IGD Future of the UK Food System 2026

Dame Angela Eagle DBE was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 20 July 2026. She has previously held the following ministerial roles: Minister of State at the Home Office (Security Minister) and the Cabinet Office (12 June 2026 to 20 July 2026), Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (6 September 2025 to 12 June 2026), and Minister for Border Security and Asylum at the Home Office (8 July 2024 to 6 September 2025). She was elected as the MP for Wallasey in the general election of July 2024.

Andrew Western was appointed Minister of State (Minister for Employment) in the Department for Work and Pensions on 21 July 2026. He was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Work and Pensions from 9 July 2024 to 21 July 2026. He was elected as the MP for Stretford and Urmston in July 2024.

Helen Herniman joined AHDB as CEO in January 2026. Her mission is to help AHDB’s experts support farmers, growers and others in the food supply chain to make informed decisions that support productivity and profitability. Helen has spent her career working in both the public and private sectors, most recently as acting CEO of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, as well as Chief Finance Officer at the Law Society. With a strong foundation in finance and accounting, Helen is committed to ensuring levy payers receive value for money from AHDB’s products, tools and services. 

Robert Sheasby is the Chief Executive of the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC), the trade association representing agricultural businesses in the UK. He has extensive experience from a career in agriculture, having held many roles within the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) before joining AIC in 2018. Earlier in his career, he also worked as a land agent and auctioneer.  

In his role, Robert sits on several government stakeholder groups, including the Department for International Trade (DIT) Trade Advisory Group for agriculture and food, and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) Farming and Food Partnership Board. He also has overall responsibility for the operation of AIC.  

Nicola Robinson has over 25 years' experience across the food, drink and retail sectors, holding executive, commercial and marketing leadership roles with organisations including Mondelez, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Kettle Foods and Tesco. Most recently, she served as Tesco's Health, Beauty & Wellness Category Director, leading through Brexit, Covid and the cost-of-living crisis. 

She has also run her own consultancy, supporting globally recognised brands with strategic transformation, organisational development and capability-building programmes. 

In 2024, Nicola was appointed Director of Alliance Food Sourcing, a collaboration between IGD, FareShare and The Felix Project, focused on increasing surplus food redistribution and tackling food insecurity across the UK. 

Bas has spent more than a decade as a senior executive in Arla Foods. His career spans 30 years, working with some of the world’s best known consumer brands.

Bas is currently responsible for driving the growth of Arla in the UK, the company’s biggest market with a revenue of over £3m and some of the biggest food brands in the country. As a farmer-owned cooperative, Bas is responsible for overseeing Arla’s 2,000 farmers alongside the commercial delivery and operations that see it supply milk and dairy products to the UK’s supermarkets and foodservice outlets.

Bas is passionate about driving the health and sustainability agenda ‘hand in hand’. Outside of his role at Arla, he is currently chair of the Dairy Roadmap, a cross-industry platform that drives sustainability progress across the entire dairy value chain.

Throughout his time at Arla, he has also been the regional head for South East Asia and managing director of Arla’s business in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Tara McCarthy is the global vice president of ESG at Alltech, where she supports the company's purpose of Working Together for a Planet of Plenty™. Previously, she served as the chief executive officer of Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, and as the chief executive officer of Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland’s seafood development agency. In 2019, she co-founded Agdif, an organization that champions diversity in the Irish food industry. 

McCarthy holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and a master’s degree in business studies from University College Dublin's Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. She is also an affiliate of IMD Business School in Switzerland.

Meinir Childs is Chief Operating Officer at Argos, leading operations across stores, fulfilment centres, logistics, supply chain and support functions. With more than 25 years’ experience in consumer goods, retail, supply chain & logistics, she has a strong track record in delivering large-scale transformation, operational excellence and sustainable business performance. 

Since joining the Sainsbury’s Group, Meinir has held senior leadership roles including Supply Chain Director before becoming COO of Argos. Earlier in her career, she spent over 20 years with Coca-Cola European Partners in UK & European leadership roles. She is passionate about developing high-performing teams and driving positive change across the industry. 

Natasha is Director for Health Improvement covering diet, obesity, physical activity, tobacco, alcohol, gambling and the drugs strategy. Natasha was previously Director for diet, obesity and healthy behaviours. Prior to her Director role Natasha was the PPS to the Health Secretary. 

