Food & Drink News September/October 2020

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ONLIN E MA NOW AGAZINE VAILAB LE!

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020

EXCLUSIVE FEATURES KERVAN GIDA SWEET TIMES AHEAD FOR CANDY FIRM FATHERSON BAKERY MARRIAGE OF MODERN AND TRADITION HELPS BAKERY GROW AND THRIVE

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

{ September / October 2020 }

Contents ONLINE E MAGAZINABLE! AIL NOW AV

04 INDUSTRY NEWS 10 VEG AWARDS 13 ALS TESTING 16 WENSLEYDALE BACON 18 DTM PRINT 19 KERVAN GIDA 23 FATHERSON BAKERY

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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September/October 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

CONTACT US: faceBooK @food&drinkmagazine

insTaGram @food&drinkmagazine

TwiTTer @food_drink_news

conTriBuTe info@planet-media.co.uk aDverTisinG advertising@planet-media.co.uk eDiTorial editorial@planet-media.co.uk maG suBscripTions subscriptions@planet-media.co.uk

when food and Drink news magazine returned after its summer hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, it felt as though there were great steps towards the country – indeed the world — returning to some kind of normality. in the intervening weeks the situation with the virus has taken a less welcome turn, with increasing infection rates and stringent lockdown regulations in place across the country. we have all been through tough times and there are challenges ahead, especially for the hospitality sector and the food and drink industry that services it. however, there is always hope. The profiles in this issue show that, with stories of ambition, innovation and drive as companies large and small do their utmost to preserve their businesses and protect their staff. let us all hope that more weather the storm than fall by the wayside in the coming months.

David Barnett CHIEF EDITOR

Food & Drink News is published by planet media & Design ltd. company registered in england & wales, number 09365661. all material is the copyright of planet media & Design ltd. all rights reserved. food & Drink news is the property of planet media & Design ltd. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, whole or part, without the written permission of a Director of planet media & Design ltd. Liability: while every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine, the publishers can not be held responsible for the accuracy of information herein, or any consequence arising from it. in the case of company or product reviews or comments, these have been based upon the true and honest opinion of the editor at the time of going to press.

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{ Industry News }

LOMA’S COMBINATION SYSTEMS INSPECT AND WEIGH ALL-IN-ONE MACHINE Due to the disruption in grocery sales caused by the pandemic, there has been increased demand for combination systems from ‘check & Detect’ market leaders, loma sysTems®.

Delivering production line efficiencies, while also providing food manufacturers and processors with increased levels of food safety and compliance, a combination systems is a metal detector or X-ray inspection, combined with an intelligent checkweighing solution.

The systems offer key quality and efficiency benefits, including a single point of contact for spares, a line space saving of c.25% and a simplified line process based on the installation and support of one critical

• loma cw3 combination system. a metal detector and checkweigher with a single touchscreen control to manage all aspects of inspection.

• loma X5c-cw3 combination system. an X-ray and checkweigher that is perfect for inspecting retail-packed convenience food • loma X5 spacesaver-cw3 combination system. an X-ray and checkweigher suitable for bigger food products. control point. for food manufacturers and processors requiring detection of metal or other foreign bodies combined with a checkweigher, loma’s combination options include:

All LOMA products provide high levels of before and after sales service. Learn more at www.loma.com/en/products/ combination-systems.

TRAY SEALING PERFECT FOR THE ONLINE BOOM, SAYS PROSEAL Tray-sealing specialist proseal says the traysealing format is providing the ideal packaging solution for the increasing number of online and home delivery services, now being introduced for both

food and non-food applications. as well as the growth in foods – everything from snacks and health food selections to fresh meat and complete ready-to-cook meals – proseal says it is

receiving enquiries from companies with products for online supply as diverse as prescriptions, home health and personal care kits, pet foods, confectionery and novelty items.

“The variety of tray designs – in terms of shape, depth and the availability of multicavity formats – means a solution can be found to safely package most types of products,” explained eddie holmes, project manager, proseal.

“Tray sealing provides very effective product protection and security, and latest reclose film options mean food can be further preserved after opening. Just as important, the majority of trays are fully recyclable, unlike some alternatives such as pouches and bags which can also cause food waste by not sufficiently protecting product from damage, such as squashing, throughout the supply chain. some trays are also now manufactured in new materials made from renewable or recycled board, and this offers an added sustainability benefit.”

www.proseal.com

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{ Industry News }

I2R SET TO ACCELERATE GROWTH ACROSS ALL SECTORS following a strategic investment in five new high-speed process lines for their shropshire-based manufacturing site, leading aluminium foil tray manufacturer, i2r packaging solutions, is poised to accelerate their growth across all sectors.

The company, a recipient of a prestigious Queen’s award for enterprise in international trade earlier in the year, followed closely by an alufoil Trophy 2020 in the ‘resource efficiency’ category, has now also invested £750,000 in new tooling to significantly expand their range of wrinklewall products.

