How the BFFF is helping members through the pandemic The pandemic and associated lock down have been a major challenge for all of us in the frozen food industry. Here is how the BFFF is supporting members during this crisis. As your trade federation we have never been busier protecting and promoting your interests. From one-to-one advice for individual members to industry-wide initiatives to find customers, prevent food waste and trying to maintain liquidity: we’ve been amongst the most active trade associations in the food industry. There’s still a long way to go and you can be confident that the BFFF team will be here for you every step of the way. With so many initiatives underway, here’s a summary of all the help and support currently available to BFFF members.
The Frozen Food Platform As the out-of-home market has faced a massive downturn in trade, retail sales of frozen food have reached levels only seen during the trading period in the run-up to Christmas. Launched on 18th March the Frozen Food Platform was created to restore some balance and helps put struggling foodservice suppliers in contact with the retailers striving to meet demand. Frozen food manufacturers supplying the foodservice/out-of-home sector can register their details with retailers to discuss supply possibilities. So far 124 BFFF members have registered and every major retailer has accessed the system.
The Transport Support Platform The lock down has meant many businesses having to take vehicles off the road due to a reduction in demand. At the same time there’s been increased demand from some businesses for wheels to keep the food chain moving. The Transport Platform was created in March to bridge this gap, matching businesses which have idle vehicles in their fleet to 8|
those requiring additional transport solutions. A total of 24 transport companies registered.
The Wholesale Support Platform This initiative has helped foodservice wholesalers redistribute chilled products fast approaching the end of their shelf-life and avoid unnecessary food waste. Launched by BFFF, in conjunction with the FWD and PTF, the platform on the BFFF website collated data on the top ten overstocked chilled lines such as cheese, cooked meats, fruit juices and other short shelflife products. In the first few hours of the platform going live £3.1 million worth of food had been registered by 18 companies. Instead of being binned much of this food was sent to companies such as Company Shop or given away to charity operations such as FareShare. We also published on the website an extensive list of blast freezing and storage facilities to enable businesses with perishable stock to preserve it until demand improves.
The Spare Worker Availability Portal The BFFF is working with the Association of Labour Providers (ALP) to help promote the Spare Worker Availability Portal (SWAP). SWAP is a free tool which allows organisations to post details of spare and available workers and be contacted by GLAA licensed ALP labour providers who have work for them, so businesses needing extra staff can find the workers they need.
