Rachel Rutherford is a Senior Buyer at Waitrose, where she leads several specialist food categories, including Deli Counter, Rotisserie and Made in Branch. With over a decade of experience spanning buying, category management and supply chain roles, she has built expertise across fresh produce, deli and food-to-go categories, delivering growth through innovation, supplier partnerships and customer-focused commercial strategies.

Before joining Waitrose, Rachel held a number of buying roles at Co-op, managing categories and leading projects that delivered significant margin improvement, cost savings and operational efficiencies. She is passionate about using data and customer insight to shape category strategies while balancing commercial performance with long-term sustainability goals.

Outside of work, Rachel is an accomplished endurance athlete, having won her age group at Ironman Lanzarote and represented Great Britain at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. Her drive for continuous improvement, both professionally and personally, underpins her approach to leadership and the evolving challenges facing the grocery industry.