Today I’m chatting with Sugira Rubasha from ETS Rubasha media. We’re talking about my personal and professional journey, from humble beginnings growing up on the South Coast of England to now partnering with businesses to develop multi million dollar brands world wide. We chat though my views on the importance of your personal brand, creating the career path that YOU want and how I shifted from the corporate world as an employee to a food entrepreneur enjoying the freedom that com...

Welcome back to the Food Mentor podcast my name is David Burns your host and today we’re chatting with Fuad and Mehmet the founders of Pistabella Pistachio spread. It would be no secret that anything pistachio is in vogue in a big way right now, so in this episode we chat with the boys to understand how they saw this opportunity and more importantly how they’re going with the supply to Coles Nationally after only trading for just over 12 months. This is a fantastic inspirational story f...

Hey everybody welcome back to the food mentor podcast my name is David Burns your host and today we’re doing something a little bit different. Growing up in England soccer (or football as the world game calls it) was a big part of my life, and when I’m not injured I still play for Brighton Albion (Bayside Melbourne). I always fancied coaching young boys and this season I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity with the U15’s including my boy Luca and also Remy in the U10’s ...

Today I’m chatting with Chris Kitto, the founder of KittGro Advisory, a trusted growth partner for Australia’s emerging and scaling food, beverage and wellness brands. Chris has spent more than 20 years working in the Australian retail space, with over 10 years focused specifically on building and scaling food and wellness brands. Chris has worked closely with ambitious founders to bring products to life, launch into retail and build brands that last. Today Chris and I chat about numero...

In this episode of The Food Mentor Podcast we are chatting with the founder Milo Gaffney about this exciting new hot snacking brand Go Snack. Go Snack provides hot snacks conveniently packaged specifically for the convenience and travel industries. For convenience store and travel industry operators it’s as simple as from the freezer to the oven then into the hot hold unit - enabling consumers to grab and go and enjoy hot snacks on the go! Creating a safe working environment and efficie...

Hi everyone welcome back to The Food Mentor Podcast, I'm David J Burns your host. I’m delighted today to chat with Jamie and Kim the founders of ILOVEUBABE XO exclusive womens collagen infused chocolates. Perfect for gifting, beauty and self indulgence - and just for women! Edible beauty as this segment is called is in huge growth hitting $300 mil in the USA, so its perfect timing for Kim and Jamie to capitalise on this opportunity. The brands ethos is love yourself and your body - ...

It’s always very exciting in the food industry when a new segment comes along. Pistachio nuts are not new but Pistachio Spread certainly is. I’m delight today to welcome Fuad Baker the Sydney based founder of Pistabella Pistachio Spread. This is a classic entrepreneurial story whereby Fuad and the team recently launched one of the first Pistachio Spreads in Australia. The thing that really stands out with Pistabella and this pistachio spread is that it would have to be one of the ...

Meet Bec and Narelle Thompson. The powerhouse sister duo who this month are celebrating their first birthday for the Cubbyhouse Canteen retail venture. The Cubbyhouse Canteen brand is a childrens lifestyle brand supporting youth mental health - but the brand is not actually new. For 15 years Bec & Narelle have enjoyed life within their thriving Cubbyhouse Canteen parkside cafe at Union Park in Armadale in the South East suburbs of Melbourne. Over the 15 year journey, the girls have develo...

In this episode of The Food Mentor podcast, I’m chatting with Arianne Sackville, founder of Bell and Bone, a pet food brand all about healthy, natural ingredients for dogs. Arianne shares her career journey, beginning with her university days at Monash and an internship at IBM, where she learned the importance of working for a brand she's passionate about. Arianne then decided that corporate life wasn’t for her. This led her to start her own business in the pet care industry, inspired b...

It’s not often you get the opportunity to chat with a successful brand co founder that sold to a multinational for 200 Million Pounds just 10 years after launching their brand in the UK. The brand is of course Grenade. Launching in the UK in 2010 with the vision of being an iconic weight loss product and the go to brand within Sports Nutrition. This really is a fabulous chat with Juliet Barratt who with husband Alan identified a gap in the market then took the Grenade brand into 80 countries...

