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

The Tesco store round the corner from my house has just started stocking 'milk bags'. I know Waitrose have trialled these last year and Sainsbury's were the first in the UK to introduce the milk bag and jug concept back in 2008.

The concept has actually been used in Germany for a number of years. Quite surprising it's taken some time to come over to the UK, but I guess that comes from differences in cultures and buying styles, but also as I expect the shift in packaging has required significant investments from milk producers/bottlers, who will have had to invest in new machinery and new materials.

 

It's not only Germany who has adopted this concept. A list of countries who have been using milk bags include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Nicaragua, Honduras, China, Colombia, Estonia, Hungary, India, Iran, Israel, Montenegro, Poland, South Africa and Uruguay.

I think the idea is good, and at the introductory price I guess it's a bit of a bargain, and you get the added feel good factor that you are somewhere along the line helping the environment. Is slightly odd though, as where I live we are able to recycle plastic milk bottles, however you can't recycle plastic bags - so in theory the packaging has been reduced but now goes in the bin instead of all in the recycling? I guess there must be some logic somewhere along the line.

If we compare this to Kenco, who introduced their low packaging coffee bags a few years ago. I personally think this is a great idea, however it puts me off buying it when you pay more for a bag of coffee that you do for a larger amount of coffee in a glass jar. Whilst the goal is to reduce packaging, surely some of the cost savings should be passed on to the consumer? As many still feel the pinch from the 'credit crunch' and from Government cut backs, how can they be expected to pay out extra for a low packaging product?

..so another huge food industry surprise comes out of the blue - the 'merger' between Greencore and Northern Foods. Everybody probably knew that Northern were not the force in industry that they once were, and from a recruitment point of view, once Northern 'centralised' this function it became very difficult to work with them in anything other than a purely 'transactional' way.

So what does the 'merger' do for recruiters? Will this mean another colossal centralised department, with 15 suppliers on a faceless PSL and fees at 12%, no opportunity to visit site and meet with line managers. No opportunity to look around the factory and really get a feel for the processes and the day to day issues from 'the horses mouth'?

Almost unanimously, the factory teams don't like this 'centralised' approach to recruitment. Neither do candidates.  The factory teams like to work with recruiters that they know and have chosen because of their capability and service. The best candidates expect us to have met the factory teams and had a good look around the factory - how else can a recruiter sell the role accurately and effectively.

In my view, which ever way you look at it, the 'centralised' approach to recruiting only serves to downgrade the whole activity unless the relationship is extremely strong and exclusive, and the savings achieved by driving down PSL rates are arguably 'wooden dollars' as ultimately the best placements are not made this way.

...just on my way out to visit a client to discuss a new brief. It's a client who knows me really well, has been giving me briefs consistently for five years. I know their factory inside out and have recruited 67% of their manufacturing team to date. The role is with me exclusively, allowing me the time to do a thorough search and screening exercise. The client will pay full fees because they appreciate the 'value-add'
If I have time later in the week, I'll have a glance through the 'portal' at the 12% fee roles I'm sharing with 15 other agencies. Then I'll sit down and prioritise my workload.

Process Development, in my opinion is one of the most critical and exciting roles within a food company. Without a process technologist no new products could be launched, no new packaging could hit the shelves and the development process as a whole would totally collapse.

The process technologist is one of the most valued members of a development team; whether it is said or not, it never goes unnoticed when they arrive at five o'clock in the morning for a trial that doesn't start until nine 'o clock, because a delivery was late or the night shift rejected a ton of pasta sauce. It also never goes unnoticed when, on trial number five they come back to the development kitchen with the perfect product match, even though they have had to personally stand over the steaming kettle five times with the same sauce until it was just right.

The process technologist "just knows" when the garlic puree needs to be doubled from a kitchen recipe and the process technologist also "just knows" when a product simply won't work. The process technologist knows all of this because they are the link between the creative world of concept development and the engine room of the business. This is no mean feat as we all know too well of the healthy tensions between these two very different, but intrinsically linked worlds.

So knowing the importance and the admiration we give our process technologists, I can't help but ask myself why I'm not falling over people desperate to be a respected, valued and critical player in every food manufacturer's development team.

The Northumberland Foods Ltd factory in Amble, Morpeth, has been saved from closure after a rival firm stumped up the cash to buy it. A number of new food jobs have been created already, with more new employment opportunities expected to follow.

The firm went into administration in August this year after suffering cash flow problems. This caused production to cease and around 250 food jobs to be axed, to the devastation of local workers.

However, the plant has been saved from closure at the last minute by Longbenton Foods, who have purchased the Amble site - which originally supplied vegetable products to Tesco, Sainsbury's and Iceland - and have restarted the production line.

Around 70 of those who lost their jobs originally have been welcomed back, and the new owners have promised to open up more food jobs as the business starts to grow.

Longbenton Foods is based in Newcastle, where the company currently employs 100 staff working on frozen food production. The managing director of the firm, Vidar Engen, has spoken of his new acquisition:

"We have worked closely with our partners One North East and Northumberland County Council in order to return this site to production and bring jobs back to Amble."

