There are a total of 16,151 employees in the sector (excluding wholesale of other foods), which is expected to increase by 14% over the next few years mainly in North Wales.  West Wales will see a decline of 12% employment.  The sector accounts for less than 2% of Welsh employment.  To 2014, employment in the Welsh sector is expected to remain static, in contrast to a decline in the UK.  The estimated output of the sector is £597 million, representing 3% of Gross Domestic Product.

There are 395 food and drink enterprises in the Wales of which bakery comprises more than a quarter.  The meat, bakery and dairy industries dominate the Welsh sector. 

The major industries in Wales are:

• manufacturing of bread (35%)
• production and processing of meat and poultry (14%)
• operation of dairies, cheese and ice-cream (12%)
• processing/preserving fruit and vegetables (5%)

Changes in employment differ across the range of occupations.  Greater than average increases are expected for:

• product managers (27%)
• specialist managers (30%)
• scientific technicians (52%) 

All other occupations will increase, but at a lower than average rate.

85% of the workforce are employed full-time, 10% part-time and 5% are self-employed (which are similar proportions to figures for the UK food and drink sector).  67% of the workforce are male

The sectoral workforce in Wales is less well qualified compared to other sectors in Wales.  82.1% of the sector’s workforce are qualified Level 2 or below, compared with 65.6% in all industries in Wales.  7.8% of the sector workforce are qualified to Level 4 or higher, compared with 23.3% for all industries in Wales.

11% of food and drink companies in Wales report vacancies which are hard-to-fill vacancies.  This is believed to be the result of the remoteness of many companies.

Skills gaps within the sector are the same (18%) as for all sectors (18%).  The proportion of skills gaps is much lower than the English national figure (38%).  For operatives, there are skills shortages for generic skills including communication, motivation and punctuality.  Administrative and secretarial occupations (10%) together with transport and machine operatives (4%) have the highest incidence of skills gaps.

Expected future challenges for the sector include addressing: the lack of quality applicants; and improving the image of the sector and profession.

Source: Improve Skills Needs Analysis (volume 2) 2006 and Futureskills Wales 2000

For more Welsh data on the sector go to the Improve website.