Food sector courses need new recipe
A report published by the Government-established Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, in association with FÁS and Enterprise Ireland, outlined the skills requirements of the industry for the future and recommended how these criteria could be met.
It noted that the sector, which directly employs 45,000 people and a further 280,000 indirectly on farms and in sub-supply industries and ancillary services, is currently experiencing unprecedented change.
Dr Daniel O'Hare, chairperson, said the response of the industry, education institutions, training and State support organisations to these changes will be vital. That response will be a key determinant, he said, of whether or not Ireland can retain a vibrant and successful food processing industry into the future.
Dr O'Hare said at this point there were no indications of a need to increase the overall number of graduates entering the sector.
However, there were clear indications of a need to review and rebalance the content of third-level curricula relating to the sector.
Food scientists in the future will need to have a broader understanding of the management needs of the industry.
Managers will need to acquire a clearer appreciation of the importance of long-term planning if the industry is to continue to flourish. Dr O'Hare said it was surprising to learn that of the food-related third-level programmes currently available, only one included food business in its curriculum.
The report indicated that while there are high-profile best practice firms, the food processing sector in Ireland is characterised, in general, by a deficit in strategic planning and human resource planning in particular.
It found that there was evidence of this deficit not only in the curricula of third-level courses but also in on-the-job training courses currently available.
The report also found the training currently being provided to the industry was in the main driven by regulation and legislation. Almost 80% of some 400 courses identified were in the areas of food hygiene and food safety.
While these were areas of significant importance, there was a low incidence of training in strategically important areas such as new product development, operations management and customer relationship management. This means there will have to be a change in focus in employee training, as well as at third-level, to meet the oncoming challenges in the market place.
The report stated there was a requirement to improve the currently "patchy interaction" between the third-level sector and the industry.
It therefore recommended the establishment of a National Innovation in Education Exchange.
It also recommended that existing expertise be built upon, such as in Moorepark for dairy research and training and through the creation of National Centres for Excellence for meat, dairy, consumers foods and biotechnology.
Research and development undertaken in these centres would be translated into practical training and the centres would work with Enterprise Ireland to commercialise the results of their research.
Forfas chief executive Martin Cronin said that the recommendations were focused on ensuring that the food processing sector was well-positioned and equipped to meet the needs of a changing and challenging industry.
