Food & Drink News January/February 2021

EXCLUSIVE FEATURES CHICKEN COTTAGE INNOVATING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC TO THRIVE IN THE FUTURE WOODFORDE’S BREWERY HAS HEAD START ON POSTPANDEMIC RECOVERY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

EXCLUSIVE FEATURES SMOKO E-CIGARETTES WHEN IT COMES TO VAPING BIGGER ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER

BEECH’S CHOCOLATES HOW A CENTURY-OLD BRAND CONQUERED THE LUXURY CHOCOLATE MARKET MS FOODS LUTON COMPANY KEEPING THE NATION FED DURING TOUGH TIMES

W W W. F O O D A N D D R I N K N E W S . C O . U K

{ January / February 2021 }

Contents ONLINE E MAGAZINABLE! AIL NOW AV

04 INDUSTRY NEWS 13 GH SHELDON 16 SMOKO E-CIGARETTES 18 MUDDY BOOTS 20 CHICKEN COTTAGE 23 TETRA PAK 24 MACKIE’S AT TAYPACK 26 BEECH’S CHOCOLATES 28 CHA CHA CHAI 30 CHUNK OF DEVON 33 KILCHOMAN 36 MS FOODS 38 WOODFORDE’S BREWERY

TO VIEW THE 2021 FEATURES LIST PLEASE VISIT WWW.FOODANDDRINKNEWS.CO.UK OR CONTACT US AT +44 (0)1484 321000 TO EMAIL A COPY TO YOU

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January/February Food & Drink News

{ Editor’s Foreword }

Weathering the tough times

PUBLISHER Planet Media & Design Ltd Brooke’s Mill, Huddersfield HD4 7NR

MANAGING DIRECTOR Jillian Evans

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Sarah Hoyer

CHIEF EDITOR David Barnett

SUB-EDITOR Rachael Whiteley

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Once again, our latest edition is filled with stories about how the businesses we have spoken to have risen to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s been the darkest time for the hospitality sector that anyone can remember, and it’s been going on so long that it almost feels like things will never change.

But in the food and drink industry, that is not an option. While retail and takeaways have survived and sometimes thrived during the crisis, pubs and restaurants have found it far more of a struggle.

We can only hope now, with various vaccines being rolled out at pace, that things are going to get better sooner rather than later and we can return to some sort of normality.

David Barnett CHIEF EDITOR

January/February Food & Drink News

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{ Industry News }

BIOJET® PACKAGING HAS BEEN CREATED TO DELIVER BIODEGRADABLE TRANSPARENT TUBES, BOXES AND CLAMPACKS As people seek better environmental packaging solutions, Bell Packaging is delighted to announce the introduction of this exciting new product which means we can now offer a complete environmental range for new packaging projects in 2021.

VIRGIN – REUSABLE – RECYCLABLE – RECYCLED – BIODEGRADABLE Traditionally biodegradable/compostable products are very expensive. In some cases the cost has been two or three times more than virgin products which often makes the packaging cost prohibitive and is therefore not widely used. There have also been concerns expressed about the viability of biodegradable products questioning what remains after the degradable process has been completed. Biojet® answers both of these challenges. It is a much lower cost solution and has many exciting environmental credentials.

Traditionally plastic products use crude oil to create polymer which is then converted into plastic which we use to make PET boxes, tubes and clampacks. Our challenge has been to make these designs biodegradable but not affect the performance of the packaging whilst it is in use.

To make Biojet® we introduce an additive

which attracts microbes that use plastic as their source of food and energy. These microbes can be found in landfill, the ocean floor, rivers and swamps where bacteria and microbes thrive. When the microbes meet the plastic, the biodegradation process is accelerated as the plastic is consumed. This process will only happen in the correct environment where microbes exist.

What used to take thousands of years to break down plastic now takes much less time as the microbes consume the entire product. After the process has been completed, the microbes leave behind the same by-products as decaying organic

matter – humus (soil), CO2 and CH4, both of which can be captured to produce clean energy.

Biojet® packaging is 100% recyclable through the normal PET recycling centres.

This additive has been independently tested and complies with the Intertek Greenleaf Biodegradability Standard.

The additive used in Biojet® is 100% organic and is comprised of non-toxic raw materials which are independently approved for direct contact with food. The additive also complies with other domestic and international requirements for the absence of toxic or other potentially harmful substances.

The additive is FDA Title 21 Part 177 compliant for food contact and fully compliant with EU REACH Regulation No 1907/2006. Testing to date shows that Biojet® packaging made with this additive performs in the same way as standard recycled plastic. The shelf life, appearance, clarity and strength of the packaging all remain constant with the same characteristics as packaging made using virgin or recycled polymers.

Biojet® is a registered name owned by Bell Packaging Limited. Biojet® has an EU and UK patent pending and is only available for supply to Bell Packaging clients.

LOSALT RAISES £40,000 FOR THE STROKE ASSOCIATION LoSalt, the UK’s leading reduced sodium salt, has raised £40,000 for the Stroke Association via an on-pack promotion, donating 20p for every tub of product sold between July and October. The funds will be used to help stroke survivors rebuild their lives.

The brand formed a partnership with the charity last year to encourage people to lower their risk of stroke and other serious conditions by making more informed choices to create a healthier nation.

LoSalt contains 66% less sodium, representing a simple switch that can have a

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big health benefit. In addition to the on-pack promotion, the partnership involved sponsoring the Stroke Association’s annual ‘Give a Hand and Bake’ campaign and supporting the charity to encourage a #HealthierUK.

For more details on the partnership, visit www.stroke.org.uk/healthierUK. For more information on LoSalt, visit www.losalt.com.

{ Industry News }

INGREDIENTSDIRECT.COM LAUNCHES IN RESPONSE TO TREND TOWARDS ONLINE PURCHASE OF INGREDIENTS According to 2020 research by McKinsey & Company, more than 75% of UK B2B buyers say they now prefer purchasing online over traditional face-to-face interactions.

IngredientsDirect.com was launched in response to a growing number of businesses choosing to source and procure materials through online channels, reducing the lead time between purchase and delivery.

IngredientsDirect.com offers easy access to a growing range of quality assured sweeteners, proteins, amino acids, emulsifiers, vitamins, minerals, fibres, lipids and herbal extracts. All ingredients are held in stock in the company’s UK warehouse and are shipped directly to customers in two-three business days. Having successfully completed a pilot of the new B2B eCommerce offering over the last two months, IngredientsDirect.com is now open for business to companies across the UK. With over 150 ingredients in stock and available for immediate dispatch, IngredientsDirect.com is one of the fastest ways to buy bulk ingredients online. All ingredients listed on IngredientsDirect.com are sourced from FSSC 22000 accredited

manufacturers and produced in accordance with strict welfare standards.

Registered users will gain access to stock and pricing data, as well as the ability to download product specifications for each available ingredient. Certificates of analysis are also available for any purchased ingredients.

All transactions through IngredientsDirect.com are secured via 256bit encryption and are fully PCI compliant.

Customers can register an account with IngredientsDirect.com for free by visiting IngredientsDirect.com/welcome

Director, Richard Tidman, says: “The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a 17% increase in the number of buyers preferring to interact with digital channels.

IngredientsDirect.com was launched in response to this growing trend, streamlining and accelerating the process for sourcing and purchasing ingredients online. Our range of products will increase significantly over the next few months, and we encourage customers to visit the website to keep up to date with developments”.

LGC ACQUIRES SAFEFOOD 360°, EXPANDING ITS SUPPLY CHAIN ASSURANCE OFFERING LGC has announced the acquisition of Safefood 360°, the leading food safety and supplier management solutions platform, expanding LGC’s supply chain assurance offering.

Safefood 360° supports compliance with major food safety and supplier management requirements and offers users the opportunity to manage quality-reporting, workflow, documentation and audit requirements effectively and efficiently.

Jon Yeung, Managing Director, Standards, LGC, said; “We are delighted to have added a best-in-class food safety and supplier management solutions platform to our supply chain assurance offering. Alongside our globally recognised supply chain assurance programmes, Safefood 360° provides leading digital product

development capabilities for the food industry, an industry in which LGC is rightly proud of the work we do right across our organisation. We look forward to combining Safefood 360°’s expertise with LGC’s

understanding of food and consumer safety to deliver unrivalled solutions for our customers”.

George Howlett, Chief Executive Officer of Safefood 360°, commented: “We are excited to join such a wellrespected organisation, and one that will help us to deliver our objectives in supporting our customers by providing a deeper understanding of food and consumer safety, as well as developing solutions to deal with them”.

www.lgcgroup.com

January/February Food & Drink News

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{ Industry News }

SHRINK AND STRETCH FOR FOOD STORE INTERNATIONAL – EXTERNAL Yorkshire Packaging Systems (YPS) are delighted to announce the installation of new shrink and stretch wrapping equipment at Food Store International Ltd, based in Sutton Coldfield.

Food Store International are the go-to supplier of many grocery retailers, sourcing, fulfilling and delivering a wide array of food and non-food products and services to them competitively, efficiently and reliably. As a B2B supplier of ambient, frozen and perishable goods, Food Store International’s products are found in major supermarkets, high street stores, wholesalers and distributors, both in the UK and overseas, including Costa Coffee, Hilton Hotels, Carrefour and IKEA. Food Store International contacted YPS aiming to upgrade their existing wrapping equipment to increase capacity and speed.

