It's the season finale and Julia is joined by Kevin Yu, founder and CEO of SideChef, a home-cooking platform and provider of shoppable recipes.

They talk about the role of recipe inspiration as a driver of sales in grocery, making it easier for consumers to figure out what's for dinner and how recipe and meal planning habits are changing due to the cost-of-living crisis. Plus, they discuss how recipes can encourage people to waste less and adopt more sustainable food habits, the evolving role of QR codes in ecommerce packaging and lessons for grocery from the video games industry.

Articles discussed by Kevin and Julia:

How Grocers Are Managing the Large-Scale Problem of Food Waste | Progressive Grocer

I Feed My Family Of Five For $100 A Week — Here's What A Week Of Groceries & Meals Looks Like For Us | Buzzfeed

The True Value of Pairing QR Codes With E-Commerce Packaging | Inc.

Julia is joined by Vishal Patel, co-founder of Sollasa, an up-and-coming spirits brand developed specifically to go with Indian food. Vishal is also investment director at Distill Ventures.

He talks to Julia about the growth in low and no alcohol options and what's behind young people moderating their drinking, his journey with Sollasa and why he’s pursuing a food-first strategy for his brand, how to justify the price of lower-alcohol options vis-à-vis full-strength drinks - and the ongoing challenge of how to increase diversity and inclusion in the drinks industry.

Articles discussed by Vishal and Julia: 

UK low-and-no value to hit £450m | The Spirits Business

Gen Z for zero tolerance: why British youth are turning off booze | The Observer

Opening the door: how is the whisky world tackling diversity and inclusion? | Whisky Magazine

Julia is joined by Ronen Givon, CEO of REKKI, the mobile ordering app for chefs.

Ronen created REKKI after spending 10 years running restaurants in London (he was one of the founders of Hummus Bros), where he saw first hand how little grasp many chefs have on their food costs.

He talks to Julia about how to make independent restaurants profitable, which ingredients are trending on his platform (and what's getting harder to source), the changing cultural role of restaurants - and why 'menu engineering' shouldn't be a dirty word.

Articles discussed by Ronen and Julia: 

UK’s star chefs get creative to keep menu prices down | The Observer

Cancelled flight? Shoddy clothing? Disappointing meal? Blame skimpflation, the hidden curse of 2022 | The Guardian

Imad’s Syrian Kitchen restaurant review: ‘The Damascus chef in Soho’ | The Sunday Times

Julia is joined by Ann Perkins, founder and MD of healthy snacking brand Perkier.

Ann shares why she's passionate about moving the health debate on from calories, her take on the opportunities and challenges arising from the cost-of-living crisis and HFSS and how to navigate the dangers of greenwashing. Plus, how to use social media listening to inform the NPD process.

Articles discussed by Ann and Julia:

Last chance to give views on controversial menu calorie count plans | STV News

What is greenwashing? | Business News Daily

Why we should be using social media to inform NPD | The Grocer

Julia is joined by George Dymond, chief executive officer of Planet Organic.

They talk about George's quest to 'right-size' Planet Organic and expand its store estate, including outside London, and how he is modernising its supply chain. Plus, George reflects on how the cost-of-living crisis is likely to affect the organic sector and Planet Organic specifically, the flight to value along with a flight to quality, the importance of bringing fun to healthy eating - and why he is drawn to industry topics that are complex and don't come with easy answers.

Articles discussed by George and Julia:

How organic food can navigate the cost-of-living crisis | Food Navigator

‘Clean’ eating gets complicated by new climate research | Supply Chain Brain

The snacks putting fun back into food | FT

Julia is joined by Cashain David, founder of up-and-coming rum brand Kromanti Distillery & Blending House.

Cashain talks to Julia about why he started a rum brand after living most of his life as a teetotaler, the importance of recentering the narrative around rum, moving the category beyond tropes of pirates and parties on the beach, and the need a more diverse and authentic range of stories about its history and heritage. Plus, he shares how he approached defining his company's values - and the opportunities he sees in the low&no alcohol sector.

Articles discussed by Cashain and Julia:

Decolonizing the whitewashed world of Caribbean rum | liquor.com

Everything you need to know about company values | Inc.

UK sales of low-alcohol and no-alcohol beers almost double in 5 years | FT

Julia is joined by Louise Hoste, managing director of Spar UK.

They talk about the convenience sector during and after Covid, adjusting ranges to serve new convenience shopper missions, opportunities around home delivery, the challenges of HFSS and the cost-of-living crisis and lessons from the fashion industry on circularity.

Plus, Louise shares how the pandemic changed her as a business leader and why she's so impressed with the convenience sector in the Netherlands.

Articles discussed by Louise and Julia

Cost of living crunch hits UK consumers hard | FT

ASOS launches Thrift+ resale pilot, takes deeper dive with second circular collection | Fashion Network

World’s first raspberry picking robot cracks the toughest nut: soft fruit | The Guardian

Julia is joined by Barry Clogan, chief product officer at Wynshop and former head of international grocery online at Tesco.

They talk about online grocery after Covid (what does the drop-off in post-lockdown really tell us?), the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on online shopping behaviour, the importance of acquiring the right online customers and what the recent challenges in the rapid delivery sector tell us about the future of quick commerce.

Articles discussed in this episode: 

Instacart files confidentially for IPO | Grocery Dive

Jiffy to halt grocery operation and become dedicated software company | Charged Retail

Co-op to bring back ‘walking deliveries’ and reverse march of time | The Times

The Pick List is back for season 6 and Julia is joined by Chris White, MD and founder of creative agency This Way Up.

They talk about how design can help brands communicate their health credentials, the impact of the delay on HFSS regulations on health-focused brands, the fast-changing design language of the plant-based category, the opportunities and pitfalls for brands around purpose, and more.

Articles discussed in this episode:

What are consumers looking for in plant-based products? | New Food Magazine

Why is it important to have a defined purpose? | The Drum

The woolliest words in business | The Economist

Julia is joined by Pev Manners, managing director of Belvoir Farm, the brand of cordials, sparkling drinks and botanical sodas.

From its beginnings on farm in the early 80s, Belvoir Farm has grown rapidly and continues to launch innovative NPD while staying true to its values on sustainability and quality ingredients. More recently, the brand has been pushing into the ‘no and low’ sector and ramping up its efforts in exports markets, so Pev shares what opportunities he sees in these areas and what’s next for the Belvoir brand in 2022.

Plus, he talks about why he’s happy Belvoir stuck with sugar and didn’t switch to artificial sweeteners and how his business is navigating the current difficult trading conditions, including cost inflation and supply chain disruption.

Articles discussed by Pev and Julia:

Sustainable sourcing: the challenges | Food Manufacture

The great grocery punch-up: Britain’s Biggest Brands 2022 | The Grocer

The truth about artificial sweeteners – and what they really do to your body | The Telegraph

Links to the big food and grocery retail stories this week:

Shirine Khoury-Haq to take the reins at Co-op | The Times

Iceland reverts to palm oil ‘with regret’ as Ukraine war hits food prices | The Guardian

Inflation starting to drive grocery behaviour as pandemic loosens hold on Brits | Kantar

Asda like-for-likes down 2.9% in quarter four of 2021 against tough comparatives | The Grocer

Asda faces legal wrangle with Waitrose after investing £45m in budget range | The Guardian

Sainsbury's urged to up pay to match cost of living | BBC News

Cost of living crisis sees family vegetable consumption fall | The Grocer