IGD has officially relaunched Feeding Britain’s Future, with what it said was a “bold” new programme to tackle the workforce crisis threatening the food industry’s future.
The plans, unveiled today at a launch event at London’s County Hall, are to engage every UK secondary school by 2030, reverse the huge numbers of school leavers not in education, employment or training (NEET) and inspire a new generation to make careers in food and drink.
The Grocer revealed in February that IGD was to relaunch the programme, which has first unveiled in 2012, after warning looming workforce shortages posed a major threat to companies across retail and manufacturing.
Today, leaders from across the supply chain attended the event, which included the announcement of a major new partnership with The Careers & Enterprise Company, a national body for careers education. IGD said this would deliver high-quality, modern work experience for young people at scale, in collaboration with food businesses across the supply chain.
The UK’s youth employment crisis was highlighted last week with the publication of Alan Milburn’s Young People and Work interim report. With youth unemployment surpassing one million and reaching a 12-year high, IGD said there was ”growing consensus” that there needed to be a step-change in support for young people to enter the industry to prevent a generation from being left behind.
It said the impact of early, high-quality careers education and employer engagement in preventing disengagement and reducing the risk of young people becoming NEET was vital.
The rebooted scheme promises a pioneering new approach, which will move beyond traditional block placements for work experience to a more flexible and scalable model. This will combine virtual experiences, employer-led projects, site visits and short placements. IGD said it was designed to be more inclusive and relevant to today’s workplace and it hoped the model would help more young people access high-quality, modern work experience, while making it easier for employers to participate.
IGD’s previous programme of school workshops has reached 133,000 young people across a third of UK secondary schools since 2012. However, the school workshops will now become part of a much bigger package of work experience, with an ambition to reach 50,000 young people through school workshops in 2027.
‘Modernised work experience’
The modernised work experience will pilot in 2026 with regional groups across the south, the Midlands and the north of England. Employers will be able to contribute in different ways, from one-hour engagements to multi-day experiences, allowing a much broader range of businesses to get involved.
IGD said the learnings from the pilot scheme would be used to develop resources, templates and guidance to help businesses deliver modern work experience at scale in 2027.
“Food and drink is one of the UK’s biggest and most diverse sectors, but too many young people still don’t see it as a place to build their future,” said IGD CEO Sarah Bradbury.
“Through Feeding Britain’s Future, we want to change that by opening up access, raising awareness and creating meaningful experiences of work. I’m proud that, together, we are pioneering a more modern, flexible approach to work experience that is inclusive, relevant and better suited to the world of work today.”
Tesco UK CEO Ashwin Prasad added: “For generations, our sector has given millions of people their first experience of work, helping them build confidence, skills and long-term careers in every part of the country.
“At a time when over a million young people are not in education, employment or training, the food & drink industry is determined to step up and do what we can – using our presence in communities across the country and the range of opportunities we offer – to ensure a generation of young people are not cut off from the world of work.
Sainsbury’s CEO and IGD president Simon Roberts said: “Attracting this pipeline of future talent is not an easy task. It requires collaboration from across the sector, which is why I’m so pleased that the IGD have brought us together and developed Feeding Britain’s Future to support these future jobs.
“By investing in future talent today, we’re helping individuals build fulfilling careers and we’re strengthening the long-term success of the UK’s food system too.”
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