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The food industry could be a target for criminals to traffic drugs, illegal goods and immigrants, according to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and logistics experts.
The rising cost of Christmas, a boost for frozen meat sales and tough times for confectionery firm Thorntons all feature in our festive news-in-brief round up.
From all the team at FoodManufacture.co.uk and our sister title Food Manufacture, Happy Christmas and a profitable 2012 to all our readers.
Food and drink manufacturers remain confident that their £8.5bn export trade to Europe will remain secure despite turmoil in European financial markets.
The UK’s biggest off licence, Tesco, has sold a record 500,000 bottles of ale in the past two days, the largest amount it has ever sold just before Christmas, despite a recent Mintel report revealing a sharp decline in beer sales over the past five years.
Hatches, matches and dispatches dominated the food manufacturing news in 2011. In the second of our two-part series, we showcase the most five most popular news articles of the year published on FoodManufacture.co.uk.
UK food and drink manufacturers have shown their resilience by launching more than 8,500 new products this year, despite the toughest economic trading conditions in decades, the latest Business Confidence Survey from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has revealed.
The type of packaging used for raw poultry could influence the levels of campylobacter found on the external wrapping, according to a new study from the West of Scotland Food Liaison Group (WOSFLG).
Food and grocery sales promotions are key to coaxing Christmas purchases from cash-strapped consumers, according to new research from food and grocery experts IGD.
Chilled foods group Greencore has moved to raise its profile among UK and international investors after announcing that it is cancelling its ordinary shares on the Irish Stock Exchange.
From business takeovers to factory closures, it has been another busy year for UK food and drink manufacturers. Relive the highlights by viewing the five most popular news articles published on FoodManufacture.co.uk during the past six months.
Sales of sports and energy drinks could suffer as consumers turn to “cheaper products” in the face of the European debt crisis, according to Leatherhead Food Research (LFR).
EU smoked flavourings regulations are driving swift growth at Sussex-based smoked food firm Besmoke.
Snacks giant United Biscuits has refused to comment on continuing rumours of a split at the firm which could lead to a possible sale of its snack and biscuit divisions.
Meat consumption is predicted to rise by nearly 73% and demand for dairy products by 58% in the years up to 2050, according to a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Food and drink manufacturers are stepping up their efforts to reduce the amount of salt used in food production as part of a new project with Leatherhead Food Research.
The British government has claimed “victory” for the UK fishing industry after the annual Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) negotiations ended last week. But the Scottish government voiced “huge frustration”.
UK food manufacturers have rejected claims made by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) that the industry is “preying on children and targeting them with [online] fun and games.”
High Pressure Processing (HPP), the technique for cold pasteurisation using pressure to sterilise, is becoming more popular with both food and drink manufacturers and consumers, according to industry experts.
The £34.7M sale of Premier Foods’ four Irish brands, Chivers, Gateaux, McDonnells and the Erin licence, to the Boyne Valley Group underline worries about the food giant’s ability to generate cash, one leading analyst has warned.
Bakery, desserts and sugar distributor The Real Good Food Company (RGF) is “an attractive investment opportunity”, according to financial specialist Shore Capital, after the firm posted an interim statement.
Government should take a far more active role in leading and implementing food policy, according to an informal vote at conference organised by City University London.
Achieving the Food and Drink Federation’s (FDF) target growth of 20% by 2020 is “entirely realistic”, the organisation’s communications director Terry Jones told FoodManufacture.co.uk.
Frozen seafood firm Young’s is to axe 70 jobs at its Cromer Crab Company after describing current staffing levels as “unsustainable.”
Ingredients suppliers are seizing the opportunity offered by EU regulations banning the use of battery farmed hens’ eggs to back food manufacturers struggling to source legitimate supplies.
Chocolate manufacturer Highland Chocolatier is investing £200,000 in quadrupling the size of its production area in a bid to expand capacity to meet rapidly rising demand.
UK food policy has taken a backward step under the coalition government, according to Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, London.
