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Uniting the food service industry with Choose Hospitality Pledge
Nestlé Professional in the UK leads the call to promote the sector to young people.
As over 40% of food service businesses face skilled worker shortages, the industry worryingly looks set to find difficulty in sourcing young culinary talent.
To understand why, Nestlé Professional teamed up with MMR Research and spoke to young job seekers, young hospitality professionals and industry influencers in the United Kingdom.
They found that many young people who are interested in the food service sector are unaware of available roles and progression, with many seeing it as a ‘back-up career’ with long hours and hard work.
To shift this mindset, Nestlé Professional launched the Choose Hospitality Pledge in the UK in 2023 to encourage food service businesses to be industry ambassadors, while engaging and inspiring young people about a career in this exciting sector.
Businesses become ambassadors to catalyze change and shift negative perceptions about the sector using specially developed materials, speaking aids and opportunities at local schools to help inspire and attract youngsters.
“The Choose Hospitality Pledge is all about inspiring the next generation of hospitality superstars,” said Katya Simmons, Managing Director for Nestlé Professional UK. “Helping us to get young people excited about our industry again, and showcasing hospitality as an incredibly rewarding career with a wide array of roles and progression opportunities,” she added.
“Our hard-hitting team of ambassadors at Choose Hospitality do a fantastic job inspiring young jobseekers to consider a career in the sector,” continued Claire Bosi of Choose Hospitality. “We’re looking forward to working with others in the alliance and taking inspiring ambassadors out to schools, so they can start working their magic!”
Other food service leaders in the UK, such as Springboard and Whitbread, and industry organizations such as Bridging the Skills Gap and the Institute of Hospitality, have also pledged their support.
To date, the alliance has reached 42 schools and over 2,000 students in the country.