Our Judges

An ex-chef turned food journalist, editor and PR, brand & creative content management for food and drink brands and personalities. As an ex-chef, food still runs through my veins. It’s something I think about 24-7. Reflecting my love for it now through incredible brands, personalities and eating my way through everything I can get my grubby little hands on.

Mrs Bun the Baker® Moved around a lot when she was young which is maybe where her passion for food came, from loving the Northern Hotpots, Coastal Fish n Chips to learning Macaroni wasn’t just a pudding it was also a cheese dish too! She was also a very inquisitive baker, ever since she could sit on the kitchen table and lick the mixing bowl! Hooked.

She travelled abroad learning much about food and its relationship with cultures. She studied Home Economics, Nutrition and Catering right through school to university, then gained her teaching qualification, spending her next years teaching what she had loved to study.

Marrying Mr Bun, becoming a mum and cookie bun here too.  She decided to plunge into running her own cookery school. Mrs Bun the Baker® was established in 2014 and has quickly become an award winning Hands On. Fun, well known Cookery school in Oxfordshire. Winning best new business locally and small business 100 nationally. From young buns to older buns, there is no age limit of when you want to pick up making, baking and cooking. Creating magical moments in the kitchen with her engaging, knowledgeable and fun classes she’ll help you on your way to make nutritious healthy meals for all the family as well as enjoying those sweet treats we like too. They are online and face to face whichever you prefer.

Everyone can build confidence and start their passion for food, which they’ll hopefully take with them on their life’s journey… after all, we all need to feed ourselves! Knowing she cannot always reach you all she has published 2 recipe books containing foolproof recipes from snacks, mains to sweets, meals for the family to enjoy and both children and adult can make them.

When she is not baking, she will be found in the garden, clearing the weeds! Not so green fingered, but she does grow a mountain full of raspberries!

Angus is an experienced International Sales Director and Adviser, specialising in the Food & Drink sector. He has been advising and mentoring food & beverage brands on developing business overseas for over twelve years.

I am a account manager at Newlyweds foods,  I have been working in the food manufacturing industry for over 24 years in various areas from ready Meals, sausages,  seasonings & coatings and bakery in varies roles. I have always enjoyed working in the food industry as I have a real passion for quality food. When I’m not working I have 16 year old twin boys that keep me feeling young. My hobbies outside of home life and work life are, fitness, gardening and cooking.

Ex Michelin Starred Chef, and Catey Award winner. Now owns own restaurant in the middle of Cambridge. Did work at Four Seasons Hotel Group, ICI Catering, P&O, and 17 years as Catering and Conference Manager at St Johns College Cambridge. Chair of Food Service Managers Group. Vice President of Reunion des Gastronomes, and TUCO chair for Cambridge for many years

• I have been working at Butlers for over 29 years and worked through many departments including technical and production and for the last 10 years I have been looking after product development
• I love creating new products with cheese whether that be for Christmas or other events, packaging formats or creating new ideas for new trends and changing consumer needs
• I am a massive foodie and love cooking, eating out and trying new foods; I love everything food from street markets to shopping ‘new’ lines instore. I am instantly attracted to new flavours and food trends and am always watching food tv and scanning google & pintrest
  
• I am married to Mark and have a cockapoo called Barney
• Studied at UMIST and awarded 2:1 in management & chemical sciences
  
• Studied various management courses at Lancaster university
• Cooking courses at Vegetarian society & Northcote manor
• I judged at the Great Yorkshire Show in 2022

A commercially focused Senior Marcomms Leader with extensive management experience in global Blue Chip and SME businesses. Thrives in and motivated by collaborative environments and developing and leading strong performance teams. Able to deal with ambiguity and change by combining experience, diligence and innovation.

My name is Christopher & I love all things food & drink, whether it's cooking at home or roaming around the fun foodie hot spots in Edinburgh, it's always an adventure. In my job as a development technologist I taste, review and develop food products, collaborate with colleagues and even travel a bit, exploring other organisation - and I get paid for it (who knew a job like this existed!). My friends and Granny don't really understand my job but I get out of explaining for the 100th time by offering them delicious free samples which are always greatly appreciated!

