Sainsbury’s boss Justin King this week branded the food industry’s rating on the government’s list of priority sectors as “risible nonsense” and “ludicrous”, as the food industry came together at the House of Commons in a push to close the skills gap in the sector.
He told the Food Supply Network reception on Tuesday that the multi-billion pound food industry has “no reason to be shy about the part that we play” and criticised the UK Commission for Employment and Skills for ranking both agriculture and the food and drink manufacturing and processing sectors as 26th and 20th out of the 27 sectors identified for economic significance in its National Skills Audit.
“There’s a tone of voice in the food industry that says ‘no one loves us, but we don’t care’,” King said. “We should be loud and proud about what is a fantastic industry.
“It is risible nonsense that within the corridors of power, the food industry is [so low in] economic impact.”
The warning came after three sector skills councils, Lantra, Improve and Skillsmart Retail - representing production, manufacturing and retail - all reported skills shortfalls that they claim will have an impact on the UK’s ability to feed itself.
This coincided with the launch of the IGD Skills Academy, which will train more than 3,000 people in the next 12 months.
Lantra reports that 43 per cent of all vacancies in the production sector are hard to fill and the food processing industry alone needs 137,000 new recruits between 2007 and 2017 to meet demand.
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