Horsemeat: learning the lessons of an avoidable crisis
WRBM
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Greencore’s £113m offer for Uniq has been declared ‘unconditional as to acceptances’ after over 90% of shareholders indicated acceptance of the deal.
City analysts believe that Tate & Lyle could pursue growth via acquisitions, rather than in-house development, as they discussed the firm’s first quarter trading update yesterday.
Irn-Bru and Rubicon soft drinks maker A.G. Barr has been hit with delays in upgrading its Cumbernauld site.
Global food safety company Neogen reported net income up 30% to reach $22.84m (£14m) for its 2011 fiscal year, which ended May 3; partly due to strong European sales.
US vegetarian food brand Amy’s Kitchen is set to start production in next month at its new Corby plant, with ‘Amy’ herself working at the company.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and the Food Ethics Council have welcomed a select committee report that endorses government proposals to introduce a Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA).
Strike action now seems less likely at Burton’s Foods' Blackpool site, after the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) said it would endorse a new company pay offer.
Wigan-based Hazeldene Foods has been prosecuted by the Environment Agency (EA) after the failure of a factory pump led to pollution of a local angling pond.
Winning a Food Manufacturing Excellence Award provided an immediate boost to team morale and operational efficiencies report two companies that triumphed in last year’s awards.
Genius Foods says it is frustrated by additional charges levied on gluten-free bread that it supplies to the NHS in Wales, although the nation's government insists that talk of £32 loaves is incorrect.
Nottingham-based Italian and continental food supplier, Giorgio’s Continental, is building a £1.2 million extension to its Newthorpe factory and creating 30 new jobs.
Greencore today sent out an offer document to Uniq shareholders regarding its £113m cash offer for the chilled foods firm.
A sprinkler system could have prevented the destruction of the UK’s largest frozen food processing unit, which supplied meat to Burger King restaurants, according to a new report.
Finsbury Food Group ceo John Duffy says that “relentless commodity price inflation” on basic ingredients such as butter, sugar and flour have eroded the firm’s profit margins.
The administrator of Quenby Hall Dairy has admitted defeat in its efforts to sell the business, which produced Stilton on a site where some of first examples of the cheese were made over 250 years ago.
The deadly Escherichia coli crisis that killed 47 people in Germany alone and left thousands seriously ill could almost certainly have been averted by irradiating the fenugreek seeds blamed for the outbreak.
Positive publicity and a big boost to team morale are just two of the benefits reported by winners of last year’s Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards.
The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) is advising food manufacturers and caterers to stick to British eggs bearing the Lion mark, after a new salmonella scare linked to Spanish eggs.
Bacon producers have warned that a last-minute change to the Food Information Regulation (FIR) could prove expensive for both manufacturers and consumers.
Princes has confirmed that it has completed the acquisition of Premier Foods' canning operations, but that the Fray Bentos business continuing to operate independently until a buyer is found.
Vion has confirmed its Sheffield sausage processing plant is to close, with the company's sausage facilities consolidated one site in Broxburn, Scotland.
The Chilled Foods Association (CFA) has rebuffed criticism from a food firm md who described the manufacture and sale of chilled prepared foods as “incredibly wasteful" compared with ambient and frozen foods.
Unite the Union is preparing to ballot members at four British Sugar plants on industrial action over pay, in what could lead to the first strike action at the firm in 30 years.
Children and parents can say goodbye to sticky faces and fingers and stained clothes thanks to the globe’s first non-melting chocolate, claims confectionery manufacturer Choc-o-Bloc.
Glasgow firm Associated Seafoods has acquired prawn processor Moray Seafoods just a few days after buying smoked salmon processor Lossie Seafoods.
Kerry Flavours and Ingredients is playing down the potential significance of a new vinegar flavoured salt that it has invented.
Unite the Union says it has begun a conciliation process with Kerry Foods via a third-party mediator, aimed at resolving a pay dispute at the firm’s Omagh site.
Specialist meat packing business Hilton Food Group has braved challenging marketing conditions to report good turnover growth during the 28 weeks ending July 17 2011.
Brand rescue company Brand Cellar says it has had multiple enquiries from the confectionery sector as it builds its profile in the food industry.
Zetar says its key focus over the next three years will be to drive sales of premium private label and branded products across both its confectionery and snacks divisions.