I have been in the food industry for over 10 years, with 8 in food manufacturing.  I started at college studying professional cookery & working in the kitchen in my local golf club.  I enjoyed being a student so much, I went on to Abertay University to study Food Product Design. Since university I have worked  in the NPD/Technical department for Bakkavor (salads, ready meals, meal accompaniments), Lightbody Ventures (Branded biscuits & toddler snacks), Genius Gluten Free & Lazy Day Foods (free from bakery) and a year at Simon Howie foods developing own label and branded meat products (mainly Sausages & Burgers).  It has been a busy few years and now, having learned lots across different the sectors, I know my heart lies in bakery.

Franco-American living in London working in food and travel television. Content creator also known as "CondimentClaire"... 

David has twenty years of global experience, working with chefs such as Yotam Ottolenghi in Moscow and training in chocolate at the Valrhona Academy in France. David settled in London in 2007 where he has gained a wide array of experience in hotels, retail, catering, product development and fast-growing global restaurant chains, such as The Square, the Savoy, ZUMA and ROKA.

Alongside Pastry, David’s other passion is teaching. After setting up a private pastry school, in 2012, offering private and group workshops, he gained extensive experience working with the GateWay project. Working with troubled teenagers and teaching them pastry and baking, they were able to enjoy a project outside the standard school curriculum and sell their homemade products.

In March 2021, while working as Head Pastry Chef at German Gymnasium, David set up a weekly patisserie popup shop in Rochester, called 'Dreams Baker'. In his shop David offers a range of baked goods, including his invention, the TOOKIE (soon to be TM), where a tart and a cookie meet and celebrate a range of flavors and textures. 

In the past year and a half David has been branded 'The Cake Man of Rochester' by local customers, in his social media outlets he shares his creations, his customers' relations as well as his knowledge with live tutorials posted weekly. 

Tweakd – Commercial Director

Fairoak Foods – Head of Culinary

Ginger’s Kitchen – Founder and Managing Director

Wild Harvest – Operations Director and Managing Director

Cantaloupe Group – Head of Food Operations

Katsouris Fresh Foods (part of Bakkavor) - Development Chef

Specialist Subjects:

·   Ready Meals

·   Soups & Sauces

·    Food-to-Go

·    Chilled Salads

·    Nutritionally balanced meals

·    Plant Based

·    Savoury Pastry

·    Cooked and cured meats

·    Sous Vide

·    Wild and foraged ingredients

·    Dark Kitchens

·    Hospitality

·    Manufacturing NPD

·    Food Sales Growth

Award-winning international digital marketing consultant with over 18 years of experience, specialising in F&B and Hospitality.

Brand Management, Product Management, Category Management in various organisations. Founded and have run Contigo Management for over 14 years - working on a retained or project basis

With more than 40 years’ experience in chilled prepared foods, both as a Product Developer with Marks and Spencer and then as Innovation and New business development Director for Bakkavor, Debra has an industry leading pedigree and a wealth of success in commercially grounded Innovation

Passionate about great tasting food with 13 years of experience developing and delivering high quality products across retail, manufacturing, start-ups and food tech. Knowledge of a large variety of categories across chilled and ambient, gained whilst creating best in class offerings across both private label and branded businesses. Currently leading global product strategy across 16 countries and 4 brands for the world leader in fresh, nutritious recipes delivered to your door.

HelloFresh: meal kits (current)

Leon Grocery: taking QSR brand in to grocery at Sainsbury's

Kerry foods - Waitrose: ready meals

Metcalfe's Skinny: snack start up working directly with the founder of Pret A Manger and Itsu

Greencore - Waitrose: food to go

Sainsbury's: bakery, produce, meal solutions

Denise Spencer-Walker

Food Communications Manager, AHDB

Denise Spencer-Walker has worked as Food Communications Manager for Agriculture, Horticulture and Development Board, a levy body that represents farmers, growers and others in the supply chain for 18 years and with her background in Home Economics has worked in the food and drink industry for over 25 years as an accomplished recipe developer, food writer and food stylist.  She is also a member of the Guild of Food Writers and has a Masters in Culinary Arts.

