Apprenticeship programmes are key to the food and drink sector’s survival in the UK, the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink (NSAFD) has said as National Apprenticeship Week kicks off.

The UK’s food and drink sector has a turnover of £96 billion and includes big name brands responsible for some of the most innovative products on the market. Despite this, the sector is facing a generational time-bomb, with more than a third of its 400,000 strong workforce due to retire by 2020, including a large number of managers, engineers and other professional roles.

NSAFD chief executive Justine Fosh believes National Apprenticeship Week is vital to promote the food and drink manufacturing sector, which remains under the radar of most young job seekers.

She says, “Sadly, there remain many misconceptions about the variety of available roles in food and drink and a lack of information about the industry’s career progression opportunities. Young people have an outdated image of the industry and don’t see it as one of the most technologically advanced sectors in the UK.

“In reality, apprenticeships offer the chance to become one of the next generation of Nestlé chocolatiers or to develop new products for Heineken or Haribo.”

The NSAFD is recording significant increases in opportunities for young people in the sector, which include sponsored degrees, generous salaries and a range of benefits. Apprenticeships exist in a broad range of disciplines, from production operations, marketing and logistics, to the newly launched Food & Drink Engineering Maintenance (FDEM) apprenticeship, as part of the Government’s ‘Trailblazer’ programme and the Food Science Technologist Trailblazer.

Fosh adds, “For us, the message is clear: we have jobs for young people. We have good jobs. We simply need the talent.

“Currently, as a sector, at best we are ignored, at worst we are not considered to be an industry of choice. This has to change. The 2020 deadline we face is a very real one, and if we don’t encourage the next generation into our industry the skills gap in food and drink could have a very real impact on the economy.”