food FUTURIST

I’ve always been interested in food and drink. In my teens I took over the cooking at home, applying what I’d learned from TV shows and books. My student summers were spent in a hotel kitchen - one I took over and ran successfully when the head chef left.

Today, I get to indulge my interest in food and drink working with incredible clients around the world, to help them see how culture, technology, and the climate will change our consumption from farm to fork. From organisational strategy to new product development, my insights have helped some of the world’s largest producers, wholesalers, retailers and F&B brands.

Bacardi logo featuring a black bat with outstretched wings inside a red circle and the word 'Bacardi' in black below.
A stylized letter 'U' made up of various small, decorative icons and symbols, with the word 'Unilever' written below in a cursive font.
Bidfood logo with green and navy text, and the slogan "Inspired by you" on a white background.
Logo of Deliveroo featuring a stylized white rabbit with two dots for eyes on a teal background, with the word 'deliveroo' written below.
Newcastle University logo with a shield, red lion, and white cross.
Logo of California almonds with orange and red text and a stylized almond icon, including website almonds.com.
Sainsbury's logo in orange text on a white background.
Kellogg's logo on a red background.
Pepsi logo featuring a red, white, and blue circular emblem and the word Pepsi in blue text.
The word 'MARS' in bold blue text on a white background.
Red text spelling 'pladis' on a white background.
A chalkboard sign with a lightbulb illustration and text that reads "Independent Food & Drink Academy."
A man wearing a black apron slices bread at a kitchen counter, surrounded by cooking utensils and appliances, with white tiled walls in the background.
Two men holding hands and looking at each other in a restaurant or cafe.
Four people stand around a table with a dish and utensils, inside a room with a large window and holiday decorations.
A man in a gray blazer and glasses leaning on a white marble counter in a restaurant kitchen, with bowls of ingredients like tomatoes, cheese, and herbs, and a wood-fired oven in the background.

The Future Pizza

A few years ago, The Big Bang Fair, a science, technology and engineering event for children, asked me to design the ‘Future Pizza’. We came up with some ideas and then we got together at a pizzeria in London and had them make our future pizza for a panel of kids to try.

The most controversial choice in our future pizza was the introduction of insects. Ground up crickets allowed us to improve the protein content, adding to the health benefits. And remove some of the wheat flour - something that climate change could see being harder to grow and more expensive.

For the topping we used vertically farmed tomatoes, grown in an indoor urban farm with no pesticides and carefully controlled water use. And we added vegan cheese to further lower the carbon footprint.

The kids loved our pizza, and so did the media! The story was covered from London to Mumbai via New York. It even attracted a film crew from Germany’s biggest science show over to the UK to film.

Logo of the Daily Mirror newspaper with red and white design.
New York Post logo with bold white text on a red background
Logo of The Times of India featuring two elephants facing each other with a shield, scales, and floral decorations, and the motto 'Let Truth Prevail'.
Daily Mail logo in black text with a crest in the center on a white background
Galileo logo with blue and dark blue spherical background and white stylized text.

FUTURE OF FOOD KEYNOTE

I’ve given a number of addresses to food and drink conferences and events, looking at the future of food. From small addresses to the media or internal teams, talking about near term food trends, to opening keynotes for the world’s largest food events, like Gulfood.

If you’re organising an event for a food service, production or retail audience, drop me a line and we can have a chat about how to get your audience thinking differently about the future.

Event poster for Gulfood 2024 at Dubai World Trade Centre, featuring Tom Cheeswright, an applied futurist, with a photo of him smiling. The poster includes information about the event dates, February 19-23, 2024, and quotes from the Guardian and Entrepreneur magazine. The design uses purple, pink, and blue colors with a megaphone icon.

FUTURE FOOD CONSULTING

Some of my food and drink clients choose to use me as a sounding board for ideas, an early trends indicator, or as a contributor to research processes in the early stages of new product development. Because I spend a lot of time examining trends, speaking to diverse groups across business and consumer marketplaces, I can offer a different perspective to internal advisors and consultants.

Repeat business tells me I can usually add a lot of value in an hour long video call.

Close-up of someone spreading pizza dough on a floured surface.

Deliveroo: Snack to the Future

I was one of five external contributors asked by Deliveroo to contribute to its ‘Snack to the Future’ report, looking at the future of the food and beverage industry. The report addressed a range of fascinating food trends and secured enormous amounts of global media coverage.

As featured in:

Logo of the Daily Mail newspaper in black text with a crest in the center
The logo of The Times newspaper featuring a lion, a unicorn, and a shield with a crown, with the motto 'Dieu et mon droit' and the text 'The Times' beneath.
Logo of Arabian Business with white text on a red background
Black text reading "The Grocer" on a white background.
A promotional collage of Deliveroo's future concepts, including food delivery technology, a futuristic dining environment with neon-lit trees, and people enjoying a modern, illuminated indoor space.

Future of Food Blog Posts

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Future food industry – will we be making food in space?
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The future of food industry has lots of potential, from farming to growing food in space. Find out more in the latest blog.

What’s in the future for food technology?
What’s in the future for food technology?

Where will we be with food technology in the coming years? Find out more about automation and the future kitchen.

Get in touch

Interested in engaging me in a project on the future of automotive and transport? Get in touch via this form and someone will be back to you as soon as possible.