Head of New Product Development for Ireland’s leading organic food brand. Responsible for launch of branded and PL food products for retailers in Ireland, UK and Australian market.

Emily is the Senior Consultant. Her composure in a crisis and determinism to find creative yet flexible solutions means she is the first point of call for our clients. Her commercial background allows her to streamline projects  from start to finish, facilitating progress and getting the best results for every client.

In the kitchen, Emily’s specialism lies in confectionery and trendy plant-based cuisine and has such worked with a range of large FMCG clients including UNILEVER and Subway

Over 20 years experience in R&D and innovation in the UK and across the globe. Spanning chilled, frozen and ambient categories for well loved household brands including McVities, innocent drinks, Birdseye & Young's Seafood, and now Direct to Consumer with HelloFresh.

Fiona co-founded Caliendo's Gelato with her partner Michelina-Caliendo-Sear.  Caliendo's is an ward-Winning (QFA, Great Taste, Ice Cream Alliance) Artisan Gelateria, based in the heart of Kentish Town, London NW5.

Fiona has had an unusual route into hospitality as a retired Army Officer and founder of a business consultancy, she has spent many years developing her logistic and large scale business change skills.  However, after some genealogy uncovered the true extent of her partners deep family history of gelato making in both their native Naples and London's Clarkenwell.  The couple decided to combine business skills and resurrect over 150 years of family tradition which ended after WW2.  The pair retrained as gelato chefs in both Italy and the UK and have placed quality and authenticity at the heart of everything they do.  Caliendo's won the QFA Small Producer Award 2021, and have been fortunate enough to go on and collect further awards from both the Ice Cream Alliance and Great Taste Awards in 2022.  Caliendo's, 'bringing high quality, affordable luxury to our customers'.    

Highly experienced and trained Food Technologist/EHO. Experienced in food manufacturing throughout the world, covering all food products and processes.  With a wealth of production, technical and quality knowledge, strategic viewpoint and eye for detail can execute audits, identify issues and give constructive and pragmatic advise and assist suppliers to develop their sites.

A passionate foodie with over twenty years experience in the food & drink industry across foodservice, FMCG, private label and wholesale.

Previously Director of Marketing, Bidfood UK.

Starting out in grocery retail, I developed a love for manufacturing which is where I spent a few years working across different product categories until I fell into pizza. I've now gained experience across multiple pizza businesses and sectors ranging from branded retail, restaurant and QSR for household names such as PizzaExpress & Papa John's Pizza. Our latest launch is in collaboration with WW (Weight Watchers) to launch two products which deliver Papa John's great taste for the health conscious consumer - pizza doesn't just have to be a treat!

I am a product developer for Jardox Ltd which makes bespoke seasonings, pastes, marinades, glazes, gravies.

Jackie Mitchell, freelance journalist and blogger in the food, drink and health sectors, has worked on newspapers, magazines and digital media in the UK, Hong Kong, Australia and New York.  Specialising in the foodservice, hospitality and “free from” sectors, she writes for several UK and European publications and web sites and is also a radio presenter on Brooklands Radio.

Jason has spent 4 decades in the food industry and is enjoying starting his 5^th...

Michelin Star Years - these years saw Jason in his chef’s whites with Roux Brothers and other luminaries leading to the helm of some of London’s most prestigious restaurants.

Café Society Years - Café Rouge took 100 years of café society and swiftly planted them in high streets over the country aptly joined by Dome, Dragon Inns & Mamma Amalfi. Jason’s 10 year journey took the group from 4 to 160+ café bars in roles as diverse as operations director to purchasing & marketing director.

Premium Restaurants - Quality restaurants were flying back with successful brands such as Chez Gérard, Livebait and Bertorelli’s with Jason as their commercial director running food development, purchasing, information technology and property functions.

