The food industry holds plenty of potential, with food jobs across a wide spectrum of areas that can all be long-term viable careers. Some of them are more exciting than others, of course! If you want to get into the food industry but you want to do something a bit more special, consider these career paths.
New Product Development
Working in the NPD kitchen is a chance to create new foods and flavours, and then see them eaten all across the country – or maybe the globe.
Food Photographer
Creating glossy images for packaging and advertising can be a lot of fun. You get to set your own hours if you are working freelance, and the pay can be very lucrative! Plus you get to engage your creative side all the time.
Continuous Improvement Specialist
If you are always looking at things and seeing how they could be changed for the better, this is a job for you. There is a lot of data and analysis involved, but you will be making real changes.
Advertising and Marketing
If you work in the advertising department, you could be directing and creating campaigns that will be shown widely. You will see your ideas come to life right in front of you, and will work with a lot of exciting and creative people – including celebrities if your brand is big enough!
Company Founder
Having your own company is something that most people only dream of. As the founder of a food and drink brand, you will see your dream grow from just an idea to something you can pick up at your local supermarket. How exciting is that?
Packaging Specialist
It’s an exciting time to work in packaging right now, with lots of changes coming thick and fast. Companies are looking for more sustainable, green solutions, and they want to get them as cheaply as possible. If you like a challenge, this is a great time to be working on packaging development!
Graphic Designer
All food that comes packaged needs some kind of design for the packaging. Companies need logos too, not to mention graphics for social media and websites! Being a graphic designer is an endlessly creative job which might just push you to use your imagination every working day.
Head Chef
Working as a chef is exhausting – you have to work long hours, any mistake can be extremely successful, and you will find yourself getting yelled at for most of the day. But when you make it up to head chef, that’s when you can really shine. You can design your own menus, lead a team, and you get all of the praise – and you can aim for prestigious awards, like Michelin stars, to enhance your career.
There are plenty of jobs on offer in the food industry, and while not all of them may be this exciting, many of them are fulfilling. If you are passionate about food, there’s a lot of opportunity out there to turn that into a career.
