Staff Spotlight: Kirsty Carnegy

PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT & FOOD AND ENTERPRISE TEAM LEADER

Expertise and skills:

• Scottish and UK F&D industry

• F&D supply chains and retail

• F&D drink manufacturing systems and efficiencies

• Commercialisation

• Sustainable scaling and value add opportunities

What was your career journey into this role?

I’ve worked across a broad spectrum of industry. Before joining SAC Consulting, I was a buyer for a convenience retailer operating nearly 200 stores across the UK. The role involved opportunity focussed buying, particularly local sourcing. The role also saw me working on initiatives to deliver a point of difference in stores – working with industry leaders and local suppliers to land quick turnaround projects like garden centres, butchers counters and meal solutions.

Prior to this I was the general manager at a start-up fish smokehouse, where I had to navigate the challenges involved in running a quickly scaling business – I wore many hats, from getting stuck into production, all the way through to international sales in places like Dubai and Canada.

Previous roles include working for industry body Scotland Food & Drink, focussing on export, innovation & productivity as well as a business development role for Orkney based, Stockan’s Oatcakes.

Tell us about your job and your ambition for the role in 2024

As Team Leader for our Food & Enterprise Team, I support my team to deliver great work and realise upcoming opportunities across the whole food and drink value chain. We work in conjunction with colleagues in the Environment team, providing a whole Food & Footprint offer which delivers a range of end-to-end supply chain management for our customers.

Furthermore, I am working to develop my consultancy offer around areas of my expertise, including sustainable sourcing and manufacturing, retail, supplier accreditation schemes and end-to-end supply chains.

If you could do anyone else’s job in consulting, who would it be?

I’d like to be part of the agricultural advisory team – they are out on site, delivering practical consultancy through assessing the land and applying their expertise. The fresh air and quick results from their inputs must be rewarding, as well as their close relationships with farmers and landowners.

If you had one wish, to be used to better the food and drink industry, what would you wish for?

My wish would be to see a mandatory focus on food and drink and the associated supply chain as part of the curriculum, beginning as soon as children start nursery. There is a fundamental lack of understanding food, its origins and the significant ramifications across health, the environment and economy it can hold. Providing early-stage education would empower children to engage more proactively and make more informed choices about their health and the environment around them. It will also provide a better understanding of the multitude of brilliant career options available, with almost all disciplines and areas of interest being relevant.