Career advice - please help!

Hi quest4593,

It depends on what you want to do over your career. You need to remember that a lot of regulatory, environmental and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is a luxury. Not necessarily an expensive one, but it can be an area where cuts are made when times get difficult. Developing countries care less about regulations etc. than developed; during a recession, people care less about the environment (e.g. German reunification caused a change of focus from environmental matters to economic ones.

Currently, since the UK Modern Slavery Act there has been an increase in awareness of CSR issues, and many companies in Europe see it as a differentiator; my company certainly does. I spend about 15% of my time on CSR and the rest on supplier approval, but the CSR side is increasing. You might find that there are opportunities for you in a  larger company.

Alternatively, you might want to remain in a smaller organisation. You'll read in this forum that family run companies are not particularly easy in the food industry as there is often a reluctance to follow regulations and standards (We've always done it this way; why change now?).

Just my observations.