Meet the Team

Between us, Taste Shakers has over 150 years’ experience in food and drink. We all bring something different to the table, but are united by a real passion for driving innovation and helping brands succeed.

Alexis

Your sales expert

Sales specialist Alexis has over 25 years’ experience working in senior commercial and national account management roles. He thrives on helping brands grow their sales through retail.

Alexis has worked across grocery, convenience, wholesale and online. He’s an expert in business development, account management, negotiating, forecasting and relationship building. Combine this with his category knowledge, and you’ve got a killer combo that has helped brands like Nestlé, Mr Kipling and Ryvita.

Over the years he has gained listings for a number of small to medium sized brands with major retailers, and been instrumental in growing them once they’re listed.

Chris

Your financial firecracker

Chris is a Chartered Accountant with 30 years’ experience as an entrepreneur and senior director.

He trained in Corporate Finance with PwC, progressing to roles such as CEO of AIM listed Ovum plc, Europe’s largest technology research business. Chris is the founder and CEO of Informed Funding, director of food and drink PR & marketing agency William Murray, and sits on the advisory boards of Breachlock and Verified Visitors.

He brings a wealth of financial expertise to the table, looking after forecasting, financial planning, budgeting and contract negotiation to make sure you get the best deals and are primed for profit.

Anita

Your industry visionary

For 30 years, Anita has been helping firms be even more successful by getting them to think and act differently to get great results.

She’s worked with organisations across retail and hospitality including Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA), Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Pure South (New Zealand Lamb), Kraft Heinz, Kiddylicious, Unilever, Bidfood, Arla and BRITA.

Anita is one of the Top 150 Women in Food, Drink & Hospitality, an Inspiration Award for Women winner, a member of the Food Innovation Network, a judge for PR and food industry awards and facilitator for food industry events/webinars.

Her clear thinking, unrivalled knowledge of the food & drink industry, and pragmatic approach ensures each brand has a tailored, commercial solution that sets them on the path for success.

Rebecca

Your marketing whiz

With more than 15 years’ experience working in retail and hospitality – both as full-service marketing professional and as an entrepreneur/owner operator – Rebecca has a unique set of skills to identify the right steps a brand should take to succeed.

In 2008 she launched Yog, the UK’s first frozen yogurt. As co-founder she grew the business to a £3M turnover, with a 12-store yogurt chain and retail range in Wholefoods, Waitrose, Ocado and Tesco in the UK, El Corte Ingles in Spain and Lulu and Spinneys in the Middle East.

Brands that she has worked with include AMT Coffee, PizzaExpress, Smashburger, Chosen Bun, The Street Food Company, Poncho8 and Crepeaffaire.

Rebecca has created and launched brands, managed store openings and product launches and hosted a range of media events as well as business planning, marketing strategy and marketing communications planning. She has excellent contacts in retail and OOH media and is our go-to when it comes to shopper marketing.

Fiona

Your PR power house

Fiona is an ex-journalist with 15 years’ experience in food & drink. She kicked off her career as a regional journalist before joining William Reed and the world of food and drink publishing.

Over the last 14 years she’s created award- winning campaigns for some of the industry’s biggest names – both on the operator and brand side. She’s worked with Lyons Seafoods, Masala Zone, Chutney Mary, Unilever, McVitie’s, Nestlé and Kraft Heinz.

Fiona’s mix of strategic thinking and creativity help generate powerful PR campaigns that deliver commercial results for clients. She’s got her finger on the pulse when it comes to media, trends and insights which all bring an edge to campaigns.

David

Your category and data guru

David has over 25 years’ experience working in senior category and strategic management roles. He’s our data guru and uses category and consumer insights to help brands enter retail – and grow sales once they’re there.

He’s worked with every major retail group in the UK and has a black book full of buyer contacts both here and in Europe.

Category expertise includes: speciality milks, cheese, dairy products, breakfast cereals, savoury biscuits, wine, juice & smoothies and chilled meals.

David has established relationships with all the major data companies; he is an expert in category systems from the likes of Nielsen, IRI and Kantar to retailer systems such as the Dunnhumby Shop and Nectar 360.