Future in Food: Young people, job changers & others

[Screen: What is your name and what do you do?]

My name is Carla Mackin and I was originally a new product developer for Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group, but I've actually been recently promoted to new product development manager in the past two weeks, so that's what I'm doing now.

[Screen: What does your company produce?]

I work for a company called Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group. They are a co-op organisation, so that means that they're owned by the mussel farmers. My work mainly supply live mussels and oysters into wholesale, which is restaurants and also supermarkets. However over time we've kind of grown in some areas, and now we do cook mussels in sauce. We also do live shellfish products as well, and we do Christmas-style products that are like coquilles St-Jacques, lobster tails in butters, and cooked seafood selection.

[Screen: What is your role at the company?]

So my job involves bringing food products to the supermarkets, by developing products that are safe but also tasty and also meet criteria for the supermarkets. It takes a long time to develop a product, believe it or not. I think a lot of people have a perception. when they pick up a packet in store, to think' "oh, that's great, must be easy peasy". But I think the best part of what I do is it takes a year to develop and it's a lot of working with the supplier, doing a lot of experiments, using a lot of what I've done at university, to ensure every detail of that product is perfect for the shelf.

[Screen: What do you like about your job?]

My favorite thing about my job is working in the kitchen, and having a product to hand, and then almost eight to twelve months later seeing the exact same product in the supermarket. And I think seeing people picking up and buying it is one of the greatest achievements ever, because the amount of work that goes into this. Not just my job but the whole department. Because there's so many aspects of a product you have to collectively work with the whole team, which is what I really enjoy as well because, although I'm trained in the kind of food bioscience aspect, working with the other teams you get to learn so much about their kind of side of things.

[Screen: What qualifications would be beneficial for your role?]

The qualifications I'd probably recommend is, for instance, probably chemistry, biology. It's a very science-based degree, but also I'd also recommend business. That is another avenue to go in. It's easy for my to join from a commercial perspective, but also through a science perspective.

[Screen: What would you say to someone who was thinking of working in the food and drink industry]

I think the food and drug industry is an amazing place to work, not only because it's interesting and also keeping up with trends. Everyone has to eat so you'll never be out of a job, which is one of the benefits from a career point of view.

[Screen: What do you wish you had known before you started on this career path?]

I think I wish I'd known that you're like a drop in the ocean. It's just so big, I underestimated how powerful and how much I had an impact on people.

[Screen: What is your name and what do you do?]

Hi, I'm Michael. I'm a technical services scientist at R-Biopharm Rhone, based in Glasgow.

[Screen: What does your company produce?]

So we manufacture and distribute test kits for the analysis of mycotoxins, vitamins and allergens in food and feed.

[Screen: What is your role at the company?]

My role specifically as a technical services scientist is post-purchase support for customers, and supporting other functions of the business. So, for example, allowing marketing to generate promotional material for sales, so we would be in the lab generating data to allow them to create a poster or something.

[Screen: Why did you go down this career route?]

Food bioscience jumped out at me mainly because of the placement opportunities, and it was so different from the others that were on offer.

[Screen: What do you like about your job?]

I think what's good about my job is every day is different, it's really dynamic. There's always lots of projects on the go at any given time, so you can kind of jump from one to the other, so they don't get stale. Or if you really want to knuckle down, you can you can get on with one big project.

There's a lot of satisfaction when you finish developing a method or when you resolve a customer's problem, even if it just takes an hour. Whether it's a day or whether it's a month, if you manage to solve the problem with your expertise it's really, really satisfying.

And the way that works is really good, because we have a great lab-to-desk balance. You're never on your feet for too long where you're worn out, but simultaneously you're not stuck at the desk, which is really, really good.

[Screen: What skills are necessary for your role?]

I think some of the key things that got me into the job are good lab practice, so kind of being calm and organised and confident in your ability. And I think I generated confidence from university, being in the lab. The food bioscience course had a lot of lab time, which has really built up my skill. And I think another thing for me was willingness to apply your knowledge to a question, even if you don't know exactly, just your willingness to try and your willingness to use the knowledge that you do have to kind of work around the problem. I think that's a really good thing that we would look out for.

[Screen: Would you recommend a career in this industry?]

I definitely recommend getting into the food industry. The employment opportunities are fantastic and they're really diverse, if you want to go from a lab approach or a manufacturing approach quality control. It's a really, really diverse industry to get into so I would recommend it.

[Screen: What is your name and what do you do?]

My name is Zara Hobbs and I am just finishing my second year apprenticeship at Coca-Cola in East Kilbride.

[Screen: What does your company produce?]

