Government ups support for food industry skills strategy

12-Nov-2014 - Last updated on 12-Nov-2014 at 13:28 GMT

Fosh: 'strong employer collaboration'

Related tags Food science Food and drink Apprenticeship

The government has increased support for a skills strategy proposed by the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink (NSAFD) that will initially see food science become a priority area for apprenticeships.

Part of the government’s Employer Ownership of Skills pilot scheme, the Industrial Partnerships project gave all industries the chance to secure a slice of a £150M funding pot to improve skills training.

The NSAFD, together with trade groups and big food and drink manufacturers, pitched for some of that money two years ago.

The government is now allowing the organisation to develop some initial skills programmes and, if its progress is favourable, has agreed to release further funds later, NSAFD ceo Justine Fosh told FoodManufacture.co.uk.

‘We are strong’

“The idea is we work on the skills agenda, demonstrating as a sector that we are strong and can work well together and that will lead to the opportunity for opening up wider partnerships in future,” she said.

One immediate focus for development within the wider strategy is food science apprenticeships and the government has confirmed that will be one of seven areas benefiting from new Trailblazer Apprenticeship standards.

The new Food Science Trailblazer follows the development of the Apprenticeship in Food & Drink Engineering Maintenance by food businesses under the leadership of Arla Foods’ head of engineering, SØren Vonsild.

“We are delighted the government has approved this critical development for the industry,” said Fosh. “One-by-one, the major areas of skills shortage across our sector are being addressed through strong employer collaboration. We have started with engineering and now have the go-ahead to develop brand new routes for apprentices to study food science at all levels of the industry.”

Targeting skills gaps

In addition to addressing food science skills shortages in roles such as quality assurance and product development, the industry is targeting skills gaps in areas including production and operations and sectors such as bakery.

A steering group, to be chaired by 2 Sisters Food Group learning and development manager Janette Graham, will act as a central hub overseeing the collaborative development of all the new Trailblazer Apprenticeships.

Divide the food industry into component sectors such as chilled food or beverages, and split it again by the parts of the UK.

A range of businesses have already volunteered involvement in setting the new standards for the latest batch of Trailblazers.

However the NASFD, which is supporting the new steering group, said the door was always open to more businesses to ensure that future apprenticeships fully reflected the breadth of industry interest.