The investments, which are scheduled to be made this year, follow increased demand internationally and in the uK market. The move is set to boost capacity and i2r’s product range by a further 20%. The new wrinklewall products, which include pie, quiche and dessert foils amongst others, have recently been rolled out alongside an

extensive marketing campaign. commenting on the investments, i2r’s commercial Director, Jon west, said: “Despite the challenges presented by coviD-19, we are currently seeing increased demand across a number of key markets for our products, which is helping to create the momentum we are experiencing. investing in the new presses and new tool profiles is

really exciting, not only for the business and its employees but also for the wider customer base. “our continued investment is vitally important for excellence in customer service, lowest cost manufacturing and expansion into new markets. it’s also vitally important that our customer message is really clear in terms of investing to provide further choice and innovation, building on our unmatched history as a packaging solutions provider”. operating as part of the italian laminazione sottile Group, one of the leading global suppliers of aluminium products, i2r manufacture a comprehensive range of wrinklewall and smoothwall semirigid aluminium foil containers used throughout the food industry.

HAND HYGIENE FOR ALL skin health and surface hygiene specialist, GoJo industries-europe ltd, supports Global handwashing Day on 15 october 2020.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to provide a stark reminder that one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of a virus is also one of the simplest. hand hygiene must be a priority both now and in the future to help prevent the transmission of germs like coviD-19 and ensure health and wellbeing. That’s why skin and surface

hygiene expert, GoJo industries-europe, is once again supporting Global handwashing Day (Thursday 15 october 2020).

This annual, global advocacy day is dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives. it is also an opportunity to design, test and replicate creative ways to encourage people to wash their hands with soap at critical times. This year’s theme, ‘hand hygiene for

all’, calls for all of society to achieve universal hand hygiene. chris wakefield, vice president, european marketing & product Development, GoJo industries-europe ltd, comments, “2020 has seen thorough hand hygiene practice increase phenomenally. it is vital that this healthy attitude to hand washing and sanitising continues, because hand hygiene is one of the most effective ways there is to protect ourselves and others from becoming ill”. he continues, “Backed by a wealth of scientific expertise and specialist formulations, we have the technology and experience to help implement effective hand and surface hygiene regimes in a range of different settings. These solutions not only help influence hygienic behaviour, but help build a healthy hand hygiene culture amongst staff, visitors and customers long term”.

For more information, call 01908 588444, email infouk@GOJO.com or visit www.GOJO.com

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{ Industry News }

GROUNDED PARTNERS WITH SIG TO LAUNCH INNOVATIVE PLANT-BASED PROTEIN SHAKES london-based GrounDeD has partnered with siG to turn its innovative concept idea for a 100% natural range of plant-based protein shakes, aimed at health-conscious mobile consumers, into a commercial reality.

GrounDeD reached out to siG for support in getting its all-natural plant-based shakes, with cocoa and plant protein, ready for market. as there is almost no start-up company that will be able to invest in its own production plant from the beginning, GrounDeD benefits from the outstanding capabilities in siG’s combilab as well as the sponsorship of the siGcuBaTor – siG’s accelerator programme for start-ups with innovative and promising product concepts. working in close collaboration, siG took

GrounDeD’s initial idea on a ‘consumercentric’ journey, from testing prototypes in its test centre in Germany, through to a successful launch to market. as part of the process, the perfect packaging solution for the plant-based protein shakes was also found: siG’s unique

carton bottle combidome 500ml. standing out from the crowd with an eye-catching design for modern, sustainable on-the-go consumption, combidome is mainly made from paperboard from the renewable raw material of wood.

GrounDeD’s innovative 100% natural plant-based protein shakes recently launched at www.grounded.co.uk and world-renowned retailer selfridges. siG’s partnership with GrounDeD will continue post-launch, as siG’s extensive global copacking network will help to define GrounDeD’s future route to market.

www.sig.biz

FROM GRANOLA TO GROOMING PRODUCTS – BCMPA MEMBERS MEET THE GROWING DEMAND FOR WHITE LABEL & PRIVATE LABEL GOODS white label and private label goods are experiencing huge growth according to the Bcmpa, the association for contract manufacturing, packing, fulfilment & logistics, which has reported a 75% increase during lockdown for enquiries from companies and entrepreneurs across the uK and internationally. white label goods are standard products manufactured by a third party, often a Bcmpa member, and sold by companies and retailers with their own branding; private label products differ slightly in that they are manufactured for the customer to a bespoke formulation. while part of the increase in enquiries has been from companies wanting to offer hand sanitiser products quickly to meet demand from the coviD-19 pandemic, the Bcmpa says there has also been significant growth in a wide range of other products, everything from cornflakes and granola to men’s grooming and domestic cleaning items. white label & private label services are already featured on the Bcmpa website, but the terms will shortly be added to the search

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facility which potential customers use extensively to identify outsourcing partners who can support them with their projects. clients can also use the Bcmpa online enquiry form.

The association attributes the growth in white & private label to several factors, including the emergence of smaller brands and marketeers who have identified opportunities for new products and are often using e-commerce and online stores to bring them straight to market. “with white & private label goods a single company does not have to go through the entire development process to create a new product, and instead can focus on its core

September/October Food & Drink News

competences of marketing and selling it,” explained rodney steel, chief executive of the Bcmpa. “with white label goods in particular, the product is already tried and tested; this helps to keep costs down and avoid any unknowns or pitfalls that can sometimes occur during development.” many Bcmpa members are also able to provide a complete end-to-end service to brand owners, not only manufacturing and packing the products, but also despatching the individual items direct to consumers as part of their fulfilment and logistics offering. mr steel concluded: “outsourcing allows white and private label goods to be launched extremely quickly, leaving entrepreneurs to focus on developing their brand and sales channels. we therefore anticipate growth in demand to continue for these products, which is why the Bcmpa membership is constantly adapting its offer to meet the latest requirements”.

