< Previous20 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net END OF YEAR SUCCESS STORIES T he environment has been perhaps the biggest issue for the food and drinks industry this year, with the majority of other issues linked at least tangentially to this one. Extreme and adverse weather conditions including drought and flood have continued to wreak havoc on the world, negatively impacting food production and raising costs for consumers. The consensus seems to be that climate change is to blame and companies across the food and drink spectrum are taking strides to ensure their supply chains and operations are altogether eco- friendlier. Plastic pollution has become emblematic of the environmental agenda, with the food and drink industry bearing much of the responsibility for the burden and, indeed, potential solutions. Throughout 2019, major food producers and retailers have committed to reducing plastic with Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket, pledging to slash one billion pieces of plastic from its products by the end of 2020, Sainsbury’s is slashing plastic packaging by 2025, and Asda has trialled a natural coating to fight food waste, a solution that not only reduces plastic, but prolongs the shelf life of produce. As far as producers and processors are concerned, The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo have together launched an initiative to reduce plastic use and boost the amount of bottles that are recycled. Before that, the former launched a drinks bottle made from marine plastics, despite the company being named the world’s most polluting brand in a plastic waste audit by global movement Break Free From Plastic. There’s also been a slew of innovative packaging solutions either launched to market or initiated in development, with retailer Waitrose developing food film from langoustine © Shutterstock/ Andrej Sevkovskij It’s been another whirlwind year in the food and drink industry, with a more widespread shift to reducing food waste, carbon emissions and plastic pollution, to the mainstream domination of plant-based foods and the continued rise of insect and lab-grown proteins. Through it all there’s been big deals, major product launches, innovations and successes achieved by businesses big and small. Here Food & Drink International wraps up 2019 and invites businesses to share their own success stories for the year. A year of change and growth 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 19/11/2019 11:42 Page 1Food & Drink International 21 www.fdiforum.net END OF YEAR SUCCESS STORIES Funky Nut goes nuts for Riggs Autopack depositors Founded in 2014 by Julian Campbell, the Funky Nut Company is a small business offering a range of natural and flavoured nut butters. Riggs Autopack first started working with Mr Campbell back in 2016 when the company was initially working out of a small business unit. As the Funky Nut Co grew and its range developed, Mr Campbell looked for ways to improve production efficiency without compromising the high-quality products. He subsequently approached Riggs Autopack for a suitable semi-automatic depositor that would handle his extensive range of nut butters. Following initial meetings, Riggs Autopack supplied a Model 1000 Series 2 Table Top Depositor to run joint product trials at The Funky Nut Co’s premises. This free-of-charge trial lasted a week and enabled Mr Campbell to develop an effective working procedure for depositing his full range of products. This helped to finalise the required specification of the machine and gave Julian the confidence that his investment would provide immediate benefits and enable him to start growing his business. Such was the demand for their great range of nut butters, that production quickly grew. Subsequently, Mr Campbell soon required a transfer pump to automate the refill of the depositor hopper from his grinding equipment. Since then, the Funky Nut Company has gone from strength- to-strength and continues to grow, and as production grew, Mr Campbell purchased further depositors from Riggs Autopack. These include several Model 1000 Series 5 Depositors working on 2 conveying lines, filling not only standard pots, but also his new range of snack packs. For more information, visit www.riggsautopack.co.uk, email info@riggsautopack.co.uk, or call +44(0) 1282 440040. shells, and brewers including Heineken launching composable and cardboard toppers as alternatives to plastic rings on beer multipacks. Adjacent to the overarching environmental issues is traceability which this year has focussed heavily on the cocoa and palm oil supply chains. Major players including Nestlé, Olam International, Mondelez International, Cargill and Hershey have all launched and committed to sustainability and traceability strategies to boost the lives and welfare of cocoa and palm farmers and to reduce deforestation, among other things. Technology, including innovative sensor and monitoring solitons, are being implemented in many examples, and tech is transforming the supply chain as we know it. Nowhere is this as obvious as with blockchain which has well and truly moved from its cryptocurrency origins and into the mainstream. This year alone a myriad of food and beverage products – including beef, milk, whisky and seafood – have all been put on blockchain, creating a tighter, securer and more transparent supply chain. However, there have been concerns expressed lately about how blockchain isn’t a silver bullet and can still be exploited by food fraudsters. Food trends including plant-based and insects have continued to gain traction this year alongside new market mainstays such as cannabidiol (CBD) which has become a lucrative market, with products including gum, drinks and snacks launching this year boasting CBD. Plant-based foods have only continued