Food production jobs involve preparing meals and serving food in a variety of different settings and facilities. Food production workers will often perform tasks like receiving food items, ensuring food is stored properly, operating food processing equipment, mixing ingredients and assessing the quality of the food items that they are handling.
If you work a food production job, you can find yourself in a variety of industries such a meatpacking, canneries, food packaging and many others. Food production involves a variety of different practices that vary depending on what industry you work in. Some of these practices include mincing, macerating, liquefaction, cooking, pasteurization, canning and packaging. As a food production worker you can work full time or part time in places like factories or restaurants. You will generally report to a food production manager. You may also be expected to work weekend shifts as part of your job description.
The wages of food production workers will vary based on their level of experience in the field. Wages start at about $15.00 per hour on the low end. With years of experience and skills added to your repertoire, your wages as a food production worker can increase up to approximately $30.00 per hour.
Food production jobs can involve numerous different tasks depending on what setting you’re working in. Some of the day-to-day tasks that food production workers will complete include:
A food production worker can work in any industry where the handling of food products is involved. There are several levels of the supply chain that food production moves through. As a food production worker, you can choose to work in a factory setting, in a laboratory, in transportation, or in a restaurant or fast food location.
A food production worker is expected to have a variety of different skills and abilities and will build on these throughout their career in food production. Some skills that are necessary to work in food production jobs include:
If you are interested in food production jobs, the minimum requirement is generally a high school diploma. In addition to this there are many certifications that one can work towards that help to ensure safe and sanitary management of food and food products. For example, the Food Technology, Safety and Quality Diploma can help students earn a foundation of knowledge to develop, implement and maintain food safety to ensure that products comply with national and international safety and quality standard. Other certifications such as the Food Handling Certificate may also be necessary to work in many food and beverage related environments.
For experienced and skilled food production workers, there are multiple different opportunities for your future. Many individuals will move into supervisory and managerial positions. Once you reach a more experienced level, you might also be involved in the training of new, unexperienced employees which may also involve a pay increase. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the constantly changing practices of food production and food handling to ensure that your knowledge continues to remain valuable in the industry.