Gastro Pub Boom - Jason joined the Spirit Group and put pub food firmly on the map, which became a significant growth driver both for their 3,000 pubs and for the rest of the industry. That successful drive continued in his role at SFI where the team took a group with an uncertain financial future to one of the most promising bar groups on the high st such as Slug & Lettuce, Ha Ha! and Havana.

Retail Years - Jason joined M&S and picked up a number of accolades heading up over 100 restaurants, 300 coffee shops & over 60 global operations.. Jason was also responsible for the rolling out of 50 new deli counters adding theatre in their food halls as well as revitalising their in-store bakery operation, bringing a new award-winning concept to over 450 stores in under 18 months stealing significant market growth. This followed by Jason as executive director driving LFL, footfall & huge ROI in 140 Garden & Leisure Centres across the UK

Hana Group UK - Jason started Hana Group in UK and in under 5 years has opened over 200 units winning hearts & minds of customers as trend for healthy food and in store theatre reaches across the UK changing face of retail.

Founder and MD of Nordic food specialist Scandinavian Kitchen for the past 15 years. Originally from Sweden, I arrived in the UK a couple of recessions and one Brexit ago and been living in London ever since.

Passionate about bringing the best of Scandinavia to the UK and love good food from all over the world.

Jonathan Richer is a meat industry and ingredients specialist with over 20 years industrial experience in Retailer facing roles. He now runs his own business, advising a diverse international client base on ingredient usage, meat processing, R&D and the UK retail market. He is also licenced to compound and sell spirits.

My experience in food development goes back to 1996 when I joined Sainsburys graduate scheme and spent a further 10 years innovating cross category.  Since then, I worked for Waitrose & Partners as an Innovations Manager building capability and reporting on trends.  I have also held a number of senior roles in several medium to large sized food manufacturing businesses.

I enjoy innovation and being close to food too much to do other roles!  More recently I joined Empire Bespoke Foods where I lead the food culture, build retailer relationships and manage pipeline NPD for a number of well known brands we own.  

Julie is a classically trained chef, with a breadth of experience to Board level; underpinned by more than 30 years’ experience across a range of sectors within the Hospitality, Visitor Economy & Facilities Management Industry.  

Double Catey winner, voted Public Sector top 20 Most influential for five consecutive years. Winner of Lifetime Achievement award from CUBO and CSC and member of Women1st Top 100 club in recognition of her work within the Hospitality Industry. 

A total foodie, tenacious and a passionate advocate of the Industry, on raising standards, on sustainability, highlighting the great work within the Industry, and encouraging youth and new talent to choose the Hospitality Industry as a ‘career of choice’. 

An innovator within the food and drinks industry, with over 20 years experience across UK and International markets. 

I followed in the footsteps of my mum (a home economics teacher)  and had a passion for Home Economics and did this at Uni in Edinburgh specialising in NPD.  I started my foodie career at Thornton’s - every girls dream job - as a Chocolatier straight from Edinburgh Uni and having looked after the licensing of Thornton’s, soon got the buzz and pace of retail!  It was from here I moved to Asda  - starting out in a quality role for the Café and quickly moving into buying in cafes and bakery.  Having spent 15 years doing numerous roles in Asda from managing the Own label development teams across chilled, ambient, BWS and Non food and Healthcare and Optical.  My in depth knowledge of the market and stage and gate process across multiple retailers as made me a champion of quality and true Coop brand ambassador.  My passion and enthusiasm for Coop spans across  4 teams : Legal labelling, Depot QC, Process and the Quality teams and feel privileged to lead the team and raise the bar on Quality again at the Coop. </p><p>Its great to be part of the judging panel on Free from Awards and interacting with smaller producers, bloggers and other industry experts to share knowledge and passion.  </p><p><br></p><p>My favourite Coop product has to be our Sea salt and Chardonnay crisps -I’m a regular customer and also member of the devoted Facebook Fan page! The salt and more acidic the better for me.......

