According to Sweden's food strategy, more food will be produced in Sweden. We will become a competitive and sustainable food nation in a global market and employment in the sector will increase.
7% of employees in the food sector are currently scientists. More natural scientists are needed to strengthen the sector's innovative power and tackle the challenges it faces.
Animal health is important for meat production, and as we want to cover the whole food chain here, it is included.
The food industry provides employment:
- Nearly 10,000 professionals with a science degree.
- Approximately 3,600 of these have a science degree, which is common among Naturvetarnas members (excluding veterinarians and the like).
- Just over 43% work in agriculture, 30% in food and 27% in animal health.
An industry facing several challenges
Sweden has knowledge, innovation, environmental awareness, the lowest use of antibiotics in the EU, good animal welfare and natural resources. The challenges are lack of profitability, fierce international competition, climate change and environmental problems. In this context, it is interesting to note that some of the more innovative part of the food industry has started to drift into the life science industry.
A large proportion of scientists in the sector have their own farms, which is why 55% run their own business. This can be related to the fact that 3% of all working scientists run businesses.
Natural scientists in the agricultural sector rarely have a doctoral degree. Animal health is the most knowledge-intensive sector, although veterinarians are not included in the compilation.
Most common titles in the food industry
- Dietician
- Administrator
- Veterinary nurse
- Manager (department, unit, group/intermediate, product, quality)
- Animal welfare inspector/officer
- Food inspector
- Scientist/Researcher
- Veterinarian 9. Advisor (Advisor)
- Agricultural consultant