Dan Crossley

Background

I help lead Forum’s food system work, which is centred around mainstreaming sustainable food. I’ve been involved in a number of futures projects, including the PepsiCo Scenarios & Strategies work and Consumer Futures 2020 (with Sainsbury’s and Unilever). I currently manage our partnerships with PepsiCo and Delhaize Group.

I joined Forum in 2006, drawn in by the opportunity to combine my passions of food and sustainability. A gap year teaching English in Nepal was followed by a few years at KPMG, where I qualified as an accountant. I went on to join a large food manufacturer, where I worked as group acquisitions analyst and then financial controller at one of their foodservice factories (you should see what goes into paté!). I was keen to move into the world of sustainability, so went off and did a masters in sustainability at Imperial College, London – including a dissertation exploring the feasibility of developing a Local to London food brand. So I guess you could say my career before Forum was a mix of teaching, numbers, strategy, sustainability and food – all very useful ingredients for my time at Forum.

What would my dream project be? I would love to do a big project with the fast food industry – a largely neglected sector when it comes to sustainability efforts. I’d like to get into some of their crunchy issues like meat consumption, the drive-through culture and obesity. Or, to put it another way, I’d like to help get some ‘slow food’ into ‘fast food’.

And outside work? I am married with a little ‘un, who (in a nice way!) takes up a lot of our time. In what spare time I have, I enjoy watching (pretty much any) sport. As a foodie, I probably enjoy ice cream and chocolate more than I should. Oh, and I like bad puns (although some would argue there’s no such thing as ‘good’ puns…)

@dan_crossley