In a stride towards enhancing food sustainability education, Unilever Food Solutions (UFS) Singapore has partnered with Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP). This collaboration, marked by a memorandum of understanding signed on July 2, 2024, at Nanyang Polytechnic’s L’Rez student-run restaurant, focuses on fostering knowledge sharing and developing talent in sustainable food practices.
The partnership addresses the pressing issue of food wastage in Singapore, where commercial and industrial enterprises contribute significantly to the annual production of 744,000 tonnes of food waste.
To combat this, UFS, a leader in the B2B foodservice sector, has introduced innovations such as the “Low-Waste Menus.” These menus are part of UFS’s effort to use food ingredients wholly and share excesses to minimize waste, aligning with the growing need for resourceful and sustainable food production highlighted in their Future Menus 2024 report.
“Singapore’s food and beverage landscape faces interconnected challenges including food waste and unsustainable use of resources,” said head of country of UFS Singapore, Angeline Tan. “We want to leverage our industry expertise to invest in the next generation of F&B professionals to begin tackling some of these challenges, and we are excited to work with Nanyang Polytechnic to spearhead this.”
Unilever Food Solutions Singapore: Educating the next generation
The collaboration will specifically enrich NYP’s Diploma in Food & Beverage Business program, which currently admits up to 70 students per intake. The partnership entails the development of a new curriculum unit titled Future Food and Sustainability Management.
This unit aims to equip students with skills and knowledge crucial for addressing modern challenges in the food and beverage sector, such as food waste reduction and sustainable resource use.
UFS and NYP plan to extend their collaborative efforts beyond the classroom. They aim to offer workshops, talks, and internships that emphasize practical learning and industry readiness. This initiative not only prepares students to tackle the sustainability challenges of the food and beverage industry but also aligns with Singapore’s broader educational goals of lifelong learning and continuous skill development.
This initiative represents a proactive approach by both Unilever Food Solutions and Nanyang Polytechnic to nurture the next generation of food industry professionals, ensuring they are well-equipped to lead sustainable change in the evolving global food landscape.
“Augmenting education with industry support creates unique ideas and skills to foster innovation,” stated Tan. “Organizations need to break traditional boundaries and make youth a part of the change, inspiring them to think of effective and viable sustainability strategies to create a greener planet for the future.”
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