Small and medium-sized food and drink manufacturers are the “engine room of growth that will lead the UK economic recovery”, Caroline Spelman, secretary of state for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told a Food and Drink Federation (FDF) meeting yesterday (December 13).
Chocolate-hungry consumers are helping UK manufacturers buck the European trend of stagnant confectionery sales, according to market research organisation Mintel.
Cake firm Perfection Foods is set to create 170 new jobs at two new UK sites as it responds to soaring export demands.
Chilled foods giant Greencore is “significantly undervalued,” according to city analysts Darren Shirley and Clive Black of Shore Capital Stockbrokers.
Five years ago the European Union nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR) became law. Around the bloc, hopeful EU healthy foods and supplements stakeholders submitted more than 44,000 health claim applications.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is confident that its ambition to grow the UK’s food and drink manufacturing sector by 20% by 2020 will not be blown off course by prime minister David Cameron’s decision to veto changes to the EU treaty last Friday (December 9).
The cost of complying with new EU labelling rules could run into millions of pounds, food and drink manufacturers have been warned.
Associated British Foods (ABF) has reported trading in the first two months of its new financial year (beginning September 18) as being “in line with expectations.”
Reviewing energy policies could save food and drink manufacturers thousands of pounds, according to experiences shared at a recent Business Leaders’ Roundtable organised by Food Manufacture.
Nearly a month after Premier Foods’ Loyd Grossman botulism scare, which left three children in hospital, scientists are no closer to locating the source of the contamination.
Further evidence has emerged that the Department of Health (DoH) will not implement tougher salt reduction targets after 2012, despite denials that it planned to “ditch” them entirely.
The sale of Premier Foods’ spreads business could be the next “logical disposal” for the firm following the sale of its Brookes Avana chilled foods and bakery arm yesterday, according to city analysts.
Making the most efficient use of water is the focus of both a government White Paper and a new campaign from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).
Marmite manufacturer Unilever has been branded a “modern-day Scrooge” after its decision to cancel Christmas celebrations ahead of the first strike in the firm’s history.
The UK’s £100M-plus festive party food boost starts tomorrow (December 10), as TV viewers hold X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing parties, according to retail giant Tesco.
Energizing croissants to kick-start the day are just one product Frutarom could help bakeries develop thanks to a range of bakery compounds derived from herbal extracts it has just launched.
An over-reliance on The Big Price Drop initiative could cut Tesco’s future revenues, city analysts have warned.
Food manufacturing giant Premier Foods has sold its Brookes Avana business, comprising RF Brookes chilled foods and Avana Bakeries, to 2 Sisters Food Group for £30M.
Government support is “essential” to tackle the negative effects of climate change on the food and drink industry, according to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).
Recruitment firm Stafforce has acquired the Centre for Food Robotics and Automation (CenFRA) for an undisclosed sum.
The UK’s biggest food firm Premier Foods has pledged to source only eggs and egg products which comply with new EU welfare rules, which come into force next month, as the government was accused of ‘chickening out’ on its promise to protect UK producers.
More than 570 jobs have been secured with the announcement that Young’s Seafood has acquired fellow fish firm Cumbrian Seafoods for an undisclosed sum.
A drop in share price at chilled foods giant Greencore could spark renewed interest from the firm’s mystery suitor, according to city analysts.
The first national strike at Unilever’s facilities across the UK will go ahead on Friday December 8, Unite the union has confirmed.
One of the food industry’s biggest trade shows, Food Ingredients Europe, opened its doors in Paris last week with a strong presence from China.
Cadbury-owner Kraft Foods is to cut 200 jobs while investing £50M in chocolate and biscuit manufacturing.
Own-label chilled foods firm Greencore has reported turnover up 8.7% to £804M in the year to September, after confirming that take-over talks with an unnamed suitor had now ended.
Up to £100M in sales could be generated by a new ice cream partnership between Kraft Foods and R&R Ice Cream, R&R claimed this week.
New research on the efficacy of probiotics means it is inevitable they will win health claims approval, according to Paul Berryman, chief executive of Leatherhead Food Research.
