HUNGRY.

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♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 

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🤝 Let's Connect!
►Let's link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)  

Ever wondered what it takes to build a £10M restaurant empire? Chef Adam Handling joins Dan Pope to unpack the brutal realities of building a £10M restaurant empire. From nearly losing his parents' house during COVID-19 to making £148,000 on Valentine's Day via home deliveries, Adam's journey is a masterclass in resilience. We dive deep into his Chanel vs. Hermes philosophy on brand building, why his team researches guests online for the ultimate dining experience, and his bold mission to redefine British cuisine. If you want to know what it really takes to chase two Michelin stars while dodging every mis...

Former professional footballer Hal Robson-Kanu discusses how adversity shaped both his football career and his business philosophy. Reflecting on being released by Arsenal F.C. at 15 and suffering serious ACL injuries, he explains that real resilience comes not from eliminating doubt but learning to live with uncertainty and continue acting despite it. He argues adversity is essential for development, because only through facing difficulty do people discover their capacity to persevere.

Robson-Kanu connects these lessons to entrepreneurship with The Turmeric Co.. The company’s “north star,” he says, is creating genuine “life transformations” through clinically backed products rather tha...

Ivan Orkin is one of the most unlikely success stories in the world of food.

A Jewish kid from New York moves to Tokyo, opens a tiny ramen shop in the suburbs, and somehow ends up becoming one of the most respected ramen chefs in Japan — a country famously protective of its culinary traditions.

In this conversation, Dan sits down with the founder of Ivan Ramen to unpack how that happened.

Ivan talks about teaching himself ramen, opening his first shop in Japan with barely any money, and the moment a single influential ra...

*updated version* A masterclass in the nuts and bolts of running a world-class restaurant.

In this episode, Dan sits down with one of Britain’s most uncompromising chefs to talk about building a two-Michelin-star restaurant in the least glamorous location imaginable — a strange little oasis tucked under a Nottingham flyover, surrounded by graffiti, traffic, and the occasional burning car.

But that’s exactly the point.

Sat explains why great restaurants aren’t just about food — they’re about theatre, emotion, risk, and creating something so memorable that people will travel across the world to experienc...

From bricks through the window in 1960s Skelmersdale to queues around the block in Liverpool, this is a story of immigrant hunger, insecurity, obsession with standards — and building something that blesses a city. Dan sits down with Nisha Katona — founder of Mowgli Street Food — the woman who turned authentic Indian home cooking into the first national Indian street food chain in Britain. 

Nisha breaks down why Mowgli was never meant to be a “curry house,” why Hindu home cooking avoids garlic and onion at lunch, and how sitting outside Greggs watching men in high-vis jackets shaped her pricing str...

This week on Hungry, the founders behind SULT — the electrolyte brand turning “unhinged luxury” into a cultural movement.

From building a status-driven brand that people actually want to post on Instagram, to rewriting the rules of marketing in the age of TikTok and YouTube, this is a masterclass in modern brand-building.

We get into why unpredictability creates obsession, why most brands overcomplicate business, and how SULT uses storytelling, sex appeal, humor, and world-building to stand out in a saturated wellness market.

We talk Better & Wetter campaigns, Margot Robbie-style bath content, Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, V...

Most companies bet everything on one big launch.
Doug Lamont thinks that’s how you kill growth.

In this clip, the former CEO of Tony's Chocolonely and Innocent Drinks breaks down a radically different way to scale — one built on rolling innovation, layered bets, and removing fear from failure.

Instead of over-researching, over-launching, and over-spending, Doug explains why the smartest brands:

- test cheaply
- back winners late
- kill losers fast

and never rely on a single “big idea” to carry the business

From product launches...

"Brand is the intangible layer that sits atop any business... and floods it with color and emotion." Tobey Duncan, CSO of Uncommon Creative Studio, joins Dan Pope to dismantle the fluff surrounding modern marketing. They explore "Purpose 2.0," why brands need enemies, and how to turn consumer tension into cultural fame. From the genius of Bold Bean Co to the audacity of Oasis, this episode is a masterclass in building brands that actually matter.

