EC’s TrackFast Project: Training Requirements and Careers for Knowledge-based Food Science and Technology in Europe

By Katherine Flynn, Erik Wahnstrom Mona Popa and Mafalda Quintas

Abstract:

Training food scientists and technologists (FSTs) to have appropriate skills begins with identification of those skills most desired by employers. Between March 2010 and August 2011, sixteen (16) workshops in sixteen (16) countries had 315 local FST employers contribute ideas of skills desired in their FSTs. Attendees provided as many skills as possible and these descriptive data were quantified then analysed withmultiple contingency tables and chi squared testing. Of 3348 skill ideas provided, the most desired skill overall was Communicating, identified 13% of the time. Separate analysis of the 792 food sector skills indicated  Product Development, at 28%, as the most desired. Geographical region, employment area and FST level of responsibility all significantly influenced the top 3 choices of overall skills and of food sector skills, indicating that most desired skills in the food industry are not uniform. These results should contribute to the improvement of FST training and thus benefit the European food industry.

Industrial Relevance:

The data presented here suggest that improvements in FST training, particularly the acquisition of ‘soft skills’, will improve Europe’s food workforce as these are the skills employers most desire. These data further suggest that geographical region significantly influences those skills most desired by industrial employers. Differences in desired skills at different levels of FST responsibility further suggest that continual FST training, i.e. continuing professional development, will contribute to improved FST performance and thus contribute to increased innovation and competitiveness of the food and drink industry.

Highlights:

• Employers of food scientists and technologists (FSTs) told us which skills they desire.
• Communicating was the number one skill desired by all FST employers.
• Overall, soft skills are more in demand than food  sector specific skills.
• Product development was the number one food sector specific skill.
• Desired skill varied by geographical region, FST level and employment area.

Full details are available at:

Flynn, K, Wahnstrom, E, Popa, M and Quintas, MAC (2012) Ideal skills for European food scientists and technologists: Identifying most desired knowledge, skills and competencies. Innov. Food Sci. Emerg. Technol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2012.09.004. This paper was available online on 14 September 2012.

Katherine Flynn is with the European Association for Food Safety, ‘SAFE Consortium’, Rue Vanderborght 20, Brussels 1081, Belgium; Erik Wahnstrom is with SIK – The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, Box 55401, SE-402 29 Gothenburg, Sweden; Mona Popa is at the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, 59 Marasti Boulevard, 011464 Bucharest 1, Romania; and Mafalda Quintas is with CBQF/Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Rua Dr Antonio Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072, Porto, Portugal.