Rick Sanderson Fifst

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT RICK SANDERSON FIFST

Rick is a purpose driven leader who is passionate about sustainable & transparent supply chains, and his 30 year career and motivation is driven by building a safe, fair and compassionate commercial environment for producers, people, animals, and the environment. Rick has been a disrupter as a Procurement, Technical, Sales and Sustainability Director for FTSE 100 companies and blue-chip FMCG manufacturers, as well as building and selling his own tech companies. Rick’s entrepreneurial spirit has seen him building teams and disruptive solutions across commercial, strategic procurement, technical, social, and ethical compliance, and latterly building SaaS technology solutions delivering transparency and responsible sourcing platforms. Rick is now proud to be Associate Director of Sales & Marketing at Campden BRI, one of the true gems in the food industry. Rick has a track record of driving positive change in the environments he works in and manages to do so in an energetic and collaborative way, taking people with him and inspiring great ideas. Rick has gathered personal achievements along the way, being the former UK Young Agri-Consultant of the Year, Shell UK Entrepreneur of the Year Runner Up, Bright Sparks Tech Business winner, Dragons Den contestant, published commentator in The Grocer and Farmers Weekly, appearing on national radio, and now a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology.Rick\'s recent career has been building disruptive technology solutions to challenges around Responsible Sourcing. Having co-founded and grown Authenticate as a VC backed SaaS platform, Rick founded STAR Index in 2018 following a lightbulb moment during a meeting with a retail Brand Director. Her view was that she had no ‘single view of risk’ across the wider horizons that are challenging a modern retailer, and this challenge was shared by many senior stakeholders up and down the supply chain. Outside of work Rick has built a strong relationship with Modern Slavery NGO Unseen UK, helping them raise awareness across the food and beverage sector, worked with national food charity Fareshare, and has worked with local homeless charities to fund raise and find shelter. Rick is a proud father of four great children, is a qualified cricket coach, a season ticket holder at Milton Keynes Dons, an amateur DJ, and is at home watching live comedy up and down the country - after all laughing burns more calories than sulking!