The semi-automatic inline sleeve sealer they owned was too slow to cope with growing demand for their most popular products, including trayed cans of drinks. Following a site visit, YPS recommended a fully

automatic sleeve sealer, which achieves wrapping speeds of up to 15 packs per minute with the flexibility to wrap singles and multipacks. YPS also identified that a stretch wrapping machine would improve efficiency in Food Store International’s despatch department by automating the pallet wrapping process. The portable S6 robot wrapper was an ideal solution to tackle their entire product range, delivering self-propelled wrapping power for pallets of any size and shape, coupled with a compact footprint and an FDS mechanical brake suitable for pre-stretched film.

The shrink-wrapping machine was delivered only three days after an official order was placed and was installed by YPS’s specialist engineers the following day with comprehensive training delivered simultaneously. The pallet-wrapping robot followed shortly after, in spite of expected long delays related to COVID. A two-visit service contract was included without charge to ensure ongoing preventative maintenance for both wrapping operations.

Since the initial upgrade, Food Store International have also invested in a motorised infeed conveyor from YPS to further automate their shrink-wrapping line and are seeing great returns on speed and efficiency targets.

Larne Patrick, Sales Manager at Yorkshire Packaging Systems, added: ‘Food Store International supply some of the largest grocery retailers in the world, so it’s important that their in-house packaging facilities measure up. It was a pleasure to help them achieve their goals with our highquality shrink and stretch wrapping systems’.

DON’T IGNORE THE WORKHORSE MACHINES IN CREATING A SUCCESFUL SAUSAGE OR BURGER It is an oft-quoted adage that a sausage or burger is only as good as its ingredients. While that is true, it does not take account of the importance of how those ingredients are prepared.

A crucial contributor to a good quality product is the preparation. Bowl cutters, mixers and grinders are all workhorses in that process so ensuring that the right equipment is chosen for a given application is important. Available from Interfood’s dedicated ‘Preparation Division’ are bowl cutters from K+G Wetter. One of the features which makes the range stand out from the crowd is its cast iron frame. While previously widely adopted by manufacturers to achieve a robust performance, low vibration, reliability and longevity, K+G Wetter is now the only manufacturer that continues to adopt this approach. The fact that cast iron framed machines are still in operation after many years in food processing operations is testament to

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the performance values the material offers and is the reason it is employed to this day by the Germany-based business.

In addition to the solid grey cast iron stand, the K+G Cutmix bowl cutters feature an allround stainless steel casing to further ensure exceptional hygienic design, protection and durability, even under the most arduous and

January/February Food & Drink News

demanding of conditions. Smooth operation is provided through robust design and simple, intuitive control, with hand-cut, sloping surfaces for easy cleaning and optimum hygiene. High productivity is achieved by the advanced bowl design with its raised edge which allows very high fill levels without overflow, while variable adjustment of the cutting space via the removable baffle plate ensures high quality cutting.

Controlling temperature (typically to below 5°C) during chopping/mixing of sausage and burger ingredients is also important in achieving a successful end product. The Cutmix Series employs a temperature sensor located in the cutting space to provide the most accurate detection.

Mixer/grinders are also extensively employed in producing sausage and burger mix. One of the most popular options from K+G Wetter is the MW U200 mixer grinder.

Industry 4.0: EFAFLEX presents the next digital component with EFA-SmartConnect® With a new IoT solution (Internet of Things), EFAFLEX is once again positioning itself in the industry as a driver of digitization.

With the innovative system EFA-SmartConnect®, the world market leading manufacturer of high-speed doors sets new standards in the intelligent networking of door systems: The module enables both the operation and the planning of customer service and maintenance processes in their own, protected WLAN network. All parameters can be conveniently controlled and visualized regardless of location and without contact. The user is always connected to the network via the app and benefits from numerous individually adjustable features for efficient, costsaving real-time door management Highest standards in technology and data security In times of ever-increasing digital change, not only future-proof technologies, but also reliable data security systems are essential in order to make work processes efficient, scalable, sustainable and competitive. EFASmartConnect® meets the increasing demands of this modern corporate world with the consistently digital handling of door operation in its own, protected WLAN network. The IoT solution is operated via the EFA smartphone app, compatible with the common operating systems iOS and Android, the functions of which include the visualization of the current door status, the parameterization of essential door settings such as open time and the display of maintenance data, error memory and current error messages including descriptions and root cause analysis. Thanks to the smart network with the manufacturer, users can also send service reports directly to EFAFLEX if they wish.

Less effort, more efficiency In the spirit of in-depth customer focus, which EFAFLEX always places in the focus of entrepreneurial trade, all of these properties contribute to streamlining processes on the user side and thus creating new space for efficiency and productivity increases and ensuring maximum smooth door operation. Thanks to in-depth analysis and clear visualization, the time required for function checks, service requests and troubleshooting in the event of a fault is reduced considerably. In addition, users can precisely calculate the exchange of spare parts, among other things. This in turn prevents and reduces costly downtimes and reduces the cost of customer service. The fact that EFA-SmartConnect® is not only intuitive to use, but also works independently

EFAFLEX

of additional IT programs, for example for cloud services, makes handling particularly easy.

Doors communicate in a network Several doors equipped with the smart system can be connected to each other within a network and subsequently communicate with each other and with the app. If a particularly high number of gates is to be integrated into the management, for example in large halls, this is also possible because several networks can be operated in parallel. The module continuously forwards the current status report of each individual door to the app, from which the user can forward relevant data to the manufacturer if required. As the operator of the door systems, he decides which of the available information he makes available to EFAFLEX for further steps, such as reports on status, faults or maintenance issues. Depending on the needs they have assessed themselves, the app user can supplement this with free text information, for example with explanations or the request of IT support or a technician. In addition, the messages to be sent can be illustrated with photos.

Well positioned for the digital future Effective immediately, EFAFLEX will install the module in selected door controls. In order to be able to record and operate doors already in operation with EFASmartConnect®, an additional board is integrated into the existing system, provided with a QR code, a serial number and access data. Older door systems can also be easily added to the network via the app - so that operators can also take advantage of the innovative module.

{ Industry News }

CLIMATEPARTNER HELPS LEON DELIVER FIRST CARBON-NEUTRAL BURGER Restaurant brand LEON is the first fast food brand to serve a carbon-neutral burger and fries range in its restaurants and is an important step for LEON as it aims to reach net zero by 2030.

With the help of climate consultancy, ClimatePartner, LEON is measuring the CO2 emissions from the whole supply chain, which includes all its ingredients, packaging and waste, as well as emissions from food preparation in their kitchens in order to derive a carbon footprint for each burger.

With LEON already using 100% green electricity in its kitchens, any other carbon hotspots had to be identified and quantified to correctly estimate the amount of carbon that would need to be offset to claim neutrality.

The carbon neutral dishes include the new Crispy Chicken Parm and Vegan Sweet Carolina BBQ burgers, as well as the new recipe LOVe Burger, Fish Finger Burger and Chargrilled Chicken Burgers, and their baked waffle fries. LEON’s popular LOVe Burger is now made with a new recipe pea protein

patty from plant-based producer Meatless Farm, which has also helped the menu item have a lower impact.

The carbon footprint of these menu items will be offset with rainforest conservation projects in South America, as well as a progressive new afforestation project in the UK. “It’s a real privilege to be supporting such a values-driven brand on their sustainability journey, taking concrete climate action today”, said Emilien Hoet, Head of

ClimatePartner UK. “Enabling their customers to make more sustainable menu choices is very much a first step of a holistic sustainability strategy. For LEON to achieve climate neutrality for its most material menu items amidst a pandemic that has severely affected the restaurant industry sends a strong message that tackling climate change is everyone’s responsibility.”

“Agriculture is one of the hard-todecarbonise sectors and yet essential to our very survival”, Hoet continued. “Making our food carbon neutral is imperative to helping us fight climate change. It’s important that in addition to measuring and reducing carbon emissions, we also take responsibility for the unavoidable, residual emissions, through offsetting.”

CHADWICKS’ MIRROR PRINT A FIRST FOR SYMINGTON’S DEBUT PLANT-BASED BRAND Market-leading pre-cut lid manufacturer Chadwicks of Bury (a Clondalkin company), has produced a versatile lidding solution using mirror print technology for the launch of Symingtons’ new plant-based brand, Bloomin Good Food Co. Four different designs, printed using eight colours on polyester material, have been produced for the vegan-friendly snack pot range, which comes in four varieties: Warming Tomato & Lentil Dahl, Banging Black Eyed Bean & Vegetables, Hearty Sweet Potato & Lentil Curry and Smokey Sweetcorn & Green Beans.

With mirror print technology the lids are printed on one side only, allowing both sides of the material to be viewed for additional pack information. Ideal for added branding or promotional information, marketing, competitions, and loyalty programmes.

Symington’s Brand Manager, Neil Burke-

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Thompson, said: “Mirror printing has allowed us to better communicate our brand

January/February Food & Drink News

message through the packaging without compromising the integrity of the contents”.

