Who's Who?
Meet the TRUE ORIGIN FOODS Board
Meet the people behind True Origin! Starting off with our board members, some of whom have been with True Origin for its full journey, others have joined us along the way. All have played a part in getting us to where we are today.
John Riches
John managed True Origin (formerly JTS) for its first five years and was Chair of the Board throughout the organisations first 10 years.
John got involved with fair trade after a couple of visits to apartheid South Africa in the 70s. With a group of friends, he set up the Balmore Trust (now True Origin Partnerships) and the Balmore Coach House, probably the first successful fair trade shop in the UK. True Origin grew out of the importing activities which had been done by the Coach House. The Coach House has now closed and been replaced by Gavin's Mill.
Mary Popple
Mary has been Chair of True Origin since May 2019, having been a Director since September 2013.
Mary has been involved in trade justice and development opportunities for women for over twenty years.
A member of the St Andrews Fair Trade town campaign group, where her most significant contribution so far has been getting the R&A organising committee for The Open golf championships to become the first Fair Trade accredited major sporting event in the world. She is an Elder of the Church of Scotland and loves walking, art galleries and singing.
Karena Jarvie
Karena has been a True Origin director since 2020.
Karena is a long-term fair trader and has a strong understanding of the mission and beliefs of the grassroots support for True Origin. She sells True Origin goods on her fair trade stall at Kinross Parish Church and has encouraged local churches and schools to undertake the 90kg Rice Challenge. She is Chairperson of the Perth and Kinross Fair Trade Zone Group and a member of Kinross Fair Trade Group as well as a Trustee of the Scottish Fair Trade Forum.
Joyce Davidson
Joyce has been a True Origin director since 2020.
Joyce has worked with charities in various capacities, including being involved in the establishment and running of various groups linked to her work as a Consultant Paediatrician. She has been a member of the Iona Community since 1991 and is currently co-regional coordinator for the West of Scotland. She volunteers at Gavin’s’ Mill, a Fair Trade shop in the north of Glasgow, and is currently chair of True Origin Partnerships.
Alistair Menzies
Alistair has been a True Origin director since 2020.
Alistair has spent most of his career within the food industry across a range of commercial, marketing and management roles. He has experience over a breadth of categories including hot beverages, snacks, chilled, frozen as well as enjoyable spells in confectionery and wines. With over 20 years’ experience, and great interest in organic and fair trade markets, True Origin allows Alistair to bring his experience and passion for ethical produce together. Alistair lives on the north east coast of England and currently works as a consultant.
Ivan Clingan
Ivan has been a True Origin director since 2021.
Ivan’s career has been in the food industry, starting out as an accountant but ending up running businesses across the UK, South Africa, Europe and latterly in USA. During his time in South Africa he saw first-hand the difficult living conditions that staff endured but also the benefit that employment could bring to their local communities. He was interested in joining the True Origin team because of the link to African growers and the focus on trading food.
Simon Remington
Simon is the newest member to the True Origin board, only being involved since 2023. Simon began his relationship with True Origin whilst working for Midcounties Cooperative, where he was Buying Manager. He helped to introduce our Kilombero Rice to the society in January 2023 as part of Our Malawi Partnership.
Simon has worked in commercial and buying roles for various retailers including Marks and Spencer, One Stop (Tesco), Spar (Blakemore) and most recently Midcounties Cooperative. He has also spent 7 years in the Airline Sector.
Simon brings to the board 27 years of experience in commercial roles and is helping to bring on board new, like-minded customers, to enable growth for the future, and to also support and develop the relationship with Central England Coop.
France Villeneuve
France joined the True Origin board in mid-2024, having started her relationship with the organisation through an Impact Measurement project in early 2024. With over 25 years of experience in multicultural environments, she specialises in sustainable growth, social impact, and ethical practices for international organisations. For the past 13 years, she has focused on fair trade certification and financial support for producers. France is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with an Environmental Focus.
Colleen Tait
Colleen has over eight years’ experience of developing and implementing campaigns and communications in the third sector. This includes five years with the Scottish Fair Trade Forum where she was first introduced to True Origin and has been a fan of the delicious Kilombero rice ever since.
She holds an MBA-level qualification in Strategic Marketing and is passionate about sustainability, equity and justice. Having also studied languages, she enjoys working with organisations that are internationally connected. She lives in Scotland and spends her free time running, swimming and cycling.
Matt Oliver
Matt started his career in retail with Sainsbury, then onto Principles for Men. Moving from retail, he joined Britannia Building Society, becoming one of the youngest assistant branch managers in London region.
In 1996 he left to pursue his lifelong dream of being a professional actor spending 6 years as an actor/producer, performing in national tours, London shows and film and TV.
Matt’s next move was to serve as London Director of the football charity Ambassadors Football UK where he helped create Church-led community football projects across the capital and internationally. In 2010 Matt was part of the team at More than Gold 2012 (MTG), where he served as Operations Director. MTG was the at the time the largest ecumenical churches response to a major sporting event (the London Olympic and Paralympic Games). Following 2012, Matt was asked to head up the Church’s response to the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow.
After the games, Matt took a sabbatical to obtain an MBA from Lancaster University Management School, graduating with a distinction and coming first in his class for strategy. In 2015, Matt joined German Supermarket giant Lidl which he later left to fulfil another dream - to work for fair trade pioneer Traidcraft. Matt was part of the team that sought the revive Traidcraft in 2019 and became CEO in 2021 before leaving due to ill health in 2022.
Matt is currently Operations Director at the Specialist Health and Safety Company Reax, and along with his wife is the current custodian of fair trade sports ball brand Bala Sports CIC.