Under Jan’s leadership England Marketing now has a panel of well over 1000 ready and willing tasters and is developing protocols for biometric testing when tasting food products to provide additional insifght and data. The company is working in collaboration with Anglia Ruskin University to achieve this.
Furthermore, as a partner in the family farm business, Jan spends her spare time growing organic vegetables and raising a flock of rare breed Hebridean sheep.
Experience:
Founder and Managing Director of England Marketing 1994-present
Creating a start up business and advising other start ups
Previous marketing roles in both hi-tech and low-tech sectors
Farmer’s wife
specialist subjects:
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Fresh Produce
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Meat & Dairy
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Beverages
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Marketing
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Food packaging & labelling
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Consumer Preference
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Consumer Behaviour
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Shopping Habits
affiliations
Jan is Chartered Marketer, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Certified Market Researcher and a member of the Institute of Food Science and Technology. In addition she is vice chair of the CIM Food, Drink and Agriculture Market Interest Group. Also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
engagements
Quality Food Awards – Judge
Great Taste Awards – Judge
Speaker at The London Produce Show and FPJ Live
Christopher Faulkner
FDReviewS Expert & Chair
Christopher has 30 years of experience in the foodservice sector. During this time, he ran the food operation for a pub group and a restaurant division within Allied Domecq before moving to the supply side where he has worked for Booker Fitch (now Bidfood), Universe Foodservice, Hays Logistics (now XPO Logistics), Brakes and The Food Solutions Group (Chiltern Foods and Jeanie Marshal Foods). He founded The Foodservice Expert in 2017 and has helped many businesses to understand and succeed in Foodservice.
Christopher has extensive experience in Delivered Wholesale Supply and Central Distribution (Food Logistics) plus food manufacturing. Christopher was also responsible for Brakes Creative Foods, overseeing the creation and design of ready meals and desserts for Brakes and numerous foodservice operators.
Christopher was on the Executive Team of ARENA for a number of years and has been a Chairman of the judging panel for the Foodservice Quality Food Awards since 2017.
Experience:
The Foodservice Expert – Founder
The Food Solutions Group – Commercial Director
Brakes – Business Unit Director
Creative Foods – Business Unit Director
Hays Logistics
specialist subjects:
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Foodservice
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Route to market
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Ready Meals
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Desserts
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Rail Catering
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Prepared Salads
affiliations
Rise Africa UK – Trustee – helping disadvantaged children escape a life of poverty.
engagements
Quality Food Awards – Judge and Chair of Foodservice Judges
Heerum Fleary
FDReviewS Expert
Growing up in the multicultural City of Nottingham, food was the centre of get-togethers with family and friends. This is where Heerum found her love for food at a very young age.
Having worked for 17+ years as a food and drink buyer for large global organisations, Heerum was able to grow and expand her knowledge and experience and build some amazing supplier and buyer relationships. As is often the case, this led naturally into developing her own businesses – TickEat and Innoveat.
She is a passionate foodie who enjoys nothing more than supporting and guiding food & drink brands at any stage of their journey. In addition, Heerum realy understands the highs and lows of running a business and is especially good at identifying gaps in the market and helping to develop new ideas and concepts.
Experience:
TickEat / Innoveat - Founder
Unilever - Freelance
Cranswick Foods – Packaging Buyer
Gate Group – Category Manager
Elior - Purchasing
Kerry Foods - Purchasing
specialist subjects:
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Foodservice
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Food-to-Go
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Grocery
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Bakery
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Confectionary
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Ethnic Products
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Exhibitions
affiliations
Great Taste – Judge
Nourish – Judge
Food & Drinks Hero’s – Judge & Partner
Quality Food Awards – Judge
engagements
Mentor for Virgin Start Up
Business Advisor Mentor for Unltd
Alex Frost
FDReviewS Expert
There are few people in the kosher food market that have a history in a family business with 145 years of trading in the UK. Alex and his father continue to innovate, stay ahead of trends and trade in the kosher marketplace. As well as great knowledge for kosher, Alex has also developed a number of his own brands and trading platforms. Presently launching Taste Table – this is a Michelin star quality product that is developed by a top UK chef, part prepared in chef’s kitchen and finished off in your home in 30 minutes or less. All dishes are fully certified Kosher and Halal. Alex has relationships with numerous factories around Europe and the Middle East where he has developed a variety of foods on behalf of UK retailers and through the 145-year history of the company boasts an in-depth black book of contacts.