Tel: 01494 582013 www.bcmpa.org.uk

{ Industry News }

ADDITION DESIGN INVESTS IN LARGE-SCALE 3D COMPONENT PRINTING leading additive manufacturing (am) consultancy addition Design has expanded its range of services with the installation of an industrial am machine for the batch production of components in a variety of high-grade engineering polymers.

The prodways promaker p1000, housed within a dedicated production suite at the sheffield-based consultancy’s facility, is one of only a handful of such machines installed in the uK and will enable the company to support high-value manufacturers in the scaling up and quality production of their industrial 3D-printed components quickly and efficiently.

The new manufacturing capability complements addition Design’s existing consultancy, design and training services to provide a complete one-stop shop to help companies realise the benefits of additive manufacturing. “am can deliver significant added-value to many businesses in terms of cost and waste

reductions and profitability improvements,” commented Ben smith, addition Design’s am Development engineer. “our ability to manufacture and supply am components in engineering polymers such as nylon, glass and carbon fibre reinforced nylon, polypropylene and thermoplastic elastomers, enables us to support customers in getting the best out of the technology,

providing a notable return on investment and boosting their bottom line.” while 3D printing is more commonly associated with low-volume production and rapid prototyping, am utilises industrial 3Dprinting technology for series or volume production of end-use components. am can deliver production efficiencies and supplychain flexibility, minimising downtime and equipment maintenance. addition Design provides specialised consulting, training and component manufacture in 3D printing, tailored to customers’ individual requirements. The company’s objective is to unlock the potential of 3D printing to deliver cost and performance benefits for its clients.

Tel: 0114 269 3869 www.addition.design

M&S LAUNCH PERCY PIG SWEETIE JAR PACKAGED BY CROXSONS with much of the uK in need of some good news, m&s has recently launched a percy pig-styled sweetie jar. currently at retail in m&s shops, the bespoke 1kg jar has been designed and produced by leading glass packaging company, croxsons. having a long-standing relationship with m&s, croxsons were asked to supply the glass packaging for the launch, together with a closure. using standard range product, croxsons improved the design to create a bespoke jar, which included a rounded flat front with a moulded outline of percy pig himself. The on-brand screw top closure was custom-made for the jar. laura fernandez, m&s senior packaging Technologist - ambient food & food hardware, said: “percy is the nation’s favourite pig, so great care goes into creating all percy pig products. This collectable, giftable jar was designed to be one of the heroes of our christmas range, so the product needed to be spot on. croxsons

responded to the brief and delivered a bespoke jar and closure that met our brief perfectly. having recently visited one of our flagship stores, i can confirm that the jars

look amazing on the shelves and our customers just love it!”

www.croxsons.com

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{ Industry News }

IFM PROVIDES ALL-IN-ONE CONTROL AND MONITORING FOR QUARTER-TURN VALVES featuring compact construction and easy mounting, the new mvQ201 valve sensor from ifm electronic not only evaluates the valve position to the nearest degree, but also has an integral m12 connection that can be used for connecting the pneumatic actuator solenoid. with this option, the valve is controlled via the same io-link connection used to monitor the sensor, which eliminates the need for separate valve wiring, thereby reducing both installation complexity and cost. in use, the mvQ201 sensor continually monitors the valve position and makes the position data available to the control system via an io-link interface. The sensor can also be programmed to detect changes, such as

increased opening and closing times, which might indicate valve faults or blockages, and to report these changes via io-link. This makes it an ideal choice for use in condition-based maintenance applications. conventional valve-open and valve-

closed switching outputs are provided and can be set for normally open or normally closed operation. The valve positions corresponding to the open and closed states can be readily programmed with a convenient one-click auto-teach function. mvQ201 sensors also incorporate a clearly visible status leD that shows the valve position at a glance. suitable for use with valves having shafts up to 35mm in diameter as standard, mvQ201 valve position sensors have an ip65/ip67 protection rating and an operating temperature range of -25 to +70ºc. a range of accessory mounting adaptors is available to further simplify installation and to accommodate larger diameter valve shafts.

HARROGATE TIPPLE PREMIUM GINS WIN FIVE AWARDS FROM IWSC yorkshire craft distiller harrogate Tipple has added further accolades with the iwsc (international wine and spirit competition) awarding five trophies for products within its ranges of premium gins.

The family-run, small batch distillery has been recognised for its premium harrogate Gin and its premium Downton abbey Gin, both of which were given silver in the 2020 awards, having achieved marks above 90. in addition, harrogate Tipple’s Blueberry harrogate Gin, its rhubarb Downton abbey Gin and its rhubarb harrogate Gin, all achieved Bronze. an expert panel from the iwsc, which sets the benchmark for international wine and spirit quality, this year tasted and reviewed hundreds of spirits. all entries were tasted blind by carefully assembled panels of experts, with each spirit tasted individually, and then thoroughly discussed by the panelists. all spirits scoring 90 and above were re-tasted by the judging committee for their final confirmation, and to ensure consistency across the tasting. steve Green, co-founder of harrogate Tipple, comments: “The iwsc is one of the most well-respected competitions in the

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spirits industry, so we are very proud that the expert panel of judges proved their good taste and recognised the quality of our delicious range of gins. “after all our hard work over the last four years, it’s fantastic to receive these prestigious accolades.”