The family-run cereals processing firm Silvery Tweed Cereals Ltd is set to benefit from around £1.2 million in funding, which will hopefully help the business boost profits, improve its facilities and create new food jobs.

Silvery Tweed Cereals Ltd has been running for 167 years, and currently supplies cereals and cereal products to big-brand names such as Kelloggs, United Biscuits, Britvic, Heinz and Dorset Cereals. Based in the Tweedside Trading Estate in Berwick, the firm currently employs 70 staff.

However, day-to-day operations at the processing plant are set to change, after Yorkshire Bank and One North East approved approximately £1.2 million worth of funding for Silvery Tweed. Company bosses plan to use the money to:

• Create six new food jobs whilst retaining all 70 existing staff members
• Upgrade their cereal cooking plant
• Build a waste collection facility
• Add new warehouses and grain silos
• Implement a grain intake system
• Increase floor space from 16,000 to 22,000 square foot

Work on these improvements to the Tweedside site has already started, with the aim of boosting company turnover from £17 million to £19.5 million within the next 18 months. Silvery Tweed bosses are also aiming to improve weekly production capacity from 180 tonnes of cereal to 270 tonnes.

The European Commission (EC) has put forward proposals to ban animal cloning in food production and sales for at least five years. However, the import of cloned food products to the EU has been given the green light.

The announcement that animal cloning will be banned for five years has been welcomed by the food industry as a whole, due to concerns over public health and animal welfare if the practice was to become widespread. However, many animal welfare, farming and food job groups have criticised the EC's decision to allow cloned meat products to be imported to Europe.

Peter Stevenson, the chief policy advisor at Compassion in World Farming, has said:

"We welcome the ban on European cloning and the commission's concern about the welfare implications of cloning,"

"But we are very disappointed that imports of cloned semen, embryos and food products are being allowed. We don't accept that it is impossible to trace the origins of cloned meat products.

This last sentiment was echoed by David Cotton, the chair of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, who also said that the confusion over which new technologies farmers can and can't use needs to be cleared up.

In what is bound to be disheartening news for small food businesses up and down the country, iconic sausage firm Richard Woodall in Cumbria has announced that it will be closing its doors for good after 182 years in business.

The managing director of the butchers' firm, Colin Woodall (the eighth generation of his family to manage the business), is retiring due to ill health and he has no successor.

The Waberthwaite business will therefore close on Christmas Eve, 2010, causing a total of 21 food job losses.

A world-famous company, Richard Woodall is the sausage maker for the Queen, supplying the royal household with top-quality sausages, bacon and hams. In addition, the firm supplies a number of major retailers such as Selfridges.

As MD and holder of the royal warrant Colin Woodall is retiring after being diagnosed with leukaemia aged 51, Richard Woodall as an authentic brand will technically be no more. However, the manufacturing rights of the firm will be taken over by Cranswick Country Foods Plc, who will produce goods under the iconic brand name.

Speaking of the difficult decision he had to make in closing one of Cumbria's oldest food businesses, Colin Woodall said:

"It is a very emotive time, a very sad time and the sale is not a decision I have taken lightly.

"I do need to think about my health."

Key players in the UK meat processing industry have spoken out against the Food Standard Agency's (FSA) plan to stop firms operating whilst waiting for the outcome of non-compliance case appeals.

The FSA says that in order to comply with public health and EU regulations, non-compliant firms should no longer have the right to operate pending appeal decisions. An FSA spokesperson confirmed:

"EU legislation does not provide a right for food business operators (that are non-compliant with feed/food law) to continue operating pending the outcome of an appeal."

However, this proposed change has angered a number of meat processing chiefs, including the director of policy at the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers, Norman Bagley. Mr Bagley believes that the reason for the change is not down to public health concerns or the need to comply with EU regulations, but because of the length of time it takes for cases to reach appeal. He says:

"That has mostly been due to the FSA's own lawyers arguing that the courts should not take into account any improvements an operator has made since his approval was withdrawn. The courts have now rejected that notion most appeals are never heard, because operators carry out the improvements needed and the FSA restores the approval."

Tomlinson's Dairies has announced that it is to open a huge new dairy in Wrexham, forming what will be the largest milk factory in Wales.

The company has reportedly outgrown its existing site in Minera, Wrexham, so is moving into a new 70,000-square-foot property being built nearby. The new facility is expected to be built and operational by May or June 2011.

This move will allow Tomlinson's to double its processing capacity, reaching an initial target of 50 million litres per year and a more ambitious, long-term target of 100 million litres-a-year within five years. The company, which is already the largest packer of milk in Wales, is also aiming to increase operational efficiency in order to compete in a tough market.

This increase in capacity and efficiency will require new equipment and undoubtedly, more employees. The family-operated dairy has announced that up to 80 new food jobs will be created in the area within the next five years if all goes to plan.