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In addition, Alex has managed numerous brand listings into Costco. His knowledge and understanding of the specific of this retail channel are unsurpassed.
Experience:
Costco Sales Agent
UK agent for Rosie & Jim Ireland GF Breaded Chicken
UK agent for Kladesholmen Seafood Herring
Supplying Kosher UK wide – eyes and ears in Kosher market
specialist subjects:
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Kosher & Halal Market
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Recipe Kits
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Tarts and Desserts
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Agency Agreements
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Retail
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Costco Sales
affiliations
Kedassia Licensee
engagements
Quality Food Awards – Judge
Stuart Gates
FDREVIEWs Expert
A lifetime involved with the fine food and laterally the British artisan food industry. Stuart has seen the industry from all aspects including buying, retail and working closely with many producers at all stages of their business development. One of the founders and former Chair of the Guild of Fine Food and closely linked with the Great Taste Awards since their creation. A regular contributor to various trade magazines and recorded and produced podcasts and essays through his Seasoned Grocer training company. Mentored many start-ups across the UK and the Republic of Ireland through various government agencies. Many brands supported and assisted with growth both at home from Rock Rose Gin to Gower Cottage Brownies. In addition, developed many specialist producers to create own label exclusive recipes for private label for Fortnum & Mason, Harrods, Daylesford and Partridges of Sloane Square.
Experience:
Fortnum&Mason – Director of Food /Managing Director
Harrods From Trainee Buyer to Deputy Food Director
Daylesford Organic- General Manager
Guild of Fine Food – Previous Chair and Great Taste Judge
Partridges of Sloane Square, Own label development
The Seasoned Grocer – Business Support and mentoring to speciality/artisan producers
specialist subjects:
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Speciality Retail
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Food Halls
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Buyer Events
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Consumer Events
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Export sales
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Airport trading
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Food Service
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Hampers
affiliations
Guild of Fine Food
The Seed Fund
Great Taste Awards
Speciality Magazine – contributor
East Barnet School – Community Governor
East Barnet School PTFA - Trustee
Impact Barnet – Teenage Mental Health Charity – Trustee
engagements
Own Consultancy The Seasoned Grocer
Karen Green
FDREVIEWs Expert
Karen was a retail buyer for Tesco and Boots and then developed into account management for many multi-national food companies - selling back into the multiples anything from sushi to xmas puddings!
Over the past 8 years, she has been a consultant, business mentor and coach. Her unique commercial viewpoint enables her to provide valuable insights and recommendations to both UK and overseas food and drink companies enabling them to sell more and sell better. Her clients have had success gaining listings in all the major UK supermarkets and other relevant retailers.
She is the author of two best-selling books “Recipe for Success- the ingredients of a profitable food business” and “Buyer-ology – know your buyer, sell more and sell better, and regularly contributes to The Grocer, Food institute and is known as the Shopping expert in the Sun.
She is passionate about food and judges many awards including Great Taste and Quality Foods.
Experience:
Food Mentor – consultancy, business mentor and coach
UN International Trade Centre - UK Sales Advisor
Non Executive Director – Nutricana & By Ruby
Cream & Country – Managing Director
Ichiban UK – Commercial Director
specialist subjects:
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Food-to-go
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Retail Sales
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Sandwiches
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Sushi
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Chocolate
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Ready Meals
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NPD
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Business Growth
affiliations
Mentor for Mission Kitchen
engagements
Quality Food Judge
Great Taste awards Judge
Farm shop & Deli Awards judge
Regular speaker at IFE, NOPE and Foodex
Edward Gibson
FDReviewS Expert
After completing his Law Degree, Edward joined his brother when he started a new business in bakery retail. Together they developed a chain of 28 retail bakery shops in North Wales and the Northwest. They later developed the food manufacturing business based originally in Ellesmere Port, later with a further site in Devizes. The company supplied major retailers such as ASDA and Sainsbury’s, food service and convenience customers across the UK.
Edward was a founder member of the British Sandwich Association, and for six years served as its Chairman.
For the past 12 years Edward has worked on several projects in the food industry and with a colleague runs a Consultancy business in the food industry.