September/October Food & Drink News

The craft distiller has also recently won a Great Taste award for its premium harrogate Gin; and its Downton abbey Gin and whisky range has also been shortlisted for the license awards 2020 for Best licensed food or Drink range, alongside some of the bestknown brands in the world.

{ Veg Awards }

Everything’s gone green in major veg drive A bid to get people to eat more vegetables is working across multiple agencies, including businesses, civil society and policy makers all over the UK. The peas please initiative is aiming to make it easier for people to access vegetables for a healthier diet and is doing so by encouraging organisations to make pledges to grow, serve or sell more veg. in october the peas please partnership, along with veg power and veg cities, organised a virtual econference hosted by cook and writer melissa hemsley. part of the week-long veg fest event included an awards ceremony, honouring those businesses and organisations who had fully embraced the ethos of encouraging more access to vegetables. rebecca Tobi, peas please project manager, said: “we’re thrilled to see so many organisations from across the food system achieving their peas please commitments when it comes to growing, serving and selling more veg. This year is our inaugural peas please prize ceremony, and we hope the first of many, as our community of pledgers continue to support us in our mission to make it easier for everyone in the uK to eat more veg. yet with most of us in the uK still some way off meeting the government’s recommended intake of veg, and with coviD-19 increasing levels of food poverty, there’s still lots of work left to do”. for more information about peas please, visit: www.foodfoundation.org.uk/peasplease

The big winners were: The Peas Please Innovation Prize: recognising innovative activities to support peas please pledges and the overall mission of boosting veg consumption.

Runner-up: cardiff and vale university Winner: sainsbury’s The sainsbury’s little ones range was launched in april 2018 to provide babies and children up to three years old with all the nutrients they need for the vital first 1,000 days of their development.

The Peas Please Pledger Champion Prize: recognising pledger organisations who have effectively championed and implemented their peas please pledge/s across their organisation as a core part of their business proposition.

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Runner-up: Greggs Winner: Birds eye Their pledge covers a number of different business areas, including commitments to: increase Tv and online advertising for vegetables by 42%, increase their vegetable product range, invest in consumer health messaging, working with all major supermarkets to grow the number of veg promotions in store to attract more families into vegetables.

The Peas Please Individual Champion: recognising an outstanding contribution made by an individual working within one of our participating pledger organisations.

Runner-up: linda cregan from school food caterer, iss, and food Director of the iss education team.

Winner: edward morgan, from independent food wholesaler castell howell. edward has been a true star for his support on veg power, distributing 47,000 eat Them to Defeat Them packs to schools across wales in 2019 and ensuring schools get welsh language campaign materials.

The Peas Please Rising Star: recognising new peas please pledgers who have made particularly impactful and ambitious pledges for helping us all to eat more veg.

Winner: henderson Group (spar ni) with over 400 eurospar, spar and vivo stores, hendersons have pledged to develop their partnerships with local suppliers, farmers and growers through the relaunch of The Greengrocer range, setting a goal of increasing vegetable sales by 5% year on year through cross-channel activities.

The Peas Please Good Society Prize: recognising pledger efforts to support equitable access to veg particularly on initiatives that are particularly relevant to peas please such as school food, healthy start and horticulture.

Runner-up: scottish government Winner: lidl worthy winners for their continued support and commitment to the healthy start voucher scheme

{ Veg Awards }

which supports low-income families with small children to buy fruit and veg. The recent national food strategy recommendations, part one, included a recommendation for the government to increase the value of the voucher and for retailers to support the scheme where possible, so we welcome the support peas please retail pledgers continue to show the statutory scheme.

The Veg City Prize: recognising impactful and integrated place-based approaches to increasing veg uptake at a local level for cities participating in the veg cities campaign.

Runner-up: hull Winner: Brighton and hove Brighton and hove are truly a pioneer veg city, working tirelessly to reduce the inequalities that exist in the city, where fewer than 50% of primary pupils from the most deprived areas are eating their five-a-day compared with over 90% in the least deprived areas.

Veg-O-Meter Prize: This recognises the biggest % increase in vegetable portions sold or served by our pledgers.

Runner-up: Tesco Winner: autograph education, part of interserve catering autograph education have committed to serve two portions of veg in every meal across 100% of their primary schools, balancing between the veg that are

the children’s favourite and providing a variety of seasonal vegetables. They increased the number of portions of vegetables served in schools during 20182019 by 244% compared to the year before.

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{ ALS Testing }

Rising from the ashes after a very testing time The year 2020 has been a challenging one for all businesses in the food and drink industry, but it’s been doubly difficult for ALS Laboratories (UK) Ltd. even before the coronavirus pandemic hit in the early part of spring, the company — which offers a wide range of food, drink, water and pharmaceutical testing across the uK — saw their year begin in devastating fashion. on new year’s Day, a major fire broke out at their site in rotherham. fortunately no staff were injured but there was widespread fire and smoke damage to the pathogen and microbiology laboratories. work began immediately on transferring the site’s testing to its other sites in mirfield, shrewsbury, chatteris and sittingbourne, and on repairing the damage so that the facility could be reinstated as quickly as possible.

