All news articles for April 2019

A change in culture could attract more women into the food industry

Tackle bias directly to create female-friendly culture

By Helen Gilbert

Tackling “unconscious bias” against female staff could help food firms attract more women, although an ageing workforce is potentially more of an issue, Kathryn Grant, people development manager at British Sugar, has claimed.

Despite seeing a sales drop of 1.2%, Sainsbury’s reclaimed second place from former merger partner Asda

Grocery market grows at rapid pace

By Helen Gilbert

Unseasonably warm weather, Mother’s Day and a late Easter helped bolster holiday spend to a record £2.5bn – the fastest rate of growth the sector has displayed this year, new data has suggested.

Food manufacturers have increased adoption of robots over the past five years

Robot adoption grows 50%

By Gwen Ridler

The number of food manufacturers adopting robots into their production has increased by 50% over the past five years, fuelled by demands from retailers and consumers, according to a report from consultancy ING.

Stockpiling could lead to food waste, an expert has warned

Stockpiling plans could lead to waste

By Gwen Ridler

Food manufacturers’ stockpiling as part of Brexit contingency plans could be counter-productive and lead to significant waste, a monitoring systems provider has claimed.

CE Marks do not guarantee the safety of your production line, argues John Boyle

Opinion

CE marks alone do not guarantee machine safety

By John Boyle

John Boyle – Institution of Occupational Safety and Health member and head of health, safety, risk and continuous improvement at G’s Fresh – discusses machine safety and the role of Conformité Européenne (CE) marks.

Regency started from a necessity and has grown into a supply chain giant

Supply chain feature

Regency Purchasing Group: the benefit of insight

By Gwen Ridler

Regency Purchasing Group managing director Alex Demetriou has created a significant business from industry insights, all due to a clear gap he found in the market.

Burts Potato Chips is to create 64 jobs at its Leicester site

Burts Potato Chips creates 60 jobs

By Gwen Ridler

Burts Potato Chips is to create more than 60 new jobs at its Leicester site as part of its expansion of the recently acquired factory.

HCC research has revealed that more than half of consumers are confused about meat intake recommendations

Confusion reigns over meat intake guidance

By Aidan Fortune

Misconceptions among the British public over how much red meat should be consumed on a daily basis may be leading to the unnecessary cutting down of portions, a new study has found.

Typhoo suffered a £20m loss in the year ending 31 March 2018 as a result of record high material costs and currency fluctuations

Typhoo posts full supplier list

By Helen Gilbert

Typhoo has published a full list of its global tea suppliers for the first time in a bid to boost wider transparency and accountability across the industry.

Fox's claimed the cookies market is in strong growth

Fox’s Biscuits launches new indulgent cookie

By Helen Gilbert

2 Sisters-owned Fox’s Biscuits has extended its Chunkie Cookie range with what it claims is its most “indulgent flavour” yet, as it seeks to capitalise on the burgeoning market.

New SAMW president Andy McGowan has called for more support for the red meat industry in Scotland

New SAMW president urges Government support

By Aidan Fortune

The new president of the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW) Andy McGowan has called on the Government to provide more support to the red meat industry, especially as Brexit confusion continues.

Huel claims to have clocked up more than £5.3m in sales in January alone

Huel hires former Sainsbury’s buyer

By Helen Gilbert

Powdered food brand Huel has hired former Sainsbury’s buying manager Daniel Plimmer as head of procurement and demand as it forges ahead with expansion plans.

Signature Flatbreads reported operating profit of £6.8m in 2018

Signature Flatbreads doubles profits

By Gwen Ridler

Signature Flatbreads has more than doubled operating profit to £6.8m in the 12 months to 31 July 2018, despite a slight fall in turnover for the year.

The Orginal Baker focuses on the deli market and quality products

ME AND MY TEAM

Original thinking from The Original Baker

By Noli Dinkovski

Gill Ridgard, managing director of The Original Baker (pictured centre), explains why her latest venture is firmly focused on quality products for the deli market.