Food processors have saved millions of pounds by reviving the use of industrial engineering techniques – particularly time and motion studies – which have become a "dead art", according to Alan Donaldson, md of Aim Interims.
Warburtons plans to double the size of its bakery business to £1bn over the next 10 years. The firm will extend its range, build on its brand values and expand further across the globe, its executive director Ross Warburton has reported.
Reverting to the 'snacking habits' of our hunter-gatherer ancestors will help reverse the obesity epidemic facing the developed world and address food security issues, new research has revealed.
New research has revealed that British consumers feel misled by the claim ‘reduced sugar’ .
Red Lion Foods, the firm which gives 100% of its post-tax profits to British armed forces charities, is inviting serving personnel to win Christmas dinner for their families.
Ingredient specialist Ulrick & Short has developed clean-label starches and fat and milk solid replacers to help food manufacturers cut ingredient costs, develop healthier products and remain competitive.
Austrian film producer Mondi Napiag has commissioned a blown film extruder that enables the production of films with up to 14 layers with ethylene vinyl alcohol and polyamide as barrier material. The films are for use in food packaging.
A briquetting press and shredder has helped Cheshire-based pasteurised egg producer D Wise turn a waste stream into a valuable biofuel.
"The packaging designer must move from a disposable to a constant reuse mindset, which forms part of a broader effort to reduce waste by planning for a product's potential recycling or reuse at the end of its life before it is even made."
Domino Printing Sciences has launched a black ethanol-based ink for use with its G-Series range of thermal ink jet printers.
Together with its client Carl Kühne, RPC Kutenholz has developed a two-litre container for foodservice. The shape and specification were designed for its client's production and filling needs.
Norwegian beverage company Mack has chosen Rexam Beverage Can Europe to create a novel polar bear cut-out tab for its newly designed Arctic Beer series.
Shrink wrapping equipment supplier Yorkshire Packaging Systems (YPS) has completed a hat-trick of installations at the factory of jam and preserves manufacturer Wilkin & Sons in Tiptree, Essex.
A new Ishida four-mix multi-head weigher is helping a Serbian frozen fruit and vegetable supplier to enter the important retail market for mixtures of four to six fruits.
Investing in a packing line because it offers above average hygiene control sounds, on the face of it, like choosing a new car purely on the basis of its fuel-efficiency. In each case, there will probably be other, more pressing priorities. And the assumption is likely to be that manufacturers are constantly improving both these parameters.
Within Europe, the lack of a credible 'number two' flexibles supplier after Amcor may be felt by some of the multinational confectionery and snacks firms. In the UK, however, restructuring at the top of the industry has enabled smaller converters to show off their capabilities.
Danone Dairies' decision to switch from petroleum-based polyethylene to the same plastic produced from plant-derived bioethanol for its Actimel drinking yogurt bottles signals a major advance for 'green plastics' in UK food and drink.
ABB's latest version of its six-step energy saving plan is now available. It shows customers the best ways to save money via variable-speed drives and high efficiency motors.
A drives and motors swappage scheme from ABB enables firms to trade in their old drives and motors from any manufacturer.
Eaton's Electrical Sector has increased its DS7 soft starter range, which is vibration free with smooth starts, to include versions with ratings of up to 200A.
Siemens Industry Automation & Drive Technologies (IA&DT) has equipped its range of monitoring relays with the IO-Link interface. These relays protect motors and components by monitoring parameters such as temperature, speed, network quality, current and voltage.
New Primebake, part of the Bakkavör Group, makes chilled and pre-cooked speciality breads.
Compressed air is used to power the wrapping machines at Haighs Bakery in Leeds. As production has increased in recent years, new demands have been placed on the compressed air system.
Automation consultancy GB Innomech has launched a low-cost robotics concept it says will enable even low-volume manufacturers to cut costs and raise competitiveness.
Norwegian-based honey producer Honningcentralen has experienced steady growth over the years. The firm recently built a metal edge industrial filter with a 63 micron wedgewire screen into its new production line to remove foreign bodies from the honey such as wax and bee wings. The existing filter needed manual cleaning, which lost production time.
