All news articles for February 2017

Amazon has launched both a 5,000 head recruitment drive and a new apprenticeship scheme

Amazon launches 5,000-head recruitment drive

By Michael Stones

Amazon, the online retail giant, has revealed plans to recruit 5,000 more full-time workers, taking its total UK workforce to more than 24,000, and launched a new apprenticeship programme.

Pearlfisher worked with Kerry on its Pure dairy- and gluten-free spread

Fancy packs make better-for-you foods more appealing

By Paul Gander

Branding and pack graphics are helping to build positive consumer associations around better-for-you and free-from products, claims design agency Pearlfisher. New categories, such as non-alcoholic distilled drinks, now benefit from the same approach,...

Food industry automation could benefit from the new £2bn fund

£2bn fund raises industry’s automation hopes

By Paul Gander

With the government pledging an additional investment of £2bn a year by 2020 for UK research and development – including a special fund for priority technologies, such as robotics – the food and drink sector will need to ensure that industrial applications...

Vitamin D link: the study found that supplements can reduce the risk of cold and flu

Vitamin D cold and flu study link divides scientists

By Noli Dinkovski

A study that suggests vitamin D can play an important role in preventing colds and flu has received a mixed response from scientists and industry bodies, with Public Health England (PHE) claiming it “does not provide sufficient evidence” to support a...

Morrisons searches for hundreds of extra farmer suppliers. Photo by Jonathan Colon, skatesphere.com

Morrisons seeks at least 200 new British suppliers

By Matt Atherton

Morrisons is seeking at least 200 new British food and drink suppliers, it revealed today (February 17), after a report claimed only 52% of food eaten in the UK came from British farmers.

The top-five food-to-go trends were identified by IGD

Top-five food-to-go trends for 2017

By Gwen Ridler

The top-five food-to-go trends – led by health and wellness – will influence the future of the convenience food sector, according to grocery think-tank IGD. 

Nestlé's 2016 results were ‘at the lower end of our expectations’ said ceo Mark Schneider

Nestlé’s growth falls for fifth consecutive year

By Gwen Ridler

Nestlé has posted its fifth consecutive year of falling organic growth – after a “challenging year” in the UK – in its latest financial results for the 12 months to December 31.

Inflation are forecast to overtake pay rises in the manufacturing sector

Manufacturing pay rises scrape ahead of inflation

By Gwen Ridler

Pay increases in the manufacturing sector – including food and drink firms – are slightly ahead of consumer price inflation, revealed EEF, the manufacturer’s organisation.

Employers should

‘Bad bosses should face jail’ over unpaid staff wages

By Matt Atherton

Employers “should face jail” for failing to pay staff the minimum wage, the Unite union has claimed, after the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) named and shamed 360 companies who owed workers nearly £1M in unpaid wages.

A lobby group claimed pigs were living in squalid conditions at a farm

Wyke Farms rethinks deal with pig farm after video emerges

By Matt Atherton

Wyke Farms is reviewing its partnership with JMW Farms Ltd’s Lambrook Pig Farm, after video footage obtained by animal welfare and vegan lobbyist Viva! claimed to show the farm’s pigs were living among dead pigs.

The IoT will revolutionise maintenance in what will be ‘smarter factories’

Smart food and drink factories reveal future

By Rick Pendrous

This could be the year when the ‘smart factory’, Industry 4.0 and the ‘Internet of Things (IoT)’ – a world in which automation and data exchange in manufacturing work together in an interconnected way – really starts to take off, according to experts...

Further volatility in the pound’s value is expected with a hard ‘Brexit’

Hard Brexit could hit UK food and drink importers

By Rick Pendrous

More uncertainty will be created in the currency markets, which could hit UK food and drink importers, a foreign exchange specialist has warned, after it emerged that a ‘hard Brexit’ was more likely following Prime Minister Theresa May’s 12-point plan...

Dairy and nutrition firm Danone launched an efficiency plan to save €1bn

Danone launches €1bn cost-saving scheme

By Matt Atherton

French dairy and nutrition company Danone has launched a cost-cutting and efficiency scheme, designed to save €1bn (£850M) by 2020, after its European sales fell 1.4% last year.

