Leading food and drink manufacturers will join forces next month to encourage more young people to consider an exciting career in the UK’s largest manufacturing sector.
The Big Bang UK Scientists and Engineers Fair welcomes the industry for a fourth year in a row from March 11-14 as part of the Food and Drink Federation’s (FDF) ‘Taste Success – A Future in Food’ careers campaign. With a range of interactive displays on offer, including a DJ robot and custom chocolate sculpture, food and drink professionals will aim to introduce a fun and engaging aspect of the industry that communicates the career options on offer to students.
This time, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Mars UK, McCain Foods, Mondelēz International, PepsiCo UK and Premier Foods will be offering fun activities in order to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers to young people and their schools.
Following last year’s big success of the Bionic Handling Assistant top industry automation supplier Festo will again be at the FDF Taste Success stand with a robot DJ expected to capture student’s attention.
Visitors to the FDF Taste Success stand at the Big Bang Fair 2015 will have the opportunity to see a wide range of inspiring activities including:
- See an exciting Cadbury chocolate sculpture handcrafted by the team from Cadbury World.
- Find out how Coca- Cola bottles are being produced and quality controlled.
- Speak to food and drink engineers, graduates and apprentices about what they get up to in their jobs and what it’s like to be an engineer working in some of the UK’s top companies.
- See how quick you are at grabbing food on the FDF Taste Success MunchBot app
- Try out interactives that have been built by industry apprentices
- Maths production process game
- See live demos of the science of chocolate and more
- Find out how maize is turned into Monster Munch feet in under 10 seconds.
Hanne Christensen, Taste Success campaign manager at the Food and Drink Federation, said: “We are delighted to be part of the Big Bang UK Scientists and Engineers Fair for a fourth successive year along with some of the UK’s top food and drink manufacturers. Attracting Britain’s brightest students to our sector and promoting the rewarding careers in food and drink is huge priority for us.
“Our stand is intended to stimulate interest in the fantastic range of career opportunities available in food and drink manufacturing and inspire the engineers of the future. Visitors to our stand will be able to learn first-hand from engineers about what it is like to work in the industry while having fun. They can also learn more about the industry’s first MEng Food Engineering course at Sheffield Hallam University. “
The Manufacturing Talent Challenge
UK manufacturing is at a critical point in its evolution. It is becoming ever more crucial for the industry to act now to avoid the demise of what once was one of the most prominent manufacturing nations. Manufacturing companies need to devise a system where they are able to develop and retain talent for the future of their business. Changes need to be championed in regards to creating relationships with schools, colleges and universities to promote technical courses and finding ways to entice fresh talent into STEM subjects. Companies are also being encouraged to explore how they can better support employees, particularly women, looking to return to the sector and how manufacturers can help current employees progress in their career.
Discover how your business can make the most of these opportunities at this exclusive event run by The Manufacturer. Register your interest or just find out more here.