Feeding Britain's Future officially launches

IGD has officially relaunched Feeding Britain’s Future, a movement that aims to mobilise the scale of the food system to build a skilled and future-ready workforce. The ambition is bold: to engage every UK secondary school by 2030, reverse NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) numbers and inspire a generation to make their career in food and drink.

Today’s launch, held at County Hall, London, was attended by leaders from across the food and drink sector. A major new announcement unveiled at the event is a partnership with The Careers & Enterprise Company, the national body for careers education, to deliver high-quality, modern work experience for young people at scale, in collaboration with food businesses across the supply chain.

With youth unemployment surpassing one million¹, reaching a 12-year high, and following the publication of Alan Milburn’s recent Young People and Work interim report², there is growing consensus on the need to better support young people into the world of work and prevent a generation from becoming left behind. The impact of early, high-quality careers education and employer engagement in preventing disengagement and reducing the risk of young people becoming NEET is increasingly well understood. To address this, the government has an ambition for every young person to complete a minimum of two weeks’ worth of work experience by Year 11.

To support this, the pioneering new approach will move beyond traditional block placements for work experience, to a more flexible and scalable model, combining virtual experiences, employer-led projects, site visits and short placements. Designed to be more inclusive and relevant to today’s workplace, the model will help more young people access high-quality, modern work experience, while making it easier for employers to participate.

The new approach to work experience builds on IGD’s successful programme of school workshops which has reached 133,000 young people across a third of UK secondary schools since 2012. The workshops are supported by industry volunteers and are centred on NEET prevention, and evidence shows that prevention works: the highest quality careers provision reduces the likelihood of young people being NEET by 8%³, with double the impact⁴ for young people who receive Free School Meals. As part of Feeding Britain’s Future, the school workshops will become part of a wider package of work experience for young people, to ensure they are getting those vital early interactions, with an ambition to reach 50,000 young people through school workshops in 2027.

The modernised work experience will pilot in 2026 with regional groups across the South, the Midlands and the North of England. Each group will bring together food businesses to create a joined-up ‘farm to fork’ experience for schools. Employers will be able to contribute in different ways, from one-hour engagements to multi-day experiences, allowing a much broader range of businesses to get involved.

The learnings from the pilot scheme will be used to develop resources, templates and guidance to enable committed businesses to deliver modern work experience at scale in 2027.

Sarah Bradbury, Chief Executive at IGD, comments: “Food and drink is one of the UK’s biggest and most diverse sectors, but too many young people still don’t see it as a place to build their future. Through Feeding Britain’s Future, we want to change that by opening up access, raising awareness and creating meaningful experiences of work. I’m proud that, together, we are pioneering a more modern, flexible approach to work experience that is inclusive, relevant and better suited to the world of work today.”

Ashwin Prasad, Tesco UK CEO, said: “For generations, our sector has given millions of people their first experience of work, helping them build confidence, skills and long-term careers in every part of the country.

"At a time when over a million young people are not in education, employment or training, the food and drink industry is determined to step up and do what we can - using our presence in communities across the country and the range of opportunities we offer - to ensure a generation of young people are not cut off from the world of work.

"Feeding Britain’s Future is going to help our industry come together to take practical action, modernising work experience and giving young people earlier exposure to employers, helping unlock talent and building the future workforce the UK economy needs.”

John Yarham, CEO of The Careers & Enterprise Company, said: “Every young person deserves access to meaningful experiences that help them take their best next step. We are proud to partner with IGD to bring together employers from across the food system to create more flexible and inclusive opportunities for young people. By making it easier for employers to get involved, we can help more young people develop the skills, knowledge and confidence they need, reducing the risk of disengagement from education and work, while inspiring a generation to see food and drink as a sector where they can build successful and fulfilling careers.”

Dalton Philips, CEO, Greencore, comments: “This is an industry with real purpose: we feed the nation every day and offer diverse, fulfilling careers, but we need to do more to help young people see that. Greencore employs over 28,000 people, and we’re passionate about creating opportunities and showcasing what a career in food can offer. But attracting the next generation into food and drink is a shared challenge, which is why initiatives like Feeding Britain’s Future are so important in bringing the sector together. We’re proud to be working alongside IGD and partners across the industry to help inspire young people to see our sector as a brilliant place to build their future.”

Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s CEO, said: “Great food starts with great people, which is why attracting and nurturing brilliant talent in the sector really matters. I am proud to be part of a food industry that’s already stepping up to open doors and inspire the next generation into meaningful, lasting careers. Attracting this pipeline of future talent is not an easy task. It requires collaboration from across the sector, which is why I’m so pleased that the IGD have brought us together and developed Feeding Britain’s Future to support these future jobs. By investing in future talent today, we’re helping individuals build fulfilling careers and we’re strengthening the long-term success of the UK’s food system too.”

