All news articles for May 2015

Baxters was fined £6,000 for safety failings

Baxters fined £6,000 for worker’s accident

By Michael Stones

Soups, sauces and spreads manufacturer Baxters has been fined £6,000, after one of its workers suffered serious injury when his hand was caught between a conveyor belt and roller.

Bright Blue Foods is launching nine Aunt Bessie's cake lines into Tesco stores

Bright Blue Foods targets £100M in sales

By Rod Addy

Bright Blue Foods is targeting £100M in sales within four years as the cake business gears up for further growth after restructuring and investing £2M in its Shadsworth bakery in Blackburn.

Shoppers like to use their smartphones to check our supermarket bargains

Mobile grocery sales are set to soar

By Nicholas Robinson

Mobile phone commerce is set to surpass online sales via static devices, according to new research, leading retailers such as Sainsbury to invest heavily in better systems.

Some visionary companies understood the need to invest in preventive maintenance, said Gagg

Preventive maintenance vital for cash-strapped firms

By Rod Addy

Food firms are targeting asset care as a way to ease pressure on profits, but lack of properly trained staff is proving a hindrance, according to Peter Gagg, md of MCP management consultants.

Jones said the barriers between food businesses and retailers were broken down at the event

Break down barriers to retail buyers

By Laurence Gibbons

Barriers to retail buyers can be smashed by food and drink entrepreneurs, according to the founder of business support organisation Enterprise Nation.

David Cameron aims to reclaim the mantle of One-nation leadership

Election 2015

Food manufacturers mull Conservative victory

By Michael Stones

Food and drink manufacturers are pondering the impact of the Conservatives’ election success, as David Cameron prepares to form his second government as Prime Minister.

Sainsbury claims income from suppliers is 'commercially sensitive'

Supermarkets called on to declare supplier income

By Rod Addy

Supermarkets should declare income from suppliers, in line with recommendations from corporate reporting regulator the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), according to a food industry accounting expert.

Please take part in our state-of-the-industry survey

Food firms asked to share views on industry's future

By Michael Stones

As the food and drink manufacturing sector considers the impact of the Conservatives’ election victory, the Food Manufacture Group invites you to share your views about the industry's future.

The acquisition of Adelie Foods and its Urban Eat brand, was one convenience sector deal

International firms target UK food acquisitions

By Rod Addy

International players buying UK food businesses was one of the main trends characterising merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the first quarter of 2015, according to financial advisory firm Grant Thornton.

British Bakels has invested in a bid to boost sales

British Bakels invests to grow

By Nicholas Robinson

Bakery ingredients specialist British Bakels will pump £700,000 into its Bicester, Oxford, manufacturing headquarters in a bid to boost the site's efficiencies and its potential to grow sales.

Put yourself on the innovation fast track by attending New Frontiers in Food & Drink on June 26 in London

True food innovation means ‘disruptive’ change

By Rick Pendrous

Breakthrough innovation is marked by a total transformation of an organisation and is completely different to developing food or drink products that just follow the latest fad or trend, according to a leading consultant.

Elderly people, who eat foods such as pâté, are at particular risk of listeriosis

Concerns raised about EU listeria rules for ready-to-eat foods

By Rick Pendrous

Ready-to-eat (RTE) food providers are worried about the increased risk of food poisoning that could result from confusion over the EU rules on the levels of the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) allowed during the shelf-life of these products.

Left to right: Dobson and Bosma

Dunbia clinches joint venture with Shannon Meats

By Rod Addy

Dunbia has announced a joint venture agreement with Shannon Meats that would support the former’s trade throughout the Netherlands and guarantee the latter a dedicated supply of high quality Irish beef.

Free-from food manufacturers had to build brand loyalty, said Varjonen

Vitafoods 2015

Top four tips to succeed with free-from

By Nicholas Robinson

Free-from food and drink manufacturers must defend themselves against fickle consumers if their brands are to remain successful in one of the fastest growing markets, experts have urged. 

Glanbia Nutritionals' gluten-free oat milling facility was launched last year in Ireland

Vitafoods 2015

Glanbia Nutritionals announces second ancient grain investment

By Nicholas Robinson

Global food ingredients giant Glanbia Nutritionals is preparing to make a further investment in its recently opened multi-million pound oat milling facility to boost its presence in the ancient grains market. 

