32 | The Grocer | 10 August 2019 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 10 August 2019 | The Grocer | 33
that it’s done. We’ve made a lot of tweaks in product,
whether it be through the processes we use or finding
a more sustainable source of ingredient, or whatever
it may be.”
This incremental development will continue, and
alongside it, more radical shake-ups are on the cards.
Rebel Kitchen’s vision is to “revolutionise food” by mak-
ing healthy alternatives that taste “mind-blowingly
good”. “We question received wisdom and demand
that we all rethink our unsustainable approach to
health, nutrition, consumption, agriculture and
manufacturing.”
The plan is to target categories where there are unmet
consumer needs by providing the “best plant-based
alternatives, which taste and behave as people expect
t h e m to”.
“We want people to be able to understand what they
are consuming by repackaging nature for convenience
and only using ingredients they can understand. By
doing this, we help people take better control of their
individual health.”we’re in other territories, the UK is still the majority of
our business.”
In 2017, Thompson was named one of the winners
in The Grocer’s Top New Talent awards. At the time he
was still commercial director but has since been pro-
moted to managing director. “It was always the plan,
really,” he says. “As a director team we work really close
together. Tamara’s got four children so she didn’t want
to focus on the business as a day to day. Over time we
built towards that.
“It’s a challenge because your focus is on one or two
areas as commercial director, but then you’ve got the
whole business to look after [as MD], so going back to
how I have evolved, you have to think on your feet so
much more and make decisions without necessarily
going super deep into all the information.”
The move up has meant he has had to let go of some
of his perfectionism. “In business, you have to find that
sweet spot between aiming for perfection and mini-
mum viable product. Let’s get it going and then let’s
understand the feedback and what comments we’re
getting from consumers or other partners and the sup-
pliers we’re working with, and then adjust.
“The only constant is change. It would be naive of us
to be like: tada – product, and then sit back and thinkSnapshot
Name: Adam Thompson
Age: 32
Potted CV: Did a business
degree at Bath University
and then joined a grad
scheme at Aldi. Worked
as a business executive at
Tata Global Beverages for
two years and a national
account manager at
Philips for three years,
before joining Rebel
Kitchen as sales director
in May 2015. Promoted to
commercial director then
managing director.
Best career decision:
Making the leap out of
corporate to startup
Worst career decision:
None
Business idol: Yvon
Chouinard, who set up
Patagonia
Business mantra:
Question the norm
Best piece of advice,
given or received: The
only constant is change
Hobbies: Fitness, racing
cars
Favourite books: Grit by
Angela Duckworth and
Proteinaholic by Garth
Davis
Favourite film: Inception
Desert Island meal: A
good curryEntries are now open for The Grocer’s Top New Talent
Awards 2019. Please visit http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/
people/top-new-talent for further details and to enter.