Also, if the fact that Walkers already appeared to be in an unassailable position as Britain's number one branded crisps producer wasn't bad enough, Monk now faces the reality that the battle lines are in the process of being redrawn without the manufacturer's bestselling asset. Just to recap, Wotsits was this summer sold off to Walkers, along with Golden Wonder's 100+ van fleet, as part of the fallout from its takeover by Middle East fmcg giant Longulf this summer.
Yet Monk, who has accepted the leading role of chief executive under the new order, insists he is unperturbed. "I have always had a strange masochistic trait that drives me to compete against the biggest," says Monk. "It is much more fun than being number one yourself. It's like being in a real life David and Goliath struggle."
The comparison is, of course, made tongue-in-cheek. Monk, a key member of the 1996 management team which bought Golden Wonder and turned it from a loss maker into a £16m profit-making outfit during the last financial year, has been in big business long enough to know when it's worth hanging around. And, as he is quick to point out, he thinks it is.
"I would not have stayed on if I didn't think Golden Wonder could be competitive in the marketplace," he says frankly. "We have a very important role to play in the competitive situation in the market. OK, in an ideal world most people would want to be running the number one business in the marketplace and when you are a capital investment business, as we were, you have to worry about what the investors need. But I think they got a pretty good deal for themselves and we can now move on to what we have to do in building up the business."
The omens, insists Monk, are good. Longulf, he claims, has never sold a business it has acquired. And while not providing an open cheque book for investment, there will be some pennies falling his way.
He is also immediately attempting to redress the hole left in its armour when Walkers walked away with its van fleet. Although somewhat more modest to start with, Golden Wonder this month started leasing 30 vans which will work closely with cash and carries at a cost of around £2m a year.
"That is a sign of our confidence in the future," claims Monk. "Longulf's arrival has also brought a reasonable level of security for the workforce which was very important for me in staying on."
That, it appears, is an important thing for Monk, 46 next February. He likes stability, having got to the top of his game working for only two manufacturers in his time  Mars and Golden Wonder.
The man behind the quietly confident, but not cocky, business persona also has his feet on the ground. Family, for example, is important, as is his beloved Luton Town football club where he is a regular visitor  if sticking by a team like Luton doesn't show you're a man of principle, what does?
Plenty of emotion ahead
Colleagues also speak of Monk's ability to take a joke at his own expense. For example, he fondly remembers that his nickname in Mars' Spanish office, where he worked as commercial director for five years, was Monkey'. He also readily admits that his biggest weakness is being "too emotionally attached to what I do".
That means there should be plenty of emotion ahead then as Monk bids to take Golden Wonder to another level without the best-selling Wotsits brand.
GW's star line for years, Wotsits sold more than £50m worth of bags through all outlets last year, according to figures from Information Resources, and claimed sixth place in the bagged snacks section of The Grocer's annual Top Products Survey last December. Golden Wonder-branded crisps, meanwhile, dropped five places from the previous year to number 14 as sales tumbled by almost 9% to less than £32m.
Even so, Monk is adamant that life without Wotsits won't be impossible, and he is looking forward to propelling the Golden Wonder flagship marque back into the limelight as well as rolling out a number of products into other snacking sectors, as it did earlier this year with fruit and cereal snack Fruit Wonders.
"It was a wrench to lose Wotsits, but I wouldn't quite call it the jewel in the crown," reflects Monk.
"But there's no getting away from the fact that it was, and still is, a big profitable brand. Living without it will require a lot of restructuring.
"But Longulf is backing us completely in our efforts to re-energise the Golden Wonder brand. It has just signed off the first campaign and we have some very exciting ideas which will include the full range of marketing activity."
It will certainly need to because, as Monk freely admits, Golden Wonder's market share in England and Wales has to improve.
"We have to give people a reason why they should buy Golden Wonder," he adds. "And that is easy to say, but not so easy to do."
{{ANALYSIS }}
Yet Monk, who has accepted the leading role of chief executive under the new order, insists he is unperturbed. "I have always had a strange masochistic trait that drives me to compete against the biggest," says Monk. "It is much more fun than being number one yourself. It's like being in a real life David and Goliath struggle."
The comparison is, of course, made tongue-in-cheek. Monk, a key member of the 1996 management team which bought Golden Wonder and turned it from a loss maker into a £16m profit-making outfit during the last financial year, has been in big business long enough to know when it's worth hanging around. And, as he is quick to point out, he thinks it is.
"I would not have stayed on if I didn't think Golden Wonder could be competitive in the marketplace," he says frankly. "We have a very important role to play in the competitive situation in the market. OK, in an ideal world most people would want to be running the number one business in the marketplace and when you are a capital investment business, as we were, you have to worry about what the investors need. But I think they got a pretty good deal for themselves and we can now move on to what we have to do in building up the business."
The omens, insists Monk, are good. Longulf, he claims, has never sold a business it has acquired. And while not providing an open cheque book for investment, there will be some pennies falling his way.
He is also immediately attempting to redress the hole left in its armour when Walkers walked away with its van fleet. Although somewhat more modest to start with, Golden Wonder this month started leasing 30 vans which will work closely with cash and carries at a cost of around £2m a year.
"That is a sign of our confidence in the future," claims Monk. "Longulf's arrival has also brought a reasonable level of security for the workforce which was very important for me in staying on."
That, it appears, is an important thing for Monk, 46 next February. He likes stability, having got to the top of his game working for only two manufacturers in his time  Mars and Golden Wonder.
The man behind the quietly confident, but not cocky, business persona also has his feet on the ground. Family, for example, is important, as is his beloved Luton Town football club where he is a regular visitor  if sticking by a team like Luton doesn't show you're a man of principle, what does?
Plenty of emotion ahead
Colleagues also speak of Monk's ability to take a joke at his own expense. For example, he fondly remembers that his nickname in Mars' Spanish office, where he worked as commercial director for five years, was Monkey'. He also readily admits that his biggest weakness is being "too emotionally attached to what I do".
That means there should be plenty of emotion ahead then as Monk bids to take Golden Wonder to another level without the best-selling Wotsits brand.
GW's star line for years, Wotsits sold more than £50m worth of bags through all outlets last year, according to figures from Information Resources, and claimed sixth place in the bagged snacks section of The Grocer's annual Top Products Survey last December. Golden Wonder-branded crisps, meanwhile, dropped five places from the previous year to number 14 as sales tumbled by almost 9% to less than £32m.
Even so, Monk is adamant that life without Wotsits won't be impossible, and he is looking forward to propelling the Golden Wonder flagship marque back into the limelight as well as rolling out a number of products into other snacking sectors, as it did earlier this year with fruit and cereal snack Fruit Wonders.
"It was a wrench to lose Wotsits, but I wouldn't quite call it the jewel in the crown," reflects Monk.
"But there's no getting away from the fact that it was, and still is, a big profitable brand. Living without it will require a lot of restructuring.
"But Longulf is backing us completely in our efforts to re-energise the Golden Wonder brand. It has just signed off the first campaign and we have some very exciting ideas which will include the full range of marketing activity."
It will certainly need to because, as Monk freely admits, Golden Wonder's market share in England and Wales has to improve.
"We have to give people a reason why they should buy Golden Wonder," he adds. "And that is easy to say, but not so easy to do."
{{ANALYSIS }}
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