Digital campaign will help young people to taste success 27 Oct 2011

IFST is working alongside the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and Improve (Food and Drink Sector Skills Council) on an online campaign to encourage young people to pursue a career in food science and technology.

The campaign will take advantage of social media outlets, such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, to disseminate information amongst young people. Features will include professionally developed video sketches of the industry at work, a Facebook page and application, all designed to engage young people with food science and technology. The target audience of the project is 16-18 year olds, or those who have recently completed A-levels, a degree, FE or apprenticeship options.
In the near future, the food and drink industry will face a skills shortage, making young people an important target for career information. The project hopes to attract young people into food science and technology by reviving the industry’s image as one that is full of exciting and diverse career opportunities.

The emphasis on generating an interest in food science and technology careers spreads across the partnering organisations, as each have their own careers campaign. The project has been commissioned as part of the Food and Drink Federation's wider 'Taste Success – A Future in Food' careers campaign. An entire section of the IFST website, The Learning Zone, is dedicated to providing young people with information on career opportunities in food science and technology. The section includes testimonials by young people working within the industry, as well as a database of universities that offer degrees in food science and technology. Improve’s online initiative, Tasty Careers in Food and Drink, provides detailed information relating to food and drink, including career opportunities, case studies and courses in Northern Ireland.
The online project will be officially launched at ‘The Big Bang’ science and engineering fair at the NEC, Birmingham in March 2012.

For further information visit:

www.ifst.org/learninghome/
www.fdf.org.uk/campaigns/careers.aspx  
www.tastycareers.org.uk