All in a day's work

Ed Rigg, Eager Drinks, on his F&B industry journey

02-Apr-2024 - Last updated on 03-Oct-2024 at 10:05 GMT

Ed Rigg founded Eager more than 15 years ago. Credit: Eager Drinks

For the April edition of All in a Day's Work, we interview Ed Rigg as he tells Food Manufacture about his role at Eager Drinks and his life beyond work.

Name

Ed Rigg

Age

Job title

Founder and managing director

Company and location

Eager Drinks, Brackley

Education

School to A-Levels

Favourite food/drink?

Great pub pies, delicious organic English garden vegetables (leeks, beetroot carrots), fresh fish, aged beef and mocktails!

What inspired you to enter F&B?

Zubrowvka Vodka, because you needed a great tasting apple juice to go with it. I used to live in a flat above a pub and after a few shifts pulling pints, I noticed that juice for cocktails was taking up valuable space, which could be used for bottled beer and wine. The solution was Eager, a fruit juice that doesn’t need to be refrigerated when stored.

Tell us about your role

I focus heavily on the strategy of the business and I keep a very close eye on the production and finance side too. Over the 16 years of building Eager, I’ve built a lean team and I’m really proud of the people that have grown with the business and made us the business we are today.

What does a typical day look like?

I wake up at 6.45am, take my daughters to school and get to my office for 8.45. I will take time in the morning to read both the news and any books I have going. I will mostly do meetings in the late morning and afternoon. I’m normally in London or at one of our locations at least once a week. I pick my children up from school at around 5pm and we all try and have supper together. I often do a bit more work in the evening before watching an episode of a current TV show and then it’s bed by 10pm.

How did you get to where you are today

Patience and luck - they're two things you don't always have control over, but have been very important in my life.

When you’re having a bad day, what cheers you up?

Spending time with family, if I've had a bad day then chatting to my daughters on the way home from school means all my problems seem to fade into the background.

What’s your favourite part about the food sector?

The people. I used to work in the advertising and film industry and everyone is very cool, which I’m not. When I first started meeting people in the food and drink industry, I noticed how down to earth everyone was, which was refreshing.

If you could change one thing about the F&B sector what would it be?

Be more transparent. It's true for most of the industry but particularly in the juice world, there's a real need for honesty. Consumers want to know what they're buying to eat and drink, and it's our role as companies and brands to tell them, rather than hide the truth or cover it in glitter.