Canning and Food Preservation Industry Workers :Job Description, Education, Skills and Duties, Earnings and Outlook
Submitted by: paula
Job Overview Many food nowadays are instant. With the kind of lifestyle many workers have, it has become rampant to patronize food that are in cans, ready to eat, or if not, pre-preapared for cooking. This demand accounted for the increase in the canned good and instant and preserved food in the market. The people who are responsible in bringing these goods to the market and to the people are then called the canning and preserving industry workers. They perform routine tasks and monitor equipment involved in food processing plants of different kinds, that preserve and quick freeze fresh food. They also process seafoods aside from the usual beef, pork and poultry as well as vegetables. There are a lot of positions available in this industry. Among the examples are as follows: field contractors, purchasing agents, graders including the fruit buying graders, wharft laboreres, fish cleaners, fish smokers, briners, lay peeloperators, fruit press operators, vaccum kettle cooks, pasteurizers.
Education, Knowlege and Trainings Required
There are definitely no specific nor a minimum requirement for the many food processing jobs. Most employers however, give more priorities and preference to high school graduates that is why a high school diploma is essential to get in the job easily. As for the training, many plants conduct a period of general orientation and specific trainings for the role that they will play in the workplace. This will guide them on how they will perform their duties well in their respective areas of responsibilities.
Skills and Abilities
Manual dexterity is the most common skill that is needed in many of those positions stated above. The skills and abilities of a worker in canning and preserving industry depend on their role in the food preservation or processing plants. Take for example, a pasteurizer should have the ability to operate the pasteurizer and be adept in the whole process of pasteurization. Another example is the grader. A grader should have a critical and analytical thinking skills to be able to evaluate which products are of good quality and which are of poor quality and sort them for different purposes. Overall, they should have the basic knowledge in the food processing, preservation and canning processes adopted by the company that they work with.
Duties
There are many positions invloved in this industry. There are field contractors, purchasing agents, graders including the fruit buying graders, wharft laboreres, fish cleaners, lay peel operators, fruit press operators, vaccum kettle cooks, pasteurizers, to name a few.
The duties of the canning and preserving industry workers will definitely depend on the job title and description as this industry works on division of labor. Take for example, the purchasing agents are employees of this industry who negotiate with the best fruit or meat source that suits the quality and the budget. Another example is the vacuum kettle cooks. These cooks use vaccum cooking equipment in cooking fruits such as berries for jellies and fruit jamsIn a large plant, more workers are employed and more workers are doing specialized tasks. On the other hand, in smaller plants, one worker may be in charge of and perform several tasks.
Earnings and Job Outlook
The full time income of any of the wokers in the canning and food preservation industry averages to around 25,000 U.S. dollars in a year. Majority of the positions especially the entry level ones are being paid a little more than the minimum wage. It is expected slowing down in the growth of employment in this industry as many of the companies are already adopting automated and computerized technology in food processing and preservation.
Paula Hiz is a researcher and a human resource specialist who helps newly graduates, job applicants and post graduate professionals be aware of their job opportunities and available trainings for skills and practice upgrading.
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