Herbfresh sales and procurement specialist Lucy Wiggins championed in the battle of youth to scoop the MorePeople Young Person of the Year award at the Re:fresh ceremony last night.
Wiggins has worked in the fresh produce industry in sales and procurement roles since her graduation in 2002, and in 2008 she took up a new position with Herbfresh, charged with expanding the company’s sales and procurement side - her success in which won her the award at London’s Marriott hotel this week.
Despite a particularly difficult trading period, Herbfresh’s wholesale market, foodservice and catering business has also continued to expand over the last 12 months, with one client in New Spitalfields Market reporting an impressive 23 per cent growth spurt. Wiggins has developed a new customer base in northern wholesale markets, including Gateshead, Glasgow and Manchester, and Herbfresh now offers an innovative display stand to these customers as a means of strengthening its own brand and cementing long-term customer relationships.
All of these achievements are being attributed to Wiggins’ specific crop selection and procurement expertise, which covers 12-month procurement from more than 500 acres of UK production and growers in Cyprus, Israel, Spain, Morocco, Kenya and Colombia.
Particular attention has been paid to the import supplier base, with consistent encouragement to grow to the highest standard and a competitive price strengthening the belief that Herbfresh is working towards a sustainable future through long-term supplier partnerships.
Wiggins told freshinfo: "It was a lovely surprise for both myself and the company. I think in such a challenging business environment being new into the business there was plenty of opportunity to bring experience from other roles to take a fresh approach, if not a change to the business.
"It has been very beneficial to have a small team without the email culture that exists in some places. Our focus at the moment is growing our customer base and keeping the costs down."
Alison Birkett of QV Foods, whose roles include process control manager, and Fairmile Florist’s Lauren Curry were also nominated in the category following recommendations from their companies.
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