The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) has criticised the "ineptitude" of the European Commission (EC), following what the trade body says was a poorly planned one-off advertisement aimed at reassuring UK consumers about the safety of fresh produce.
City analysts have expressed continued concerns over Dairy Crest’s dairies business, following the release of the firm’s first quarter trading results yesterday.
Taste and retaste. Taste in the actual matrix. Taste ‘neat’. Taste three times.
Uniq Desserts will end yogurt production at its Minsterley, Shropshire plant in April 2012, raising doubts about the security of around 50 jobs.
The House of Lords Science and Technology Sub Committee has failed to recognise the benefits of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, claims the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), after the publication today of the committee’s report Behaviour Change.
European food makers are beginning to utilise positive article 13, general function health claim opinions issued by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), precipitating a flood of potentially meaningless claims, according to one industry observer.
A legal case in Germany has raised questions over the VAT regime in regard to takeaway food in the UK.
High-speed weighing of convenience meals, nuts and confectionery products is the idea behind the new 36-head, multi-head weigher from Ishida Europe.
Proposals to examine a move to a privatised system of third-party inspection of primary meat premises were rejected by the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) Board early last week.
Kerry Foods says it hopes to resolve a pay dispute with Unite members at its Omagh dairy, as a 24-hour strike looms from midnight tonight.
Pie and pasty maker Chunk of Devon hopes to double its turnover this year, after it netted sales of £1.6m in 2010.
Ranjit Boparan says that running Northern Foods and 2 Sisters Food Group across five rather than four business divisions this year will give the group a “sharper business focus”.
The Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) has called off scheduled strike action at Burton’s Foods Blackpool site, after the union agreed to further talks with company management.
Startup Cacomo Gourmet has launched a website targeted at gourmet food lovers, as it pioneers the online sale of ready meals and baked goods made from scratch and delivered to your door.
Premier Foods is consulting with 140 staff employed over the closure of its Hovis head office in Windsor, with some job losses possible, while further redundancies will occur at the division's Avonmouth bakery.
When the dust settles, what will the verdict be on the Schofield years? We review key dates during the outgoing ceo's tenure, starting with the key decision to buy Campbell's UK for £460m in 2006, and ending with the announcement of his departure yesterday.
Unite the Union has confirmed that it will begin balloting Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) workers today on strike action at seven UK distribution sites.
Premier Foods has pleased the City and commentators with the speedy appointment of Mike Clarke from Kraft Foods as its new ceo, after analysts described a late June trading statement as "shocking".
The “bad news was no worse than expected” said analysts, after Associated British Foods (ABF) posted its third quarter trading update to June 25 2011 this morning.
Trade unions have criticised government efforts to address health and safety (H&S) red tape as a "sham", and say the coalition should focus more resources on evidence-based work via the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Increased penetration of own-label products within the UK retail sector will pose new challenges to branded food manufacturers in coming years, according to a recent webcast by Trace One and Planet Retail.
Kerry Foods' acquisition of Headland Foods has been referred to the Competition Commission (CC) by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for further investigation after retail customers expressed concerns.
Greencore ceo Patrick Coveney has told FoodManufacture.co.uk that he is “highly confident” that his company’s £113M cash offer for Uniq will be successful.
The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) says it has called off strike action at Burton’s Foods site in Blackpool following a last-ditch challenge from the company over the validity of the ballot.
Greencore has announced the terms of a recommended cash offer for Uniq worth £113m, which values the chilled and convenience food firm at 96p per share.
Soft drinks giant Britvic has confirmed that it is planning to move from its UK headquarters in Chelmsford, Essex.
The Cake Bake Company has been sold by its administrator to Baker Boys for an undisclosed amount, FoodManufacture.co.uk has learnt.
Consumers who drink organic milk in the belief that it is healthy could be compromising their iodine intake to a dangerous extent, according to research from the University of Surrey which found that levels were 42.1% lower than in conventional milk.
Heinz is launching a new range of 'squeeze and stir' soups, as the company bids to tackle the rising price of commodities such as metal.
Administrators expect to place Loseley Dairy Ice Cream into liquidation in the next couple of months, after selling off the company’s plant and assets.
The UK market for chilled foods will continue to grow steadily, despite cost pressures and rising unemployment, according to a new report.
