Manufacturing

The Young Talent award celebrated the achievement of youngsters with the potential to become the ceos of tomorrow

food manufacturing awards

Thorntons’ youngster wins young talent Oscar

By Michael Stones

Thornton’s production line manager Jodie Adcock has won the inaugural Young Talent of the Year award in the industry’s Oscars – the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards (FMEAs).

Faccenda's Telford plant can currently process and supply 1.2M birds a week to customers

Faccenda ups efficiency with training and robotics

By Rod Addy

Faccenda has invested in robotics and training to increase production efficiency and slash waste at its new Telford factory, according to Catherine Gormley, general manager of the site.

Thorntons has managed to keep growing despite soaring cocoa prices

Thorntons boosts jobs and production

By Rod Addy

Thorntons has massively boosted profits, driven partly by increased output and efficiency in production, supported by 59 new manufacturing jobs.

Cawingredients advises big brands on processing and product development

Exclusive interview

Drinks processor to create 100 jobs

By Rod Addy

Soft drinks maker Cawingredients is investing £42M in its site at Leeming Bar Industrial Estate in North Yorkshire, creating more than 100 jobs and boosting production and warehouse capacity.

The new website aims to provide 'a little black book' of key industry suppliers.

New website to recommend food suppliers

By Michael Stones

Food and drink manufacturers are invited to apply for a listing on a new hospitality website that aims to link chefs and caterers with suppliers in a nationwide network to share news, views and useful information.

Paramount 21 makes a range of seafood products mainly for foodservice customers

Paramount 21 invests to expand production

By Rod Addy

Seafood processor Paramount 21 has invested in a 464.5m2 warehouse adjacent to its Newton Abbot production site in Devon to release production space as it steps up its new product development.

Dr Judith Bryans

Dairy UK opens its doors to the world

By Nicholas Robinson

Global dairy manufacturers can join Dairy UK as associate members for the first time, chief executive Dr Judith Bryans has told FoodManufacture.co.uk.

Timing your tweets right could boost sales of your products

Teatime tweets drive food manufacturers’ sales

By Michael Stones

Timing social media posts to reach customers at key times of the day – such as before teatime – is helping food manufacturers to boost sales and engage new customers, according a seminar at the Foodex trade event last week.

Chancellor George Osborne's Budget drew mainly bouquets from business leaders

Budget 2014

Budget greeted mainly with bouquets but one brickbat

By Michael Stones

Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget has been greeted mainly with bouquets, as business leaders praised action on energy prices and exports, while some expressed disappointment about his failure to cut fuel duty.

Food manufacturer invests £600k in canning line

£600k puts efficiency in the can

UK manufacturer Colwall Conveying Systems (CCS) recently completed a £600K contract for one of the UK's leading food manufacturing companies.

Johnson:

Bright Blue Foods cuts 57 jobs at cake plant

By Rod Addy

Bright Blue Foods aims to cut 57 jobs as it closes its Manchester bakery, which makes slab, loaf and Christmas cake, and shift production to other sites to improve efficiency.

Factory floor staff should be involved in contributing to a firm's lean thinking culture, said Williams

Patchy implementation hampers continuous improvement

By Rod Addy

The cultivation of a lean manufacturing culture of continuous improvement is often hampered by firms “cherry picking” what they implement, according to Jeff Williams of business consultancy SA Partners.

Adams said the centre will have the capability to train up to 20,000 people a year

Coca-Cola Enterprises’ centre to attract industry recruits

By Nicholas Robinson

Coca-Cola Enterprises’ (CCE) latest education centre will attract young people into the food and drink manufacturing industry and play its part in helping to train around 20,000 people a year that pass through the centres in total when it opens in Milton...

FIR legislation will have far reaching implications for food and drink manufacturers, said DWF. Reserve your free place at our one-hour webinar at 11am on Thursday February 20 by emailing michael.stones@wrbm.com

Free FIR food labelling webinar in February 2014

By Michael Stones

The Food Manufacture Group is staging a free one-hour webinar at 11am on Thursday February 20 2014 to arm food and drink manufacturers with all the latest information about the Food Information Regulation (FIR).

Rebuilding trust in the integrity of the food supply chain after the horsemeat crisis will be a hot topic at Food Manufacture’s Business Leaders’ Forum

Business Leaders’ Forum to set out the challenges

By Michael Stones

Top food manufacturing executives will set out the challenges, and some of the solutions, for the year ahead at Food Manufacture’s Business Leaders’ Forum next month, according to its chairman Paul Wilkinson.

