Meet Craig: A Career in Procurement

Discover Craig’s career journey at Cefetra, from studying maths, statistics and accounting to moving from finance into commodity trading. Find out how he works with customers, stock, vessels and live markets, the skills the role requires and his advice for entering the agricultural supply industry without a farming background.

What does a normal day look like in your job?

Standard tasks I complete on a daily basis are sending prices to customer and dealing with any specific requests they may have, monitoring stock levels of our products across various ports and tracking vessel arrivals against this and analysing markets for opportunities/risks, what to buy and what to sell.

Working in live markets means no two days are the same, and there is a great variety in the tasks and types of work I undertake.

How did you get into this role?

I studied Maths, Stats and Accounting at university, so I was looking for a role within this area and came across a Finance Analyst role at Cefetra.

I knew very little of the industry before I started having not come from an agricultural background.

After spending 7 years in the Finance team, I was then offered the opportunity to move over to the Trading team to expand my responsibilities into looking at markets and buying/selling product.

What skills or qualities matter most in your job?

I think the most important skill for my role is analytical/strategic thinking – being able to take information, process it and form ideas/make decisions from this.

Being organised and showing attention to detail is important, as is good communication skills for working with both colleagues and suppliers/customers.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I enjoy many aspects of my role.

Working in live markets is very interesting and can require quick actions to be taken and it is great working with many different departments and personalities within the office.

It is also very satisfying to know our work matters – we are a key part of the supply chain for not only the UK food industry, but also beer, whiskey and ethanol markets.

What advice would you give someone thinking about this career?

I would encourage anyone to consider a career in the industry, and not to worry if they are not from an agricultural background.

The industry is very accessible to all and has provided me with many career and social opportunities.