Ellie Hurford-Smith

Inquirer
DISC Type : cd

Product Director at itsu [grocery]

Peterborough, England, United Kingdom

Overview

A senior leader with 15 years of experience in the food industry, specializing in product innovation and technical team management. Her career includes director-level roles at itsu [grocery], along with positions at Harrods, Graze, and Sainsbury’s. She holds a Bachelor of Science from The University of Sheffield.

Passionate about food and obsessed with quality, she is dedicated to developing and inspiring her teams, celebrating shared achievements. She actively builds her knowledge and network through professional memberships in the food science community, reflecting a deep commitment to her industry.

She won the IWSC Award for The Retail Spirits Buyer of the Year in 2013.

Personality Overview

Demanding

Judgemental

ROI Conscious

They focus on objectivity in a pitch and pay little attention to bells and whistles.  They can be nudged to make faster decisions by offering what they value. They respond well to confident salespeople.

Topics They Care About

Product Innovation
Her experience is centered on leading New Product Development teams and defining product strategy to deliver commercially successful launches aligned with consumer trends.
Food Safety & Quality
As a Technical Director, she embedded a strong food safety culture, achieving top-grade BRCGS certification for consecutive years. She is self-described as "obsessed with quality".
Team Development
She is dedicated to developing and inspiring teams, having grown her technical team from 3 to 12 people and frequently celebrating her team's successes.

Media Appearances

Ellie has no verified media appearances

Work History

4-2023 - 9-2025
Product Director at itsu [grocery]
4-2022 - 4-2023
Technical Director at itsu [grocery]
6-2020 - 4-2022
Head of Technical at itsu [grocery]
3-2019 - 6-2020
Senior Technical Manager - Food and Sustainability at Harrods
10-2016 - 3-2019
Food Technical and Quality Manager at Harrods

Education

2007 - 2010
Bachelor of Science (BSc) from The University of Sheffield
2000 - 2007
Education details unavailable from The King's School Peterborough

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 14 Location : Peterborough, England, United Kingdom Job Level : N/A Designation : Product Director at itsu [grocery]
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Insights For Selling To Ellie

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Make sure that you you respond to any queries from them quickly
  • Be crisp while making the pitch
  • Make sure that they have the necessary authority, they could present false stature sometimes

DONT's

  • Do not give up if they are not convinced, try again with a different approach
  • Avoid repeating yourself or making generalizations
  • Refrain from asking too many questions

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Ellie is

  • Confidence in the product plays an important role, followed by powerful testimonials.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Ellie

  • They might hesitate a little, but they will say no if they are not convinced.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Ellie move?

  • They are neither the fastest decision makers nor the slowest.
  • Can Ellie take some risk or not?

  • Once they have analyzed the pros and cons, they can take some risks.

You And Ellie

Personality Compatibility


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