The food and drink industry faces a rocky ride in 2008, but there remain opportunities for growth if businesses are shrewd, according to processors and analysts.

Union officials have given Cadbury two strategic plans to mull over during the Christmas period that make a business case for maintaining production at its Keynsham chocolate factory.

Tesco is talking to manufacturers keen to share space on freight trains heading south from Inverness to Grangemouth in a new transport initiative.

Staff at Warburtons were considering a new pay offer from the company as Food Manufacture went to press.

The European Commission hopes to publish its long-awaited proposal to revise the Novel Food Regulation in January.

Export market development consultancy, Food from Britain's (FFB's) annual grant of £5M is to be cut by 25% in the next three years as part of government-imposed savings.

The Charity Commission has granted charity status to the Membership Company of the Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST). This puts IFST members on an equal footing with other science professions, which are recognised as applying science and professional standards for the benefit of public health and safety.

The frozen food sector showed a 3.6% increase in value over 2007 with volume up by 0.4%. The year's stars include frozen fish, which grew 9.6% in value and 5.9% in volume; pizza, which increased 4.2% in value and 6.7% in volume, and potato products, up 9.3% in value. The biggest turnaround was in meat and poultry, which posted a 3.4% increase in volume and a 9.1% rise in value, according to the British Frozen Food Federation.

The new owner of luxury boxed chocolate maker Lir has promised to make a "significant investment" in the company's production facilities. Zetar, which has just added Lir to its burgeoning confectionery and snack foods empire in a £5.7M deal, said the cash would go into a three-year programme to increase automation and build new warehousing space at Lir's factory in Navan, Ireland.

Brazilian beef producers and exporters are opening a London office for The Brazilian Beef Information Service as a prelude to a European promotional campaign. The move is partly a response to Irish and Scottish farmers' campaigns for an EU Brazilian beef ban.

Ultra-premium chilled soups under the Glorious! brand from celebrity chef Marco Pierre White will be launched this year by Conival. The loss-making firm, which has also secured a contract to supply British Airways with its new Blenheim Palace Provisions yoghurts, admitted it lacked the marketing muscle to compete effectively with its Sparky omega-3 brand.

The kind of 'unlawful information exchange' highlighted in the recent dairy price fixing case is standard practice in the food industry, some manufacturers have claimed.

Drinks producer Bulmers Cider has introduced a risk management strategy to help cope with potential disruptions to its supply chain - however serious the crisis.

Employees at food processors pulled fewer 'sickies' in 2007 than in the previous year, according to a supplier of online software that enables firms to estimate the cost of days lost through sickness.

The ethnic food market in the UK is running out of steam, according to the latest Food Manufacture market report.

Version five of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) global standard will provide far greater clarity for manufacturers and auditors so that it is interpreted more consistently in future, the BRC has promised.

Christian Hansen has acquired the Medipharm probiotic cultures arm of Swedish Arla Foods for an undisclosed sum. Medipharm, which has subsidiaries in the US and the Czech Republic, employs around 100 staff and has a turnover of £9.8M.

A series of food safety seminars will be run at the Foodex Meatex exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham from April 6-9 2008. See http://www.foodexmeatex.co.uk

Lees Foods has bought speciality bakery and dessert manufacturer Patisserie UK, based in Livingston, Scotland. In a deal worth £2.45M, Lees Foods will acquire the entire share capital of the parent company Rock Cake, incorporating its subsidiary companies Patisserie UK (Holdings) and Patisserie (UK).

The London Development Agency and London Food Link has launched a £70,000 fund to promote sustainable food events in London. The grant scheme will help deliver the mayor's Food Strategy Implementation plan, which aims to create a world-class sustainable system for Londoners working with food, from production to retail.

The British Safety Council has launched a free online assessment tool in response to concerns over the burden of health and safety legislation on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The service allows SMEs to assess their performance without the expense of an external adviser.

In an online poll conducted by Food Manufacture last month, 61% of readers said that consumers would not accept genetically modified (GM) foods, even if producers showed nutritional and environmental benefits. The vote throws cold water on Irish Euro MP, Avril Doyle's claims that additional benefits might sway consumers, as reported in last month's issue.

Processors may have an easier time liaising with local authorities if the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill becomes law, according to the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH).

The Fabulous Bakin' Boys (FBB), the sales and marketing company for nut-free products, last month took over full control of its sister manufacturing arm Baking Solutions for an undisclosed sum.