Then three months later the coviD crisis hit. nigel richards, sales and marketing Director for als, said: “i think we can safely say that we will look back on 2020 as being a very memorable one for us! it began on the first day of the year with the fire, and has continued

with the challenges presented by the coronavirus crisis”. however, als has not just weathered these twin challenges and survived; it is pressing ahead with a host of new initiatives and nigel is looking forward to

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{ ALS Testing }

the future with equal measures of realism and optimism. “as soon as we learned about the fire, our senior management team convened and immediately enacted our Disaster recovery plan. we have robust procedures in place to respond to situations like this and whilst these plans are essential to have, you hope that you’re never going to have to use them. “in this case, we did and we were able to transfer all of our clients’ testing at rotherham to other sites and without interrupting service. we maintained a high level of communication with our clients during the process and i think that was key to the success of the operation.” with the rotherham laboratory now fully operational als is continuing to focus its efforts on maintaining service in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. nigel said: “we had just got on top of the fire when the pandemic hit. The first thing we did was to look at how we could maintain our testing capabilities as als

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is very much a 365-days-a-year operation”. als altered shift patterns to limit the number of people working at their sites at any one time, introduced temperature screening for staff, brought in perspex screens between workstations and limited the number of visitors to their sites. as a result als has only had three confirmed cases of coviD-19 across the entire operation so far this year. and while the pandemic is still biting the food industry hard, nigel says that the new initiatives and continued investment taking place across the business gives him cause to remain optimistic about the company’s long-term future. one of the new initiatives is directly borne out of the coronavirus crisis. as one of the uK’s leading laboratory groups, als has been keen to find practical ways of helping their clients through the current crisis. following the good work already underway at other als sites around the world, their uK hub laboratory in chatteris is now in a position to provide routine analysis of critical environmental

{ ALS Testing }

surfaces to determine the extent and persistence of coviD-19. The results will help clients monitor and strengthen the effectiveness of their sanitisation measures within their facilities.

The method employed is a real-time reverse transcription pcr method with a turnaround time of up to 48 hours. at present, this method is not uKas accredited. als continues to break ground in other areas too, having launched a new ‘rapid check and Trace’ salmonella serological identification service through their specialist microbiology Team at rotherham. salmonella is one of the most common types of bacteria involved in food-borne outbreaks and a major area of concern for many of als’s clients in the food and beverage manufacturing industry. Despite technological advances, the control of outbreaks involving salmonella remains a challenge and cases being identified are on the increase. in most cases, the detection of a confirmed salmonella case alone is sufficient to demonstrate a potential food safety risk with a product. however, it can be beneficial to determine the specific type of salmonella as this can sometimes aid investigations to determine the precise source of the contamination. als has come up with a solution by investing in a new technology – check and Trace® – which is able to identify the salmonella isolates to the same degree of sensitivity, but by analysis of the genetic material of the bacteria rather than the antigenic structure of the organism. This gives an accurate and rapid identification of the particular type of salmonella which can be incredibly useful when attempting to identify a potential cause of contamination of a product. while innovating at the cutting edge, als is also making great strides behind the scenes. at the end of last year the company was named employer of the year in the fenland enterprise Business awards.

They were also shortlisted in the ‘Training company of the year’ category at the annual society of food hygiene and Technology awards last year.

The recognition reflects als’ commitment to providing technical training for its clients as well as comprehensive internal training for its own staff. als’ client training is carried out by its team of

consultants based in rotherham and can be tailored to suit a client’s individual requirements or form part of one of the many technical webinars that are held throughout the year. added to that there is a huge amount of work taking place to expand and upgrade facilities at sites such as shrewsbury and Trowbridge. nigel said: “whatever happens in the future we know that we’ve got good sites and a great team of well trained, experienced staff to help our clients through some challenging times.

Our commitment to continuous improvement has helped us to secure several significant new contracts in the past few months, and with a network of laboratories located across the country we have an unrivalled level of contingency which is more important than ever at the current time.

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{ Wensleydale Bacon }

Bringing home the bacon For more than three decades, Wensleydale Bacon has been serving the whole of the north with bacon and pork products, and the tradition shows no signs of letting up.

The company is based on the standard way Business park, in northallerton, north yorkshire, which has been its home since 1998. Before that it worked out of leeming Bar, a large industrial estate not far away, where the company was established in 1983. ralph stockdale of wensleydale Bacon says that the company has built up its name and reputation on becoming one of the most trusted manufacturers of bacon and pork, serving a raft of independent retailers across the breadth of the country. from butchers and delicatessens to corner shops and larger retailers, the name of wensleydale is synonymous with quality and fair dealing. “we deliver from liverpool to hull, from scunthorpe to newcastle, and all points in between,” says ralph.

The wensleydale fleet of refrigerated vehicles crisscrosses the north, taking the results of 37 years of experience and skill to the tables of consumers.

Basically, says ralph, “our butchers have the skills and knowledge to provide you with the best meat for the job. whether you need whole joints for a carvery, or fillets for your hotel, we have the product ready to go”.