Further developments

Alongside the move, Tomlinson's Dairies is identifying potential new products and processing opportunities for the future. The company is planning to move into:

• Yoghurt

• The 'eco-pouch' market (essentially, milk packaged and sold to hospitality industries in biodegradable, eco-friendly bags)

A food firm in Tockwith, North Yorkshire, has big plans for the future after securing a £350,000 investment from Yorkshire Bank as part of the region's Investing for Growth initiative.

Country Products is a food processing and distribution company specialising in sourcing whole foods from all over the world and overseeing the processing, packing and distribution of goods to independent retailers in the UK and Ireland. The company even distributes to health food shops, visitor centres, cinemas and theatres in Sweden and Denmark as well as at home in the UK.

The company has made considerable improvements to its foods processing business in the three years since receiving the £350,000. The company created three new food jobs, opened a third production line and even moved into a new, 10,000-square-foot premises.

Now based in Tockwith's Centre Park, Country Products is implementing the firm's latest development - a fourth production line. In order to meet increased demand, thanks to the rapid growth of the business, the firm has invested £100,000 in a new, automated production line designed to weigh and pack healthy snack food bags such as dried mango and yoghurt-coated raisins.

Country Products hopes that this new production line and equipment - purchased thanks to the Investing for Growth scheme - will help the company reach even higher turnover goals in 2010/11.

A food manufacturer in Manchester has announced plans for a £3 million expansion to the business, which will also involve the creation of a number of new food jobs.

Richard Whittaker is a family-owned food manufacturing company based at the Transpennine Trading Estate in Rochdale, specialising in the supply of sugar, rice and other ingredients to supermarkets and retailers.

The company currently has a staff of 65, and a turnover of £5.5 million a year. However, managing director Alan Rigby plans to nearly double both of these figures in the next few years thanks to a £3.6 million fund the company has secured from Barclays Bank.

Six new food jobs will be created immediately, and 23 more roles will become available in the next three years as the company moves into a new, twice-as-large premises in Mayfield Street in Mayfield (the site of the former Anglian Widows headquarters).

MD Alan Rigby has commented on the plans, saying:

"We have long prided ourselves on our ability to offer customers a top quality product and high level of service.

"The move to new premises will be phased over the next few months and will enable us to meet our growth aspirations while maintaining the highest level of service for our customers."

Speaking at the 2010 Labour Party Conference in Manchester, the shadow environment minister Hilary Benn warned the coalition government that cutting agricultural budgets could be costly and harmful to future food security in the long run. He also said that a focus on farming should be "at the forefront of the political agenda" during impending budget cuts.

Mr Benn - who was the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs (DEFRA) minister for three years under the former Labour government - spoke to farming and food job professionals at a National Farmers Union (NFU) fringe event at the Labour conference. He said:

"Farming is a hugely important industry.

"It's our biggest manufacturing industry, it's hugely important to the future of our work and the environmental work farmers do plays a key role in that.

"It is concerning environmental schemes could be hit.

"I want British farming to continue to be successful and the Labour party is committed to working with the NFU and the industry to achieve that."

Mr Benn's comments were welcomed by the NFU president Peter Kendall, who thanked the shadow environment minister for his refreshing change in language and marked his speech as a "massive move forward" for the industry.

As reported in the Financial Times this month, a major Chinese food company is considering taking over United Biscuits, the iconic British manufacturer of well-loved snacks such as Jaffa Cakes, Mini Cheddars, Jacob's, McVities, Penguin and Hula Hoops.

Speculation is currently mounting over whether Bright Foods, located in Shanghai, will put in a bid for the company, which is currently owned by private equity firms in the US and France. The Financial Times estimates that such a deal could be worth up to £2.5 billion.

Job loss concerns

Similarly to the recent Kraft takeover of Cadbury, many in the food industry are concerned that such an illustrious deal would result in many food job losses as the Chinese company attempt to 'rationalise' the business. The Kraft/Cadbury deal ended up with 150 people losing their jobs.

MP John McDonnell from Hayes, where United Biscuits has its head office and employs 500 of its 7,000 staff in food jobs, is optimistic about the deal. He said:

"It's too early to tell at the moment, but should the deal go ahead, I would hope that the new company would commit to a long-term future in the area, and I would expect them to provide continuity in the same way that they have done in the past, and work with the local community."

The food jobs industry has undergone some huge changes in recent years. With different priorities, there are always new responsibilities for those in the food jobs industry to take on.

At the moment, one of the main concerns in the food jobs industry is that of reducing waste. So if you are entering the food industry you will notice that a lot of jobs are geared towards this and it seems to be working.

It has been revealed that Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's as well as other retailers and food manufacturers have reduced food and packaging waste by 1.2 million tons in the last five years.

It has been estimated that by this reduction in waste, we have saved £1.8bn and we have also avoided around 3.3 million tonnes in CO2 emissions.

Liz Goodwin, CEO at Waste & Resources Action Programme has said:

'We're especially pleased with the food waste reduction which is way beyond target. It shows how a collaborative approach between the grocery sector, consumers and local authorities can work to reduce waste and save people money. The evidence shows that more people are now aware that food waste is an issue, and are choosing to do something about it'