38. Prioritizing Procurement w/ Sigrid Brendel, Founder & Strategic Advisor at Brendel Interim

In this episode of “The Way We Source,” we’re joined by Sigrid Brendel, an experienced Procurement leader within the FMCG industry and the Founder & Strategic Adviser at Brendel Interim. In her impressive career, she has served as a Procurement Director at companies like Kraft and Modelez, as well as the CPO at Campari Group.
Sigrid joined Sam for an enlightening discussion about her journey in Procurement, how to build a strong organization, elevating Procurement as a priority within a business, how to best collaborate with internal stakeholders, the importance of Supplier Relationship Management, and more!

(00:40) - Introducing Sigrid

(01:25) - What made Sigrid start her journey in Procurement?

(02:13) - What does Procurement & Sourcing mean to Sigrid?

(03:03) - What drove Sigrid to start her journey as an entrepreneur?

(06:02) - How can adaptability help a Procurement team and what is the importance of that?

(07:44) - How does Sigrid look at the evolution of her career in Procurement? 

(12:56) - How does a Procurement leader most efficiently keep close to the pulse of their actual buying and practice? 

(15:48) - Sigrid discusses her experience coming in as a Procurement leader at Campari and how she built her organization and strategy

(19:24) - Sigrid discusses the importance of Supplier Relationship Management for successful Category Management

(20:04) - What does Sigrid believe that strategic SRM entails? 

(22:22) - What were Sigrid’s biggest learning about building a center of excellence and sharpening it?

(28:38) - What are Sigrid’s tips for Procurement teams that aren’t prioritized in their organization and how to make Procurement more of a priority? 

(31:13) - What story should Procurement tell within their organizations?

(34:57) - Which Procurement tactics does Sigrid think are of the past and which are here to stay?

(38:23) - Sigrid answers our Kodiak Moment quick fire round of questions