to grab a bigger slice of the food and drink market. In January, high street bakery chain, Greggs, launched its now iconic vegan sausage roll, a move that led directly to a fifty-eight per cent rise in first half profits and to the chain announcing plans to launch vegan versions of all its best-selling products. Spurred on by this success, a myriad of imitators and challengers have entered the market, on the high street and in the frozen aisle. But this was hardly the only plant-based product launched this year. Indeed, 2019 will be remembered as the year in which veganism went well and truly mainstream. Nestlé launched the world’s first vegan bacon cheeseburger; Burger King added the Impossible Burger to its US menu; McDonald’s taste tested a plant-based burger, while KFC trialled vegan chicken; Hormel Foods launched a new plant-based brand; Tyson Foods invested in a plant- based shellfish producer; Smithfield Foods launched a plant-based portfolio; Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton launched a vegan burger restaurant, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos invested in vegan dairy pioneer, NotCo, and that’s barely even scraping the surface. Launches continue to come thick and fast, as supermarkets fortify their own- brand vegan offering, start-ups come to the fray, and major players churn out the own challengers, whether those developed in-house or by smaller brands they gobbled up. 22 Á 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 19/11/2019 11:42 Page 222 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net END OF YEAR SUCCESS STORIES Although the vegan movement shows no signs of slowing down, it’s the growing insect protein market that will likely have the biggest impact on the food industry in the years and decades to come. For anyone paying attention, the writing is already on the wall, with major seafood processor, Thai Union Group, investing in Flying Spark, a start-up that has developed technology that can allow producers to easily and cost-effectively cultivate and process insect larvae with nearly zero waste. Elsewhere, a study has found that edible grasshoppers can be modified for better fatty acid consumption, making them more nutritious for humans, while another study found that grasshoppers and silkworms have a similar antioxidant capacity as fresh orange juice. Insects look set to meet the world’s most pressing needs and challenges, from feeding a growing population, to reducing carbon emissions and food waste. There is, however, still hurdles to overcome before the market can scale up, not least the ‘gross-out’ factor that many western consumers still struggle with. Then, of course, there’s lab-grown meat/cultivated meat/slaughter-free meat. Call it what you will, there’s no denying this emerging field has gained traction and achieved several key milestones this year. Stealing the headlines in October was Israel’s Aleph Farms who for the first time produced slaughter-free meat on the International Space Station 248 miles away from any natural sources. The implications for space travel are profound, but it will also likely have a transformative effect on food production and agriculture here on earth. Fellow Israeli company Future Meat Technologies is also helping to advance the industry © Shutterstock/ Davizro Photography 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 19/11/2019 11:42 Page 3Food & Drink International 23 www.fdiforum.net END OF YEAR SUCCESS STORIES Company Profile CWM Automation is a UK company, based in Lincolnshire, who specialise in providing worldwide customers with a full range of filling, heat-sealing and lidding machinery, as well as fully automatic complete line solutions. CWM’s main goal is to exceed customer’s expectations, through designing bespoke machinery, manufactured to the highest quality. Product Profile The 240i machine is CWM Automation’s latest innovation, designed for pot filling and sealing whilst also achieving 3A hygiene standards throughout. Built around Rockwell Automation’s iTrak technology, the electromagnetic modules combine continuous motion and dwell together with proven operating assemblies to allow the 240i to achieve up to 240 pots/min regardless of the viscosity of the product. Providing higher speeds of over 100% more than a traditional linear machine, with the flexibility of quick packaging change overs, the CWM 240i could significantly boost the efficiency of your production processes. Tel: +44(0) 1427 614222 Web: www.cwm-automation.com Email: sales@cwm-automation.com after it raised $14 million to open the world’s first cultured meat pilot production facility. Over in the US, the Alliance for Meat Poultry & Seafood Innovation is aiming to bring cell-based meat, poultry and seafood to retail shelves in a move that will normalise these kinds of proteins. Outside of the environmental agenda, the other big issue this year has been on consumer health, specifically on reducing sugar, salt and saturated fat in food and drinks. Findings this year have found shocking levels of sugar, salt and fat in packaged foods, even plant-based products with their health halo. Indeed, many meat analogue burgers and sausages are among the worst offenders, clocking up more salt than many of their meaty counterparts. Stakeholders and producers are therefore exploring alternatives to sugar including reformulation, used to appeal to more health- minded shoppers, yes, but also to comply with legislation and avoid extra expense, as in the case of the UK’s sugar tax. But producers are also exploring innovative new ingredients that boast sweeteners without the calories with allulose emerging as one of the best solutions in recent months, while the use of stevia is on the up for both food and beverages. As well as companies reducing the size of their snacks, therefore