Custard Cream biscuit fan and MP John Stevenson admits that Westminster has under-estimated the importance of food manufacturing in times past, but believes that times are changing.
The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) has confirmed that strike action at Burton’s Foods Blackpool site is still set to begin tomorrow, after it emerged that union members had rejected an improved pay offer.
Food service giant Brakes Group is demanding that suppliers pay to use its online purchasing and supply management system, or lose contact with company buyers.
The UK food industry has given the European Parliament's (EP's) final agreement on food labelling a mixed reception, with one consultant reckoning label changes cost £7,000 per product.
Spanish polypropylene film company Derprosa has launched a new antibacterial film designed to combat E. coli in the packaging of fresh fruit, salads and vegetables.
New varieties of strawberries, custom-designed for manufacturing processes and the UK climate, could boost the tiny proportion of home-grown berries used by manufacturers, according to specialist plant breeder, East Malling Research Centre.
The md of Intersnack UK says that a consumer “appetite for experimentation” is driving strong growth in a snacks market where the main business challenge is keeping pace with fast-changing consumer and retailer needs.
TV celebrity cooks The Hairy Bikers launched a range of ready meals this week as they start to build their own food brand.
The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) has criticised “UK government plc” for what it describes as a damaging and misleading response to the deadly European E.coli crisis that has left this country's fresh produce industry in turmoil.
The rising price of coconut milk prompted savoury ingredients supplier Synergy to work with ready meal manufacturers to develop a cheaper alternative. As a result, the firm is set to launch a new product this month: a coconut milk flavoured powder called Coconut Booster.
Chilled and frozen food transporter, BW Refrigerated Couriers has started to switch its panel van fleet to Mercedes Sprinter vans, each with 100% Somers ATP-certified refrigerated panel van conversions.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has countered retail claims that a Groceries Codes Adjudicator would add unnecessary cost and bureaucracy to policing the supply chain.
Purifunction, a start-up ingredient development company based in northern France, has confirmed its first commercial orders and is powering up for full-scale operation by September 2012.
Professor Colin Dennis, president of the Institute of Food Science & Technology, was presented with the Myron Solberg Award at the Institute of Food Technologists' annual meeting in New Orleans last month.
As rising landfill taxes are making alternative disposal routes more attractive, waste disposal firm Biffa has responded by building "the largest anaerobic digestion plant in the UK", with more planned, said Ian Wakelin, chief executive of Biffa.
More manufacturers are seeking to reduce levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar in their products.
Can you make it taste better?" is a question I've been asked time and time again, usually by people who don't actually know what they want and who don't understand the word 'taste' at all – let alone the journey you need to take to make your food taste great!
Simon Baldry, md for Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) in Britain committed his company to a policy of helping to develop “healthy, sustainable local communities” around its UK factories, as he officially opened the company’s fourth education centre at Sidcup in Kent on Tuesday.
Unilever workers from across the food giant’s UK sites protested against the closure of its final salary pension scheme at a company sponsored event on Tuesday.
I was just about to put pen to paper for this month's column, when the news broke about the Harvard research paper in the New England Journal of Medicine (June 23, 2011) on the cause of long-term weight gain in non-obese individuals.
Kraft is considering bids from developers interested in buying the iconic former Cadbury factory in Keynsham, while the site's equipment is being sold via an online auction.
Staff at Burton’s Foods’ biscuit factory in Blackpool have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action, after rejecting a 1.8% pay rise from the company.
The European Commission (EC) has banned imports of certain types of seeds and beans from Egypt, after the European Food Safety Authority announced yesterday that fenugreek seeds from the country are the most likely cause of deadly E.coli outbreaks in Germany and France.
The current UK date labelling regime confuses food businesses, increases consumer risk by “diluting key food safety messages”, and costs industry millions of pounds a year.
The European Food Safety Authority last week delivered the fifth batch of article 13, general function health claim opinions bringing the total issued to 2723. There are just 35 to go – to be published next month in a final mini-batch that will conclude the task begun in August 2008.
US private equity firm Blackstone Group has bought a majority stake in Blackpool-based Tangerine Confectionery, FoodManufacture.co.uk understands, while management has also reinvested in the firm.
PepsiCo UK admits it has not hit all its self-imposed targets to make products healthier, but says the economy and technical challenges are partly to blame.
