Manufacturers should capitalise on the success of TV programmes like The Great British Bake Off and think of more innovative ways to get younger people into the industry, according to Ronnie Miles, md at Bells Food Group.
“Through shows like Bake Off, is pie, pastry and cake-making a sexy business? I think it is. And it’s also an exciting business, so we need to try and attract school-leavers and younger people by making them realise there’s a career to be had,” he told Food Manufacture.
Miles admitted that hiring good quality staff had been a challenge for his company, based in Shotts, north Lanarkshire, but added that it was a problem endemic to the area. He feared that once Brexit happened, the situation was only likely to get worse.
‘Not stuck on a pie machine’
“Both the sector, and us as a business, need to demonstrate to young people that they are not stuck on a pie machine for the rest of their life,” Miles said.
“There are opportunities – whether it be in technical, whether it be in production management – and manufacturers should be communicating this better.
“We’ve got a very good core of young staff that we’ve identified and are giving guidance to.”
More generally, Miles said Brexit would present challenging times for the food industry, and the main impact on his business would be on commodity prices.
However, he believed firms that were “flexible and innovative” would be able to ride out the storm.
“I think, regardless of what business you are, if you’ve got a good team and make good products, you should be able to survive whatever gets thrown at you whether that’s Brexit, market downturns or commodity prices,” he said.
‘Market downturns’
“We buy-forward with a lot of our raw materials – so we’re protected three, six and, in some cases, nine months ahead.
“But, quite honestly, I don’t think anybody really understands what Brexit means. We certainly haven’t seen the real impact yet.”
Bells recently completed the first phase of a £3.6M investment to upgrade its pie and pastry making facilities. The £2.1M outlay more than doubled the firm’s pastry production capacity and created 25 new jobs.
Earlier this year, it was named the fifth most recognised food brand in Scotland, based on research from Kantar Worldpanel.
Don't miss our Me and My Factory feature profile of Miles and the Bells Food Group plant.