Sponsored by: Improve/ The National Skills Academ Shortlisted: Greencore Grocery, Nom Dairy UK, Tulip and Weetabix
Sponsored by: Zurich While the category winners are chosen for excellence across a range of criteria, the Judges' Special Award rewards the entrant that demonstrates outstanding achievement in one particular area of activity.
Sponsored by: Food Manufacture Shortlisted: Keltic Seafare, Lossie Seafoods and Young's Seafood
Sponsored by: Kimberley-Clark Professiona Shortlisted: Becketts Foods, Finnebrogue, Taste Tradition and Tulip
Sponsored by: Air Product Shortlisted: Apetito, Ardo UK, Aunt Bessie's and R&R Ice Cream
Sponsored by: Coriolis U Shortlisted: Arla Foods, Dairy Crest and Rodda's
Sponsored by: GIS Shortlisted: IPL Normanton and Willowbrook Foods
Sponsored by: Foodmanjob Shortlisted: Fruitapeel and Kraft Foods
Sponsored by: The Institute of Food Science & Technolog Shortlisted: Dairy Crest, Hitchen Foods and Mash Direct
Sponsored by: Silverstone Search & Selection Shortlisted: AB World Foods, Premier Foods, Thorntons and Weetabix
Sponsored by: Lauras International Shortlisted: Genesis Crafty, Puratos, United Biscuits and Walkers Charnwood Bakery
Sponsored by: Kuwait Petroleum International Lubricants UK This award goes to the person who has made the biggest contribution to the sector over the year - by transforming his or her business or by raising the profile of the sector. The winner was selected in a poll of shortlisted candidates on Foodmanufacture.co.uk.
Sponsored by: Silverstone Search & Selection This award is presented to the best small UK food or drink manufacturer – typically employing fewer than 100 people and with a turnover of less than £10M a year.
The Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards the industry's Oscars lived up to their promise again this year with the best companies in the business receiving the recognition they so richly deserved at the awards ceremony that was held in London last month.
Sponsored by: The Cheese Warehouse The Food Manufacturing Company of the Year is selected by our expert panel of judges from the winners of the nine individual product categories. It goes to the company the judges consider to be the very best of the best.
The government is failing to do enough to encourage an open debate on the use of nanotechnology and bodies such as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) should step into the breach.
Small food firms that use discountvoucher sites to attract new customers must tread carefully or face disaster, experts have warned.
An adjudicator with teeth is needed to police the Groceries Supply Code of Practice to prevent overly powerful retailers reneging on deals with their suppliers, according to leading processors.
Manufacturers are missing out on the commercial opportunities presented by an ageing population by not providing foods targeted at the dietary needs of the elderly, according to experts in the field.
Details emerged last month of action the food and drink industry is taking to address the impending skills shortage. A staggering 137,000 new recruits are needed to replace people who will be retiring over the next five years. This represents around 34% of the total workforce in the sector in the UK.
Hugh Darrington, who spent more than 40 years working in the food trade press - including 23 years as editor of Food Manufacture and six years as editor of International Food Ingredients - has spoken candidly about the people, the companies, the products, the public relations in his new autobiography Strawberries to the moon.
Slovenian firm Vitiva has launched a line of natural solutions for increasing the shelf-life and yield management of processed fish.
Five new ready-to-serve long-life desserts, packaged in combibloc Standard 500ml aseptic carton packs, have been launched in Tesco stores. The range comprises Tesco Long Life Single Cream and Double Cream Alternative, Tesco Finest Custard, Tesco Finest Brandy Sauce and Tesco Finest Rum Sauce.
Sainsbury is continuing to expand its free-from frozen offering with the launch of what it says is the first gluten- and wheat-free tortellini ready meal from DS-gluten free.
Chr Hansen says its new Direct Vat Set (DVS) SafeIT cultures for feta-type cheeses provide taste and texture, with strong phage robustness and extended shelf-life.
Cargill and BASF Plant Science have agreed to co-develop a new dietary source of the essential fatty acids eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid (EPA/DHA).
