Food & drink sector celebrates a successful IFE 2023
IFE, International Food & Drink Event, alongside IFE Manufacturing and Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC) welcomed more than 27,000 buyers from the worlds of retail, wholesale and hospitality to ExCeL London on 20-22 March for three packed days of networking, learning and streamlined product sourcing.
Food & drink buying teams from top UK and international retailers including Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason descended on the show to check out the very latest new products and innovative launches.
Abigail Wilkinson, Category Buying Manager – Cooking Ingredients & Global Cuisine – Grocery at Tesco, commented: “It was a really well organised day and a great opportunity to catch up with our current suppliers and discover potential new partners.”
Louise Dolan, Director of Ambient, Waitrose, added: “IFE was a perfect opportunity to meet so many current and potential suppliers in one place, great use of time.”
Innovation was high on the agenda at IFE 2023, with the World Food Innovation Award winners announced on day one of the show and plant-based meat & fish brand The Mighty Kitchen triumphing in the inaugural edition of IFE’s Big Business Break with Surya Foods, which took place in the New Products Tasting Theatre.
Key insights into the food & drink sector
This year’s event included two stages – the Trends & Innovation Platform and the Sustainability Stage, sponsored by Elopak – packed with insights for retailers, wholesalers and hospitality professionals to grow their businesses and enhance their product ranges.
The Sustainability Stage included a full day of content curated by the Food & Drink Federation, which saw sessions on building resiliency into our food systems, meeting evolving customer expectations, the transition to a circular economy and more, while sustainability partner WRAP discussed barriers to success in sustainability.
Sian Morgan, Behaviour Change Project Manager at WRAP, commented: “IFE is a really great opportunity to bring such a range of business and operators within the sector together and to share our latest research and bring food waste up the agenda in a hospitality and foodservice sector setting.”
The Trends & Innovation Platform saw a wide range of sessions focussing on the latest innovations in food & drink, with presentations from the British Frozen Food Federation and IGD on 2023 frozen food trends, from thefoodpeople on emerging food technologies and from Kantar examining the rise of the discount retailers.
The stage also featured a discussion around managing allergens from Bertrand Emond of Campden BRI, Nicki Clowes of the Free From Awards, Julianne Ponan MBE of Creative Nature, Anita Kinsey of Pret a Manger and Hari Ghotra of Virgin Atlantic.
Ghotra commented: “I’m here because I love experiencing all the food and innovation that’s around, from packaging to vegan offerings to all the lovely drinks. We’ve also been having a chat about allergens, talking with amazing panellists highlighting some of the issues we face in the industry. A fabulous day; can’t wait for next year.”
A hub of new product launches
IFE’s new Startup Market featured new-to-market suppliers and product such as plant-based Irish cookie dough brand Naked Bakes, freshly frozen banana brand Pukpip and Saved’s high-protein puffs made with cricket protein.
Elsewhere at the show, buyers could discover a new nut kernel range from Catcher Gourmet, new FiXX Coffee Capsules from FiXX Coffee, new chocolate soft serve ice cream from Jersey Dairy, a new range of gluten free sweet & savoury baked snacks from Liberate Foods and much more.
Exhibitor Nicola Bourne, UK Sales Director at Forbidden Cocktails, commented: “It was our first IFE, alongside launching a new brand, so we didn’t know what to expect! Overall, a fantastic few days with such a mix of buyers – from export distributor opportunities to festival operators to high street multiple chains. We have so many leads to work through and for us it was very well worth it!”
IFE, International Food & Drink Event will return to ExCeL London alongside IFE Manufacturing and Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC) on 25-27 March 2024. To find out more, visit ife.co.uk.
New standard launched for avoiding food contamination
A food safety culture that prioritizes people and supports collaboration in manufacturing facilities, food service businesses, restaurants or retail stores can help improve quality, minimizing the risks of contamination or recalls, while also benefiting productivity and talent retention.
