Food Business and Marketing

Food business and marketing brings together the science, commercial strategy, and consumer understanding that the food and drink industry requires. Food is the largest consumer sector in the UK and one of the most significant globally, encompassing everything from commodity agriculture and food processing through branded consumer goods to hospitality, retail, and food technology innovation. Managing and marketing within this sector demands both a genuine understanding of food as a product and the business and marketing skills to operate competitively in markets shaped by changing consumer preferences, regulatory requirements, and sustainability pressures.

At the University of Reading, this three-year, full-time programme is taught at one of the UK's leading universities for food and nutritional science, which gives the business and marketing curriculum a particularly well-grounded understanding of the product and industry it examines. The programme includes a foundation year, designed for students who need additional preparation before entering the main degree, and a sandwich placement year with work placement experience, providing professional context at the midpoint of your studies. The academic curriculum covers food science and safety, consumer behaviour, brand management, food retail and supply chains, marketing communications, product development, and the regulatory environment of the food industry.

Reading's strong industry connections mean that the programme is well aligned with the needs of graduate employers in the sector.

Graduates work in food marketing, brand management, category management, product development, food retail buying, account management with food suppliers, food industry consulting, and communications roles within food companies. Some go on to postgraduate study in marketing, food business, or supply chain management. The combination of food science literacy with business and marketing skills is a distinctive and genuinely valued profile in an industry that needs people who understand both what they are selling and how to sell it.