The London Food Network

Isle of Raasay has a population of 160 people. The distillery Alasdair Day built there now exports to 50 countries.

It took six years from breaking ground to bottling the first single malt. The inaugural release sold out before it shipped. And Alasdair's biggest regret is not starting ten years earlier.

Alasdair is the co-founder and master distiller of Isle of Raasay Distillery, the first legal distillery on the island, and the inheritor of a whiskey blending lineage that stretches back to 1820.

In this conversation he and Sebastian trace the full arc of building a premium craft spirit business from a disused hotel on a remote Scottish island, including the funding challenges, the long gap between vision and first product, what it actually feels like to manage a business where every decision you make today won't be measurable for another three years, and why the hardest thing in any entrepreneurial journey is simply being honest with yourself.

This is a long-game business story with lessons that apply far beyond whiskey.

Connect with Alasdair Day and Isle of Raasay Distillery: Website: https://raasaydistillery.com

The London Food Network:
Website: https://thelondonfoodnetwork.com

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#ScotchWhisky #CraftDistillery #FoodFounders #IsleOfRaasay #ScottishFood #Entrepreneurship #LongGame #EmbraceAI

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96 percent of people in the UK are deficient in fiber. Not a few percent. Not a minority. Nearly everyone. And most of them have no idea.

Helen Johnston spent years as a glossy magazine editor, deputy at Cosmo and Marie Claire, before training as a nutritionist and building Succeed, a range of whole food super blends made from seeds and botanical herbs grown as close to her Norfolk farm as possible. Less than six months since launch, she is already on the shelves at Selfridges.

In this episode, Helen and Sebastian unpack why the supplement industry is making nutrition more confusing and more expensive than it needs to be, what 90 percent of our serotonin has to do with what we eat for breakfast, and why the simplest upgrade to your daily health might already be sitting in a kitchen cupboard.

This is a practical conversation, not a sales pitch. You will leave with a clearer picture of what your body actually needs, why most of us are getting it wrong, and how small consistent steps are the only thing that actually sticks.

Connect with Helen Johnston and Succeed:
Website: https://succeeds.life

Available in Selfridges, Blue Diamond garden centres, Panzers, farm shops across Norfolk and Devon, and approximately 40 independent stores nationwide.

Sponsor: Embrace AI Consultancy — AI systems for food, hospitality, and service-based businesses that deliver real commercial results. https://embraceai.co.uk

The London Food Network:
Website: https://thelondonfoodnetwork.com

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#GutHealth #WholeFood #NutritionUK #FoodFounders #HealthFood #Supplements #Entrepreneurship #EmbraceAI

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In Lambeth, the allotment waiting list is 28 years. Not 28 months. Not 28 weeks. Twenty-eight years. William Gay did a freedom of information request to confirm it, and then decided to build the alternative.

William is the co-founder of Roots Allotments, a fast-scaling UK business giving urban people access to ready-to-plant, chemical-free growing spaces. In four years, Roots has grown to 20 sites, 258 acres, over 4,000 active members, and nearly 7 million pounds raised, with plans to expand to America.

This episode covers what it actually takes to build something physical and values-led at speed, including the community opposition, the near-death moments, and the customer whose patch brought him back to life after COVID.

In this conversation you will hear why 30 supermarket tomatoes now contain the same nutrients as one from your grandparents' era, what house builders are doing to farmland on the edges of UK cities right now, and why William believes growing food could be one of the most powerful responses to the AI-driven economy ahead.

Connect with William Gay and Roots Allotments:
Website: https://rootsallotments.com
Instagram: @rootsallotments
TikTok: @rootsallotments

Sponsor: Embrace AI Consultancy — AI systems for food, hospitality, and service-based businesses that deliver real commercial results. https://embraceai.co.uk

The London Food Network:
Website: https://thelondonfoodnetwork.com

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#UrbanGrowing #AllotmentsUK #FoodSystems #FoodFounders #UKFood #Sustainability #Entrepreneurship #EmbraceAI

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In 1940, 40 percent of the food on your table came from your own backyard. Today, almost none of it does. And in that one generation, something fundamental broke.

Pete Russell is the founder of UBI (Out of Our Own Backyard) and a driving force behind The Decent Alliance. He has spent nearly two decades building the infrastructure to put small-scale food producers back at the heart of the food system.

In this episode, Pete and Sebastian trace the collapse of decentralised food, the real reason the modern supply chain is fragile by design, and why the tools to fix it finally exist.

