Fearne & Rosie has appointed its first-ever finance director and sales director to help the fast-growing challenger brand get its range of healthier jams into more supermarkets.
John McKinley joins the business as finance director and Frances Duffy takes on the role of sales director.
McKinley, who also sits on the Fearne & Rosie board, spent three years as finance director at spreads brand Pip & Nut, and was also a senior finance manager at Innocent. He now runs his own fmcg advisory agency Bitesize Consulting.
Duffy brings a wealth of commercial experience to the jam brand and joins the business from Simply Roasted Crisps, where she was sales director. She has also worked for Cawston Press, Graze, Dairy Crest, Starbucks and Coca-Cola Enterprises in a range of senior and national account manager roles across the past 14 years.
The hires follow Fearne & Rosie securing wider UK distribution for its reduced-sugar jams, launching two SKUs into 407 Asda stores and expanding internationally for the first time, with Spinneys in Dubai taking the whole five-strong range. It is also widening its availability to independents after securing listings with wholesale distributors CLF and CN Foods.
“Increasing distribution and building our team is a further step along the journey to ensure healthier products are easily accessible for all,” said Fearne & Rosie founder Rachel Kettlewell.
“Health is the fastest-growing subcategory in jam, and it is a privilege to work with more and more retail partners to help consumers access better quality, higher fruit and lower sugar content jams.
“It is a joy to welcome Frances and John to the incredibly talented team at Fearne & Rosie as we prepare for our next stage of growth.”
Duffy added: “I’m really excited to join Fearne & Rosie at such a pivotal time and be a part of their mission to drive healthy change.
“I have a strong belief in the brand, the ethos and the team behind it. They have already achieved incredible things in a short time, and I can’t wait to be part of the next stage in their journey.”
McKinley said: “I’m delighted to join Fearne & Rosie as the business prepares for a monumental year of growth.
“The team have secured a significant step change in distribution and I’m looking forward to helping ensure robust systems are in place as the business scales.”
Kettlewell, a former primary school teacher, launched Fearne & Rosie in 2019 with a mission to create healthier choices in the spreads aisles.
Its jams contain 70% more fruit and 40% less sugar than standard rivals and are made with all-natural ingredients and no concentrates or palm oil.
As well as Asda, Fearne & Rosie has listings with Waitrose, Morrisons and Ocado.
The brand is the fastest-growing jam in the category, with value sales up 147% and volumes soaring almost 60% [NIQ 52 w/e 7 October 2023].
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