· By Rachel Munro
Ayrshire Growth Deal Speech
Thanks so much for having me here today. I’m Rachel — founder of The Rebel Baker, owner of a manufacturing bakery in Ayrshire, and a firm believer that the food and drink industry in Scotland is one of the most exciting, creative and wide open career spaces we have.
But let me be upfront: I have zero qualifications. Not a single certificate in catering, business, marketing, nothing. In fact, my guidance teacher told me straight-up: “you’ll amount to nothing.” I think she meant it to sting. And at the time, it did.
But here’s the thing, I didn’t need permission from a piece of paper to build my future. I just needed vision, hustle, and the belief that food could be more than just what we eat: it could be art, science, rebellion, connection, therapy, and culture.
When we think about jobs in food and drink, the first thing most people picture is a chef in a hot kitchen or a barista behind a coffee counter. But it is so much bigger than that — especially now.
This is a £15 billion industry in Scotland alone, and behind every coffee cup, cocktail, chocolate bar and cookie is a whole ecosystem of roles:
• Product designers who invent and perfect the food of the future.
• Creative directors who shape how brands look, feel, and make people feel.
• Food technologists who balance flavour, function and shelf life.
• Packaging designers who make you pick one brand off a shelf over another.
• Social media managers, photographers, content creators, because food isn’t just eaten now, it’s shared before the first bite.
• Sales and distribution pros who get the right product to the right customer at the right time.
• And the entrepreneurs — the rule-breakers and vision-makers — who bring new ideas to market and build businesses from nothing but a recipe and a dream.
My own journey in food and drink started with a tiny coffeeshop called Thyme. I didn’t have a big business plan or a bank of investors. I had an idea and a hunger to create something different.
Before that, I ran a few small businesses, some worked, some didn’t. But all of them taught me something. Eventually, I launched The Rebel Baker a brand that’s all about bold, allergen-free bakes that are safe & inclusive.
Today, I run a manufacturing bakery capable of producing over 10,000 cookies a day, supplying food service clients across the UK. We collaborate with cutting-edge brands, develop recipes with alternative ingredients, and craft products that don’t exist yet — because we make them up!
And I still don’t have a qualification. Just a track record of learning by doing — and a serious amount of grit.
Now, here’s where you - the educators - come in.
You’re not just teaching subjects. You’re shaping identities. You’re the voice in the back of their heads when they’re doubting themselves. You’re the difference between “I can’t” and “why not me?”
What you say or don’t say matters.
Because not every student is going to thrive in a traditional academic route. Some of them are square pegs in round holes. They’re loud, distracted, too quick, too slow, too opinionated, too sensitive, too much, and I know that, because I was one of them.
But here’s the truth: those are often the kids with the biggest potential to shake things up. They just need someone to show them what’s possible.
They need to know that they can build careers that don’t come with a script. That there are industries, like food and drink — that are desperate for people who think differently, work with their hands, and solve problems creatively.
That kid who’s great at TikTok could be your future food content creator.
That quiet one who sketches logos in the margins of their jotter could be designing packaging that sits on supermarket shelves.
That one who’s obsessed with flavours and textures and smells might be the next product developer launching the UK’s next big food brand.
Scotland’s food and drink industry isn’t just looking for high achievers , it’s looking for real people with passion, ideas, and determination.
We need the underdogs. The quiet grafters. The rebels. The dreamers. And we need you to help them realise their potential, not by steering them into the safe options, but by showing them how far they could go when they play to their strengths.
Let’s move away from asking “what are your grades?” and start asking “what lights you up?”
Because I guarantee you, there’s someone in your class who could change the game, they just don’t know it yet.
So I’m here to say: food and drink is not a fallback. It’s not a plan B.
It’s an industry of infinite opportunity if we show young people the full menu of options.
I’m just one example. But I promise you: there are hundreds of others building brands, shaping food futures, and putting Scotland on the map with nothing but an idea and the guts to follow it.