Mike Coupe's appeal hearing in an Egyptian court has been adjourned until May 21

Sainsbury boss jail appeal hearing date set

By Michael Stones

Sainsbury boss Mike Coupe’s appeal hearing in an Egyptian court against his two-year jail sentence has been postponed until Thursday May 21, as the retailer revealed its first loss in a decade in full-year results posted today (May 6).

Come to the carnival at this year's Food Manufacture Excellence Awards in London on November 3.

Food manufacture excellence awards

Celebrate the best in food and drink manufacturing

By Rick Pendrous

The 2015 Food Manufacture Excellence Awards are now open for receipt of entries. So, if your company wants to be recognised for its world-class achievements and join the party at this year’s carnival-themed event, you need to enter these prestigious awards.

Shoppers at Tesco were more likely to vote Conservative than those frequenting other retailers

Election 2015

UKIP voters most likely to shop at Sainsbury’s stores

By Rod Addy

Tesco and Sainsbury shoppers are most likely to vote Conservative, Asda and Morrisons customers favour Labour and the UK Independence Party (UKIP) has the highest support among Sainsbury’s shoppers.

The UK food industry is waking up to the cost-cutting benefits offered by automation

UK food industry gets automated to cut costs

By Rod Addy

The UK food industry is switching on to the benefits of automation amid growing pressure to cut costs, according to engineering component specialist European Automation.

Sainsbury buyer James Curtis offered expert advice on how entrepreneurs should deal with buyers

How to impress food buyers and get listed

By Laurence Gibbons

Food and drink start-ups must understand their market and competition and prove their product could disrupt it and bring benefits for retailer before approaching a buyer, according to Sainsbury.

Does ice cream pose a listeria risk to vulnerable people?

Ice cream listeria risk to the ill and elderly

By Rick Pendrous

Fears have been raised about the wider possible contamination of frozen food with the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) in Europe, and the potentially deadly threat this poses to vulnerable individuals, following serious food poisoning outbreaks traced...

Campylobacter control should not be compromised by supermarket price war: Jeremy Hall

Supermarket war ‘blunts campylobacter control’

By Michael Stones

The battle against campylobacter, Britain’s leading cause of food poisoning, has been compromised by the big four supermarkets’ price war against discount stores Aldi and Lidl, warns Bernard Matthews group technical director Jeremy Hall.

Concerns have been raised about possible radioactive food imports

Checks for radioactive food need toughening

By Nicholas Robinson

The UK’s food regulations are not tough enough to prevent products produced around the Fukushima nuclear disaster area from making it onto supermarket shelves, experts have warned.

Supermarkets are introducing initiatives to train more truck drivers

Retailers are reacting to the HGV driver shortfall

By Nicholas Robinson

Retailers are understood to be taking measures to address a shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers, having previously denied that the issue could potentially cripple the perishable food sector.

Ross (left): a due diligence defence could be used if bribery is identified

Food and drink firms should 'beware bribery threat'

By Nicholas Robinson

Manufacturers must take the threat of bribery more seriously by putting in place measures to safeguard against it, a legal expert has advised. The warning comes as new figures suggest a third of food firms have no protection in place against such illegal...

Video roundup of the week's food industry headlines

Sainsbury jail sentences top our headlines

By Michael Stones

Jail sentences for Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe and its former boss Justin King lead our Good news, bad news sideways look at this week’s top food industry headlines.

Justin King faces three years in an Egyptian jail

Jail threat now for Sainsbury’s ex boss Justin King

By Michael Stones

Sainsbury’s former boss Justin King now faces the threat of imprisonment in an Egyptian jail, after it emerged earlier this week that current chief executive Mike Coupe was sentenced to two years’ in prison for an embezzlement conviction.

Boris Johnson pulls the other one

Election 2015

Politicians ‘pull the other one’ – down the pub

By Michael Stones

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) received a big political boost today (May 1), as the top contenders for Prime Minister David Cameron and Ed Miliband both joined 1,000 other prospective MPs in pledging to support the pressure group’s campaigns.

2 Sisters said it wanted to deliver a strategy that protected animal and human interests

2 Sisters cracks down on antibiotics use

By Rod Addy

2 Sisters Food Group is scrapping from its poultry production all antibiotics prioritised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as critically important to human health.

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