Name: Georgia Hughes
Age: 23
Job title: Sales & marketing executive
Company & location: Punchy Drinks, London
Education: American Studies at the University of Manchester
Why did you decide to go for a career in food? I spent a long time after university deciding what to do, but I knew I wanted a creative role in an exciting, fast-paced industry. I’ve always loved food and drink so when I read about the Young Foodies graduate scheme, fmcg seemed like everything I had been looking for.
Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): My main role is to secure listings with small independent stockists around London, as well as undertake any marketing responsibilities alongside [Punchy Drinks founder] Paddy. In a nutshell, to work on establishing Punchy as an everyday brand.
What does a typical day look like for you? One thing I love about my job is the variety. My week can vary massively day to day; from visiting sites around London, creating content for our social accounts, reaching out to brands for partnerships or creating new products, no two days are the same. Alongside the day-to-day tasks, we normally have a couple of larger creative projects that are ongoing in the background. For example, when I started in October we did a full rebrand, which was pretty much my focus for the first few months.
“It’s important to show you feel inspired by the brand”
Tell us about how you went about applying for your job. I got my role through the Young Foodies graduate programme. We had two days of training/learning about the different roles in fmcg and the ins and outs of startups. On the third day we interviewed with companies matched to our strengths. I was asked for specific ideas I had in mind for the company: it’s important to show you feel inspired by the brand.
What’s the best part about working for a food company? The food and drink industry is constantly evolving. Since starting my role we have done a full rebrand and launched three new flavours. As our team is very small, we were all heavily involved in this process so it’s amazing seeing your ideas come to life. I also love connecting with small stockists and visiting their sites. They often have brilliant stories about how they started up.
And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? One misconception is that we sit and drink punch all day in the office, which is only partly true. Another general misconception is how much time, planning and preparation it takes to go from concept to shelf. It certainly doesn’t happen overnight and this is something I have seen first-hand since starting my role.
What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? Doing as much research as you can about the industry, product and brand is a great start but having genuine enthusiasm about the role is a must. There is a huge opportunity to make these roles your own, so don’t be afraid to show some creativity in your application/interview.
What’s your ultimate career dream? Still trying to figure that one out but I would love to see the world with my job one day. For now I am enjoying growing alongside the company, it’s an exciting place to be.
No comments yet