From our team to you

Case Studies

What is it really like to work at Kettle Produce? Some of our staff have given us their thoughts below

Julie Wight – Senior Supply Chain Planner

I joined Kettle Produce in 1991, initially on a part time basis to earn some extra money during the Christmas period. I thought I’d be there for a couple of months but I was looking for more of a challenge from what I had done before. I knew Kettle Produce could offer this, as there were so many opportunities for development and to move around the business.

During my time at Kettle Produce I have had many roles. My first change of role was to Production Team Leader, before becoming a Planning Manager. I worked in the IT Team, then in the Field Department and as a Shift Manager in the Distribution team. I am now a Senior Supply Chain Planner.

Harvesting challenges and haulage constraints are just some of the challenges I face each day. However, the time I have spent over the years in a variety of departments, working with a number of teams, is instrumental in helping me deal with each challenge.

I still have the same passion and drive for the business as I did in 1991. That’s one of the many reasons I’m still here after 30 years and still loving it.

I am part of a diverse group of individuals that bring our own unique personal strengths to the business and I am proud to have been given the opportunity to grow with Kettle Produce.

Jamie Gowans - Logistics Team Manager

I joined Kettle Produce in 2003 at the tender age of 16! To begin with I worked as a Process Worker 3 nights a week from 6pm-10pm after school to earn some extra money to fund the social side of life, which my paper round couldn’t keep up with. After leaving school I continued at Kettle whilst I started a plumbing course at Fife College which unfortunately didn’t work out for one reason or another. As a result, I started full-time with the business in 2004. Moving to full-time work gave me the opportunity to gain my forklift license and a subsequent move into our Logistics dept.

During my time in logistics, I have developed my skills further and I have gained multiple MHE tickets from my forklift license, telehandler, tractor, and my HGV shunter. I have also built strong and important relationships with our contractor base which involves me organising forklift repairs, waste uplifts, and deliveries.

In my current role as Logistics Team Manager, I spend the majority of my time at our Balmalcolm site. My responsibilities include managing a team of 10 who deal with booking in our homegrown and procured intakes. As a team we also carry out daily stock checks, deal with deliveries from third party companies and organise the reloading of vehicles with the stock required to fulfil our orders. In order to do this smoothly we have built strong communication channels with our procured and transport teams to ensure the correct stock is going out on the correct vehicles.

The best part for me working at Kettle has to be the people, many of whom have become close friends which makes the working day that little easier being able to have a laugh whilst getting the job done. Many of our staff come from different backgrounds and cultures but we all come together as one team to ensure we meet targets and get the orders delivered to our customers.

Jamie Gowans - Logistics Team Manager

Courtney Sneddon – HR Administrator

Kettle Produce is my first full-time job after leaving school.

When I first started, I was an Apprentice Business Administrator within the Admin Team. I really enjoyed this as a steppingstone from being in school to joining an employer and enjoyed the small team.

I am now an HR Administrator with main responsibilities including weekly meetings and a range of daily and weekly reports to be produced for different departments. Every day can be different depending on the business needs on that day and with people needing different tasks to be done or helping employees depending on what they need.

I have also had the opportunity to help train new starts in my department, despite still learning myself, and I’ve really welcomed that challenge and opportunity to help and guide other people.

I really enjoy what I do, being office-based, helping other people and having the opportunity and freedom to work individually as well as part of a wider team

Along with my essential to do list, I find my electronic calendar very useful. I keep this updated with when I am on site and also set time aside for the important tasks.

I try my hardest to make sure that I have a good work life balance and I also know how important it is to get to know colleagues so we can build good working relationships.

If I could swap jobs with one other person at Kettle Produce for the day, I think I’d do something that’s so different to what I do, so maybe a forklift driver! It would be a total change of scenery and responsibility.

My favourite thing about working at Kettle Produce is the people - I love getting to know everyone and I love that we have all different cultures and nationalities represented. You can learn so much even by just chatting to someone. I have a great relationship with my team as well. Overall, I find it an all-round really enjoyable place to work.

Shannon Reid - Production Team Leader

I started working at Kettle Produce in 2017 on a part-time basis to earn money alongside studying for my degree in History and Politics. When I finished my degree in 2020, we were at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, and I was unsure of what I wanted to do as a career. Initially, I moved onto a full-time contract with Kettle Produce working as a process worker. I was then lucky enough to be offered the role of Supervisor before I progressed to my current role of Production Team Leader.

My role is based at the carrot grader. My responsibilities include managing a team of people, ensuring that the area is running as efficiently and as safely as possible, whilst ensuring we meet the quality standards our customers expect, and the targets set by our supply chain.

It can be a challenging and demanding role especially as the quality of the carrots varies from season to season. However, I do enjoy the fast-paced environment of production. I find the target-based environment helps motivate me. I love going home at the end of a working day knowing we have achieved the targets set out for us as a team.

The best part about working at Kettle Produce is the people. We have such a diverse workforce coming from all different backgrounds and cultures which makes it an enjoyable place to work. Even one conversation with someone can teach you things you did not know. The different cultures can pose a challenge due to the language barriers as a lot of the staff speak limited English, but working as a team and finding different ways to communicate helps us get there in the end.

I would love to swap jobs with one of our field department colleagues for the day. My role is focused on the processing of raw materials, so it would be good to see the other side of what we do. I think all the tasks and responsibilities that fall into the field department’s remit would be interesting to see and it would help me gain a better understanding of the whole process from start to finish.

Shannon Reid - Production Team Leader