Ellen Murphy
“It lets you roll your sleeves up and gets you really ready for the industry.”
“Nothing really tops Irish food,” says Ellen Murphy. Having taken “the scenic route” through Italy and Spain, the Dubliner has converted her passion for Irish produce into a rewarding new food career thanks to DCU’s MSc in Innovation and Insights.
Ellen says her interest in food started at home. “We're a massive foodie family. If we're not eating food, we're talking about it.”
While she didn’t think food would be part of her professional career, the signs were there from early on. While on a gap year in the Italian city of Genoa, she recalls being a kind of Irish food ambassador, cramming her suitcase with Irish beef and butter so her Italian friends could try it. “They were just blown away with how fantastic it was.”
Ellen went on to study for an undergraduate degree in Italian and Hispanic Studies. While she was in college, Ellen worked in Avoca in Rathcoole, Co. Dublin as a food retail manager. She enjoyed the buzz but still “didn't see it as a career for myself.”
After college, she spent time working as an English teacher in Spain and planned to pursue a HDip teaching qualification. She soon realised it wasn't for her. “I stood up in front of the class one day, and I thought, ‘Oh no, I couldn't do this forever.’”
That Christmas, she got a call from Avoca asking her to work the busy festive period. Back in the food hall, Ellen realised, “I miss the madness, I miss food, Irish food and drink.”
Researching her next move, she found the MSc in Insights and Innovation at DCU, a programme offered in collaboration with the Irish food board, An Bord Bia. “I thought to myself, I was made for this degree. I was made for it, and it was made for me!”
The course is “a nice mix between the really creative side, and then how you can turn that into a commercially viable product or process.”
While it is food-focused, Ellen believes the course develops skills and expertise that are widely applicable. She points out that Innovation as a career is a growing profession. “I believe in the next 10 years, it'll be as prevalent as marketing.”
From the start, she enjoyed the practical ethos of the course, which “lets you roll your sleeves up and gets you really ready for the industry.”
As well as two days per fortnight in lectures and workshops, the course included opportunities to network at events like ‘Food Matters Live’ and go on industry site visits like Diageo in St James’ Gate.
A module on career and professional development helped develop her ‘soft skills’. “I feel much more comfortable standing in front of a room and giving a pitch.” These were skills at play in group projects, which made up a significant element of the course, concluding with a Dragons’ Den-style product pitch.
Another essential part of the MSc is a 10-month placement. In Ellen’s case, she got a role in Loughnane’s of Galway, the breakfast meat company, where she worked as Consumer Insight and Innovation Lead. “I couldn't have gone into that role without the background I got from DCU, to be honest.”
Reflecting on her key learnings from the Master’s, Ellen highlights the importance of “keeping the consumer at the centre” of every interaction.
That is something at the forefront of her new job, working for the Applegreen group as a Commercial Category Executive.
She’s enjoying the fast pace of the role, where she’s currently focused on developing and expanding the group’s home delivery food offer. As well as liaising with food delivery companies, Ellen is involved in operational troubleshooting and spends part of each week visiting Applegreen sites nationwide.
Reflecting on her experience at DCU, Ellen says she wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the MSc in Innovation and Insights. “If you have a love for food and drink and you are commercially minded, but also have a touch of creativity, I would say absolutely go for it. If you like using that creative side, and you like seeing a project through.”