Sarah Cletheroe is a third-year Nutrition and Dietetics student at the University of Nottingham. She is a youth leader at the YouthxFood Hub. She also has experience developing food policy recommendations and has contributed to potato variety development, bringing both a policy and applied science lens to youth led food systems work. 

Tom Cheesewright is the Applied Futurist, telling stories of tomorrow for the world’s biggest brands. He helps leaders to see the future more clearly and tell their stories to the audiences that matter, whether that’s the board, their staff, or their customers and prospects. Trusted by more than 30 of the global 500, as well as major government bodies such as NASA, Tom is in demand as a consultant, commentator, speaker and spokesperson. 

Jim O'Toole was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Bord Bia, The Irish Food Board, in November 2022, following five years as CEO of Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland's Seafood Development Agency. 

Prior to this, he held several senior leadership roles at Bord Bia, including leading the development of Origin Green, the world's first national food and drink sustainability programme. He also spent 15 years leading Bord Bia's international operations across London, Milan and Paris. 

Jim is a Board Member of the Irish National Accreditation Board and holds a Master's degree in Agricultural Science from University College Dublin. 

Anna Taylor is Executive Director at The Food Foundation - a leading organisation working on food policy. Previously she was a civil servant at DFID leading their nutrition work and was awarded an OBE for services to tackle undernutrition globally.  She sits on DEFRA’s Food Strategy Advisory Board and was chief independent adviser to Henry Dimbleby for the National Food Strategy. She sits on the Board of Veg Power.  She started her career as a nutritionist working for Save the Children.  

Dalton joined Greencore as CEO in September 2022. Raised on a family poultry farm in Ireland, he holds a BA from University College Dublin, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and an honorary Doctorate of Management from Bradford University.  

His executive career includes CEO of daa plc, the global airports and travel retail group, CEO of Wm Morrison plc (then a FTSE 100 company and the UK's fourth largest supermarket), CEO of Brown Thomas Group, and COO of Loblaw Companies Ltd. in Canada. Dalton also served as a senior advisor to the Boston Consulting Group. He started his career with Jardine Matheson, followed by Walmart.  

Roisin Currie has been Chief Executive of Greggs since May 2022, having joined the business in 2010 as Group People Director. She subsequently held a number of senior leadership roles, including Retail Operations and People Director, and Retail and Property Director. Prior to Greggs, she spent 20 years with Asda in a range of people and operational leadership positions. 

Alongside her executive role, Roisin serves as an independent Non-Executive Director of Howdens. She chairs the Employers Forum for Reducing Re-offending, is a trustee of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, and was awarded a CBE in 2025 for services to hospitality. 

Harshal is Director of Workforce and Economics at IGD, where he leads work workforce strategy, and industry collaboration across the food sector. Previously, he served at Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as Head of Strategy and Engagement for circular economy programmes, driving cross-sector initiatives to support implementation of new packaging reforms. Earlier in his career, Harshal spent over 20 years at GS1 in the UK and Canada, holding executive roles focused on digital transformation, supply chain innovation, and sustainability. His work spanned both global and UK markets, partnering with industry leaders to deliver large-scale, collaborative solutions. He brings a unique combination of public policy, industry leadership, and international experience to workforce and economic challenges facing the sector today. 

Originally from Lancashire, Eleanor studied Exercise Science at Loughborough University before discovering her passion for retail through graduate opportunities inspired by her mum’s successful career at Greggs. Joining Asda’s Retail Graduate Scheme, she quickly embraced opportunities across store operations, online retail and non-food leadership, gaining experience in executive visits, divisional forums and a major store refit project. More recently, Eleanor moved into the People team, partnering senior leaders and driving people-related change across the business, while studying towards her CIPD Level 5 qualification. Passionate about learning and growth, she thrives on stepping outside her comfort zone and building a rewarding retail career

Erica works for the national body for careers education, The Careers & Enterprise Company.  Leading on their work with employers, sectors, and business bodies, ensuring employers can work effectively with the education sector to address organisational, sectoral, local, and national skills needs. Erica led the development of The Employer Standards for Careers Education, a framework and free self-assessment that supports employers to improve the impact of their careers outreach. 

Erica joined the company from Citi, where she worked in the Community Development team focused on maximizing employee volunteering and giving.  Prior to this Erica was a Director for an East London charity, focused on social mobility and community wellbeing. 

