All news articles for January 2017

Greencore reported a 9.1% rise in like-for-like sales

Greencore confident of mitigating Brexit threats

By Matt Atherton

Greencore said it was confident of mitigating any Brexit-related cost increases, as it reported a 9.1% rise in like-for-like sales to £417M on a constant currency basis, in the 13 weeks to December 30.

Starbucks has pledged to recruit an additional 10,000 workers from the global community of refugees

Starbucks boss to hire 10,000 refugees

By Michael Stones

American coffee giant Starbucks has pledged to hire 10,000 refugees worldwide, after US president Trump introduced tough new rules restricting migration from seven countries.

Bakery closure: Avana ceased general production last Friday (Flickr Live4Soccer/(L4S))

Newport bakery closes with 161 job losses

By Noli Dinkovski

A bakery in Newport is to close with the loss 161 of jobs after its owner said market conditions had meant the business was no longer viable.

Weetabix has revealed plans to invest £30M in its Northamptonshire factories

Weetabix invests £30M but warns of price rises

By Matt Atherton

Weetabix will invest £30M in its Northamptonshire factories to expand its UK and international brands, the company’s chief executive revealed, but also warned of price rises as the pound’s value falls.

Lidl is to donate 2M meals a year to charities

Lidl to donate 2M meals a year

By Gwen Ridler

Discount retailer Lidl is to donate up to 2M meals a year to people facing food poverty in the UK, as part of its plans to donate food surplus to local food charities.

New food export markets could take 10 years to develop, said Promar International's John Giles (left). Meawhile, Paul Berryman (right) is taking part in a US trade mission

Business Leaders’ Forum

New food export markets ‘could take 10 years to develop’

By Michael Stones

New food and drink exports could take 10 years to develop, says agri-food consultancy Promar International, ahead of a trade mission to the US this week by a team from the Department for International Trade (DIT).

The FTA is to offer free training for truck drivers, to plug the logistics skills gap

Training scheme to tackle logistics skills gap

By Gwen Ridler

Food and drink manufacturers are to benefit from fully-funded training and apprenticeships from the Freight Transport Association (FTA), to tackle shortages of skilled heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers.

Ring pull problems get analysed

Ring pull problems get analysed

By Rick Pendrous

An end could be in sight to consumer frustration when trying to open metal packaging that is too stiff, or where the ring pull detaches from the lid, thanks to a new development from texture analysis experts at Stable Micro Systems.

Quick pulse heat sealing unit cuts film use

Quick pulse heat sealing unit cuts film use

Potato processor Albert Bartlett has retrofitted Ceetak’s quick pulse heat (QPH) sealing technology onto the vertical form, fill and seal (VFFS) machines at its Norfolk production facility.

Maintenance-free bearings cut downtime

Maintenance-free bearings cut downtime

By Rick Pendrous

By switching to a maintenance-free type of bearing, an unnamed UK milk processing plant is claimed to have achieved annual savings of £10,000 caused by repeated bearing failures in an inaccessible area on one of its principal conveyors, where re-lubrication...

Food sorting machines bring clarity

Food sorting machines bring clarity

By Rick Pendrous

A new way of designating food sorting machines has been announced by Tomra to bring clarity and simplicity to the way they can be identified and specified by customers.

Membrane filter turns food waste into animal feed

Membrane filter turns food waste into animal feed

By Rick Pendrous

Membrane filtration technology can create new revenue streams from various food processing by-products, according to Axium Process, which has conducted pilot trials on extracted proteins from egg waste for use as animal feed.

Encapsulation kit for filled cookies

Encapsulation kit for filled cookies

By Rick Pendrous

An encapsulation system enabling high-value filled cookies to be made on any Baker Perkins wirecut machine is now available.

