Government ‘more concerned with badgers’ than food manufacturers

Promoting British food exports should be higher up the government’s agenda than dealing with badgers, according to the director general of the British Frozen Food Federation.In an exclusive video interview for FoodManufacture.co.uk, Brian Young said greater government support for food manufacturers would be one of his key resolutions to improve the industry in 2013.

Referring to environment secretary’s Owen Paterson’s aborted trip to October’s SIAL trade show in Paris to deal with the proposed badger cull, Young argued export opportunities for the food industry should have taken precedence.

Moy Park

He also discusses what needs to be done to better publicise the sustainability benefits of frozen food and how the industry can better attract high quality recruits.

The interview – which took place at poultry processor Moy Park’s Grantham base – came after new figures showed the frozen food sector had grown by 5.8% in value year-on-year to November 2012.

Don’t miss the full ‘Big Interview’ with Young in February’s edition of our sister title Food Manufacture magazine. To order your copy, click here.