PepsiCo Food Safety Internship Program 2016 concludes

PepsiCo Pakistan concluded its Food Safety Internship Program 2016 targeting the brightest students from Pakistan’s key business and agriculture universities. The programe has been launched in collaboration with the US Pakistan Women Council.

The intensive six-month program featured 50 promising interns with 60% of female participants who were provided hands-on experience and a host of enabling opportunities through a robust range of tailor made learning activities. Apart from comprehensive orientation sessions, food safety workshops , case studies  and trainings on PepsiCo values, Hilal Risk Management & Integrated pest management, the program also featured various challenging team projects.

On the occasion of closing ceremony, Jahanzeb Khan, Vice President & General Manager, PepsiCo Pakistan remarked, "we truly believe that with the right education, trainings and exposure for food technology and food safety students the development of a robust food safety culture across the industry is inevitable. The latter will for sure benefit both the industry and the aspiring food experts. This Internship Program has contributed towards the growth and development of these talented students and PepsiCo is proud to play its role in providing this healthy platform to the bright and talented young professionals in Pakistan” added Jahanzeb Khan.

While addressing the event, Khurram Shah, Head of Corporate affairs, PepsiCo Pakistan and the project lead further elaborated: "PepsiCo is striving to provide new learning opportunities and capacity building for the talented youth of the country through various initiatives. The impact of the aforementioned internship program is not confined to the participating students only. It will further lead to the development of the food safety systems across supply chains. Projects likes these further cement PepsiCo’s commitment towards diversity and inclusion of women in the work place.” he added.

He further said that this initiative, supported by the U.S. Pakistan Women’s Council is expected to enhance the skills of aspiring food safety managers & suppliers for food/packaging industry. Additionally, it will certainly improve their employment opportunities for a brighter prospect as some of the qualifying students from this year’s programme have always been offered jobs.

The event was attended by members of the academia, students, experts and trainers from the food industry along with top suppliers of the PepsiCo family. Participants especially the students of this internship program expressed their pleasure at the event saying that the internships at the suppliers and PepsiCo plants really helped them cover the gap between theory and practical implementation.