Richard Peake CEO Merchant Gourmet

Ollie Lloyd chats with Richard Peake, CEO of Merchant Gourmet—a brand known for chestnuts, puy lentils and a growing range of pulses and grains. Merchant Gourmet is transforming what many consider a mundane part of food into a vibrant and convenient option for more foodie households

The business was founded over 30 years ago by two foodie brothers, Mark and Oliver Leatham. They focused on bringing high-quality global ingredients to the UK for high-end food restaurants and hotels around London, and when this took off, they decided to create a consumer brand, Merchant Gourmet. Today, Merchant Gourmet focuses on making nutritious grains and pulses accessible and exciting. Today, their offering has expanded to include microwavable and frozen solutions that can be prepared in two minutes, catering to our quick-paced lives while celebrating diverse global cuisines from Korean to Persian.

Despite operating in multiple categories with many big competitors, Richard celebrates the vibrancy of their sectors and the reality of having more brands raising awareness about the nutritional benefits of pulses and grains. The conversation also tackles how the UK is evolving from traditional cuisines, incorporating more diverse flavours into home cooking.

Merchant Gourmet aims to inspire and simplify meal preparation by ensuring their products are flavorful and accessible. The brand is also embarking on international expansion, starting with the French market, showing its commitment to reaching a wider audience.
They conclude with a debate around the trend toward functional foods and high-protein and how brands like Merchant Gourmet should react. Merchant Gourmet remains steadfast in offering natural, delicious, and minimally processed products, focusing on authentic taste and quality and refuses to fall into the trap of chasing trends that are often overblown. Despite all this, Richard also admits that occasionally life is too busy, and like all of us, he has resorted to eating a Babybel wrapped in turkey for lunch!

Edited by Stella Gent