Name: Dylan Batizovszky
Age: 28
Job title: Buying manager
Company & location: The Turmeric Co, Chatteris
Education: BSc Biological Sciences at Aston University and Supply Chain Management (ongoing) at Anglia Ruskin University
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? I originally wanted to be a firefighter, and then at around eight years old I wanted to be an accountant as I enjoyed mathematics.
Why did you decide to go for a career in food & drink? I didn’t set out for a career in food and drink. After I graduated university, I got my first full-time job in a microbiology lab testing food products.
“I think the biggest misconception is that it is boring and repetitive – the reality is every day is a chance to learn new things and get involved”
Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): Procuring all raw materials, packaging, consumables and services for the business, as well as working closely with technical, warehouse, sales and finance. I also work with NPD on sourcing new ingredients.
What does a typical day look like for you? I review the inventory and demand for raw materials to ensure continuity of supply to facilitate production, working closely with suppliers to drive cost savings while maintaining ingredient quality.
I resolve discrepancies between invoices and purchase orders to facilitate finance processing invoices, and I also work closely with the warehouse team to review ways of working and resolve issues. I work with sales and NPD to advise on product feasibility and potential challenges as well as lead times to facilitate better planning.
Tell us how you went about applying for your job: I was contacted by a recruitment agency that worked with The Turmeric Co for many years. After a phone call clarifying my experience and current role, my CV was shared and I had to record a brief video answering questions about myself.
I then had an online interview with my line manager followed by an in-person interview with my line manager and operations director.
What’s the best part about working for a food & drink company? The breadth of work that goes into making the product, from technical to production and sales, with all the things in between, which gives great insight into the different functions of business. As well as producing a product that helps improve consumers’ quality of life and provides meaningful change.
And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? I think the biggest misconception is that it is boring and repetitive – the reality is every day is a chance to learn new things and get involved in different projects that help shape the business and drive improvements.
What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? Take your best shot! Be inquisitive, ask how things work, why processes are done in that way. This alone will not only make your days more interesting but will demonstrate an eagerness to improve.
What’s your ultimate career dream? It’s hard for me to say, I don’t have a set vision now. I would be interested in operations management/director roles to have visibility over the entire supply chain process and to help review and improve areas that don’t work so well and streamline areas that do.
Equally, staying within procurement and specialising more would be great as I would still get visibility over many aspects of the business. Ultimately if I am still learning new things, that is my career dream.
No comments yet