Small talk, big problem

A question that fills me with both apprehension and amusement at any social occasion: “Where is it you work?” My response: “A potato supplier”, inevitably leads to an uncomfortable silence that I try to fill with “It’s the UK’s leading supplier”. My ill-fated conversation partner, in an attempt to fulfil their social duty of tolerating small talk, reluctantly responds: “Oh right. What do you actually do there?” Now this next bit really is the icing on the cake: “I’m project managing a software upgrade.” At this point my new acquaintance really wishes they’d attempted polite conversation with another stranger where it would not have come to such an abrupt end. I can sense the cogs whirring, their thought process following the lines of “a potato supplier, what on earth is that? Isn’t that what farmers do? And IT? I daren’t ask anything about that or I’ll probably be bored senseless with a monologue about codes or networks. No, I’ll just bask in the awkwardness of silence for a while and then move on.” Before you can say “wonky carrot”, my potential new contact has shuffled off to the bar.

Almost without exception this happens to me at least once at any gathering outside of the food and fresh produce network. I should add that these are generally, although not always, reasonably worldly and intelligent people, yet an industry that they rely on and have some form of contact with every day is almost completely alien to them. This is just one symptom of the food industry´s lack of marketing clout.

Arguably more serious, however, is the looming skills gap to which this deficiency has contributed. With 170,000 jobs in the food and drink manufacturing sector to fill by 2020 and 242,000 in the environmental and land based sector (including agriculture), the industry needs to look beyond the confines of its traditional sources of labour and managers.

Currently many new recruits come from agricultural backgrounds, but the trend for farms to consolidate into fewer larger units, and therefore the declining number of farming families, together with increased mechanisation mean that less and less young people have any direct experience of food production and supply. Consequently, the industry must follow the lead of other industries and make a concerted effort to reach potential candidates.

It is therefore concerning that when browsing on careers and jobs websites, identifying the food and fresh produce industry, even when specifically looking for it, is no mean feat. Often it appears under other umbrella sections: agriculture, environment or manufacturing. There are undeniably crossovers with these industries, but other equally broad areas, such as “public sector” or “travel and tourism” have their own entries. Surely then the food and drink industry should have the same, in order to differentiate itself and market its own unique identity and wealth of opportunities.

The recruitment market is now a competitive one for employers as well as for job seekers; there is much more information available in terms of careers advice and training options. In order for the food sector to compete alongside other industries for fresh talent, it must at the very least be visible in the places where new graduates and other job seekers are looking.

More than that, it needs to be proud of its achievements and of its varied and innovative nature. When you do happen upon information on working in the food industry, all too often a big emphasis is placed on the challenges it faces; long, unsociable hours, poor pay and, rather disconcertingly yet ironically, the skills gap. Is this really how we should be marketing the industry? One survey by Bright Crop indicated that 96% of young people wouldn´t consider a career in agriculture because of a perception that jobs were low paid, boring and old-fashioned. Food for thought.

Two years ago I was introduced to the industry after stumbling across MDS totally by accident and was thrilled to have found a potential professional outlet for two of my passions: languages and food. The first months were a blur of new experiences and practically vertical learning curves, but I couldn’t believe my luck at having discovered such an exciting new world.

This feeling was somewhat dampened by some sobering conversations with seasoned colleagues: “Your parents aren’t farmers, you studied languages, what on earth brought you to fresh produce?” or: “Why are you slogging away here when you could be living the high-life?” These remarks were troubling and on occasion made me feel less than welcome. Perhaps the novelty would wear off? Do I really fit in here? My resolution wavered.

If I was less stubborn I might have given up. Except that the fun didn’t fade. In what other industry can you be knee deep in a muddy field, analysing microbiological results, negotiating with supermarkets, thinking “lean”, delving into numbers, dealing with people all over the world and sampling produce as fresh as it gets all in one day? Likewise, the array of possible roles is as wide as, if not wider than, many other sectors; from accountancy to sales via engineering, all of these skills are needed and are transferrable both to and from other industries.

