20 Years of Dedication: Celebrating Lily Xu's Journey with Chaucer
November 2024
Lily Xu, Group Purchasing Director, recently celebrated 20 years with Chaucer Foods.
LIly Xu recently celebrated an incredible milestone – 20 years with Chaucer Foods. Over the past two decades, Lily has played a pivotal role in Chaucer’s growth and success, contributing her expertise, dedication, and passion to every challenge faced. We recently sat down with Lily to discuss her time at Chaucer thus far and her hopes for the future.
Q: You’ve been at Chaucer Foods for 20 years, congratulations! What does this anniversary mean to you?
A: It means a lot, this is the best recognition of my work and loyalty to the company. The best part of my 20 years time has served to my beloved company Chaucer. I have been the witness of the fast growth and a lot of historic moments of Chaucer. I have also been growing with the company and developing myself all the way as well, it is a great honor and award to me.
Q: What has been your favorite memory during your time at Chaucer?
A: There have been many memorable moments during my time here. Some of my favorites include the happy times working with colleagues across all our global sites, the Spring Festival party, and the annual team-building events in APAC. These experiences gave us the opportunity to connect closely with each other, get to know one another better, and understand the challenges we face so we can improve together. I still vividly remember the 20th anniversary celebration of Chaucer APAC, when Hiro, Yoshio from the head office, and Renee joined us. We enjoyed a huge cake and had a fun karaoke competition with all our colleagues. It was truly a joyful and unforgettable experience, not just for me, but for everyone involved.
Q: What was your job role when you started? Can you tell us how your job has changed over the years?
A: When I joined Chaucer on January 1, 2005, my role was Purchasing and Logistics Manager, with the major responsibility of starting domestic purchasing in China—shifting away from just importing frozen materials for toll drying. With the help of my team, we successfully built the operation from the ground up. Within that first year, we achieved our goal, and five years later, we had developed 40 fully traceable farms of US-compliant strawberries with Chaucer’s own variety. We also exported 8,000 tons of frozen materials to the US and other global markets. This accomplishment remains one of the proudest milestones in my career.
After that, I received further training and was promoted to Assistant to the GM of China and then to Director of Supply Chain and Operations for APAC, which allowed me to oversee and manage functions across various units of the company. In 2019, I decided to take on a new challenge in sales—something I had experience with in my previous two companies. I became the APAC Sales Director for two years, where I worked closely with the team to successfully launch a new LTO project. As a result, sales grew from $10K in 2019 to $2 million by early 2021.
In 2021, I transitioned back to the purchasing team and was promoted to Group Purchasing Director, overseeing the entire sourcing team across Chaucer’s three sites, where I continue to work today.
Q: What project are you most proud of and why?
A: I am incredibly proud of many projects in my time at Chaucer, but one that stands out in my memory is the exploration of frozen lime supply for one of our customers in 2011, when I was the Purchasing Director for APAC. At that time, there was zero business in Vietnam, and we had no sourcing resources available. During my visit to Vietnam, we identified a potential factory through an online search, but when I arrived, I found it in poor condition, with the factory site littered with rubbish. It was such a difficult situation that I had to escape the factory and flee on a bicycle at 5:00 a.m. to reach another factory. The workers from the first factory even tried to stop me from leaving the hotel.
After that challenging experience, I found a much better factory to start business with, beginning with just 10 metric tons. The following year, we successfully scaled up to 500 metric tons, working with six suppliers in Vietnam. It was a tough period, particularly in terms of developing the right quality, but we were able to witness the growth of Vietnam’s food industry over the past decade. We played a significant role in helping them improve their quality and management standards to meet global levels.
Our efforts also supported a major client in developing a new category of beverages, which has since become a global favorite for over ten years. This project is a testament to the resilience and dedication of our team and the long-term impact we’ve had on the industry.
Q: If you could share some advice for someone starting their first day at Chaucer, what would it be? Why?
A: Stay hungry, stay humble and love what you are doing. Continue to do what you are good at, work on improving yourself and opportunities will find you.
Q: What or who has made the biggest impact on your professional development at Chaucer?
A: I will always be grateful to each of my line managers for helping me grow over the past 20 years. Kevin Lovett, the former Executive Director of China, provided invaluable advice and guidance for my career development. I deeply appreciated his expertise in the FD industry and the mentorship he offered. I also want to thank Nigel Nelson, our former COO, for trusting me and supporting my transition into Sales, giving me the chance to take on new challenges. Nigel was also a strong advocate for my return to the Supply Chain team.
Additionally, I am incredibly thankful for our current CEO, Hiro Shimizi, whose leadership has been exceptional. He is always efficient and supportive, open to hearing our opinions, and has provided me with strategic guidance, particularly on cost-reduction projects.
Q: When you think of Chaucer Foods, what comes to mind and why?
A: We are a high-standard food company with deep expertise in supply chain management, ensuring full traceability from farm to table. Our core values are centered around this commitment, and we are dedicated to achieving it. With a strong focus on FD fruits, we strive to be the best in the world in supplier management and food safety control. Of course, we must continue working on maintaining our premium quality while also finding ways to reduce costs and remain competitive. Additionally, improving our efficiency as a group is an area we aim to focus on moving forward.
Q: What are you most excited about when it comes to your future at Chaucer?
A: Internally, we’ve welcomed many talented new people to Chaucer, and the new management team has helped us evolve into a truly international company. The cultural diversity within our team brings fresh ideas and concepts, broadening our horizons and adding significant value to the company.
At the same time, the freeze-drying category continues to grow rapidly worldwide and holds a promising future. As the saying goes, “everything can be freeze-dried,” so let’s embrace new ideas and leverage all of our experiences and knowledge to drive Chaucer forward.
Over the past 20 years, Lily has proven to be a constant source of passion and inspiration. With her creativity and expertise, she truly embodies the spirit of the Chaucer Foods family.
Are you like Lily and want a career with hands-on experience, the ability to own your projects, and where you can make a difference, while being part of a supportive, fun culture? Check out our careers page to learn more about current and future opportunities at Chaucer Foods.
Looking to innovate a healthy, convenient food or beverage product that consumers will love? Contact us to connect with our team.
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