I’ve met John a few times since I had the chance to attend the Taste of the West awards evening last year. As CEO of Taste of the West, responsible for shaping the strategy and delivery of industry support programmes, it should come as no surprise to anyone that he has a passion for good food and drink. With his background including 15 years as a farmer in East Devon and a decade of work in the environmental sector, it also comes as no surprise that the provenance of products is important to him. Getting to know him in a professional context has been inspiring, but I knew I’d be able to get some gems about him as a person with our chat, and I was not disappointed!
What does your Monday morning routine look like?
It’s usually catching up on stuff and trying to get myself into a working week. I try to get a feel for the week with a few meetings and catching up on where everyone was towards the end of the previous week. Assimilating lots of information and monitoring and gaining an understanding of what the challenges and issues for the week might be. Now that the team is working a full hybrid model where everybody is working at home a lot of the week, this is an important part of the week.
What are you currently reading?
I’m not currently reading anything, but the last book I read was Rory Stewart’s Politics on the Edge, which was fascinating. A very good read. I’m also a bit of a sucker for a crime thriller!
What’s a hidden talent or skill that most people don’t know you possess?
I play keyboards in a band. It’s an 8-piece soul band called One Foot in the Groove – not quite so co cool, but it’s more apparent as we grow older! I’ve got two escapes. One is the farm and the band is my second one. I did the piano up to Grade 8 in school. I only started doing this about 20 years ago though. I’m very lucky because I play with some cracking musicians and they keep me on the straight and narrow. It’s just nice to do something that is quality and just good fun as well. We recently played a festival in Exmouth where we played outdoors to about 2000 people. It was ridiculous…but fun. We have some more festivals in the summer and a wedding and a party or two!
Beach vacation, mountain getaway or city escape?
Beach probably. Especially if it’s abroad. We go down to Tenerife in the winter, December time to get a bit of winter sun and a bit of beach. That’s always very relaxing because it’s completely and utterly different.
What is your most memorable foody memory from childhood?
My parents were farmers and very, very busy on the farm. They weren’t the greatest cooks and so it was basically ‘Get something on the table for the kids’, quick and easy. So I have to say that the most famous meal was the Fray Bentos Pie, which has got nothing to do with local food whatsoever! This was in the 70’s and it’s still around today! It was one of those things you could jut take the top off the tin and put it straight in the oven and 20 minutes later you had a meal. It was full of salt I remember, not particularly great for you, but it fed the family.
Name one thing on your bucket list that you still need to do.
I have it in my mind to retrace the steps that my father took at the end of the Second World War. He went out to captain the Gurkha regiment that saw action right at the end of WW2 in Java, Surabaya. I think it was probably quite a tough gig for him. I would like to go out and… just see what he experienced really. I was very lucky in 2012. I went to Singapore for a food and drink trade show and it was the same year as the Queen’s Jubilee and we were invited to a reception at the British Ambassador’s residence and they had a full Gurkha Regiment Band in on the front lawn! I told the Ambassador, “I don’t think you quite realise what you’ve just done, but my father was here in 1946” and I told him the story. He went to Singapore, then down through Malaysia and then got to Java where they saw some action at the end of the war… I’d like to retrace that bit.
What job is the favourite you’ve ever had and what made it so special?
It would be either this one or farming. I think once you’ve farmed, it gets in your blood, it never leaves you. It’s a very special vocation because you’re producing something that other people need. There’s a lot of responsibility in that. You’re looking after the countryside. I think it get’s under your skin quite a bit. That’s probably the one thing that I would go back to. There’s nothing like it – growing something from seed, watching it grow, nurturing it and then harvesting the results. That’s probably one of the most rewarding things you could do and not very many people get the chance to do it.
What’s a skill you’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t had the chance to yet?
Gosh! That’s a really difficult one… It would be quite interesting to learn all there is to know about wine. To understand the nuances of why one wine is better than another and to know how to make it.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Be calm and make sure you see things in the round. Look at the bigger picture.
What’s your favourite season and what do you love about it?
Either Spring or Autumn. I can’t stand winter and summer can be too hot! I think probably Spring would be my favourite. It’s fresh. It’s new. It’s the dawn of a new beginning and it can only get better.
What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
I’m going to go back to the music on this one. I think it’s been quite an adventure, a journey for all of us. We’ve been together for nearly 15 years. We’ve done lots of different things. We’ve played abroad and we’re going abroad again to play in Holland in November. We’ve played at my son’s wedding in France and my two daughters’ weddings here. It’s not an easy thing to do. The reason it works is because of how hard everybody works on the adventure.
What is your favourite food/drink product on the market right now and why?
I’m going to be really boring here and say cream tea. The West Country cream tea (don’t differentiate between Devon and Cornwall!) So not a product as such, but you can’t beat it!
Where is your favourite holiday destination?
Rural France probably. It’s relatively untouched, it’s not been intensified as much as perhaps some other countries. It’s got a better climate and there’s somehow something very relaxing about it.
What would you do if you weren’t in the food, drink & hospitality industry?
I don’t really know… Music industry? When I was growing up, it was very difficult to get into. There weren’t very many openings. Nowadays there are loads of openings in that industry, so yeah…something to do with that.
What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
I’ve got to be careful I don’t give away any names. There was once a product that we tasted which was goat chocolate cream. It was like a chocolate ball with goat cream in the centre. It was absolutely horrendous! That is the only way I can describe it. I just sat there thinking ‘Why? Which bit of this do you like?’. You couldn’t actually eat it.
Contact John via LinkedIn or via the Taste of the West offices.
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