Many traditional fruit flavours have a natural affinity with high-fat dairy systems, such as strawberries in yogurt. When these same flavours are used in reduced- or fat-free systems they nearly always lose their flavour and integrity. Create Flavours set about a year-long project to identify the synergistic effects that occur between specific flavour molecules in fruit flavours and dairy products. As a result, it has created a range of natural flavourings to increase acceptability of fruit flavours in low-fat dairy systems, especially yogurts.
Like the format of some varieties of nut, new product development (NPD) in snacks and sandwiches is a mixed bag.
We westerners are curiously fussy eaters. We'll happily consume the pulped nether regions of factory-farmed pigs if they're labelled as sausages, while some of us positively salivate at the idea of grotesquely enlarged goose liver. But when we see someone munching on a free-range cricket, we gag.
The Cree Indians predicted that the white man would realise that he couldn't eat money only when the last tree had been cut down, the last fish caught and the last river poisoned.
Volatile apple concentrate prices are forcing diversification and consolidation, despite the current buoyancy in the market, according to juice base processor David Berryman.
Growing interest in vitamin fortified, immune-boosting products have led to the creation of a new water crammed with healthy ingredients to safeguard consumers in the war against bugs.
Since I last interviewed chief executive Paul Berryman in January 2008, the name of the member-based organisation he heads up has changed. It is now Leatherhead Food Research (LFR) rather than Leatherhead Food International. But, more importantly, he has now had the opportunity to embed his planned structural changes. He now sees LFR as an effective bridge between academia and industry.
We serve the whole of Great Britain from here and will be looking at a significant uplift in our volume more than 20% to 51M cases next year. It will be the first time our output will have been above 50M cases. The plant will have the capability to produce 75M cases by 2014.
As 2011 draws to a close, many in the food industry can look back and say that, in some respects, there has been more than just the state of the economy to cry about.
The woes of Britain's biggest food manufacturer, Premier Foods, have continued unabated over the past month.
News that food price inflation had slowed in October gave hard-pressed shoppers some respite. Whether this will lead to greater stability in the roller coaster rise of volatile input costs for manufacturers is another matter.
Manufacturers must embrace new technologies if the UK food and drink sector is to remain competitive against increasing competition from the developing world, Food and Drink Federation president Jim Moseley has warned.
More than three-quarters of oysters tested from UK growing beds contained norovirus, according to recent research from the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
Frustrated food and drink manufacturers are considering sensory claims in preference to health claims; few of which have been approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
The food manufacturing sector has seen a fall in the number of companies becoming insolvent, according to a new study.
The government has no plans to drop salt targets, a spokesman for the Department of Health (DoH) has told FoodManufacture.co.uk.
Europe’s largest own-label ice cream manufacturer, R&R Ice Cream, has continued its expansion on the continent with the acquisition of German ice cream manufacturer Durigon Gelato.
A new brewery development in Leicester could also create facilities for small food and drinks producers.
The Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST) is asking for food manufacturers’ help to survey the needs of the 100,000 technicians known to be working in the food sector.
Renewed interest in health and wellness leads the top 10 trends set to dominate the UK food and drink sector in 2012, according to Leatherhead Food Research.
British bakers are setting the standards for their European colleagues to match, according to the Federation of British Bakers (FBB), following a consumer trends survey from Danish enzyme specialist Novozymes.
Workers at a cheese packing plant hit by fire in September have been warned they could lose their jobs.
Ocean Spray Cranberries is channelling millions of dollars into expanding global cranberry processing capacity, making it easier for UK concentrate manufacturers to secure supplies.
Up to 55 jobs could be lost at Müller Dairy UK, which makes yogurts at its North Shropshire dairy.
The Kerry Group has completed its acquisition of Cargill’s global flavours operation.
The government looks set to abandon targets for reducing salt next year under a revised Public Health Responsibility Deal (PHRD) focusing on calorie reduction of foods sold and increasing people’s physical activity.
Water supplier Highland Spring Group is determined to challenge the EU’s recent ruling on health claims for water, despite further clarification from Brussels.
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