13 minute read
Flexeserve wins Queens Award for Innovation.
Flexeserve wins Queen’s Award for Innovation
Flexeserve, has been honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2022.
Hailed by CEO, Jamie Joyce as “Flexeserve’s greatest achievement to date”, the award will be marked with a reception hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace on 12 July 2022.
Recognising and celebrating business excellence across the UK, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the most prestigious awards for UK businesses. They were fi rst awarded in 1966 – the same year Alan Nuttall founded his business – with Her Majesty The Queen personally approving the winners.
The business, then known as ‘Alan Nuttall Ltd – Fresh Food Solutions’, won an award for innovation in 2005, and now the revolutionary Flexeserve Zone has achieved this incredible accolade.
Jamie Joyce added: “Winning this national award, recognised around the world, is overwhelming – it’s a dream come true for the business. This award is won by every single Partner in the Flexeserve team, as well as our wider Partnership and customers. This has been made possible by the belief of all these groups of people in our fl agship product, Flexeserve Zone.”
Flexeserve Zone is capable of hot-holding food to go products with diff erent temperature requirements at the same time. The patented unit creates a consistent air temperature throughout each shelf, which can be individually controlled. This unlocks new opportunities for major operators to expand product ranges, achieve unrivalled hold times and reduce food waste, whilst maintaining excellent food quality – for the best possible customer experience. The unit can be found in a range of foodservice operators – large and small, in the UK and globally - including Pret A Manger, Greggs, M&S, Sainsburys, Circle K and Amazon Go.
Flexeserve sweeps the board at GBCC Awards
In a rare double win at the prestigious annual Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) Awards, Flexeserve’s team say that they were delighted to win both awards entered.
The hot-holding company won Excellence in International Business and Excellence in Sales & Marketing at the GBCC Awards 2022, presented by the GBCC on Friday, 4 March 2022 at the ICC, Birmingham.
Jamie Joyce, CEO of Flexeserve, said: “It was an incredible night for the business. We were blown away to receive this recognition from the Chambers in two fi elds. We were up against stiff competition in both categories, and these awards underline the level of our team’s success.
“Even with the challenges of the last couple of years, we have secured and fulfi lled pivotal, large-scale rollouts. We’ve led customers through the pandemic, helping them achieve their goals for high quality hot food, increased sales and reduced waste, and everyone has risen to the occasion.”
Flexeserve is developing a taste for being an award-winning business, having also won the award for Excellence in Manufacturing at the LeicestershireLive Business Awards 2020/21 in September last year.
For the Excellence in International Business Award, Flexeserve detailed its expansion into the U.S., and the ways in which it has overcome the challenges of the pandemic (Flexeserve has experienced exponential growth in its international sales, with much of that increase taking place in North America). With the Sales & Marketing Award, the theme of overcoming challenges was key once again, with Flexeserve creating and broadcasting Flexebition – its own livestreamed digital exhibition, in the absence of in-person events.
Billychip launches local partnership with Greggs
BillyChip®, a social enterprise scheme supporting rough sleepers, has been running a local partnership with Greggs - seven Greggs outlets across Bristol city centre selling the BillyChip on a trial basis over eight weeks to help support local rough sleepers and homeless people.
The BillyChip platform allows people to purchase a token from Greggs Bristol outlets which can then be given to rough sleepers and homeless people as an alternative to cash. They can then redeem the BillyChip for food and drink at nearly 40 outlets across the city. The BillyChip scheme is a simple concept, off ering a bridge between those wanting to give and those needing a little kindness and compassion.
Jon Hope, co-founder at BillyChip said: “It’s wonderful to be working with Greggs to support our local homeless population with the BillyChip. By removing cash from the equation, BillyChip overcomes stigmas associated with giving to those on the streets and also adds an element of choice, enabling those receiving a Chip to decide what drink or food item to buy.
“Like everyone else in the community, rough sleepers have dietary requirements too and so choice is hugely valuable. Greggs is such a well-recognised brand, and we’re hoping that this trial provides scope to roll out the BillyChip into other Greggs shops across the UK.”
Greggs already runs a number of initiatives and schemes aimed at supporting diversity and inclusivity, recognising issues including homelessness.
Pret a Manger joins Podback scheme for recycling at-home coff ee pods
Pret A Manger has become the fi rst UK food to go retailer to become a member of the Podback recycling scheme, helping customers to recycle their aluminum Pret at-home coff ee pods.
Pret’s 100% organic and Arabica coff ee made famous in its shops was launched as an at-home coff ee retail range in May 2020. First available in two ground coff ee options and one whole bean blend, Pret expanded this range in July 2021 by introducing two aluminum coff ee pod blends, Espresso and Classic, which are compatible with Nespresso® coff ee machines (Pret at-home coff ee pods are available for purchase from Pret shops, Ocado, Sainsburys, Tesco and Amazon).
