Heinz’s plans to close its Aunt Bessie’s potato factory at North Walsham in Norfolk, threatening 200 jobs, is “devastating” news, according to trades union Unite.
Manufacturers must speak out against the financial pressures supermarkets place on them if they are ever to invest in automation and improve their margins, an industry boss has urged.
Home-cooked meals may not be the healthiest or cheapest option for consumers, as food businesses continue to respond to health and price concerns by adapting their recipes, according to new research.
Handmade ready meal firm Cook claims more human hands in the manufacturing process does not increase the risk to food hygiene standards or decrease overall operational efficiency.
Manufactured ice creams can offer a superior taste experience when compared to homemade product, and premium brands contain less air and more fat, according to a US food scientist.
Frozen food distributor Yearsley Logistics has begun the second phase of a £5M three-part expansion next to the group’s headquarters in Heywood in Greater Manchester less than a year after opening its new cold store.
Consumers could be put off eating fish, if new EU rules governing the labelling dates of frozen fish are not better defined, the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) has warned.
Strawberries from China will be subject to stiffer checks for norovirus and hepatitis A at EU borders, following an alert about contaminated produce from the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF).
Shazans Foods has secured funds that will boost growth and enable it to break into the chilled food arena for the first time via a deal with One Stop Halal.
Entries for the 2014 Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards close on July 31. Don’t miss your chance to be a star. Enter online at www.foodmanwards.co.uk
Food and drink distributor NFT aims to develop a temperature-controlled dockside handling facility in the south east of England within the next 18 months.
Brakes Group has agreed to sell ready meals firm Creative Foods to David Wood Baking for an undisclosed sum, potentially saving 142 jobs, a move one Facebook campaigners called “brilliant news”.
OkoBay Ventures wants to secure its own factory to make its Coconut Water Ice lollies within three years, but has been forced to outsource production to an overseas manufacturer to cut costs.
R&R Ice Cream has bought Aussie ice cream business Peters Food Group from private equity group PEP fund IV, gaining brands such as Drumstick, Conoisseur, Peters Original and Maxibon.
Food firms should take advantage of the UK’s “growing” £1bn ice cream sector by offering new flavours and services to ice cream manufacturers, according to the boss of the Ice Cream Alliance.
British freezing and chilling system manufacturer Starfrost has struck an exclusive supply deal with food processing equipment specialist Milmeq in New Zealand.
Unilever’s poor food results in its first financial quarter (Q1) update for 2014 remained “disappointing”, affected by the late timing of Easter, but the company’s overall outlook was strong, City analysts have said.
Euro Foods’ acquisition of Welsh packaging firm Brown Bear Food is the first step to the frozen and fresh food firm’s aim of creating 200 jobs at the Cwmbran site, it claims.
British ice cream firm Lick Me I’m Delicious has created a bubbly champagne flavoured ice cream dosed with 25mg of Viagra for an unnamed A-list celebrity’s party.
Welsh manufacturer Creative Foods is threatening to close its pasta and frozen ready meals factory in Flintshire, putting 149 jobs on the line in the region.
Euan Sutherland’s decision to quit as boss of The Co-operative Group leads our selection of the latest people on the move in the food and drink sector.
Ready meal business Laila’s Fine Foods has landed a multi-million pound deal to supply Iceland with a new range of frozen Mexican ready meals, which will lead to a 25% increase in daily output, said md Laila Remtulla.
Food retailer Iceland is expected later this year to start sharing spare capacity on its trucks with another independent retailer. The move follows the success of a similar ‘backhauling’ arrangement between BP Retail and Nisa and their suppliers facilitated...
Buying British meat and poultry is not always best and some overseas processors have better standards than UK and European businesses, an international meat processing boss has claimed.
Two key achievements of National Apprenticeship Week were to foster industry co-operation on the campaign to attract more youngsters and to focus the government’s attention on the sector, says the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).
Food and drink manufacturers should send teenage apprentices into schools to inspire youngsters to choose the right qualifications to launch a career in the industry, as part of a new approach to careers advice, says George Eustice, food and farming minister.
Online retail giant Amazon is poised to deliver “a fresh approach” to the UK grocery market, with online sales of fresh, chilled, frozen and ambient food products delivered direct to customers, predicted Charles Wilson, Booker chief executive.
Captain Morgan became the second alcohol firm to have an advert banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) this year, after Heineken also had an ad banned last month.
Book your printer now, if you haven’t done so already, is one of three top tips from research organisation Campden BRI, delivered at the Food Manufacture Group’s webinar on the Food Information to Consumers Regulation (FIR).
Relying on one large customer could be disastrous for small to medium-sized manufacturers (SMEs), according to Frecco Food and Beverage operations manager Paul Barney.
The skills gap in the food and drink manufacturing sector has not shrunk, despite the latest government statistics showing that UK unemployment overall has fallen.
