What happens when ancient remedies meet modern branding?

In this episode of Food Rebels, AJ Sharp sits down with Andrew Salter, co-founder and CMO of DIRTEA, to explore the rapid rise of functional mushrooms, wellness rituals and the growing consumer desire to take control of health.

Andrew shares how burnout, exhaustion and years of entrepreneurial hustle led him and his brother to discover functional mushrooms, before building one of the UK's fastest-growing wellness brands. The conversation explores why consumers are moving away from quick fixes, how wellness has become part of modern identity, and the role brands play in building trust in an increasingly skeptical world.

They discuss Lion's Mane, Reishi, matcha, creatine and collagen, but also go much deeper into community building, consumer psychology, founder-led brands and the wider cultural shift towards preventative health, sobriety, ritual and personal agency.

Along the way, Andrew reveals the unconventional marketing strategies that helped DIRTEA grow from a niche wellness product into a cultural movement, from Selfridges pop-ups and wellness raves to building a devoted community of customers who help shape the brand's future.

What happens when a chef discovers a food trend in New York years before anyone in the UK has heard of it?

This week on Food Rebels, AJ Sharp meets Dan Shearman, founder of Wilderbee, the brand behind the UK's original hot honey. What started as a homemade chilli-infused honey for a food truck menu has grown into a fast-rising food brand stocked in major retailers including Harrods, Marks & Spencer, Whole Foods, Co-op and now Waitrose.

Dan shares the story behind the business, from feeding Harrison Ford on a film set and cooking for the Crown Prince of Dubai, to appearing on Dragon’s Den and pioneering a category that is now exploding in popularity across the UK.

The conversation explores flavour innovation, ethical beekeeping, sustainable sourcing, scaling a food business and why Dan believes hot honey still has a long way to go before it becomes a kitchen cupboard staple.

Plus, AJ gets stuck into a tasting of Wilderbee’s Scotch Bonnet, Gochujang and Sriracha hot honeys and discovers why people are putting them on everything from pizza and cheese to cocktails and ice cream.

What does “sustainable seafood” actually mean and are we being misled about the fish on our plates?

This week on Food Rebels, AJ Sharp meets chef patron Ben Champkin from Catch at The Old Fish Market in Dorset. After training in some of the world’s top kitchens including L’Enclume, The Newt and three Michelin-starred Meadowood in California, Ben returned to the South West with a mission to champion truly sustainable British seafood.

From dayboat fish and dry-ageing sea bass to why we should be eating cuttlefish instead of imported squid, Ben lifts the lid on the realities of the UK fishing industry and the huge misconceptions around “local” seafood.

The pair discuss disappearing cod stocks, why lobster shouldn’t be eaten in winter, the surprising rise of octopus in British waters and how supermarkets and food culture may be holding back lesser-known sustainable species.

It’s a fascinating deep dive into provenance, food miles, restaurant ethics and the future of British fishing.

This week on Food Rebels, AJ Sharp is joined by chef, recipe developer and content creator Lungi Mhlanga, founder of Lungi’s Always Baking.

From growing up in a food-obsessed Zimbabwean household to running bakeries in Shoreditch and Soho, Lungi’s journey has been full of creativity, graft and glorious kitchen chaos.

AJ and Lungi talk about viral toast cookies, ADHD, confidence, failure, Substack, baking without rules and why the best ideas often come from trusting your own very strange brain.

A joyful episode about dessert, creativity and breaking all the right rules.

What really happens behind the scenes in Britain’s restaurant chains?

In this episode of Food Rebels, AJ Sharp sits down with Andrew Macleod, founder of Emilia’s Crafted Pasta, to explore why so much casual dining restaurant food is far more processed than customers realise and why he chose to build his business completely differently.

After turning down a high-paying career on Wall Street, Andrew travelled across Italy couch surfing, learning regional pasta traditions from chefs, students and home cooks before opening his first restaurant at just 24 years old. Nearly a decade later, Emilia’s has grown into one of London’s most respected independent pasta brands, built around fresh pasta made from scratch every single day with no central kitchens, preservatives or shortcuts.

AJ and Andrew discuss the hidden rise of ultra-processed food in hospitality, why many restaurant chains rely on reheated sauces and additives, and how authenticity has become one of the most valuable things in modern dining. They also dive into the pressures facing small hospitality businesses, the reality of scaling without compromising quality, and why more consumers are beginning to question what’s really in restaurant food.

From slow-dried pasta and Italian food culture to government policy, entrepreneurship and the future of eating out, this is a fascinating conversation about what happens when a founder refuses to follow the standard restaurant playbook.

This week we’re rerunning one of our most talked-about conversations. What are ultra-processed foods really doing to our health, our kids and our food culture?

In this powerful episode, AJ Sharp sits down with Dr Dolly van Tulleken to unpack the rise of UPFs and the complex mix of politics, marketing and industry influence that keeps them on our plates.

Dolly shares her journey into food policy, reveals how decisions are shaped behind closed doors and challenges the cultural norms that disconnect us from real food. From school meals to supermarket shelves, this conversation explores how the system really works, why change is so difficult and what needs to happen next.

What happens when three brothers ditch the safe path to chase a sausage dream?

In this episode, AJ Sharp sits down with Olly and Max Kohn, two of the three brothers behind The Jolly Hog, the British meat brand that’s gone from a Kenwood sausage machine in a one-bed flat to shelves in every major UK supermarket.

They share the real story behind the growth, from unpaid early days and street food graft to cracking retail, building a brand without investment, and partnering with the likes of Marmite and Colman’s.

It’s a conversation about flavour, farming and the future of meat, digging into welfare standards, B Corp, and the pressure on brands to clean up ingredients in the age of ultra-processed food.

Honest, funny and full of insight, this is about doing meat properly, and proving you don’t have to cut corners to scale.

Join us in this week, as we revisit our interview with Charlotte Miller, founder of Caroboo, shares her inspiring journey of revolutionising chocolate!

She delves into the challenges of balancing parenting and entrepreneurship while creating healthier treats for families. Discover the story behind Caroboo's unique products and learn about their innovative approach to marketing. Tune in to hear about the mission to transform children's snacking options and revolutionize the confectionery industry. Don't miss out on this insightful discussion on improving nutrition in our food choices!

What’s really driving the way we eat and why does it feel so hard to get it right?

In this episode of Food Rebels, AJ Sharp sits down with nutritional therapist Nicola Moore to unpack metabolism, mindset and modern eating. From ultra-processed foods and gut health to cravings, cortisol and GLP-1s, this is a straight-talking look at what’s actually going on inside our bodies.

They explore why we’re constantly hungry but undernourished, how our brains and gut are shaping our food choices, and why willpower has very little to do with it. Plus, a grounded take on weight loss drugs and what they can and can’t fix.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in a cycle with food, this one will change how you see it.

What happens when food justice stops being a conversation and becomes a political mission?

In this episode of Food Rebels, AJ Sharp sits down with Sarah Bentley, founder of Made in Hackney, to go way beyond the usual chat on ultra-processed food and “better choices”. 

Sarah announces on the show that she is now standing as a Green Party candidate, taking everything she’s learned from the front line of food justice into politics, because if the system is broken, someone has to change it.

From food swamps and broken food culture to the reality of feeding communities on the ground, Sarah connects the dots between what’s on our plates and the structures shaping our lives. And then she does something most people don’t. She steps in.

This is about power, inequality and why the system is stacked against real food and community.