Alastair Bearman, Sales and Marketing Director at Chadwicks, added: “All the print is on the surface of the lids to ensure the printing ink does not come into contact with the product. Mirror print technology offers brands a versatile and cost-effective packaging solution”.

Chadwicks of Bury is a leading supplier of flexible packaging solutions in the food, dairy, beverage, personal care and household sectors. With over 70 years’ experience, it has developed a reputation for leading the way in the manufacture of precut lid and shrink sleeve packaging solutions.

Chadwicks of Bury is one of six companies operating throughout Europe under Clondalkin. To find out more, visit chadwickslids.com.

{ Industry News }

GOVERNMENT’S ‘COVID-19 SECURE’ DOCUMENT RECOMMENDS TEMPORARY BARRIERS FOR URBAN CENTRES AND GREEN SPACES A new government document focusing on the design principles for safer urban centres and green spaces has recommended the use of temporary barriers in both areas.

The guidance in ‘COVID-19 Secure: Safer Public Spaces’ is for owners and operators of public spaces in England and aims to keep people safe when coronavirus restrictions are eased.

Temporary barriers are already proving to be indispensable for companies and authorities across the UK as they seek to enforce social distancing in all manner of situations.

The products, which offer an affordable, convenient and extremely flexible solution to the ever-changing demands of people segregation under COVID-19, are extensively used to safely manage queues, segregate pathways, isolate workers and help designate seating areas – as well as a host of other uses.

Neil Cox, UK Sales Manager for McCue/Banner Stakes, a leading manufacturer and innovator of temporary barriers, says: “Demand for our temporary barriers has never been higher – and we’re proud to be on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19. This government advice is welcome – and outlines what our clients already know: our temporary barriers are the

go-to tool for enforcing people compliance in key areas in order to adhere to coronavirus restrictions”.

The Government document recommends the following for urban centres: • Footway widening to accommodate distancing between pedestrians, including the use of temporary barriers in the carriageway.

• Defined areas to indicate where pedestrians should stand when queuing using temporary barriers.

• Management of multiple queues for different businesses through clear signs, using barriers and the use of marshals as appropriate.

It goes on to recommend considerations for outdoor stalls, outdoor seating and in marketplaces: • Consider designating seating areas using temporary measures such as physical barriers to maintain distance between pedestrians and customers.

The advice continues to consider the

utilisation of pedestrian space: • Footway widening to accommodate distancing between pedestrians, including through use of temporary barriers, changes to parking bays and cycle lanes.

Finally, it asks operators of green spaces to consider queuing: • Defined areas to indicate where pedestrians should stand when queuing using temporary barriers.

Although it is unlikely life will be back to normal before winter 2021. With restrictions needing to be enforced by law, it is important companies heed the government advice and implement social distancing techniques now.

Neil Cox from McCue/Banner stakes adds: “We’re primed to help people through this troubled time. Our barriers really do offer companies the flexibility and peace of mind they deserve – and we’re always happy to help with the critical set-up if needed.”

As coronavirus threatens to rumble on through most of next year, the government document should offer some help for companies who are already battling with the many downsides of COVID-19.

ZERO PERCENT PLASTIC MAKES 100% SENSE Bristol-based Keymac Packaging Systems, usually identified by its orange house colours, has gone green! The company has modified its K101 Sleever to run packs containing zero percent plastics in a response to the current ‘war on plastic’.

Keymac has worked with growers and packers in Europe to produce a machine which will insert loose produce such as apples, pears, nectarines and kiwis, placed in a cardboard tray, into a cardboard sleeve at speeds up to 75 packs per minute. The machine can handle 2 x 2, 2 x 3 and 2 x 4 pack configurations and can be size changed without the need for change parts in five minutes.

The machine is a modified version of the successful K101 Sleever which causes no

damage to the delicate products. The cleverly designed pre-glued sleeve retains the produce in the tray whilst giving product visibility to the end customer. The cut-outs in the top panel act as a handy carrying handle for easy lifting. After use the entire pack can be recycled.

Keymac machines are now packing fresh produce in sustainable packaging in Belgium, The Netherlands, France and Italy with strong interest coming from growers in Australia and Canada.

Originally conceived as a ready meal sleever 15 years ago, the K101 now sleeves 16 million trays and pots per week around the world.

January/February Food & Drink News

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{ Industry News }

SHAPING THE PUZZLE FOR QUALITY FORMED PRODUCTS WITH GEA Formed meat products are big business. Ensuring the highest quality products within budget whilst continually innovating to meet consumer demand, is challenging, because creating perfectly formed products is a very precise technical process. Leading supplier of food processing equipment GEA has developed a package of information highlighting the support GEA can provide to manufacturers.

Application knowhow GEA’s experience in formed products has enabled the company to develop creative ways of overcoming technical challenges. For example, to ensure the best possible yields, sufficient moisture must be retained within formed products.

Water acts as a carrier additives which extend shelf life and enhance flavour, texture, colour and binding properties. GEA’s technology mixes the ingredients in near vacuum conditions, which helps open up the meat cells, improving water retention.

Equipment and Innovation GEA offers two primary production methods for formed products. Plate forming for low-medium production levels, using its MultiFormer machine, and rotary forming for high speed production of long-run products using the MaxiFormer. Versatility, capacity, yield, hygiene, sustainability and product quality have been the key drivers in the development of GEA’s equipment.

It’s all in the mix It is often the upstream process of preparing the raw mix that has the biggest impact upon the success of operations later

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on. The mixture must be prepared with the right balance of ingredients at the right temperature and viscosity, to feed efficiently into the forming equipment. GEA has developed a range of equipment for accurate mixing including the GEA CutMaster, GEA PowerGrind and GEA ProMix.

Passion for Excellence GEA prides itself on its passionate approach and knowledgeable staff, and has developed long term working relationships with food manufacturers around the globe, supporting them at every stage of production.

Service Test before you invest Before any decisions are made, food manufacturers need reassurance that any equipment purchased will be a profitable investment. Feasibility studies, process improvements and R&D tests all need to continue, even during the COVID crisis.

Tests are carried out at the GEA Technology Center in Bakel, The Netherlands, which remains fully up and running. Customers are welcome to visit the centre, but if this isn’t possible, ‘live’ interactive testing can also be arranged.

January/February Food & Drink News

Any investment made in GEA’s equipment is supported by a global network of service engineers. A new digital channel GEA Advance is also being piloted. This will allow GEA to modernise the way service colleagues interact with customers, allowing rapid ordering of spare parts and real-time access to technical documentation.

For more information visit www.gea.com

{ GH Sheldon }

Company fostering a strong sense of community in dark times Like many food companies, Manchester-based bakery Sheldon’s has had to do some pretty nimble footwork to rise to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

Unlike the majority though, Sheldon’s has not only been acting quickly to help its business thrive through difficult times — but to help others as well.

Sarah Sheldon of the company famous for its Oven Bottom Muffin says, “Following the initial lockdown in March last year we donated a lot of product to charity for the most vulnerable residents in the Manchester area. We donated over 20,000 Lancashire Oven Bottom Muffins to the Great Manchester Food Model who had, in conjunction with Manchester City Council, mobilised a Manchester-based distribution hub at New Smithfield Market. This operation managed to distribute around 2,000 meals/grocery/pharmacy packs to vulnerable residents every day”.

The BBC recognised the charitable efforts throughout the pandemic with Sarah having a TV news interview involving a discussion about food waste and the importance of getting involved with food donations.

The altruism is typical of the northern grit and spirit which has informed the company ever since it was started in 1949 by Harold Sheldon, who had left school and begun to learn the baking trade in Newton Heath, Manchester in 1924. He set up his own company and it grew from there, with son Graham taking over the reins and building the business even further.

Now Graham is still overseeing the company his father built up, but with his son and daughter Lee and Sarah joining him to make it a 21st century concern

September/October Food & Drink News

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{ GH Sheldon }

even as it holds on to the values that Harold begun it with.

But as well as helping others, they’ve been keeping the food supply to their valued customers moving smoothly during the past year. “We have been extremely busy fulfilling very high order volumes throughout the lockdowns and pandemic,” says Sarah.

“And we started serving Marks and Spencer with our signature product, the Sheldon’s Lancashire Oven Bottom Muffin.”

Sheldon’s most famous product is its Oven Bottom Muffin, known the length and breadth of Lancashire and the north-west, but its fame is growing even further afield.

Over the last couple of years the company has secured national listings in major retailers and you can find their products on the shelves of big supermarkets across the UK. Sarah says: “As soon as the first lockdown was announced, our orders went through the roof. The orders have remained at high levels throughout the pandemic, particularly during the lockdowns.

“This has been due to a number of factors including panic buying, children being schooled and therefore fed at home and employees working from home or on furlough. All those who usually buy sandwiches whilst working in offices were having to make their own at home, both for them and the home-schooled children.

“The increased order levels coincided with having to risk assess every work area in our factories and implementing measures to address the COVID risks. We did an incredible amount of work to ensure the safety of all of our staff including staggered shifts, temperature checks, ongoing monitoring of staff returning from holidays/overseas etc. We also made huge investment in additional staff facilities, canteens and outdoor facilities to enable the staff to spread out as much as possible.”

Turnover is expected to be around £26m by yearend, and the company has also invested in more kit for

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January/February Food & Drink News

their third bakery site as well as improving transport management and investing in stores and technical/food safety services.