New global guidance from BSI, developed through consensus with industry giants including Walmart, McDonald’s, PepsiCo, HelloFresh, Kerry Foods and 3M, and published this week, identifies that the common factor in food safety incidents, quality failures and recalls is people rather than failures of machinery or technology. Equally, when issues occur, people are the key to avoiding recurrence.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), consuming contaminated food results in an estimated 600m people falling ill every year, leading to 420,000 deaths. A desire to tackle this led to a round-table discussion at the 2019 International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Annual Meeting, then ultimately the creation of an industry steering group. The resulting document, Developing and sustaining a mature food safety culture (PAS 320), is designed to guide organizations of all sizes across food, beverage and retail to create a culture where people are prioritized, all employees embrace food safety, take responsibility for reporting issues, and are empowered to initiate change.
Relevant to anyone from manufacturers and factory workers to restauranteurs and baristas, the guidance has been published by BSI following extensive sector discussion on food safety culture, including what it is, how to measure it and how to ensure continuous improvements. The document defines food safety culture as the ‘shared values, beliefs and norms that affect mindset and behaviour toward food safety in, across and throughout an organization’.
It notes that creating and maintaining a strong culture that preserves quality and reduces risk requires management commitment and a mindset that safety is the responsibility of everyone at every stage of the food supply chain. Culture is also highlighted as key for employee retention, improving quality and decreasing contamination risk by decreasing turnover rate.
PAS 320 includes steps on identifying gaps and then implementing a plan for change. It makes recommendations related to leadership; the organization’s vision, mission, values and policy; organizational structure; responsibilities, accountabilities and authorities; guiding coalition team; interested parties; change champions; influencers; and food safety documentation. The guidance also includes advice on how prioritizing people in the sector not only supports improved food safety, but also brings other benefits including investment return, business performance improvement, reduction of the costs associated with poor quality, and enhanced efficiency.
In the UK, this comes in the wake of the passing of ‘Natasha’s Law’, which requires organizations providing food to include full ingredients labelling on pre-packed for direct sale foods in order to protect allergy sufferers and give them confidence in the food they buy. It follows the UK’s departure from the European Union, which means that packaging and labelling is now led in the UK by the Food Standards Agency.
Neil Coole, director, Food and Retail Supply Chains, at BSI, said: “A positive food safety culture that prioritizes people and gives everyone a stake in driving quality can have a transformative effect and help reduce the risk that comes from unsafe food. This starts with leadership taking steps to turn ambition into action in order to build and sustain continuous improvements across their organization and the wider supply chain.
“Ultimately, moving from seeing food safety culture as a compliance issue to an investment in people can offer huge benefits for individuals, organizations and society as a whole.”
Scott Steedman, director general, Standards, BSI, said: “It is tragic that so many lives are lost globally every year to contaminated food. This is something nobody in the industry can ignore and urgent steps to change this are required. We understand that the common factor in food safety related risks is people, and it is an organisation’s culture towards food safety that presents the opportunity for continuous improvement. PAS 320 provides the guidance to empower people to make a positive impact on the future of the food industry.
“Enabling a robust food safety culture is vital for enhancing quality and safety across the food sector. Strengthening understanding of what best practice looks like and how everyone in the food sector can play a role, by enhancing global consistency and offering clarity, can help food sector organizations accelerate change and support the realization of quality and food safety ambitions. This new standard on food safety culture can build confidence in the global food industry and offer long-term benefit for everyone.”
Tesco launches ready meal tray-to-tray initiative
Tesco has begun recycling used plastic food trays back into packaging – creating a fully circular packaging solution for its range of core chilled ready meals.
The change is in collaboration with packaging manufacturer Faerch and will see customer-recovered PET trays – collected via European kerbside waste – recycled and converted back into food grade plastic trays.
Tesco’s ready meal trays already contain up to 75% recycled content, predominantly from cleaner and easier to recycle bottle flake plastic. Through the new Tray 2 Tray by Faerch™ programme, a minimum of 30% recycled tray content will be included in the new core chilled ready meals trays.
A phased rollout of the new trays will take place in April across Tesco’s core own brand chilled ready meals. The collaboration will ensure that high quality food-grade PET is kept within the supply chain, rather than being downcycled, and demonstrates that PET packaging from trays can be fully recovered and recycled at an industrial scale.
