The Pick List

Julia is joined by Olly Kohn, one of the founders of The Jolly Hog brand of bacon and sausages.

Olly is also a former professional rugby player who used to play for Harlequins. He tells Julia how and why he transitioned from a career in rugby to running a food brand with his two brothers and how his experience as a professional sportsman shaped his attitude towards risk-taking and learning in public.

Plus, he shares how The Jolly Hog has coped in the face of supply chain disruption, why he’s sad about the demise of the Great British Caff, how he used to approach food and nutrition during his rugby years – and what’s next for his brand.

Articles discussed by Olly and Julia:

It’s Brexmas! From turkeys to alcohol, how will shortages affect Christmas? | The Observer

‘Greasy spoon’ cafes close doors as today’s diners shun fry-ups | The Observer

How I fuel: Joe Marler, Anthony Watson & Harry Randall | Red Bull

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

Asda charters cargo ship with festive items amid supply chain crisis | The Guardian

Lidl promotes Ryan McDonnell to UK CEO | City AM

Morrisons ditches soya for insects in chicken feed to hatch carbon neutral eggs | FT

Waitrose ramps up Scottish presence after tie-up with Edinburgh retail institution | The Scotsman

Sainsbury’s aims to raise £3m to tackle food poverty this Christmas | The Grocer

Marks & Spencer trialling augmented reality wayfinding app at Westfield Food Hall | The Grocer

Pret a Manger launches new loyalty scheme Pret Perks | The Grocer

New support for UK's world-leading agri-food and drink industry | gov.uk

Ad regulator clears Tesco’s Christmas campaign after 5,000 complaints | Evening Standard

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Julia is joined by Helen Burgess, founder and director of Little Cooks Co, a monthly recipe box for kids.

Helen used to work in government as a senior civil servant, including at the Cabinet Office and Number 10, but has long been passionate about food and nutrition. She is a registered nutritionist and founded Little Cooks Co because she wanted to do her bit to get children excited about healthy, nutritious food and develop key cooking skills.

She talks to Julia about her concerns about ultraprocessed foods, government short-termism around food strategy and how to empower children to make good food choices. Plus, she shares a few tips and tricks from her days in government for how to make yourself heard by policymakers.

Articles discussed by Helen and Julia:

NHS to set up 15 special clinics in England for severely obese children | The Guardian

Urgent need to reduce children’s ultraprocessed food consumption | Technology Networks

Children eat meat unknowingly—perhaps in violation of a bias against animals as a food source | Anthropocene Magazine

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

Asda confirms Stuart Rose as chairman | The Times

Sustainable shopping: Asda begins selling beer on tap in new supermarket refill zone scheme | The i

George at Asda unveils pre-loved Gucci collaboration | Drapers

Food & drink industry launches roadmap to tackle sustainable water crisis | The Grocer

Rapid delivery service Getir to buy UK rival Weezy | The Guardian

Princes launches platform to collaborate with retailers on NPD | The Grocer

Tesco taps RangeMe product sourcing platform | Retail Tech Innovation Hub

Sales of eco-friendly pet food soar as owners become aware of impact | The Guardian

Co-op to run live ad on ITV to spotlight Community Fridges | The Drum

Julia is joined by Laura Harnett, founder and CEO of Seep, a brand of sustainable, plastic-free household essentials.

Laura started her career as a buyer at Compass Group; she then worked as a consultant for many years as well as at retailers including Selfridges. She decided to launch Seep after getting annoyed with the lack of plastic-free options in the household essentials aisle. Because, as Laura explains, while eco-friendly cleaning products are a growing market, there still aren’t many options if you want to buy essentials like cleaning cloths and sponges or scourers.

Laura is on a mission to change that. She talks to Julia about how we can re-engage consumers on plastic after Covid, how she’s approaching carbon offsetting for her brand, what it’s like to be publicly challenged by consumers on your sustainability claims – and how she feels about Black Friday promotions as a sustainable brand.

