Day in the life of a beer buyer at Asda: craft beer, cider and RTDs
Retail is an incredibly diverse sector that encompasses a variety of roles – from entry-level jobs on the shop floor to senior executives operating across multiple channels. When you throw in technology then the positions within the sector are manifold.
But do people really understand what some of the roles actually involve on a day-to-day basis?
Subscribe to TRBHere we pull back the curtain and reveal exactly what lies behind the title.
Ryan Truswell, buying manager – cider, craft beer and RTD cocktails at Asda
Every morning at 8:30am there is a meeting about in-bound availability, what’s been brought into the warehouse and what’s not. It’s normally pretty good because our suppliers (brewers) will typically flag any issues ahead of time. They do sometimes have problems with supply such as during the World Cup.
Mondays are very different to the rest of the week because in the morning we look at sales from the past week and look to see where improvements could be made and then in the afternoon there are various meetings including a huddle with all seven ambient areas. Beers, wines and spirits is just one of these.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays include supplier-focused meetings where we are talking about which products to back for the next year and looking at what’s aligned with our strategy. On Thursday and Friday there is more concentration on NPD (New Product Development) including planning promotions. During the course of the week there is a beer meeting involving supply, merchandise and Point-of-Sale people where we look to make sure the forthcoming week goes well in the beer and cider category.
Working with suppliers and breweries
There are weekly meetings with the companies that are currently being backed by Asda such as the likes of Beavertown, Diageo with its RTDs (Ready to Drink) products, Kopparberg, Westons and Thatchers. I also have open communications with the smaller breweries we stock who all have my WhatsApp so they can easily contact me. I can talk to them as I’m experienced in the sector (having worked at various craft breweries) and I try and make it simple for them.
Being a beer buyer is seen as a different buyer role because everybody has an opinion on beer! I’m not sure I’d be as excited about being the buyer of bin bags. I do think buying is the best job in the world. There’s nothing better than finding a product, listing it, and it working on the shelves. You can make someone’s day when you list their products. But also there are de-listings. The first time you have to do it it’s horrible. The best way to deal with it is to flag that there’s a problem early and suggest [to the supplier] it needs more promotion or social media support in order to address the problem.
Finding new craft beer products
We’re always looking out for new products. I used to use [beer review site] Untapped but now it’s mainly social media – chiefly Instagram. There are some individuals on there who we trust – they don’t know this – and there are brewers too who I really like. We’ve two new launches coming up from craft brewers Roosters and Brew York. The sweet spot for craft beer is 5.9% and pale in colour and also in craft stouts but they have to be flavoured and strong.
We need to have plenty of variety in the craft beer category, which is 10% of our total beer sales (in volume and value terms), because if we halved the range then it would halve sales. With lager this would not have the same impact because people simply move to another brand.
The job definitely does not involve much drinking. The only drinking on-site is in the wine room. Most sampling is done at home or off-site including a pitching day for potential new suppliers. A few of us will also go out once a week – on Thursday or Friday – for a drink after work. I do get invited a lot to breweries but it’s a time issue. With existing suppliers I’ll go abroad once or twice a year. I’ve just visited Sweden with Kopparberg who have shown me the DRS (Deposit Return Scheme) that has been successfully running in Sweden for 30 years and is being introduced into the UK.
How to become a retail buyer
For anybody considering this role I’d recommend learning the ropes first and watching people. It’s good to be a trading assistant first as this gives experience dealing with suppliers, handling the necessary paperwork, and learning the key things of the role and getting used to hitting the many deadlines. You have to be good at listening and not look to wield power.