The company’s home in northallerton is a purposebuilt factory that has been to some extent futureproofed — with 10,000 sq ft of floorspace it has ample capacity for the company to expand in the coming years if needs be.

The factory is ec-compliant, and passes every inspection that is required of it. as part of the move to

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northallerton new cooling, refrigeration, and freezing equipment was installed, and computing systems were upgraded. one thing that the meat industry has had to react to in general is that people want to be sure that they know exactly where their food is coming from. ralph says: “we’re passionate about giving you the best produce, and that includes knowing where the meat originated. we’re able to see the journey of our meat, from starting life in Denmark, holland or ireland, through to being packaged in our northallerton facility”.

The company works with a carefully-selected pool of suppliers, based in the uK, northern ireland and across europe. ralph adds: “That allows us to maintain full traceability of all our products”.

There are 25 people employed at northallerton, and the company has an annual turnover of around £7m, which has stayed steady for the last 20 years.

There is a large slicing department at the site where the company prepares its gammon steaks and bacon, and a cooking facility where they can produce cooked hams, pork and also beef. ralph says: “as a family-run business, there are certain things that we hold close to our hearts. we want everyone to feel that they’re part of our family, and that’s why we offer such a high standard of customer service. “our workforce remains relatively small, but that’s because of the passion and determination of everyone in our facility. “at wensleydale Bacon, the customer is our first priority. That’s why we only provide the very best products, allowing our customers to serve the best cooked and cured meat to their customers.”

The bacon ranges alone are enough to get any connoisseur’s mouth watering. Their British selected bacon and gammon includes steaks and horseshoes, both with and without rind, and select short cut middle, as well as rindless collars. from the netherlands they can supply van der mey dry cured backs and van haltron 8mm backs, from france louis Gad 8mm backs and socopa 8mm backs, and gammons from Denmark.

{ Wensleydale Bacon }

while the core products are in demand all the year round, there is of course a seasonal element to wensleydale Bacon’s work. obviously, christmas is a big time, especially for hams, and at other times of the year such as easter and summer, there can be a change in what’s fashionable on consumers’ tables and barbecues. obviously, when this interview was carried out, neither ralph nor any other business operator really knew how deeply the coronavirus was going to affect the country, although it was on his mind. as was Brexit, and the possible effects on wensleydale Bacon, which sources a good portion of its meat from the continent. in the same way that the company has forged ahead with a steady-as-she-goes business model for almost 40 years, though, ralph is optimistic. “we have very good relationships with businesses all over europe and we hope and expect that to continue going forward,” says ralph.

There are some changes that have to be made, of course: the business is in the process of applying for all the appropriate British versions of the existing european certification that they possess.

There may be many challenges facing businesses at

the moment, but wensleydale Bacon is ready to face them and a lot of the resilience built into the company comes from their core family business principles of building up their name as a trusted supplier of quality meats and providing the best possible service to their loyal customers. with capacity for expansion should the business need it, and a well-connected location in the heart of the yorkshire Dales, wensleydale Bacon is a real northern powerhouse.

www.wensleydale-bacon.co.uk

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{ DTM Print }

DTM LF140e Label Finishing System – the perfect on-demand solution for finishing short runs of labels The newly available digital finisher, DTM LF140e, is a compact system for simple, fast and cost-efficient label processing on-site. it can be used to handle all the operations involved, including unwinding the pre-printed rolls, laminating and digital contour cutting, waste matrix removing, slitting and rewinding the finished rolls. pre-printed rolls with a media width between 100mm and 140mm and a maximum roll diameter of 200mm can be processed, making it the ideal addition for all types of roll printers, such as the inkjet printer lX2000e from primera or the toner-based leD printer oKi pro1050. noteworthy is the optical black mark registration through an integrated camera and leD spotlight, which guarantees an accurate repetitive precision even with complex cuts. in addition, the control unit of the DTm lf140e really stands out. with the integrated 11.6" touchscreen all functions and processes can be controlled. also included are numerous connections such as usB, ethernet and also wlan connectivity for accessing external cutting jobs.

The DTm lf140e offers manufacturers of high-quality product labels a number of advantages: • Borderless output: the production of labels with full bleed has been a challenge up until now, as many roll printers do not support it. now it is no longer necessary to pay attention to a precise label edge when printing in full bleed, nor is it necessary to set up a minimum distance between labels.

• Time and cost savings: producing short runs of labels in-house means reducing storage space and costs. There is also no need to order pre-cut label rolls.

• resistance of the labels: lamination increases the durability of the labels. any paper material, whether inkjet or dry toner-based, can be coated, eliminating the need for special durable label materials. “we are excited to offer our customers the DTm lf140e with immediate effect,” said andreas hoffmann, managing Director of DTm print. “it offers the user full flexibility, unlimited variations in label design and a smooth workflow. we believe it will be of interest to a wide range of companies, especially those who want to have full control over their entire label production, with

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coordinated equipment from a reliable source.”

The DTm lf140e comes to the customer as a completely assembled and pre-installed system. it sells as a single unit for €9,995 (msrp) or in a particularly attractive package with the oKi pro1050 at a price of €23,495 (msrp). for the DTm lf140e and almost all devices from the product portfolio, DTm print now offers up to three years’ warranty for purchases within the eu (including efTa countries): 12 months provided with the purchase and the option of a free extension to a total of three years after registering the product on the company website (register.dtm-print.eu) within the first six months of purchase.