What you will take from this episode: How to connect directly with local growers and cut out the layers that eat your margins, why the biggest food businesses of the next decade will be the ones operating at a human scale, and what it actually takes to survive long enough to see your mission become relevant.

Connect with Pete Russell and UBI:
Website: https://ubi.com
The Decent Alliance: https://decentalliance.com

Sponsor: Embrace AI Consultancy — AI systems for food, hospitality, and service-based businesses that deliver real commercial results. https://embraceai.co.uk

The London Food Network:
Website: https://thelondonfoodnetwork.com

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#LocalFood #FoodSupplyChain #FoodFounders #FoodDistribution #UKFood #SmallFarms #Entrepreneurship #EmbraceAI

He walked into a three Michelin star kitchen at seven years old and never looked back.

46 years later, Antoine Melon is dismantling the idea that great hospitality belongs in a restaurant. In this episode, Antoine shares what 20 years across luxury hotels in 11 countries taught him about service, culture, and what guests actually wantm and why he co-founded HOMETAINMENT to bring private chef and hospitality experiences directly into people's homes.

If you work in food, run a hospitality business, or simply want to understand where the industry is heading, this conversation is essential.

Connect with Antoine Melon: Website: https://www.antoinemelon.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinemelon/

The Curious Gourmand: https://www.amazon.com/CURIOUS-GOURMAND-CONVIVIAL-HISTORY-DRINKING-ebook/dp/B0CVF6WMZW

Sponsored by Embrace AI: https://embraceai.co.uk

The London Food Network:
Website: https://thelondonfoodnetwork.com
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Why a seven-year-old walked into a Michelin kitchen and never left
00:05:44 How one meal 46 years ago overruled a 160-year family legacy
00:13:44 Why the world's number one hotel school sent him to Egypt first
00:16:40 What running 11 countries in 20 years actually teaches you
00:19:10 The role he loved most and why the Maldives nearly broke him
00:20:22 How Conran, Mandarin Oriental, and Michelin stars shaped his standard
00:22:34 The moment he questioned everything and still got it wrong
00:24:55 Why he turned down Marrakesh and Barcelona for a struggling island resort
00:25:25 How COVID killing his job became the idea behind HOMETAINMENT
00:29:25 What booking a private chef at home actually looks like
00:31:21 The highs, the lows, and why London wealth leaving hurt the business
00:37:43 Where HOMETAINMENT goes next and the Airbnb ambition behind it
00:41:45 The book that explains why French fries are not French

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#LondonFoodNetwork #Hospitality #PrivateChef #FoodFounders #HOMETAINMENT #LuxuryHospitality #FoodIndustry #entrepreneurship

Keywords: private chef London, home dining experience, luxury hospitality, food entrepreneur, HOMETAINMENT, hospitality industry insights, food business London, restaurant alternative, private events London, food founder podcast

Rory Laffan is the founder of Bee Hospitality, a specialist recruitment agency with 24 years embedded in the UK hospitality sector. He has placed talent at some of the best-known restaurant brands in the country, from Blacklock and Pizza Pilgrims to international groups expanding into the UK market.

In this episode, you will hear how Rory learned to stop chasing volume and start choosing clients with the same care he gives candidates, why recruitment done properly has nothing in common with the reputation the industry carries, and what 24 years of hard lessons actually looks like when someone is honest about them.

Connect with Rory Laffan:
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rory-laffan-51b86110
Bee Hospitality: https://www.youfoundbee.com/

Sponsored by Embrace AI Consultancy: https://embraceai.co.uk

The London Food Network:
Website: https://thelondonfoodnetwork.com

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 The Industry That Hooks You and Won't Let Go
00:54 Why Most Operators Never Listen to a 26-Year-Old Recruiter
03:12 He Started at 25 and Still Regrets Not Wanting More
06:01 The Mistake That Almost Cost Sebastian Everything
09:04 What You Lose When You Chase Volume Over Relationships
11:35 The Moment Fewer Clients Made Them More Money
15:22 Why Recruitment Done Wrong Destroys Trust
18:30 90 Percent of Business Is Referrals for This Reason
22:06 What Happens When You Put Money First in Recruitment
25:09 The Industry Where You Can Outgrow a University Degree
29:44 What Running a Business Does to You When Your Family Gets Sick
33:16 Late Payments Almost Destroyed Both of Their Businesses
36:01 What You Actually Lose When You Stop Appreciating What You Have

If this episode gave you something, share it with a founder who needs to hear it.
#HospitalityRecruitment #FoodIndustry #UKHospitality #RestaurantBusiness #Entrepreneurship #FoodFounders #LondonFood #Recruitment

Food wholesale software changed how thousands of fresh food distributors work. Fresho co-founder Huw Birrell explains how they built it from a wrong idea into a $50M platform operating across 5 countries.