reducing the calories and marketing them as treats, a new portion size guide has launched in the UK to help food businesses review and set potion sizes. Through all of this there’s been Brexit with fears surround the implications of a no-deal for Britain. But with a general election on the way and the leave date pushed back again, there’s still a chance that the UK will leave on decent terms, avoiding compromised food standards, chaos at ports, and an influx of chlorine washed chickens. WRS Systems roll-out a revolutionary new kiosk for Costa A revolutionary kiosk that works to increase transaction speed whilst reducing wait times for customers is being rolled out for Costa Coffee. A solution delivered by leading EPOS solutions company WRS Systems, in conjunction with software partner Datasym UK, and hardware partner Oxhoo. According to research, 67% of millennials believe that self-service kiosks make shopping more convenient. Also true of office workers with limited break times and busy travellers buying goods prior to journeys. Efficiency and convenience, with the minimum of interaction with cashiers is a key requirement of this. Emma Wilson, Business Development Manager at WRS Systems, comments: “Providing innovative, reliable and secure EPOS solutions for our clients is at the heart of all that we do, together with our principle partners Oxhoo and Datasym, and for good reason. Like us, they offer cutting edge innovation and a philosophy of collaboration at every stage in POS solution development. Key requirements for our clients across hospitality and retail, and essential in delivering this revolutionary new kiosk for Costa Coffee.” Currently, there are eight stores in the trial programme, typically with smaller shop fronts such as railway stations and strategic shopping locations. For more information, visit www.wrssystems.co.uk. 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 19/11/2019 11:42 Page 4TRACEABILITY 24 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net T oday companies exist in a more health and safety conscious world holding high concerns over the contents of food, whether that be its nutritional or allergen content, as well as where it comes from and its integrity. Thanks to numerous recall scandals, alongside lifestyle and religious factors and the lengthening global supply chain, traceability legislation has become more complex. Those who do not comply risk not only the success of a business, but human life – such as the approximately 600 million people who eat contaminated food and fall ill each year. Additionally, thanks to social media, food scandals are spreading further, quicker, engendering higher levels of distrust of the food industry. Better record keeping is essential as consumers and regulators clamour to know a product’s complete journey and want to access that information through easy channels like smartphone apps. Consumers are basing their shopping choices on the depth of product information available, with the ‘Transparency Imperative Report’ indicating that 74% of customers are prepared to switch brands for more substantial product details like sourcing information. Utilising a more complete traceability system is thus essential. Vital to food safety, traceability is steered by legislation such as the EU’s General Food Law, demanding companies be capable of tracing products through production, processing and distribution, alongside quality standards, like BRC, IFS, FSSC22000, dictating that products can be tracked and traced within four hours in an audit. At its simplest level, a food traceability system is a record keeping system involving a spreadsheet and paper. Modern systems however are complex and completely digitised, utilising technology and software that enable compliance with regulation, improve efficiency, and respond to consumer demands. Any food traceability system should be able to present information on every ingredient in a product, and state where a product currently is within the supply chain. From producers to retailers and importers, all must have the ability to trace products through the supply chain. Tracing systems allow for corrective actions to be executed when security and safety breaches are discovered, and products isolated to prevent them reaching consumers. Outside of recall situations, major efficiencies can be gained through traceability systems, with productivity, cash flow and waste all improvable thanks to the fact that traceability requires all bodies in a supply chain to be in agreement, improving communication and as a result, efficiency, and presenting information for streamlining inventory control. Further, with improved traceability and transparency, credibility is given to highly sought-after product claims such as “organic” and “non- GMO,” building trust. To achieve traceability and be able to respond to information requests and recalls one must have the right business systems in place to make data available. Standard for this data collection and storage is a strong enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, spanning the supply chain, to provide an uninterrupted data stream. ERP systems are particularly essential in worst-case scenario recalls, where one must rapidly identify the goods and batches Complete traceability All steps in the supply chain – from farm to fork – are under increasing pressure to boost traceability from regulators, retailers and consumers. 