5 Minutes With: Ed Foy

What would you be doing if you weren’t in the food industry?
I’d attempt to have a music or stand-up career and lament over the fact that I’ve never had a professional sports career… lack of talent being barriers to both.

What was your first job?
My first job was working in a stable mucking out horse boxes… I was paid in ice cream (I was much more interested in the ice cream than the horses).

What inspires you?
My mum and dad for very different reasons… And people who have achieved greatness but through a reputation for being kind, as opposed to ruthlessness.

What’s the worst job you’ve done?
I spent an entire summer entering the Wall Street Journal stocks and shares listings into a spreadsheet.

What’s your favourite part of the job?
For me, the driver of the business has always been the people… it’s why I have always worked in retail because I am addicted to meeting new people.

And your least favourite?
Losing at Friday team beer pong… these youngsters have got game.

How about the food industry?
What I love about the food industry is the passion and the people. It is such a massive melting pot of people from very different backgrounds and the openness to sharing and working together as brands is really exciting and something that I think is fairly new.

My least favourite thing is just a sad part of being in emerging industries, which is that businesses may ultimately fail. It’s hard to see people working with passion and commitment in building businesses and through underfunding or just tricky timing don’t succeed, as we may still be one of those. That’s just the ride I guess!

Tea or coffee?
Decaf tea – not for any particular health reasons but because I’m annoying enough as it is without the caffeine.

What would be your last supper?
There’s this African rice dish you can only get in a restaurant where we went on holiday as kids. By the beach, eating that… I’d be happy.

What’s your motto?
Dream big, scale back only when necessary. There is too much talent in the world to have to work with negative people.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
This year we were working on a recipe for vegan scrambled eggs and one of the recipes we researched had “Kala Namak” which is a sulphur salt. Someone dropped a crystal of it into my beer at Friday drinks. I can only imagine it’s like a fart in your mouth! I will get them back!

What’s your favourite book?
The Sun Also Rises by Earnest Hemingway (sounded like a crazy time to be in Paris).

Sweet or savoury?
Alternate back and forth to encourage outrageous volumes of consumption.