Sarah adds, “We have just achieved a double AA grade on our BRC food safety audit.. We have also been doing lots of work on recyclable packaging solutions.

And we have promoted internally so staff who have shown commitment, initiative and management/leadership skills have been promoted to bakery supervisors/line managers.”

The business is now based in Openshaw, Manchester, and they recently invested £1m in new equipment to streamline the roll-making production process, as well as researching automation of some parts of the production process.

Sarah says: “The recent investment puts us in a position of strength in terms of securing 100% order fill for the customers, particularly if the weather is good, as we see phenomenal spikes in the demand for our rolls.

Putting money back into the business assists with quality, consistency and efficiency, as well as offering health and safety benefits”.

In the future, Sheldon’s goal is to significantly increase the company’s brand growth and exposure by continuing with ongoing marketing activity, securing further national coverage and continuing to offer top-quality products and excellent service.

“The long-term goal is to spread the brand in order to maintain a healthy business and keep employing our trained, loyal workforce,” says Sarah Sheldon.

With a commitment to innovation, a strong community presence and a range of products that caters to those who demand their old favourites but also looks to bring in new customers with new launches, Sheldon’s is certainly honouring the ethos on which the company was founded more than 70 years ago, but also firmly looking to the future.

European Process Plant www.eppltd.co.uk Tel: 01372 745 558

THE INDEPENDENT FAMILY FLOUR MILLERS

We are pleased to supply GH Sheldon and we wish them every success in the future.

Bugbrooke Mill, Bugbrooke, Northants NN7 3QH

Tel: 01604 830381 Fax: 01604 831865

www.heygates.co.uk

Congratulates

on their continued success

World Class Bakery Equipment Enabling You To Bake The Best January/February Food & Drink News

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{ SMOKO E-Cigarettes }

When it comes to vaping, bigger isn’t always better In one of the fastest-growing segments, an independent British company, SMOKO E-Cigarettes, have been quietly carving a niche while preventing over 275 million cigarettes from being consumed.

Over the last decade, the popularity of e-cigarettes with adult smokers in the UK has grown astronomically.

Over 3 million smokers now preferring to use an ecigarette over traditional cigarettes, there are still over 7.5 million smokers in the UK and recent studies have shown that over 60% of them would like to quit.

A sector now heavily controlled by the big tobacco companies, there remains an independent brand that is doing things quite differently. SMOKO E-Cigarettes started trading over eight years ago and have prevented over 275 million cigarettes from being consumed and their loyal customers have saved over £100m. With customers in over 20 countries around the world, SMOKO have been able to carve out their niche in the market by following the belief that bigger isn’t always better.

Small & discreet A big part of SMOKO’s success is their realistic and discreet products. While many of the e-cig brands choose to promote larger and more powerful vapourizers and mods, which may be attractive to certain segments, for many smokers (women, professionals and slightly older demographic) they still want something that looks and feels like a cigarette and is easy to use. “Many of our customers are 40 years old+ who don’t want the hassle of the larger devices

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January/February Food & Drink News

like refilling or leaking. SMOKO’s cigalike and VAPE are simple to use – we have customers in their 80’s who smoked up to 40 cigarettes a day for 60 years and are now smoke-free with SMOKO”, says co-founder Mike Cameron.

Made in the UK With many premium products, being made in the UK can be a sign of true quality that helps to maintain a higher price point. “Unlike many of the closed system e-cigarette brands that are sold in the grocery and convenience sector who rely on Chinese-made ingredients, SMOKO only uses the highest quality flavours and ingredients that are all made in the UK” says Cameron. “This is quite unique for closed systems

{ SMOKO E-Cigarettes }

in today’s market and allows us to ensure amazing quality standards while providing a truly realistic smoking experience for our customers.”

Wide range of flavours & strengths When it comes to catering to a wide segment of the adult smoker market, having a depth of choice in any product range is essential and SMOKO definitely ticks that box! They have over 12 flavours with multiple nicotine strengths available across their two product ranges; SMOKO E-Cigarettes can certainly cater for the tastes of the masses. “Even though our Original, Virginia Rolling, Mint and Menthol flavours represent 80% of our sales, having a range of non-traditional flavours is important”. From Apple to Raspberry, Vanilla to Coffee and Absinthe to Havana Cigar, SMOKO’s range definitely will appeal to a diverse range of adult smokers looking to make the switch.

Loyal customers base Being small and independent, SMOKO have built a strong and loyal online customer base who re-order on such a regular basis, you could set your watch to it!

Similar to the Gillette model, loyal customers buy the SMOKO Refills on a regular basis. With strong retail margins and the repeatable nature of the product, stocking SMOKO in grocery, convenience and petrol channels would drive repeatable profits week in, week out. Unlike open systems that can be used with any eliquid, once a customer switches to SMOKO ECigarettes, they keep coming back for more.

Ready for retail partners With a product range that is 100% compliant with all UK and European laws regulating the vaping industry, UK-made flavours and e-liquids, loyal customer base, proven track record and a robust and scalable supply chain, SMOKO is positioned to expand from their current direct-to-consumer model into higher end grocery, retail and hospitality trade partnerships. “We have market-tested our product range in the UK over the last eight years and built a robust business that caters to an affluent segment of the adult smokers market who are looking for an easy-to-use and high quality alternative,” says Cameron.

If you would like more details about SMOKO E-Cigarettes, visit their website www.smoko.com, email hq@smoko.com or call 01892 512 529.

January/February Food & Drink News

17

{ Muddy Boots }

In the wake of a pandemic: how do you make sure your supply chain stays resilient?

Following a testing 2020 for many businesses, the new year brings with it the opportunity to identify priorities for the year ahead and focus on building a more resilient supply chain.

Resilience is currently an increasing concern in supply chains, never before have we faced more complex, changing conditions than during the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit deal. Such disturbances need to be handled in the right way, compelling the use of solutions that can support resilient supply chain decisions. The chaos caused by the border closures at the end of 2020 sharpened everyone’s focus on just how fragile supply chains are.

During the first lockdown of the pandemic we also saw how consumer panic buying and stockpiling caused mass disruption to the continuity of supply.

Fast-forward to this year and we find ourselves in a situation where there is potential for opportunists to exploit the disruption from the previous year, with quarter one 2021 being considered high risk for food fraud across the globe – arguably supply chain visibility and resilience has never been more important.

What we have seen in the last 12 months is the shift in consumer behaviour, as uncertainty drives people to seek safety, trust and healthiness from the products they purchase. Jamie Jarczewski of Muddy Boots explains: This huge shift in consumer behaviour is borne out of the desire by the customer to do right by themselves, from a health and wellbeing perspective, whilst also doing right by the planet’.

“Muddy Boots has industry-leading software solutions to assist processors, manufacturers, suppliers and point of sale/retailers in today’s world of increasing consumer demands for local sourcing, transparency, traceability, waste reduction and sustainability. The Greenlight Supplier Management Solution is the fundamental backbone helping the food industry satisfy these demands.”

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January/February Food & Drink News

Top tips to make your supply chain more resilient Visibility of who is in your supply chain.

Greenlight Supplier Management has a suite of mapping and reporting tools that lets you see who is in your supply chain, what they supply you and where they are, as well as full chain of custody insight, helping you track product routes back to source.

Collaborate directly with your supply chain Ensuring that suppliers in your supply chain are always ‘approved to supply’, will give you peace of mind that your network is fully compliant.

Compliance assessments Tracking and measuring compliance in key areas from start to finish with self-assessment questionnaires and system-generated alerts, will enhance compliance and benchmark performance across your supply chain, driving continuous improvement.

{ Muddy Boots }

Continuity of supply In order for product to move quickly and efficiently, all stakeholders in your supply chain need to be compliant; the most efficient way to do this is by working interactively with your suppliers. Greenlight Supplier Management enables you to manage the entire process in a cloud-based, collaborative environment from start to finish.

appropriate controls are established, your program will need to be maintained through continual analysis to check for any changes to the supply chain.

You then have rich data at your fingertips, which you can use as real-time evidence, demonstrating how you are meeting your brand commitments and build on your level of consumer and customer trust.

Is there room for improvement in your supply chain management? Get in touch, we’d love to show you around Greenlight Supplier Management and demonstrate how we can make your supply chains more resilient in 2021.

Visit www.muddyboots.com/GLSM or scan the QR code

Proactively manage risk through dynamic impact assessments System generated alerts, embedded validation rules and focused analytics tools will help you spot trends over time, drive timely business decisions, mitigate risks and immediately respond to any fraudulent activity.

Concerns about food fraud? Here’s how to mitigate risks within your supply chain A starting point would be to analyse your relationship with current suppliers, assess the length of relationship, how fast any issues are resolved or the level of customer complaints that can be attributed to each supplier. By mapping out your supply chain you can start to see where potential risks may lie. Using Greenlight Supplier Management software, very quickly you can visually map your supply chain, provide full transparency across supply chains and track any issues back to source.

