5 Big Questions: RACHEL KELLEY

Why should a pie manufacturer be bothered about being ethical?

Is there a tussle between a business growing the bottom line and living out its values?

What do big brand CEOs prioritise in the 21st century?

And are plant-based diets here to stay?

In this week’s 5 Big Questions interview we talk to one of the UK’s leading commercial food executives, business leaders and consumer brand builders, RACHEL KELLEY

Twitter: @higgidy

Known for:

CEO – Higgidy
Former Managing Director (UK) – Little Freddie Organic Baby Food
Former Commercial Director – Bigham’s
Former Trading Director – Mars

The 5 Big Questions:

1. How do you measure the impact of what you do?
2. How should people/businesses be preparing for the future?
3. How do we build the workforce we need for that future?
4. How do you use creativity to solve problems?
5. How do you collaborate?

Key quotes

“We need a bit more space to make a few more pies.”

“Embrace the unknown and choose your attitude to it.”

“There’s no point looking to the past for the answers. Perhaps if you were to go back five years, we had a predictable playbook of how you do business, this is how you grow. That has now fundamentally changed. We have such significant changes facing the world. Businesses need to change that mindset.”

“One thing I can measure is the number of people we’re supporting through employment. We can measure the impact we’re having on their health and wellbeing. We can measure if we’re creating purposeful work that makes our people feel proud.”

“Ultimately our business performance will define whether I have had the impact that I’ve hoped.”

“We need to make sure that the training that we are providing for our people equips them to be able to answer some of that future shift. And I’m not saying we have got that nailed down just yet but it’s something that we are actively thinking about, how can we do that better.”

Useful links:

Higgidy // higgidy.co.uk/
Mars food business // mars.com/
The Grocer article reporting Kelley’s hire at Higgidy
B Lab network — B Corp certification
Higgidy’s ‘Discover Vegan’ page for Veganuary

This episode was recorded in November 2021

Interviewer: Richard Freeman for always possible

Editor: CJ Thorpe-Tracey for Lo Fi Arts

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