Heineken posted its full-year results for 2016

Drinks giant Heineken posts £238M sales rise

By Gwen Ridler

Drinks giant Heineken saw a £238M boost to sales last year, revealed in its full-year results for 2016, despite weaker performance in Africa and the Middle East.

A Bristol bakery was fined more than £5,000 for using Bakers Basco's bread baskets without consent

Bakery pays £5,250 for bread basket misuse

By Matt Atherton

Bristol-based Anstee’s Bakery had to pay more than £5,000 in costs and damages to Bakers Basco, after using its bread baskets without permission.

Gü Puds could see a 90% sales surge over Valentine's Day

Valentine’s boost for Gü Puds

By Gwen Ridler

Dessert manufacturer Gü Puds has forecast a 90% sales spike this Valentine’s Day, as more people opt to spend the night in with their loved ones.

Tesco could be prosecuted for displaying out-of-date promotions on its shelves

Tesco could be prosecuted for out-of-date labels

By Gwen Ridler

Tesco’s failure to remove out-of-date promotional labels from its shelves is a criminal regulatory offence, which could lead to fines – and even imprisonment of individuals found guilty, a law firm has claimed.

Sugar cannot be replaced by a single ingredient, claims Bayn Europe

Natural sugar reduction range extended

By Noli Dinkovski

Food and drink manufacturers are now able to source a comprehensive range of sugar reduction additives from a single ingredients firm, after its leading range was extended to include new variants.

Food and drink sector mergers and acquisitions are predicted to rise this year

Food and drink M&As predicted to rise in 2017

By Noli Dinkovski

A competitive environment and the increasing bargaining power of major retailers is putting food producers under growing pressure – which in turn is driving mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity – a trade credit insurer has found.

The sugar tax was victimising part of the food sector already lowering its sugar content, Watkins said

Business Leaders' Forum

Sugar tax is a ‘blunt instrument’ against obesity

By Matt Atherton

The sugar tax is a “blunt instrument” to tackle childhood obesity that “victimises” a sector already lowering sugar and calories in its products, according to law firm DWF.

The US market is a big oportunity for GM-free products

Business Leaders' Forum

GM-free food is big US export opportunity for manufacturers

By Matt Atherton

Exporting food free from genetic-modification (GM) to the US is a big opportunity for UK food manufacturers, according to Northern Ireland-based prepared vegetable supplier Mash Direct.

Food manufacturer's labour costs may go up after Brexit, DWF partner Hannah Robbins said

Business Leaders' Forum

Food firms face higher labour costs after Brexit

By Matt Atherton

Food and drink manufacturers may face higher labour costs after Brexit, because they’ll have to compete for fewer non-UK EU workers, warns law firm DWF.

The NFU is lobbying government to ensure its members don’t lose out after Brexit

Business Leaders’ Forum

NFU seeks level playing field for post-Brexit

By Rick Pendrous

The National Farmers Union (NFU) is actively lobbying government to ensure British farmers are not disadvantaged compared with their main competitors in Europe following Brexit, its president Meurig Raymond told the Food Manufacture Group’s Business Leaders’...

The Apprenticeship Levy is a big opportunity for manufacturers, said Justine Fosh

Apprenticeship Levy must be well handled

By Noli Dinkovski

The impending Apprenticeship Levy provided a clear opportunity for businesses to review the skills requirements of their workforces and centralise their approach to training, Justine Fosh, chief executive at the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink...

Food exports: ‘We are not the first cab on the rack’ in Asia and Middle Eastern markets,’ said John Giles

Business Leaders’ Forum

Asia offers strong food and drink export opportunities

By Rick Pendrous

The prospects for driving up UK exports of food and drink to countries around the world are good, provided there is sufficient ambition among UK manufacturers themselves and the government recognises the need to support them in achieving their potential.

Many food manufacturers will have ‘uncomfortable conversations’ with their retail customers in the next six months, predicted Clive Black

Business Leaders’ Forum

Food price cuts may be on way as inflation returns

By Noli Dinkovski

Food manufacturers need to think strategically if they want to avoid the threat of retailers demanding price cuts as inflation returns, a leading City analyst has warned.

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