If you do identify an area of risk in your supply chain, you can implement a more robust approved supplier programme that reviews in detail how your supplier mitigates any risk of fraud, before that product is even dispatched to you. Once your assessment is complete,

January/February Food & Drink News

19

{ Chicken Cottage }

Innovating through the pandemic to thrive in the future For many businesses in the food, drink and hospitality sectors, the last 12 months have been a nightmare. However, one area has flourished — deliveries.

Chicken Cottage has met the challenge of the Coronavirus pandemic head-on and brought in a raft of innovations to not only help them survive the crisis, but thrive in the future as well.

“No one would say there could be anything positive from COVID,” says Shahrin Imran, Group CEO of the company, which was founded more than 25 years ago.

“But obviously when people were unable to eat out and takeaways were the only option, that has fired up a huge increase in that segment of the business. In fact, our revenue streams from takeaways and through delivery channels such as Just Eat, UBER Eats and Deliveroo really skyrocketed. Many of our franchisees saw double-digit growths in sales. When lockdown first started in March last year it started slowly and then when the consumers realised that they could still enjoy ‘dine-out food’ at home by ordering online that’s when the orders started to really come in. So in terms of the company itself we’ve not seen any drop in revenue compared to the previous year.”

The original idea behind Chicken Cottage was to create a fried chicken menu prepared according to Halal methods, initially to cater for the Muslim market.

But with the opening of the first store in Wembley, it became apparent quickly that there was a much wider appetite for this fusion of traditional fast food fare with Eastern-flavoured spices and herbs.

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January/February Food & Drink News

The Chicken Cottage franchise rapidly took off and branches opened at a steady rate across the country, and in countries outside the UK. But the story soon took another turn when a couple of years later the company was taken over by Terengganu Incorporated of Malaysia.

If it seems odd that an Asian foreign company would want to take over a British fast food franchise – albeit a hugely successful, growing one – think again. Chicken Cottage was already a hugely profitable business, now those profits can be used to further grow the quality of

{ Chicken Cottage }

operations and product innovation, with a bigger target which is to grow a brand that is known around the world.

When Food and Drink News last spoke to Chicken Cottage in 2019 they were about to start a major expansion programme across the globe. Obviously, that was put on hold during 2020 but now they are gearing up to re-start that.

But they’ve also been forced into new ways of working through the pandemic, and some of those are going to be built into the business going forward.

For starters, the reliance on takeaways ordered online or by phone has seen the rise of so-called ‘dark kitchens’. These are essentially takeaways without the shopfront. They can be located away from town centres — say on an industrial estate —where the food will be prepared, to be then have it despatched to the customer.

Shahrin says, “Obviously there is now less requirement to actually go into a shop on a high street either to order a takeaway or dine in, and food business owners are realising that if you are doing a lot of business through Just Eat, UBER Eats or Deliveroo then you can have your kitchen by itself out of town where it is more cost effective. That’s a model we are looking at a lot this year for Chicken Cottage”.

Chicken Cottage is constantly innovating with new flavours and dishes on top of the basic fried chicken offer, and that is now expanding into desserts, another innovation to come out of the pandemic.

“We realised that people want to order the whole meal,” says Shahrin. “And preferably from the same place, for ease. So as part of our new product development programme, we’ve developed our own ice cream range and introduced cookie doughs and

Bowman Ingredients specialises in the production of coating systems for customers in the global food processing industry.

UK Headquarters Arlesey Road, Ickleford, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 3UN Tel: 01462 422722 Email: info@bowmaningredients.co.uk

Through our strong customer focus and dedication to product innovation we have grown to become one of the UK’s leading food coatings companies and a major player worldwide, supporting many of the world’s leading brands through our international network of manufacturing sites and commitment to new product development.

We produce a full range of dry cereal-based coating systems for frozen and chilled food applications.

Our coatings include: • Breadcrumbs • Batter Mixes • Dry Mix Marinades • Breaders

Applications suitable for meat, poultry, fish, seafood, potato & vegetable products.

We are proud to supply Chicken Cottage and wish them continued success for the future.

January/February Food & Drink News

21

{ Chicken Cottage }

chocolate brownies, which we’re really proud of and which has proven to be really popular. Our satay burger which we introduced at the end of 2020 has also been a hit!”

The company is currently looking at increasing their base of franchisees — they have 60 in the UK — both at home and abroad. With an increasing focus on delivered food they are looking closely at areas such as the Middle East, South East Asia and Africa, and investigating their infrastructure for deliveries through internet and phone to ensure it is compatible with Chicken Cottage’s pledge of top-flight service.

They say every cloud has a silver lining – that’s certainly the principle that Chicken Cottage holds on to in the current pandemic. The company, which is

headquartered in Croydon, where staff manage the franchise operations around the UK and build up Chicken Cottage’s portfolio of stores around the world – is looking at the situation as a window of opportunity. Shahrin says “Obviously because of COVID we’ve been a little more cautious about opening restaurants in the last year, but that said we’ve opened a couple of franchise stores in 2020, and signed up another which will open in the first quarter of 2021. We are definitely optimistic in how this year will progress.

People are seeing that even if restaurants are closed there’s still money to be made from deliveries, and that’s the selling point we are putting forward to potential investors or franchisees right now”.

“We are also very excited about our corporate expansion programme starting in 2021 that will see us delivering Chicken Cottage to more people across the UK through our own company stores. We hope this will also help the local economy by creating new job opportunities.”

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January/February Food & Drink News

{ TETRA PAK }

Blessed be the cheesemakers For 70 years, Tetra Pak has been a globally recognised brand in distinctive and innovative food packaging, ever since the company was launched in Sweden in 1951, and their unique tetrahedronshaped cartons unveiled the following year.

But while a market leader in providing to companies across the world the things that food goes in, the firm has also in recent years been positioning itself at the forefront of the production of food itself – specifically, cheese.

In May last year, Tetra Pak launched its first complete processing line for white cheese products, a fully automated and integrated solution with a focus on the highest standards in food safety and optimum speed to market for products.

Although innovations in cheese have been coming thick and fast the last five years, Tetra Pak actually has more than 50 years’ experience in cheese production, and is aiming to capitalise on the projections that the global cheese market is expected to grow from 28 billion kg of production to 36.5 billion in the next 10 years.

Heading the cheese drive for Tetra Pak is Henning von Alm, who is evangelical about the stuff, whether hard or soft, and especially the company’s latest venture, a new way of processing mozzarella.

This is definitely a growth area with mozzarella now outperforming gouda in Europe for the first time on export volumes. Traditionally, mozzarella is cooked in hot water before brining, but Tetra Pak has revolutionised that.

Henning says: “We have developed new technology which means we do not heat with water coming directly into contact with the cheese. It is heated

indirectly, which has strong advantages for the cheese.

Utilising this patented technology, cheesemakers can decrease their environmental impact, increase their yields, and capture a higher quality whey for further processing”.

Though it’s been done this way for decades, the Tetra Pak innovation, which was only finalised at the end of last year, puts a whole new slant on it.

It is what you would expect from Tetra Pak, one of the world’s leading suppliers of cheesemaking solutions.

“There is huge growth potential in world markets,” says Henning, “with emerging markets including South America, the former USSR countries, India and Africa.”

Cheese lasts a lot longer than the product it is derived from — milk — and as well as being a staple foodstuff and integral part of many recipes, it’s also becoming more popular as a food on the go, which has led to the latest Tetra Pak innovation.

The white cheese they can produce, in a full end-toend solution, is cream cheese type. It was launched in Egypt in September last year for the first time, providing flavours including plain, roumy and cheddar that can be spread straight from the packaging on to bread — the perfect convenience food.

“We believe in the growth potential of cheese,” says Henning. “People are looking for a convenient product but they want to know the health information and that the packaging is sustainable.”

January/February Food & Drink News

23

{ Mackie’s at Taypack }

Crisp firm honours scottish taste travitions We’re all used to the classic crisp flavours, but one Scottish company is making sure that their home country is well and truly on the map thanks to some innovative product launches.

Mackie’s is renowned for its luxury ice cream brand, but over the past decade they have been making their name in another snacking sector — crisps.

Mackie’s Crisps is the creation of an award-winning family business – Mackie’s at Taypack Ltd – which was founded in 2009 as a joint venture between Perthshire potato farmers, the Taylor family, and ice cream manufacturer Mackie’s of Scotland.

One of their latest products, rolled out at the end of last year, is a crisp take on the classic Scottish breakfast roll — Lorne sausage and brown sauce flavour.

It’s not the first time they’ve drawn on their traditional cuisine to think out of the box with crisp flavours — their haggis, neeps and tatties limited edition was a great success.

They also put out Caledonian crisps with flavours such as flamegrilled Aberdeen Angus, and Haggis and Cracked Black Pepper, making them a company with a highly patriotic flair for business.

The Taylor family are experts in potato production and sourcing: they’ve been growing potatoes in Perthshire for several generations. Mackie’s Potato Crisps are now available in around 25 countries around the world.

Recently Mackie’s has brought to the market a new range – Mackie’s Lentil Waves. A new product made possible by its top secret process. It means that unlike other lentil-based snacks on the market, they contain 50% less fat as a result. They also contain 3g of fibre per serving, and are a good source of protein and low in saturated fat. Lentil Waves will be available as 80g share

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January/February Food & Drink News

bags in two flavours: salt and vinegar, and barbecue.

Healthier snacking is an important and growing market.

