Interest in the Food Industry

Interest appears to be on the increase for careers in the food industry as Loughry Campus – College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) held the first in this year’s series of information evenings for food courses starting in September.

The event, based on a theme of career opportunities, attracted over 50 attendees, who heard presentations from industry speakers and Loughry graduates who are now employed in management and trainee management positions. Malcolm Emery, Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Seafood and Chairman of the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association (NIFDA) Management Board, outlined the challenges for the future of the food industry and how high calibre graduates will play a major part in its success and development. Malcolm commented;

The future will present as many opportunities as it will challenges. Small and medium sized local business will find it increasingly difficult to compete in commodity volume markets so instead will focus on technical development and high value added systems. To do this, high calibre graduates with a food related qualification, such as those on offer at Loughry will be key to their success.

Derek McDowell, Head of Food Technology Education at Loughry Campus highlighted that currently Loughry has three jobs for every graduate some excellent starting salaries in the range of £18K – £21K. For the past three years 100% of Loughry graduates have gained employment or went onto postgraduate education. Parents and students were impressed by the range of career opportunities and starting salaries achieved by Loughry graduates and the very competitive tuition fees of Loughry’s degree programmes that could result in saving of thousands or pounds over their course of study