Women In The Food Industry

🌟🌟 Meet Emily Roux – the new Star in Town 🌟🌟 This February Emily Roux was awarded her first The MICHELIN Guide star for her Notting Hill restaurant Caractere with her husband, Diego Ferrari, where they serve a menu taking influence from Diego’s Italian and Emily’s French heritage with an emphasis on relaxed dining. 🌟🌟  Women In The Food Industry Ambassador, Antonia Lloyd, interviewed trailblazer Emily to find out more about her road to success, bringing up two young sons, future ambitions, and what’s coming up this spring. 🌟🌟 We look forward to following Emily’s next Michelin starred chapter at Caractère and also the judging of the The Roux Scholarship 2025. 🌟🌟 With 18 talented chefs shortlisted for the regional finals, including four women, the highest number to date, the Roux family  remains critical to the shaping of Britain’s fine dining future stars. The clip of the tribute to the late Albert & Michel Roux Snr at the 40th anniversary of The Roux Scholarship shows the high regard for the family. 🔗🔗 Find Antonia's interview with Emily here https://lnkd.in/e2AAghnE #rouxscholarship #michelinstar #womeninthefoodindustry

I promise that Colin Mordi didn't send me a memo about wearing #SpillTheBeans brand colours, but I appeared to be completely colour co-ordinated for the event. Wednesday 9th April saw #SpillTheBeans volume 4 the event for empowering ethnic food producers. It was the first time the event was run during the day, which actually allowed for a more in-depth and relaxed event with greater time for excellent speakers, pitching, networking and sampling of brilliant food & drinks. I've been to 3 out of 4 #SpillTheBeans now & even though I wasn't a panellist on this one (I spoke at Volume 2) it was one of my favourites for the above reasons. Goldsmiths, University of London was a great venue allowing everyone to have more space. Wonderful catching up with stallholders Mariae Hackett (Dapur Mariae) & trying her two new products, Tolani A. founder of Chapmans of London has some newly designed cans for her non alcoholic version of the famous Nigerian drink, Natasha Orumbie founder of The Vegan Patty Lady was in fine form giving an excellent pitch to end the day & also sampling her amazing #vegan patties which are virtually impossible to distinguish from their meat counter parts. Frankie Michaela Spivey was also pitching & showing how mini pivots to the food service world offered good opportunities for D2C food brands. New faces to me were: The Flygerians Nigerian street food- Corporate caterers aka sisters Jessica Edun & Joanna Edun who provided the brilliant lunch. Loved their energy and food. Also flying the flag for Peckham were Helena & Anthony Adedipe co-founders of Eko Brewery using traditional African techniques to create their own craft beers. Another great husband & wife team were Curry Smugglers Desi Snacks with Steve D Sailopal brilliantly using beer cans with eye-catching designs as packaging for their Desi snacks. Priya Koliyot founder of The Keto Elf was sampling her low-carb #keto friendly seeded crackers. Amongst the insigntful panel speakers were Charmaine Trotman #FreeFrom buyer at Ocado Retail, Rosie Collins, Marketing Director at Macknade, Manon GALIZZI, MIFST founder of F&B product development consultancy EPICSI,Claire Roper Senior Partner at food marketers LUMINA CONSULTANTS & Reshma Sheikh CEO of inclusive supply chain network MSDUK. Of those on the Pitch Panel great as ever to catch up with Tobias Azizah from Meta & Amy Lance Category Director of Food & Sport at Holland & Barrett, and of course Charmaine Trotman (Ocado Retail) & Patrick Wright (Conbella & LUMINA CONSULTANTS) Finally thanks to Anoushka L. for taking the pictures of me, her & Sangeeta Sengupta against the #SpillTheBeans background & also for coming to an awesome event at Le Cordon Bleu London later that evening (more of that on another post!) Waving at Rakesh (Rax) Kalia, Jessica Horwill too LinkedIn won't let me tag anymore people!) #spillthebeans #ethnicfoodbrands Women In The Food Industry, #WomeninTheFoodIndustry #foodproducers #challengerbrands

🤔🤔 Did you know that the UK has not had a #plantbased Michelin starred restaurant until this year? 🌟🌟 Plates London - Plant-Based Food Studio and Restaurant became the first UK plant-based restaurant to be awarded a The MICHELIN Guide star earlier this year, after siblings Keeley Haworth & Kirk Haworth opened in July 2024 in east London's Old Street. Innovative chef Kirk Haworth honed his craft at top establishments like The French Laundry, Sat Bains and was Champion of Champions on #GreatBritishMenu last year. 🏆🏆Keeley is the creative driving force, co-founder and MD, who has long combined her innate food and drink passions and beliefs on #sustainability with her career as a creative for global brands. Together they’ve built up Plates into an award-winning restaurant with a sustainable, dynamic, innovation business model at its core. 🔗🔗 Women In The Food Industry Ambassador & Writer, Antonia Lloyd interviewed Keeley on how they’ve built their success, their summer launch of Plates farm and retreat in the south west of France and on being a trailblazing mother and woman in the food industry. Check out Antonia's interview in the link below: https://lnkd.in/ezKeHyrE #womeninthefoodindustry #michelinstar #plantbasedrestaurants

