Brian Young

British Frozen Food Federation director general Brian Young outlined the “fundamental changes​” that he expected to see to the way food manufacturers managed their supply chains – as well as changing consumer habits – following the horsemeat scandal at Food Manufacture’s ​Business Leaders’ Forum, last week.

He told delegates: “I think there will be a fundamental change going forward because accreditation systems have all been about quality and safety. The problem that we’ve had has been about fraud. There is a lot of thinking going on about what to do and all quality systems will without doubt include some ways for tracking for fraud.” ​

He added that consumers were more likely to switch from meat-based ready meals to vegetarian, quorn and fish-based meals than to cut out ready meals altogether from their diets.

“People that are buying frozen foods tend to be in lower socioeconomic groups and don’t have access to money to start buying fresh and organic food. So, they’re much more likely to be switching between protein types and different products.”​

He also told FoodManufacture.co.uk that he expected frozen food sales to rise​ in 2014.