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Chef John Benson-Smith Unfiltered

John Benson-Smith

The man is down-to-earth, straight-to-the-point, no-nonsense, and purpose-driven.

Take one part strategic change-maker,

One part commercial acumen.

One part people-motivator, and mix with high energy.

Add a squeeze of creative genius' These few words were taken from one of John's industry endorsements on www.johnbensonsmith.com

Former BBC MasterChef judge John Benson-Smith has umpteen years of experience in the Food business across a wide range of sectors. Thirty-plus years running around some amazing Kitchens, and the last 15 years in serious consultancy as an advisor, expert and confidant.

From Michelin-starred restaurants, Hotels, and flavour designer of Walkers Sensation Crisps, to more than twenty years in Stadia as a consultant to Manchester City Football Club, FC Bayern, Real Madrid, and fifteen others. Created with the team at Morrisons the Market Kitchen concept in eighteen supermarkets, plus a lot more. John joined the NHS Better Hospital Food initiative led by Lloyd Grossman, during which he visited 48 Hospital catering units.

His F&B skills have also taken him into other sectors, including heritage, theatres, museums, and art galleries. Theme parks, travel and tourism.

His client experience has taken him to Spain, Greece, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Italy, and France.

You can enjoy his straight-talking, purpose-defining direction in the F&B business, served up straight. He wrote a hard-hitting industry newspaper column called Benson Bites Back for thirteen years, starting in 1986. In 2026, John's LinkedIn posts had over one million hits.

Then he discovered two big, important things: health and happiness.

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  • 6 episodes
  • Avg 10 min
  • English
  • S1 · E4
    October 21 · 11 min

    Last orders? not if the Pub becomes the village !

    Villages and Towns are losing their shop, their baker and their post office, and too often the pub is next. In this episode, I share why your local could be the answer rather than the casualty, by putting the pub back at the centre of everything. Pull up a stool.

  • S1 · E3
    October 19 · 13 min

    My impromptu food review 'on the beach'

    I visited somewhere very special, somewhere I want to go back to every day if I could. Riley's Fish Shack- I fell in love with it. Was it Rick Stein, Dartmouth or Jersey and all of that? No, this was another level up there. This was very accomplished cooking (as Marco MPW would say) and the service was like meeting old friends. I so wanted to share it with you all.

  • S1 · E1
    October 19 · 2 min

    Well what is this all about then?

    There has to be a starting point for your first podcast; well, here it is, in a few words. A practical roundup of what it is all going to be about.

Showing 1–6 of 6 episodes