HUNGRY.

Marketing hasn’t changed.
Human behaviour hasn’t changed.
Most brands still get this wrong.

This episode is a curated montage of insights from three of the most influential thinkers in modern marketing and behavioural science — exploring why people buy, how brands become commodities, and what actually drives growth.

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📱 ON THE MENU
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Why people don’t buy quality — they buy stories
How brands cross (or fail to cross) the adoption chasm
Why removing friction beats adding features
The real role of status, affiliation, and fear
How “delight” creates disproportionate value
Why most innovation never becomes normal
This isn’t trend-watching.
It’s a breakdown of the timeless mechanics behind decision-making, branding, and scale.

If you’re building a brand, selling an idea, or trying to influence behaviour — this episode will change how you think about marketing.

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♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 

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🌟 HUNGRY's Absolutely Bloody Marvellous Sponsors🌟
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A massive shoutout to our incredible sponsors who make HUNGRY possible:

►North Star: (www.northstarbc.co.uk)

🤝 Let's Connect!
►Let’s link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)

This episode was edited by:
G.Thomas Craig (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gthomascraig/)

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📙Download HUNGRY Big Banging Reading list here 
🧾 HUNGRY survey would be so grateful if you may please fill out 

David Cleevely didn’t approach hospitality like a chef — he approached it like a systems engineer. After decades building companies at the heart of British technology and science, Cleevely went on to co-own one of the UK’s most iconic Italian restaurants. In this conversation, he explains why running a restaurant isn’t that different from running a technology business — if you understand systems, incentives, and long-term thinking. This isn’t a story about Silicon Valley hype. It’s about infrastructure, patience, culture, and why the boring bits are what actually make businesses work.

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🍝 What a tech pioneer learned by running a restaurant 🧠 Why systems thinking matters more than innovation 🏗️ Building businesses that last — in tech and hospitality 📉 Why most companies obsess over the wrong metrics 🇬🇧 How Britain quietly builds world-class businesses ⏳ The long view: patience, compounding, and endurance Whether you’re building a startup, running a restaurant, or managing a growing team, this is a masterclass in how experienced operators really think. ============================================== ♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲

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🌟 HUNGRY's Absolutely Bloody Marvellous Sponsors🌟 
============================================== 

A massive shoutout to our incredible sponsors who make HUNGRY possible: 
►North Star: (www.northstarbc.co.uk) 🤝 Let's Connect! 

►Let’s link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/) 

►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/) 

📙Download HUNGRY Big Banging Reading list here 
🧾 HUNGRY survey would be so grateful if you may please fill out 

If Oasis did Supper Clubs they wouldn’t come close to HUNGRY Productions Bonfire Banquet.
Okay…okay… I jest... I jest.
But, my wonderful friends, this one was a CERTY BANGER!!!

Absolute Wave Donny speaker line up:

- Imme Ermgassen, Botivo Drinks | B corp
- Andrew Salter, DIRTEA
- Perry Haydn Taylor 💚, big fish®
- Riya Patel, All The Aunties

Hosted at London hottest new gaff, ISLAND Kings Cross at Mare Street Market

Run by two legendary Michelin Star chefs Tom Brown and Brad Carter.

ON THE MENU:

1. Avoiding category pigeonholing
2. Niche focus vs. mass-market expansion
3. Building credibility before awareness
4. Packaging as primary advertising
5. Community-first brand building
6. Identity and lifestyle branding
7. Early adopters vs. mainstream consumers
8. Paid media vs. organic creativity
9. Retail + distribution challenges
10. Agency pitfalls and resource misallocation

Santiago Lastra’s story is unlike any other in modern food. Raised in chaos, forged through global kitchens, and shaped by an obsessive drive to master his craft, he built KOL — one of London’s most original, Michelin-starred restaurants — by combining Mexican soul with British ingredients.

In this conversation, Santiago reveals how adversity, identity, discipline and extreme curiosity shaped both him and his restaurant. This episode is about far more than food — it’s about reinvention, resilience, and the psychology behind elite creativity.

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ON THE MENU 
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🇲🇽 Growing up in chaos — and turning adversity into fuel
🔥 How obsession, discipline & structure rewired his life
🥘 The philosophy behind KOL: Mexican soul, British ingredients
🌍 Noma Mexico, global travel & finding creative identity
🧠 How environment shapes ambition, confidence & mindset
🎨 Why great creativity requires constraints
🍽️ Building a Michelin-star restaurant from scratch
👥 Leadership, culture & the psychology of a great kitchen
🥃 The emotional story behind Mezcaleria KOL
🔄 Letting go of your past to build the life you want

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♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 

Today’s poddy is sponsored by Square. Square is the all-in-one restaurant tech platform designed to streamline operations and give hospitality business owners the time back to focus on growth. Square is Big In Restaurants - which is the name of its latest UK marketing campaign - offering everything you need for day-to-day service, including Square’s payments, point of sale and reporting capabilities. Whether you’re a single-location FSR, a multilocation QSR, a bar or a multi-concept restaurant, improve the flow of orders and find more ways to keep profit in your pocket. For more information visit  👉 https://squareup.com/

This live panel brings together four absolute legends of London hospitality: Stew Down from Black Bear Burger, Saiphin Moore from Rosa’s Thai Cafe, Graham Hollinshead from Ole & Steen, and Amanda Whiteside from the iconic Gordon’s Wine Bar.

The theme of the night?
 How the hell do you survive—and actually thrive—in hospitality right now? Bruce Lee’s “Be like water” sets the tone as the group dives straight into the realities they’re all wrestling with and how they navigate around them.

Stew (Black Bear Burger) talks about the challenge of being a premium brand in a category with a price ceiling. Instead of joining discount wars, he’s doubling down on creativity—like launching an adult Happy Meal with a double burger, fries, a Negroni, and a cheeky adult “toy.” It’s nostalgic, fun, and designed to go viral without cheapening the brand.

Graham (Ole & Steen) offers the big-chain perspective. With 100+ stores in Denmark, 26 in the UK, and 5 in New York, his biggest fear is losing momentum. He talks about simplifying product ranges, fixing supply chain waste, and doing unexpected collaborations (like a Cinnamon Social × Badiani gelato mashup) to keep things fresh and fend off complacency.

Saiphin (Rosa’s Thai Cafe) shares a very different set of pressures—import costs, skilled-chef shortages, and the challenge of staying true to her food when nearly everything comes from Thailand. Her answer? She trains up local staff from the ground floor, maintains deep relationships with Thai farmers, and proudly “swims against the water.” Her leadership style is pure heart: she cooks for her team, travels with them to Thailand, and treats them like extended family.

Amanda (Gordon’s Wine Bar) brings the single-site reality. Running Gordon’s is like running the gauntlet: councils, complaints, grease traps, supply issues, dairy bans, price shocks—you name it. Her approach is to stay calm, pivot fast, and frame every problem as something solvable. She also breaks down how they restructured service charge and pricing to protect staff wages during the cost-of-living crisis.

And that's only part of the conversation. Go on. Take a listen.

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♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 

🤝 Let's Connect!
►Let’s link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)

This episode was edited by:
G.Thomas Craig (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gthomascraig/)