My meals & drink job: Alicia Turner, advertising assistant, Treatment Drinks | My Meals & Drink Job
Surname: Alicia Turner
Age: 23
Job title: Marketing Assistant
Company location: Remedy Drinks, London
Education: I went to school in Derbyshire before going to the University of Gloucestershire to study sports journalism
Why did you choose a career in the food industry? I’ve always loved eating out and trying different cuisines – there is so much to choose from in London that I rarely go to the same restaurant twice – and that interest has led me to explore the possibility of a career in the hospitality industry. It’s fascinating to see what’s going on behind the scenes in the food industry.
But even though I love food, health and mindfulness are extremely important to me, so finding a role that would marry them was key for me – which is why I was so excited for Remedy. Now I can enjoy all of my meals with a Remedy Kombucha and, without being biased, become obsessed with it!
Explain your job to us in one sentence (or two): I work on Remedy’s UK marketing team helping develop Remedy’s branding presence. This can mean supporting exciting brand campaigns or activations in the digital space, establishing important influencer partnerships and opportunities, or finding ways to expand our DTC offering.
“I am delighted to be part of a company that promotes a healthy and balanced lifestyle.”
What does a typical day look like for you? I’ll go through my emails and Instagram first and catch up on the missed overnight – Remedy has a huge presence in countries like Australia (where it was founded), Canada, and New Zealand, so there’s always plenty of different time zones to see.
What inspires me every day is the high demand and the interest of the people in live cultured drinks like Kombucha and how big the market is, especially here in Great Britain. During the lockdown, people became even more aware of their health choices, so I’m excited to be part of a company that promotes healthy and balanced lifestyles.
Tell us how you applied for your job when you applied. This job was recommended to me by an old colleague and it sounded interesting so I applied. There were several phases of interviews with people with different roles in the company, and I also had two relevant tasks to do.
The Remedy team was very friendly throughout the interview process, which reassured me as interviews (especially virtual ones) can be nerve-wracking. It was really interesting to learn more about the company and how they plan to expand the kombucha market in the UK. One of my jobs was to blog about the top health trends of the year, including how and why kombucha can be used to support a healthy diet. I was also asked to find several influencers who would be suitable for Remedy, which meant researching their audience, engagement stats, feed, and partnerships, and making a recommendation as to why they would be a good fit. It was a great learning curve.
What’s the best part about working for a food company? Working at Remedy is very fast-paced and, especially in marketing, you have to keep up with the latest consumer trends, which I loved to deal with. Knowing your audience is also very important so that when collaborating with brands or influencers you work with core audiences and that way reach new customers. This role has given me a great opportunity to grow and learn new skills; every day here is different, and that is important to me because it keeps the role really exciting and varied.
And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in the hospitality industry? Since this was my first job in the F&B industry, I wasn’t aware of the sheer complexity that makes a company work and grow in the right direction. I think that is really underrated.
What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food and beverage industry? To do your research and know what type of area you want to move into and for what reason. If you have a real passion for a particular sector of the industry, this will only help you. It also helps to love the product you represent – especially in marketing where you sell it to others.
What is your ultimate career dream? My ultimate career dream is constantly changing, but I want to keep learning and developing and eventually reaching a senior position in a future-oriented company – be it Remedy or maybe a digital marketing company as the area I love.