I am a forward thinking, creative Marketing Consultant, capable of understanding the commercial needs of the businesses that I work for and able to demonstrate how marketing needs to play an important part in an organisations ownership of its own brand to achieve the goals set.

A 2.1 classification Marketing graduate with over 15 years' experience in the industry. I have been involved in various marketing projects with a particular interest in strategy, brand development, event management and insights. My experience and skills also include control of budget planning and delivery, measurement of provable ROI, a capability of managing relationships with key stakeholders and a drive to ensure success.

A real passion for working in the Food Industry given my wide range of marketing experience in both B2C and B2B arenas. I've managed B2C product launches into the UK & International snack category, covering digital strategies, PR, influencer marketing, retailer relationships and trade show planning. I also have experience in education, training and leisure sectors.

From owning my own handmade candle company and launching three artisan food brands, I am able to understand the challenges and opportunities that face small businesses and adapt my services to work with those clients. But having worked for two global food manufacturing companies also allows me to work within a wider team and drive forward ambitious marketing goals and campaigns.

Leane has 17 years’ experience in artisan food & drink. Having worked on products from scratch through to retail launch, she has considerable tasting experience and a well-rounded and nuanced judging palette. Her areas of deeper tasting expertise include tea, drinks and snacks.

I founded Find me the Leads in May 2018 after a long career in FMCG spanning a number of Sales Roles.  My aim for the Business has and will always be to help underdistributed brands secure their fare share of space in store, on shelf, in fridges and freezers and on menus.

Lisa Kerr is a Senior Commercial Strategic Integrated Marketing and Brand Professional who has worked across various International markets - the United Kingdom, Europe, South Africa, Africa, Mauritius, India, and The UAE. Her passion and love for food, hopspitality, consumer behaviour and the consumer journey has talormade her career to be inclusive of global organisations in the Fast Food/Casual Dining, Leisure, Entertainment, Hospitality and FMCG industries, delivering extensive creative and commercially driven marketing strategies, above and below the line advertising and digital campaigns. She has also focussed on developing innovative product development  using Stage Gate Processes, and managing Product Lifecycles for Retail and Foodservice channels, in both B2B and B2C industries.

Through my company Consulting by Lucy Georgia I engage in International Trade, working with growers and importers using my unique knowledge of buying and range development, strategic planning & sourcing.

Ideally positioned to provide a detailed insider perspective on how buyers think, what they are looking for and deliver advice on how to fit in and adapt succinctly with a retailer's on-line and off-line business model.
Through these key skills I provide advice on supermarket and e-commerce retailing and the food & horticulture industry. Sharing my knowledge to help clients develop their businesses, as well as working to strategically build their assortments to drive profitable sales for their company.

Luis specialises in developing international businesses for companies based in the UK and overseas. His experience spams from a wide range of products from exporting honey bee to China, spirits to the Middle East, seeds to continental Europe, olive oil to Asia, bottled water to India, alcoholic drinks to the US, etc. Luis has also worked importing food and drinks from Spain, fresh produce from the Caribbean and exotics food ingredients from Latin America. In recent years, Luis has started working with innovative compostable/biodegradable materials for both agricultural and food packaging business. 

Growing up with a fascination for food, from an early age Mark soon discovered how pursuing his passion could lead to a wide world of possibilities in the industry. Intrigued by the production and development of food along with the application of broader sciences, Mark studied a Food Science degree and a master’s in Human Nutrition before applying his expertise in a variety of technical and development managerial roles for the likes of Sainsbury's, Cadbury, Unilever, Dawn Foods Global, Mission Foods and International Food Network. Mark Lectured in Food Development and Innovation at University College Birmingham for 4 years before taking on the role of Technical Manager for the healthy eating recipe box company, Mindful Chef. Mark holds a First class BSc in Food Science from the University of Reading which included an industry placement year in the USA, MSc. in Human Nutrition (Kings College London) and gained a PGCert in Teaching and Learning from the University of Birmingham in 2020. Mark continues to be interested in the interface between new technologies and ingredients, new product development and technical compliance.