Property agent Sanderson Weatherall is in discussions over the possible sale of the ex-Northumberland Foods site in Amble, while an auctioneer has already disposed of 90% of the factory's equipment, FoodManufacture.co.uk can reveal.
Smaller companies face serious harm as a result of retailers’ increasing focus on local suppliers, regional manufacturers have warned.
Premier Foods needs urgently to find a successor to ceo Robert Schofield, say industry sources, as the firm continues to hunt for an heir amidst rumoured pressure from institutional investors.
A UK dairy company is to cut processing costs after investing £3.4m in an anaerobic digestion (AD) technology to turn food waste into renewable energy.
Forty jobs have been lost at a Northern Ireland meat processor, but administrators for the stricken business are hopeful of finding a buyer who may rehire former workers.
As retailers call for more accredited food safety training, how can firms get staff up to speed at minimum cost, asks Freddie Dawson
Pantheon has launched a new range of heavy duty mincers.
Lawson Software's M3 Graphical Lot Tracker is a pre-configured supply chain traceability system that is an enhanced version of the previous Lawson M3 Trace Engine. It helps manufacturers manage potential product recalls and track production processes from the raw material stage to the point of sale.
With frozen food enjoying a renaissance, it looks like Britain is entering a new ice age, reports John Dunn
There will always be a market for 'light' and 'diet' products, but the biggest trend in weight management today is towards functional ingredients. The contenders hoping to make the biggest splash fall into three basic functional groups: satiety boosters; metabolic boosters and regulators; and fat and carbohydrate blockers.
The benefits of probiotics for digestion is well publicised, but research on their other strengths is growing, as Anne Bruce reports
Shaul Shelach, boss of Solbar, one of the world's top soy ingredients firms, talks to Rod Addy about his vision for the company and the industry
Herza Schokolade is offering micro-size chocolate pieces to processors in a bid to cut product development costs.
Rod addyThe Pasteur Institute in Lille is making progress on a range of nutritional studies, including work with Roquette on eye health investigating the potential of feeding hens lutein and zeaxanthin to enrich eggs.
A cluster of food ingredients firms in northern France is attracting millions of euros of investment as part of a wider business development plan.
What role is in-pack industrial microwave processing likely to play in the future chilled ready meals market? Paul Gander talks to experts for and against this technology about the likelihood of its adoption in the UK.
Chocolaterie Casemir is defiantly marching to the beat of its own accordion. When most firms are automating, streamlining and cutting costs, Casemir is looking for ways to diversify revenue sources that allow it to continue making chocolate by hand and using fresh ingredients such as cream instead of condensed milk and real fruit instead of concentrates or syrups. Having supplied most of the top UK hotels for the better part of the decade, Casemir's new ideas include maximising income in the slow season, moving into retail and interacting with consumers through a 'chocolate club', says md James Ecclestone.
It's proving to be a year of mixed fortunes for those in the food and drink sector. Some small manufacturers particularly those in dynamic emerging markets such as the allergen-free sector are doing remarkably well. But, for the majority, it is a time of difficulty and sometimes uncertainty, with soaring ingredient and fuel costs and a retail customer base that is reluctant to accept price rises. The trouble is, hard-pressed consumers are starting to suffer the effects of government cuts, so no supermarket wants to be seen to be increasing their burden.
Compared with the optimism expressed in last year's Food Manufacture state-of-the-industry survey, the mood today is far more subdued. This can probably be put down to a combination of factors that are putting the squeeze on Britain's food and drink manufacturers.
Meet Natures Way, winner of the 2010 Food Manufacturing Excellence award for Fresh Produce and Gary Kilhams, fruit business unit manager, Natures Way Foods.
Most product categories have similar traceability issues to those confronting the fresh produce industry following the E.coli scare in Europe, according to one supply chain expert.
The use of bio-polyethylene terephthalate (bio-PET) by brand owners such as Coca-Cola is perfectly compatible with growth in demand for recycled PET (rPET), says converter and recycler APPE (formerly Artenius PET Packaging Europe). The firm says collection rates alone are restraining further increases in demand for food-grade recyclate.
Primary meat processors are increasing pressure on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to bring about a change to EU law that would allow a more risk-based approach to checking meat plants using private, accredited third-party inspectors.
