As part of our “5 Questions in 5 Minutes” exhibitor interview series, we sat down with Maxim McDonald, Managing Director of Gerald McDonald Group, a fourth-generation ingredient specialist blending heritage, flexibility, and innovation. Discover their story, what sets them apart, and what they’re bringing to this year’s show.

Find them on stand N610 and at the NEW Ingredients Table at IFE Manufacturing 2026.

1. Tell us a little about who you are and what your company does.

I'm Maxim McDonald, Managing Director of Gerald McDonald Group — a fourth-generation family business that's been supplying the food and drink industry since 1917. We're ingredient specialists: fruit juices and concentrates, herbs and spices, dried fruits, seeds, and grains. Everything is processed, blended, and packed at our own BRC AA-accredited facilities in Essex, and we supply customers ranging from ambitious start-ups to some of the UK's biggest food manufacturers, as well as exporting to over 30 countries worldwide.

2. What makes your brand stand out in today's market? How do your company's heritage, quality standards, and customer service set you apart from competitors?

We don't have minimum order quantities — which might sound like a small thing, but it's genuinely unusual in our industry. It means we can support a craft brewer experimenting with a new flavour just as readily as a major manufacturer scaling up a product line. Beyond that, we offer custom blending, NPD support, and trial blending at no charge. We're not tied to flavour houses or bottlers, so we can be completely independent in what we recommend. Being a family business also means decisions happen quickly — there's no committee to get through. If a customer needs something, we move fast.

3. Why is IFE Manufacturing 2026 such an important platform for you? What opportunities does the event provide for you to connect with partners, customers, and the wider industry?

This is a particularly significant IFE for us. Last year we acquired Demos Ciclitira and George Harker, adding dried fruits, seeds, grains, and pulses to our range — with roots going back to 1826. So this is the first major UK trade show where we can present the full Gerald McDonald Group offering — from liquid concentrates right through to dried goods. IFE brings together exactly the people we want to be talking to: manufacturers looking for quality ingredients, flexibility, and a supplier who actually understands their challenges. There's no substitute for those face-to-face conversations.

4. What can visitors expect when they come to see you at the show?

A warm welcome, a good conversation, and no hard sell. We'll be sampling our Shiranui Orange Juice — a beautiful Japanese citrus that's also been selected for the show's new Ingredients Table — so do come and try it. Beyond the tasting, visitors will get a real sense of the full range of products we can offer across the Group, from juices and concentrates to herbs, spices, dried fruits, seeds, and grains. Whether you've got an NPD project, a sourcing challenge, or you're simply curious about what's possible, come and have a chat. We love a good ingredient conversation.

5. Describe IFE Manufacturing 2026 in three words.

Inspiring, Innovative... and Juicy. Because we'll be bringing the juice to the party.

6. Finally, IFE Manufacturing 2026 is centred around the theme "Feeding the Future" — what does that mean to you?

For us, "Feeding the Future" is really about food security — and that's becoming a bigger challenge every year. Climate patterns are shifting, crop timings are harder to predict, and the supply chains we've all relied on are under more pressure than they've ever been. We're seeing it firsthand in our sourcing: harvests arriving earlier or later than expected, yields fluctuating, quality varying from season to season in ways that would have been unusual a decade ago. The reality is that no single business can solve this alone. It takes the whole supply chain — growers, suppliers, manufacturers — working more closely together, sharing knowledge, and planning further ahead. That's what events like IFE are for: bringing people together so we can have those conversations and build a better understanding of the challenges we're all facing. We've been feeding the industry for 109 years, and if the next 109 are going to work, it'll be because the industry got better at collaborating, not just competing.