Experiments with nanosalt may help processors searching for the holy grail of keeping products tasty while reducing their salt content.

Retailers putting pressure on suppliers to minimise costs will come under scrutiny, as a major investigation by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) reveals unsafe working practices.

Alcohol distillers, including Diageo, are toasting receiving the right to label spirits manufactured from grapes as 'vodka' under an EU accord.

The European Commission (EC) has offered a ray of hope to manufacturers who have been lobbying for the right to put 'soya milk' on their products.

Chilled food firms are finally enjoying the victory they won in theory in June 2006 reversing Food Standards Agency (FSA) proposals that would have cut chilled food shelf-life from 10 to five days in many cases.

Food prices are still pushing upwards, according to the latest government figures, reflecting a global trend as raw material commodity prices are soaring.

Turkey processors were benefiting from retail price rises of 10% prompted by climbing feed costs in the run-up to Christmas as Food Manufacture went to press.

The government's Christmas present to the English livestock industry, still reeling from the effects of foot and mouth disease (FMD), is a proposal that it should share the costs of animal health and welfare.

Buxton Spa Bakery (pictured above) makes ambient sweet cakes, tarts and pies, not bread, as we depicted on p87 of our December issue, in which we showed a generic shot of bread being baked ('Cooler factory air helps Buxton bake better cakes').

Associated British Foods' (ABF's) sugar division should go from profit drag to growth driver in the next couple of years, according to City analysts.

A good packaging concept can give your new product the best start in life, and as Leicester curry ingredients firm Spice 'n' Tice has proved, there are plenty of opportunities for smaller companies to benefit.

Busy chefs can now create Tex Mex dishes in just a few minutes using Unilever's new Knorr Americas sauces.

Cains Beer Company has jumped on the trend for all things natural, with its new organic wheat beer.

Naturally Gorgeous, the new brand from Naturally Drinks, has just launched a range of healthy beverages for those looking for a little more than just a juice or smoothie. The drinks contain fruit, skimmed milk and pine nut oil ingredient Pinnothin, which manufacturer Lipid Nutrition claims, can help to control hunger urges.

Natural and organic foods company Hain Celestial has announced the addition of Vegetarian Sausage Rolls to the iconic Linda McCartney range.

Southern Alps, which specialises in slow dried fruit products including mueslis and porridges, has created an unusually shaped snack.

For consumers who love the taste of shortbread, but only indulge in the traditional Scottish snack occasionally, Paterson Arran has launched a new range of shortbread fingers that are now 80% lower in saturated fat.

Snowbird Foods' operations director Rodney Masters has launched a sausage recipe - The Director's Choice - to celebrate 30 years in the sausage business.

Why do British consumers opt for the bland and the boring when it comes to pre-packed meat cuts? We really are an unadventurous lot when it comes to exploring the whole beast.

Ingredients firm Hydrosol claims it can cut the raw material cost of feta cheese production in half by removing milk from the equation, but whether manufacturers will accept it remains to be seen.

Consumer research commissioned by National Starch Food Innovation has provided insight to guide customers on the future development of new wholesome ingredients.

January is often a time for reflection on the previous year and anticipation of what is to come.

Novel refrigeration technologies are being evaluated as part of a research project designed to identify those approaches most likely to reduce energy costs in the food chain.

Spending on manufacturing execution systems (MESs) is set to grow as regulation compounds cost pressures for manufacturers globally, according to a new report from market analyst Datamonitor.

This month sees the creation of a new supply chain business which brings together Culina Logistics and Baylis Logistics under the Culina title, part-owned by Luxembourg-based TML Invest - the investment arm of Theo Müller, owner of the Müller Dairy Group.

Premier Foods has extended its largest distribution facility in Wisbech, expanding pallet capacity by almost 50%, and refurbished the existing warehouse.

I find it fascinating to watch a business open up to supply chain thinking. One day it operates in isolation, mistrusting the competition, suppliers and clients alike. Next, it opens up to a new world of supply chain collaboration, integration and sourcing.

Keith Lacey, factory manager, Butt Foods

Ian Norton likes inventing things. From zero-fat spreads to coconut cream replacements, Unilever's former chief scientist has more than 60 granted patents to his name. After 25 years at the cutting edge of industrial research, however, he recently parted company with his old employer and took up a post as professor of soft solid microstructural engineering at the University of Birmingham, where he is doing some groundbreaking work on a range of food-related applications.