European processors can access greener hardstocks, requiring far less heat and generating far less waste water, thanks to developments by Sime Darby Unimills.
Soft drinks manufacturer Iconiq Drinks has unveiled its latest product launch: Icoco – a healthy, natural, coconut water combined with fruit juices.
The recent E.coli outbreaks in France and Germany have put food safety back in the headlines. This makes Food Manufacture's Product Recall 2011 conference even more apt.
Large food and drink processors have been hit by slashed feed-in tariff (FIT) subsidies for solar panels under a recent government review.
There is still no resolution in sight for an international dispute that threatens the Scottish fishing sector and over 2,500 jobs, according to a trade body.
Food and drink manufacturing skills council Improve has called on government to stop putting the industry's contribution to the nation's economy at risk.
Processors are braving the harsh economic climate to undertake big capital investments to increase their capacity, which reflects the results of Food Manufacture's 2011 survey.
Retailers are putting greater pressure on their suppliers to cut costs as consumers tighten their belts, according to Food Manufacture's annual state-of-the industry survey.
Reducing saturated fat content in food has been a key element of producing healthy food for years.
Despite a recent slowdown, the value of the organic food and beverage market is expected to nearly double in the next five years.
Energy, sports and nutrition products are strong categories in the developed world but lag behind elsewhere.
Careers advisers' poor understanding of Britain's food industry is preventing the sector's HR professionals from working with them to promote available opportunities, according to a survey from IGD.
The Supreme Court has reinstated Seafish's powers to raise a levy on imported sea fish and sea fish products.
A new Screen Classifying Cutter from Munson Machinery reduces hard, soft and fibrous materials into controlled particle sizes at high rates.
Engineered to produce continuous precision slices with extensive detail, the new E TranSlicer cutter joins the Urschel TranSlicer series.
Interfood Slicing, part of the Interfood Group, has launched a new addition to the Weber slicing family: the 804.
SKF, the knowledge engineering firm, has introduced a new generation of Y-bearing units designed to withstand a wide range of operating temperatures, as well as humidity, aggressive fluids, gases and light particulate matter.
Habasit Rossi has extended its range of Habaflow conveyor and processing belts to include three new products, developed specifically to improve food processing efficiency.
Non-contact transfer (NCT) systems use airflow to create a vacuum and lift fragile items of up to one kilogram.
Beko warns new users of its Metpoint OCV oil vapour meter – which measures oil vapour in compressed air – that they will nearly always see higher readings than expected. This is because the environment cannot always be controlled. Ambient air typically contains 140M particles per cubic metre and, as more than 75% of these are below two microns, they will pass through a compressor intake filter – usually 3–5 microns.
Eminate's endurocut is a food-safe, kosher-certified premium blade coating system that extends the life of cutting blades tenfold. This reduces consumable usage and minimises costly equipment downtime.
Software provider Marco has introduced an electronic weighing control module (ECM) to its factory profitability portfolio. It developed the ECM to improve the real-time control and yield of the packing process by reducing and controlling profit sapping, over-filling and over-packing.
Food Technology Corporation (FTC) has launched a new touch-screen food texture analyser, the TMS-Touch.
Meadow Cheese has seen a 300% increase in output since it installed a secondary refrigerant system from Coolmation.
WR Refrigeration has begun production of high-efficiency refrigeration systems at its facility near Port Talbot, Wales.
Cold storage and transport specialist company Rick Bestwick has taken delivery of five new trailers fitted with Carrier Transicold's Vector 1550 transport refrigeration units. Carrier Transicold is a unit of Carrier Corp, provider of high-technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions.
An introduction to the sponsors of each category in 2011.
The dynamics at large in the sweeteners market are similar to those in a football club. As on the football pitch, in the sweeteners market there is rivalry as each player strives to shine as an individual. But teamwork or combinations of sweeteners is often the strategy that yields the best results.
The Yorkshire Crisp Company has signed a deal with distribution agent European Gourmet, which will see its 100g drums of handmade crisps exported for sale in Hong Kong, China and Macau.
At the 2011 British Frozen Food Federation awards, Schöller Ice Cream won Catering Product of The Year for Mövenpick Grand Marnier Ice Cream.
