My food & drink job: Aimi Wilder, supply lead, The Felix Project

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Aimi felix project

Name: Aimi Wilder

Age: 29

Job title: Supply lead

Company & location: The Felix Project, London

Education: University of Suffolk, Business Management and Marketing and ILM Level 5 Leadership and Management

Why did you decide to go for a career in food & drink? I have a genuine passion for food, the nutritional benefits and the impact it has on mental and physical health. Combining this with a professional path fitted with my passion for it. I enjoy the challenges of its fast-paced environment, building meaningful relationships, and making a positive contribution to the world.

During the pandemic I was completing a graduate management programme with a food manufacturer – at this time the food and drink sector provided job stability. The industry itself is resilient to economic fluctuations as people will always need to eat.

Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): I predominantly focus on sourcing surplus food so the end recipients can get a balanced nutritional meal. I work with our generous suppliers alongside exploring and engaging with potential new suppliers to increase the supply of surplus and ensure we can save as much food as possible that can then be redistributed to our thousands of community organisations and schools across London.

What does a typical day look like for you? A typical day has nothing typical in it! Each day has many variables, it can be visiting a small supermarket store to thank them for their donations to visiting a new supplier on a huge scale. This week we had a catch-up with Marylebone Cricket Club who would like our support collecting their food donations after test matches.

I communicate with suppliers throughout the day, should they have some surplus or short dated goods, I then communicate with our four depots across London to coordinate a good level of food supply for the communities local to them to receive these food donations.

“We save as much food as possible that can then be redistributed to our thousands of community organisations and schools across London”

Tell us about how you went about applying for your job: I had been approached by a recruiter for my role after I relocated to London and had not heard of The Felix Project before. The recruiter briefed me on the organisation, its mission and impact and, having done my research, I was keen to be a part of such a positive yet imperative movement.

My first interview was via Teams and was based on my application, competency, my experiences and what skills I had to succeed in the role. I asked them about the company culture as it needs to suit you as well as you suiting them. My second stage was to present my proposal on how I would strategise growth through my role.

Now, in my role, I can say The Felix Project is different to my expectations, the operations and strategy are just as up to date and innovative as other commercial food and beverage organisations within the industry, whilst also having a strong community and passion as there would be within a charity organisation.

What’s the best part about working for a food & drink company? The best part is having an impact within the industry. Food and drink are necessities – however, they can be a part of special memories and events, remedies for health, improving lifestyle, or expressions for cultural diversity and traditions.

Operational sustainable strategies can be used by food manufacturers to reduce their carbon footprint, reducing or close to zero plastic in their supply chain, converting by-products into other uses such as animal feeds for agriculture even The Felix Project redistributing what otherwise would have been food waste to feed those in the community!

And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? That it’s slow paced. The processes within food and drink may remain the same, such as the methods to manufacture ingredients or create the product or the agriculture in growing food. However, the innovation on how to implement lean processes, the technology of engineering, the adaptability to consumer concerns and sustainable solutions, is fast-paced and key to how we consume and live collaboratively.

What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? Pursue it and you will achieve more than you expected! You can be the driving force for the future. You can be; creative, curious, entrepreneurial, a researcher, a problem solver… Whatever your skills they can be applied here!

This industry thrives on collaboration, teamwork, and fresh perspective. The dynamic nature of the food and drink sector every day brings new challenges and opportunities for growth. It values the vibrant energy, camaraderie, and constant learning that comes with working in this field.