My organic food job: Erik Zak, grocery buyer, Abel & Cole

Name: Erik Zak

Age: 30

Job title: Grocery buyer

Company & location: Abel & Cole, Andover

Education: I studied graphic digital media in Trnava at secondary school – studying to become a graphic design teacher.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a chef because I love food and creating new things, but my parents persuaded me to try different industries, so I started studying graphic design.

Why did you decide to go for a career in food & drink? I feel the food business chose me.

Every step I took brought me back to food – even when I did some design work, my main clients were in the food business. Later, I created a whole design for a client, and we became good friends and created a menu together for a new burger concept.

Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): It’s my job to look for exciting new products, suppliers and trends, as well as manage relationships with suppliers. I also drive sales through promotions, creating bundles and other ways to help our business and my category grow.

“People are surprised when I tell them I started working on Christmas at the beginning of spring”

What does a typical day look like for you? Every day is different, which makes my job interesting. Sometimes I spend the whole day preparing a promotional plan, and other days I talk to a new supplier and plan the launch of a new range. My favourite kind of day is visiting my suppliers on the farm or in production.

If I had to choose a typical day, it would be something like this: in the morning I start by catching up on emails and tasks, then have sales meetings and technical meetings. Lunch is the highlight of my day, because we often cook or taste new products and discuss product feedback. After lunch, I continue planning range expansion, promotions, sampling activities and anything that can improve sales in my category.

Tell us how you went about applying for your job: My journey started with moving to a new country. I began working on the production floor at Abel & Cole after I moved to England. I enjoyed the company’s sustainability ethos and quality of food.

From production, I applied to be a supply chain planner, where I worked for two years. I often interacted with the buying team, who could see my commercial thinking and my passion for food. I applied for a buying role and started as a junior buyer. The trickiest question in my interview was choosing the vegetable that best described me!

What’s the best part about working for a food & drink company? Being at the centre of food trends and new products. I love tasting and developing new products – it’s the highlight of my day.

And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? My role looks easy from the outside, looking for new products and boosting sales of the categories, but everything is way more complicated than people think.

It involves looking for new trends and suppliers but still paying attention to sourcing and sustainability. I am passionate about sourcing and championing the best organic produce. Also, you need to communicate with many teams and plan for a long time ahead. People are surprised when I tell them I started working on Christmas at the beginning of spring.

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What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? It doesn’t matter where you start, if you do your best and do some work above your role you will get recognised – and you will be able to grow. I believe this advice can be applied to any industry.

What’s your ultimate career dream? It’s difficult to say, but I know what I don’t want. I would not be able to do the job well if I was not as passionate about it. Passion and interest in work are my main drivers to improve and grow.

Interested in finding out more about food & drink careers? Check out GrocerJobs for the latest vacancies