Graduate employment in the food and drink industry
The food and drink industry is one career option new graduates often discount too quickly upon leaving university. Many fresh-faced job hunters, familiar with stacking shelves or sitting on the checkout to help fund their time at university believe the food and drink sector doesn't present the opportunities for graduates to truly realise their potential. Armed with a degree or the right qualifications, the reality is of course very different.
Some of Britain's biggest global exports are food and drink companies with multi-billion-pound turnovers. While the everyday consumer is familiar with the brands, the products and the shop-floor experience, there are countless other roles and job sectors that make the industry tick behind the scenes. Aspiring managers, for example, who wish to show their ability to link disparate organisations while responding quickly to problems, may find fulfilment in the supply chain process. Graduates with logical, enquiring minds and the right science and technology skills on the other hand, may be drawn to food and drink manufacturing where engineering processes are constantly evolving and the emphasis is always on cost effectiveness. Those with more conceptual attributes, meanwhile, are sure to find challenges aplenty in a food or drink company's marketing department.
The industry's huge range of employment opportunities is perhaps why Diageo, the world's leading premium drinks business, welcomes all degree subjects under its graduate recruitment scheme. While it does cite a list of subjects that may grant applicants a certain advantage, this remains long and varied, from biochemistry degrees to history, accountancy, media studies and physics. The company, which owns such brands as Smirnoff, Guinness, Archers, Baileys and Gordon's, claims to "never stand still" and as such, looks for vibrant graduates who can deliver results. "We are looking for Marketing, Sales, Finance, Supply Chain, Engineering, Technical, Procurement, Production & Packaging and commercial graduates who have the innovation and new ideas to drive our growth," says Diageo .
Meanwhile, United Biscuits, which also boasts a diverse product offering with the likes of McVitie's biscuits, KP Nuts and Hula Hoops, has a range of graduate recruitment options including sales, human resources, procurement and engineering. For the latter job sector, skilled graduates are at a premium, with United Biscuits noting that engineering processes are at the forefront of its multi-million-pound capital investment programme.
"Whether you are working in one of our manufacturing facilities in a project role, designing and implementing a new production line, looking at ways to improve efficiency on existing equipment to maximise output, or researching and implementing ways to reduce energy consumption, we have engineering roles that will allow you to build on the knowledge gained from your degree and continue to develop expertise in a number of fields," says United Biscuits. Indeed, given that the company can boast to having at least one of its brands in 96 per cent of UK households, United Biscuits engineering employees can be sure their work is impacting on the lives of millions of people.
Those considering a more "front-of-house" position will likely be drawn towards the retail giant that is Tesco, which offers a total of 17 graduate programmes for job hunters to choose from. These include a store management programme offering applicants the chance to be at "the core" of the business and interact directly with customers. As the company notes on its website, a job in the food and drink industry can offer graduates both immediate rewards, and the chance to achieve long-term career goals. "You'll soon realise that when we say early responsibility, that's just what we mean. Your first experience could involve working with board members, managing an area of a store, leading a team that delivers real business advantage, or even dealing with the press on our behalf," says Tesco.