Increase productivity and boost profits
Let’s get going, the NSAFD is your industry go to for staff skills that improve efficiencies. We’re the food & drink industry’s dedicated, not-for-profit, skills specialist. We’re led by the industry, built around your needs and totally dedicated to your success.
We’re all about your skills
As industry-led experts on skills, we act as an influential advocate to administrations of all UK nations on relevant skills policy.
A chance for change
2024 request for a skills system reset to power jobs and growth in Food & Drink Manufacturing in England.
Events Calendar
26/03
Basic Microbiology in Food & Drink Manufacturing
26th March 2025 at 12pm
Teams


01/04
Apprenticeship Strategy
1st April 2025 at 10am - 4pm
Milner Hotel, York

24/04
Apprenticeship Strategy
24th April 2025
Teams
12/05
Learning at work Week
12-16th May 2025
Teams - Full timetable coming soon
22/05
Apprenticeship Strategy
22nd May 2025
Teams

More dates coming soon
Food & Drink Careers Passport
The Food & Drink Careers Passport ®, exclusively available via the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink is a passport to all the essential knowledge needed for working in UK Food & Drink Manufacturing industry.
Developed in partnership with major food & drink manufacturing businesses, the new Food & Drink Careers Passport from the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink is the complete package. It’s based around accessible online learning of all the core areas applicants need to work in the industry.
Course content leading to the Passport has been specially selected and written by subject matter experts from the Food Manufacturing Industry. Already widely-used across the sector, the NSAFD’s official Food & Drink Passport courses are updated annually by industry representatives to ensure they are always fully in line with industry knowledge needs.
Once completed, qualifications are registered on the national Passport database hosted by the NSAFD – giving everyone full transparency and speeding up the entire compliance and induction process.
Get FREE Food Safety learning for ALL staff
Every single one of your people is entitled to FREE online Level 2 Food Safety, HACCP Level 2 or Health & Safety Level 2 courses when your business become a Member of the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink’s Employer Services Network.
Members also benefit from an across-the-board discount of 20% on best available e-learning via our dedicated Online Academy – key learning totally devoted to food and drink and all in one place.
Membership gives you multiple advantages. Find out more today.


Take the hassle out of Apprenticeships
Whatever size your business, we're your go-to for food & drink Apprenticeship information and support.
Easily assess the initial skills and knowledge of staff embarking on an apprenticeship, track progress and keep learning evidence handy with our Occupational Assessment Tool specially designed to keep everything you need to comply with funding rules at your fingertips.
For small businesses, our Apprenticeship Toolkit has all the information and advice you need to get up to speed.
Tasty Careers
Tasty Careers is designed as a game changer – bringing together industry career information and live industry vacancies all in one place and making them instantly accessible to the smartphone generation.
Download Our FREE Skills Insights & Labour Market Report
One of the most significant challenges within the FDMP sector is lack of labour, with widespread reports of unfilled vacancies and rising wages. This report reviews the key influences and highlights the skills required to enable the industry to continue to thrive.
Download our report today.
Skills Insights & Labour Market Report
Latest News
Food and drink sector bucks the national trend and hires more apprentices
Food and drink sector bucks the national trend and hires more apprentices UK food and drink businesses are responding to labour shortages by hiring more area-specific apprentices, new figures reveal. According to data from the Department for Education, the...
New Courses for 2023 at Verner Wheelock
New Courses for 2023 at Verner Wheelock Food industry training experts Verner Wheelock are introducing two new courses for 2023. Managing Vegan Requirements has been developed to help managers understand what constitutes a vegan product, how to comply with vegan...
Kickstart success sees 65 new entrants into UK food manufacturing careers
The National Skills Academy for Food & Drink (NSAFD) has released a detailed review of the success of the food manufacturing industry's support for the Government's Kickstart scheme to offer young people life-changing paid work experience. Some 65 young people,...
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