Alongside modern work experience, Feeding Britain’s Future will also focus on providing accessible, high-quality resources for students, teachers and parents through careers platforms and establishing strategic partnerships with universities to raise the profile of food and drink careers. Plus, free, cross industry early-career learning to build confidence and highlight long-term careers in food and drink, helping train 6,000 learners in 2026.

Why Feeding Britain’s Future is crucial

The launch comes at a critical time for the sector. Food and drink is the UK’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in eight working-age people, yet labour and skills shortages are continuing to intensify across the value chain.

At the same time, over one million young people aged 16 to 24 are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET), underlining the urgent need for more coordinated action to connect young people with pathways into work.

Feeding Britain’s Future has been relaunched to help address both challenges: supporting businesses with future workforce needs while opening up more high-quality opportunities for young people to explore careers in the food system.

The programme builds on a strong foundation. Feeding Britain’s Future was first launched in 2012 to help the food industry respond collectively to the challenge of youth unemployment. Through the programme, 150 food businesses worked with local Jobcentres across the UK to help 30,000 young people develop skills for work. IGD’s schools programme has also delivered skills-for-work training to more than 133,000 young people across a third of UK secondary schools, demonstrating both the scale of the challenge and the sector’s ability to make a meaningful impact when it works together.

IGD is now calling on more food and drink businesses from across the supply chain to get involved in Feeding Britain’s Future. Businesses interested in joining the movement and finding out more can contact: [email protected] or visit: https://www.igd.com/social-impact/workforce/feeding-britains-future.

ENDS

The workforce crisis in numbers. For more detail, read IGD’s report: https://www.igd.com/reports/food-and-drink-workforce-a-quiet-crisis-building/72567

The UK food and drink sector employs 4.1 million people, one in every eight workers; that’s nearly twice the size of the NHS. Yet the industry faces persistent labour and skills shortages showing “little sign of improvement”.
Unemployment has risen by 652,000 since 2022 and economic inactivity now exceeds 9 million, revealing deep structural weaknesses in the UK labour market.

Unemployment rate: 5.2%, masking deep structural weaknesses.
1,012,000 young people aged 16 to 24 years in the UK who were NEET in January to March 2026; this number increased by 89,000 when compared with January to March 2025. While food and drink businesses struggle to fill essential roles, signalling the growing disconnect between labour supply and industry need.
Under 30 representation: 26% agriculture, 33% retail, 46% hospitality (vs 22% UK average).
IGD has trained over 133,000 students through its school’s programme.
Evidence shows that the highest quality careers provision, including employer and provider encounters, reduces the likelihood of young people becoming NEET by around 8% overall, with double the impact in schools serving highest proportions of disadvantaged learners. https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/sites/cweb/files/2026-04/2177%20-%20Careers%20in%20England%202026%20v13%20%281%29.pdf
There are on average 22,000 food system vacancies advertised at any one time (2025 average).
One third of the workforce is now over 50, up from 22% in 1995.

About The Careers & Enterprise Company

The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) is the independent, national body for careers education in England. Its mission is to help every young person find their best next step. It does this by working with primary and secondary schools, colleges and employers to improve careers education and secure better outcomes for young people.

CEC has a regional network of 44 Careers Hubs covering 96% of schools and colleges, in partnership with Mayoral Strategic and Local Authorities, to connect with local skills needs.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Press [email protected]

Notes to editors:

1. All content is owned by IGD. If you use or refer to any content in this press release, please credit IGD.

2. Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/igd/

3. IGD brings together stakeholders from across the food system, fostering action across on critical challenges across a broad cross section of forums. Through evidence-based insights, credible research, and thought leadership, IGD guides businesses to make informed decisions that not only benefit their operations but also contribute to the collective good of society. As a charity with a long-standing commitment to the food and grocery industry, IGD does not advocate for any single commercial interest but works towards fostering alignment on shared goals that can have a positive, lasting impact on both the industry and the communities it serves. Its neutrality and impartiality are key to its role in facilitating collaboration, whether through policy development or addressing emerging risks and opportunities. By staying connected to the changing dynamics of the world, IGD ensures that the food system remains robust and sustainable, creating tangible benefits for businesses, consumers and society.

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/bulletins/youngpeoplenotineducationemploymentortrainingneet/may2026#data-sources-and-quality

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/young-people-and-work-interim-report

[3] https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/sites/cweb/files/uh4jebzc/looking-deeper-at-destinations.pdf

[4] https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/evidence-and-reports/the-benefits-of-gatsby-benchmark-achievement-for-post-16-destinations