🤔📸 Which UK photographers reached the shortlist of the Claire Aho Award for Women Photographers 2025 ? 📸🫶 Part of the global #WorldFoodPhotographyAwards, run by Caroline Kenyon & THE FOOD AWARDS COMPANY this award aims to encourage and celebrate women photographers. 📸📸 This year I was delighted to be on the judging advisory panel. Women In The Food Industry are particular fans of the Claire Aho Award and here are the amazing photos by UK photographers shortlisted in this category & announced on 3rd April: 🫶  Emma Dunham 🫶  Karolina Wiercigroch 🫶  Lizzie Mayson 🫶  Lara Jane Thorpe 🫶  Cath Lowe & 🫶  Linda Wride 🔗🔗 Find out more on our instagram reel https://lnkd.in/ea8bu8Me #foodphotography #womeninthefoodindustry #foodphotographyawards

📚📚 Join us & discover the Culinary Wonder of Eastern Europe with three new cookbook reviews by Women In The Food Industry ambassador, writer & #GreatBritishMenu series editor Antonia Lloyd 🥳🥳 It's publication day for Caroline Eden's book Green Mountains & a great reason to discover the joys of Eastern European cooking. 🫶🫶 The cuisine of Eastern Europe is, increasingly, receiving the recognition it deserves thanks to passionate cooks and authors eager to share their ancestry, culinary traditions, and love for this biodiverse landscape 🌟🌟 Cookbooks published this spring include – Alissa Timoshkina's  Kapusta, Irina Georgescu 's Danube (Hardie Grant Publishing), and Caroline Eden’s Green Mountains ( Quadrille ) 📚🫶 Antonia explores how they shine a light on Eastern Europe's diverse peoples, their stories, and the eclectic heritage of their food. 🔗🔗 Check out Antonia's review from the link below https://lnkd.in/eWbEnKbj #bookreview #womeninthefoodindustry #cookbooks #publishing #easterneuropeancuisine

💌💌 Have you seen our latest newsletter from Women In The Food Industry? It's got lots of offers & news from our supporters: 🥂 Discover how to get free press & trade tickets to Glass of Bubbly 📍 See who's at Ideal Home Show until 6th April & bag some free tickets! 📍 Discover how to see Dr Dolly van Tulleken at The Future of Food event this Monday (7th April) at The Conduit 📍 Get a Year's Free Membership of The Craft Guild of Chefs & also find out about the extended deadline to their Graduate Awards 📅 Plus save the date for our upcoming events June at The Conduit (19th June) & Mercato Metropolitano Mayfair (17th June) ✒ Find out what happened Women In The Food Industry's first event in Yorkshire at The Grand, York with Cara Houchen's great recap. Thanks to Karen Winter (Fewell), Juli Thompson, Colette Safhill, Adel Gascoigne & Nicola Proud for volunteering to put this great afternoon together. 💪 Discover gender parity at The Roux Scholarship & Optomen Television's #GreatBritishMenu with Amber Francis of Chefs in Schools & Sally Abe being only the second time that two women have reached the banquet in the show's 20 year history & much more 🔗 Visit this link to read our latest newsletter https://lnkd.in/enbxapTK & don't miss our fortnightly ones in the future to be first to hear about our news https://lnkd.in/dgK_vEq9 #newsletter #womeninthefoodindustry #emailmarketing

♀️♀️ Discover what led to some of the guiding principles of how Women In The Food Industry was founded & how collaboration & not competition is a key mission for us. 🎙🎙Last month Phil Street FIH interviewed me in a podcast for The Craft Guild of Chefs & delved into my background giving me the opportunity to talk about my influences including Asma Khan of Darjeeling Express (there's a snippet here), working at Great British Chefs as Head of Marketing & Social Media for almost 8 years & why I love the food industry but was driven to try to make it a more equitable place for all! 💪💪 In the podcast, we discuss some simple, non rocket science steps that can hopefully help us all & give us hope at times when it may feel "enough is enough". 🙏🙏 Thanks to Alison Cullin-Woodcock for arranging the podcast with Phil! 🔗🔗 You can listen to the full podcast on Spotify from the link below https://lnkd.in/dc9fQZZr #podcast #womeninthefoodindustry #equity #equality