24-26.qxp_Layout 1 19/11/2019 11:44 Page 1Food & Drink International 25 www.fdiforum.net specifically affected by an issue, where they came from and ended up. Modern ERP systems should contain IoT tracking technologies and work in hand with network-based cloud traceability solutions to coordinate communication on containment of affected products, to take swift action and minimise an incident’s impact. Food traceability should be central to operations, especially as a product recall can cost food companies as much as $30m and, according to IBM Consulting, 57% of customers will avoid buying brands associated with recalls. However, tracking food from farm to store is tricky. This end-to-end challenge, often resulting from the fragmented nature of supply chains, has seen brands implement new technological solutions for tracing the supply chain. Data collection for instance has been boosted by cheapening trustless IoT technology, which has simultaneously become easier to use and more reliable, replacing human tasks from the monitoring of temperature to product size to provide accurate and in-depth records so companies can ensure products are compliant and quality is maintained. Real time tracking of items by IoT enabled sensors enables damage and events such as theft to be detected. The devices boost traceability by covering blind spots in the supply chain, monitoring and delivering updates on product condition, from temperature and humidity to location, and send alerts when something has gone wrong so that action can be taken to diminish further damage. For instance, IoT sensors’ real time monitoring can reduce losses in shipping that result from temperature fluctuation. The rich data that these devices produce can change negative outcomes, allowing companies to respond to alerts and seize suspect products as well as extend shelf life. Sensors and other real time supply chain visibility solutions provide new savings for companies – with the cost of waste for instance mitigated – and quickly become cost effective. Blockchain has perhaps most famously been highlighted for its potential to improve, and validate, traceability in the supply chain. Monitoring each step of a product’s progress, blockchain can trace goods within minutes and provide in depth information to consumers or anyone involved in a supply chain’s network on product origin, ingredients, processing, packaging and delivery. Moreover, all this information can be viewed in consumer apps accessible by labels and QR codes, providing immediate access to product information. Blockchain is being chosen by retailers to provide product 26 Á © Shutterstock/ Aunging 24-26.qxp_Layout 1 19/11/2019 11:44 Page 2transparency, to show they subscribe to certain standards and is of course used to identify products in recall incidents. Able to trace shipments down to individual packages, the immutable distributed ledger technology involves the input and encrypting of data and records, which are verified by consensus, validated by time stamps and updated in real time along a network. After its addition, a piece of information is permanently stored to the decentralised databased and is unmanipulable. As each record is updated, so is the entire chain, to present an unalterable record of activities and transactions, guaranteeing accountability, growing trust and securing operations. Further, alerts can be issued to trigger a recall based on contaminated batches across the supply chain and blockchain can track when each member of the blockchain acknowledged they were told of an issue, so companies can illustrate their response to an incident and compliance with regulation. Combining blockchain with unique identifiers like QR codes, and wider IoT technologies, one could trace the entire food supply chain accurately and limit chance for fraud, all while improving customer relationships and trust between all partners. A plethora of brands have turned to blockchain to track the supply chain and improve its transparency to convey trust, quality and safety. Walmart and IBM’s ‘Food Trust’ Initiative, implemented following the romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak, for instance utilises the technology with leafy greens for farm to shop tracking, while Carrefour is using blockchain for its free range chickens in central France, which has allowed consumers to scan a barcode on packaging to see information on each step of the chicken’s production, back to where they were raised. Smart labels also hold potential to boost traceability. Examples include RFID and QR codes, which can store more data than traditional options. For instance where a barcode can hold 20 characters, QR codes can store over 7,000, thus can be utilised to add more information to products about their journey. Through QR codes then, consumers can be connected to authentication information that one couldn’t fit on standard labels. Smart labels also have the ability to measure product freshness and can be used with tracking through the supply chain to discover where inefficiencies appear and spoilage caused, then these processes can be optimised. RFID technology meanwhile has many useful applications in tracking materials as they are shipped and arrive, where they are within a warehouse, and RFID inlays can be placed under bottle caps and behind shrink labels to make goods observable while travelling through the supply chain. Representing a bigger investment than standard barcode owever, an ROI analysis is necessary. 26 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net TRACEABILITY © Shutterstock/streetlucifer sales@dimaco.co.uk 01234 851515 A Jenton Group Company Everything has changed. Combination label verification, check weighing, x-ray & metal detection NOW VERIFIES DATA EMBEDDED BARCODES (DEB)! 24-26.qxp_Layout 1 19/11/2019 11:44 Page 3SOMETIMES THE CHOICE IS DIFFICULT … Order free Pizza for a ‘Lunch & Learn’ with your colleagues: www.vega.com/pizza 27-30.qxp_Layout 1 19/11/2019 11:45 Page 1One radar sensor for liquids. … THE CHOICE FOR LEVEL 80 GHZ RADAR! 27-30.qxp_Layout 1 19/11/2019 11:45 Page 2One sensor for bulk solids. Sounds simple, is simple! MEASUREMENT IS EASY: 27-30.qxp_Layout 1 19/11/2019 11:45 Page 3Next >