THE NORTH’S food and drinks sectors have escaped the worst of the recession and could be in a position to create up to 15,000 new jobs over the next 10 years, according to an industry body.
Latest research commissioned by the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association shows the industry defied the recession, increasing turnover by 3.3 per cent to £3.2 billion (€3.7 billion) last year.
An analysis conducted by Belfast-based Goldblatt McGuigan shows this generated a £550 million boost for the local economy. In total, the combined agri-food sector delivered an £800 million injection into the North’s economy.
According to the authors of the report, economist Philip McDonagh and Michael Clarke, the sector has the potential to grow annual sales by 40 per cent to £4.5 billion, which would sustain 107,000 jobs in Northern Ireland – generating up to 7,680 new direct jobs and close to the same in downstream employment.
Association chairman Tony O’Neill says the industry can become a catalyst for significant job creation, particularly in the rural economy. “Government aspires to creating a local economy that is less dependent on the public sector. The food and drink industry . . . can help make that aspiration a reality.”
An estimated 20 per cent of all of the North’s private sector employment, or 92,000 people, is now based in the agri-food sector.
According to analysis produced by Goldblatt McGuigan, food and drink processors alone employed 19,200 in 2009. This is more than one-quarter of all manufacturing jobs in the North.
The research shows that average wages in the food and drink industry are “skewed downwards” because the sector tends to have relatively high components of manual labour.