But Mackie’s didn’t want to enter with a product that, like many so-called healthy snacks, is deceiving. That’s why they invested to ensure that their Lentil Waves contain more of the ‘health-giving’ main ingredients that they purport to, giving them more fibre and less fat.

As the company carries on growing they remain committed to their family values and continue to place heritage and provenance at the heart of everything they do. Their crisps are made in Perthshire, at a production site just a few miles from the Taylor’s family farm, ‘Moncur’, and they take pride in managing the full crisp-making process ‘from plough to pack’.

The Mackie’s Crisps story goes back many years… to when the Taylor family began farming in Perthshire in 1927, to them teaming up with Mackie’s of Scotland in 2009, and beyond.

Mr Taylor’s grandson – also called George and now the Chairman of the company – entered the family business and set up Taypack Potatoes, which grew to be one of Scotland’s largest potato businesses.

It just so happened that the Mackie family were also thinking about entering the snacking sector at that time. It took just two meetings for the families to agree that Scotland didn’t need more than one premium crisp business. The resulting joint venture company – Mackie’s at Taypack – was formed, with the two family businesses teaming up to create the perfect Scottish potato crisp. A small part of the orginal Taypack potato

{ Mackie’s at Taypack }

production site in Inchture was transformed into a state-of-the-art crisp factory.

In 2009 Mackie’s Crisps were launched, beginning with just three core flavours – Sea Salt, Sea Salt & Vinegar and Mature Cheddar & Onion – but soon added their Scottish speciality varieties to the range.

They quickly became renowned for their unique Scottish flavours.

Having secured listings with all the major retailers in Scotland, they soon decided to take their crisps further afield. They began to initiate activity in international markets in 2010, including Europe, the UAE and Asia.

2010 also saw them receive their first Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Award: the Scotch Bonnet Chilli Pepper potato crisps won Product of the Year.

The company invested heavily in new product development and international activity in 2012 and continued to grow their export business and, for the second year in a row, won the Scotland Food & Drink Award for the ‘Retail – Confectionery & Snacking’ category. Following enormous growth in both the UK and overseas they made the decision to move to a larger factory in 2013.

Inchcoonans in Errol – previously Errol Brickworks – was selected as the perfect site to expand the operations and they moved into the new factory in July

2013.

Innovation and experimentation with new flavours is at the heart of the business, with products such as Venison & Cranberry and Whisky & Haggis Ridge Cut Crisps proving a hit and helping to get the company into major supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda — and to further afield with launches into China in 2014.

Mackie’s started 2016 off with a bang, with the launch of their brand new Popcorn range, followed by festive-flavoured Turkey & Haggis Stuffing Crisps and Mince Pie Popcorn and by the end of that year they were selling to 19 countries, including Russia and the Czech Republic.

Much of the success of Mackie’s is down to their very particular production methods, of which they’re very proud. The crisps are made in Scotland with the best varieties of crisping potatoes. They select potato varieties with a high dry matter and low levels of sugar, which help to deliver the best flavour, texture and colour for crisps.

Following uplift from the fields the potatoes undergo a very careful selection process to ensure optimum size and quality.

www.mackiescrisps.co.uk

Tel: 01382 448840 sales@discoveryflexibles.com www.discoveryflexibles.com

Discovery Flexibles is Scotland’s leading independent flexible packaging converter.

Specialising in both Gravure and HD Flexo printing, we have been successfully servicing the flexible packaging market for almost 70 years.

Our extensive knowledge converting films, paper, and aluminium foil and in-house engraving suite enable Discovery to offer a complete solution to your packaging requirements.

We love a challenge, no matter how unusual your requirement is, we will find a solution.

• BRC Accreditation, AA grade • 8 Colour HD Flexo • 9 Colour Gravure • On-site Gravure Cylinder Engraving • Lamination (2 ply & 3 ply) • Sustainable Material Structures • Patent Approved Innovations January/February Food & Drink News

25

{ Beech’s Chocolates }

How a century-old brand conquered the luxury chocolate market Five years ago, Andrew Whiting went out and bought as many different packs of chocolate brazils as he could find. High-end names, supermarket own-brands, the works. Then he got some people together for a blind taste test.

To Andrew’s satisfaction, one brand came out top for taste: Beech’s Chocolates. Which was fortunate, because that is the company Andrew runs with son and Managing Director, Peter Whiting. But if his chocolate brazils were the best on the market, why wasn’t the brand at the top of the tree?

So they looked at the packaging, and the price points, and where they were being sold, and overhauled everything. And now, Beech’s Chocolates are where they belong, at the top end of the market, with sales and branding now on equal footing with the taste.

Beech’s Chocolates was established in Preston, Lancashire, a century ago, and today it is still familyowned and operating out of the same site it was established in. While they of course haven’t got anyone with the company who was there in 1920, they’re not far off! Some staff members have been there for decades, and their longest-serving 20 workers have a combined experience of more than 600 years!

Loyalty is a watchword for the company – both staff and consumer. They work hard to retain their workforce and are working doubly hard to put their brand out there as the go-to chocolate label in the luxury market.

“It was purely our packaging and price that was holding us back, so I changed all those things,” says

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Andrew. “We took our new branding to trade shows, then we got a TV show with the BBC making two films about us, and then on to the QVC shopping channel.

“We’ve taken the business from a customer base in the UK to growing export markets around the world.

“So, the top team has completely transformed the company in the last few years, and that saved a lot of jobs that would have gone if we hadn’t done this.”

As well as giving their products a cosmetic makeover, Beech’s upgraded their production lines and recipes. In recent years they have innovated to add new lines such as their award-winning truffles, and upgraded the chocolate to Fairtrade cocoa, with up to 40% cocoa solids.

And the innovation continues, even through difficult times. Andrew says: “Last year during the pandemic we finalised our new award-winning Jenny Wren Fabulous Fondants, after acquiring the company the year before.

Jenny Wren products are now made by ourselves at the Beech’s factory in Preston rather than sourced from the EU”.

Regarding the pandemic, Beech’s management under Peter Whiting moved swiftly to control the situation and make the working environment safe for their staff, and their careful control meant they had minimal disruption to the work.

And with Brexit now implemented, Beech’s has

{ Beech’s Chocolates }

actually found that has worked to their advantage.

Andrew says: “It is now more difficult to obtain products from the EU and we’re already seeing a rush of new customers wanting to switch to a UK manufacturer for their chocolates and goodies.

“Therefore we’re there so well-placed to be able to choose who we work with going forward, as we are one of only a few high-quality chocolatiers who continue to thrive in the UK.” And beyond these shores as well, with plans for global expansion being put back on the agenda for after the pandemic. “We export to the Far East and USA and we hope soon the virus will be under control in these areas to allow us to continue to push the exports,” says Andrew. “We were doing really well before the pandemic so hopefully from 2022 we can continue to grow these and other markets.

“We’re all hopeful that the business will return to normal after Coronavirus has been brought under control worldwide. Thankfully and as a result of the correct action by our senior management team we’ve managed to sustain the business through the pandemic. After 100 years of perfection we were not going to give up without a fight and thankfully we’ve come through one of the worst periods of life in the UK with a business that is set to do extremely well in the future. Watch out for our new products everywhere.”

January/February Food & Drink News

27

{ Cha Cha Chai }

Brewing up a success story with tea Two-and-a-half years ago, a business was set up in Bradford, West Yorkshire, working out of a converted shipping container.

It was a leap of faith for the small partnership, but one that paid off. Nasar Nabi of Cha Cha Chai says, “It was just an idea we had, a concept, we thought let’s bring something to the market that’s totally different. We’ve got a huge multicultural community in Bradford and we thought of this grab-and-go chai concept. Being from a Pakistani background we thought we’d introduce the tea that’s so popular on the subcontinent.

“Nobody was doing it at the time in this area and I hadn’t heard of other companies doing it very much, so I had no blueprint or idea of what we wanted to do with it.”

Nasar and his business partner Raziq Ali bought a shipping container and had it converted to their specs, and set it up on Ingleby Road in the city, and it was an immediate success. They started as a drive-thru business and demand soared.

Nasar, whose background is in the ice cream business, said: “We sort of just went for it, after spending months and months manufacturing the tea.

We knew that was going to be our core business and it had to be dead right. Anybody can make tea, but we want to make something special”.

Cha Cha Chai’s are ethically sourced from green tea merchants who are committed to ethical standards and paying their farmers an excellent price. They source, blend and brew the teas themselves.

The Cha Cha Chai ethos is that life is “all about

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January/February Food & Drink News

recognising and appreciating those brief moments of joy and happiness”. In every part of the world, they say, tea has the ability to create a gentle yet vibrant atmosphere that brings people together and inspires them to live their best life, seeking health and happiness.

In the west, Chai tends to pop up in all sorts of unlikely places, but in Asia, chai is more than just the word for ‘tea’, it’s a way of life. Every facet of Asian society, from beautiful Bollywood starlets to the average Joe in the streets, is completely steeped in the milky sweet spice blend known as ‘chai’.

For Cha Cha Chai’s blends, they’ve opted for a classically balanced combination of chai tea spices — ginger, cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon— that give rise to that indomitable chai flavour.

