The Food and Drink Forum

What The Food and Drink Forum does

The Food and Drink Forum, legally The National Skills Academy for Food & Drink (NSAFD), is a UK non-profit founded in 1998 that delivers membership-based skills, training, and compliance services to the country's food and drink manufacturing sector. Its core offering is a five-tier SME Membership programme, priced from £100 to £1,850 per year based on employer headcount (1 to 250 employees), bundled with a suite of services. These include the Food and Drink Compliance Passport — four online Level 2 courses (Food Safety L2, Health & Safety L2, HACCP L2, Allergen Awareness) endorsed by the Food Standards Agency and BRC — remote small-business workshops, HR and Apprenticeship strategy meetings, free vacancy advertising on the Tasty Careers recruitment platform, and (at higher tiers) dedicated Tasty Careers Ambassadors and advisory hours on skills issues. Members access the offering via the NSAFD portal, with separate branded portals operated for SMEs (SME Login), the Food and Drink Careers Portal (FDCP), and an Online Assessment Tool (OAT).

Underlying technology consists of an online learning platform hosting compliance training content, a portal membership infrastructure, the Tasty Careers job-advertising website, and an assessment portal (OAT). The organisation also publishes complementary resources, including a T Level Toolkit for Food & Drink employers and a Skills Insight and Labour Market Focus report.

The business model is direct-to-SME subscription sales via the NSAFD website and contact outreach, supplemented by lead-gated research/toolkit downloads. Revenue is generated entirely through tiered recurring annual membership fees, discounts on NSAFD products and services, and (implicitly) any advisory-hour overage at higher tiers. Marketing is conducted organically through LinkedIn, the NSAFD and Tasty Careers websites, and remote workshops. Customer concentration is distributed by design across UK food and drink SMEs of varying sizes, with large manufacturers also described as network members to support peer networking value for smaller members.

Name

The Food and Drink Forum

Legal name

The National Skills Academy for Food & Drink

Website

https://foodanddrinkforum.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Food and Drink Forum (legally The National Skills Academy for Food & Drink) is a UK non-profit membership organisation, founded 1998, providing tiered compliance training, skills development, and recruitment services to small and medium food and drink manufacturers (1-250 employees) across the United Kingdom.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industry Training and Skills Development

akta.pro primary industry

Nutrition, Special Diets & Wellness Cooking (EDAOAKAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Training, Enablement & Talent Development Summits (THAHAMAH)

Keywords

• Industry training services
• Food safety compliance
• Workforce skills development
• SME membership programs
• Apprenticeship strategy

Headquarters

HQ city

Nottingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. SME Membership Fees: Tiered annual membership fees based on number of employees. Provides access to compliance training, workshops, HR meetings, vacancy advertising on Tasty Careers, and NSAFD portal access.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Food and Drink Forum (operating as The National Skills Academy for Food & Drink / NSAFD) is a UK-based non-profit membership organization that helps food and drink manufacturers upskill their workforce. It sells tiered SME Membership packages (Levels 1–5, based on headcount) that bundle an online learning platform, compliance training courses (Food Safety L2, Health & Safety L2, HACCP L2, Allergen Awareness), remote workshops, HR and apprenticeship strategy meetings, and free vacancy advertising via the Tasty Careers recruitment platform.

