John Stapleton was studying for a master’s degree in food science at Reading University when he went to the meeting that changed his life. It was the late 1980s and it happened in a pub.
Over a lunchtime pint, Andrew Palmer — a London stockbroker interested in the food industry — outlined his idea for a fresh soup brand sold in a carton rather than a can. He needed a co-founder with scientific expertise and Stapleton fitted the bill.