Presenters

Production Manager at Rare & Pasture

ALEX RIDGE

Working on a beautiful regenerative farm near Ugborough Alex has quickly become adept at knowing how to get the best out of each cut of meat. He follows our nose to tail philosophy, to show respect for the animal. Using traditional methods in a scaled up way has taught him a lot over the last three years.  Great charcuterie starts with great meat so Alex is excited about moving to using even more regeneratively farmed meat. He sees and the future of British charcuterie as going from strength to strength.

Expert

ANDY CLARKE

Andy is an internationally renowned food & drink writer with cocktail books published around the world. He is a regular presenter on ITV with regular appearances on ‘Love your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh’ and ‘Jimmy & Shivi’s Farmhouse Breakfast’. He also hosts events such as ‘Pub in the Park’ and ‘The Royal Bath & West Show’. 

Andy regularly hosts live cocktail demonstrations at ‘Good Food Show’ events across the country and is a judge for many food and drink awards such as ‘Great Taste’ and ‘Food, Drink Devon’. 

Andy is one of four culinary champions for Princess Cruises, sharing the love of their food and drink offerings. He also works regularly with Marks & Spencer, has an occasional column in ‘The BBQ Magazine’, has written for Craft Gin Club’s magazine ‘The Stir’ and The Telegraph and has had cocktail recipes featured in The Guardian’s ‘Feast’ supplement. 

Drinks Expert

ANGUS LUGSDIN

Angus Lugsdin is the Co-Founder and Director of Salcombe Distilling Co. The idea for the distillery first took shape while Angus was living in New York, where he witnessed the rapid growth of the US craft distilling movement. Spotting the same opportunity
emerging in the UK and inspired by Salcombe’s heritage as a destination for those who appreciate life’s finer things, Angus envisioned the town as the perfect home for a luxury spirits brand.
Reuniting with old friend Howard Davies, whom he met as a teenager teaching sailing in Salcombe, they co-founded Salcombe Distilling Co. in 2014 and launched the now iconic ‘Start Point’ gin in 2016. Collaborating with world renowned chefs and iconic winemakers. Angus regularly judges at the World Drinks Awards and IWSC awards, indulging his passion for whisky in addition to gin.
This year, Salcombe Distilling Co. is proud to support Dartmouth Food Festival as sponsor of the chefs’ demo tent.

Drinks Expert

DAN FARRELL WRIGHT

Dan Farrell-Wright founded Wickhams to bring the wines he loves into the hands of the UK wine buying public. He has a particular passion for esoteric wines or those produced in overlooked European regions. Dan works directly with small, sustainable, family owned wineries.

His focus on provenance and quality has been rewarded with multiple awards including the prestigious Decanter Retail Award for Best Specialist Retailer South & Regional France and the International Wine Competition award for Specialist Merchant of the Year England. Dan appears regularly on Toby Buckland’s BBC Radio Devon show as the international wine correspondent.

He wrote a regular column in the Western Morning News and has contributed to many industry magazines. He has also judged many wine competitions, including WineGB, Sud de France Top 100, and Food & Drink Devon..

CEO and Head Winemaker

DUNCAN SCHWAB

First Foray into Winemaking: At age 15, Duncan helped plant his family’s vineyard, St. Sampson’s, in Golant, Cornwall. What began as a semi-retirement hobby started by his parents, sparked Duncan’s lifelong passion for viticulture and winemaking. Since then, he’s travelled extensively, learning from winemakers around the globe and sharing in the collective dream of creating great wines.

Sharpham Winery: Duncan’s journey with Sharpham Winery spanned 30 years, starting when they expanded from 5 to 10 acres. From these humble beginnings, Sharpham grew into one of the UK’s most respected vineyards and a top tourist destination in Devon. 

Sandridge Barton Wines: Originally known as Sandridge Barton ‘The home of Sharpham Wines’, the business now operates on the opposite side of the river near Stoke Gabriel. With the new location they’ve had the opportunity to revitalize their focus, planting a diverse range of vines including Bacchus, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay enabling them to increase their range of wines.

Drinks Expert & Food Writer

FIONA BECKETT

Fiona Beckett is a contributing editor to the wine magazine Decanter and former wine columnist for The Guardian.

She is an award-winning food and wine writer and one of the UK’s leading experts on food and drink pairing. She has her own website Matching Food & Wine and Substack newsletter Eat This, Drink That 

Drinks expert

GILES GRAY

The guys behind Devon Rum Company. Dave Seear started the business in March 2020 after a 30 year career in sales and business consultancy. Giles Gray joined in August 2020 to head up sales following an earlier career in sales and the hospitality sector. Dave and Giles both love Devon, the outdoors and rum; so that’s a great start! 

Food Producer

HELEN BOYD

Helen and her husband Martin bought their first goats in 2023 and set up Stone Tree Dairy in 2024. They are now tending and milking a herd of 200 goats here in Dartmouth and producing a variety of award-winning cheese. Helen is also on the Board of Rowcroft Hospice.

Food Writer

HENRY DIMBLEBY MBE

Henry Dimbleby is co-founder of Leon Restaurants, the not-for-profit Sustainable Restaurant Association, and the charity Chefs In Schools.

Henry Dimbleby was made lead non-executive board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2018 and in June 2019 the Environment Secretary appointed him to lead the National Food Strategy. Henry co-founded the Leon restaurant chain in 2004, the Sustainable Restaurant Association in 2009, the charity Chefs in Schools in2018 and co-authored The School Food Plan in2013. This set out actions to transform what children eat in schools and how they learn about food. 

