Name: Will Harris
Age: 23
Job title: Insight analyst
Company & location: Rich Products, Andover
Education: Biological Sciences, University of Exeter
Why did you decide to go for a career in food? Weirdly, it wasn’t just about food. I’d loved food since studying it at school, but it was actually BBT – baby, beauty and toiletries - that made me want to go into fmcg and manufacturing. During my third year I spent my summer at Tesco head office in the BBT department, learning about the industry and conducting a market review. Discovering ‘the other side’ of retail opened my eyes to a new career.
Then in final year, to distract myself from my dissertation, I set up a food blog called ontheriseuk.com. I wrote a few posts which followed food trends I’d seen while at uni. I knew then that this was the area for me, so applied for a job at Rich’s state-of-the-art bakery in Andover. The rest is history!
Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): At Rich’s, my job is split between conducting bakery market reviews and working with our data partners to provide insight into both the out-of-home and retail market. This gives me a good mix of work both in and outside the office.
What does a typical day look like for you? Lots of eating! Just kidding, although some days I do get to taste products straight from the bakery. No two days are the same here, so I’m never bored. A typical day would involve some database management, reviewing new product listings in store (which might mean trying tasty products!) and working with the category managers to provide insight for customer presentations.
Around key seasonal events such as Easter, a typical day would be getting out into the field to build a market report. It was a bit tricky with the Covid-19 restrictions in place, but in this digital world, we can still scan social media to see what’s happening.
Tell us about how you went about applying for your job. I can’t believe it was nine months ago now – hasn’t it gone quickly! The initial stage involved a cover letter and online application, then a video interview where I was able to learn more about the company and what the role involved.
“We have a fabled ‘Rich’s stone’ which people are said to gain within six months”
The final stage was an interview and presentation at the new site in Andover. The presentation was a market review, covering analysis of bakery performance and what opportunities I thought existed in the market based on what I’d seen. As I’d been on holiday to Italy for the previous two weeks, I only had a day to visit stores, analyse the data I’d been given and prepare the presentation. Must have done something right!
One of the reasons I’d applied to Rich’s was because of their investment in the state-of-the-art bakery facility, aiming to create a UK centre of excellence. To me, this showed commitment to UK manufacturing. Having had a few tours of the plant, Andover is clearly a factory of the future.
What’s the best part about working for a food company? First and foremost, it has to be trying products – you can’t argue with great tasting cookies, buns and muffins. We have a fabled ‘Rich’s stone’ which people are said to gain within six months, but I’ve yet to see evidence of this around the office.
I really like that I’m always learning, whether it’s about consumer behaviours or stores and merchandising. When I started at Rich’s, I’d had limited exposure to the sector, so I was booked onto several training courses and events prior to joining. The people here are incredibly knowledgeable and are great at supporting my development. One day I’m learning about promotional strategy and the next I’m exploring the opportunities for our dairy-free creams and icings. It’s now impossible for me to walk into a store without boring whoever I’m with about why a product fixture looks the way it does.
Oh, and the F’real milkshake machine in the canteen is a massive perk!
And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? When talking to friends about my job, most are surprised about how much work goes into researching the market for a product brief. Besides collating data and market research, this involves taking lots of photos to determine trends. It seems my phone has become increasingly full of images of baked goods over the past nine months. I’m sure this is not unusual in our line of work – I can’t be the only one clogging up my phone with cookies (pun intended).
What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? Getting experience is a great place to start, allowing you to explore roles and see what goes on in the world of food. Family and friends who work in food and drink may be able to help, and universities have really good portals for contacting alumni in the industry.
It’s easy to go to an interview and say you’re passionate about food – we all love to eat. But what can you do to show you have a genuine interest? Read food industry magazines, write a blog, start a foodie Twitter or Instagram account, be brave and contact companies directly! All these things can help you gain insight and show your future boss that you’re a great candidate.
What’s your ultimate career dream? Tricky question. I’d really like to own a company specialising in trends, working with businesses to explore marketing opportunities, branding and growing their sales. This is the direction I want my blog to move in – I really enjoy bouncing ideas around, identifying the trends that will be in shops and outlets in six months’ time. But right now, I’m focusing on all things sweet. Cookie anyone?
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