As deputy CEO of Youth Employment UK Lauren leads our strategies on research, insight and best practice across youth and business audiences. She’s passionate about ensuring all young people get the resources they need to understand and support their best next steps and that accessible, quality opportunities are available. 

Lauren leads Youth Employment UK’s annual Youth Voice Census, the largest survey of its kind. Additionally, she is leading Youth Employment UK’s work to launch a first-of-its-kind evidence-based Good Youth Employment Benchmark this year, which will change how employers understand and plan their youth employment strategies across the UK. 

Caroline leads IGD’s ShopperVista programme, helping retailers and suppliers understand how changing shopper behaviour is creating new opportunities for growth. With more than 25 years’ experience across insight, foresight, strategy and innovation, she has worked for major global food and drink businesses including Nestlé, General Mills and AB InBev. Passionate about understanding the factors that shape consumer decision-making, Caroline specialises in turning complex insight into practical action. Her work focuses on helping businesses anticipate the future and respond to the trends shaping the UK food system.

James' role at IGD is to help businesses anticipate and cope with strategic events, including economic pressures, geo-political change, social developments and environmental stress. James has worked with clients across the entire grocery industry as well as with non-industry groups such as government departments, financial businesses, and NGOs. James joined IGD in April 1999 and has served in several roles, becoming Chief Economist in 2004. 

Kimberley has over 20 years’ experience in the retail sector, specialising in driving large-scale cultural and operational transformation. Currently Director of Learning & Development Programmes at IGD, she is developing learning offers that support the grocery industry in building a future-fit workforce. She has a proven track record of embedding cultural change and building high-performing teams. She is passionate about developing people, embedding lasting change, and delivering sustainable business results.  

Sarah brings over 25 years of unparalleled experience in the retail and food sectors.  Currently, she leads IGD, an influential organisation that has been helping to inspire and unite the food industry for more than 120 years. IGD is a strategic insights and foresight business, reinvesting all profits into impactful initiatives that benefit both the industry and society at large.   

Throughout her career, Sarah has held senior commercial and marketing positions, including her previous role as Group Quality Director at Tesco. There, she was responsible for overseeing the delivery of high-quality safe products, sustainability, agriculture and regulatory compliance. It was in this role that Sarah honed her passion for driving collaborative change, mobilising the food and consumer goods sectors as a force for good, and working to improve the food system for the long term.  

Tom leads IGD’s insight strategy, partnering with global clients to anticipate change and drive growth by translating data into actionable strategies that help businesses thrive.   

Sophie joined the NFU as Director General in May 2026, bringing extensive experience across agriculture, food manufacturing, processing and retail. Before joining the NFU, she spent a decade in the veterinary sector, leading research and training programmes, before moving into senior roles at Morrisons and the Myton Food Group. 

She has also served as a non-executive director of Assured Food Standards (Red Tractor), a steering committee member of the Food Industry Initiative on Antimicrobials (FIIA), and a member of Defra's Animal Health and Welfare Pathway sub-group, contributing expertise across food, farming and policy.

Simon Roberts is Chief Executive of J Sainsbury plc, which includes Sainsbury’s, Argos, Nectar, Tu, Habitat and Sainsbury’s Bank. With more than 35 years in retail, he began his career on the shop floor before holding senior leadership roles at Walgreens Boots Alliance, including President of Boots UK & Ireland. 

Since joining Sainsbury’s in 2017, Simon has led a people-first, purpose-driven strategy focused on customers, colleagues and communities. He is a strong advocate for UK suppliers and sustainable growth and serves as President of IGD alongside several government and industry advisory roles.

Dr. Clive Black is the Vice Chairman, Founding Director and Head of Consumer of Shore Capital Markets (SCM), having served as Head of Research from 2003 to 2022. Before Shore Capital, he was a Director at ING Charterhouse Securities/Charterhouse Tilney and held key roles at Northern Foods plc and Head of Food Policy at the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).  

In 2012, Dr. Black was named City AM’s Analyst of the Year, nominated too in 2025 having many survey accreditations. He also serves as a Non-Executive Director of The Community Shop. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Queen’s University, Belfast and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Hilary Clinton for services to the agri-food industry in Northern Ireland in 2024.   

