Youngsters campaigning for the food industry

As a joint effort, the food industry has launched their competence project FEED in order to make their industry more visible and to strengthen their emphasis on competence. The main focus of the project is to show the coming generation how the food industry may be an attractive area of employment.

– We want to showcase positive employees in this work, and have therefore brought together 20 young and inspiring people who will hopefully be able to prove that the food industry is an exciting working environment. These people will be a central element of the campaign that will be launched just after the summer, says FEED project coordinator Anne-Grete Haugen.

From all over Norway The role models come from all over Norway, and represent many different professions within the food industry. They are machine operators, meat cutters, brewery masters, craftsmen and production leaders, and work in various enterprises such as Freia, Norgesmøllene, Nortura, TINE, Stabburet and Ringnes.

– The food industry is an exciting and varied industry, and there are different enterprises all over Norway. This is a job for the future and our role models will be important when it comes to communicating this message, Anne-Grete Haugen says.

Tougher competition The food industry is the second largest industry sector in Norway, and encompass enterprises that mainly manufacture products which are sold to Norwegian consumers. In 2009, almost 50 000 people were employed by the food industry. Within the industry, however, there are a lot of challenges concerning recruitment and there are many vacant positions that need to be filled. The FEED project has been initiated and is owned by three subgroups within the NHO (The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise), namely the NHO Food and Agriculture, the NHO Food and Drink and NNN. The reference group comprises 13 enterprises and the project is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

The Food Technology department at HiST is cooperating with FEED regarding recruitment measures. There are many vacant positions in the district for people who have been educated within the field of Food Technology, but there are not enough applicants for the Bachelor’s programme within this field at HiST. This particular study seems to be a well-kept secret for a lot of young people.

– We are noticing that the competition for the best minds out there is getting tougher all the time. In order to secure a competitive food industry in the future, we are totally dependent on fruitful recruitment, Anne-Grete Haugen says.

For more information about the project, please contact: Project coordinator Anne Grete Haugen, anne-grete.haugen@nhoml.no, tlf. 982 36 945 or chief advisor Cecilie Hänninen, cecilie.hanninen@nhoml.no, tlf. 975 21 192.