Sebastian nearly lost his seafood business. Fresho automation is part of what saved it.

Guest Links:
Website: https://www.fresho.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/huw-birrell-2365aa3a/

Sponsored by Embrace AI Consultancy Helping food and hospitality businesses grow through smarter automation, better lead generation, and systems that remove admin without losing the human touch. https://embraceai.co.uk

Connect with The London Food Network: Website: https://thelondonfoodnetwork.com

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 He Nearly Walked Away From Subscriptions. Here's Why. (teaser clip opens)
00:33 Why a Photographer With No Plan Ended Up Running a 16-Year Agency
04:15 How a Phone Camera Can Destroy Your Brand Without You Knowing
07:17 What Nobody Tells You Before Hiring a Food Photographer
08:44 Why the Best Shoots Happen the Day After You Call
09:46 The Client Who Came Back After 4 Years. No Contract. No Retainer.
10:05 How an Industry That Never Stops Changing Keeps Catching People Off Guard
13:43 The Unwritten Rule That Stops Photographers Stealing Your Clients
18:36 Why Tight Margins Make Hospitality Cut the Wrong Thing First
20:15 The Referral Model He Refuses to Use (And Why It Works Anyway)
21:24 Why Subscriptions Sound Smart But Almost Never Get Signed
25:33 What the Next 12 Months Look Like When AI Is Coming for Your Job
27:51 Where to Find Hospitality Media

—

Most food distributors still take orders by voicemail at 11pm. One supplier we spoke to gets 150 faxes a day. Another had a full-time staff member whose entire job was re-entering orders from customer spreadsheets into their system, then passing them to ops, then generating invoices. Every handoff was a chance for a mistake. Every mistake meant credits, disputes, and lost hours.

Huw Birrell co-founded Fresho in 2015 with his business partner James Andronis, a 20-year veteran of the fresh seafood industry. Together they built a fresh food order management platform that now handles billions of dollars in wholesale orders each month for suppliers across the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and the US.

In this episode, Huw and Sebastian dig into the real story behind building Fresho. What the wrong original idea was, and why Huw almost pursued it anyway. How they survived launching in the UK just as COVID hit and borders were closing. Why Fresho's policy has always been to raise funding before you ever need it. And why the average food distributor grows 20% year on year after adopting the platform.

Know an operator still running orders by voicemail at midnight? Send them this.
#FoodWholesale #FoodDistribution #FoodTech #Fresho #FoodBusiness #FoodFounders #UKFood #Entrepreneurship

The hospitality industry is shrinking its teams, cutting sponsorship visas, and watching its best talent walk out the door for remote jobs. David Dawson has been recruiting for it since 2009 and has a front-row seat to all of it.

David is the founder of DS Hospitality, a specialist hospitality recruitment agency placing front and back of house talent across the UK for independent hotels and high-end chains.

In this episode, you will hear why the best candidates never apply to job boards, what AI gets wrong in recruitment, and what it actually takes to build a business that lasts in one of the hardest industries in the world.

Connect with David: https://dshospitality.co.uk

Sponsored by Embrace AI Consultancy: https://embraceai.co.uk

Connect with The London Food Network: Website: https://thelondonfoodnetwork.com

Guest application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSekx9sI7rV6qmzOkBRAJLn-nQmP8cfSc4jcfEOaWGTbqZhiCw/viewform

If this episode gave you something, share it with a founder who needs to hear it.

#hospitality #recruitment #londonrestaurants #foodindustry #entrepreneurship #embraceai #thelondonfoodnetwork #hospitalityrecruitment

She was told she would never have children naturally. She started her law degree seven months pregnant. Then had four kids in five years. Built a catering company, ran 80 weddings a year, and somewhere in there launched an artisan ice cream brand.

Then a functional food company backed by clinical trials. Then a franchise model. All while Brexit wiped out her exports overnight and cocoa prices quadrupled.

Sally Newall is the founder of Simply Ice Cream and My Doctor's Recipe. She has never compromised the product.

