Expert suppliers share their tips on how to get a great start in your supplier career

Entering any new career can be daunting. How can you prepare yourself, what can you expect? For anyone starting out as a supplier, we have spoken to 3 expert suppliers about the advice they would give to a new supplier just starting out in their career.

Rachael Foster – Bar Staff at Fullera
Always be motivated and energised. Yes, being a supplier can be tiring, but at the end of the day, you are helping people who want to unwind. You get to meet a variety of new people, and you may not see them every day or ever again, but being friendly and kind leaves a lasting impression can be magical for anyone. A simple smile, listening to someone's issues it can all help, and in the world we are living in right now I feel that is the most important.

My advice is really just to be yourself; you got the role for a reason. Never lose your sparkle.

Peter Mckeone – Founder and Director of Diablo Seasonings
I believe that right now, the power of social media to promote your message is ridiculously underpriced. I built up 100k monthly unique views across social with a zero budget. Whatever you're doing, if you're a chef, a hotel, a restaurant, an independent food business etc. the one thing you must do is create content at scale.

If you don't know how to use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Anchor, Medium etc. then you need to Google it and learn how to do it. Don't get your apprentice to do it; you do it. It's your business, and if you're not actively sharing content, you're leaving a lot of money on the table, which you could be using to supercharge your business.

First and foremost, I'm a spice merchant, but I fully understand how to utilise the 7 or 8 apps that dominate our phones right now. This attention is an underpriced commodity that is no doubt going to go away, when it does you'll be paying thousands of pounds to reach the same amount of people, that you can do today for free.

Record a podcast on Anchor, write about your experiences across each social media page. Interview people, shoot videos of you cooking in the kitchen, if someone famous comes in, then you take a selfie, and you post it to FB and Instagram. Learn to use it. Create at scale. Good luck 👍

Barrie Webster - Business Development Manager at Clear Cool
With the desire to manage the impact on the environment and control energy costs in the kitchen, many of my customers ask what the starting point on the journey is. I will start by walking around the kitchen before, during and after service. This will help you to understand how and when the current equipment is being used, and it will enable you to see what practices are used by the chefs.

At this point, you can introduce simple measures such as pan lids. Not only will the energy required to heat and cook products on the range top be reduced bit also will cooking times, and the heat and steam released into the kitchen be reduced. Does the breakfast chef need to turn on the solid top range on at 6 am?

Reduce the size of joints - two 3kg joints cook a lot quicker than a single 6kg joint and will cool faster if going into the blast chiller, all of which will give you a positive benefit on your energy bill and the environment. The starting point is to review your operation and start simple.