Henry previously worked as a Strategy Consultant at Bain & Company where he advised businesses on strategy, performance improvement and organisational design. Before that he worked as a journalist on The Daily Telegraph and a chef at the Michelin-starred Four Seasons Inn on the Park

Academic & Food Writer

MARTIN CARAHER

Focused on inequality and how many in our population don’t have adequate access to food; this leads to food poverty and obesity.

Martin is Emeritus Professor of food and health policy, at City, University of London.  He has spent decades working on issues related to food poverty, local food systems, food in schools and food banks. His recent focus is on how rising levels of debt during the Covid crisis has impacted on food poverty.

Drinks Expert

MATTEO LAMARO

Matteo is one of the founding forces behind Curator, bringing together Italian heritage and Devon’s landscape to build a brand rooted in craft, community and flavour.

Chef & Chocolatier

MICHAEL BARBER

Discover the world of craft chocolate with Barbers Bean to Bar in this interactive chocolate tasting experience. Join award-winning chocolate maker and pastry chef Michael Barber as he takes you on a journey from cocoa bean to finished chocolate bar. Learn how chocolate is grown, fermented, roasted and crafted, while tasting a selection of single-origin chocolates and exploring how origin, roasting and cocoa percentage influence flavour. Along the way, you’ll uncover the fascinating history of chocolate, discover what makes fine chocolate so special, and pick up expert tasting techniques. Whether you’re a dedicated chocolate lover or simply curious to learn more, this fun and engaging session is the perfect way to experience the incredible world of bean-to-bar chocolate.

Chef & Food Writer

ORLANDO MURRIN

“I’ve been to dozens and dozens of food festivals, on islands, up mountains, underwater (I made that last one up) but there is none as delightful and picturesque as Dartmouth. The harbour setting – stalls draped along the waterfront – is beautiful and unusual, and gives the festival a unique atmosphere. I also think it is the friendliest festival, with festival goers in a really good mood”

Orlando Murrin is a highly experienced food writer and editor, based in Exeter. 

Orlando Murrin has worked in practically every area of food – as editor, writer, chef and teacher. His latest books – Two’s Company and Two’s Company Simple – are focused on cooking for two. In early 2024 his first crime novel was published – with a culinary twist.

Expert

PAUL MCNABB

Drinks Expert

POLLY HILTON

Coffee Roaster

SAM REGAN

Sam is the skilled roaster at Curator, working from the company’s South Devon roastery in Totnes where every batch of coffee is wood-roasted in the Italian tradition.

Drinks Expert & Writer

SUSY ATKINS

‘Dartmouth Food Festival is absolutely a highlight of my year, every time, and I really enjoy showing
and discussing wonderful wines from all over the world there, including local Devon labels. I am
delighted to be an ambassador for the Festival.’

Susy Atkins has been writing about wine for over 30 years; she was co-editor of The Which? Wine Guide in
the 1990s and 2000s and has written several other award-winning books on wine and drinks.

She has been a wine and drinks correspondent for The Telegraph/The Sunday Telegraph for many years
with regular features at telegraph.co.uk and in print, and she is well-known to many for her 12 year
stint as wine expert on BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen.

She won the Champagne Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Award in 2014 and was Rioja Recognises ‘Communicator of the Year’ in 2016.

Susy lives in Devon and is a board director of Food Drink Devon.

Contributer

VICTORIA BENNS

Victoria Benns is the founder of BeWild CIC, a community-driven initiative inspiring people and businesses to support biodiversity. After many years as a teacher, she went on to study environmental science before creating Wild About Nature, a platform dedicated to helping people reconnect with the natural world. Her ethos is simple yet powerful: if we were all more connected to nature, our planet would be thriving — and so would we.

Drinks Expert

WILL FREELAND

Will is highly regarded in the brewing industry for producing award-winning ales. Before co-founding Bays, he spent over a decade as Head Brewer at Skinners Brewery in Cornwall, gaining a wealth of experience and a strong reputation for quality and innovation. In 2007, brothers Mark and Peter Salmon joined forces with their brother-in-law Will to realise their vision of creating beers inspired by their hometown of Torbay. Since then, Will’s passion for brewing has been at the heart of Bays. Drawing on his local roots, he has crafted a distinctive range of ales that celebrate tradition while capturing the true taste of Devon.

Drinks Expert

WILL LYONS

Described by The Spectator magazine as having one of the finest palate’s in Britain Will Lyons is a wine writer, author and broadcaster.For more than a decade he has published a weekly column on drinks, formerly in The Wall Street Journal and now The Sunday Times. His humorous, informed, down-to-earth writing has been recognized in both the Glenfiddich and Roederer wine writing Awards. While his entertaining podcast Wine Times was recently named ‘podcast of the year’.

Will began his career in London, where he developed a love for the classic wines of Europe working in St James’s for Justerini & Brooks and Berry Bros & Rudd. Known for his discerning palate and accurate predictions Will is also an accomplished blind wine taster and has lectured on the art of wine appreciation at Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh Universities. He is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford, a past president of the Edinburgh University Wine Society, a Commanderie de Bordeaux and a Freeman of the Vintners’ Company. Will is Vice President of The Sunday Times Wine Club and co-host of the award-winning Wine Times podcast