How to achieve truly sustainable and ethical practices in a food business - with Mark Jankel, of The Food Initiative
Mark is the Founder of the Food Initiative, a catering organisation that supports sustainable farming practices. He describes himself as an environmentalist, turned chef in high-end French restaurants, turned street food trader, turned entrepreneur. He is passionate about the environmental impact of food and through all those different roles he has approached the impact of food in a variety of ways.
This conversation is a really fascinating dive into what it really takes to achieve sustainable and ethical practices in a retail food business. We talk in quite a bit of depth about how Mark built the supply chain for his business and why getting out to meet the farmers and growers was so important. We also delve into the detail of how Mark set up both his entrepreneurial ventures, how the UK street food market has changed since he set up and the advice he would give to people thinking of starting up now.
There's loads of interest here for anyone who cares about the environmental impact of the food they purchase and consume when away from home. The conversation has some absolutely invaluable advice for anyone thinking of setting up a food business of their own though - if that's you then listen carefully!