Do you graduate in 2010? It may seem a while off; in fact, it probably is. However major players in the food industry don't seem to think so. Due to many of the blue chip food manufacturers putting all their graduate recruitment on hold in 2008 and 2009, they seem to be planning ahead for a 2010 intake. So although you may not graduate for over a year, and are certainly not looking for any post-grad employment for the next 18 months, this does not mean that many companies will not be looking for you.
This method of proactive search not only means that graduates can secure places early and get the type of graduate scheme they desire, it also could be considered in some opinions to be giving clients access to the more 'on-the-ball' graduates, who are also proactive in their searching - maybe due to their hard-working nature or their desire to take advantage of the best opportunities available to them, these graduates will get their grad schemes sorted before many of the 'I'll-do-it-tomorrow' grads even start looking.
Not only this, graduates of 2010 will not just be competing against other students graduating that year, but also against the 300,000 students who graduated in 2009, many of which will be eager to secure graduate schemes after facing the industry-wide graduate recruitment freeze in 2008/09.
What this says for the food industry? On the one hand it may suggest that the larger food companies have adjusted to the current economic conditions and are now able to take on new employees. However on the other hand it may imply that these same companies anticipate a more productive and profitable 2011 and thus are planning accordingly - otherwise, they wouldn't be taking on graduates, right?
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