The fresh produce sector and wider food and drink industry in the UK is facing a huge shortage of technologists and food scientists.

Research from food and drink sector skills council Improve shows one in four food science and technologist roles in the industry remains unfilled - a shortage of more than 2,000 qualified professionals. With fewer young people choosing to study food science, and many of those that do ultimately pursuing careers in different sectors, it is a problem that is set to worsen unless urgent action is taken, Improve has warned.

“The shortage poses a serious threat to the future of food and drink manufacturing in the UK,” said Improve ceo Jack Matthews. “Companies already report skills gaps because of a lack of adequately trained new product development staff, which is hampering the efforts of many firms to boost profitability. If this trend continues we will no doubt see a decline in the UK food and drink manufacturing industry, as it loses its competitive edge to emerging overseas economies.”

To tackle the issue Improve, the Institute of Food Science & Tehcnology and Defra are planning a summit for food and drink manufacturers. to discuss the crucial issue of the shortage of food scientists and technologists in the sector.

“It’s vital that as an industry we take a more unified approach to finding a solution to this problem,” said Matthews. “There are pockets of activity with some companies doing excellent work in finding innovative solutions to attract and retain scientists and technologists, but this proactive approach must become more widespread. It’s no good for employers to think that it isn’t their problem - it is a problem for the entire sector, and it is in the best interests of the industry to work together to find an effective solution.”

Although Improve already works with various industry bodies to look at ways to tackle the issue, such as developing food science conversion courses for science graduates and raising the profile of careers in food technology, Matthews believes more must be done.

“We want to get more employers discussing the problem and looking at realistic and achievable action they can take that will benefit them, as well as the wider industry, he said. “It’s understandable that many companies, particularly SMEs, feel they don’t have the resources to address the problem in a similar way to the larger companies - by offering work placements or student bursaries, for example. The event we have planned for September 10 will look at these issues, and try and find collaborative solutions that businesses of all sizes can undertake.”

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