Lani Kingston
Food & Beverage Writer

Lani Kingston

Food Writer and Author with clients like Unilever and GrabFood.
Work with Lani Work with a Food & Beverage Writer

About

Lani Kingston is highly skilled in copywriting, developing marketing strategies, and producing a variety of content for international food businesses. She has worked across the many facets of the food and beverage sector, in management consulting, marketing, brand development, culture consulting, and content creation. She has successfully delivered projects for companies like Unilever and GrabFood across Asia, Prana Chai in Australia, MAST Chocolate in the US and UK, and has worked in senior management in SME's across Australia, the USA, Singapore and the UK. She has been a contributor of feature articles to a variety of international print publications, from independent magazines to large newspapers like Taste & Travel (Canada), The Independent (UK), The Telegraph (UK), British Airways ‘The Club’ (UK), and Caffeine Magazine (UK). Lani is an author of two books in the food and drink category and has also been featured in various documentaries and television programs as a food expert.

Employment

8 roles
Jan 2014 - Present 12 years 3 months
Content Marketing, Copywriting, and Consulting
Freelance

Content Marketing 

  • Created content for international food and beverage brands.
  • Developed marketing strategies, concept, and copywriting.
  • Handled a diverse creative team (designers, animators, and filmmakers) and oversaw the creation of videos, articles, and graphic stories targeted Chefs for global brands..
  • Managed social media curation and strategy, web design and copy, brochures and promo materials, product descriptions, and advertising copy.
  • Familiar with the markets in Asia, Australia, the USA, and the UK.
  • Clients include: Unilever (SG), GrabFood (SG), MAST Chocolate (USA and UK), Coffee Bird (UK), Prana Chai (AU), Australian Yoga Academy (AU), Giorgio's Gourmet (USA), and many more.


Copywriting

  • Contributor of feature articles on food broad range of publications, from independent magazines to large newspapers, like Foodism (UK), Taste & Travel (Canada), The Independent (UK), The Telegraph (UK), Root + Bone: The Offcuts of Food Culture (UK), British Airways ‘The Club’ (UK), Caffeine Magazine (UK) and more.


Consulting 

  • Management consulting, marketing, brand development, and culture consulting.
  • Built chocolate factories in Asia and Europe.
  • Developed a coffee range for Singapore’s famous Raffles Hotel.
  • Written scripts and produced films targeted towards Chefs for global brands.
  • Represented the London based green coffee traders in Asia Pacific.
  • Handled marketing and social media for international coffee businesses.
  • Designed pastry menus for new restaurants.
  • Conducted research and wrote scripts for a media production company in Australia for an award winning online documentary projects commissioned by local television stations.
Jan 2010 - Present 16 years 3 months
Writer and Author
Freelance

Author of two books in the food and drink category and currently working on third book.


How to Make Coffee

  • 150,000+ copies in nine editions and six languages. 
  • Published by ABRAMS USA, Quarto UK, Max Ström Sweden, LIKE Finland plus more. Translated into Swedish, Finnish, Chinese, Thai and Korean and printed in nine editions in eight countries.

London Coffee

  • Released in October 2017 by boutique London publishers Hoxton Mini Press, to wide acclaim in the European speciality coffee world. 
May 2018 - Dec 2018 7 months
Director of Business Development
Singapore Tea & Coffee Company

Singapore Tea & Coffee Company is a luxury food and beverage brand development company based out of Singapore, London and New York, with a key interest in craft food businesses and artisanal food manufacturing. 

  • Worked with the CEO on product and brand development for new ventures; with our craft food partners on development of their products, identity, distribution, logistics and culture.
  • Managed product and brand development.
  • Led the in-house coffee, tea, and bean-to-bar chocolate divisions. Developed coffee programs for Violet Oon Restaurant Group and worked with the Head Chef of Raffles to put together the coffee concept for the hotel's relaunch in 2019.
May 2017 - May 2018 1 year
Guest Relations Manager
Blue Hill at Stone Barns

A farm-to-table fine dining restaurant located on the site of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and working farm in upstate New York. Oft-named 'The Best Restaurant in America' by leading publications such as Eater. Chef Dan Barber's multi-award winning restaurant and ranked number 12 in the World's 50 Best 2018.


  • Co-managed a large team of professional restaurant staff and reservationists.
  • Managed nightly service, reservations, and oversaw the guest's experience pre, during, and after their visit.
  • In charged with meeting and entertaining celebrities, VIPs, and industry guests on behalf of Chef Dan Barber (CEO).
  • Engaged with everyone from high-end chefs, to bakers, food writers, and wine directors.
Apr 2017 - Jun 2017 2 months
Great Taste Awards Judge
Guild of Fine Food

Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, is the acknowledged benchmark for fine food and drink. It has been described as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world and the ‘epicurean equivalent of the Booker prize’.

  • Selected to judge the annual awards for the industry leaders across the UK food world.
  • Was selected to be one of the 12 specialist judges for the coffee awards.
Jan 2015 - Apr 2017 2 years 3 months
General Manager / Operations Director
Mast Brothers Chocolate Makers

Mast Brothers Chocolate Makers are New York founded and at the forefront of craft chocolate. 

  • Helped set up and ran the company within the UK and EU. 
  • Oversaw all aspects of the business; hiring, training, sales, operations, chocolate production, product development, flavours, design, marketing, e-commerce, fulfilment, events, pop-ups, collaborations, partnerships and developed a respected on-site education facility. 
  • Spearheaded a range of unique and industry-leading professional level programs, drawing students from around the world. The programs were some of the first to offer such comprehensive and in depth bean-to-bar chocolate training to the general public.
Apr 2014 - Jan 2015 9 months
Pastry Chef
The Deli Downstairs

An award-winning British Deli.

  • Worked as head pastry chef and barista.
Jan 2011 - Sep 2014 3 years 8 months
Food Education Manager / Head Teacher
Melbourne Government (Australia)
  • Set-up, planned, budgeted, ran, and taught all food education courses.
  • Developed all recipes to be used in the program. 
  • Worked closely with food waste 'recyclers' second Bite, developing each weeks menu from 'waste' produce. 
  • Taught nutrition, cooking, knife skills, and ran specialised classes for bread, pastry, pasta etc. 

Education

Jan 2011 - Dec 2015 4 years 11 months
Masters of Teaching, (Generalist Education)
Deakin University
Jan 2013 - Dec 2015 2 years 11 months
Masters of Food Studies, (Food Writing, Sustainability, Food Culture)
University of Adelaide
Jan 2012 - Dec 2012 11 months
Certificate III, Patisserie
Swinburne University
Jan 2007 - Jan 2009 2 years
Bachelor of Film and Television, (Writing, Producing, Casting)
Swinburne University

Portfolio

28 items