Karl joins the Kitchen Curiosity podcast to discuss why quality matters
If you haven’t already tuned into the latest episode of Kitchen Curiosity, hosted by Radford Chancellor, now is the time. The newest episode Why Quality Matters with Adande and The Margate Chef is one of the most genuine, insightful conversations to come out of the foodservice world this year, and it features none other than Karl Hodgson, our Managing Director.
Karl is joined on the episode by award-winning chef Craig Edgell, better known as the Margate Chef; a man who has spent 25 years grafting his way to the top of the culinary world and is now backing himself with his own catering and hospitality business. Between the two of them, the episode covers the real pressures facing hospitality today, what makes Adande genuinely different, and why quality in food, in equipment, and in attitude is the only thing worth chasing.
Meet the Margate Chef
Craig Edgell’s story is a proper chef’s journey. Raised near Dover, trained at East Kent College, and forged over 25 years in some of Kent’s best kitchens, Craig spent seven years as head chef at the Buoy Oyster, a two-rosette seafood restaurant in Margate that ran up to 350 covers a day at its peak. He recently picked up the National Chef of the Year Presentation Award for 2026 and has just been nominated as a finalist for 2027.
Now he’s going it alone with Margate Chef Catering & Hospitality, offering bespoke private dining, weddings, and events and his take on why is refreshingly honest:
“I see restaurants at the moment are suffering badly. Staffing, pricing, every energy is so expensive… I just wanted something a bit more personal.” “I’m not a product, I’m an experience. So, I want to offer an experience that you’ll remember and never forget.”
It’s a mindset that anyone in hospitality will recognise and respect. Craig also opens up about competing in the Craft Guild of Chefs’ National Chef of the Year for five years running, the discipline it demands, and the philosophy that’s driven him throughout.
Karl on Adande, the Industry, and Why Refrigeration Matters More Than You Think
Karl’s section of the episode is where things get really interesting for anyone in the foodservice equipment space. Returning to Kitchen Curiosity after his appearance in season one, Karl brings 35 years of industry experience and a passion for changing the way chefs and operators think about refrigeration.
He talks candidly about what’s driven Adande’s growth, not just the technology, but the mindset behind it. When Karl first joined Adande 18 years ago, there was no sales brochure, no pricing, no marketing materials. Nothing. Just an innovative product and a blank page. What followed was nearly two decades of building awareness, educating the market, and proving that drawer refrigeration done properly is in a different class entirely.
“We’ve been helping operators focus more on the pressures that hospitality has today; energy cost, food waste, labour shortages, inconsistency.”
“I think it’s very important that we dovetail what we’re selling them and making sure they get the best use out of it, and what it can do within the kitchen environment.”
The Technology Explained
For those unfamiliar with what makes Adande different, Karl breaks it down in plain terms. The patented insulated container tub creates a microclimate around the food, cold air stays in because it sinks, and the horizontal seal means that when you open the drawer, the cold air doesn’t simply fall out the way it does from a conventional upright fridge.
There are no fans in our drawers either. Traditional refrigeration uses fans, which dehydrates food and strips it of moisture. Adande’s gravity-fed system keeps that moisture locked in, which has real, measurable consequences for food quality.
On running costs, the numbers speak for themselves:
“You can run an Adande drawer for 24 hours for around about 12 pence.”
That’s a remarkable figure at a time when energy bills are one of the biggest pressures in any kitchen, and Karl is clear that this efficiency isn’t a recent development. Adande was already ahead of the curve 10 to 15 years ago. The rest of the market is only now catching up.
Why You Should Listen
This episode of Kitchen Curiosity is well worth an hour of your time. It’s two people who clearly care deeply about their crafts, a chef building something personal and meaningful from the ground up, and an MD who has spent nearly two decades making the case that refrigeration deserves to be taken seriously.
Whether you’re a chef, a dealer, a kitchen designer, or simply someone who loves a genuine conversation about the hospitality industry, there’s something in this episode for you.