This highlights what is effectively a self-image problem suffered by the industry, which perhaps goes some way to explaining its difficulties in marketing itself externally. While there is a need to address and be transparent about the challenges, many of these are shared with other industries, especially in this period of tough economic times. It therefore has every right to boast about its strengths: innovation, variety, international opportunities and its fast pace. If it doesn’t make any noise about this it will continue to be drowned out by other industries competing in the labour market for talented individuals.

Businesses are beginning to take the potential skills gap seriously and there are many examples of local initiatives to introduce young people to the industry. However, the approach needs to be a coordinated effort at a national level to put the food industry on the map as a desirable career option. The “Taste Success” campaign and the FDF’s apprenticeship pledge are good examples of this but they need to be backed up by an image overhaul, both internally and externally. Once the industry begins to appreciate and value the full extent of what it has to offer, it can then start to approach, schmooze and maybe even charm potential recruits. It’s all about confidence. Only then will the food industry be able to attract and retain those with the skills needed to sustain its success in the long term.

Rather selfishly I have my fingers crossed that this happens sooner rather than later, for the sake of my own party small talk endeavours at least.

Part 2

Skills Gap in the Food Industry

The FDF reports that 40 per cent of current employees in the food and drink manufacturing sector in England and Scotland will need to be replaced by 2020, equating to approximately 170,000 new recruits. A study by LANTRA estimates that 242,000 jobs in the environmental and land based sector need to be filled between 2010 and 2020, of which 55,000 will have some degree of management responsibility (agricultural workers grades 5 and 6). The shortage of labour is believed to be due to the fact that the industry is growing, but its workforce is ageing and there are not enough young people with the right skills entering the sector.

IGD cites the skills gap in the food industry as a potential hindrance to securing future food supplies, highlighting the importance of tackling the issue. It identifies several factors contributing to the difficulty in filling the skills gap, including competition from other industries and misconceptions about the industry. According to IGD, amongst the potential consequences of this skills crisis are inflated costs, unsatisfactory sustainability, decreased competitiveness, and ultimately reduced production.

Careers websites - visibility

Research on some of the UK´s careers and recruitment websites highlighted the poor visibility of the food industry to those seeking careers advice or jobs.

Information on the food industry tends to span several categories when looking for careers advice. For example, job sector information on Prospects, the UK’s biggest graduate careers website, only has “environment and agriculture” and “engineering and manufacturing”. Milkround covers the food industry in the “Consumer products” section and TARGETjobs also uses a similar categorisation, but neither of these two has any information on agriculture.

Job searches on Reed.co.uk reveal jobs in the food industry both under 'Manufacturing' and 'FMCG' while on Monster both 'Agriculture' and 'Manufacturing' will do this.

This variety of categories, whilst it reflects the diversity of opportunities in the industry, does not provide any consistency or clarity to those potentially interested in working in the food industry. The information and jobs are available, but they are not always easy to find. For a student making choices about GCSEs or career options, the industry´s existence, let alone its importance and need for certain skills, are not immediately obvious and means that it could be overlooked.

Industry Image

During the 'Plugging the Skills Gap' debate at Foodex in March 2014, Justine Fosh pointed out the off-putting misconception that people have of the food industry: long hours and poor pay. An example of this is the Prospects section on working in the environment and agriculture sector which states that graduates can expect varied salaries and long, irregular hours. The only positives on this page are the opportunities to work outdoors and potential for self-employment. If a young person was researching career options and knew nothing about the industry, the negatives here could easily outweigh the positives.
Furthermore, a survey of young people by Bright Crop in which 96 per cent of respondents said they wouldn’t consider a career in agriculture because it was viewed as “low paid, boring, dirty, repetitive and old fashioned”.

Attempts to address the skills gap

There are several examples of business making an effort to resolve the industry’s skills challenges. For example, Open Farm Sunday is one way that business can engage directly with communities and enthuse them about the industry. However, according to Jon Poole at the Foodex debate, more coordinated nationwide efforts are also needed in order to make a real difference. An example of this is the Food and Drinks Federation’s pledge to double the number of apprenticeships in England and Scotland. Other campaigns to improve the industry’s image amongst young people include 'Taste Success – A Future in Food' for the food and drink manufacturing sector and 'Bright Crop' for agriculture. Both of these aim to tackle misconceptions, improve the industry’s visibility and engage young people.