Food Job Blog: The inside track on Food Recruitment and Careers

US doughnut company Krispy Kreme is already doing well in the UK food market, but the latest reports say that the chain is planning a landmark £24 million expansion. This move would not only double the size of the UK branch of Krispy Kreme, but it would also create 600 new food jobs for British workers.

Over the next five years, Krispy Kreme plan to open around 40 new outlets around the UK. The first of these will be located in Bristol, opening in August this year. Further expansion plans involve stocking some of its key products in approximately 180 Tesco stores, effectively doubling its presence amongst UK consumers.

There has been some controversy over Krispy Kreme's plans, mainly due to the unhealthiness of the products they sell. Some of their sweet confectionary products have been called 'heart attacks with a hole' by health campaign groups back in the US, but profit outlooks for the company remain positive despite this criticism.

Profit figures weren't so good last year, however, as the UK branch of the company suffered a £500,000 loss during 2009. Despite this, Krispy Kreme bosses remain positive and early forecasts predict their latest expansion plans may see the company net nearly £1 million in profits in 2010.

The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) - an organisation set up to monitor and prevent the exploitation of people in food jobs - has recently joined forces with a number of major British retailers to stamp out the problem within the food and drink industry.

The key issue here is the exploitation of migrant and agency workers within the food sector, a problem highlighted by a recent inquiry undertaken by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Months of consultations on the issue have now ended, and a partnership between the GLA and retailers has been established.

Major food companies such as Marks & Spencer, Asda and Tesco have joined forces with the GLA and representatives from the National Farmers' Union and the Fresh Produce Consortium to work on a new Protocol. This formal agreement will be integrated into the industry to:

• Ensure appropriate standards are withheld
• Make it easier for retailers to share information and report to the GLA

Overall, the new Protocol will ensure that all workers within the food and drink industry are protected and to identify and eradicate illegal and unethical practices.

In response to heavy criticism over unemployment figures in recent months, the Irish Republic's government have been quick to announce the creation of over 300 new food jobs within the Irish food and drink industry.

The new jobs will be opened up as part of the following new developments:

• A €12 million expansion from fast-food conglomerates McDonald's, who plan to open a total of four new restaurants in Ireland; three in Dublin and one outside of the nation's capital. The firm have said they expect to be able to offer around 250 new positions to Irish food job hunters.

• The opening of a new headquarters for Australian firm Probiotec, who specialise in making healthcare products on sale throughout Europe. The new European base will require 70 new employees in order to produce their Celebrity Slim weight loss products to full capacity.

The announcement of these new food jobs may prove to be a saving grace for the Republic government, whose reputation is on shaky ground due to consistently high unemployment figures after the global economic crisis.

Despite this, the Republic of Ireland's food and drink sector still contributes €8 billion to the economy and has around 46,000 people employed in food jobs.

It seems that tentative reports of a gradually stabilising economy might just pan out, as large food and drink retailers increasingly announce development plans and the creation of more food jobs. The two latest companies to announce expansion plans this week are internet grocery retailer Ocado and restaurant chain Mitchells and Butlers.

Ocado creates 2,200 new food jobs

Ocado, who sell Waitrose products through their grocery and homeware website, are planning to open a large new distribution centre. Bosses have told the press they haven't made a final decision as to the site of the new centre (speculation cites areas in the West Midlands and the South as under consideration), but they do know that they will start work on it by the end of 2010. The centre will hopefully be completed in two years time, creating more than 2,000 food jobs at the same time.

Mitchells & Butlers: expansion plans

Restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers already run hundreds of UK pubs, bars and restaurants, but they have big plans to expand their company to manage nearly 2,000. This could mean thousands of new restaurant and food jobs opening up.

The company has said they intend to focus more on food by doubling the number of Sizzling Pub Co, Harvester, Crown Carveries and Toby Carvery outlets in the UK, planning to site them in leisure centres and shopping centres.

There are certain types of people cut out for management or supervisory roles, but if you've got the confidence and ambition to succeed, you should be able to progress well in the food industry. Team manager food jobs exist in most companies, as it is vital that all members of staff are working towards the same goals in order to take the company forward.

The food industry is extremely fast-paced, so you've got to be able to keep up. If you impress in this kind of food job, you could be instrumental in the growth of the company.
To find out if you've got what it takes to be a team manager, have a look at the following list of essential qualities. You may still need certain qualifications and definitely relevant experience, but possessing these qualities can be a great starting place.

Are you...

• A great communicator?
• Good at teamworking?
• Passionate about the food industry, standards or customer service?
• Enthusiastic and ambitious?
• Organised and able to work to daily plans?
• A good motivator and developer?

