Overview
The theme of the 2025 Winter Conference is 'Wellbeing is Everybody's Business'. Speakers from across the industry will discuss topics that cover what institutions could be doing and are doing to support Students and Employees Wellbeing.
Full Members attend the conference free of charge (there are payment options available for dinner and overnight accommodation using invoice, credit card or for those of you who have them, Academy credits - please use the correct option when booking.)
Itinerary:
Tuesday 14th January:
Conference from 12:00 at Manchester University's iconic Whitworth Art Gallery with refreshments available from 11:30. The day will be completed by 18:00 at the latest.
The conference will be followed by an evening social event at the Manchester Museum in the heart of Manchester University's campus area. Attendees will be having dinner amongst the exhibits so be prepared to learn something while you dine!
Overnight stay (if required) in the centre of Manchester.
Wednesday 14th January to Friday 16th January: Study Tour with visits to food markets, restaurants, local suppliers and pop up sites that reference back to the TUCO Global Food Trends (which will be launched online with Charles Banks as a Webinar.)
Confirmed speakers for the conference include:
Dr Vincent Walsh
Wellbeing and nutrition starts with quality produce, which begins with the way it is grown. Dr Vincent Walsh, a farmer and a prominent figure in the UK's food and agriculture sector, is a leading expert in circular and regenerative practices. His unique blend of practical farming experience and theoretical consultancy work with primary food and beverage organisations has not only driven projects and product development but also significantly contributed towards net-zero targets, leaving an indelible mark on the industry. Beyond his role as a consultant, Vincent's entrepreneurial spirit has led him to create successful food businesses and brands, further cementing his influence in the field. His extensive work across Europe and Africa has given him a deep understanding of agroforestry systems, temperate and tropical environments, arable and silvopasture systems, and annual and perennial systems.
Dr Vincent Walsh's client portfolio includes some of the largest global foodservice businesses, such as Sysco Speciality Group (Fresh Direct) and Compass Group. In his work with these clients, he demonstrating his expertise and the trust he has earned in the industry.
Furthermore, Dr Vincent Walsh is not just a leader in the field but also a mentor and advisor, demonstrating his unwavering commitment and passion for the field. His role as an advisor to the Plant-Based Food Alliance and his close work with organisations such as the Organic Research Centre (ORC) on issues such as carbon capture and soil health is a testament to his dedication. Vincent also mentors young farmers as part of Defra's Farming Innovation Programme and has supported cohorts of social entrepreneurs on the Zinc Venture Builder programme. This commitment to nurturing the next generation of industry professionals is a clear reflection of his passion for the field.
In the last five years since returning to the UK, he has founded RegenfarmCo, a regenerative agriculture company that works with farmers and landowners to transition towards ecological growing processes; Mycoloops, a start-up that upcycles food and other waste to create high-grade organic compost; and Herblabism, a plant-based food brand developed specifically for the food service sector. The three enterprises are highlighted as interconnected and have developed with their food partners.
The Gut Stuff
Lisa and Alana Macfarlane; The Mac Twins from The Gut Stuff have been busy since they last joined us in 2021 for our online conference, a TV series, a new book and supporting the NHS with advice and guidance on gut health:
"We’d done every fad diet under the sun, including the cabbage soup diet pre-Magaluf 2005 (remember that?) and grew up in Scotland eating deep-fried pizza and chips, plus all of Edinburgh’s supply of Yum Yums. We only knew what kale was because we used to feed it to the guinea pig on his birthday. That all flip-reversed when we volunteered to be part of the TwinsUK research at King’s College London. Twins are a great constant for medical research, and we became the ‘chief guinea pigs’ for the British Gut Project. After a lot of sending our poo off in the post, and a couple of colonoscopies, they discovered that despite us having 100% of the same DNA, our guts shared only 30–40% of the same microbiota (head to intro to the gut for more on the basics!), which could explain why our bodies behave so differently.We were DJs (The Mac Twins) at the time, so we couldn’t have been further from the health and wellness world, but as soon as we realised how big the gaps were we became passionate about bringing this information to EVERYONE and so our ‘gut journey’ began…
A lot of people see health as just “not being ill” and wellness as gong baths and warrior 2.
That whole world is seen as a middle class luxury with expensive products and inaccessible messaging, and we’re here to change that.
We’ve grown an expert team of scientists, nutritionists, dieticians and doctors to keep us all on the right side of the tracks when it comes to bullsh*t Vs the real sh*t"
Raising Nutrition
David Titman, Co-Founder & Director, RaisingNutrition Ltd
David is a registered nutritionist (RNutr) and food scientist with multinational experience in advising the food sector. He takes creative, pragmatic approaches to working with companies in developing their responsible food strategies, which has led to significant positive change in charitable, commercial and educational settings. As a regular university lecturer, he keeps closely up to date on the latest research in food and nutrition and with a fourth-degree black belt in karate, he spends much of his time away from nutrition, practising and teaching martial arts.
Jenna Mosimann, Co- Founder & CEO, RaisingNutrition Ltd.
Jenna has extensive experience at executive and senior management level in corporate and not-for-profit environments including in nutrition and education focused organisations, where she has built expertise in collaborative and partnership working. Having left behind the world of financial services to retrain and gain a first class BSc (Hons) degree in Nutrition Science, Jenna has not looked back and is passionate about nutrition science and making this understood and accessible to others to support better health and well-being. Also as a regular ultra-marathoner and mum of two, she has a personal interest in nutrition for endurance and performance, and for children’s well-being and development.
RaisingNutrition Ltd (www.raisingnutrition.org) RaisingNutrition is a not-for-profit nutrition-focused social enterprise, working with organisations to both raise nutrition standards and the knowledge of nutrition to support better health and wellbeing. We offer an accreditation, training and consultancy services to support more sustainable nutrition and food strategies, supporting the health of both people and planet.
The RaisingNutrition Accreditation is a unique nutrition-focussed accreditation that can support and promote any organisation (whether a caterer, a food service organisation, a large employer, a university or a hospital etc) that is committed to taking nutrition seriously, and wants to help enable, encourage and empower more ofdav us in eating well, which in turn will support us all in living well, working well and staying well.
Our work encompasses expertise in nutrition science, food science and health psychology, understanding that to make healthy food choices the easier ones, we need to not only consider the food available, but also the wider environment, and the knowledge and understanding in place.
Culinary Medicine
Bio TBC
The Art of Brilliance
Martin Burder from the Art of Brilliance will close the conference with an engaging session about Wellbeing Leadership, the mental fitness of leaders, as well as empowering your team through relationship building. Blending hard-hitting truths with hilarious anecdotes, Martin motivates audiences with an inspiring sense of their own capacity for achievement and change. Oh, and he manages to do this without using any big words or fancy jargon.
But there’s more! Martin has spent the last few years developing a wellbeing curriculum for schools and businesses. That means he’s the world’s leading expert in embedding wellbeing into workplaces. Yes, he’s the guy that the experts turn to when they need advice. He’s THAT good!
And even more! Out of work, Martin can be found cycling around the world (his biggest achievement so far), playing music or completing ironman races (although not at the same time!) These adventures – and the lessons he learned – have shaped his ideas on positivism.
