The risk takers
The Food Chain
BBC
4.7 • 545 Ratings
🗓️ 19 February 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Every food company starts with a gamble - and not all of them pay off. In this episode Ruth Alexander speaks to business owners about the risks they’ve taken to get where they are today, from financial leaps to personal sacrifices, and the painful decisions that have shaped their journeys.
Ruth hears from Kim Kiarie, chef-owner of Five Senses Nairobi in Kenya, about building a high-end restaurant in a challenging market. Adonis Norouznia, who runs Nomas Gastrobar in Macclesfield in North-West England, on the risks of deciding to serve meat at his vegan restaurant, and Keith Bearden, CEO and co-owner of Alta Eco Foods in Houston, Texas, about scaling a food business in a competitive industry.
They describe the compromises that cost them dearly, the moments they wondered whether it was all worth it, and what kept them going. Produced by Izzy Greenfield
Image description: A foot comes down amidst a cartoon landscape of bright yellow banana skins. Credit Getty.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts. |
| 0:05.6 | Hello, I've just nipped in before your BBC podcast starts to tell you all about |
| 0:09.4 | You're Dead to Me. We're the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Also from the BBC |
| 0:13.9 | and presented by me, Greg Jenner. I should have told you that at the beginning. Sorry. |
| 0:17.9 | Anyway, like many other BBC podcasts, such as Desert Island Discs, Evil Genius, or In Our Time, your dead to me is available first on BBC Sounds, |
| 0:26.3 | a whole month earlier than anywhere else, in fact. So if you can't wait another day to hear |
| 0:31.2 | the very latest in history and loads of other good stuff, then listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:38.9 | Starting a food business is not for the faint-hearted. |
| 0:42.9 | You know, it's not the same as when you write, throw things up on paper. |
| 0:46.7 | You know, when you hit your first month, your second month, your third month, you're just like, wow. |
| 0:51.6 | This is not what I asked for. This is not what I was looking for. |
| 0:54.9 | Behind every cafe facade, every menu, every food product is someone who's taken a gamble. |
| 1:01.5 | The guys that I convinced to partner with me to buy the company, |
| 1:06.5 | I get phone calls saying, did we do the right thing? |
| 1:11.1 | In this episode of the food chain from the BBC World Service with me, Ruth Alexander, |
| 1:16.7 | I'm talking to three business owners about what it's like to put money and their reputation on the line to bring food to your plate. |
| 1:25.3 | We'll hear about the agonizing decisions, painful compromises and stark realities. |
| 1:32.1 | It was ultimate choice. Trust me, I didn't want to do it. I didn't like to do it, but business |
| 1:37.1 | is business. And what keeps them going? There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. It just |
| 1:43.1 | depends on how you pivot and how you kind of figure out how to move on. |
| 1:48.4 | So let me introduce Kim Kiare, the chef owner at Five Senses Nairobi in Kenya. |
| 1:54.2 | Adonis Nauruznia, who runs no-mass gastrobar in McElwold in the northwest of England, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.