By its own admission, Hull is a deprived area. The city's economy is dominated by low wages and high unemployment, according to Hull City Council. But Malmo Park - the city's first food innovation and technology centre - is determined to encourage budding entrepreneurs to inject some life into the area.

Information technology. Everyone accepts that we can't live without IT these days. For many young people IT - in the form of 'social networking' - is the reason for living. But for company boards, the great promise of IT projects often turns into nightmarish failure.

Uniq had best watch it. Elisabeth the Chef (EtC) has come from nowhere in the past few years and now claims second place in UK chilled desserts.

The words 'needle' and 'haystack' spring to mind when discussing pesticide testing. Over 700 pesticides are regulated worldwide; there are probably an additional 300 or so in circulation and new pesticides are emerging all the time. On top of this, food manufacturers have to contend with continued lowering of acceptable residue limits and pressure to accelerate test result turnaround and product release. These pressures are also the drivers behind developments in testing and analysis technology.

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tool has been developed by Q Chip to speed up bacterial identification with greater accuracy and less variability. Identification using its ReaX Assay 16S beads is based on PCR amplification of the widely-used 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid gene.

Microbiology specialist Lab M has introduced a new medium for the enumeration of presumptive E. coli in milk and milk products. Its modified lauryl sulphate tryptose broth adds 4-methyl- umbelliferyl-?-D-glucuronide (MUG) to the standard lauryl tryptose broth. This allows presumptive E. coli to be enumerated from presumptive coliforms in milk and milk products.

Trials at a cooked-meat processing plant in the West Midlands have shown how BioCote's silver technology can reduce levels of bacteria by up to 96.4% on surfaces.

ProVap from OspreyDeepclean is the first dry saturated-steam cleaning system to offer proven, microbiologically validated results for the bacterial decontamination of a variety of surfaces and substrates.

Lowering salt consumption across the world by 15% could save 8.5M lives by 2015, according to a recent study based on 23 countries led by London-based health charity King's Fund.

Global flavour manufacturer Mastertaste is now offering a full range of soy masking flavours, from mild taste enhancers to products with a stronger masking power. They have all been developed at Mastertaste's research and development centre in Turin.

Clevedon-based flavour company Create Flavours has restructured its business to incorporate a Natural Flavours Division to meet the growing requirement for savoury and sweet natural flavours.

Flavour and fragrance ingredient specialist Treatt has launched two new products in its 100% natural Treattarome range.

The food and dairy division of Niro has developed the technology for incorporating adjustable nozzles in its spray dryers. This allows the nozzles within a dryer to be moved in relation to each other to enable fine adjustments to the powder properties while the dryer is running.

Rotherham-based Dunphy Combustion has recently completed a state-of-the art, carbon-neutral, energy installation for a major dairy and cheese-making factory in Wels, Austria.

A new centrifugal screener from Kason Corporation Europe has been designed to allow all its internal parts to slide freely from the shaft for cleaning, for screen changes, or for inspection.

Machinery manufacturer Marel Food Systems of Iceland, which owns AEW Delford Systems in the UK, is to acquire Stork Food Systems from Stork of The Netherlands.

A Link 51 pallet racking layout using very narrow aisle design and pick-and-drop stations is helping Europe's largest manufacturer of malt extract to make the most of its warehouse space. The 1,200 pallet-position layout at Muntons in Stowmarket, Suffolk, helps the company despatch malt extract, malt flour and malt flakes to its customers around the world.

Two ways to help eliminate the problem of freezer burn of meat, fish, pizzas and other frozen foods have been developed by Versaperm.

An intelligent battery organisation system has been developed by Jungheinrich for forklift trucks. By monitoring and controlling battery use, the JiBOS system can make significant cost savings over the lifetime of batteries and chargers.

An eight-station Packhouse packing system supplied by Marco is playing a pivotal role at Village Nurseries' soft fruit establishment in Keyingham, East Yorkshire.

Dairy is the most dynamic category in the business of kids' nutrition worldwide.

The a-z of food safety is a detailed and comprehensive guide, fully up-to-date with all the latest developments in UK and European legislation.

Increased legislation and tougher regulations mean that it is now more important than ever for providers of foodstuffs to meet food hygiene standards.

The factors that determine the safety of aseptic food processing technology cannot be compromised without the risk of serious commercial loss.

The impetus to create in-house training programmes for staff is growing with sector skills council Improve's constant stress on the requirement to strengthen workers' skills base.