The University of Abertay and Dundee and Angus College in partnership with Food & Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland and Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) delivered a successful Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL) event to inspire educators and career influencers about the wealth of career opportunities within the Hospitality, Tourism and Food & Drink Manufacturing industries.

“The food and drink manufacturing industry is the largest manufacturing sector in Scotland and the rest of the UK. In Scotland, the industry accounts for 30% of the total manufacturing sector by turnover and employ 43,000 people across 1,015 businesses, of which 95% are micro to medium- sized. Food science, marketing, IT, engineering, new product development, research, analysis, operational efficiency, microbiology, sustainability, procurement, law, PR, logistics are just some of the careers available in the food and drink industry.” (fdfscotland.org.uk)

STEM subjects are vital to the food and drink industry and the event, that was held at Abertay on the 26th September, highlighted the skills required by employers, the relevance of STEM curriculum subjects to different careers/progression pathways and career routes available in this dynamic and exciting sector.

The event brought together 17 teachers from secondary schools across Dundee and Angus. Moira Stalker, Skills Manager from FDF Scotland opened the event with an overview of the food and drink manufacturing industry. We also heard from Dr Anthia Tziboula-Clarke Senior Lecturer at Abertay’s School of Applied Science and Albert Close, Hospitality and Professional Cookery Curriculum and Quality Leader at Dundee & Angus College about the different qualifications and progression routes into industry offered by Abertay and through apprenticeships with a focus on foundation apprenticeships.

This was followed by 3 insightful and different career journey talks from, Kristy Reynolds the Learning and Development Manager at Dawnfresh, Kirsty Black Distillery Manager & Distiller at Arbikie Highland Estate and Cristina Ruiz Alonso Allocations Manager at Agrico.

After the talks, teachers headed to the laboratories for some hands on STEM activities that demonstrated the links between science and careers in food and drink that they could use in the classroom. Pamela Duke Science Head of Curriculum and Quality at Dundee & Angus College then supported the teachers to carry out some experiments about the fundamentals of food Science – one of the topics covered in the Food and Drink Foundation Apprenticeship.

Dr Anthia Tziboula-Clarke then demonstrated a few experiments that the University of Abertay developed in partnership with FDF Scotland, Education Scotland and the Scottish Schools Education Research Centre (SSERC) that can be used in the classroom to directly support the chemistry curriculum and help learners and teachers to understand the application of chemistry in the food and drink industry.

If you were unable to attend this training event but are interested in finding out more about how you can use these resources in the classroom visit click here!

The event was concluded with a really informative talk from Owen Hazel, co-owner of Jannettas Gelateria in St Andrews about the STEM skills needed by their staff to make their famous gelato… and of course a taste test!

If you are a school interested in finding out more about DYW events or are a business interested in engaging with local young people please don’t hesitate to get in touch with DYW Dundee and Angus – we can support you throughout – contact@dywtaycities.co.uk