Category Insights in Produce: from the UK to Saudi Arabia.

Written By Amy Michell-Stamp

My Journey into Category and Insights

My journey into the world of produce and insights was purely an accident – on my 21st birthday I went to a careers fair at university (I was in my final year studying Sports Coaching and Geography at the time), for the sole reason that we got given an extra couple of percentage points towards our final degree for attending. There, I met the team from Management Development Services (MDS), a graduate trainee programme focusing on the produce industry. The rest, as they say, is history!

Journey through Secondments to discovering Category Management

I completed the two year MDS programme, working four different secondments in the produce sector (Allpress Farms, G’s Fresh, Bomford’s and Flamingo). This was a fantastic opportunity to experience a variety of roles and companies, whilst gaining a breadth of experience and making connections. Training was also included; learning about business management, accountancy and leadership amongst others. After this, I then went on to work for three large produce suppliers into British retailers (Flamingo, Greenvale and Manor Fresh) – dealing with most major supermarkets along the way.

At Flamingo, I initially worked in procurement, then moved across to be an account executive, before moving into category insights and finding my niche – taking complicated data and turning it into a compelling story for retailers to ultimately benefit customers and increase revenue. After I came back from maternity leave, I worked part-time; first at Greenvale and then at Manor Fresh. These were purely category and marketing roles, as major suppliers into Sainsbury’s and Co-Op and then M&S respectively. Flexibility and communication was key here, working across the business as one team to achieve business and retailer objectives whilst still being able to spend a good amount of time with my young daughter.

The Life of a Solo Cat Man

Working in own-brand and on the supplier side meant I was always a solo category manager, dealing with multiple requests (often at the same time and with minimal notice – I’m sure many people reading this will resonate with that!) As such, self-development was, and remains, a crucial element too; attending training courses led by institutions such as IGD and CIM and keeping up to date on retailer strategies and supplier news.

From regular reporting for internal teams, the board and retailers, to support for NPD briefs, from range reviews to ad hoc research, from dealing with budgets and contracts to helping launch a potato brand, and from supporting commercial decisions to comparative shops and retail safaris – I’ve done it all! But the challenge is always met and the results delivered efficiently.

One of the things I loved most was the variety of the category manager role, especially in something as fast paced as the fresh produce industry. Every day was different, and what you have planned for that day could be completely different to what you actually end up doing, depending on retailer requests and business needs.

Dealing with the revolving door of buyers

Category management requires a strategic and collaborative approach, and one of the most challenging things was dealing with the turnover of retail buyers – something can often be agreed with one buyer (after months of meetings, presentations etc), and then a new buyer starts and it’s almost back to square one again. Getting agreements in writing was crucial; documenting everything certainly helped in some scenarios to mitigate the issues this caused.

Unique challenges in produce

The other element unique to fresh produce is launching a product with a retailer after months of work, and then the crop failing and the product being unavailable. Resilience is also key in the industry! One way around this was to have more than one grower/region growing each product, but with some smaller launches into limited store numbers this just wasn’t feasible. In these scenarios, it’s about retailer management and helping mitigate the problem by suggesting alternative products to fill the space in those stores.

Being a category manager in such a fast-paced industry, combined with working with teams stretching across your own business, supply base and different retailers can be challenging, but we always used to say in the office that if it were nuts and bolts we wouldn’t be doing it!

Taking my skills and knowledge to Saudi Arabia

After nearly twenty years working in the UK, I’m now living in Riyadh, having moved in April 2024 with my husband, who is developing sustainable agriculture as part of Saudi’s ‘Vision 2030’. It’s a fascinating place to be, at an exciting and critical time in Saudi’s historic development as it diversifies away from an oil-driven economy.

Since we moved, I’ve been posting photos, observations and commentary on LinkedIn, with the intention of challenging misconceptions and educating people about what the Saudi retail market is really like.

In the last year, I’ve worked as a consultant for various companies, mainly those wanting more information on the evolving Saudi market, the retail landscape and potential opportunities here. It’s been great for my own personal development, and I’ve really enjoyed the variety of projects, working across more product areas and learning about the different retailers over here. After just finishing a recent project, I have some capacity over the coming months, and can offer category management, bespoke retail safaris, in-store photos and insights to any companies wanting to explore the rapidly developing market. Please feel free to get in touch if this may be of use to you!