“We spent months researching our flavours, a lot of trial and error, looking at what people in different parts of the world drank, because everyone’s got their own version of chai,” says Nasar. “We wanted to create our own distinctive, recognisable taste.”

The business took off with the teas immediately, and the company then started to introduce food to support the core business. Nasar initially thought that it would be a quite narrow market — middle-aged Asian people — but their appeal was much more widespread than that.

“We’ve got everything from early teenagers right

{ Cha Cha Chai }

through to pensioners,” he says. “We’ve captured absolutely everybody. The Kashmiri teas have been a big hit with the younger population, and then we introduced street food, snacks and desserts, and that’s gone really well.”

The company still considers its original shipping container its main, if quirky, flagship store, but in the past two-and-a-half years they’ve expanded to take on 13 sites in the local area, six in Bradford and another seven scattered around the West Yorkshire area.

But there’s more expansion on the cards, as Cha Cha Chai ventures into neighbouring Lancashire, and with two sites in Manchester and now looking at a site in Birmingham, which will bring them a portfolio of 20 sites when everything is signed off.

The company has a central commercial kitchen where everything is made and delivered fresh to every branch every morning. Most of the branches are managed by Cha Cha Chai, with a handful of franchises, and a workforce of more than 100 employees.

Lockdown has affected the business only slightly — two of their branches are in the Broadway and White Rose shopping centres in Bradford and Leeds so had to close, but the others have continued to remain open with COVID-safe measures and click-and-collect.

During lockdown they also introduced freshly baked donuts, which have proved immensely popular, including a “create your own” facility for people to design their perfect donut with their favourite toppings.

But that hasn’t knocked their confidence, and plans for even more ambitious expansion are on the cards.

Nasar says: “We’re in talks to open three branches simultaneously in Dubai”.

Which is not bad at all for a business that started in a converted shipping container in a Bradford car park, and is bubbling along very nicely on the global stage.

www.lovemychai.co.uk

Branded Take Away Products

by Wilkes Group Tel: 01924 237755 Email: catering@wilkesgroup.co.uk

January/February Food & Drink News

29

{ Chunk of Devon }

The pies have it!

Simon and Suzi Bryon-Edmond love pies. They really love pies.

In fact, one of their first dates before they married was pie and chips eaten on a Devon quay.’

So it’s no surprise that when they had the opportunity to take on a business that had grown out of the back of a small butcher’s shop in the village of Ottery St Mary, they jumped at the chance, And, what will be 15 years on this summer, they’ve built up the company into Chunk of Devon — an award-winning company that produces pies, pasties, sausage rolls and more — and they are fulfilling their ambition to, says Simon, “make the finest pies in the country!”

Simon, by his own admission, is the real foodie of the pairing, while Suzi is the brains behind pretty much everything else — admin, accounts, marketing and brand management.

It’s teamwork that works. In 2019 they stole the crown of their Cornish neighbours by winning the title ‘Britain’s Best Cornish Pasty’. and for the second time What’s Chunk of Devon’s secret? A passion for their produce. They source ingredients as locally as they can and, as Simon says, “when you’ve got fantastic natural produce why spoil their flavours with additives and other junk? So we don’t.”

With a workforce of about 40 they’re now turning out a million products a year. Their customer base is mainly the independent sector in the South-West that is looking for premium products to sell.

“We’ve won 10 Great Taste Awards for our pasties, on consecutive years, and we don’t know any other company that’s done that,” says Simon. “It’s a hero product for our business, but still pies are our main focus.”

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About a year ago the company installed some new pie-making kit… and such its Simon and Suzi’s dedication to their craft that they went all the way to Australia for it.

“Because pies are such big business for them down there, you can’t put a pie factory in the middle of Ayer’s Rock as you’re 20 hours to get to Sydney. Ozzie pie companies are much smaller but there are more of

{ Chunk of Devon }

them, so the pie machine business is very healthy there,” says Simon. “It’s a mile ahead of the industry here, so we picked up one from there. It’s been fantastic, it makes just awesome pies.”

However, no sooner had they installed their new kit, than life changed for all of us. How has the coronavirus pandemic affected Chunk of Devon?

“We launched the new pies made on the machine on February 5th last year,” says Simon. “And of course within a couple of weeks it became a very interesting time for us…”

One of Chunk of Devon’s major markets is the stadium business — four Premiership rugby grounds, Wembley and Lord’s. It’s a premium service where, says Simon, “quality is more important than price”.

“When people want a quality product over a commodity product we fit that bill,” he says. “We put a lot more meat in and use real butter in the pastry, we don’t cut corners. So we have a high meat content and much more they are really bold in flavours. Because we’re dealing with lots of farm shops and delis, so people looking for a more characterful pie.”

“It got very scary in March last year – we had a big weekend coming up with events and suddenly, we were getting messages saying we weren’t needed. That first week was really frightening because we didn’t

really know what was going on.”

With major sporting events and festivals cancelled, a big part of Chunk of Devon’s summer market just suddenly disappeared. But all was not lost. Simon says: “What actually happened was, the independents kicked off a treat. The places we supply went into turbo drive, frankly, and combined with that our online business really took off. Fundamentally, the two things together has replaced anything our stadium business was giving us”.

The company also benefited from the fact that many more people stayed in the UK for a holiday last year… and made a beeline for Devon. “We knew it was going to be busy but we had no idea of the level that we were going to get,” says Simon. “On top of that, people who lived in Devon stayed home, so the summer season was rammed here. The weather was good, and all in all it meant little operators like us had the opportunity to carve a furrow and find opportunities.”

In fact, the company has had a bit of growth this year, which they’re pleased about. And it’s all down to the passion for pies. “We worked hard, all of us, to get through the last year,” says Simon. “It’s just what we do for this business.”

www.chunkofdevon.co.uk

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January/February Food & Drink News

{ Kilchoman Distillery }

From field to bottle The single malt distillery embracing the future while honouring the past.

Kilchoman distillery on the Isle of Islay, in Scotland, is devoting even more resources to creating its indemand ‘homegrown’ single malt whisky.

The farm distillery is freeing up more land to grow its own barley to make more of its whisky completely on site on the beautiful Scottish island.

Kilchoman is one of the only farm distilleries in the country. A Kilchoman single malt goes from field to bottle all on the beautiful site that is winning fans around the world for its produce.

Kilchoman was the first distillery to be built on Islay in over 124 years. The distillery was founded in 2005 by Anthony Wills and is Islay’s only farm distillery.

Kilchoman is also one of the few whisky distilleries in Scotland to not have ties to a larger company, being a family-run business that takes pride in its independence.

The single malt produced entirely from barley grown on the island makes up about a quarter of the company’s output, with the rest of their produce being made from malt bought in from a malthouse on the island.

Although often at the mercy of weather conditions up in Scotland, the island parish of Kilchoman is home to some of Islay’s most fertile ground. It is there, in the fields surrounding the distillery, that the Kilchoman team grows 200 tonnes of barley every year.

Planting is about to begin in April, with harvesting in August or early September. Harvest time represents the start of the whisky-making process which sees the

Kilchoman grown barley malted, distilled, matured and bottled at the distillery, eventually becoming Islay’s only Single Farm Single Malt Scotch Whisky over 1,130 days later.

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{ Kilchoman Distillery }

It’s been a challenging year, of course. Kilchoman opened up a visitor centre in February last year, which was then hit by the lockdown restrictions — though the few weeks in summer they were able to open up showed that the centre was going to be very popular when things get to a little more normality, travel-wise.

They also met the challenges head-on by embracing technology — even with whisky tasting sessions!

Tasting packs would be sent out to whisky clubs, retailers and aficionados, then live-online tasting sessions take place. It’s one of the many ways that Kilchoman is bringing whisky right into the 21st century while honouring its long and illustrious past.

According to founder Anthony, they got into the business at just the right time. The last five or six years have seen a growth in smaller distilleries, but Kilchoman was, as Anthony says, ahead of the curve.

“Timing is everything,” he says. “We got into it at the right time, when young age single malts were becoming more acceptable and people didn’t necessarily want to confine themselves to a 10-yearold malt.

“We knew that our first products would get some interest as people would be intrigued by what was coming out of the first new distillery on Islay for so

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many years. Fortunately we continued to bring out quality malts and have got ourselves a big fanbase.”

Kilchoman’s development over the past 15 years has coincided with a global increase in the interest in whisky, with more whisky clubs, whisky bars and specialist shops opening.

To that end, Kilchoman has built up a network of ‘sanctuaries’ for aficionados all across the world. And that’s a concept inspired by Islay itself. The ruined Kilchoman Church stands proudly beneath the cliffs of Creag Mhór, half a mile west of the distillery. Chief amongst its artefacts are sanctuary stones dating back to the 800s. Such sanctuary stones were commonplace in medieval times, marking an area of ‘Comraich’ or sanctuary in the local Gaelic language, safe from harassment and arrest.

Thus, Kilchoman Comraichs are a collection of sanctuaries, sheltered from the commotion of the outside world, dedicated to the enjoyment of Kilchoman Single Malt. Kilchoman Comraich establishments serve as bastions of Kilchoman with exclusive access to the Kilchoman Comraich batches.

These are available exclusively from Comraich bars along with a wide range of other Kilchoman releases.

