In an effort to engage more students in the food and beverage processing sector, Food and Beverage Ontario (FBO) has created a new bursary competition.
The competition is aimed at encouraging students to make contributions to the food and beverage processing sector and look to it as a possible sector for employment.
The FBO conducted research in 2015 in order to better understand their audiences and develop strategies and techniques. They found that while awareness of opportunities in the industry is low, Ontarians, particularly youth, want to learn more.
Using this information, the Taste Your Future campaign was launched in January of 2015 as part of a three-year initiative to create jobs in Ontario. The campaign shares stories, videos and more about education and job opportunities to familiarize people within the industry and help find them their place within it. There is a brief quiz to help you match interests with career opportunities.on their website, tasteyourfuture.ca.
As part of the Taste Your Future campaign, the FBO has created a new bursary competition to award students who make a contribution to the food and beverage processing sector.
Students can choose to create specific products and flavours as a “Maker and Designer” or create software applications, tools or machinery for food and beverage manufacturing as a scientist, programmer and engineer.
Makers and Designers must be able to answer questions such as, “What need does this product meet? Who would buy this product? How would you market this product?”
Scientists, engineers and programmers must answer the following questions, “ What problem does this solve? Who would use your process, app, tool, or machine? How would you market it?
This contest is open to both high school students and post-secondary students, and a winner will be selected from each category. The winners will each be awarded $2,000, industry membership with an employee of an Ontario food and beverage processing company for 12 months, two hours of resume coaching support, and tickets to the 2017 FBO annual meeting for increased industry.
Students interested in entering this competition can submit a video presenting their idea at tasteyourfuture.ca/contest. All entries must be submitted by March 31, 2017.
