Taste of Place World Food Travel Association, Erik Wolf

In this episode, number 68, of The Business of Food Travel podcast, we speak with Fred Lizée. Fred is a tourism industry professional from France. He has been working in responsible adventure travel for 15 years, with professional experiences in Europe, Asia and Australia. He is passionate about outdoor expeditions, community travel and disruptive tourism projects. To that end, he created his own competition called the New Explorer Challenge to help train international students on the subject of sustainable adventure tourism. As you probably have guessed, Fred loves to travel and has visited 72 countries already.

In this episode number 67 of The Business of Food Travel podcast, we speak with Rico Mandel. In 2001, when the dotcom bubble burst and then September 11 hit, Rico's marketing business collapsed. After some soul searching, he decided to enroll in culinary school, an experience that changed his life. He worked in restaurants and catering, while building his contact networks and continuing marketing work in the hospitality industry. This eventually led him to create Miz En Place, an ecommerce platform that delves into the world of gastronomy through artisanal food and beverage products, experiences, and stories.

In episode 66 of The Business of Food Travel podcast, we speak with Chef Darren MacLean. Chef Darren is one of Canada’s most acclaimed and outspoken chefs, restaurateurs and environmental advocates. Seeking to showcase Canada’s culinary scene to international audiences, MacLean was Canada’s sole contender and a finalist on Netflix’s global cooking competition ‘The Final Table.’ He is also the first Canadian chef ever invited to collaborate with Princess Cruises. MacLean is passionate about sustainability and the food-building community. While he regularly participates in events as an educator, speaker and culinary judge in Canada and abroad, he is happiest when in the kitchen. MacLean’s Japanese izakaya-style restaurant Shokunin, in his home city of Calgary, Alberta, has been voted one of Canada's top 50 restaurants for three years in a row. Canada's ethnic mosaic inspires Chef Darren. His appreciation for diversity leads him to travel extensively, further developing his unique perspective on food and the culinary experience. MacLean has spent considerable time in Japan studying the cuisine of the country that inspires him most. Believing in the power of food to bridge cultures, he welcomes global chefs to his country and kitchen, and he himself travels often -- from Tokyo to Mexico City -- to collaborate with others.

In this episode number 65, we speak with Jonathan DeLise, a New York City-based writer who focuses on food and travel. He has lived in East Asia and Mexico and explored the food and drink of countless countries. Jonathan is also passionate about foreign languages, a fact that has helped him to navigate various cultures. His passion for languages also gives him valuable new insights about the gastronomy in the places he visits. Jonathan is a consummate story teller who shares escapades about unique, unusual and off-the-beaten-track culinary products and experiences from wherever he travels.

In this episode, we meet Jose Luis Santos. Jose Luis has a decade of experience in strategy and entrepreneurship focusing on tourism and sustainability. He has worked for multinational companies such as Oliver Wyman and Amadeus, and now he leads Ecostars, a sustainability certification for hotels. Within one short year, Ecostars has become the most popular hotel sustainability certification across Europe. Similar to Ecostars, its sister Ecofoodies certification, covers sustainability certification for restaurants and foodservice outlets.

Dr. Tammara Soma is a professor, researcher and teacher at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC, Canada. When she is not teaching, she is busy running the food systems lab, a social innovation research lab tackling complex food issues. As the first hijabi professor at the university, Tammara often finds that her identity can be a point of tension. While she faces a lot of stereotypes as a visibly Muslim woman professor, she is optimistic that food is healing and can bring diverse people together. Originally from Indonesia, she is passionate about the role of food literacy in fostering belonging, identity, and in supporting environmental sustainability.