Ash Amirahmadi OBE is Chief Executive Officer of Sofina Foods Europe, one of Europe's leading multi-protein food manufacturers, employing around 8,000 people across the UK, Ireland, Germany and France. Before joining Sofina in 2023, he spent over 20 years at Arla Foods UK, serving in several senior leadership roles, including Managing Director. 

Ash has also chaired Dairy UK and IGD and played a key role in industry and government discussions on food resilience, security and sustainability. He was awarded an OBE in 2023 for services to the dairy industry and received the RABDF Princess Royal Award in 2024. 

Gordon Gafa was appointed UK Food Managing Director at Tesco in June 2025, with responsibility for Fresh Food, Packaged Goods, Fuel & Tobacco, as well as Commercial Operations and Supply Chain. Since joining Tesco in 2011, he has held a series of senior commercial roles, including Commercial Director for Packaged Goods, Director of Trading at Booker Fresh Food, Commodities Director and Bakery Category Director. 

With more than 27 years' commercial experience across retail and FMCG, Gordon has built expertise spanning sourcing, trading and category management. He holds an honours degree in Business and relocated from Malta to the UK in 2008. 

At its production site in Goes, the Netherlands, Meatless processes various raw materials, such as faba beans, mycoprotein, rice and quinoa, into texturizing solutions and semi-finished products for plant-based and hybrid meat and fish applications. The texturates in its Meatless^® portfolio are available in versatile variants and improve the taste, texture and nutritional profiles of food products.

Meatless is a brand of BENEO, which has long-term experience in developing and producing plant-based functional ingredients from natural sources for the food, feed and pharmaceutical industries. By supporting health and optimising taste and texture, they help improve the nutritional and technical properties of a wide variety of products.  

Polytag is a connected packaging technology company enabling GS1 Digital Link QR codes at scale. Our platform turns every product into a dynamic digital touchpoint, unlocking a powerful marketing channel that scales with sales. Using serialised and variable QR data, brands can deliver personalisation, rewards and loyalty experiences, while gaining item‑level visibility across the supply chain. Polytag enables smarter operations including faster, more targeted product recalls, reduced food waste, and improved recycling outcomes. Trusted by leading brands and retailers, Polytag's award winning platform helps businesses transform product and packaging into data‑rich infrastructure for growth, resilience and circularity.

LRQA is the leading global risk management partner. Through its connected risk management solutions, LRQA helps clients navigate an evolving global landscape to keep organisations one step ahead. From quality assurance to safety, cybersecurity, climate performance and responsible sourcing, LRQA works with clients to identify risks across their business. LRQA’s team of experts then creates smart, scalable solutions, tailored to help organisations prepare, prevent and protect against risk.

Through relentless client focus, backed by decades of sector-specific expertise, data-driven insight and on-the-ground specialists across assurance, certification, inspection, advisory and training, LRQA supports over 61,000 organisations in more than 150 countries.

Red Tractor is the UK's largest food and farm assurance scheme, underpinning standards across the food supply chain from farms to pack. Established in 2000 to help restore confidence in British food, Red Tractor provides independent assurance for food safety, animal welfare, environmental protection and traceability. The Red Tractor logo is recognised by 75% of UK shoppers and appears on more than £18 billion worth of food and drink.

Working with farmers, food businesses and retailers, Red Tractor helps deliver trusted standards, strengthen supply chain confidence and provide assurance that British food is safe, traceable and responsibly produced.

3Keel is an evidence-led sustainability consultancy, tackling risks and building resilience across supply chains, food systems and landscapes. We partner with clients to deliver robust analyses, practical insights and clear advice to drive measurable impact.3Keel's industry-leading programme, Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs) brings organisations together to co-fund and implement regenerative agriculture and nature-based solutions to drive landscape resilience. Since 2021, LENs has delivered more than €30m from organisations like Nestlé, Diageo and West Northamptonshire Council to more than 430 farmers, to implement practices like cover crops, minimum tillage and habitat restoration.

Trusted for food safety, quality assurance and operational excellence, Klipspringer supplies the equipment, systems and expertise that help food businesses meet and exceed the highest standards. Working with manufacturers, retailers and food service operators of all sizes, Klipspringer combines practical, compliance and operational excellence solutions with genuine industry insight, helping businesses reduce risk, protect brand reputation and keep pace with an ever evolving landscape. As the sector navigates the future of UK food safety, Klipspringer remains a trusted, forward-thinking partner.