Young Foodies has appointed Alex Smith as its commercial director.
Smith has joined the fmcg challenger brand community platform from his previous role as convenience channel controller at Mars Petcare.
Smith worked for Mars Petcare for almost a decade, where he also gained experience in grocery and commercial roles.
He will be responsible for “scaling and nurturing strategic retailer partnerships to drive more visibility and availability of British innovation, to enable the brands of tomorrow to thrive”, said Young Foodies.
Smith will also focus on building Young Foodies’ online store, Mighty Small, which sells a selection of challenger products to independent outlets and direct to consumer.
Mighty Small launched in April 2020 to give challenger brands a “hassle-free” route to e-commerce during the first wave of the pandemic.
In the same month, Young Foodies sent an open letter to prime minister Boris Johnson urging the government to step up support measures for challenger brands or risk losing a “vital part of the food and drink industry”.
Smith said the business’s deep understanding of the “opaque and vast” challenger market put it in a prime position to support retailers.
“In my role, I want to see a lot more shelf space allocated to tomorrow’s big brands and more incremental sales for retailers as a result”, he added.
Young Foodies co-founder Theadora Alexander said she was “delighted” to have Smith onboard, calling it a new chapter for the business.
“There is a significant opportunity in the industry today to use challenger brands to add value back into the shopping basket,” she said.
Alexander added that Smith would work with retailers to “unlock that value”.
The news follows the appointment of Lucy Brady as Young Foodies general manager in September 2020.
Brady moved to the UK from her previous role as director at US tech unicorn Oscar Health.
No comments yet