In this episode you will hear what it actually costs to stay clean-label through a decade of rising ingredient prices, why she says she would never go into frozen if she started again, and how she is thinking about AI and growth for what comes next.

Connect with Sally: Simply Ice Cream: https://simplyicecream.co.uk/

Proudly sponsored by Embrace AI Consultancy, helping food and hospitality businesses scale smarter with automation and AI: https://embraceai.co.uk

Connect with The London Food Network: Website: https://thelondonfoodnetwork.com

Apply to be a guest: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSekx9sI7rV6qmzOkBRAJLn-nQmP8cfSc4jcfEOaWGTbqZhiCw/viewform

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:01:59 Training as a chef at school and living in Sydney
00:02:39 Running a pub, beauty clinic, catering, and an advertising business simultaneously
00:03:00 Told she could never have children naturally. Then had four.
00:04:13 How Simply Ice Cream started from 80 weddings a year
00:10:04 Why she would never go into frozen if she started again
00:11:08 What large food manufacturers actually put in your food and why
00:14:02 The Ozempic parallel: things hidden in food for decades
00:16:50 Why chocolate bars are no longer legally called chocolate
00:19:37 Why supermarkets are the wrong battlefield for an artisan brand
00:21:50 Farm shops, delis, and zoos: how Simply Ice Cream chose its market
00:23:13 The franchise model and what a franchisee actually does
00:26:03 The brutal economics of frozen delivery: a 4% margin and dry ice at £24 a box
00:29:31 My Doctor's Recipe: founded by an oncologist who lost his wife to cancer
00:32:26 How a production unit at home turned into four Airbnbs
00:37:10 What Brexit did to food businesses overnight: costs up 30% with no warning
00:38:36 Cocoa from £3.56 to £15.60 a kilo. Vanilla at £220 a litre.
00:41:42 Why Sally always works with consultants and never compromises on quality
00:44:57 Sebastian on why AI is a hybrid model, not a magic pill
00:47:05 Imposter syndrome, the entrepreneurial grind, and why she does it all for her family
00:49:06 Why the food industry is harder than almost any other, and why people stay anyway

If this episode gave you something, share it with a founder who needs to hear it.

#FoodIndustry #Entrepreneurship #LondonFood #ArtisanIceCream #FoodBusiness #FoodFounder #CleanLabel

Most hospitality businesses think their phone camera is good enough. Adrian Franklin has spent 16 years proving otherwise and the results speak for themselves. One client came back after four years without a single reminder. That's not luck. That's what quality builds.

Adrian is the founder of Hospitality Media, a photography and videography agency serving restaurants, hotels, chefs, and food brands across the UK for over 16 years.

If you've ever wondered whether professional visuals are worth the investment, this episode will settle that question for good.

Hospitality Media Website: https://hospitalitymedia.co.uk Social: @hospitalitymedia

This episode is sponsored by Embrace AI Consultancy Helping food and hospitality businesses streamline marketing, lead generation, and operations through AI-powered systems. Website: https://embraceai.co.uk

The London Food Network Website: https://thelondonfoodnetwork.com

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/the-london-food-network-podcast

Apply to be a guest: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSekx9sI7rV6qmzOkBRAJLn-nQmP8cfSc4jcfEOaWGTbqZhiCw/viewform

Timestamps
00:00:00 - Why he turned down the subscription model after 16 years
00:00:33 - Introduction
00:01:43 - How a photography student ended up building a hospitality empire
00:04:15 - How every phone owner became a "photographer" and what that actually means
00:07:17 - What the briefing process looks like before a single shot is taken
00:08:44 - How fast can you actually turn around a shoot
00:09:46 - How the business has changed across 16 years
00:11:29 - Why clients come direct instead of through agencies
00:14:29 - How he protects the business when subcontractors meet clients face to face
00:18:32 - How a struggling hospitality industry hits a creative agency
00:19:32 - The new service quietly changing how venues present themselves
00:20:55 - Why the subscription model sounds appealing but rarely holds
00:25:33 - What the next 12 to 18 months look like for Hospitality Media
00:27:04 - The real threat - and it is not AI
00:27:51 - Where to find Adrian and Hospitality Media

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone in hospitality who's still on the fence about investing in their visual brand.

#londonfoodnetwork #HospitalityMedia #FoodPhotography #HospitalityBusiness #ContentMarketing #FoodBusiness #VisualStorytelling #RestaurantMarketing #UKHospitality #Entrepreneurship