FDBusiness.com

One of Britain’s biggest food producers has announced its full support of a new graduate scheme which is targeting new talent for the future of British agriculture. 2 Sisters Food Group is supporting the launch of the Government’s Agriculture-Technologies Strategy with its retail partner Sainsbury’s.

This first-of-its-kind agricultural graduate scheme is designed to shape innovation in British farming and engage young people.

A Sainsbury’s graduate is coming to work at 2 Sisters Food Group’s agriculture team later this year, gaining an insight into how the team works with farmers and retailers to deliver the right products for customers. The graduate will focus on some key projects relating to product quality, impacted by the way the chickens are farmed.

Ranjit Singh, chief executive of 2 Sisters Food Group, says: “Like our partner Sainsbury’s, we recognise the importance of attracting young people into our industry – and developing the talent of the future. I’m delighted to support this initiative and back our youngsters to ensure we have a healthy and productive agriculture sector in the future.”

Michelle Waterman, group agriculture director at 2 Sisters Food Group, adds: “We wholeheartedly agree with our retail partners that a big problem is the fact that the farming population is ageing, so it’s important to have young people enter the industry and help to drive innovation and secure the future. With 2 Sisters backing this initiative, it brings benefits for the whole supply chain – from farmers through to our customer – the retailers – and the end consumer.”

The unique scheme is closely aligned with the Government’s Agri-tech strategy by attracting the brightest young talent into the industry and creating the next generation of leaders to ensure British farming can lead on a global scale.

The graduates start in September and will spend six months at 2 Sisters as part of their two-year programme with Sainsbury’s.

“Farming is one of the biggest industries in the UK which is why we think it’s so important to plan for the future now,” points out Judith Batchelar, director of Sainsbury’s Brand and co-chair of the Agri-Tech Leadership Group. “This is also a new way of working for industry, as for the first time we will running this scheme in collaboration with our end to end supply chain partners.”