How food manufacturers make Facebook and Twitter pay

12-Apr-2012 - Social media-savvy food manufacturers use Facebook and Twitter to forge links with customers that boosts sales in ways that large firms cannot, claims Wilfred Emmanuel Jones, founder of the Black Farmer brand.

Meat industry slams PETA’s obesity death poster

12-Apr-2012 - An anti-meat poster from campaign group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) linking meat to death from obesity has been slammed by the meat industry and labelled “shoddy scaremongering”.

Meat coatings to replace plastics

11-Apr-2012 - Plastic packaging around fresh meat could become a thing of the past if new research into the use of edible anti-microbial coatings proves successful.

Ishida launches tray sealer and check-weigher

10-Apr-2012 - A new tray sealer and check-weigher range from Ishida Europe, launched recently at the Anuga FoodTec show in Germany, will help manufacturers boost efficiency and throughput, claims the firm.

Meat firms slam FSA over bullying list

05-Apr-2012 - Meat producers have hit out at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) after it revealed a list of UK firms where alleged incidents of bullying and harassment have been reported over the past two years.

Vion and Unite the union resolve pay row

05-Apr-2012 -  Last-minute negotiations between meat processing firm Vion and workers at its South Lanarkshire plant have led to the immediate cancellation of imminent industrial action in the row over pay and conditions at the site.

Kerry Foods blames competition for Durham cuts

03-Apr-2012 - Kerry Foods has blamed soaring competition in the UK cooked meats market for its decision to close its Durham meat processing factory with the loss of 350 jobs.

Robots and hygenic design dominate Anuga FoodTec show

03-Apr-2012 - Robots intended for use in food processing and hygenic design were top trends at the trade event Anuga FoodTec, staged in Cologne, Germany last week, according to the show organisers. In this podcast, Professor Herbert Buckenhuskes, from one of the organisers DLG, picked out the highlights for FoodManufacture.co.uk.

Turkey firm Bernard Matthews to invest £10M

03-Apr-2012 - Turkey producer Bernard Matthews plans to invest £10M this year in factory expansion, plant upgrades and an anaerobic digestor.

Opinion

Treat every obstacle as a positive opportunity

01-Apr-2012 - If there is one single piece of advice that the food and drink industry, and indeed the wider global community, needs to hear at this particular juncture it would be this: accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.

New tray cuts waste on the grill

01-Apr-2012 - A range of protein trays has been developed by Linpac Packaging in time for the barbecue season that will help consumers further reduce food waste this summer.

Consistently meet changing demands for marinated meat

01-Apr-2012 - Marel has launched an in-line meat marinating system.

Enzymes help to improve meat tenderisation

01-Apr-2012 - Enzymes are widely used in the formulation of marinades and tenderising recipes. Marinade enzymes can be added directly to meat but, in most cases, they are used as part of a 'marinade formulation', which could include salt, sugars, herbs and spices and preservatives. The formulation can be produced as a powder to sprinkle over the surface of the meat or as a liquid, in which the meat can be soaked or tumbled.

New sausage starter culture

01-Apr-2012 - Frutarom Savory Solutions has launched a new starter culture, Bitec Advance LD-20, to make firm and fresh raw sausages and sausage spreads. The firm says the culture decreases pH value rapidly, while providing an especially mild acidic profile. Additionally, end products gain high stability.

British rose veal steals the show

01-Apr-2012 - Veal still has a controversial reputation because of the way it used to be produced in the UK. But the days of rearing calves in crates are long gone and British Rose Veal now comes with the approval of animal welfare bodies.

Feature

Mixing it up

01-Apr-2012 - This is Summit Foods' 31st year. Our core business is frozen meat-based snacks. My family background was in farming, but I have worked in food processing all of my career. My father used to supply eggs to Morrisons. Then came the Edwina Currie [salmonella in eggs] crisis, which hit his business along with the wider industry, quite hard.

Meat packaging `misses brand opportunities‘

30-Mar-2012 - Unimaginative meat packaging misses significant opportunities to promote brands, improve customer service and cut waste, warned Andrew Streeter, research fellow at market intelligence firm Datamonitor.

News in brief

Kerry slammed by Usdaw for Durham site cuts

30-Mar-2012 - Kerry Foods has been slammed by the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) after its decision to cut 350 jobs with the closure of its food processing factory in Durham.

Unite confirms ACAS talks in Tulip Tranfoods row

29-Mar-2012 - The row over redundancy payments at meat processing firm Tulip’s Tranfoods site has taken a step towards reconciliation after Unite the union revealed that the firm had agreed to talks with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service ACAS.

News in brief

Hilton Food posts ‘solid’ UK performance

26-Mar-2012 - Meat-packing firm Hilton Food group has posted “solid” growth in the UK and Ireland, according to city analysts, ahead of the firm’s first quarter financial results due on March 29.

Unite confirms Tulip Tranfood redundancy talks

26-Mar-2012 - Workers from meat processing firm Tulip’s Tranfoods site in Birkenhead will sit down with the firm’s management tomorrow in a bid to end the row over redundancy payments, according to Unite the union.

Red meat health warning: eat more!

23-Mar-2012 - The latest health warnings about red meat focus on the dangers of eating too little not too much.

Tulip slammed by Unite for Tranfoods ‘bribery’

19-Mar-2012 - The row between meat processing firm Tulip and workers at its Tranfoods plant in Birkenhead has escalated today after Unite the Union accused management of bribing its employees over redundancy pay.

Harvard red meat cancer study under fire

14-Mar-2012 - Meat industry experts and health campaigners have both questioned the results of a Harvard Medical School study which claimed to show that eating a diet high in red meat shortened life expectancy.