Adele Kearns, packaging development manager at Tesco, said: “We are determined to close the loop on our packaging – for it to be fully recyclable and contain recycled content wherever possible. We remain committed to reducing our environmental impact, and helping our customers to do the same, as we work together to protect our planet.”
Ruth Price, strategic sales manager at Faerch UK, said: “We’re delighted to launch our Tray 2 Tray by Faerch™ programme with Tesco, an essential initiative that promotes circular food packaging in the economy, and we are committed to working with our customers to keep rigid food packaging in the economy and out of the environment.
“Our collaboration with Tesco is the perfect example of how material from EU waste resources can be diverted into a valuable commodity. Moving forward, our intention is to not only increase the level of tray-to-tray content but to also start taking this from local UK feedstocks.”
Government plans new rules to support UK pork farmers and processors with written contracts
Government plans to support the UK’s pig sector by committing to regulate pig contracts to support the supply chain and provide greater certainty across the whole sector.
New regulations will help to bring stability and security to the pig supply chain, strengthening the sector’s ability to deal with the challenges it faces around the world, such as rising costs and labour shortages caused by global pressures.
The move follows a public consultation last year, which received nearly 400 responses from producers, processors and others in the supply chain. It revealed popular sentiment in the sector that legally required written contracts would remove uncertainty and ambiguity, with the majority of respondents supporting the government’s approach to implement this through legislation.
Farming Minister Mark Spencer said: “The pig sector has faced unprecedented challenges over the last year, with rising costs and global labour shortages putting real pressure on producers and processors.
“We are committed to working with the sector, and the regulations set to be introduced will ensure fairness and transparency across the supply chain – from pig to pork to plate – to help the sector to thrive in the future.”
The regulations will be developed using the regulation-making power in section 29 of the Agriculture Act 2020, with further engagement with industry to ensure that they meet the needs of the sector and properly address the challenges the sector faces.
As well as regulation on written contracts, the government will develop regulations to collect and share more supply chain data, particularly in relation to wholesale price transparency and national slaughter numbers. Increasing the availability of this sort of data within the supply chain will help market reporting services be more reflective of the entire UK market, and will therefore help to further reduce ambiguity for all within the supply chain.
The consultation has also revealed pig producers’ concerns about market consolidation in the processing sector, and the impact this has had on producers. In response to this, the government will be sharing the consultation’s findings relating to the alleged negative consequences of market consolidation with the Competition and Markets Authority.
Brewer and bar chain secures invoice discounting package to strengthen cashflow and fuel expansion
Leeds-based brewer and bar chain North Brewing Co has received a £375,000 Confidential Invoicing Discounting package from Bibby Financial Services – the UK’s largest independent invoice finance provider – to help it strengthen cashflow and fuel national and international expansion.
The new funding line will allow North’s co-founders to manage cashflow, so they can focus on planning ahead and growing the business.
The business was introduced to BFS’s commercial team by Conor Smyth at TFS Finance Ltd, an independent commercial finance brokerage focused on the SME market.
BFS’s Yorkshire-based deal team, led by Ian Hayes, structured a Confidential Invoice Discounting funding facility worth £375,000. BFS was chosen due to its speed, agility and understanding of the business’s needs.
John Gyngell, Director and Co-founder of North Brewing Co, said: “We’re so proud of where our business is today, in large part thanks to our great staff and a lot of love from our customers and community. But, as a business owner, cashflow is a daily concern, especially over the past 12 months. It’s been a really tough year for the brewing industry, due to a combination of challenges, such as the rising cost of grain, energy, shipping, and the impact of Brexit on international business operations.
“In order to grow the business, we need to be able to focus on the future, rather than just respond to the day to day. We really appreciated BFS’s commitment to understanding our business, and quickly coming back to us with a solution. BFS’s funding and support gives us the breathing space to concentrate on what we’re best at, plan ahead for business growth over the next few years and have more time to enjoy the day job.”