Articles discussed by Laura and Julia:

About 26,000 tonnes of plastic Covid waste pollutes world’s oceans | The Guardian

What is carbon offsetting? The new advances explained | The Times

Consumers want Black Friday 2021 to be greener | Boston Consulting Group

Links to the big food and grocery stories of the week:

M&S to provide sandwiches and hot food for Costa Coffee | The Guardian

Amazon’s cashierless tech will power Sainsbury market in London | Bloomberg

Mr Kipling goes in search of a sweet spot across the Pond | The Times

Oatly shares turn sour after it counts cost of supply chain and production problems | Sky News

Greggs suffers vegan sausage roll shortage as bakery becomes latest victim of supply chain crisis | The i

Redefine Meat brings 3D printed vegan cuts to restaurants | FT

Morrisons pays tribute to key workers with ‘Farmer Christmas’ festive ad | The Grocer

Tesco Christmas ad: 1,500 complain over Santa with Covid vaccine passport | The Guardian

Julia is joined by Paul Hargreaves, founder and CEO of Cotswold Fayre, a wholesaler of speciality and fine foods.

Paul is passionate about business with purpose. He is the author of a book on how to create a better world through purpose-driven business, called Forces for Good, and recently published a second book about compassionate leadership, called the Fourth Bottom Line.

His own company is a certified B Corp, and Paul shares how having a clear, common purpose across the business has made a big difference during tough times.

He also talks to Julia about the pitfalls of greenwashing and purpose-washing (and how to avoid them) and why he believes we need to ask tougher questions of big corporations and challenge our Capitalist system’s addiction to growth at all cost.

Articles discussed by Paul and Julia:

Capitalism is killing the planet – it’s time to stop buying into our own destruction | The Guardian

Seven ways to spot businesses greenwashing | BBC News

Small businesses get more green – but is the customer convinced? | Forbes

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

Grocery price rises turn up heat on British consumers | Reuters

M&S does not expect Christmas supply shortages, CEO Steve Rowe says | The Grocer

After acquiring Dija and Fancy, instant grocery startup Gopuff launches in the UK en route to European expansion | TechCrunch

Shoppers ready for greener life — but only if price is right | The Times

Morrisons hopes cow seaweed diet will cut methane | BBC News

Quaker Oats falls victim to supply issues after PepsiCo IT upgrade | The Grocer

Marcus Rashford stars in Aldi’s Christmas advert with the return of Kevin the Carrot | The Independent

Learn more about the show and get in touch at thepicklist.co.uk

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Julia is joined by Laura Ryan, chief executive of Lavenpark, founder and global chair of Meat Business Women and co-founder of Global Meat Alliance.

An experienced marketeer and business strategist with deep knowledge of the meat industry, Laura shares her take on the prospect of carbon taxes on meat, how the sector is coping with labour challenges, supply chain disruption and soaring inflation and how processors and retailers are preparing for the Christmas trading season.

With the meat sector facing growing scrutiny from policymakers, Laura also talks about why she expects retailers and processors to recruit more senior execs and CEOs with a policy background in the future.

As regular listeners will know, Laura used to host The Pick List with Julia before having to step back from presenting duties earlier this year. She shares what she’s been working on in recent months, how she became involved in the meat sector in the first place and why she’s passionate about championing women in the industry.

Articles discussed by Laura and Julia:

Meat taxes will make British farmers go greener, says George Eustice | The Telegraph

What’s keeping your retail CEO up at night | Forbes

M&S to roll out opticians service | KAMCity

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

Sainsbury's says supply issues won't hit Christmas | BBC News

Staff shortages see UK meat carcasses sent to EU for butchering | BBC News

Supermarket Iceland pledges to become ‘plastic neutral’ from 2022 | Evening Standard

Coca-Cola to fully acquire Gatorade rival BodyArmor for $5.6 bln | Reuters

UK Dairy Roadmap unveils net zero climate ambition | Dairy Reporter

Amazon’s seventh Just Walk Out store to open over the road from Tesco’s GetGo | The Grocer

Pilgrim’s poaches ex-Sainsbury’s agricultural head | Grocery Gazette

Asda introduces ‘quieter hour’ to help customers with hidden disabilities | Retail Gazette

‘Christmas dinner in a can’ promises answer to supermarket shortages | The Guardian

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Julia is joined by Caroline Drummond, an expert in sustainable food and farming and chief executive of LEAF.

Ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, they talk about food and farming’s role in our collective health and wellbeing, how to reconnect our increasingly urbanised population back to farming and why it’s important not to forget that food can be fun as we look to engage consumers with sustainability.

Plus, they discuss how the debate on ultraprocessed foods has made its way into the consumer media and unpick the latest trends highlighted in the Waitrose food and drink report, including the rise of ‘climatarian’ eating.

Articles discussed by Caroline and Julia:

A local focus | RSA journal

Mind what you eat | Good Housekeeping

Waitrose Food and Drink Report 2021-22

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

Budget 2021: Beer and prosecco duty cuts - new alcohol taxes explained | Sky News

UK-France fishing reprisals threaten full post-Brexit trade war | The Guardian

Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts: ‘there will be plenty of food’ this Christmas | The Grocer

Sainsbury’s brings forward net zero pledge to 2035 ahead of Cop26 summit | The Independent

The Co-op joins the Cop26 conversation with playful name change | The Drum

Tesco joins forces with Gorillas delivery app | City AM

Morrisons goes private to mark end of buyout saga | The Times

Bottoms up – the Great British dinner party is back! | The Telegraph

Report calls out ‘health halos’ on HFSS products aimed at teens | Food Navigator

'Edible' stock cube made from pea protein to be trialled by Gousto | Packaging Europe

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Julia is joined by Adam Sopher, co-founder and director of gourmet popcorn brand Joe & Seph’s.

They talk about healthy snacking and what it’s like being an indulgent brand in the era of HFSS, the growing importance of DTC to the business and how its unique operational model makes it possible to produce an 80-strong range of flavours.

They also discuss the ongoing supply chain crisis, soaring container costs and how cost inflation is affecting SMEs.

Plus, Adam talks about the brand’s latest brand tie-up – a dry martini popcorn for the new James Bond film – and how collaborations can help brands reach new consumer groups, what he expects from this year’s festive season and why he loves tech in fmcg and is excited about Tesco’s new checkout-free store.

**Click here to register for the DTC masterclass mentioned by Julia.**

Articles discussed by Adam and Julia:

Christmas shoppers start earlier but half don’t think we’ll have a normal celebration | The Drum

The rise of permissible indulgence and frozen snacking | Mintel

In pictures: Tesco’s GetGo checkout-free shopping experience | The Grocer

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

Tesco tech play: Supermarket giant launches checkout-free GetGo store in London | Evening Standard

Farmers could be ‘put out of business’ by New Zealand free trade deal, says NFU | politics.co.uk

UK’s net zero plan “devoid of urgency” on food | The Grocer

Morrisons shareholders wave through £7bn takeover | The Guardian

PG Tips and Cornetto maker Unilever warns prices will rise | BBC News

Asda recruiting 15,000 temporary Christmas staff | The Grocer

M&S and Boots launch plans to hire 17,000 temp jobs - as Amazon offers £3,000 signing-on bonuses | Sky News

$1bn Gorillas fundraising shows appetite for growth in rapid grocery delivery sector | Sky News

Pret a Manger 'moves into new territory' with Express format | Big Hospitality

Lindt challenges Cadbury with first hot chocolate launch | The Grocer

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Julia is joined by Nathan Ward, business unit director at Kantar. As head of the Usage Foods service at Kantar, Nathan is laser-focused on understanding the ‘why’ behind shopper trends. He talks to Julia about which lockdown trends are proving sticky, how the ‘big return to work’ is affecting shopping and eating habits and what to expect from Christmas at a time when shoppers are more polarised economically than they’ve been in a long time.

Plus, they discuss what’s been driving the rise of plant-based, how ‘less but better’ is playing out in the meat category and how food price inflation is set to shape the power dynamics in the UK grocery retail sector.

