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2014 Women in Industry Award Winners: Business Development Manager of the Year – Jacky Magid

Spearheading a campaign which saw Melbourne-based food manufacturer Charlie’s Cookies go from a small local cookie supplier to a national business turning over almost $5 million per annum has seen Jacky Magid walk away with the 2014 Women in Industry’s BDM of the Year award.

A driving force behind the development of an entirely new product range – the Mini Melting Moments – Magid had a role to play at every step of the way from packaging, marketing, sales and distribution.

The company explained that in most cases, biscuit manufacturers adjust the traditional melting recipe by using shortbread to overcome the fragility of the product.

However Magid insisted on staying true to the texture and recipe, developing packaging to support it, creating what Charlie’s Cookies calls a “commercially viable, shelf stable biscuit that has all the charm of an Aussie favourite but all the colours and flavours of a trend-setting Macaron”.

After the product was developed, Magid was tasked with selling it into a traditionally difficult sector to crack: the gourmet food market.

Attracting top distributors including Foodies, Food Nation, and Total Gourmet saw the biscuits enter key retail stores like Thomas Dux Grocers, Harris Farm Markets, and Ritchies Speciality Stores.

In addition, Magid further developed the reach of the product by forming business partnerships with Crown Casino and the Sydney Convention Centre.

Showing that her skills are wide-reaching, Magid was also in charge of creating the social media campaign as part of the new product launch.

The hashtag #charliesminimoments was based on the philosophy that people should enjoy every moment of life and enabled consumers to engage with the brand and share their stories online.

The initiative caught the attention of the Melbourne Racing Club which partnered with Charlie’s Cookies at the Blue Diamond Stakes where racing fashionistas and designers uploaded their photos from the day using the hashtag.

Warehouse Manager at Charlie’s Cookies, Ian Savage, said Magid wears a number of hats at the company and thrives in every one of them.

“Her work ethic is amazing,” Savage said.

“She never takes ‘no’ for an answer and is able to work through problems or obstacles rationally and professionally.”

The judges said Magid had demonstrated innovation from a product development, business development, and marketing perspective.

“Her aggressive marketing approach coupled with her personal lifestyle balance has clearly inspired her staff and this in turn generates its own source of business development.”

On the night, Magid said it felt “absolutely amazing” to win the award and was surprised the judges gave her the nod as the quality of the other finalists was so high.

Magid said being a woman in manufacturing had a stigma attached to it, but said it was great that positive stories were being celebrated by the awards program.

Being passionate about what you do and surrounding yourself with positive people was advice Magid wanted to impart on young women. 

 “I love what I do and worked tirelessly to put together a team I love working with and they keep me inspired,” she said.

Magid said a healthy work/life balance was an important key to success.e all have to stop and smell the roses and enjoy life as much as work.”

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