Day 30 of Women's History Month: Culinary History Made as Two Women Cook at the Great British Menu Banquet for the First Time in 20 Years! In the 20 year history of #GreatBritishMenu, we've finally witnessed a groundbreaking moment for women in professional kitchens, TWO female chefs cooking at the prestigious banquet simultaneously! That this milestone happens during Women's History Month makes it even more meaningful. I'd like to say the hugest congratulations to: Sally Abe, Consultant Chef at Conrad London St. James and Pem Restaurant, who created the stunning starter Amber Francis, Head Chef & Senior Educator at Chefs in Schools, who not only crafted the dessert but was crowned Champion of Champions! 🏆 What makes this moment so significant is how long it's taken to happen. Despite women being the backbone of home cooking for generations, professional kitchens have remained challenging spaces for female talent to break through, particularly at elite levels. Behind this milestone are also the remarkable women shaping the show itself: 🤎 Host Andi Oliver, bringing her infectious energy and expertise 🤎 Judge Lorna McNee, offering her discerning palate 🤎 Series Producer Avril Beaven, crafting the show's vision 🤎 Series Editor Antonia Lloyd, one of Women In The Food Industry's ambassadors I especially want to applaud Mex (Mecca) Ibrahim for her tireless work promoting women in the food industry. Her dedication to creating visibility, opportunities, and community for female culinary talent has been instrumental in shifting the landscape for women chefs across the UK. As we celebrate these visible achievements, let's remember they represent countless women working in kitchens everywhere, pushing boundaries and redefining what's possible in the culinary world. #WomensHistoryMonth #WomenInHospitality #FemaleChefs #CulinaryExcellence #GlassCeilings #GreatBritishMenu #WomenLeaders

📺📺 Did you see another piece of culinary history? For only the second time in #GreatBritishMenu’s 20 year history, two women were cooking at the banquet! 👏👏 Huge congratulations to Sally Abe, Consultant Chef at Conrad London St. James, Pem Restaurant who made the starter and to Amber Francis Head Chef & Senior Educator at Chefs in Schools who made the dessert and was also crowned Champion of Champions! I was lucky enough to be at a preview screening of the banquet & caught up with some of the great women behind the production of the Optomen Television's long-running show including: 🌟🌟 Host Andi Oliver, Judge Lorna McNee, Series Producer Avril Beaven & Series Editor Antonia Lloyd. Antonia is one of Women In The Food Industry's ambassadors & a huge help in putting us in touch with all of the women competing so we can shine a spotlight on their background & inspirations. 🌟🌟Great also catching up with chefs Sabrina Gidda & Josh Eggleton from THE PONY AND TRAP (CHEW MAGNA) LIMITED who have also competed on #GreatBritishMenu 📺📺 If you missed the banquet on Friday night catch up on BBCiPlayer to see all of the amazing dishes & drama of cooking at Blenheim Palace. You will also be able to catch up with Amber who was on Cactus TV #SaturdayKitchen today making a seasonal & home cook friendly version of her stunning dessert! 🌟🌟 Amber has been a fabulous ambassador for Chefs in Schools for all her time on Great British Menu & clearly shown that it's important to spend time on training those responsible for children's food at school and for educating them (like Stephanie Slater & her team at School Food Matters also do) about where food comes from. 🔗🔗 Visit Women In The Food Industry's site to see all of my interviews with all of the women chefs who competed this year. Appearing on #GreatBritishMenu is a life-changing experience & I was so pleased to see Sally & Amber at the final banquet, as an inspiration for the future! https://lnkd.in/e9N4xPed #womeninthefoodindustry #Greatbritishmenu #foodtv

📍📍On March 5th, The Grand, York played host to the first-ever Women In The Food Industry Yorkshire event – a landmark gathering that brought together some of the region’s most accomplished women in food, drink, and hospitality. This inspiring and empowering event, provided a platform to celebrate achievements, discuss challenges, and build a stronger network of industry professionals in the North of England. Cara Houchen – Director of Spotty Media Limited (who chaired the panel event) reports on the inspiring afternoon. 🌟🌟In the link below you can find out more about the resilience & innovation coming from Yorkshire with panellists: Saskia Roskam 🍪 & Lisa Shepherd co-founders of The Biskery (celebrating the business' 9th birthday!), Colette Safhill MD of Myth Drinks & Goat Drinks Ltd, Sally Spilman of Spilman Farming, Samira Effa currently Head Chef at Grantley Hall, and Laurissa Heywood, co-owner of Pignut Restaurant 🙏🙏 Huge thanks to the amazing group of women in Yorkshire: Karen Winter (Fewell), Juli Thompson, Adel Gascoigne, Colette Safhill, Cara Houchen & Nicola Proud who volunteered to put on this event under Women In The Food Industry's umbrella. This will be the start of more events in Yorkshire so look out for them and in the meantime read Cara's great feature in the link below: https://lnkd.in/eCqu5Tkv #womeninthefoodindustry #yorkshire #iwd2025 #inspiringwomen