With everything grown and processed on site,

{ Kilchoman Distillery }

Kilchoman products also have that traceability and accountability that consumers are demanding more and more in their food and drink, and the busy and popular tours of the distillery by the whisky pilgrims who head to Islay show off those processes to full effect.

And there can’t be many single malt distilleries that have a snail named after them! The Entedella Kilchomani is a new species named by Barna PállGergely, a Hungarian biologist… and Kilchoman whisky enthusiast.

The new species was collected by researchers of the Natural History Museum in 2013 in northern Vietnam.

It has now been published by The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, a well-known scientific journal of zoology in Southeast Asia, and published by a museum in Singapore.

Kilchoman’s malts include Machir Bay, their signature peated single malt, named after Islay’s most spectacular beach, the high proportion of bourbon barrels create a distinct balance of classic Islay character and fresh floral complexity.

Sanaig, named after an inlet on Islay’s rugged Atlantic cost, is a vatting of Kilchoman matured in both sherry and bourbon barrels. This sherry cask scotch

whisky is matured in a high proportion of oloroso barrels, imparting a balance of dried fruits, dark chocolate and rich peat smoke into the spirit.

Now Kilchoman is looking forward to bringing people back to Islay so they can show off their visitor centre… with a few drams along the way, of course!

www.kilchomandistillery.com

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{ MS Foods }

Luton company keeping the nation fed during tough times MS foods is one of the UK’s most recognised halal fast food distributors. Located in the south of England in Luton, they specialise in frozen, fresh, chilled foods, soft drinks and food packaging, offering customers excellent quality goods at affordable prices.

On the first score, MS Foods also has another company in Paris that is a hub for distribution of fast food products across France.

With more than 25 years of experience and excellence, they have built their business on loyalty internally and externally, 50% of MS Foods customers have been with the company for over 15 years.

MS Foods built its business on offering customers an unbeatable collection and delivery service. Goods are delivered in refrigerated vehicles ensuring stock is delivered to customers’ doors in perfect conditions. MS Foods’ sales representatives offer a unique personalised experience where members of staff are allocated to specific regions offering a balanced personal and professional experience. The company also offers other wholesalers the opportunity to work alongside them with their range of own-branded products including pizza and chicken boxes, cheese, fresh chicken products, and peri-peri and southern fried chicken ingredients.

Qasim Saleem of MS Foods explains: “We’re a familyrun business and I run the day-to-day operations. The

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sectors we supply are predominantly the fast food businesses and takeaways, and we also do some schools and mini markets. We have a low turnover of staff with the majority of our staff working with us for over 10 years. All employees are seen as family as we look to create a culture of loyalty through trust and transparency within our company, making it welcoming and comfortable for all” Qasim also suggested “We produce our own chicken products in a processing plant behind our main warehouse so that is a major part of our business.” It has of course been a difficult time for everyone, with Brexit causing uncertainty and the COVID-19 pandemic hitting a huge number of businesses.

There were complications just before Christmas with lorries not allowed to enter the country for a few days due to the pandemic, but that seems to be ironed out now.

Qasim says: “Having the company in Paris has its pros and cons. We do a lot of traffic between there and Luton, and as far as Brexit goes there have been some delays and some things are still a grey area, and there is

{ MS Foods }

a lot more paperwork. We’re looking at how we can streamline our operations further to make it all work”.

COVID has obviously been a huge blow to the food industry. However, with MS Foods mainly working in the takeaway sectors, they’ve managed to ride out the pandemic so far.

“I suppose we’re lucky in one sense,” says Qasim.

“Fast food businesses managed to stay open when a lot of other food industries were closing and I really feel for those businesses that were hard done by the pandemic. They stayed open and we need to applaud that, not to mention how it helped our supply chain to continue to operate from wholesalers, distributors to manufacturers. But the independent takeaway businesses we supply really stepped up to serve the nation as the giants in the sector such as McDonalds, KFC and Burger King were not prepared to help the country in taking stress off supermarkets. Things really worked out for the smaller businesses, so much so that when the PLC’s of the industry saw how it was working they opened up for takeaways as well and decided to offer a delivery service. “We also launched a new home delivery service called Simply Halal. This was originally introduced to help the people of Luton to get their groceries delivered, at that moment lead times from

supermarkets were at times two weeks plus. This has allowed us to offer great wholesale deals and products to the public and helped widen our scope within the food sector. We have got great feedback and are now looking to increase our delivery radius to neighbouring towns”.

And what happens when things get back to normal for MS Foods? “What’s normal?” laughs Qasim. “Will we ever know? I suppose for us, we’re looking to branch out into different areas that we weren’t catering to beforehand.

“And we’re also looking to streamline our services, looking at our logistics to make our delivery runs more efficient.”

MS Foods runs to tight margins because it operates in a very competitive market.

“We don’t work on huge amounts in our margins,” says Qasim, “which is why it’s important for us to keep going and supplying our smaller businesses, because they are the ones who have kept open and working late to make sure the nation has food”.

Having weathered the storm of the last year, Qasim is confident that MS Foods with its 25 years’ experience and solid footing in the market will be prepared to move forward into the future.

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{ Woodfordes Brewery }

Brewery has head start on postpandemic recovery Nestled in the East Anglia countryside, the Woodforde’s Brewery site is as close as it gets to idyllic.

With the brewery having its own thatched roof pub, the Fir and Feathers, right next door, their quality beers don’t have far to travel.

In fact, paying homage to their roots is part of the Woodforde ethos. Even though they’re always looking for opportunities to expand, their commitment is to serving the local outlets in their Norfolk home and East Anglia.

The other big part of their ethos is quality – they will not skimp on any ingredients or processes, 40 years after being established in 1981.

Joe Parks took over running the brewery in January 2020. He had a lot of plans for revitalising the business which was just as well… the entire hospitality industry faced its darkest times just a couple of months later.

But the plans Joe had drawn up helped the company to weather the storm of the pandemic and they’re now in position to hit the ground running when the sector opens up again.

Joe says: “I see there being a core business that is still there but slightly smaller but there will be opportunities and I expect customers to be wanting to operate differently, wanting supportive suppliers and partners.

“Some big companies will struggle to adapt, and some smaller companies may struggle to rebuild. I think we are well placed. We have great beer that is loved and respected. We are small enough to adapt quickly and strong enough to invest in growth. I’m optimistic for a post-COVID and post-Brexit world, it’s going to be challenging but could be great fun. It’s certainly not going to be boring.”

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After being founded by two friends, Ray Ashworth and Dr David Crease, who had started off home brewing together, Woodforde’s Brewery was founded with the birth of their now-famous Woodforde’s Wherry beer in April 1981. The brewery quickly outgrew its initial premises and set up shop in a bigger home.

That unfortunately burned down a few months later, prompting them to seek temporary accommodation while it was rebuilt. When they moved back in, they created a commemorative beer, Phoenix XXX, to mark their rising from the ashes.

In 1989 the company moved to its current home, a Grade II thatched former farm building in Woodbastwick, and awards for their beers started to roll in, with both Wherry and Norfolk Nog winning the CAMRA Supreme Champion Beer of Britain.

“Our flagship brand is Woodforde’s Wherry, a fabulous 3.8% amber ale that punches above its weight for flavour,” says Joe. “Nelson’s Bitter, Bure Gold, Volt IPA, Nog Dark Ale and Reedlighter Pale Ale make up our core range. We have recently introduced our new craft range under Fifty Two Degrees North Norada Pale Ale, Voltage Session IPA, West Coast Wherry American Amber and Conquest Imperial Lager. 2021 also saw the launch of our first cyder brand, Norfolk Adder. We also made Wherry available in all formats, the traditional cask and bottle supplemented by keg, can and mini keg formats.”

They sell their wares in Norfolk bottle shops, country pubs and clubs, and through regional supermarkets.

They get a lot of custom in the summer holiday months and are getting their beers into London pubs

{ Woodfordes Brewery }

so that tourists who develop a taste for them can search them out at home.

“We are a small brewer but one that is well respected, brewing fabulous beer to the highest level of quality and consistency is very important to us,” says Joe. “We never compromise on ingredients. We use the best local malts, hand selected hops and water from our own aquifer. We have some of the most strenuous testing and tasting processes that continue for every batch throughout its lifespan. We know how each of our beers age and mature, our sensitive brewing and storage process ensures our beers are supplied in tiptop condition. We operate as a passionate team of people who care about our beer and our customers as we know with these three things, we are nothing.”

As well as quality and looking after their local customers, Woodforde’s prides itself on taking care of its staff as well. There are currently 73 people employed across the brewery and pub, including long servers such as one who started in 1983.

But as well as maintaining traditions, the company is investing in the future, specifically with the Tevalis Epos system, which is a network of smart tills which keep the company bang up to the minute on how business is running in the pub — and with an eye on acquiring more pubs in the near future, this will give Woodforde’s

a fully integrated system.

Joe says: “Since we’ve been using this till system it gives us live information at our fingertips, and it means it’s transparent across the business how we’re performing. We can tell where our peak periods are and where we might need to put more staff and supplies in to make sure service levels don’t drop.

“It’s a really great tool for helping us manage our business, and with our discussions about opening more pubs over the next three to four years this will e a great analysis tool, especially as it links into our retail shop as well.”

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