Technical & NPD: Monthly Sector Spotlight
Monthly Sector Spotlight: Technical & NPD
Welcome back to New Chapter’s Monthly Sector Spotlight! Each month we take a deep dive into each of the sectors we recruit into at New Chapter. This month we sat down with Joe who recruits into the Technical & NPD space.
Here he is!
Joe is a Senior Recruitment Consultant here at New Chapter. He focuses mainly on recruiting into the NPD and Technical space in the Food and Drinks industry.
Joe has amassed a wealth of experience in NPD & Technical space after 9 years recruiting for some of the biggest food and drinks brands in the UK.
Food! And Drinks! What’s not to be interesting?
The people; Working with people are at the forefront of their sector, creating, developing, keeping food safe and consistently on our plates.
Also the fact you can be dealing with people who are creating food that you will see every day.
I recruit into NPP (New Product Development) and Technical or Operations positions.
The main changes would be the loss to the hospitality sector, with lockdowns over the last year. Also Brexit has created various challenges with supply chain across Europe. Although these issues should return to normal practise towards the back end of this year.
Other changes would be more consumer led, as people are becoming more conscious of where are food is coming from and what is doing to our bodies. This has resulted in growth within Non-alcohol or low alcohol drinks (30% last year), vegan and vegetarian products.
In the wake of food and drink documentaries such as ‘Game Changers and ‘Seaspiracy’, consumers are demanding more ethical food and transparency for where food has come from leading to more pressure on suppliers and supermarkets to be open with their practises.
NPD has taken a small dip during the COVID pandemic and there has been an increase in need for Technical staff ensuring food safety however there has been no major changes over recent years just constant growth.
The technical & NPD industry will definitely continue to grow as people will always need to eat.