So we make lots of different products. Obviously we make Coca-Cola, we make Fanta and Dr Pepper. We are also the only producers in the UK of the Appletiser and we also do the Schweppes, so lemonade and the mixers and Capri Suns as well.

[Screen: What is your role at the company?]

So the first thing that we do as part of the job is come in and make sure that everything is either up and running or is about to be up and running, and we've got all the tools and materials that we need. We also make sure that there's parts in stock. And also we keep the leaders informed of the running of the lines.

[Screen: Why did you go down this career route?]

I decided on this career path primarily because I really enjoyed STEM subjects, so maths and physics mainly. Also I did graphics at school and really enjoyed the kind of technical side that that involved. And the methodical way of thinking: it came from again maths and physics.

[Screen: What do you like about your job?]

The thing I like most about coming into work every day is that you don't actually know what you're coming into. Some days you can be coming in and everything's going brilliantly, and other days you come in and it's just not quite going to plan. But you know that once you get there you can go in and fix the lines, fix what needs to be done and get it back to where it should be.

[Screen: What qualifications would be beneficial for your role?]

Well, the main qualifications that I would think would help are the STEM subjects, so science and maths, technology and engineering as well. They definitely help to have, because they give you a greater understanding of how we run.

[Screen: What advice would you give to someone considering a career in the food and drinks sector?]

The career of food and drink: in the industry there's so many different opportunities that you can take, that you can come in thinking you're going to do one job and end up doing something totally different. Or you can take that job and take it as high as you can and start off just as an apprentice and end up as a manager or a team leader, if that's where you wanted to be.

[Screen: Would you recommend a career in this industry?]

Well, the food and drink industry, I think, after the year we've had, you realise just how reliable a job opportunity is. The fact that over this year we've still been able to keep our sites open and keep producing enough for the UK or worldwide kind of thing. It's such a reliable source, and it's all always in high demand. So I think just having that it's helpful to when you're looking at jobs.

[Screen: What did you think about the industry before you joined it?]

I did a wee bit. I started a job in a butcher shop but apart from that I really didn't know that much. The industry of food and drink is massive. There's so many different opportunities that you can take once you're in. I think it's just really taking that first step of putting your foot in the door and putting your name out there that really helps to see where you'll end up. I mean once I got in here I didn't realise how many jobs it took to give you one can of coke or one bottle. So that's really good to know now that I'm in, is how far I can take this job.

[Screen: What is your name and what do you do?]

My name is Mark Stockwell. I'm the European environmental manager for Baxters Food Group.

[Screen: What does your company produce?]

My company is Baxters Food Group. Across our five European sites we make hundreds of different products including soup, beetroot, jams, chutneys, dressings, pastry pies, meatballs, vinegar.

[Screen: What is your role at the company?]

My role involves the management of the wastewater treatment plan, waste disposal, heading up some projects around waste reduction, water usage on our European sites, and working towards improved sustainability within our environmental agenda.

[Screen: Why did you go down this career route?]

I kind of fell into the career path if I'm being honest. I started with Baxters as a hygiene operator on the night shift. I think as soon as I moved into the site services side of the business I knew that I had an interest for the environmental aspect of what we were trying to do.

[Screen: What do you like about your job?]

My role allows me to have a wide perspective. It means I can make a positive impact on all aspects of the business, rather than just having a very narrow scope.

The environmental aspect of business is something I feel Baxters have a huge potential to excel in and I'm excited to be an integral part of that success story.

[Screen: What skills are necessary for your role?]

In terms of skills I would suggest communication being the top skill to have. If you're a great communicator that makes working your way through the business so much easier and effective. Problem solving: five whys, root cause analysis skills I feel would be really beneficial. And the obvious one - good people skills - and time management, I feel all valuable skill sets in the industry.

[Screen: What did you think about the industry before you joined it?]

Having come from the construction industry I had very little knowledge of the food and drink workplaces. I knew it would be fast-paced but I had no idea I could create such a great career from it.

[Screen: Would you recommend a career in this industry?]

Absolutely, absolutely. The industry involves a huge range of professions. There's generally an area or department that will have interest to most people. There's potential to start your career on the shop floor and progress your career if that is an interest to you.

Something that's been highlighted during the pandemic is that we are providing the country with quality nutritious food products and keeping the world fed during this time of crisis, which is perhaps the most satisfying part of working in this industry.

[Screen: What would you say to somebody who was thinking of joining the food and drink industry?]

If somebody was thinking about joining the food and drink industry I would tell them to absolutely go for it. Make a plan, get involved and show initiative early on. The right company will recognise this and invest in your talent and enthusiasm.