Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is, in his words, ‘a poor boy, done good’. He was born in Jamaica and following his parents move to the UK in the 50s, was raised in inner city Birmingham. Unqualified but ambitious and persistent, he talked his way into television becoming a producer/director for the BBC. He is credited with bringing many of the top celebrity chefs to the small screen including Gordon Ramsay, Antony Worrall-Thompson, Brian Turner and James Martin, before founding a food and drink marketing company in London. Wilfred subsequently fulfilled a lifelong ambition in purchasing a small farm in Devon in 1999, and has been responsible for one of the most successful food launches of recent times in the UK with his own range of sausages, bacon and chicken under The Black Farmer® label.
Flavours without Frontiers – the promise offered by his products also goes some way to sum up his personality. Neither he nor his products will be confined by race, convention or tradition. Wilfred is a passionate supporter of British farming and has strong opinions on issues such as rural affairs, justice for small producers and giving ethnic minorities more opportunity, all of which have driven much media attention in recent times.
The Black Farmer launched a rural scholarship scheme through which young people from inner city communities are given the opportunity to experience what it is really like to live and work in the rural community. This scheme was the subject of a three-part Channel 4 Documentary, which is repeated regularly. In subsequent years Wilfred has worked with the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester to run his City Farmers scheme.
In 2006 Wilfred was selected to represent the new Chippenham constituency for the Conservative party.
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to British farming.
Wilfred is a classic entrepreneur and has the “anything is possible” attitude to everything he approaches.
