Food and Beverages Manufacturing Industry SETA (FoodBev SETA)

FoodBev Manufacturing SETA facilitates skills development for South Africa’s food and beverage manufacturing industry, one of the country’s largest employment sectors. FoodBev SETA is based in Rivonia, Johannesburg, and reports to the Department of Higher Education and Training.

Registered name

Food and Beverages Manufacturing Industry SETA (FoodBev SETA)

Type

Sector Education and Training Authority (food and beverage manufacturing)

Fields funded

TVET, undergraduate and postgraduate study aligned with the food and beverage value chain

Website

foodbev.co.za

Email

info@foodbev.co.za

Phone

+27 11 253 7300

An industry divided into five chambers

FoodBev SETA groups companies into five sub-sectors, which the SETA calls chambers, according to their processes and products. One chamber, for example, covers the production of spirits, beer, malt, soft drinks and mineral water. Other chambers cover different parts of food manufacturing, so a bakery, a dairy and a brewery each sit in the chamber that matches their work.

The chamber system helps FoodBev SETA understand the skills each part of the industry needs, from brewers and food technologists to maintenance technicians and quality controllers.

Support beyond large factories

FoodBev SETA’s website features voices from smaller businesses too. Seeds for Life Co-operative thanked FoodBev SETA for the opportunity to exhibit at an event, and a programme participant described learning to explain business performance indicators more effectively. Those stories show FoodBev SETA supporting co-operatives and emerging businesses as well as established manufacturers.

The FoodBev SETA bursary

FoodBev SETA’s bursary scheme forms part of the SETA’s drive to build critical skills in food and beverage manufacturing. The scheme supports students at several levels, including TVET, undergraduate and postgraduate study, whose qualifications align with the food and beverage value chain.

Our FoodBev SETA bursary guide has not been refreshed with 2027 dates, so treat it as background and confirm the current call with the SETA.

How to research FoodBev SETA funding

Email FoodBev SETA to ask when the next bursary window opens, which qualifications it will fund and whether the SETA channels bursaries through universities and colleges. Read FoodBev SETA’s sector skills plan to see which occupations the SETA currently lists as scarce, such as food technologists or process controllers, and match your field to that list.

FoodBev SETA also publishes a PAIA manual and governance information on its website, which applicants can use to find the correct contact office for bursary queries.

See our Science Bursaries page for food science funders.