{ Kervan Gida }

Sweet times ahead for candy firm Kervan Gida is a family-owned business with 25 years’ experience in the confectionery manufacturing sector. it is the owner of soft candy brands Bebeto and Dexters, and has grown to become Turkey’s largest soft candy producer and exporter, with offices in the uK, usa, Germany and russia.

Kervan Gida began producing chewing gum under the Keloglan brand in 1995, expanding to create Bebeto three years later. in 2015 the uK office was established, helping to secure their global position in the sugar confectionery market. Believing in the power of localisation in respective markets, Kervan Gida bought uK-based Dexters in 2017.

Kervan Gida now employs over 2,000 people and has achieved sales over €100m, supplying goods to 90 countries worldwide. Kervan Gida’s mission is to

produce and manage its resources in a way that will create value for shareholders, whilst strengthening its knowledge and sector experience to provide its suppliers, customers and most importantly its consumers with brands and products they adore.

Kervan Gida’s overarching vision is to drive Bebeto to become one of the top five sugar confectionery brands worldwide by 2023. The uK office has a pivotal role to play in the expected growth of Kervan Gida. having achieved year-on-year growth since it was established, the uK office now distributes the Bebeto and Dexters brands to over 12,000 retailers across the uK. it has established itself as one of the premier suppliers of sweets across the country and has

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{ Kervan Gida }

ambitious plans to secure this position. of course, 2020 has been a difficult year for all businesses. stuart Johnston (uK managing Director) says: “as a family-owned business, teamwork and safety are a priority to us. we understand the need to work together for a common cause and to be flexible where required. During the pandemic the whole company came together to

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support one another. “we are extremely proud of the continued dedication shown by our teams during this difficult time. “our colleagues in Turkey were quick to implement the necessary safety precautions in our factories, and our office-based teams took to working from home. whilst things were being handled professionally and efficiently in Turkey, it allowed for the uK operation to go generally unaffected. like many others in our sector, the initial months were uncertain and driven by unpredictable consumer behaviour. as things began to settle, we benefited from the uplift in impulse purchasing. “although 2020 has been an unprecedented year with the likes of coviD-19 and the uncertainty of Brexit negotiations, we’re delighted with the growth that the uK operation has achieved. By year end, we anticipate a significant uplift against last year which also means we have upheld continuous year-on-year growth since our office’s inception in 2015.” and the pandemic has not hampered the company’s

{ Kervan Gida }

plans to expand both their client base and their product ranges. stuart says: “we’ve recently launched a range of vegan-approved licorice products under our Bebeto brand. we have lovingly reengineered existing lines with new recipes to achieve vegan-approved certification from the vegetarian society. “our aim is to be as wide-ranging as possible in terms of the products we offer and the retailers who stock them. The vegan diet is becoming more widespread in the uK, and with the introduction of our Bebeto vegan range and our existing halal certification, it means Bebeto is now more accessible to a wider, inclusive audience.” with their products already available in one stop, nisa, morrisons, iceland, B&m, home Bargains and poundstretcher, among others, Kervan Gida has this year expanded its client base into the Tesco-owned Jack’s and the spar chain.

The company has two uK warehouse facilities, one on-site in chichester and the other in liverpool. from these sites they distribute own-brand and private label confectionery products, which are manufactured in their factories in istanbul and izmir. as a group, Kervan Gida has made substantial investments into both factories over the past few years; many of these improvements have been made to supply the demand of product to the uK. Their factories have seen a significant increase in capacity by introducing state-ofthe-art machinery. stuart adds: “we are an ambitious company by nature, so we have big plans to grow and expand over the coming years. although we will continue to innovate and release new products, our short-term strategy is to focus on market development and market penetration. we have some excellent products in our portfolio and our objective over the coming year will be to invest in brand awareness”.

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{ Fatherson Bakery }

Marriage of modern and tradition helps bakery grow and thrive When Food and Drink magazine first met up with Laurence Smith of the Fatherson Bakery in Warwickshire last year he had big plans for the business he had just taken over.

and then, of course, just a few months later, the global coronavirus hit, impacting industries across every sector and stymieing the plans and dreams of companies large and small across the world. for the fatherson Bakery, based on the arden forest industrial estate in alcester, 2020 started strongly, with a series of new ranges introduced and big plans to capitalise on the major holidays and festivals throughout the year, with expanded product lines planned for valentine’s Day, mother’s Day, easter, halloween and christmas. laurence says: “January to march was very good indeed. we had some very strong results for valentine’s Day, with a lot of new products and we secured some very good allocations with independent stores and garden centres.

“Then, of course, coviD-19 happened, and that effectively completely closed down the hospitality industry for a while.” it was a shattering experience for many, and particularly frustrating for laurence, who had taken over the company in January 2019. he first visited a year before, and knew that after some time of searching for just the right business to take over, he had found it.

after many years working in the food industry in a wide variety of capacities, laurence had a hankering to run his own business and was looking around for an established company he could buy into. laurence says: “when i came to visit fatherson i just loved the homemade nature of the products, but also the professionalism of those who had set the business up”.

