Zahna Eklund
Zahna Eklund covers food and everyday lifestyle for WalesOnline, with a through-line of practical, low-cost kitchen tips that promise specific, tangible results in home cooking.
Home cooking hacks with everyday staples
A recurring focus in Eklund’s work is straightforward home cooking advice built around ingredients most people already have in their cupboards. In her piece on making sure chicken comes out juicy every time, she centres the story on a single inexpensive kitchen staple, highlighting how a 65p ingredient can reliably improve the texture of a basic meal. The emphasis is on minimal effort, clear outcomes and budget-conscious detail, with the price point and simplicity of the method foregrounded in the headline rather than restaurant-style technique.
This service-led approach means her food coverage is pitched at home cooks who want results without specialist equipment or complex recipes. Instead of long-form recipe writing, she focuses on one tactical change – a different ingredient, a new way to prepare meat, or a smarter way to use what is already in the pantry – and shows how that adjustment can make everyday dishes taste better. Her tone is direct, and her framing is solution-oriented: the reader comes away with one thing to try and a clear expectation of what it will deliver.
Freshness tips and cutting food waste
Eklund also writes about food storage and freshness, with an eye on reducing waste and extending the life of fresh produce. In her article on avocados, she highlights a simple trick to stop them turning brown by storing them alongside one specific vegetable, turning a common frustration into a practical solution. The story is built around a single claim – that avocados will stay fresh for longer when stored this way – and explains the technique in accessible language.
Her coverage in this area leans on everyday scenarios such as keeping cut fruit and vegetables from spoiling or finding ways to avoid throwing away ingredients that have gone off too quickly. Rather than abstract advice, she anchors each piece in one food item and one method, making the guidance easy to follow and test at home. The focus on freshness and storage complements her cooking hacks, giving readers a full loop of using, protecting and enjoying staple ingredients.
Social news lens on food and lifestyle
Within WalesOnline, Eklund works on social news coverage, which shapes the way she approaches food and lifestyle subjects. Her role involves picking up stories and tips that emerge online and translating them into clear, reported pieces that fit the needs of a general audience. That social news perspective helps explain why her food writing often centres on simple tricks, viral ideas and widely shared kitchen habits rather than restaurant reviews or chef profiles.
Her background includes broader news reporting for regional print titles, giving her experience in handling general news as well as lighter lifestyle material. That mix of hard news and service journalism comes through in the structure of her pieces: they tend to open with a concise statement of the problem or promise, then set out the key facts and the practical takeaway. Whether she is writing about keeping avocados fresh or improving a basic chicken dinner, the priority is clarity, brevity and immediately usable information.
Taken together, Eklund’s body of work positions her within WalesOnline as a reporter who connects social news with food and household routines. Her articles are built around everyday ingredients, low-cost solutions and a single strong claim about what a reader can expect if they follow the advice. For communications teams, that means she is most aligned with stories that offer clear, practical benefits – particularly around cooking, storage and making better use of ordinary items in the kitchen – and that can be conveyed in a direct, promise-driven headline.
4 more food journalists.
Adam Maidment
Adam Maidment is a senior What's On and LGBTQ+ reporter whose food and leisure coverage is built around immersive, first-person reporting and concrete detail. He works at the Manchester Evening News, focusing on new restaurant and bar openings, regular food reviews, gig and event coverage, and issues affecting LGBTQ+ people. He treats restaurants, pubs, bars and experiences as stories about place, people and community, explaining what makes a venue different and how it fits into the local dining scene. His pieces cover pricing, service, atmosphere, crowds and concept, and he is willing to be critical when gimmicks undermine the experience. He writes character-led pub profiles, works shifts, joins treasure hunts and attends major cultural events, inviting readers to follow what he does and use his straightforward assessments to decide where to eat, drink and spend time.
Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd
Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd is editor at Secret Manchester, where she treats food as part of how people live in the city, not as an isolated subject. She covers restaurants, bars, street food and casual dining, linking new openings and food trends to neighbourhood change, local businesses and everyday routines. Her pieces focus on accessible spots, comfort dishes like pizza and tacos, and clear details of menus, presentation, atmosphere and practical information such as opening hours and booking. She often combines food, drink and live events, producing guides to venues for major sports tournaments and themed pop-ups as part of wider things to do. Alice also reports on hospitality business pressures, city-centre public spaces, charity initiatives, transport and infrastructure, always showing how food and drink fit into community and lifestyle stories. She previously wrote for other regional “Secret” sites as a staff writer and describes herself as a writer and food fanatic.
Aly Walansky
Aly Walansky specializes in service-driven food coverage that treats cocktails and dining as tools for celebration, focusing on how logistics, ordering options, and menu choices turn everyday meals and major holidays into shared experiences. She is a longtime food and travel journalist now writing for Forbes, where her beat centers on cocktails and occasion-driven dining. Her work includes practical, expert-driven roundups such as guides to many variations on the classic martini, shipped-meals gift lists for Mother’s Day, and accessible formats for Thanksgiving and other holidays. She reports through structured lists, restaurant features, and menu-focused profiles that highlight signature dishes and dining trends. Across outlets, she extends this approach to home cooking, grocery shopping, and recipes, and runs a newsletter that shares her current assignments and industry commentary.
Ben Hurst
Ben Hurst joins food, entertainment and cost-of-living angles, treating cooking, groceries and celebrity stories as everyday decisions for readers. He is Head of Lifestyle and Money at WalesOnline, shaping practical, trending coverage that is tightly written, headline-led and easy to scan and share. His food reporting leans on TV chefs and supermarket behaviour, turning their advice and product changes into clear tips and consumer explainers focused on value for money and household budgets. He also writes extensively about TV and celebrity figures, using recognisable names to carry stories about health, family challenges, cancer treatment and resilience. Alongside these, he produces visual, nostalgia-driven galleries and concise explainers on wide-interest phenomena, drawing on a senior newsroom background that includes executive editor, video lead and news editor roles.