Search firm
food industry
Food processing is France's leading industry, and its site management roles are hard to fill: sites in rural areas, demanding environments, discreet employer brands. Volta Executive recruits plant directors, multi-site industrial directors and key managers there by direct search. Its founder is an AgroParisTech engineer who worked at INRAE, followed by ten years in plants at EDF and Safran: he speaks processes, food safety and material yield.
The food-industry environments we know
Hiring food-industry executives through 2026
France's leading industry... and the least visible to candidates
Food processing is France's leading industrial sector by employment and turnover, spread over thousands of sites: cooperatives, family-owned mid-caps, group subsidiaries. But its plants are often in rural areas, its corporate brands unknown to the general public, and its working conditions (cold, three-shift working, seasonality) demanding. The result: managers trained in the sector are constantly courted, and candidates from other industries never think of it spontaneously. Both problems have the same solution: going to find the profiles one by one, with a well-told project.
Quality, traceability, audits: a profession in its own right
Recruiting a food quality manager is not decided on a CV: IFS and BRC standards, HACCP, handling a supermarket client audit, a culture of release testing, product recalls: someone who has lived through them tells it in detail, someone who skimmed them recites. The same demands apply on the production side: material yield, line start-up, managing seasonality, the relationship with agricultural suppliers upstream. Assessing these skills means knowing the sector from the inside.
Our credibility: training and field experience
The founder of Volta Executive is an AgroParisTech engineer, France's leading school for life sciences and food processing, and worked at INRAE before joining industry (EDF, Safran) and then creating the firm. This dual culture, life sciences and heavy industry, is exactly what modern food processing demands: sites that are automating, decarbonising and industrialising their processes, while remaining subject to living organisms, raw materials and food safety.
"AgroParisTech and INRAE taught me about living systems; industry taught me about the plant. When I assess a food site director, I can talk material yield, IFS and agricultural upstream in the same interview as OEE and maintenance plans. Candidates feel it immediately, and the best only talk to people who understand their trade."
· Florian Beurtey, Founder of Volta Executive, AgroParisTech engineer, ex-INRAE, Mines Saint-Étienne
Food industry manager salaries 2026
Ranges observed across our assignments and the Volta Executive barometer · nationwide.
| Role | Experience | Median | Senior | Top of market | Shortage | Shortlist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food plant director | 15+ years | 90k€ | 110k€ | 135k€ | ●●●●● | Within 10 days |
| Multi-site food industrial director | 15+ years | 110k€ | 130k€ | 155k€ | ●●●●● | Within 10 days |
| Food production manager | 7+ years | 52k€ | 64k€ | 75k€ | ●●●●● | Within 10 days |
| IFS/BRC quality manager | 6+ years | 46k€ | 56k€ | 66k€ | ●●●●● | Within 10 days |
| Food maintenance manager | 7+ years | 50k€ | 60k€ | 72k€ | ●●●●● | Within 10 days |
| Supply chain / scheduling manager | 6+ years | 48k€ | 58k€ | 70k€ | ●●●●● | Within 10 days |
| R&D / product innovation manager | 6+ years | 50k€ | 62k€ | 75k€ | ●●●●● | Within 10 days |
| Continuous improvement / operational excellence manager | 6+ years | 52k€ | 64k€ | 76k€ | ●●●●● | Within 10 days |
Ranges drawn from our assignments and the Volta Executive 2026 salary barometer, outside Île-de-France: allow +15 to 20% in Île-de-France.
Our method ofexecutive search
Scoping the role and the site
A 1-hour scoping session with the future manager: the site, its lines, its seasonality, and a scorecard of expected results. We tell you frankly whether the package is in line with the market, before the first approach.
Mapping the sector
Mapping of the search ecosystem: comparable sites, same process family, same size, same environment (cold, dry, liquid), and the target profiles working there, anywhere in France. No public advert.
Direct approach and food-industry assessment
Personalised approach to profiles in post. Assessment by an engineer who knows the sector: IFS/BRC, HACCP, material yield, upstream agriculture, managing seasonality. Shortlist of 3 to 5 well-argued finalists within 10 days, hire within 3 weeks.
90-day integration follow-up
Follow-up from the start date through to day 90, regular check-ins with the executive hired and their manager, a 3-month replacement guarantee, extendable to 6. 96% success rate across 120 assignments analysed between 2023 and 2025, Volta Executive and previous firms.
Why Volta Executive rather than a generalist firm?
| Criterion | Volta Executive | Generalist firm |
|---|---|---|
| Food-industry culture | AgroParisTech + INRAE, the sector he trained in | Varies by firm |
| Quality assessment (IFS, BRC, HACCP) | Trade questions asked by an engineer | Varies by firm |
| Attractiveness of rural sites | A well-told project, mobility qualified upfront | The local advert that brings nothing |
| Recruitment method | Direct search, exclusive mandate | Adverts + CV database, most often |
| Guarantee after hiring | Replacement 3 to 6 months, 90-day follow-up | Varies by firm |
Our other recruitment areas
Frequently asked questions · Food industry search firm
Why choose a specialist firm for the food industry?
Which profiles do you recruit in the food industry?
How do you attract managers to sites in rural areas?
Do you cover the whole of France?
What are your lead times and fees?
Do you also recruit profiles from "classic" industry for the food sector?
A leadership role to fill? Let's talk.
A confidential 30-minute conversation with Florian Beurtey, on the role, the timeline and the package.
Assign us a mandateExclusive mandate · Confidential conversation