By Joanna Davis, @DorsetEchoJo, Features & entertainments writer

A MAVERICK farmer will share his tale of success as a sausage maker.

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, known as The Black Farmer, will be coming to Powerstock Hut in Dorset next week where he will talk about his story of success and uncertainty.

Guests will also be treated to a sausage and mash lunch, made with The Black Farmer sausages. A vegetarian option is also available.

Mr Emmanuel-Jones was born in Jamaica but raised in Birmingham when his parents came to the UK in the 1950s.

For a number of years, he worked as a chef before pursuing a career in television. Unqualified but determined and persistent, he talked his way into working in television, rising to become a producer/director for the BBC. He is credited with bringing many of the top UK celebrity chefs to the small screen, including Gordon Ramsey, Antony Worrall-Thompson, Brian Turner and James Martin.

In 1994, he founded a food and drink marketing agency in London, which went on to run campaigns for Lloyd Grossman, Kettle Chips, Plymouth Gin and Cobra Beer.

Mr Emmanuel-Jones fulfilled a lifelong ambition and bought a small farm in Devon in 2000, which inspired him to develop and launch his own food brand, The Black Farmer.

In 2013, he nearly lost his life to acute Myeloid Leukaemia. He spent a year in hospital and in 2014 underwent a steam cell transplant. Since that time, he has suffered with Graft versus Host disease, when cells from the donor attack the person’s tissue. However, this experience has given him an even greater appetite for life and supporting others.

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He has published two books, The Black Farmer Cookbook and Jeopardy - The Danger of Playing it Safe on the Path to Success.

In 2018, he set up The hatchery, an incubator scheme for fledging brands. The first brand to ‘hatch; and hit the market has been Smorgasbord Swedish meatballs, already achieving national listings in Sainsburys, Asda and Costco.

Mr Emmanuel-Jones said: “I am looking forward to coming along and talking to people at the event.

“The theme will be based on my book, ‘Jeopardy - The Danger of Playing it Safe on the Path to Success’.

“I think it is quite appropriate with the Brexit debate. My view is if people take Brexit out, the fight is between certainty and uncertainty. The problem is, people are relying on certainty when certainty doesn’t exist, and it focuses on how to have the mindset to deal with that.

“I will be telling my story from humble beginnings to now, only made possible by not being frightened by uncertainty, otherwise I would still be where I grew up.”

He will be at Powerstock Hut on September 14 from 12.30pm. Tickets cost £10 and are available by calling 07736 147598 or on the door.

Originally published in the Dorset Echo

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