Name: Abigail Nicholson
Age: 24
Job title: Category marketing manager
Company & location: Rich Products, Andover
Education: BA Honours Business & Marketing, Sheffield Hallam University
Why did you decide to go for a career in food? I’ve always been a big foodie, and am the first to try new foods and trends. Food as an industry interested me as it’s a market you can be creative in, as well as having a lot of fun. The fast-paced environment also appealed – being a quick-moving industry brings excitement and challenges to the role.
Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): I monitor trends and consumer behaviour to create delicious products that bridge key gaps in the sweet bakery market, to help meet consumer needs and grow our customers’ categories.
What does a typical day look like for you? I create reports on what’s happening in the out of home market and translate these findings into actionable insights to help our customers enhance their categories and delight their consumers with relevant, standout products.
“It’s not all about selling boxes of products but about understanding the consumer and what products they want to keep buying”
Tell us about how you went about applying for your job. I initially came across the Rich graduate scheme (a pilot for Rich UK) through a job site. The first stage was a telephone interview with the recruitment agency, then it was straight through to an assessment centre which involved a pre-set presentation, a data task and a group team working task.
What’s the best part about working for a food company? Tasting all the exciting new products that our amazing new product development team creates. Having started out on the graduate scheme, I’ve also had the opportunity to get experience across all business units, which has been invaluable.
And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? It’s not all about selling boxes of products but about understanding the consumer and what products they want to keep buying time and time again.
What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? Take a real interest in what’s going on within the marketplace and really try to understand what consumers want to buy.
What’s your ultimate career dream? To be successful and to lead an interesting and varied career that keeps me challenged and working with great teams of people. Also… to own my own chocolate factory!
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