North has been growing its business and operations over the past few years. In 2020, the business signed a lease for a larger, 21,000 sq ft former Victorian Tannery in Springwell, Leeds, which they converted into a modern brewery, taproom and workspace during the pandemic – and which now serves as the business’s HQ.
The mid-sized brewery has also been expanding its footprint, with beers now stocked in leading supermarkets and restaurants across the UK, and sold abroad, including in markets such as Japan, China and Australia. Within the past year, North has opened its first two bars outside of Yorkshire, in Birmingham and Manchester, and has launched its own beer festival, Springwell Sessions at its brewery site – with the second iteration due to take place at the end of April 2023.
Conor Smyth, Senior Funding Partner at TFS Finance, said: “North Brewing Co has seen huge success over the past 26 years in its local bars and brewing operations, and is also seeing growing national and international demand. This has made managing cashflow a much bigger task, especially considering the challenging economic landscape. The BFS team were great partners to work with, as they demonstrated their ability to tap into the business’s needs and deliver a suitable funding line in just a couple of weeks.”
Ian Hayes, Business Development Manager at BFS commented: “It’s been a pleasure to work with North Brewing Co and TFS Finance to provide this funding line. North has been incredibly resilient over the past few years, but as the business and external challenges have become more complex, the business’s leaders have seen their time and energy eaten up thinking about cashflow. We quickly worked to understand their needs and pressures and deliver a funding line that would take the weight off John and Christian’s shoulders and minds, so they can focus on the future of the business. BFS is in growth mode, and our partnership with North Brewing Co is a great example of us working hand-in-hand with our valued intermediary base and with our clients to unlock working capital for growth.”
Founded in 2015, North Brewing Co started as North Bar on New Briggate high street in Leeds, and today operates 10 bars across Yorkshire, Birmingham and Manchester and produces around 20 thousand hectolitres of beer every year which is sold into supermarkets, restaurants, and bars all over the world.
Sainsbury’s goes trayless on whole chickens, saving over 10 million pieces of plastic a year
Sainsbury’s has announced that its by Sainsbury’s whole chicken range is now trayless, after the retailer removed single-use plastic trays from its packaging. Using a minimum of 50% less plastic, the change is estimated to save 140 tonnes of plastic annually.
The trayless products are available in all stores across the UK and online, helping to reduce the amount of single-use plastic customers have to dispose of at home. The change affects five products in total, including all by Sainsbury’s whole chickens ranging from extra small to extra-large sizes.
The film packaging can still be recycled at one of Sainsbury’s front-of-store flexible plastics recycling points.
The move is the latest in a string of plastic reductions as part of the retailer’s ongoing commitment to halve its use of own brand plastic packaging by 2025. Last month, the retailer removed single-use plastic lids from its own brand dip pots, including household favourites such as guacamole, tzatziki and sour cream and chive dip.
Kite Packaging to attend Food & Drink Expo
The employee share-owned packaging company is set to exhibit at the Food & Drink Expo at the NEC, Birmingham from Monday 24th – Wednesday 26th April. They will be situated at stand P182 in hall 6 where they will be sharing their industry expertise and showcasing an array of packaging products and solutions.
Kite, a company rooted in providing affordable, effective and eco-friendly packaging to UK businesses, will be showcasing packaging for takeaways and chilled products. This will include kraft takeaway boxes and bowls, insulated box liners and temperature controlled pouches.
They will also be showcasing their comprehensive range of shredded papers for packaging hampers as well as flexi-hex and corrugated sleeves for bottles.
Kite’s packaging specialists will be available to discuss sustainable alternatives to traditional packaging methods for those looking to transition to circular packaging practices.
To discover more about Kite Packaging and the products and services they offer, please visit www.kitepackaging.co.uk.
Kite Packaging launches custom packing benches
The leading online UK packaging supplier has launched modular custom packing benches. These are made from ready-built units to the customer’s specification for a bench which better suits their industry, operation and environment.
The benches are available in widths of 1200mm and 1800mm and are constructed from 40mm box steel which is welded together, ensuring maximum strength and durability for all high usage applications. The fully-faced, wipe-clean melamine worktop is hardwearing and able to withstand busy pick, pack and despatch areas.
