TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Artur, your career at Foodcom is a ready-made success story. Tell us how it all began. Did you have any experience in commodity trading before you came here?
- You joined the company almost five years ago, at a rather special moment, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. How did you end up here?
- Like everyone else at Foodcom, you started in a junior position. The company looked completely different back then, didn't it?
- So you were given a completely new, undeveloped area. What were the beginnings like? After all, you had no knowledge of these products.
- That was your first success. You also mentioned that the market helped a lot at the time. How did the global situation affect this new business?
- It was a real baptism of fire. What was the biggest challenge for you in finding your feet in such a dynamic commodity trading environment?
- Your adaptation was lightning fast. It took you only eight months to be promoted to Senior Commodity Trader. How is that possible?
- You recently reached another milestone – you became a Partner at Foodcom. Congratulations! What was the path to this goal like?
- From what you say, being a Partner is not the end of your development. Do you already have new goals and roles?
- From the perspective of a mentor and leader, what qualities, apart from the obvious motivation, are key to success in this profession?
- Finally, what one piece of advice would you give to someone who wants to start their adventure in international trade and achieve what you have?
Dynamic, unpredictable and demanding – this is the world of international commodity trading. It is an environment in which some see risk, while others see opportunity. Artur undoubtedly belongs to the latter group, having made an impressive journey from Junior Commodity Trader to Partner at Foodcom S.A. in less than five years. He talks about his beginnings, key moments in his career and what it takes to succeed in this industry.
01
Artur, your career at Foodcom is a ready-made success story. Tell us how it all began. Did you have any experience in commodity trading before you came here?
I did have experience in trading, and quite a lot of it, because it’s been about 12 years of my nearly 25-year professional career. But I had never traded in raw materials before. I started very early, because my first job, when I was 19-20 years old, was selling carpets and panels in a wholesale store. Later, I worked in various industries, including import and export, but my adventure with raw materials only really began here at Foodcom.
02
You joined the company almost five years ago, at a rather special moment, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. How did you end up here?
I found an advertisement on the internet. It was a difficult time because companies were suspending recruitment due to COVID and it was hard to even get an interview invitation. Foodcom was one of the few companies that was actively looking for employees. I was successful, I was invited for an interview, and after two meetings I received an offer.
03
Like everyone else at Foodcom, you started in a junior position. The company looked completely different back then, didn't it?
Definitely. It was a small but dynamically growing company that focused mainly on the dairy sector at the time. When I joined, two people were just starting to build the plant-based products department. My bosses suggested that I look into feed amino acids, because they had heard that this could be a niche with great potential for growth.
04
So you were given a completely new, undeveloped area. What were the beginnings like? After all, you had no knowledge of these products.
Exactly. I had no idea what feed amino acids were, and no one else in the company knew much about them either. A few people had simply heard that it was a good niche market to develop. I got really into it. I started reading intensively, gathering information, memorising all those difficult names: lysine, threonine, methionine, tryptophan. The first two weeks were tough, I couldn’t remember them! But after about a month and a half, I managed to close my first deal on my own – I sold a whole lorry of lysine from a Polish importer to a customer in Greece.
05
That was your first success. You also mentioned that the market helped a lot at the time. How did the global situation affect this new business?
The market helped in an incredible way. Due to the pandemic and other factors, supply chains from China were suddenly disrupted. Factories were periodically closed, sea freight prices rose dramatically, and ports experienced huge delays. This caused huge shortages of amino acids on the European market and, as a result, an avalanche of price increases. When I started, the purchase price of lysine was around €1.5 per kilogram. Within six months, it had risen to €6. That was a 400% increase! This market chaos created a huge opportunity, and we took advantage of it.
06
It was a real baptism of fire. What was the biggest challenge for you in finding your feet in such a dynamic commodity trading environment?
Adapting to a completely different form of trading. In previous industries, everything was more predictable. Here, the market is extremely flexible and volatile. The biggest challenge was adapting to this enormous freedom of action and the pace of change. Price fluctuations and market conditions are extremely intense here. I had to get used to it, but I quickly grew to like it. It’s something that gives you a lot of adrenaline and satisfaction. There’s definitely no boredom here.
07
Your adaptation was lightning fast. It took you only eight months to be promoted to Senior Commodity Trader. How is that possible?
It was the result of the fact that in a very short time, practically within six months, Łukasz Klażyński and I managed to create an entire feed additives department from scratch. It turned out that we had found a huge niche in the European market. I quickly built up a network of suppliers and customers, and other traders from the company, seeing the potential in this, began to join in. The business grew at an exponential rate.
08
You recently reached another milestone – you became a Partner at Foodcom. Congratulations! What was the path to this goal like?
It was a natural path of development for me. At Foodcom, if you are successful and move up from junior to senior, the next and highest stage is partnership, i.e. becoming a co-owner of the company. Of course, there are specific requirements. You have to maintain very high sales results for a sufficiently long period of time. In the first half of this year, I managed to win the title of ‘Orka of the Week’ for most weeks, which certainly helped. But that’s not all. Active work in other areas is also rewarded: helping new people, supporting other departments or getting involved in strategic projects that are key for the company.
09
From what you say, being a Partner is not the end of your development. Do you already have new goals and roles?
Definitely. I’m still actively trading, but at the same time I’m involved in other projects. One of them is taking on a new, responsible role related to the development of logistics within the company’s structures. This is a great opportunity for me to combine my trading experience with my education – I’m a logistics engineer and in the past I managed a transport company.
10
From the perspective of a mentor and leader, what qualities, apart from the obvious motivation, are key to success in this profession?
I think that open-mindedness and flexibility in the broadest sense are key. In this business, something can go wrong every day – problems with the quality of goods, transport, or storage. You have to be ready for that, not be afraid of problems and be able to solve them. To put it bluntly, you need to be highly resilient and decisive under pressure. We deal with goods worth a lot of money – you can earn a lot, but you can also lose a lot. You can’t break down at the first failure.
11
Finally, what one piece of advice would you give to someone who wants to start their adventure in international trade and achieve what you have?
I would say that it is absolutely crucial to take care of yourself and maintain a balance between work and private life. This job requires a lot of energy and focus, so without a healthy outlet, it is difficult to maintain peak performance in the long run. I have always been active and cannot imagine life without sport – kitesurfing, skiing, martial arts or cycling. It allows me to reset my mind and return to work with new energy. Without it, it is very easy to burn out.