Product overview

The National Skills Academy for Food & Drink (The Food and Drink Forum) operates as a membership-based skills and training organization for the UK food and drink manufacturing industry. The core offering is the SME Membership programme, a tiered system (Levels 1-5) providing access to the Food and Drink Compliance Passport training bundle (Food Safety L2, Health & Safety L2, HACCP L2, and Allergen Awareness courses), small business workshops, HR & Apprenticeship strategy meetings, and the Tasty Careers recruitment platform. Members also receive access to the NSAFD portal and, at higher tiers, dedicated Tasty Ambassadors and advisory hours on skills-related issues.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SME Membership Tiered membership for UK small and medium food and drink manufacturers (1–250 employees), granting access to the Food and Drink Compliance Passport training bundle, remote small business workshops, HR and Apprenticeship strategy meetings, NSAFD portal access, and free vacancy advertising on Tasty Careers. Higher tiers add remote meetings, Tasty Ambassadors, and skills advisory hours.
• Food and Drink Compliance Passport A bundled suite of four online compliance training courses (Food Safety Level 2, Health & Safety Level 2, HACCP Level 2, Allergen Awareness) for UK food and drink manufacturing employees. All courses are endorsed by the Food Standards Agency and BRC and are accessible via the NSAFD online learning portal as part of SME Membership.
• Food Safety Level 2 Online Level 2 food safety training course for employees in the UK food and drink manufacturing sector. Endorsed by the Food Standards Agency and BRC.
• Health & Safety Level 2 Online Level 2 health and safety training course for employees in the UK food and drink manufacturing sector. Endorsed by the Food Standards Agency and BRC.
• HACCP Level 2 Online Level 2 HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) training course for employees in the UK food and drink manufacturing sector. Endorsed by the Food Standards Agency and BRC.
• Allergen Awareness Online allergen awareness training course for food handlers and preparers in the UK food and drink manufacturing sector. Endorsed by the Food Standards Agency and BRC.
• Tasty Careers A specialised careers website for the UK food and drink sector that provides free vacancy advertising for SME members and supports employer branding and talent attraction across the industry.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Food Standards AgencycoreOthersFood Standards Agency endorses NSAFD's compliance training programmes including Food Safety Level 2, Health & Safety Level 2, HACCP Level 2, and Allergen Awareness.
• BRC (Brand Reputation through Compliance)coreOthersBRC endorses NSAFD's Food and Drink Compliance Passport training programmes.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Highfield Awarding Body for Compliance (HABC): UK awarding body offering regulated compliance qualifications including Food Safety, HACCP, Allergen Awareness, and Health & Safety. Comparable to NSAFD as a provider of the same core Level 2 compliance courses, though HABC is a regulated awarding organisation rather than a membership-based academy.
• Improve: UK-based skills and training organisation dedicated to the food and drink manufacturing sector, providing apprenticeships, vocational training, and workforce development. Closely comparable to NSAFD in target audience (UK food manufacturers), service mix (training + workforce development), and not-for-profit orientation.

Broad incumbents

• Campden BRI: Major UK food industry research, training, and technical services organisation serving food manufacturers with HACCP, food safety, and quality training. Comparable to NSAFD in training topics (food safety, HACCP) and customer base (UK food manufacturers), but operates as a larger, science-led commercial entity.
• Food and Drink Federation (FDF): UK trade association for food and drink manufacturers that offers skills and workforce policy advocacy alongside networking and member services. Comparable to NSAFD as a sector-wide membership body, though FDF focuses on industry representation while NSAFD focuses on direct training delivery.
• City & Guilds: UK vocational awarding body offering regulated qualifications across food safety, hospitality, and manufacturing. Comparable to NSAFD in delivering vocational compliance certifications to UK workforce learners, though City & Guilds operates across multiple sectors at significantly larger scale.
• BRCGS (Brand Reputation through Compliance Global Standards): Global standards body (successor to BRC) setting food safety and quality benchmarks, offering training and certification programmes. Comparable to NSAFD as an endorser of food safety training and a participant in UK regulatory training infrastructure, though BRCGS is a standards-setter rather than a direct training provider.
• Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH): UK professional body offering food safety, HACCP, and allergen awareness qualifications to the food workforce. Comparable to NSAFD on training content (Food Safety, HACCP, Allergen Awareness) and UK regulatory alignment, though CIEH operates as a chartered awarding body rather than an industry-specific membership academy.
• NSF International (Training): Global food safety and compliance organisation offering training, certification, and consulting to food manufacturers. Comparable to NSAFD on food safety/HACCP training content and FSA/BRC-aligned curriculum, though NSF operates globally and at significantly larger scale.

Emerging players

• SGS Academy: Training arm of global testing, inspection and certification company SGS, delivering food safety, HACCP, and quality management courses to manufacturers. Comparable to NSAFD on course content and target audience (food manufacturers seeking compliance training), with broader geographic reach.
• Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST): UK professional body for food scientists and technologists offering membership, continuing professional development, and industry events. Comparable to NSAFD as a membership-based food industry body serving UK professionals, though IFST focuses on scientific accreditation rather than operational compliance training.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FoodDrinkForum
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/nsafd
• Facebookfacebook.com/nsafd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-food-and-drink-forum
• Instagraminstagram.com/nsafd

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Food and Drink Forum