The food and drink industry has an impressive record of job creation

Manufacturing back on the agenda

By Rick Pendrous

Manufacturing in the UK is firmly back on the government’s agenda, with the recent publication of the Foresight Report on the Future of Manufacturing, under the leadership of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).

Jack Hamilton, of Mash Direct, received the trophy from Mary Hunter, md of category sponsor Columbus, and Julia Bradbury (right)

Food manufacturing excellence awards

Mash Direct wins Most innovative small food manufacturer title

By Michael Stones

Mash Direct has won the coveted title Most innovative small food or drink manufacturer of the year in the industry Oscars – Food Manufacture’s Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards (FMEAs).

Premier Foods triumphed at last night's FMEA celebration, winning the coveted Food manufacturing company of the year award and two other titles

Food manufacturing excellence awards

Premier Foods wins three Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards

By Michael Stones

Premier Foods has won the coveted title Food manufacturing company of the year, plus two other trophies in the industry’s Oscars – Food Manufacture’s Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards (FMEAs) at the London Park Lane Hilton, in a glittering awards ceremony...

And the winners are ... Meet the businesses that triumphed in the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards

Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards

Meet the winners of the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards

By Michael Stones

Congratulations to all the winners of the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards (FMEA), who were revealed at a glittering award ceremony in central London last night (November 21).

Energy Catalyst identified wide-ranging improvements at Tollcross

McVitie’s looks to cut cost of one site’s energy use by 41%

By Rick Pendrous

United Biscuits’ McVitie’s factory in Glasgow has achieved significant energy reductions and cost savings with the assistance of JRP Solutions, a UK-based energy and facilities specialist, which worked in close collaboration with the Carbon Trust Scotland...

Irish beef exports have climbed by 16% since the beginning of the year

Irish beef exports shrug off horsemeat to rise by 16%

By Lorraine Mullaney

Irish beef exports have climbed by 16% and risen in value, since the beginning of this year – despite the horsemeat scandal, according to Aidan Cotter, chief executive of Bord Bia, the Irish food board.

Tony Lowe set up FareShare in 2002 and left in 2010

FareShare founder’s pilot attracts big names

By Gary Scattergood

The founder of food re-distribution charity FareShare is establishing a trademark scheme for firms that make available all surplus stock for human consumption, with several major manufacturers reportedly expressing an interest in signing up for a pilot...

Have your say on the prospects for food manufacturing in the Food Manufacture online survey

What does year ahead hold for UK food and drink manufacturers?

By Rick Pendrous

News that Tesco has reported the biggest profits fall in its history is just the latest sign that all is not well in the world of planet retail. Britain’s biggest retailer is also ditching plans to develop a number of big stores across the country. Against...

Don't compromise the success of new food and drink products by neglecting manufacturing practicalities, warns Coriolis

Process as vital as products to improve NPD success

By Gary Scattergood

Food and drink companies are failing to give their new products the best chance of success by paying too much attention to products and not enough to the practicalities of the manufacturing processes, according to food specialist management consultancy...

Women are still under represented on the boards of manufacturing firms

Manufacturing firms employ more women bosses

By Mike Stones

Manufacturing businesses in the FTSE 100 have more women on their boards than other firms but more should be done to boost their numbers, according to a new report.

Spice sales have contributed to a record year for EHL Ingredients

Spiced-up meat drives up sales growth at EHL

By Gary Scattergood

Food ingredient supplier EHL Ingredients has announced 20% sales growth in 2012 - in part boosted by manufacturers buying more spices to infuse low-cost meat with more flavour.

Lord Heseltine said a 'broad consensus' was developing across traditional party lines for a wider industrial strategy

Lord Heseltine and TUC unite to demand industrial policy

By Gary Scattergood

Major players from across the political spectrum have joined forces to call on the government to develop a long-term UK industrial strategy – something the Trades Union Congress (TUC) believes will boost manufacturing sectors and stimulate economic growth.

Justine Fosh: determined to close the skills gap

New food and drink industry training boss to close skills gap

By Mike Stones

Closing the yawning food and drink industry skills gap by attracting the next generation of industry scientists, engineers and technicians is the top priority of the new director of the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink (NSAFD) and the sector...

Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards – video highlights

Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards – video highlights

By Michael STONES

Hundreds of food and drink manufacturing industry leaders gathered at the Park Lane Hilton in London for the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards (FMEAs) earlier this month. Here, we provide a flavour of the big night − caught on film.