Can you chart your career progression at Agrexco?

I joined Agrexco in Israel in February 1997, in the accounts department. Before that I was a trainee bank manager, which I found really boring. I moved to Agrexco because I already knew the company, having come across it at university. I wanted to work with fresh fruit - I felt very close to nature in Israel and wanted to take advantage of exporting my country’s fruit to the rest of the world.

I used my powers of persuasion to move from the accounts department into the marketing department, and then I became flower product manager, responsible for marketing flowers in the countries around the world where Agrexco does not have a branch. It was an excellent job, as I got to work with people with different mindsets and deal with different currencies all the time.

I then became product manager for exotics in Israel, a post I held for three years, based in Tel Aviv. At that stage, I worked a lot with the UK, as it was one of our major markets.

Then last August I got this job as general manager of the UK branch and came over here to shadow Amos Orr, the outgoing general manager, for seven months.

What appealed to you about the position in the UK?

This is the main branch of the company, outside Israel. There I was working in the back yard, but here I am working right in the front yard. I feel proud to be the ambassador of Israel’s produce here.

I am enjoying my role in the UK, and so far it has been a really good experience - but, of course, a challenging one in terms of timing.

However, we have an excellent team here of around 60 people, and I am really enjoying working with them.

What challenges are you facing?

Several - the rise in fuel costs, the exchange rate between the shekel and the pound, the frosts we had in Israel earlier in the year and the water shortages our growers are facing. It has been a very dramatic year so far and we are right on the edge.

It is really tough - we are trying to save costs and make logistics more efficient to help support our growers. This is the time we need to keep our heads down, save costs and try to survive.

It is a crucial time, and all of us here at Agrexco are pulling together to work through it. The whole supply chain must understand that the growers need to survive.

The retailers are our main customers, but we are also serving our growers, as we are not a private company. We treat our growers as if they were our customers, not suppliers. The whole industry needs them, and we cannot do anything to harm them - we need to make sure the whole market understands that.

What is your strategy over the next few years?

Now is a time of survival for everybody in the industry, especially the growers, who are our bread and butter.

We are trying to extend the outlets for our fruit, and not put all our eggs into one basket.

Our plan is to find efficiencies, optimise costs and meet challenges - but without jeopardising our service to customers and the quality of the fruit we provide. To quote Levi Strauss, “quality is never out of fashion”.

I believe Agrexco needs to focus on niche, specialist lines. I am always trying to look for products and predict what will happen in the future. It is a constant challenge to think about what products we can develop and what we need in our range. Figs, pomegranates, new tomato varieties, green almonds, mangetout, sugarsnap peas, new mango varieties - we are constantly researching new lines to please the consumer.

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