Any or all of these character traits can take you far in the exciting world of the food and drink industry.

Foodex 2010, which ended yesterday after running from Sunday 21st until Wednesday 24th March at the NEC Birmingham, was a roaring success, showcasing the very best technologies, ideas, products and services in the world of food and drink, and especially meat.

Here's a quick rundown of exhibition highlights:

New systems showcased
Meat processing equipment providers Marel unveiled their latest line of products and systems, all designed to give those in food jobs and industries ways to boost productivity and profits. Their exhibition stand featured:

• Polyslicer 1000
• I-Cut Bone Portion Cutter
• 9500 Automatic Box/Crate Labeller

NFMFT National Supreme Product Competition
The overall winner of this prestigious and valiantly fought competition was Benson Mellors from the Nottinghamshire- based Mellors Farm Shop, who scooped the top prize with his winning pork pie. Other prizes were handed out for top-quality sausages, burgers, pastries, pies and even black puddings.

Overall, exhibitors and visitors have reported that attending Foodex 2010 was an extremely positive and productive experience. The exhibition was seen as a great way for those in food jobs to get in touch with suppliers, network with others in the food and drink industry, and also benefit from a great deal of inspiration and food for thought.

Sainsbury's have recently announced positive plans with regards to the coming year, which could mean good news for food job hunters. The company has announced that like-for-like sales are up by 3 per cent for the year and up 1.7 per cent for that last quarter. Although Sainsbury's growth has slowed in recent months, the company still sees the latest figures as extremely encouraging, and there are even talks of store expansion and the creation of thousands of new food jobs.

Since the start of 2010, the chain has hired around 1,500 more employees and there are plans to increase this further in order to push market growth. According to Sainsbury's representatives, the company is well on the way to achieve their target of an overall 15 per cent sales growth by the same time in 2011. This could mean the potential creation of approximately 13,000 food jobs opening up.

Speaking of the company's employment ethos, Sainsbury's CEO Justin King has said that the key focus for the chain is employee engagement. He explained how the company aims to ensure that every member of staff understands Sainsbury's present and future goals and how they plan to achieve them.

Northern Restaurant and Bar 2010 is the hospitality event of the year, a must-attend for anyone in the hotel, bar, restaurant or pub trade. It has a strong focus on business and can be a valuable place to make contacts, reach a wider range of customers and suppliers and catch up on the latest news and developments in the food and drink industry.

Where and when?

Held in the heart of the North West, Northern Restaurant and Bar 2010 will take place at Manchester G-Mex on Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th April.

Exhibitors

In addition to the 5,000 visitors the show receives every year, there are also around 170 big name and influential exhibitors. Expect to see Costa Coffee, Budweiser Budvar UK, Sugarvine.com, Taste Hospitality Recruitment (a must-visit for food job hunters and employers alike) and Total Foodservice solutions, amongst many, many more.

Special events

In addition to exhibitors, there are a number of special events including:

• Culinary Theatre - seminars, demonstrations and book signings from top local chefs
• Farmer's Market - access to a number of local producers and suppliers
• Discover Wine - wine tastings, seminars and plenty of inspiration
• Drinks Academy - demonstrations and advice on everything from beer to cocktails.

It's always been seen as the luxury supermarket. The place where we go for those little treats, or the special meal that we want to cook for the family.

And now, Waitrose is popular not just with its customers but with job hunters too; particularly those looking for food jobs in the North Wales area.

For the first time, Waitrose will be providing jobs to people in North Wales when its new store opens in just a couple of days.

The new opening has created 85 new roles but as well as this; the supermarket has allowed 55 members of staff to transfer their employment over from the shop that was previously on the site.

The luxury supermarket has been creating jobs up and down the country this year as it has continued to expand and its success has led to it recruiting Heston Blumenthal and Delia Smith as partners. A new television advert featuring the two chefs is set to launch on March 25th and the store's in house magazine has also received a bit of a makeover; the name will be changed from Waitrose Food Illustrated to Waitrose Kitchen.

So it's all change for Waitrose. And it seems that they will be destined for even more success because of them.

Your chances of finding your dream food jobs can be greatly increased if you have the right experience on your CV.

You may be as passionate about food as Jamie Oliver, but if you have never worked with it before, a potential employer may be less willing to give you a chance.

And that's where Asda comes in. The supermarket has agreed to help youngsters across the country get this valuable experience and to therefore increase their chances of getting the very best food jobs.