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{ Fatherson Bakery }

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{ Fatherson Bakery }

fatherson had been set up by – as the name suggests – two fathers and two sons: Kevin and philip lees, and David and sean Geary. They themselves had, between them, more than a century of experience in the food manufacturing and retail sectors, and this was brought to bear on creating a hugely successful bakery business. utilising traditional bakery methods they built a small empire providing tray bakes, sponge cakes, pies, loaf cakes and seasonal products, and from their base supplied more than 1,000 retailers across the uK. That eye for detail and completely professional approach to the industry was what caught laurence’s eye. laurence started his career in the commercial department of food giant rank hovis mcDougall (rhm), with responsibility for, among others, the sharwood’s and robertson’s brands. after leaving rhm he joined united Biscuits, where he looked after all their household name brands, before joining unilever, and in his last three years was their marketing Director across 14 food categories including brands such as hellmann’s, flora, Knorr, lipton Tea and pG Tips. from there he joined e-cloth as commercial managing Director globally. he developed the uK business of their chemical-free cloths and mops, while expanding into over 30 countries which included setting up the subsidiary in the usa. it was while in that job that laurence set his sights on acquiring his own business, which led him to the fatherson Bakery. in January 2019, one year after he had first visited the site, he closed the deal and took over with his fellow directors. so after looking so hard and long for the perfect business to run, laurence was not about to let the pandemic halt his plans. and the ethos that so attracted

him to fatherson in the first place was its saving grace — locally produced, quality products with a widespread network of independent outlets. “although business in april was down, we saw things pull back in may, and the numbers were actually up year-on-year. what we saw was that people were doing more and more local shopping, which was a huge benefit for us because we have a large customer base in local high street convenience and forecourt stores, farm shops and garden centres.” like many businesses, fatherson had to move quickly when it became apparent how large the scale of the pandemic effects would be. laurence says: “i very quickly pulled our leadership team together, a full 24 hours before the country went into lockdown, and as a team we started to put our contingency plans into place. “we did furlough a number of the team immediately but we brought them back from furlough pretty quickly, as soon as we could. we had three or four weeks in april where we were down in turnover but thanks to the strength and commitment of the team here, we bounced back massively in may.” one major sales driver for the company was their online direct delivery service – www.fathersondirect.co.uk – which was ramped up and went live within 72 hours of lockdown, which allowed them to get cakes, flour, biscuits and other essential products from fatherson directly to consumers who were unwilling or unable to get out to their local shop during the first months of lockdown. and it proved hugely popular.

“During the first lockdown we were determined to do our bit to support the nhs keyworkers. we launched our nhs donation pack of 6 Great British fairy cakes. for every pack sold we donate 10p. as keyworkers ourselves we are delighted to have raised £2,500 so far

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{ Fatherson Bakery }

and plan to do more in the coming months”. as things slowly got back to some level of normality, further lockdowns notwithstanding, laurence says that although some of the plans the company had intended to implement over the course of 2020 have necessarily been put back, the firm is on a strong footing and is looking to the future. he says: “while our plans for this year have dramatically changed and we have put new initiatives in we are certainly still moving forwards with a number of the projects and initiatives for 2021”. as we spoke to laurence, halloween was approaching and the company was bringing out several new products, as well as looking ahead to christmas.

They have also invested in new machinery and plant, including larger ovens and new packing machines, although the products themselves are still handmade and handdecorated. while laurence brought in new brand identities and logos for fatherson, he has always been keen to build on the values that have already made the business a success. he says: “while we’ve launched new ranges of snacks-to-go and gluten-free bars, but the core of the business will remain our award-winning handmade and hand-decorated sponge cakes, loaf cakes, cupcakes and fruit pies. our strategy going forwards remains to deliver ‘the taste of homemade’ that everyone loves and continue to deliver our highquality cakes freshly made daily to all our customers and consumers”.

The watchword of fatherson is freshness… laurence says fresh ingredients are sourced from local suppliers and partners throughout the year. although the products are produced on a large scale, the key to their success is the very ‘handmade’ approach and hand decoration delivering that amazing taste. laurence says, “The important thing is that the products taste as if they are home-made. we have 2030 ovens going at any one time and then the products are hand-decorated, replicating as best as we can, that home-made feel”. fatherson products are very popular in the garden centre sector – they are the lead supplier for all the major retailer groups – and also supply retail chains

such as Budgens, londis, co-op, nisa and spar.

The business is located in three adjacent units, the main bakery, the small bakery and main office comprising the sales and finance departments, with additional warehousing facilities. around 90 people are employed across the sites at this time of year.

They are all hard at work putting into place laurence and the leadership team’s plans to continue to drive the growth within the business. he says: “our objective is to grow and double the business over the next few years. we have got quite an aggressive growth strategy. “we would like to thank our existing retail customers for all their support and we will continue to support them. new business areas and retailers are also a focus to help us develop across the uK.” and even further afield… since last year, fatherson has started doing business with some foreign companies that has seen them getting into markets in the usa and even the falkland islands. laurence is also keen for fatherson to embrace environmental values, and the company continues to look at finding solutions to reduce or where possible eliminate plastic packaging. They have already made huge steps towards waste reduction – nothing goes direct to landfill from their site.

And the company continues to work closely with its suppliers to innovate on products and present ideas to retailers. Laurence says, “Basically, we operate like a big player but have the flexibility of a small business, which we believe is a winning combination”.

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