Nellie Nichols – London Food Consultant

“Nellie Nichols is a passionate crusader for the cause of good, natural, preservative free food. At Pret she kept us on the seat of our pants. New ideas, new recipes, funny one-off suppliers of weird and wonderful ingredients.”
JULIAN METCALFE, Founder, Pret a Manger and itsu

Nellie Nichols is a London food consultant, and an acclaimed expert within the Food Industry who has been listed as one of the top 10 women in that sector by the national press. An effective leader and ‘hands-on’ manager of people, achieving success by developing and engaging her team.

Commercially driven to achieve both customer and corporate objectives. Nellie has the unique ability to innovatively develop and upgrade products and recipes whilst maintaining a strong commercial perspective.

Running her own consultancy since 2004, after she left Pret as Head of Food for the second time, Nellie has worked in the UK as well as throughout Europe and globally in the States, South Korea and Kuwait for a wide range of companies in retail and manufacture across all food types in chilled, ambient and frozen.

As such a reputable and independent food consultant of many years standing Nellie is frequently asked to comment on global food issues both on television, including BBC News and numerous radio stations. These are all available to view and listen to on this website.

Her clients include amongst many others:

Pret A Manger, Marks & Spencer, Leon Restaurants, Starbucks UK, Starbucks Poland, Caffe Nero, Black Sheep, THIS, Knoops, Krispy Kreme, Wagamama, Greencore, GU, Hello Fresh, Potage, Corney & Barrow, Bord Bia, The Norwegian Seafood Council, Baker & Baker, Bakkavor, Moy Park, Honi Poke, Slimfast, Lantmännen Unibake, Délifrance, The Big Prawn Co, Natures Way Foods, Fernandez & Wells, Vital Ingredient.

“Nellie has unrivalled sector knowledge and the rare ability to be both an excellent NPD person and highly effective in commercial negotiation. Outspoken and driven, she carries this with great warmth and humour. In my view, she is an invaluable asset for any business in need of development and external insight.”
WILL STRATTON-MORRIS, former CEO, Caffe Nero, UK

Food Consultancy Services

New Product Development
Value Optimisation in product and manufacturing processes without undermining the integrity of the product
TV and Radio work (fully media trained) including BBC, ITV, ITN, Channel Four and various radio stations
Fresh pair of eyes on range and menu architecture to increase sales and reduce waste
Concept kitchen development and feasibility
Food trends and market analysis
Factory trials and launches
Food photography art direction working with many leading photographers and food stylists
Extensive knowledge of supplier base across all food categories and ingredients
Packaging sourcing, solutions and design
Complete food website design, writing and content working including technical specialist
Food development recruitment training and mentoring
Hands on bespoke food culture programmes for teams in UK and abroad
Food tours UK and abroad to learn new cuisines and to specifically look at key products
Company-wide team building food education programmes
Food writing (articles, pack copy, reviewing, websites)
Marketing services
Mystery Shopper Visits

London Food Consultant:
Food To Go | Fast Casual Dining | Ready Meals | Bakery | Desserts | Seafood | Meat | Drinks | Health | Free From | Gut Health

“We have worked with Nellie for the last three years and she has bought a new dimension to the development process. She is very knowledgeable and experienced, sets high standards and passes on her expertise to the teams. Not afraid to challenge the status quo, Nellie has delivered delicious new products and generated savings in product costs across a wide range of categories.”
CATHY CHAPMAN, former Director of Product Development, Marks & Spencer