Packhouse line leader

Agriculture and horticulture production is the initial link in the food chain and landscaping industry, contributing over 14% of the British GDP. As a result they offer exciting, varied and international careers. The industry provides unique opportunities for enthusiastic people to progress in a high tech and innovative environment, working in some of the country’s largest supply chains. Food/plant packhouses collect and process (to varying levels) the fresh product and dispatch to the retailer or move other sites for further processing. They provide a fast paced, customer responsive environment ensuring staff have a stimulating workplace learning a variety of technical, problem solving and supervisory skills. The Packhouse Line Leader is a key supervisory role, helping the company operate efficiently. Line leaders are responsible for a variety of perishable products such as vegetables, fruit, cut flowers and plants. In addition to this you will also be responsible for a team of people and work with machinery and IT systems to achieve systems to achieve production targets under various time, quality, food safety and customer pressures. Successful completion of this apprenticeship will see you become a competent Packhouse Line Leader with a strong set of supervisory skills and a solid knowledge of food/plant production line requirements, which will form a strong basis for future progression in your career. Agricultural and horticultural packhouses will handle a variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, cut flowers and live plants. These products will vary in condition (i.e. unprocessed, washed, cut, packaged, potted etc) but all will have a limited shelf life and very specific storage conditions to maintain product quality and food safety where applicable. The handling and movement of these perishable items requires specialised management to maintain profitability and minimises loses.