Jeff Donald, Marel Poultry UK area sales manager (2nd left) seals the deal for the broiler processing kit with Maelor Foods's owner Raj Mehta (centre)

Maelor opens new chicken plant

By Rick Pendrous

Maelor Foods, part of Salisbury Poultry (Midlands), has selected equipment from Marel Poultry for use within the company’s brand new plant located at Wrexham in north Wales.

Moy Park said 70 jobs were created from the £4M investment at its Ashbourne factory

Moy Park created 70 jobs from £4M investment

By Matt Atherton

Poultry processor Moy Park has confirmed 70 jobs were created from the completed £4M investment at its Ashbourne factory, which can now process more than 1M chickens every week.

Philip Hambling is the NFU's new head of food and farming

Food boss appointed at NFU

By Gwen Ridler

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has appointed Philip Hambling as its new head of food and farming, to lead its food chain and commodity areas.

Tesco gained first-mover advantage in competing against Amazon after its merger with Booker

Tesco was ‘smart’ in £3.7bn deal with Booker

By Matt Atherton

Tesco’s £3.7bn mega merger with Booker will give the business first-mover advantage in competing against online giant Amazon, analysts claimed, as consumers are increasingly shopping online.

The FDF’s Ian Wright urged the prime minister to reassure the food industry about its continued access to foreign labour

Business Leaders’ Forum

FDF boss urges PM to offer labour supply assurances

By Michael Stones

The UK food industry urgently needs assurances from the prime minister about the security of EU nationals working in the UK after Brexit, says Food and Drink Federation (FDF) director general Ian Wright.

Up to 40 jobs to be created at BD Foods

BD Foods creates 40 jobs

By Gwen Ridler

Up to 40 jobs are to be created at sauce and marinade manufacturer BD Foods, as the firm moves into a custom-built factory in St Leonards, Hastings.

More than 20% of children are overweight or obese when they start school

More regulation may be needed after the sugar tax

By Matt Atherton

More sugar regulation might be necessary after the introduction of the sugar levy in April 2018, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has claimed, after research showed that more than one-in-five children started school overweight...

Diageo has posted a boost to profits, thanks to successful expansion in the US

Diageo’s profits boosted by US sales

By Gwen Ridler

Alcoholic beverages giant Diageo has posted operating profits of more than £2bn in its interim report released yesterday (January 26), boosted by improved performance in the US.

Unilever Foods reported sales and profit rises of 3.7% and 1.6% respectively, across the last three months of 2016

Unilever’s food sales and profits rise

By Matt Atherton

Unilever Foods reported a 2.6% rise in underlying profit in its full-year trading update, despite the manufacturer’s operating margin falling 0.3%.

Bell looked at the top US food flavour trends for 2017

US food flavour trends for 2017

By Gwen Ridler

Food flavouring producer Bell Flavors & Fragrances has released its top trends for 2017, which focus heavily on ethnic foods.

Warburtons was fined £2M after a work sustained live changing injuries after falling from a mixing machine

Warburtons fined £2M for worker’s fall

By Gwen Ridler

Warburtons has been fined £2M for health and safety failings, after a worker was hospitalised after sustaining life changing injuries following a fall from a mixing machine.

Direct Food Ingredients directors (left to right) Steve Loake, Cath Hough and Brigg Simpson

70-strong ingredients range rolled-out

By Noli Dinkovski

A 70-strong branded range comprising products from most of the main ingredients groups is to be rolled out throughout the year by Direct Food Ingredients (DFI).

International meat business makes senior appointments

International meat business makes senior appointments

By Rod Addy

ABP Food Group has appointed Finbarr McDonnell as chief operating officer, effective from April this year, filling the role vacated by Frank Stephenson, who was named group chief executive in October 2016.

An overturned tanker lorry spilled its load of palm oil, creating chaos on Welsh roads (WikiCommons/ Wales - Gwent Police)

Lorry crash causes palm oil spill

By Gwen Ridler

An overturned tanker has caused traffic chaos in Wales, after it spilled its load of palm oil on to the road’s surface.

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