Experience:
Gibsons Foods – Founder and Director
Adelie Foods – Consultancy
Freshway Connect - Director
specialist subjects:
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Food-to-Go
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Bakery
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Sandwiches
engagements
Sammies Awards (BSA)– Judge
Quality Food Awards – Judge
Paul Greenhow
FDREVIEWs Expert
Paul spent 30 years in the Food and Drink industry in both senior commercial and operations roles, running businesses on a scale from £5 to £50m. Through that time, he realised he was fixing problems for the owners and delivering business growth for them – he now continues to do that in a self-employed capacity as a Business Growth Specialist.
He is a people orientated and insightful character with proven abilities in sales management, and a track record of driving exceptional profitable growth through creativity and strategic business development.
With a post Graduate Diploma in Marketing, Paul is a rounded Coach who looks to drive the commercial agenda with a focus in the Food & Drink sector and is also a seasoned Princes Trust Mentor and Board Advisor to a local Community Interest Company in the Leisure sector.
Experience:
Market Fresh – Managing Director
Kitchen Range Foods (part of Moy Park) – Head of Sales
Silvercrest Foods (part of ABP) – Commercial Director
Cumbrian Seafoods – Business Project Manager
Anson Packaging – Sales & Marketing Director
specialist subjects:
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Meat, Fish & Poultry
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Chilled Foods
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Delicatessen Accompaniments
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Food Sales Growth
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Food Retail
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Branding Development
affiliations
Princes Trust Mentor
Be The Business Mentor
CIC Board advisor
Gavin Hands
FDREVIEWs Expert
With a long and accomplished career in the food and drink industry, Gavin has extensive experience leading transformation and growth working with leading FMCG brands and private label manufacturers supplying foodservice and the hospitality industry.
Gavin’s experience includes 15 years leading the growth marketing strategy for Bidfood, one of the largest international foodservice wholesalers and also overseeing Bidfood’s leading and award winning portfolio of own-brand products spanning a broad range of chilled, frozen and ambient products across a wide category base.
With a deep knowledge of the Out Of Home sector and route to market, Gavin is currently working as an independent Growth Strategy Consultant offering his experience to support and advise foodservice manufacturers and suppliers to step change their commercial performance through product innovation, brand development and impactful go-to-market strategies.
Experience:
Bidfood UK – Director of Marketing
Cimandis Foodservice, Channel Islands – Head of Marketing
Urban Foodservice – Growth Strategy Lead
specialist subjects:
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Foodservice
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Ready Meals
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Canapes & Buffet
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Food to go
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Desserts
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Cakes
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Brand Development
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Food Trends
engagements
Foodservice Cateys Awards – Judge
Quality Food Awards – Judge
IGD “Feeding Britain’s Future” – Grocery Industry School Careers Guidance Programme
Sharon Harvey
FDREVIEWs Expert
Sharon has a long track record of working with small to medium companies and has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs to bring their products to market over the years at Food Buzz Consulting. She brings many skills to bear to help her customers and has knowledge of a wide range of product categories for product development and support from concept to launch for all types of beverage and food applications . Her contacts are wide ranging, and she is well known with many of the large household brand names in beverages for developing first to market products for names such as Jimmy’s, Koko, VitaCoco, Innocent, Minor Figures, just to name a few. Specialities are particularly in developing plant based and dairy alternative beverages and products suitable for ambient UHT and HPP applications plus soft drinks (carbonated or still), non-alcoholic drinks, and also retorted canned drinks (with and without nitro widget addition). Her experience spans over 38 years at a senior level in the food and drink industry and in the past, she has coordinated large multi skilled teams and product launches, especially with co-packers, for both private brands and retail own label-based product catalogues. She is familiar with major retailer and food service requirements and keeps up to date with regular contact with hundreds of ingredient and packaging suppliers.
Experience:
Food Buzz Consulting Ltd - Director
Framptons - NPD Manager
Tulip - NPD Manager
Lyons Seafood - NPD Manager
Green Gourmet - Head of Innovation and Technical
specialist subjects:
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Plant Based Drinks
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No/Low Alcohol Drinks
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Meal Replacement Drinks
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Ready-to-eat Meat & Fish
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High Protein & Barista
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Formulation
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Labelling
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Packaging
Richard Herbage
FDReviewS Expert
Richard Herbage has had a deep and extensive career in the Food Industry & “UK Retailing PLC” – originally a graduate engineer with Unilever he moved into Mars Petcare then applied his developing supply chain expertise to DIY retailing in B&Q before coming back to the food industry to head up a salads and then a pizza business for Geest (now Bakkavor). In 2005 he went on to lead the Supply Chain functions in Premier Foods and Young’s Seafoods before setting up Supply Chain Solutions Network in 2013 - a consultancy business focussed on the food industry.
