Meet Buitelaar's Commercial Graduate Jade Toone

After a few busy, but fantastic weeks, including our various Open Days at our Development Farm and exhibiting at Dairy Day (all proving to be incredibly successful and valuable for us!), it’s important to take five minutes and reflect on what a great team we have at Buitelaar.

Having launched our graduate scheme this year, we are pleased to welcome another one of our Commercial Business Graduates, Jade Toone. Jade has graduated with a BSc in Agriculture and is currently based in our Harrogate office in the Pet Food division – read her experience so far below.

“After completing my degree, I was thrilled to accept a position at Buitelaar Group as a Commercial Business Graduate. My experience within the company has been amazing so far, everyone has been so attentive and really helped me settle into my new role.

During my first week of induction, I spent time working in the pet food division, where I’m currently based for my first placement on the scheme. Working here has provided me with a great insight into the pet food sector and to work with the team at Buitelaar Foods.

My second week of induction was based in both Wrexham and Somerset, where I got to experience two of Buitelaar’s Collection Centres. Helping with the collections was so exciting and fun; it was great to get hands on! My business induction has really provided me with an invaluable opportunity to get to know everyone in the business and settle in quickly.

Since I joined the team over in the Harrogate pet food office, I have been involved in all aspects of the business, including assisting with key accounts, monitoring KPI’s, marketing and planning production for RaaW - and not forgetting the business development of Buitelaar pet treats, as part of my project throughout the scheme.

The team have been great to work with, I have had countless opportunities to shadow each member of the Buitelaar Foods team and really get to grips and understand everyone’s role within the business. This has included sales, purchasing, key accounts and business development – I have learnt so much already.

Now that the covid restrictions have begun to ease, I have also been fortunate enough to participate in numerous site visits, including to a Scottish abattoir and cold store, a local production plant where RaaW is processed, as well as the warehouse where Buitelaar’s treats are distributed from. I have also travelled to the Netherlands office, where I got to meet the team over in Holland and visit the processing plant. It has been incredibly valuable to meet the Netherlands team face to face, rather than just through teams – there’s nothing like putting faces to names!

I’ve been made to feel so welcome in such a short space of time and my first few weeks within the company have been extremely exciting. It really is a dynamic work environment; you can really see that everyone is so passionate about their jobs. I feel I have learnt so much already and I can’t wait to see what my future holds within the team!”

At Buitelaar we’re fully supportive of all students and graduates, which is why we offer a variety of different work experience, placements, and graduate schemes throughout all areas of the business.

Did you know that applications are now open for the Graduate Scheme for 2022/23? Head over to our careers page to view our current opportunities.