Most food manufacturers are talking about recruitment.
Finding good people isn’t easy. Vacancies take longer to fill, experienced candidates are harder to find, and everyone is competing for the same talent.
But there’s another challenge that’s often overlooked.
What happens when years of experience walk out of the door?
The food industry has always relied on knowledge that isn’t written down…
- The judgement and confidence built over years on the factory floor.
- Knowing when something doesn’t feel quite right.
- Remembering why a process changed.
- Spotting a problem before anyone else sees it.
When experienced people retire or move on, that knowledge can disappear with them.
It’s not just today’s vacancies that matter. Manufacturing has an ageing workforce, and Make UK estimates that more than half of manufacturers expect between 6% and 20% of their workforce to retire over the next decade. That’s a huge amount of experience that needs to be passed on before it’s lost.
Experience can’t be replaced overnight
Replacing a person is one thing.
Replacing twenty years of experience is something else.
Every business has people who seem to know everything. They remember previous customer audits, understand why specifications changed and know exactly what happened the last time production faced a similar challenge.
The trouble is, much of that knowledge lives in conversations rather than documents.
By the time someone leaves, it’s often too late.
Key takeaway: Experience is one of the most valuable assets in any food business—but only if it’s shared before it’s lost.
Why training is about more than compliance
Training is often viewed as a way to meet legal requirements or tick off development plans.
Good training does much more than that. It creates the conditions for knowledge to be passed on effectively and provides an opportunity to explain not just what happens, but why.
Just as importantly, practical training creates a shared language across teams. When people are trained well, experienced colleagues can explain processes, highlight risks and pass on practical insight in a way that others can understand and apply, opening the door to valuable conversations.
A simple discussion can unlock years of practical experience.
“We’ve seen this before.”
“Here’s how we dealt with it.”
“This is why we changed the process.”
Those conversations help newer employees develop judgement as well as knowledge.
Four questions every food business should ask
Take a moment and think about your own team.
- If your most experienced employee left tomorrow, what knowledge would leave with them?
- How many important decisions rely on one person’s experience?
- Do newer employees understand why procedures exist, or do they simply follow them?
- Would your team feel confident handling an unexpected issue without their usual “go-to” person?
If those questions are difficult to answer, you’re not alone.
Building stronger teams for the future
The next generation of food professionals brings fresh ideas, digital skills and new ways of thinking. That’s a real strength for the industry.
But they also need opportunities to learn from people who’ve faced the challenges they’re only just beginning to experience.
Training, mentoring and everyday knowledge sharing all have a role to play.
The goal isn’t to replace experience.
It’s to pass it on.
Key takeaway: The strongest businesses don’t just recruit talented people—they make sure experience is shared across the whole team.
What we’ve learned after 35 years
At VWA, we’ve spent more than three decades working alongside food manufacturers, delivering training across HACCP, food safety, and auditing.
One thing has stayed remarkably consistent.
People learn best from people.
The businesses that cope best with change aren’t always the biggest or the best resourced. They’re the ones where experienced people are encouraged to share what they know, and where learning doesn’t stop when the course finishes.
That’s how knowledge stays in the business.
And that’s how stronger teams are built.
Want to strengthen your team’s knowledge?
Whether you’re developing new supervisors, refreshing auditing skills or preparing future technical leaders, the right training helps keep valuable knowledge where it belongs—in your business.
Explore VWA’s food industry training courses or get in touch to discuss how we can support your team.
01756 700802
office@vwa.co.uk