National Chairman Craft Guild of Chefs 

Over 30 years in the world of food from Chef in fine dining to teaching cooking skills to food styling, recipe and curriculum development, NPD and innovations. I have worked across three countries: Canada, US and UK. 

Currently heading up the OOH for Fox's Burtons Biscuits responsible for division strategy, NPD, Brand management & marketing of all OOH products. 

Owner Fridge Fallout - consultancy. Advising and aiding in food strategy, branding building, NPD, recipe development.

Previously head of food for Starbucks EMEA. 

At heart I am a true foodie, I love trying and exploring new ingredients and cooking for others! Which I suppose is what eventually led me to start my career in product development with Greencore. Here, I worked with multiple retailers in the salads, FTG, Snacking and Deli Filler categories. Wanting a bit more breath to my experience, my latest role has been with Jordans, Dorset & Ryvita working on branded Cereals and Biscuits. This combination has given me amazing experience across, fresh, ambient, own brand and branded. I have also made the step from product development to focusing on the innovation side, this has allowed me to take on bigger and more complex development challenges which I absolutely relish. 

• Started out as a brewer at GrandMet & Courage that then lead me to globally selling finings and hops into beer.
• Ended up with Wild Flavors heading their UK and then India operations, promoting flavours, juices and compounds through an innovative selling process.
• Went self employed in 2015 after 15 years at Wild and haven't looked back. Now working with clients covering natural flavours, probiotics for pets, organic agave based materials and zeolites, a material targeting the environmental and animal welfare improvement in our current food and agricultural practices.
• Exciting times.

A classically trained chef, having worked in multiple michelin star restaurants over the years, moved into food manufacturing working across a majority of the retail categories with the likes of Kerry, 2 Sisters and now Samworth Brothers, starting as a chef and now Head of NPD, food has always been a passion and will always be an important part of my life personally and professionally.

I've always been a big foodie so getting a job at Asda was a huge win for me.  I've been at Asda now for 10 years and I've done a couple of roles.  I spent the last 8 years working in the Quality Team and last year I moved into the Trends and Innovation Team.   Looking after awards is part of my role but I also get to work on  various PR Events and working on the upcoming trends.  

I am excited, proud and honoured to have been selected to be a judge at the Food Quality Awards 2022. With over 25 years’ experience in the food in industry, utilising my knowledge of flavour and ingredients in NPD. We will be judging products in major market sectors in retail and food service against key criteria including Innovation, taste, texture

Richard Herbage has had a deep and extensive career in Food Industry & “Uk retailing plc” – originally a graduate engineer with Unilever he moved into Mars petcare then applied his developing supply chain expertise to DIY retailing in B&Q before coming back to the food industry to head up a salads and then a pizza business for Geest (now Bakkavor).  Latterly he has led the Supply Chain functions in Premier Foods and Young’s Seafoods before setting up Supply Chain Solutions Network - a consultancy business focussed on the food industry.

A well-respected food industry professional with a over 35 years experience working in many categories of the food manufacturing and retail industry in senior technical, operational and quality roles and a prominent member of industry trade organisations.

A total foodie! I live & breathe food. An industry professional who leads teams of developers, chefs, flavourists & food scientists.

A degree in Food & Nutrition led me into a career in food & food development.

Experience in meat, meat snacking, ready meals, soups, sauces, gravies, stocks, desserts, spice blends and a few other categories.

A further Masters degree in Gastronomy has helped me see the wider foodscape.

Fellow of the Institute of Food Science & Technology; Super Taster, Thermal Taster & Flavour Memory [all authenticated by University of Nottingham]. Director of Food Science Fusion, working for clients to develop new ingredients and recipe ranges for commercial success by applying culinary skills blended with Food Science knowledge. Associate of How Many Beans formed to run workshops & mentoring transferring knowledge in commercial ideation from thought to fork. Ruth has worked in selection, innovation and technical roles at Tesco Stores as well as heading R&D departments for all sizes of food and ingredient manufacturers. In addition to her food service experience has taken her from kitchen to boardroom  

Having obtained a first class degree in Food Marketing Science a very long time ago I began my career in development at M&S.  30 years later I've been with Bakkavor for 8 years leading a team to develop food for M&S!

