Name: Anastasia Argent
Age: 27
Job title: Head of new product development & social media
Company & location: Soupologie, London
Education: St. Paul’s Girls’ School and King’s College London where I studied history
Why did you decide to go for a career in food? I’ve always baked and cooked since I was small. Looking back, I think I enjoyed the scientific basis on which all food is created. It was fascinating to see recipes come together from a few simple ingredients. As my dad did all the cooking in my house, it was also a way to spend quality time learning how to cook from him. As a result, food and food preparation has been in my life for as long as I can remember. When it came to deciding what to do after university, picking a career in food seemed like the most natural – and enjoyable – option.
Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): I work in a small team in a family business, so my job often changes depending on which day of the week you speak to me. Generally, I work on all the new product development of soups and meals for Soupologie, plus I run the social media channels.
What does a typical day look like for you? There are very few typical days when working in a small family business! A couple of years ago I was writing my first cookbook and every day was about trialling recipes and writing copy. However, most days now start with me doing the filming, photography and editing for a new recipe video for our social media. Most afternoons I spend planning what the next recipe will be for the week. This usually leads me to do a lot of research into the types of cuisines, flavours and cooking methods people are excited about. Research is also a critical part of my new product development strategy. I then end my day with a bit of a plan for the next day and often with more recipes planned for either social media or some experimental NPD.
“I love writing, creating content and anything to do with food”
Tell us about how you went about applying for your job. Working for a family business obviously leads to a slightly different application process than normal. The important thing I found was to prove myself useful and capable. In the very early days, this meant making deliveries to supermarkets – while we were still small enough to make the deliveries ourselves. Later, I helped out with in-store soup tastings, which meant learning about the products, how to speak to the consumer and how to develop a relationship with our buyers. As I saw an opportunity to use social media, I started learning about how to manage a brand’s social media as well as how to create your own content. As this was an area Soupologie had never fully explored, it became a natural fit that I started to run that side of the business. As Soupologie became bigger, my dad needed more help with NPD and, again, I took the initiative to demonstrate that I could take on that responsibility too.
What’s the best part about working for a food company? Well for starters, you never have to think about what you’re going to eat for lunch! What I love most about working in a food business is seeing the product on a shelf and knowing that this thing you created in your kitchen and spent days, weeks, sometimes years agonising over is now out there in public. It’s a surreal feeling! I also like the dynamic nature of the food industry as trends and people’s tastes are constantly evolving.
And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? People always assume that because I’m surrounded by soup all day long that I must get tired of eating it. To which I reply: “You obviously haven’t tried Soupologie soups!” Or people assume I must hate summer because soup and hot weather can be a difficult pairing. In actual fact, summer is extremely busy because you spend those few months preparing all your recipes and products for release as soon as autumn arrives. Most people don’t realise that food businesses work so many months ahead of a season that you’re prepping for Christmas in the height of summer.
What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? Well, I think of it as two separate points. There’s the ‘food’ side and there’s the ‘industry’ side. I would suggest that anyone looking to enter this world should try and gain some knowledge of both. Understanding flavour pairings, methods of cookery, staying on top of new ingredients and trends – it will never be the wrong thing to educate yourself on all of that. The same goes for the ‘industry’ side of things. Listen to entrepreneurs speak about their experiences and learn about how a food business runs, the different lingo and the many roles within a business. You’ll feel more confident about where you might like to position yourself within a food company and any future plans.
What’s your ultimate career dream? I really enjoyed writing my cookbook and I would love to write more books. I would also like to get more involved in food journalism and the media as I love writing, creating content and anything to do with food.
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