Have you ever wondered what a typical working week looks like for the team at IFP? In our new ‘Meet the Team’ mini-series, we get to know a new member of our team a little better each month, finding out more about their role and their experiences here at IFP.
In this blog, we chat to Phil Mason, IFP’s operations director.
How long have you worked at Integrated Food Projects?
I joined IFP in September 2021 as Operations Director, after spending many years in consulting and leadership roles across operations and supply chain.
What does your role entail day to day?
I’m actively involved in client engagement and I oversee the delivery of consulting and evaluation assignments. My line role as operations director is to ensure our end-to-end project delivery is effective, efficient and engaging using the right processes, tools and governance.
A major responsibility is ensuring we are ahead of the curve in the use of systems and business planning from evaluation to completion. In this sector, our pipeline is continually moving with our clients experiencing ever changing needs, so we have to be agile to meet our client requirements.
What’s your experience pre-IFP?
I started my career in manufacturing, then I spent many years in operations and supply chain consulting and was fortunate to work on some great regional and global assignments. More recently, I held operations leadership positions in drinks manufacturing and food and drink distribution.
What do you think the future of food manufacturing looks like?
Sustainability will continue to grow in importance across all sectors, particularly in food and beverage manufacturing. Providing sustainable supply chain solutions has to be a healthy mix of looking after the planet, your people and profit to reinvest.
I would also highlight the importance of increased automation, particularly with the challenges around labour availability we are seeing at the moment.
We will also start to look at sustainability outside of the manufacturing plant. In our recent blog we outlined the next stages of the sustainability agenda, and taking action on these opportunities in areas, such as water usage and agriculture.
We are seeing an increase in plant-based and dairy-based alternatives which are ever growing alongside traditional food manufacturing supply chains.
We’ve also noticed different distribution channels with more D2C outside of the traditional retail supply chain.
When you’re not working, what can we find you doing?
I have two young daughters so they keep me busy. I also like to complete the occasional 10k run.
I enjoy sailing although I haven’t managed to get out as much as I would have liked over the last couple of years due to the pandemic. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to get out on the water again, home or abroad, perhaps around Anglesey which is one of my favourite coastlines.
Keep your eyes peeled on our LinkedIn for our next instalment in this series.
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