14,000 more jobs to be created in the catering industry
A Bank of Scotland report has predicted that food and drink companies could create 14,000 jobs in the future for people in the country, taking the amount of industry jobs up to 87,000 by 2020, with new products and fresh demographic marketing on the cards.
Scotland’s food industry is a thriving one, and many companies understand this so are making the move up North to get involved to increase its current value from £14bn to £16.5bn by 2017. This will eventually be achieved, as two thirds of businesses plan to expand their international exports and work to develop new and exciting products.
These ideas for expansion and change are good news for caterer jobs, but are being met with some restrictions when it comes to regulations and rising labour costs. But to overcome this, partnerships are being highlighted as a key factor to encourage change and create these new jobs.
The Food and Drink body for Scotland has highlighted six main priorities to instigate growth which include helping primary producers to grow, improving productivity, being aware of the environmental impacts of growth, creating an industry that focuses on innovation and growing the number of food businesses who are expanding their exports.
The priorities should improve the industry and in turn require more job roles to meet demands. The Food and Drink body eventually wants Scotland to be considered as ‘The Land of Food and Drink’, and they’re not just referring to salmon and whiskey. Scotland is starting to gain a reputation now for premium products that are healthy and represent the country’s strong heritage.
When it comes to exporting the Bank of Scotland reported that 40% of firms are planning on expansions and are looking towards the Far East/Asia as their key targets, replacing Western Europe.
Alasdair Gardner, Managing Director of Commercial Banking at Bank of Scotland, said: “Scotland produces a fantastic array of food and drink products and this reputation for world class quality is enabling Scottish businesses to tap into the huge enthusiasm among global consumers for provenance.
"Scotland’s food and drink sector already makes a tremendous contribution to Scotland’s economy and these results show that this will only increase over the coming of years"
Ingredient security is an important factor when it comes to the food and drink industry for the country, with recent wet summers and Autumn seasons having an effect on cops such as barley and wheat and therefore impacting on businesses’ capabilities to meet demands. 33% of companies told the Bank of Scotland that ingredient supply was their biggest challenge and that the rising cost of raw materials was a very real threat.
The Scottish catering and food industry is looking ahead to some exciting times but there is work to be done before we see any benefit in the form of catering jobs, however the plans and aspirations in place should have positive effects.