Food Industry Looking for Young Recruits

from Retail Wire - Bernice Hurst, Contributing Editor, RetailWire, March 25th, 2011

A joint initiative in the U.K. by its Food & Drink Federation (FDF), Institute for Grocery Distribution (IGD), National Farmers' Union (NFU) and National Skills Academy (NSA) plans to "focus on improving the sector's image and identifying gaps in training," according to The Grocer magazine. A new campaign from the FDF, Taste Success, "aims to show potential entrants that the U.K. food and drink manufacturing sector is a 'career of first choice.'"

FDF's booklet Busting the Myths provides case studies addressing such misunderstandings as the sector being out of date and old fashioned without any career opportunities, full of people without qualifications working for "big companies churning out processed foods" and paying "peanuts."

Describing careers as "stimulating, innovative and fast-moving," the FDF states: "Consumers are more concerned than ever about healthy eating, therefore the industry needs to attract the right people into the sector, now and in the future, who have the appropriate skills and attitude to cope with the growing demands of the public, both at home and globally, to produce food that is safe and of good quality."

On a more encouraging note, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) just announced that the number of students graduating with food science degrees had almost doubled in the U.S. since 2004. According to Foodnavigator-usa.com, the group attributed the gains to "an increased interest in food in general ... boosted by the rise of celebrity chefs, diet-related health issues and greater awareness of contemporary food movements, such as organic, local and sustainable food systems."

Still, a recent survey of 10,306 young professionals -- defined as college graduates with one to eight years of work experience -- from the consulting firm Universum found that Google was the most desired company to work for, followed by Apple, Walt Disney, the U.S. Department of State and Amazon. Only a few food and beverage companies made the top 150 list of ideal employers: The Coca-Cola Company, 21; Anheuser-Busch, 44; PepsiCo, 48; Nestlé USA, 69; Kraft Foods, 76; and Campbell Soup Co., 132.