Name: Alicia Turner
Age: 23
Job title: Marketing assistant
Company & location: Remedy Drinks, London
Education: I went to school in Derbyshire before heading to the University of Gloucestershire to study Sports Journalism
Why did you decide to go for a career in food? I’ve always loved going out to eat and trying different cuisines – there is so much choice in London that I very rarely go to the same restaurant twice – and it is this interest that led me to exploring the possibility of a career in food. Being able to see what goes on behind the scenes in the food industry is fascinating.
However, while I also love food, being healthy and looking after myself is exceptionally important, and so it was key for me to find a role that married the two – which is why I was so excited to join Remedy. I now get to enjoy all my meals with a Remedy Kombucha and, without being biased, I am obsessed with it!
Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): I work within Remedy’s UK marketing team, helping to develop Remedy’s brand presence. This might mean supporting across exciting brand campaigns or activations within the digital space, building important influencer partnerships and opportunities, or helping to come up with ways to grow our DTC offering.
“I’m pleased to be part of a business that’s encouraging a healthy and balanced lifestyle”
What does a typical day look like for you? I will firstly go through my emails and Instagram and catch up with what has been missed overnight – Remedy has a huge presence in countries such as Australia (where it was founded), Canada and New Zealand, so there’s always a lot to see from different time zones.
What excites me every day is the high demand and interest that people have in live-cultured drinks like kombucha and how there is such a big space to fill in the market, especially here in the UK. During lockdown, people have become even more conscious about their health choices, so I’m pleased to be part of a business that’s encouraging a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
Tell us about how you went about applying for your job. This job was recommended by an old colleague and it sounded interesting so I applied. There were a few interview stages with people with different roles across the company, and I also had to complete two relevant tasks.
The Remedy team were really friendly throughout the whole interview process, which put me at ease, as doing interviews (especially virtually) can be nerve-wracking. It was really interesting to find out more about the company and how they planned to expand the kombucha market in the UK. One of the tasks I was set was writing a blog about the top health trends of the year, including how and why kombucha can be incorporated to support a healthy diet. I was also asked to come up with several influencers who would be suitable for Remedy, which meant I had to research their audience, engagement stats, feed and partnerships and provide a recommendation on why they’d be a good fit. It was a great learning curve.
What’s the best part about working for a food company? Working at Remedy is very fast-paced and, especially on the marketing side of things, you have to keep up with the latest consumer trends, which I’ve really enjoyed getting to grips with. It’s also really important to know your audience so that when you do collaborations with brands or influencers, you are working with core audiences and reaching new customers that way. This role has given me a great opportunity to grow and to learn new skills; every day here is different, and that’s important to me as it keeps the role really exciting and varied.
And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? With this being my first job in the F&B industry, I didn’t quite realise the sheer complexity which goes in to making a business work and grow in the right direction. I think that it’s really underestimated.
What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? To do your research and know what type of area you want to move into and for what reason. If you are genuinely passionate about a certain sector in the industry that will only help you. It also helps loving the product you are representing – particularly in marketing where you’re selling it to others.
What’s your ultimate career dream? My ultimate career dream is ever-changing, but I would like to continue learning and progressing, and to eventually reach a senior role within a forward-thinking company – whether that’s Remedy, or perhaps a company in the digital marketing space as it’s an area I love.
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