John Rensten founder of Forage London and author of ‘The Edible City – A Year of Wild Food’ offers culinary and botanical consultation and product development advice, providing invaluable expertise in the realm of wild botanical ingredients.
John has two decades of experience working with chefs, distillers, bartenders, brewers, brands, TV production companies, hospitality events, pop-ups, food producers and educators, helping them find the best way to incorporate wild foods and foraging into their projects. Over the years John has contributed to numerous successful brands, from start-ups to house hold names. Forage London is committed to sustainable practices and ethical sourcing and adheres to the Principles of Practice of The Association of Foragers.
John has been at the forefront of the renewed interest in wild and foraged food and drink in the UK over the past 20 years. He has trained, mentored, and inspired many of the new generation of foragers, foraging teachers, wild-inspired chefs, distillers, and creative bartenders. John is a founding member of The Association of Foragers, an international association of foraging teachers/consultants and wild food suppliers.
Having owned pubs and restaurants, and through extensive collaboration with leading bartenders, distillers and brewers, John has cultivated a clear understanding of the processes, obstacles, jargon and needs of creative brands looking to explore, develop and promote wild-inspired products.
Our services encompass a wide spectrum of botanical consultation and product development, tailored to the unique needs of our clients. It usually includes some or all of the following:
- Wild inspiration and innovation
- Working with artisans/brands to identify sustainable wild ingredients
- Flavour profiling of wild botanicals
- Surveying a geographical area for wild resources
- Identifying abundant species suitable for small commercial use
- Advising on/designing responsible, sustainable, and commercially viable harvesting strategies
Please contact us via email at [email protected], and we can explore the opportunity of how we can work together to achieve your objectives efficiently and effectively. Whether you’re seeking assistance with a project, exploring potential collaborations, or require specialised services, your input is invaluable. By engaging in a focused discussion, we can delve deeper into the specifics of your needs, address any questions or concerns you may have, and outline a comprehensive plan to meet your requirements.
The Botanist Gin
‘John has been playing a huge role in the development of The Botanist Gin, his knowledge and expertise helped us to convey our message to in the UK. His foraging walks have always taught us loads and helped us to understand our surroundings better and use them in food or cocktails. ‘
Miller Harris Perfume
‘We have had the great pleasure of foraging with John on numerous occasions, with guests from all different creative fields and everyone is always thoroughly delighted with the experience. John’s walks transform the way you view the city and we wanted to experience it from an olfactive perspective whilst understanding what could be a source of food in the urban landscape. We learnt so much and found John’s personality is equal to his knowledge. As one of our press guests complimented, she will never see the city in the same way again.’
Lush Cosmetics
‘We thoroughly enjoyed our foraging with John, learning about all the different fungi species we came across. Much like the mycelium network, we’re all interconnected and rely on each other for nourishment and support – so this was exactly what we needed to bring us together as a global team and connect to our vision of leaving the world Lusher than we found it. We’ll definitely be back for another walk with John soon.’
Seedlip/Diageo
‘Our foraging day in London with John was highly inspirational. As a team of mixologists constantly working on cocktail recipes and menus, our day foraging with John learning about native British ingredients with punchy and unexpected flavours certainly made us think outside the box. It was a fascinating day learning about the wonders of nature & everything it provides. Thank you, John, for helping inspire the team’.
Green and Blacks
‘Thank you so much for today, you were super!! So interesting and very insightful and bringing such valuable experience to our ‘creative spark’ workshop day.’
Tate Modern
‘John was welcoming, entertaining and engaging; a natural presenter who is obviously very passionate about what he does.’
The Museum of London
‘Thanks again for leading a great event – I had such positive feedback from the guests, and I think many of them will be coming to your future workshops too!’
Westminster University
‘Thanks John. It was great! My students had lots of amazing reflections the next day and the feedback from the pupils was really positive.’
Islington Ecology Centre
‘Johns walks are highly educational and have been valuable to the local people, encouraging engagement with nature in a responsible way.’
Bushmills Whiskey
‘John was a great help not only in the execution of our event but also in helping us understand the principles behind foraging and what we could achieve with foraged ingredients. His enthusiasm for wild food and the process of collecting it was infectious, and both media and consumers commented on how much they enjoyed his walk. John is knowledgeable, affable, and professional; a rare combination but one that ensures that we’ll use him again. Thanks John!’
London Wildlife Trust
‘We have had such marvellous feedback from your event, so thank you once again.’
Victorinox/Swiss Army Knives
‘We just wanted to send a thank you for hosting the workshops with us and joining us at Wilderness Festival. It was a pleasure to work with you.’
White Pepper Cookery School
‘Working with John on our various foraging courses in Dorset is as much a joy as it is an education, he has great expertise in relation to our edible landscape, nutritional facts, horticultural medicine, cookery and the history of plants and fungi. To pass on this sometimes complex information, to include Latin names, in an accessible, relevant, and fun way to groups of all sizes, takes great teaching and interpersonal skills. This is what, in our opinion separates John from the other tutors and experts in his field. John’s students leave feeling inspired, more confident and hungry for more. In short foraging with John is an exceptional experience not to be missed.’
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park
‘We manage a nationally recognised nature reserve in east London, and we have had a long relationship with John. His walks are hugely educational and hands on. Via the theme of foraging, he wants people to enjoy the natural world as much as he does, and he aims to help people do this in a considerate and responsible way so that plant populations aren’t removed and are maintained for both wildlife and people. John is truly engaging and fascinating to spend time with. Walking the landscape with him is immensely rewarding.’
Blue Ventures
‘Thanks again for a great morning of foraging, fascinating facts about our local park and the edible delights that we could find there and the chance to try some of your home-produced drinks and food. We all had a great time.’
Green Alliance
‘We booked a wild food tour with John as part of an office away day and were really impressed with his knowledgeable and entertaining guided tour of the edible delights of a London Park. It was a really interesting (and tasty) afternoon out, which got people talking and learning – and inspired several of us to be more adventurous with our eating! Highly recommended.’
Upham Pub Co.
‘We had an amazing experience with John doing Urban Foraging in Southampton. Our head chefs felt engaged and thought that John was very passionate, enthusiastic, and very inspiring. We will definitely be doing this experience with John again.’
Rolling Drinks Trolley
‘John is THE voice when it comes to foraged ingredients in the UK. Friendly, knowledgeable & creative, a pleasure to collaborate with.’
Our Vodka London
‘Your forage walk has really opened our eyes to the truly magnificent range of herbs and plants that are all around us in this great city.
Your knowledge, and the interesting way you shared this with our guests on the walk, was top quality!’
Abbots Court
‘What an inspirational morning. We were all blown away by the experience and we can’t wait to get cracking on organising the next one.’
Talisker Whiskey
‘We had a fascinating and extremely enjoyable time with John looking at some of the wild cocktail ingredients that can be found in any London Park, more outing s to follow soon.’
