Junior Category Manager – Sweet Spreads

Company Background

Andros is a family-owned company based in southwest France with a turnover of over 2.5
billion Euros. It is a leading European fruit transformation and chilled dairy producer
manufacturing the internationally famous brand Bonne Maman, as well as many private
label products.

Andros Group:

52 production facilities across Europe and beyond (USA, China, New Zealand…)
4 poles of development: Fruit, Chilled Dairy, Confectionery, Frozen Desserts
A real industrial know-how and a significant will to introduce innovations
Both a branded (Bonne Maman, Andros) and private label supplier

Company culture: Andros believes in people above anything else. Their success has come
from empowering hands-on, pragmatic individuals within a dynamic, solution-seeking and
market-share winning organisation. Entrepreneurial spirit is encouraged, and consumer
satisfaction is paramount.

The work environment is fast, varied and “politic” free. Communication is uncomplicated
and direct relying on the trust built through professional expertise and a real team player
attitude.

There is pride within the organisation to be the manufacturer of simple, high-quality food,
offering great value to the consumer. In short, an “international good food maker”.

Andros in the UK is a major supplier of ambient fruit-based conserves, chilled yogurts and
desserts, with its commercial operations based in Hammersmith dealing directly with all major retailers and sectors within the UK. They acquired in 2008, the Oldford dairy site (Somerset) and heavily invested in new, state-of-the-art, chilled desserts product lines, unique in the market.

The company has experienced rapid growth becoming a top 150 UK food & drink business in 2020. This growth has been driven across both the preserves and desserts categories through the success of the Bonne Maman brand as well as an extensive private label activity. The products are either imported or produced in the dedicated chilled dessert facility in the South West of England. There is an ambitious investment plan for the coming years.

Bonne Maman has seen significant success in the UK over recent years becoming brand leader of the jam category in 2013 and is now a major player in chilled desserts and yogurt. Bonne Maman is known for its simple, great quality, natural products evoking a homely welcoming and trustworthy brand.

To support this growth we are now seeking a SWEET SPREADS JUNIOR CATEGORY MANAGER.

This is a developmental role, a path to become a Category Manager.

Job role

Andros Category Management Team is viewed as key to the delivery of ambitious growth plans and to developing future growth plans.

This role is critical in allowing Andros to demonstrate our knowledge and leadership across our ambient & chilled categories and to drive the development of progressive & successful partnerships with the retailers.

Main tasks and responsibilities:

– Work with the Ambient Senior Category Manager, to develop relevant knowledge on the consumer, shopper, retailer and competitor landscape for our categories.
– Become a Category expert in convenience, online & specialist knowledge
– To support the Ambient Senior Category Manager in building:
Customer range reviews,
Rationales to support recommendations, etc.
Analysis to better understand specific topics
Events evaluation (such as Pancake Day …)
Market overviews/ Deep dives

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate will have the energy and ambition to make a significant contribution to the future success of the Andros business.  They will thrive in fast paced, action orientated environments and relish new challenges, managing multiple priorities and working collaboratively with their colleagues to deliver a shared goal.

Background:

– FMCG background, preferably in UK market
– Category or Sales executive with strong analytical skills & over 2-year experience ready to take the next step for their career

Skills:

·       Demonstrates a good understanding in category management principles

·       Commercially aware

·       Strong communication skills

·       Excellent analytical thinking, attention to detail and interpretation of data

·       Ability to work under pressure whilst being highly organised and efficient

·       Able build positive internal & external collaborative working relationships

·       Knowledge of Circana/Nielsen, Kantar or Dunnhumby

·       Working knowledge of excel & PowerPoint

·       Knowledgeable in category management principles

·       Commercially aware

The Individual:

– A ‘can do’ attitude, happy to ‘roll up’ their sleeves

– Dynamic and creative with analytical integrity

– Forward thinking and proactive
– Has a natural curiosity to look beyond the brief & beyond the data, asking why?
– Happy to have an opinion, to challenge and to be challenged