Asda has announced that it will be offering 15,000 youngsters the chance to get a week's worth of work experience. But they have stressed that this will be 'real' work experience where the youngsters, aged from 14-16 will have to get stuck into the job and not simply be asked to run errands and make tea.

The plan is to let the youngsters work in stock control, delivery and customer services. The idea came from the fact that so many youngsters in the country are unemployed.

As well as these work experience placements, Asda are also reportedly offering their existing staff members the chance to take on an apprenticeship programme to improve their skills.

It's almost time for Morrisons' new chief executive to take the hot seat. But the board of the supermarket chain has already stated that they are confident in the performance of the business as new growth targets have been set.

Their annual profits are reportedly up to £767m and there are already plans to open around 60 more supermarkets over the next three years creating hundreds of new food jobs across the country.

Morrisons seem very pleased with their performance so far and say that the new chief executive will not have to transform the store after Marc Bolland's shock departure. He has gone on to work for Marks and Spencer but has left behind a strong business for Philips to get to grips with.

The supermarket has now fully recovered from the struggle caused by Morrisons' takeover of Safeway. Some of this is due to the fact that customers are now spending more at the shop with the average basket going up from £22.48 to £23.08 in one year.

It was the fastest growing of the big four supermarkets over the Christmas period and sales are reportedly growing 2.5% ahead of the market.

So things are going well for Morrisons. And it will be interesting to see whether they continue to flourish when they begin to open their new stores across the country.

The heat is really on for the contestants all battling it out for the Roux Scholarship. This prestigious competition offers the winning chef a brilliant start in their career.

The winner will receive guidance and advice from the Roux family and previous winners have all gone on to achieve things that they could only dream of in the past.

This month has seen two regional heats take place at the Birmingham College of Food and Thames Valley University. A total of 18 people were involved in these heats and the standards were exceptionally high. But in the end, six finalists emerged.

These six finalists will now be put under immense pressure as they compete in the National Final. This will take place at Westminster Kingsway College in London on March 29th.

This time, the temperature in the kitchen will really be turned up as the finalists will be given their ingredients and recipes only 45 minutes before the competition starts.

The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London on the evening of the event.

It's certainly going to be a nerve-racking event but the finalists will soon be told that there are too many chefs in the kitchen; only one winner will emerge.

A recent report in a national newspaper sheds a negative light on one of the Asda supermarket chain's top meat suppliers, Forza, and the recruitment company working for them. The story was featured in the Mail on Sunday, and explained how OSR Recruitment sent out food job vacancy adverts on behalf of Forza via email, reading:

"Immediate factory work available!!!! Applicants must speak Polish. Please call asap!!!!!!"

The unprofessional-looking ad (written in Polish, of course) was immediately picked up by newspaper journalists, who investigated by calling the number provided only to be told that unless they were actually Polish or fluent in the language they could not even apply for the position.

According to the director general of the EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission), Neil Kinghan, this refusal to accept applications from any nationalities other than Polish is a blatant violation of Race Relations laws.

In consequence, Forza now has to battle allegations of discrimination against British workers as well as applicants from other nationalities. Prior to the EHRC's request for a response on the matter, one of Forza's directors has spoken to the Mail on Sunday, claiming the emailed ads were sent out in error due to communication problems with OSR and confusion following a major fire at their headquarters.

This scandal means more bad news for the meat and poultry processing sector, following a damning EHRC report over working conditions in the industry, with a percentage of migrant, pregnant and agency workers reporting mistreatment.

This March, the largest food and drink trade show in the UK will be coming to Birmingham, in the form of the Food and Drink Expo 2010. Running from Sunday 21st until Wednesday 24th March, this exhibition will feature all of the major sectors of the food and drink industry together under one roof.

All the major players from retail, wholesale, manufacturing and food service will be exhibiting, giving buyers and suppliers the opportunity to interact and negotiate with each other over the four day event.

There's an inexhaustible list of exhibitors, including manufacturers and leading food job employers Britvic, Carte D'Or, Buxton Spring Ltd and Mars to name but a few. There will also be representation from the environment sector, through attendance by Carbon Trust and the Environment Agency.

In addition to the endless list of exhibitors, there will also be a number of exciting live events such as:

• Chefs Live - Visitors will have the chance to see live demonstrations from award-winning chefs, presenting new and inspiring recipes as well as giving insights into some of the UK's top chef's best menus.

• Tasting Theatre - Complementing Chefs Live is the Tasting Theatre, where attendees can taste and compare new products alongside industry experts, who will also offer essential advice about sourcing new products.

• The Britvic Platinum Lounge - A unique networking opportunity, those in the soft drinks business can benefit from advice and partnership opportunities.