Stephen Cook, head of food, Holland & Barrett, on Ipswich Town, discovering new products and meeting Liz Hurley
What was your first-ever job? Stacking apples at Sainsbury's.
How do you describe your job to your mates? I do the food shopping for 850 health food stores. Holland & Barrett account for 600 of these and the remainder is all Julian Graves outlets.
What is the most rewarding part of your job? I get a lot out of discovering products from around the world and watching them become a success on the high street.
What is the least rewarding part? Working through the seemingly endless legislation surrounding health claims on food products.
What is your motto in life? Do something different.
What's your nickname? Cookie. Imaginative huh?
If you were allowed one dream perk what would it be? To borrow our company's Willy Wonka-esque new machinery, which can coat anything in chocolate.
What's your favourite movie and why? Escape to Victory, starring Stallone, Caine and Pelé. It also has all of the Ipswich Town players of the day in it. A heroic line-up.
What was the most embarrassing moment in your life? When Holland & Barrett signed a deal to list Elizabeth Hurley's range of snack bars there were hordes of paparazzi outside the office. The press coverage the next day described her meeting "a boxy supermarket executive". My five minutes of fame.
Do you have any phobias? Snakes, Ipswich Town's arch-rival Norwich City and, consequently, its club owner Delia Smith.
If you could pick a celebrity to join your staff who would it be and why? Heston Blumenthal would fit in well. He'd bring new ingredients into the mix and demonstrate some creative thinking.
If you could change one thing in grocery what would it be? Consumers have become immune to supermarket-style grocery shopping. Products like manuka honey have amazing stories about their origin, which deserve to be told. Explaining products and providing advice is a core value of our business.
What luxury would you have on your desert island? Obviously the presence of my old acquaintance Liz Hurley is a must. But if she was unavailable, my team mates from Stifkey Pirates CC, beach cricket, beer, a BBQ and...WAGs.
What animal best reflects your personality and why? As our stores only stock vegetarian products, I would have to choose a herbivore. So, I'd be a mountain gorilla.
What was your first-ever job? Stacking apples at Sainsbury's.
How do you describe your job to your mates? I do the food shopping for 850 health food stores. Holland & Barrett account for 600 of these and the remainder is all Julian Graves outlets.
What is the most rewarding part of your job? I get a lot out of discovering products from around the world and watching them become a success on the high street.
What is the least rewarding part? Working through the seemingly endless legislation surrounding health claims on food products.
What is your motto in life? Do something different.
What's your nickname? Cookie. Imaginative huh?
If you were allowed one dream perk what would it be? To borrow our company's Willy Wonka-esque new machinery, which can coat anything in chocolate.
What's your favourite movie and why? Escape to Victory, starring Stallone, Caine and Pelé. It also has all of the Ipswich Town players of the day in it. A heroic line-up.
What was the most embarrassing moment in your life? When Holland & Barrett signed a deal to list Elizabeth Hurley's range of snack bars there were hordes of paparazzi outside the office. The press coverage the next day described her meeting "a boxy supermarket executive". My five minutes of fame.
Do you have any phobias? Snakes, Ipswich Town's arch-rival Norwich City and, consequently, its club owner Delia Smith.
If you could pick a celebrity to join your staff who would it be and why? Heston Blumenthal would fit in well. He'd bring new ingredients into the mix and demonstrate some creative thinking.
If you could change one thing in grocery what would it be? Consumers have become immune to supermarket-style grocery shopping. Products like manuka honey have amazing stories about their origin, which deserve to be told. Explaining products and providing advice is a core value of our business.
What luxury would you have on your desert island? Obviously the presence of my old acquaintance Liz Hurley is a must. But if she was unavailable, my team mates from Stifkey Pirates CC, beach cricket, beer, a BBQ and...WAGs.
What animal best reflects your personality and why? As our stores only stock vegetarian products, I would have to choose a herbivore. So, I'd be a mountain gorilla.
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