15th March 2026

A Conversation About the Future

I had a very interesting conversation with my son Alexander this week.

Alexander joined the business just over a year ago as our Commercial Director and will eventually take over The Black Farmer brand. During our discussion we started asking a big question:

What will The Black Farmer become when I’m no longer around?

Will it still be a food brand?

History suggests that many companies become known for something completely different from how they started. Nintendo began as a playing card company. Nokia once made rubber boots. Samsung started as a trading company selling dried fish and groceries.wilfred 

Businesses evolve. Sometimes dramatically.

And in our case, the force pushing that evolution may well be AI.

Becoming an AI-First Business

Both Alexander and I see ourselves as early adopters of AI. In fact, we now think of The Black Farmer as an AI-first business.

By embracing AI properly we’ve already seen major improvements in efficiency, knowledge access and decision-making. The pace of change is extraordinary.

Alexander has immersed himself so deeply in AI that he has become something of a wizard at building platforms and systems. What started as tools for our own business has now revealed something interesting:

These tools could help other small businesses too.

We are currently developing several AI tools designed specifically to help small businesses run themselves more efficiently. Alexander will be launching them soon.

Watch this space.

The Ask Wilfred Experiment

You may remember that I recently launched the Ask Wilfred tool on my website.

The idea was simple: customers can come online and ask Wilfred anything. The AI answers questions in my voice, reflecting my personality and perspective.

What I didn’t expect was how fascinating the interactions would become.

I now spend time in the evenings reading the conversations customers are having with Ask Wilfred. I’m genuinely blown away by how accurate the responses are.

But the real value is something else.

It gives me direct insight into what customers are thinking and feeling.

Years ago you would have had to hire an expensive research company to gain this kind of insight. Now those insights appear naturally through customer conversations with AI.

Which raises an interesting question:

Is traditional market research also about to be disrupted by AI?

Signs of Life After January

Business is generally picking up again after the gloom of January.

Brixton has seen better footfall and White City is beginning to feel busier again. It is still challenging, but the mood is shifting slightly.

Running a business always involves pressure. But I’ve come to realise there are two different types of pressure.

There is survival pressure — the kind where you are dealing with problems that feel pointless and draining.

And then there is productive pressure — where the effort and stress are leading somewhere meaningful.

The second type is difficult but energising. It’s the pressure that comes with building something worthwhile.

The Kitchen as a Creative Space

I’m still spending time in the kitchen.

What started as helping the team has become something else entirely — a creative space. Skills I learnt 40 or 50 years ago have come flooding back.

I find myself experimenting again.

New sandwich ideas.

Different wraps.

Hot meals for customers.

There’s something deeply satisfying about cooking food that brings someone else enjoyment. Hospitality and retail are not easy industries — nobody should enter them expecting quick riches.

But if you don’t get a genuine kick out of seeing customers happy, then you’re in the wrong business.

The real reward in hospitality is not money.

It’s appreciation.

When the World Impacts the Shop Floor

Of course, running a small business also means being constantly aware of what is happening in the wider world.

The recent escalation of conflict in the Middle East is something I’m watching closely. Wars rarely feel distant when you run a small business.

Energy prices rise.

Fuel prices rise.

Borrowing becomes more expensive.

Food costs climb.

All of these things eventually land on the doorstep of small businesses.

Electricity is already painfully expensive. If costs rise further it will become even more challenging. The difficulty is that customers understandably dislike price increases, regardless of the global forces driving them.

So like many small business owners, I find myself watching the news and wondering how long the situation will continue.

Closing Reflection

Despite all the uncertainty, I remain optimistic.

Technology is opening doors that once seemed impossible. AI is transforming how businesses operate. And the ability to listen directly to customers has never been greater.

The Black Farmer may not look the same in ten or twenty years as it does today.

But if there is one thing I’ve learned over decades in business, it’s this:

Businesses that evolve survive. Businesses that stand still disappear.

And right now, evolution is happening faster than ever.

Onwards.