Müller Milk & Ingredients’ South Derbyshire site most at risk

Müller’s Foston plant risks closure, threatening 228 jobs

By Gwen Ridler

Müller Milk & Ingredients’ South Derbyshire plant is most at risk of closure in its continuing cost-reduction programme, threatening 228 jobs according to the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw).

The balance between vibrant colours and natural ingredients needs to be struck in the Instagram age

FEATURE

Colours at play in the Instagram age

By Noli Dinkovski

Pretty in pink... or purple or yellow... food and drink colours have an increasing role to play in the Instagram age. But consumer demand dictates they also need to be sourced correctly.

Dale Farm products include milk, cream, cheese, ice cream, yogurt and spreads

Dale Farm to end cheese production at Fivemiletown

By Noli Dinkovski

Dairy cooperative Dale Farm is to close its creamery site in Fivemiletown, Northern Ireland, and transfer the bulk of its branded cheese production to a facility in Cullybackey.

Magners owner C&C Group has acquired a minority share in craft brewer Jubel

Craft brewer Jubel secures investment

By Gwen Ridler

Cornwall-based brewery startup Jubel has received investment from Magners owner C&C Group to help drive distribution of its craft beers.

New blockchain-based traceability service could build trust in the beef supply chain

Blockchain service for beef products launched

By Rick Pendrous

A blockchain-based traceability service is being launched by auditing specialist NSF International, which aims to improve operational efficiency and cut costs for farmers while improving consumers’ trust in the supply chain.

Puratos’s new summer mixes and fillings can be used in a variety of applications

Puratos launches summer-themed cake ingredients

By Noli Dinkovski

Ingredients maker Puratos has unveiled new cake mix flavours and fruit fillings – including the first products to be launched from the former Fruitapeel factory in Liverpool, which it acquired in 2017.

ZTP's new dashboard allows manufacturers to manage energy consumption

ZTP platform tracks energy consumption

By Ellie Woollven

A system designed to help users monitor and forecast their energy usage, analyse current market prices, forecast future prices and build in accurate risk calculations has been introduced by energy software and management consultancy ZTP.

New advances in modified atmosphere packaging highlights research into barrier board options

Sorting the board from the plastic

By Paul Gander

The launch of a plastics-containing pressed paperboard tray that can be gas-flushed as modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) has highlighted the high level of current research and development around composites and other barrier board options – and the recycling...

Marks & Spencer said there was growing demand for protein-based drinks that offered added vitamins and benefits

Supermarket review after fruit juice backlash

By Noli Dinkovski

Marks & Spencer (M&S) is to review how to make the contents of its products clearer for vegans and vegetarians after it was revealed that some of its fruit juices contained beef-derived collagen.

Cardiovascular disease could be mitigated with healthier diets

Opinion

How dietary patterns may influence CVD risk

By Judy Buttriss

Premature deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) have fallen considerably, in part due to new treatments – but ill health associated with the disease remains high and could even be rising in older age groups.

Action on calories more effective than pressure to reduce sugar, claimed experts

Calories more important than sugar in obesity debate

By Gwen Ridler

Reducing calories and portion sizes would play a more important role in curbing obesity than putting pressure on manufacturers to cut sugar in their products, according to an expert in food science.

(Left to right) Nigel Upson, Claire Wright and Ben Lee

Poultry processor appoints managing director

By Gwen Ridler

Yorkshire-based Soanes Poultry has promoted general manager Nigel Upson to the role of managing director, as part of a restructure of its board of directors.

Overfishing wild sealife to feed farms is threatening food security, claimed experts

Overfishing threatens food security

By Helen Gilbert

Food security is being threatened due to billions of tonnes of small fish being taken from the wild every year to feed farmed fish, a damning new report has revealed.

Red and processed meats have been linked with bowel cancer in a new report

Meat and bowel cancer link raised by research

By Aidan Fortune

New research has found that people who eat red and processed meat within Department of Health and Social Care guidelines are still at increased risk of bowel cancer.

Step onto the show floor at IFE 2019 in this video

Innovation on show at IFE 2019

By Gwen Ridler

From low calorie meringue bars to vegan ready meals, this year’s International Food & Drink Event (IFE) showcased the latest innovations in the industry – captured in our whistle-stop video tour.

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