Customisation options include extra shelves for greater storage, adjustable toast racks for organisation and a void fill hopper for storage. Customers can also add a choice of two small side tables as well as a printer tray for attachments, keyboard tray and monitor arm for those using warehouse management systems. These features ensure employees have the right materials and tools to hand, enabling them to efficiently and securely pack items.
Kite’s custom packing benches are well-designed, of high quality and built to last, providing employees with a user-friendly packing area which is tailored specifically to their requirements, making their job quicker and easier.
To learn more about the products and services available at Kite Packaging, please visit www.kitepackaging.co.uk.
interpack 2023: ROTZINGER Group presents expanded packaging and processing portfolio
At interpack, the ROTZINGER Group will be presenting its expanded packaging and processing portfolio for the first time. The Paloma feed placer, the FLK/VRM Filling & Capping machine, the TLT blister machine in a new compact design as well as a bar production line will be among the highlights at booth C07 in hall 1. Visitors can also learn about the company’s digital solution that can be customized to individual needs.
Paloma: outstanding pick and place accuracy and new layout possibilities
“Paloma is our high-performance robot cell that offers outstanding pick and place accuracy,” says Christian Vouillamoz, product manager at the ROTZINGER Group. The Paloma feed placer picks and places products into cartons, cases, thermoforms, flow-wrappers and cartoning machines. Using vision-guided high-speed delta robots, the machine identifies incoming products on the conveyor belt and places them correctly into the feeding of the following process. The system can handle both unpacked and packed products and its modular design allows to directly integrate an infeed chain of the packaging machine (horizontal or vertical) into the cell and to load it with oriented products. Paloma is perfectly suited for food and confectionery applications and can be used in many areas such as bakery or fresh products – and offers new lean layout opportunities when combined with a new integrated buffer.
Filling and capping with maximum flexibility
In terms of filling pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, the ROTZINGER Group’s Filling & Capping machine FLK/VRM truly stands out. The machine combines the advantages of a linear filler and a rotative capper, offering maximum flexibility and efficiency. Any product from water-like to vicious and sticky liquids can be filled with the volumetric and mass-flow filling system and it can easily be adjusted for different formats.
High-performance blister machine with new compact design
ROTZINGER further unveils a new and improved version of their TLT blister machine that can process up to 400 blisters per minute. “This machine is a proven and reliable solution and we are excited to bring it back,” says Andreas Graf, CEO of ROTZINGER PharmaPack. The TLT has undergone a redesign and is characterized by its flexibility, safety, short changeover times, while maintaining high Overall Equipment Effectiveness. For the primary packaging of pharmaceutical products, the TLT is a flexible machine that can be connected to several cartoners. Customers benefit from the modular design for simple and easy retrofitting. The TLT has a clear separation of the production and drive areas, and even offers optional complete encapsulation of the product feed zone to ensure compliance and protect the product and packaging material. The TLT’s user-friendly interface with a simple color touch screen simplifies machine operation and reduces the risk of misuse. It is an ideal choice for packaging various pharmaceutical products such as tablets, capsules, and dragees using standard thermoforming and aluminum foil.
Higher flexibility and less product waste in bar production
In bar production, manufacturers can maximize their productivity levels with a single-source solution for the entire process from processing up to secondary packaging. The ROTZINGER Group will showcase the unique WRL Flex slitter developed by HANSELLA, which has been part of the ROTZINGER group since 2021. The WRL Flex slitter offers an adjustable cutting width. As a result, adjusting the cutting width can be done with minimal effort and without changing parts. Besides higher flexibility, this decreases production costs and contributes to faster return on investment (ROI). The smooth slitter allows for an easy and stepless adjustment for precise cutting to produce different bar sizes. Unlike other machines of its kind available in the market, the WRL Flex enables repeatable cutting width changes without the change of the cutting knife shaft or the complete slitter. This reduces set up times significantly. In addition, manufacturers benefit from a hygienic design and easy tool-less cleaning.
