Dorota Szafalowicz is looking back at how far she’s come since arriving in the UK as a celery picker from Poland in a rare moment of reflection.
It’s not often she does so – with three job titles at one of the UK’s largest salad producers, there is little time in the day for reflection, and Szafalowicz is not one to relish free time – but she concedes that her career to date has been somewhat remarkable.
“I don’t often stop and think about what I’ve achieved, but actually I think it’s quite incredible that in 2003 I was working on a celery rig, and in 2016 I met with David Cameron at Number 10 Downing Street,” she muses. As part of a small team of representatives from G’s, Szafalowicz attended a recent trade lunch hosted by the Prime Minister as part of his campaign to remain in the EU, and it’s a sign of how integral she’s become to the G’s team.
A regular face at industry trade fairs, Szafalowicz’s average day can comprise any elements from her roles as head of procurement, which includes sourcing programmes for the UK and overseas, head of baby leaf, which covers varietal development and the Fresh & Naked brand, and head of non-retail sales.
By her own account she forged her own responsibilities and job titles, seemingly through a dual love of fresh produce and being ferociously busy. “I’ve been on every single farm that we buy product from, many times, and I’ve been involved in every process,” she says. “That said, I’ll always have a soft spot for radish, and I love kale.”
Studying as a Polish law student, she came to the UK in 2003 with friends who were studying at agricultural college and doing work experience in the UK fresh produce sector. Arriving at G’s for her first season as a picker, she says she didn’t even know what celery was, but enjoyed working on the rigs, and quickly built up a network of friends and a social life in the UK. It was this, along with her fluent English, which meant Szafalowicz was tempted back for a second, and then a third season to G’s, accepting roles in QC for the winter season before moving into admin. During her second picking year, she was made supervisor of a celery heart rig within a month of arriving – and is justifiably proud to be the first woman in Europe to hold this role.
She became PA to G’s former farm manager Kier Petherick – but “still wasn’t busy enough”. “I was always asking – what else can I do? I took over managing the print room, so I was ordering labels, speaking to suppliers, as well as the PA duties,” she continues, before acknowledging she eventually had to refocus her role.
In a new position as radish product manager, Szafalowicz began travelling to visit growers where she noticed room for improvement in G’s system of different product managers approaching the same growers. “I asked why we couldn’t centralise all the buying and go to growers and purchase as a group – they said okay you do it then, so I became procurement manager,” she says.
It’s impossible not to feel Szafalowicz’s passion for the job. She is bubbly, full of ideas and plans, and clearly has both a love for produce and a hard head for business. Taking over the G’s baby leaf business, she saw it go from strength to strength, due in part to building longstanding relationships with key growers across Europe, and integrating the Langmeads lettuce business.
As a vegetarian herself (she says it’s impossible to find meat without additives, and prefers natural food), she sometimes eats up to 12 portions of fresh produce a day. She’s a juicing fanatic, and in her spare time loves reading nutrition books from the likes of nutritionist Ian Marber, and alternative medicine author Dr Nigma Talib.
“I really care about flavour – hence the new Fresh & Naked spicy mix, which was my idea. On grower visits, I’ll always be the last one still tasting the leaves – one grower asked me why I was doing it, as most buyers are just interested in the aesthetic of a leaf after washing, but I told him if it doesn’t taste good the consumer won’t repurchase,” she says. “I’d also like to make fresh produce more accessible to everyone – you don’t need expensive ingredients to make delicious food.”
So what’s the next milestone? “I’ve always said I’ll stay at G’s as long as I’m being challenged and I can make a difference,” she says. “Every year or two I’ve added to my job, and at the moment there’s so much work to do with non-retail.”
She can imagine running her own business, perhaps something in her beloved smoothie or drinks sector, though frankly seeing her run a produce company in the future doesn’t seem all that unfeasible. “I have thought about possibly running my own company – the thing that I’m most passionate about is healthy food and I could see myself maybe with my own smoothie-making business. The great thing about G’s is if it works alongside what they’re doing, then they’re open to it,” she says, before answering her phone to deal with a lettuce shortage and snapping back into business-mode.
CV: Picker to procurement
• Visited UK as celery picker while studying law in Poland
• Became first female supervisor of a celery heart rig
• Quality control on Spanish celery imports
• Worked in Spain on procurement
• PA to farm manager, manager of print room
• Radish product manager
• Head of procurement, head of baby leaf and head of non-retail sales
• This year marks her 14th with G’s
• June 2016, met David Cameron at Number 10 as part of Remain
