Name: Edd Lees
Job title: Co-founder
Company: Wildfarmed
First job? Working on a market stall in Leeds Market.
What’s been your worst job interview? When I was working in finance, I received a job offer after going through several rounds of interviews – I just had to see the senior guy on a Monday morning. I went to Ibiza for the weekend, came back, totally fluffed the interview, and they pulled the job offer on me.
What was the first music single you bought? I Should Be So Lucky – Kylie.
How do I describe my job to my friends? To my friends, I’m Superman in green, holding a big green W.
“Grocery is an oligopoly of small retailers, with the supply chain working in competition”
What’s the most rewarding part of the job? Seeing businesses of all sizes engage with Wildfarmed, from small and large businesses to privately owned bakeries and pizza restaurants, and people who you wouldn’t necessarily expect to be using a lot of flour. This includes the amazing team we have here.
What’s the least rewarding part of the job? The least rewarding part is the denial from incumbents that change is inevitable, and that we need to build a supply chain for the future. But as with anything, when the existing norm has been the same for 150 years, people are reluctant to change for the sake of change without taking the information on board.
What’s your motto in life? Make exceptions in exceptional circumstances.
If you were allowed one dream perk, what would it be? To never use email again.
Do you have any phobias? Pineapple.
If you could change one thing in grocery, what would it be? I’d like the industry to be much more collaborative.
Today, grocery is an oligopoly of small retailers, with the supply chain working in competition. We’ve been maximising efficiency for 150 years, but a new wave of economics and tech has come around, dictating that collaboration, shared information, and shared goals are inevitable across businesses.
I hope grocery won’t be as slow to adapt as it has been to other things we’ve seen in recent decades.
What luxury would you have on a desert island? Thomas Straker’s Wildfarmed flatbread.
Read more:
Wildfarmed: how an unlikely trio are bringing regenerative agriculture to the masses
Waitrose vineyard and orchard first in UK to receive regeneration certification
What animal most reflects your personality? I’ve been told a meerkat.
What’s your favourite film? I like Kiss the Ground and The Biggest Little Farm. Both bring this immensely complex and important story to life in a very beautiful way, and I don’t think enough people know about them.
What celebrity would you like to work with, and why? Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders. Then Wildfarmed would be really making change at scale, which is what we set out to do (and are doing) with nature-based farming.
What would your death row meal be? Wildfarmed’s sourdough covered in All Things Butter.
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