In the years in between I worked for Harrods, Faccenda Poultry, Morrisons, Natures Way Salads amongst others.  There's no greater feeling than seeing you new products on shelf and it's incredibly rewarding when they are still there 20 years later!

I'm a passionate foodie who lives to eat!  I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen and like nothing better than hosting and feeding friends and family.

Over thirty years of working with sustainable food - organic, Fairtrade, Free From - with manufacturers, retailers and government.

And chocolate.

https://ofplus.com/about/

Stephen A Minall - Stephen is one of the owners of Moving Food Ltd, (www. movingfood.com) which has a successful track record in launching new products into the major Retail Multiples & Catering Arenas within the UK and Europe. Moving Food works within innovation in food technology (long shelf life FMCG brands to chill chain expertise) helping SME’s and foodies the “idea creators” get to market. Moving Food has launched www.wowbutter.com a no nut peanut butter , to FMCG branded products for Ocado to Aldi to Holland & Barrett. Moving Food is unique in that it can ‘speak’ both Retail and Catering, as the owners / directors have worked on food brands and continue to work in both sectors. Moving Food Ltd advises or consults in areas in food production from new start up innovation in products or packaging and advices in the opportunities in sectors such as grab n go, ambient longer shelf life FMCG ranges. Moving Food takes the strain out of finding sources for production to packaging to access to buyers Moving Food’s experiences in food production offers a unique insight into the overall farm to fork issues facing manufacturers, brands and consumers. Stephen writes for trade journeys, presents at Retail Consortiums in UK and Europe and has been seen on BBC Business News as the leading expert in food related stories. Stephen judges both the Food Service Awards ‘The Cateys’ and is Chair of The Quality Food Awards/Food Service. Stephen is an entrepreneur who has extensive experience within retail and food to go. Stephen founded www.fdreviews.com in 2021 to help SME's get access to specific Expert advice prior to launch, preventing mistakes & costly business/brand decisions.

www.Stevewalpoleltd.com

Experienced events industry professional; a career which began in 2004 via marketing roles at the AEO and EIA, before going on to become Director of the AEV. In 2010, Tom joined F2F Events Ltd as UK Portfolio Director. For over 12 years, he managed F2F’s UK shows, launching and overseeing the growth of The Allergy & Free From and Just V Show portfolio, which now runs in three locations; London, Glasgow and Birmingham. Additional events managed include APEA Live, Love Natural Love You, The Eat Smart Show and the Back Pain Show. In 2022, he became F2F's Commercial Director, focusing on launching brand new event concepts, developing new company partnerships and the progression of F2F’s digital strategy. He currently sit on the AEO's Development Board, its Events Working Group and is a judge for the AEO Excellence Awards. Tom is also a judge for the Free From Food Awards.

Extensive experience working in the Desserts, Patisserie, Confectionery, Larder, Ice cream, Chocolate & Bakery sectors. 

With the ability to identify and develop commercially viable opportunities using the latest techniques and technologies to deliver a “WOW” factor.

Valia is an experience R&D leader and Lecturer in New Product Development with over 30 years in the food industry. During her career, Valia has been an executive board member and held leadership technical and R&D roles in large multinationals. She has been responsible for the creation and launch of over 300 new product ranges and the delivery of significant product reformulation and improvements.

Valia believes that good food needs to not only delight, sustain and nourish consumers, but to also be science based and sustainably and ethically sourced and manufactured. The food industry is at a crossdoards and we need to make sure we do the right thing.

www.itsonlybiscuits.com

www.thefoodlaunchpad.co.uk

Find more about Valia here : 

Valia's blog on product development and more

Valia's Food Innovation consulting

Valia's profile page at London South Bank University