Overview
The theme of the 2022 Winter Conference is 'Horizon Scanning for Hospitality'. Speakers from across the industry will discuss topics that will be likely to become issues over the coming years such as food fraud, soil degradation and the reduction in nutritional benefits of food and also potential solutions for business such as lab grown meat, energy use reduction and how robotics can support the hospitality industry.
The event will also again see the launch of the current TUCO Global Food Trends with a Key note speech from Charles Banks (The Food People). If you would like to join a panel to preview the Trends before conference and contribute to content, we are holding a brainstorming session on the 16th of November 930-11. Please contact [email protected] to take part.
Itinerary:
Tuesday 29th November:
A drinks reception and dinner will now take place at the Wylam Brewery site at Exhibition Park in the centre of Newcastle. This is from 6:30pm (there is transport available from the hotel at 6pm and 6:30pm).
Trakol and Above has been added to the Study tour. Trakol is a 10 minute walk across the river from the hotel - a restaurant and microbrewery that prides itself on sustainable practices, an ethos of nose to tail and their own kitchen garden. And Above has stunning views of the Tyne and a great view of Trakol!
Overnight stay (if required) at Motel One in the centre of Newcastle.
Wednesday 30th November: Conference from 09:15 with refreshments available from 08:30. The day will be completed by 16:00.
Wednesday 30th November to Friday 2nd December: Study Tour with visits to restaurants, micro breweries and pop up sites that reference back to the TUCO Global Food Trends.
Confirmed speakers for the conference include:
Charles Banks
A fourth generation foodie, cooking at his mother's side in the kitchen is where Charles' passion for food began. Hours spent training as a chef led to him winning the title of Junior Chef of the Year. From there, he went to France to learn more, before returning home to take a degree in catering and business.
From high-street restaurants, he moved into new product development at Saxby’s. By the time he left for Grampian, Charles was head of this department, a role in which he would continue, working with, among others, Sainsbury’s.
Dr Sam Mudie
Dr Sam Mudie is an energy manager at the University of Reading as well as an energy reduction consultant specialising in the hospitality sector. Her doctoral thesis, “Energy Reduction in Commercial Catering”, has resulted in 8 award-winning peer-reviewed academic journal papers. This research measured the energy consumption attributed to appliances, menus and staff behaviours within the food service industry for the first time. Her subsequent projects have resulted in a range of successful energy reduction initiatives over the last decade, achieving millions of pounds worth of savings.
Thomas Gent
Thomas Gent lives and works on his family arable farm in South Lincolnshire, where they have been farming using the principles of regenerative practices for around 15 years. Thomas founded a brand called Gentle Farming to promote the farm and their produce. He has spoken, educated and consulted for some of the largest food companies as well as some of the smallest. He also works for Agreena, the world's largest carbon program for farmers encouraging the uptake of regenerative principles on farms.
Dr Ricardo Gouveia
Dr Ricardo Gouveia is a scientist and entrepreneur based in Newcastle, UK, whose expertise includes Cell Biology, Tissue Engineering, and Biomaterials. A biologist with a PhD in Biochemistry from the NOVA University of Lisbon in Portugal, he joined the Connon Lab in 2012, first at the University of Reading and since 2014 at Newcastle University, developing smart strategies to better control stem cell behaviour and direct the (re)creation of biological tissues with nativelike structure and function. His work received several accolades, and is published prominently (Nature Communications, Biomaterials, Advanced Biosystems). As a New Harvest Fellow since 2018, he is keen to focus some of his work in advancing the Cultured Meat and Cellular Agriculture space, namely by developing new methods to produce highly-organised, structured meat with improved yields and at lower costs. He is also the Chief Scientific Officer of 3D Bio-Tissues, a Newcastle University spin-out company he co-founded in 2019 to translate his inventions into the food, biotechnology and healthcare markets. As an entrepreneur, he is interested in exploring how academic-industrial partnerships can be set to optimise established but limited resources while reducing risks and maximising outputs.
In a few years meat produced purely from animal cells may become part of our regular diet, a prospect that raises complex technical, socio-economic, and ethical questions. However, and despite increasing media coverage, public discussion about this topic is still rare. In this talk Dr. Gouveia will share how the pioneering work at Newcastle University is addressing some of the major challenges in this field, and describe how well done science can help put raw misconceptions to rest.
Andrew Selley
Andrew has spent 24 years with Bidcorp primarily developing the Food Logistics business in the UK, as well as businesses in Turkey, the Middle East, the Baltics and Spain. He became CEO of Bidfood in 2014, and sits on the global leadership Foodservice Group within Bidcorp, Bidfood’s parent company. In 2020, Andrew also took the reins of sister company Bidfresh, which supplies fresh produce, fish, meat and dairy products.
Bidcorp employs more than 6,200 people in the UK with a shared focus on service excellence, sustainability, food innovation and delivering great value.
Andrew was also appointed Chairman of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors in January 2017, handing over the role at the end of 2019. Andrew has also been a commissioner on the FFCC, and sat on the advisory board of the National Food Strategy with Henry Dimbleby.
Prior to joining Bidfood Andrew’s career began at Coca-Cola Enterprises, where he worked his way up from Graduate Trainee to Trading Director of the wholesale division.
Andrew will be presenting Horizon Scanning from a supplier perspective.
Alison Johnson
Alison Johnson is the Director of Food Forensics, she graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in Animal Nutrition and Physiology before working for 15 years in the food industry from farm to fork. Identifying a gap in the market, Alison set up Food Forensics in 2012 to provide solutions for authenticity testing in food pulling together some fantastic scientists to work alongside food safety and supply chain experts to develop applied solutions. The business has developed into a leader in its field providing testing, insight and intelligence and solutions across the food sector to manage food risk and provide brand protection.
