The MDS post-graduate scheme is a jam-packed, intensive course in the world of fresh produce.
It has been a post-graduate certificate for three years now and has become widely recognised by the industry - on the back of its 25-year history - for helping to create strong, confident candidates for the industry.
The course includes four placements within established UK fresh produce businesses - all within two years - as well as constant guidance, encouragement and team building exercises from the MDS team.
The MDS team seems to be a force in its own right, with chairman Doug Henderson, general manager Dr Dani Shaw and development manager Saffy Connolly on hand to make sure not only that the right students get onto the course, but that they are nurtured into the right people for the job and also, have a little fun along the way.
Supported and hosted by Harper Adams College, this year’s ceremony saw Sally Dutton, Laura Baver, Richard Bower, Andrew Staniland and Henry Robertson graduate, with Sally Dutton receiving the FPJ-sponsored MDS award for the best synoptic paper.
Name: Sally Dutton
Age: 26
Home town: Wolverhampton
Qualifications: BA (Hons); MA; St Andrew’s
Placements: Quality assurance support at Dole Fresh UK, Kent; technologist at Dole Fresh UK, Kent; harvest manager at Flavourfresh Salads, Lancashire; sales and marketing analyst at G’s Marketing, Cambridgeshire (including a placement of four months as a line leader for Lingarden Flowers, Spalding)
Current position: Assistant category manager at G’s Marketing, Cambridgeshire
Strength: Marketing
Background: With a teacher father and a librarian mother, Sally Dutton headed off to university to continue the academic path to study both a degree and a masters in anthropology (study of human societies and cultures) and German, but it was during a holiday job at a fruit farm that she discovered a passion for fresh produce. “I haven’t got a farming background at all,” she says. “While I was at uni, I took a job at a little fruit farm that does pick your own and has a farm shop, as well as a little bit of planting, so it came from there.”
Highlights: Dutton says the best thing about MDS is the “breadth and variety” of the placements and the overall view that the graduates get of the supply chain, as well as the team-building exercises that have not only ensured professional connections for the future, but firm friendships.
“Our five-day trip in the Lake District was brilliant, with outdoor activities and developing leadership skills - and of course, a couple of drinks in the evening,” says Dutton. “The best task was when we had to put on a night of entertainment for Dani. It was daunting at first, but after a few drinks it was fine and we put on our version of Blind Date. It was filmed and apparently, the video is on YouTube. I don’t fancy watching that.”
The group also worked together on a The Apprentice-style business task, where they had to decide on a business idea and see it through. “We were rushing around trying to sell our own cheeseboards, which were actually slate glued onto a floor tile,” she explains. “We sold 30 through a market stall and by making appointments with restaurants. We made £100 profit in a day, it was good fun.”
Future plans: Dutton has been permanently employed by G’s since April and sees her future in fresh produce marketing, although she wants to keep her options open. “I’m not the kind of person that has a five-year career plan or anything,” she says. “But I’m giving my role at G’s a good crack; category management is the area I want to be in.”
Name: Laura Baver
Age: 25
Home town: Evesham
Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Biology; St Mary’s University College, Twickenham
Placements: Quality control at Empire World Trade, Spalding; quality technologist at Cornerways Nursery, Norfolk; technical innovations technologist at Natures Way Foods (NWF), Sussex; packaging technologist at NWF
Current position: Packaging technologist at pharmaceutical firm Actavis, Devon
Strength: Packaging
Background: Laura Baver hadn’t really considered the fresh produce industry before but on finishing her degree, she came across the MDS scheme at a career fair and applied.
Highlights: Baver knows that the MDS post-graduate course helped her achieve her current position, as the company could see that she could hit the ground running. “They could see the long-term benefits of employing me,” she adds. “MDS shows that I am driven and confident.”
And the contacts she has made in the industry means that she’ll find it easier than most to get back into the fresh produce industry and is even planning on going on holiday with one friend from the group. “You wouldn’t have thought it from our different reactions to the activities, but I’ve become great friends with Andrew,” she says. “When we were in the Lake District, we had to go trekking for the day and he was so good at it. I was stuck at the back and didn’t even have chance to catch my breath to ask for a break. I’ll be going skiing with Andrew soon - in a group situation. I’d love there to be an MDS wedding, but no it isn’t romantic.”
Future plans: Although her current role is not a food-orientated one, Baver found the choice a difficult one to make and doesn’t rule out returning to the fresh produce industry. “It was such a hard decision to make when I took the job with Actavis, as straight after I finished my last placement I started looking for a packing technologist position as packaging is something that I really am interested in,” she explains. “I applied for the job with Actavis and got it over candidates that had experiences in the role and then NWF offered a job. I was really torn and my poor mum was fielding calls from me continuously where I kept saying ‘I don’t know what to do’. I really liked it at NWF, but in the end the new challenge just pipped it to the post.”
Name: Richard Bower
Age: 25
Home town: Stafford
Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Agri-food Marketing with Business Studies; Harper Adams
Placements: Harvest manager at Cobrey Farms, Herefordshire; quality control site manager at Empire World Trade, Kent; junior packhouse manager at Cobrey Farms; commercial desk at Flamingo Flowers, Spalding
Current position: Farm manager at RJ Bower, Staffordshire
Strength: Operations
Background: Having grown up on his family’s beef and arable farm, Richard Bower decided to “break the mould” by enrolling on the MDS post-graduate scheme and now has the hope of integrating his experience into the family farm in Staffordshire. “I do feel a pull from the family business and I am a farmer at heart,” he says. “I enjoyed the MDS experience, but don’t want to sit behind a desk all day. I want to continue with fresh produce by myself. I think eventually I will take a leaf out of John Chinn’s book and grow a bit of asparagus on the farm.”
Highlights: As part of Bower’s final placement at Flamingo, he was asked to put his ideas together for its Christmas hamper for Marks & Spencer. “I represented my ideas to M&S and I wouldn’t have got that opportunity anywhere else,” he says. “I was surprised how informal it was. I was suited and armed with a PowerPoint presentation, but they said ‘no Richard, just sit down and talk to us’. And they have taken on some of my ideas.”
Future plans: Although Bower is working full time at his family farm, he keeps in touch with the fresh produce industry by working for Cobrey Farms. “I have just finished managing the asparagus harvest at Cobrey’s for three months and I think I will do that every year,” he explains. “I know I am an operations manager - I like to get things done and I like working out the figures. I have been offered opportunities outside of the UK but I am very much rooted in Staffordshire.”
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