Whilst he now focuses on supply chain and logistics he keeps a very close watch on new product activity in the market and has deep knowledge of the food to go, pizza and salad sectors, and has been judging along with many other industry experts for the annual Q awards for a number of years.
Experience:
Supply Chain Solutions Network Ltd – Founder & Principal
Integrated Food Projects – Associate Director
Premier Foods – Grocery Supply Chain Director
Bakkavor – Fresh Snack Company
Bakkavor – The Delicatessen
specialist subjects:
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Food-to-Go
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Pizzas
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Speciality Breads
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Vegan
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Plant-Based
affiliations
Quality Food Awards – panel judge
Worshipful Company of Cooks – The most culinary focussed City Livery Company
engagements
Multiple business process improvements projects including S&OP implementation, planning and business process improvement
Ian Hills
FDReviewS Expert
Ian has over 30 years’ experience in FMCG marketing and 18 years at Purple Pilchard, which specializes as a SME savvy, incubator agency for ambitious challenger brands who require marketing support during their formative months & years.
Of course, his highly successful career came off the back of senior marketing roles with the likes of Rank Hovis, Ben & Jerrys (Took on Haagen Dazs and won?) and Diageo.
Having been there and done it, he is perfectly placed to advise on how to market your product and grow its presence.
Experience:
Purple Pilchard – Consultant/Founder
Nature’s Path Foods – Marketing & Public Relationships Specialist
Rank Hovis McDougall – Marketing Manager
Ben & Jerry’s – Marketing Controller
Diageo & Britvic – Brand Manger + Sales
specialist subjects:
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Marketing
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Public Relations
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Start-ups
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Artisanal Brands
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Vegan & GF
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Ice-Cream
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Flour
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Drinks
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Snacking
affiliations
CIM – Chartered Institute of Marketing
Society of Authors
Antony Horton-Tilley
FDREVIEWs Expert
Acclaimed for his fresh approach to Temporary Food Retail Enviroments Antony has extensive knowledge of what consumers will spend their money on! As the owner of Gusto Catering, a food retail business that operates fixed site independent cafes alongside partnership concessions within borough council buildings and leisure centres, Antony has introduced of Pre Made Products or finished onsite concepts to market. In additon a large percentage of his trade comes from the temporary food retail villages that he creates and runs on the music festival circuit such as Glastonbury, Leeds and Reading. This includes large volume, fast turnaround bar facilties that take advantage of mutliple industry innovations to ensure maximum productivity and revenue.
Supporting "Buy local" campaigns and local branding Antony has championed educating consumers about the economic and social advantages that independent and local businesses bring to a community. The ultimate goal of these campaigns is to create a thriving local economy by maximizing the potential of local businesses and increasing their market share (business, government, and consumer purchases) relative to non-locally owned businesses.
Antony has an unbashful Hands-on approach to his business which means his mind is full of operational practicalities as well as understanding the supply chain and wholesale development of products.
Experience:
Gusto Catering – Founder/ Owner
Heritage Inns - Operations Director
Polaris World - Facilities Operations Manager
QE2/ Hilton – Head Chef
specialist subjects:
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Food Retail
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'Finish On-site' Products
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Wholesale Cafe Food Procurement
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Food Sales Growth
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Grab & Go Concepts
Georgina Howes
FDReviewS Expert
Georgina is our resident pizza expert – as you would expect given that she is currently head of research and development at Papa John’s UK. On top of that, she is responsible for their strategy and nutritional agenda with regards to HFSS.
She has had an extensive career across the restaurant, retail and manufacturing industries. Over her career, Georgina has specialised in Italian Casual and Pizza categories at Zizzi, Pizza Express, Bakkavor and Morrisons focussing on restaurant ready and QSR concepts.
Experience:
Papa John’s - Head of Research & Development
Zizzi Restaurants - Product Manager (Restaurant, Retail & International)
PizzaExpress - Restaurant & Retail Development Manager
Bakkavor – Product Executive
Morrisons – NPD Assistant