The British Standards Institution has launched PAS 223, a standard to harmonise food safety systems for packaging, which aims to align global packaging practices with the general ISO 22000 food safety standard.
Frozen food sales growth is rising after a turnaround earlier this year, according to Kantar Worldpanel.
Manufacturers need to improve their assessment procedures to quantify the level of risk involved as they source more ingredients from around the globe, a food safety expert has warned.
Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients (LCI) has launched two corn pellets called Dominos and Super Cornitos for snack food manufacturers aiming at natural, clean labels on packs.
Kerry Ingredients & Flavours has launched 'taste twists', a range of six natural citrus flavourings for beverages, plus prototype drinks to showcase them.
A deadly strain of E.Coli, emerging from Germany, has once again reeled us into a food scare.
Givaudan is investing in continuing projects in Egypt and India in addition to its European savoury flavours plant, construction for which was announced in March.
Negative and misleading press reports are contributing to micronutrient deficiencies in the developed world, according to ingredients giant DSM.
Chr Hansen's other Italian activities – dairy, human health, natural colours, wine and meat cultures – will move to another site in Parma after selling most of its functional blends business.
New Food Standards Agency research, published last month, found that nut allergy suffers sometimes ignored 'May contain' warnings as they considered them to be not credible or desirable.
Agriculture ministers of the G20 met in Paris last month to address price volatility of raw materials.
The Food and Drink Federation has revealed the Community Partnership Awards (CPA) shortlist 2011.
Many of Britain's smaller food manufacturers have expressed doubts about reducing the amount of waste they send to landfill to zero by 2015 – one of the targets set under the Food and Drink Federation's (FDF's) five-fold environmental ambition.
Rhys Davies Freight Logistics (RDFL) has opened a depot in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham to serve customers in the north east of England, including the food and drink sector.
w When we decided to have our kitchen re-fitted, I knew that choosing a reputable tradesman would be tough. It was my fault for not making the rules of the house clear in the first place.
US firms Emergent Technologies and Plastic Technologies are packaging snacks in the base of a plastics drinks bottle.
Inspection systems on packaging lines are increasingly being required to 'multi-task', according to Mettler Toledo, both in terms of performing multiple functions and inspecting a range of packs and products.
If corks continue to bob out of the wine aisle in the face of fierce competition from screwtop bottle closures, it is at least, in part, because of recent innovation and differentiation in metal closure technology – from smoother finishes to tamper evidence.
If you listen to Chris Evans on Radio 2, you'll be familiar with the classic 1951 song "How d'ya like your eggs in the morning?" To Helen O'Connell's question, Dean Martin croons: "I like mine with a kiss!"
Researchers have created a stable pomegranate-seed-oil-in-water emulsion using gum Arabic, for functional beverage applications.
The market potential of a gorse flower ice cream flavour is being evaluated by Northern Ireland's Glastry Farm Ice Cream.
A new brand of tea aimed at the younger drinker has arrived on supermarket shelves.
An Italian salami manufacturer is aiming to break into the UK and Irish markets for healthier food products with a new brand of leaner salami.
Following a brand revamp, an Essex-based milkshake producer has signed a contract with Sainsbury that will "double its business overnight", according to its owner, Jodie Farrn.
Can maker Rexam has teamed up with beauty drink producer Sunlover to bring their skin- and tan-enhancing beauty drink to market.
Goodwood Home Farm has launched its first cheese product: the organic Charlton. The cheese is made with Goodwood milk from a sixteenth century breed at the local Dairy Shorthorn.
A 23-year-old who made a cold-pressed rapeseed oil as part of his agricultural college dissertation has secured a £50,000 investment in his product.
The future for spirulina – the blue colouring derived from algae that is used in Nestlé's Smarties – remains uncertain as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) reported that it had delayed its investigations into this and a number of other substances used to colour food because of "resource issues".
Premier Foods has refused to comment on rumours that it is close to selling its own-label chilled foods and cake business RF Brookes and Avana Bakeries to a major industry rival.
Jam producer Wilkin & Sons is trying to establish a new home within its current and only base for over 125 years in Tiptree, Essex, as it bids to employ around 200 more people by 2030.
Border Biscuits is investing a further £2.5 million to increase manufacturing capabilities and plant capacity over the next 18 months as the Scottish biscuit maker targets a 50% turnover increase over the next few years.
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