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:04 Why Creativity Requires Dissatisfaction
00:02:40 London vs. Sydney: Creative Differences
00:06:10 Defining Brand Strategy & The "Intangible Layer"
00:10:06 Why Brands Must...

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♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 

 ---------------------------------

🤝 Let's Connect!
►Let's link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)  

This week we have a throwback to an incredible convo with the co-founder of TRIP, Olivia Ferdi.

It’s what every wonderful guest on the poddy teaches me.

TRIP ripped up the rule book.
Definition of outlier.

TRIP is for everyone and anyone, anywhere, anytime and everywhere.

TRIP is a coffee replacement. Booze replacement. Cocktail mixer. Meal Deal enhancer. Grab & Go.

All charged with a beautiful mission: Be Kind to your Mind.

Won listings at Co-op Sainsbury's, Waitrose & Partners, @Annabel’s, Soho House & Co

O...

Jon Walsh pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to scale a challenger FMCG brand without drinking your own Kool-Aid. From tying purpose to exit strategy, to why profit is a prerequisite (not a betrayal), to the tiny commercial decisions that quietly unlock big growth, this is a grounded, no-nonsense breakdown of taking Bio&Me from £2m to £20m. Heavy on real-world trade-offs, buyer reality, margins, packaging, people, and founder intensity — light on startup theatre. A sharp, practical listen for anyone trying to build something durable. 

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🎯 Why pu...

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♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 

 ---------------------------------

🤝 Let's Connect!
►Let's link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)  

In this brutally honest conversation, Tom Kerridge joins Dan Pope to unpack what it really takes to survive—and thrive—in modern hospitality. From building The Hand and Flowers into a two-Michelin-star pub, to closing businesses post-Covid, navigating razor-thin margins, and separating ego from decision-making, Kerridge offers a masterclass in resilience, leadership, and realism.

Plus they explore why restaurants are “pirate ships” full of misfits and intensity, why front of house matters as much as food, and why most chefs overestimate their own importance. Kerridge opens up about addiction, ADHD, chaos versus control, and replacing alcohol with obsessiv...

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♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 

 ---------------------------------

🤝 Let's Connect!
►Let's link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)  

Most companies talk about strategy as if it’s a spreadsheet problem. At Tony’s Chocolonely, strategy is about choosing which risks you’re willing to live with — permanently. In this conversation, Doug from Tony’s Chocolonely breaks down how real strategic decisions get made when the stakes are high, the information is incomplete, and playing it safe isn’t an option. This isn’t theory. It’s what happens when your strategy has real consequences — for margins, growth, and an entire global supply chain. 

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🎲 Why business strategy is closer to poker than ch...

What the monk?! Saiphin Moore, the visionary founder of Rosa's Thai Cafe, recounts how her ex-husband once invited a Buddhist monk to convince her to sell the burgeoning business. This extraordinary anecdote perfectly encapsulates Saiphin's journey, which began in a remote Thai mountain village where she lived without electricity until age 15, learning to cook on charcoal from seven and even raising a pet pig for income. Her leap to Hong Kong as a nanny, where she encountered hoovers and rice cookers for the first time and learned English from a single piece of paper, set the stage for her...

Robin Gill is a serial restaurateur who has built multiple, entirely different restaurant concepts — not chains, not repeats. In this episode, Robin breaks down why great hospitality isn’t about big gestures or surface-level creativity — but about systems, discipline, and invisible details that customers feel without ever consciously noticing. Drawing on years of building restaurants from scratch, we explore what actually creates loyalty, repeat business, and long-term success — in hospitality and far beyond. =============== 🍽️ ON THE MENU =============== ⚙️ Why great hospitality is mostly invisible 🧠 Performance vs delight — and why it matters 🚫 Why removing friction beats trying to impress 🔍 The small details customers feel but never art...

