Aoife Kelleher, Sustainability and Marketing Graduate with Kerry

Can you tell us about your studies and what your aspirations were in college?

I attended University College Cork, where I studied Food Marketing & Entrepreneurship. I was attuned to the food industry from a young age as my dad worked with one of Ireland’s leading food retail and wholesalers. As a child I would follow along to store openings and food expos. My love for food and seeing the passion of those working in the industry is what I believe set the stage for my career path.

In my third year of college, I carried out a placement with Bord Bia. I worked with the Origin Green Brand Team, supporting small to medium companies with the responsible communications of their sustainability commitments and their Origin Green membership status. My time at Bord Bia allowed me to delve into the world of sustainability for the first time and recognize the need for urgent transformation of our food system, as well as the growing opportunities to work in this space.

Drawn by its iconic Irish heritage and global footprint, Kerry was always on my list as a place I would love to work after graduating. Delving deeper into who Kerry was and hearing from others about the immense talent and thought leadership through their sustainable nutrition ambition, I felt there was no better place for me to start my career.

Tell us about your current job and what it involves.

I joined Kerry in September 2022 as part of the Kerry Graduate programme. As a Sustainability & Marketing Graduate I have
a split role between our Global Sustainability team and Foodservice Europe Marketing team, a diverse role where I work with both internal stakeholders and customers to support the responsible communication of our sustainable nutrition impact. Kerry is primarily a B2B business and within our foodservice division we work with some of the biggest foodservice brands in the world. My role would involve supporting our commercial teams working with our distribution partners in Mainland Europe to accelerate growth of our foodservice brands. That could involve growing our market penetration with new partners, activating our brand campaigns to drive brand awareness and volume growth, supporting customer engagements or cultivating insights to inspire end-users.

Our sustainability team act as guardians of our Beyond the Horizon strategy, which lays out Kerry’s ambition to reach two
billion people with sustainable nutrition solutions by 2030. A highlight of this side of my role was working on a global capability building project. The goal being to ensure everyone at Kerry has the knowledge and confidence to effectively communicate our sustainability strategy and commitments with key stakeholders and work with our customers to help them on their
sustainability journey.

What do you enjoy about the role and what are some of the challenges you have overcome?

I love that no day is the same and the breadth of experience my role has given me. I have found over time that both aspects of my role complement each other well to give me a more holistic understanding of our customers’ needs and the strategic vision of Kerry.

Initially, surrounded by so many subject matter experts, I was apprehensive that my lack of formal education in Sustainability
would put me on the back foot. I quickly learned that many of my colleagues who I looked up to had started, like me, with a passion to learn more about this area and had picked up the knowledge or retrained during their career. Through the constant support from my team, I got over my ‘imposter syndrome’ and was able to identify where I added value. This was by providing my experience as a marketer to ensure, whether our audience was internal or external, that we spoke their language and effectively communicated the “so what” for them to bring them along on our collective sustainable nutrition
journey.

What was the route you took to landing the job at Kerry and what was the application process like?

Like many graduate programmes, entry to apply for the Kerry graduate programme opened in October, so I applied during my final year in college. Completion of the application form was followed by taking a 30-minute online assessment, with a situational judgement test and a personality questionnaire.

The next stage of the process is to record a video interview and if successful you are then invited to a virtual assessment day in February, or in my case called for an interview with the hiring manager. 

As it happens, the role I ended up securing was not advertised, as it did not currently exist in Kerry. Naturally, with my background in marketing, I applied for a marketing graduate position. My Marketing Director recognised my passion for sustainability in my interview and had the bright idea to reach out to our sustainability team to form what became my dual role.
I think this is a real testament to the type of company Kerry is - teams constantly collaborating and working cross-functionally to identify opportunities, but above all having a people first mentality to career development opportunities and always being open to “squiggly” career paths.

What are the skills you most regularly use in your role and what skills do you advise those interested in this sector work on developing?

I think the importance of soft skills should not be underestimated, especially in an early careers’ role, as with the right attitude you can learn the rest through experience on the job. Kerry is a big company, so sometimes you need to be a self-starter, not being afraid to put you hand up for opportunities or reach out to colleagues who you wish to learn from. Being a
team player, reliable and a good communicator are all invaluable skills you need in any role here. Above all else you need to be curious. Particularly in the area of sustainability, where the landscape is constantly evolving and with new legislation and more companies setting sustainability commitments. With a can-do attitude and willingness to learn, Kerry provided the rest in terms of experiences and amazing mentors to learn from in order to succeed in my role.

What advice would you have for a student considering a career in this sector?

If you are passionate about Sustainability and interested in working in a role that gives you an opportunity to contribute towards positive change in your respective industry, my one piece of advice would be to not let a lack of degree or experience in sustainability hold you back. A lot of the current roles in this space did not exist 10 years ago, with people in this space coming from diverse backgrounds, meaning everyone is learning and on a journey.

Can you tell us how it felt to be named gradireland Graduate Employee of the Year?

It feels amazing to have been recognised by gradireland as their Graduate Employee of the Year. I am very thankful to the
judges for selecting me amongst a group of extremely impressive candidates, and to my family, friends & colleagues at Kerry for their constant support.