THE Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA) has launched a new initiative designed to help attract new talent into the sector.
FPA Young & Emerging Professionals (YEP) aims to support people at the start of their careers and give emerging professionals a stronger voice in the future of the sector. The programme will launch at the FPA Environment Seminar next month, with 10 complimentary places available to young and emerging professionals nominated by FPA member companies.
Built around four ambitions – attract, connect, develop and amplify – YEP will help to showcase the breadth of opportunities available across foodservice packaging. Future activity is expected to include networking, mentoring, member site visits, professional and technical development, STEM and careers outreach, digital and AI skills, and opportunities to contribute to FPA events and industry discussions.
Ellen Daniels, FPA CEO said, “Foodservice packaging is an extraordinarily varied industry, but we don’t always do enough to show people the range of careers and opportunities available within it. YEP is about changing that. We want to help emerging professionals understand the wider industry they are part of, meet people outside their own businesses, develop their knowledge and confidence and, importantly, have a voice in the discussions that will shape their careers.
“We also want to help our members recognise and develop the talent already within their organisations while creating stronger links with the vocational, technical, STEM and other pathways that can bring new people into the sector. The Environment Seminar is the ideal place to begin. It gives our first YEP cohort access to many of the people and issues shaping the future of foodservice packaging – and we want them to help us shape what YEP becomes next.”
