Charlotte Dewhurst, product manager of All About Food, on Kylie, spiders and the New York mafia


What was your first-ever job? Serving breakfasts from 6am at a posh hotel. It was a rude awakening to the world of work but prepared me for the rest of my career.

What was your worst job interview? Luckily I haven't had one. I'm always prepared for the worst so I allow hours to get there in case of traffic and do a trial run first.

What was the first music single you bought? Something by Kylie in the mid-80s. I also loved The Bangles and played Eternal Flame incessantly.

How do you describe your job to your mates? I put products from famous restaurant brands on to supermarket shelves and have great fun in the process.

What is the most rewarding part of your job? Seeing someone buy one of your products in-store. There's an extreme thrill when you see them looking at all your competitors and then picking your product. I have to try really hard to stay quiet and not start selling to them in the middle of the supermarket aisle.

What is the least rewarding part? The technical side. As a creative marketer it's sometimes difficult to focus on sheets and sheets of nutritional and technical information but it is a necessary evil of developing great products.

If you were allowed one dream perk what would it be? A selection of luxury cars for long and monotonous motorway journeys to see our manufacturers and brand owners. I absolutely love cars and would pick a Range Rover Sport one day and a Porsche 911 the next.

What's your favourite movie and why? Mickey Blue Eyes, a comedy set in Little Italy in New York about the mafia. I adore New York and Italian-American culture fascinates me.

Do you have any phobias? Spiders and creepy crawlies. I am an embarrassment when I see a spider.

Which celebrity would you pick to join your staff? I'd get one of my favourite celebrity chefs to be our home economist. I'd love to see Nigella or Gordon inject some drama and pizazz into the All About Food kitchen.

If you could change one thing in the grocery industry what would it be? The nationalisation and globalisation of the grocery industry. It's idealistic but it would be nice to buy local produce from a local supermarket.

What luxury would you have on your desert island? I'd be lost without a phone or laptop to speak to my husband and my mum.

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