Today we are talking all things chewing gum. But not any old chewing gum. A big welcome to Marie Hatzimihalis the founder of Honest Gum (other wise known as The Gum Girl) Honest Gum is the new frontier of chewing gum - ethically crafted and sustainably made and unlike other chewing gums on the market Honest Gum is made without a synthetic gum base. Honest Gum is also packed with real ingredients and all natural flavours. Marie founded Honest Gum 10 years ago and like a...

Today we are chatting with an industry colleague of mine Tony Hunter. I met Tony about 5 years ago and I must say my first chat with him was extremely fascinating to say the least. Tony lives in Brisbane here in Australia and is a Food Futurist, renowned for helping manufacturers, retailers and the food industry in general understand what the future of food will look like in 10, 20 and 30+ years time. We all love talking about trends and what could be next – but this chat is on another new le...

This episode of the food mentor podcast takes a slight twist into the hospitality and hotel management world. On a recent business trip to Indonesia I met a fantastic Australian Brendan Lane Mullins the General Manager of Bali’s leading luxury hotel The Seminyak Spa and resort. https://www.theseminyak.com As most people would know Seminyak in Bali is one of the most popular tourists spots in Asia. I thought Brendan would be a fantastic guest on our Food Mentor Podcast and I was absolutely ...

There’s never a dull moment in the food manufacturing world and this story is no different. Milo Gaffney has just celebrated his 20th Anniversary of The Outback Pie Company, having founded the business at the end of 2003 with his family. Milo has created a fabulous business by innovating, differentiating and filling the gaps in the market that major competitors have left behind! On top of that, The Outback Pie Company is based up in Australia’s tropical north QLD’s balmy Townsville, opposite ...

Welcome back to the food mentor podcast I’m David Burns your host and today we are chatting to a delightful couple Cindy and Joe who are based in Sunny Perth, Australia. Cindy and Joe established Seven Oaks Catering 10 years ago and it has now become one of Australia’s leading corporate catering businesses supply 1000’s of platters a month of delicious fair to Perth’s corporate community. Of course it is now perfect timing to create a retail brand and packaged offer to help fuel t...

In this crazy food and hospitality industry, (and for any industry for that matter), looking after our mental and physical health is critical. Introducing Parkrun https://www.parkrun.com.au/ The Parkrun story is nothing short of amazing, and in 2024 celebrates its 20 year anniversary. Parkrun for me personally has been a key part of my life for over 10 years now. Parkrun is a free 5km timed event where you can run, walk, volunteer or spectate for free, every Saturday m...

Today I’m chatting with David Freeman, the founder and CEO of H2COCO. David is the pioneer of coconut water here in Australia having launched in 2009 so almost 15 years ago. This is a great story of how David has not only held onto this market leading position but also how he has cleverly diversified into other beverage segments. David also chats through the importance of having a sustainability focus as a key part of his brand. I hope you enjoy this podcast. This episode of The Food Mentor ...

We get asked this question a lot. How long does it take, how much does it cost and what is the best process to develop a new food/ beverage product from scratch? Regardless if you are a budding entrepreneur, a small - medium business or a large multinational organisation- the same detail applies. Zac and I have some fun with this one given we are well qualified to get into the detail of this exciting topic. I hope you enjoy this podcast. This episode of the Food Mentor podcast is brought to y...

In this episode we are delighted to be chatting with Friska Wirya from Fresh by Friska. Friska has a wealth of experience in change management consulting and is a renowned thought leader in this space. She shares with us her key insights surrounding change strategies for organisations and budding entrepreneurs. Technological advancements are providing unique opportunities for businesses to change and adapt, and we chat through these exciting topics plus more! With the new year ramping up, thi...

Throughout 2023 Zac and I were very grateful to have met and chatted with some fabulous insightful guests. This mash up includes 2022 AFR fastest growing business David Andrew from Naked Life, The founder of Karma Bites Ashwin Ahuja, Tim and Liam from Bae Juice, a personal branding lesson from Tima Elhajj and more recently The Coles grocery GM Leanne White. Zac and I also chat through the rise of NUFFIN dips along with the optimal approach to develop new products and brands to help you win in...