When processing bar masses including cereal, candy, protein and fruit, the patented flexible WRF Flex slab former eliminates the trim. Less product is wasted, contributing to decreased production costs and faster return on investment (ROI). The WRF slab former is the only roll former on the market on which the width of the mass slab can be precisely and continuously adjusted without interrupting the production process. The phenomenon of lower density at the edges is solved by forming a correspondingly wider slab and then compressing it to the finished width. Depending on the type of bar, trim can either be reduced to an extreme minimum or completely eliminated with our flex solutions.
ROTZINGER’s chocolate enrober provides a quick mass changing system for chocolate when coating bars. The removable and exchangeable mass trough as well as the exchangeable enrobing head and curtain device ensure mass changes in minimal time – to complete the efficient enrobing portfolio, ROTZINGER also offers chocolate melting and tempering units. “The Rotzinger Group combines many years of experience within the group and offers a turnkey solution from the bar line process to secondary packaging with highest efficiency along the line,” explains Adrian Müller, Director Product Management/ Marketing.
Digital Factory Software Suite increase efficiency and quality
Visitors to the ROTZINGER Group’s booth at interpack will have the opportunity to witness the company’s digital solutions firsthand. For example, the Digital Factory Software Suite promises to increase both efficiency and quality in processes while also ensuring continuous access to data. Paperless production is facilitated by fully digitized Q-Checks and a management cockpit, which work together to ensure continuous improvement on the shop floor. ROTZINGER also offers system integration services to help organizations implement the software in a step-by-step manner. Additionally, customers who sign a maintenance contract can take advantage of ongoing updates and advancements to the Digital Software Suite. The service experts will be at interpack to support customers with any questions regarding the company’s service support.
Learn more about the ROTZINGER Group’s packaging and processing portfolio and meet the team from May 4 to 10 at our booth C07 in hall 1 at interpack in Duesseldorf.
UK shopping baskets become healthier as food and drink manufacturers cut down on sugar, salt and calories
New Kantar Worldpanel data, released by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), shows the average UK shopping basket has become healthier within recent years. This is based on metrics developed by government to enable nutritionists to ‘score’ food, looking at a whole range of factors from sugar to protein to fruit and vegetable content.
This is largely due to the food and drink industry making changes to support balanced diets, including improving the recipes of our favourite brands, innovating with new healthier options and providing appropriate portion sizes. Products from FDF members now contribute 13% fewer calories, 15% fewer sugars and 24% less salt to the average shopping basket than they did eight years ago.
The Food and Drink Federation’s chief scientific officer Kate Halliwell said: “Our companies are committed to helping people live healthy lives and we recognise the important role we play in offering a range of healthier choices for consumers. These latest figures show the fantastic achievements the UK food and drink industry continues to deliver, throughout a challenging period of uncertainty, and we should celebrate this.
“Manufacturers have continued to innovate and bring new healthier products to market. Whether that’s adding more vegetables to a pasta sauce, reducing sugar in a breakfast cereal or enabling you to choose a smaller portion of cake, this has had a real demonstrable impact on the average shopping basket, supporting the nation to have access to a healthy balanced diet.”
The latest data also found that the FDF’s largest companies have managed to achieve improvements on nutrition which are around four times that of smaller companies.
Kate added: “This data demonstrates that more support is needed to help smaller businesses match the innovation and output of the larger companies. With 97% of the food and drink industry made up by small to medium sized companies, these companies can play an important role in providing healthier options but many do not have the resources, or technical expertise to reformulate their products.
“The industry stands ready to work with government to drive further innovation within our sector, and to work in partnership to power the health of our workforce and communities across the UK.”
Chief Executive of the British Nutrition Foundation Elaine Hindal said: “Reformulation has an important part to play in helping people to have healthier diets, through improving the nutrient profile of food. Although on its own reformulation can only take us so far on the journey towards supporting healthier and more sustainable dietary patterns, it is encouraging to see the progress shown by this new data and that there is consideration for how to ensure all businesses – regardless of size – get the support they need to improve the nutrient profile of their products.”