Articles discussed by Nathan and Julia:

Britons cut meat-eating by 17%, but must double that to hit target | The Guardian

Frozen turkeys in high demand as Christmas shopping starts early | The Guardian

Kraft Heinz says people must get used to higher food prices | BBC News

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

PM appoints former Tesco boss Dave Lewis as supply chain adviser | City AM

Felixstowe port congestion slows down supermarket imports | The Grocer

Brexit: Most NI checks on British goods to be scrapped | BBC News

Britain's chicken king says the 20-year binge on cheap food is over | Reuters

Aldi knocks 30% off prices for ‘packaging imperfections’ in food waste bid | The Grocer

Just Eat Takeaway.com breaks through one billion orders mark | The Times

Shoppers make fewer supermarket trips to save petrol amid fuel crisis | The Independent

Soil Association Certification joins Amazon climate initiative | The Grocer

Gary Barlow launches organic wine range from Spain | The Drinks Business

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Julia is joined by Jemima Bird, founder and CEO of Hello Finch. A self-described “greengrocer from Barnsley who became an accidental marketeer”, Jemima is an experienced CMO and brand strategist whose career has included stints at Co-op, Asda, Musgrave Retail Partners, Moss Bros and more.

Jemima is one of those people who always have an interesting take on what’s happening in the market and pick up on trends long before others. Right now, she is particularly focused on trends in the ready-to-drink cocktail market. She talks to Julia about why the RTD sector is so fast-growing and dynamic, how it’s changed during and after lockdown, the impact of RTDs on the out-of-home market, the key cocktail trends to have on your radar for 2022 – and why it’s so challenging to create a decent cocktail in a can.

Plus, she talks to Julia about her passion for vending and why she believes in the importance of resisting algorithms, breaking out of your media bubble and avoiding rabbit holes.

Articles discussed with Jemima and Julia:

Why RTDs Will Boom in 2021 and Beyond | Beverage Dynamics

Stir craze: how the negroni became the cocktail of 2021 | The Guardian

Atomic Brands introduces Monaco Classic Mai Tai RTD cocktail

As pubs pack out, drinks companies worry about an abstemious youth | FT

Links to the big food and grocery stories of the week:

CD&R wins $10 bln auction for UK supermarket Morrisons | Reuters

Grocer Gold Awards 2021: The Grocer of the Year | The Grocer

Ocado teams up with Wayve to trial driverless deliveries | The Times

Project launched to tackle greenwashing in food and drink sectors | Environment Agency

Pig cull underway as PM dismisses concerns of pork sector | The Grocer

French fishermen threaten to block exports to UK in run-up to Christmas | LBC

World food prices hit 10-year peak | Reuters

Amazon opens first UK non-food store | BBC News

Cadbury to launch vegan Dairy Milk alternative called Plant Bar | The Guardian

Nestle expands vegan options with plant-based egg and shrimp substitutes | Sky News

Learn more about the show and get in touch at thepicklist.co.uk

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Julia is joined by Annabel Makin-Jones, a fifth-generation Yorkshire farmer and founder of Annabel’s Deliciously British as well as Tame and Wild drinks.

Annabel is passionate about farming, the countryside and British produce. She talks to Julia about the impact of labour shortages on her business, the challenges of the current growing season and why she believes more needs to be done to support British farming.

Plus, she shares her take on export opportunities for British produce, the impact of wonky fruit and veg on consumer attitudes, the role of brands in fresh produce and why she thinks farmers and growers need to become better at marketing.

Articles discussed by Annabel and Julia:

‘The anxiety is off the scale’: UK farm sector worried by labour shortages | The Guardian

We must back British farming 365 days a year | Politics Home

New study reveals demand for branded produce | Fresh Fruit Portal

Links to the big food and grocery stories of the week:

Fuel crisis: Shoppers warned of Christmas nightmare | The Times

Tesco lets UK-Spain train take the strain to counter trucker crisis | Reuters

Morrisons takeover battle set to be decided via one-day auction | The Times

EU HGV drivers granted temporary visas unlikely to hit UK roads until mid-November | The Grocer

Deliveroo launches ‘Hop’ rapid grocery service with Morrisons | FT

Morrisons axing store picking from 50 branches as online demand eases | The Grocer

England to ease regulations on gene editing in agricultural research | Reuters

Heinz and Campbell Soup among worst companies for unsustainable palm oil, WWF report says | The Independent

‘The whole system is rotten’: life inside Europe’s meat industry | The Guardian

Soaring pea costs set to hit plant-based meat producers | FT

Learn more about the show and get in touch at thepicklist.co.uk

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