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♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 

 ---------------------------------

🤝 Let's Connect!
►Let's link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)  

When I started the poddy, I scribbled on scruff paper a list dream brands Top of list: Innocent Innocent are THE OG challenger brand. The Innocent Illuminate (or Alumni) all built WHOPPPA brands:

Giles, Barney, Emma, Peter Oden, loads more All extol fruitful learnings from Fruit Towers. Many see Innocent as a Brand & Marketing machine (they are). In this episode Adam Balon revealed something much DEEPER Something surprising. Something you've not thought about.

♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full o...

 ============================================== 

♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 

 ---------------------------------

🤝 Let's Connect!
►Let's link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)  

Marketing hasn’t changed.
Human behaviour hasn’t changed.
Most brands still get this wrong.

This episode is a curated montage of insights from three of the most influential thinkers in modern marketing and behavioural science — exploring why people buy, how brands become commodities, and what actually drives growth.

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Why people don’t buy quality — they buy stories
How brands cross (or fail to cross) the adoption chasm
Why removing friction beats adding features
The real role of status, affiliation, and fear
How “delight”...

 ============================================== 

♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 

 ---------------------------------

🤝 Let's Connect!
►Let's link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)  

David Cleevely didn’t approach hospitality like a chef — he approached it like a systems engineer. After decades building companies at the heart of British technology and science, Cleevely went on to co-own one of the UK’s most iconic Italian restaurants. In this conversation, he explains why running a restaurant isn’t that different from running a technology business — if you understand systems, incentives, and long-term thinking. This isn’t a story about Silicon Valley hype. It’s about infrastructure, patience, culture, and why the boring bits are what actually make businesses work.

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🍝 What a tech pi...

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♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 

 ---------------------------------

🤝 Let's Connect!
►Let's link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)  

If Oasis did Supper Clubs they wouldn’t come close to HUNGRY Productions Bonfire Banquet.
Okay…okay… I jest... I jest.
But, my wonderful friends, this one was a CERTY BANGER!!!

Absolute Wave Donny speaker line up:

- Imme Ermgassen, Botivo Drinks | B corp
- Andrew Salter, DIRTEA
- Perry Haydn Taylor 💚, big fish®
- Riya Patel, All The Aunties

Hosted at London hottest new gaff, ISLAND Kings Cross at Mare Street Market

Run by two legendary Michelin Star chefs Tom Brown and Brad Carter.

ON THE M...

Santiago Lastra’s story is unlike any other in modern food. Raised in chaos, forged through global kitchens, and shaped by an obsessive drive to master his craft, he built KOL — one of London’s most original, Michelin-starred restaurants — by combining Mexican soul with British ingredients.

In this conversation, Santiago reveals how adversity, identity, discipline and extreme curiosity shaped both him and his restaurant. This episode is about far more than food — it’s about reinvention, resilience, and the psychology behind elite creativity.

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🇲🇽 Growing up in chaos — and turning adversity int...

Today’s poddy is sponsored by Square. Square is the all-in-one restaurant tech platform designed to streamline operations and give hospitality business owners the time back to focus on growth. Square is Big In Restaurants - which is the name of its latest UK marketing campaign - offering everything you need for day-to-day service, including Square’s payments, point of sale and reporting capabilities. Whether you’re a single-location FSR, a multilocation QSR, a bar or a multi-concept restaurant, improve the flow of orders and find more ways to keep profit in your pocket. For more information visit  👉 https://squareup.c...

Jun Tanaka, the renowned chef and owner of The Ninth in London, delves into his unique perspective on restaurant culture, emphasizing the importance of atmosphere, customer connection, and team cohesion over simply outstanding food. He shares memorable experiences from his time at legendary kitchens like Le Gavroche and under chefs such as Marco Pierre White, revealing how those influences shape his approach today. Discover the essence of making a restaurant transcend its menu, the value of sincere guest interactions, and how to cultivate a favorite dining spot for both patrons and the team. Whether you're a foodie, a budding...