The coff ee pods use dark roasted beans to create an indulgent espressobased coff ee and are the same blends loved by customers in Pret shops across the UK. These are now fully recyclable through the Podback programme. Podback, created by Nestlé and Jacobs Douwe Egberts UK (JDE UK), claims to be the UK’s fi rst nationwide, not for profi t service providing customers with several easy ways to recycle their coff ee pods, whether they are aluminum or plastic. Through Podback, used aluminium pods are turned into ingots and used in the manufacture of new products - such as beverage cans - while the used coff ee grounds go through anaerobic digestion to produce a combination of biogas and soil improver. Rick Hindley, executive director of Podback, said: “Pret is the fi rst food to go retailer to join Podback as a member. Expanding the scheme to include more brands has been one of our priorities since launching last year, so we’re thrilled to have Pret on board. We welcome other retailers and brands to join to make it the scheme even more inclusive for consumers.” Guy Meakin, UK managing director of Pret A Manger added: “We’re always looking for new ways to reduce our impact on the environment, whether through introducing coff ee cup recycling stations in-shop or our 50p reusable cup discount. Now that our coff ee is increasingly enjoyed in homes around the country, we wanted to fi nd a solution that would help our customers recycle their Pret coff ee pods easily. We’re excited to join the Podback scheme to make this possible.”
Following the new partnership with Podback, customers can recycle Pret at-home coff ee pods via Collect+ delivered by Yodel (customers can take their Podback recycling bags, fi lled with used coff ee pods, to their nearest drop off point. There are thousands of drop-off points in local stores across the UK. Initially, Pret customers can order recycling bags alongside their regular pod order via Ocado. Pret will make recycling bags available in its UK shops later this year).
Kerbside collection is another option with residents of Cheltenham Borough Council, South Derbyshire District Council, Chichester District Council, Oxford City Council, Ipswich Borough Council, Exeter City Council and London Borough of Waltham Forest able to have their used pods collected alongside other household waste and recycling – with the service expanding to new areas this year (customers can check whether their area is eligible, how each council will run the collection service, and order recycling bags via podback.org).
VegfestUK - Britain’s longest-running indoor vegan event - will return to Olympia London, expanding to its biggest and most recognisable space, the Olympia Grand.
“Currently we are receiving lots of enquiries from exhibitors. Not only has there been a lull in events, ensuring a hunger and appetite to return amongst exhibitors generally – but we’ve also witnessed a phenomenal increase in plant-based options in the last few years and high numbers of new vegan businesses eager to exhibit, many for the first time at a major venue like Olympia London. But equally high for many on the agenda is sustainability,” said the VegFestUK organisers in a statement.
The event promises to be a smorgasbord of vegan food and beverages, vegan fashion and beauty and vegan options to businesses and individuals pursuing a sustainable lifestyle. The show will also be a welcome boost to hundreds of vegan independent businesses exhibiting and looking forward to returning to the live events environment to help boost sales, marketing, engagement and branding to an everincreasing audience of both plant-based aficionados and hardcore vegans alike.
VegfestUK will take place on 12 and 13 November 2022 at Olympia London.
New report calls for urgent reassessment of UK packaging strategy
IGD has published a new report to help the food and consumer goods industry drive progress towards the shared ambition of halving the environmental impact of the UK packaging system by 2030.
The new report – Halving the environmental impact of the UK packaging system: How industry and key stakeholders can work together to drive positive change – focuses on the big challenges facing the industry and highlights opportunities to reduce impact and deliver cost savings.
To achieve the 2030 ambition, ‘business as usual’ will not be enough, they claim - there will need to be a 20% reduction in the amount of packaging on the market. The report identifies three key levers to change: remove packaging; increase recycled content; and decarbonise existing supply chains. The ambition will require a shift in focus from plastics to all packaging materials.
Susan Barratt, CEO at IGD, said: “Creating sustainable packaging systems is a critical issue. Last year, we brought together stakeholders to form a working group to create our shared industry ambition. Recent events have thrown the context of this work sharply into focus, with unprecedented challenges around commodity inflation and supply affecting businesses and consumers alike. This has led to a significant reappraisal of packaging strategy and sourcing decisions.
“Our challenge is to find solutions to future packaging systems that can help consumers do their bit for the planet and also keep their costs down. For businesses, the opportunity is to provide them with a framework for investment that minimises costs and enables growth.
“Our stakeholders have been invaluable in challenging our industry to work together as one voice. It will now take industry leaders, technical and commercial teams to refocus their plans to ensure that collectively, we can meet this ambition.”
Halving the environmental impact of the UK packaging system is a free report for industry and is the next phase of IGD’s sustainable packaging work, following the launch of How to help consumers adopt reusable packaging last year, which highlighted consumer tools for adopting refill and on-the-go packaging solutions.
To join the industry to drive progress towards the 2030 ambition to halve the environmental impact of the UK packaging system, and partner with IGD on projects to test solutions, email sustainability@igd.com.
New bakery packaging concept reduces CO2 emissions by a third
Viipurilainen Kotileipomo is a nearly 100-year-old company that produces pastries and artisan breads from local ingredients using traditional methods, and when the bakery was looking for a new solution for its cake packaging, its key criteria were to reduce the environmental footprint of the packaging, and to make assembly quick and easy.
Viipurilainen Kotileipomo and Metsä Board’s packaging design team based at Metsä Board’s Excellence Centre jointly developed a resource-effi cient and 100% recyclable bakery packaging. The new eye-catching packaging reduces material requirements by 25%, and carbon dioxide emissions by 34% compared to the previous packaging, claim the two companies. At the same time, the bakery was able to reduce its use of plastic by moving away from a PE-coated board. In addition to the environmental benefi ts, the design of the new bakery box makes it quicker and easier to assemble.
“Packaging sustainability is important to us and our customers, and it’s great to be able to spread the word about reducing plastic and promoting recycling. The whole product development process was carried out in a structured way at the Excellence Centre and the new stylish packaging was quickly brought to market,” said Teppo Ylä-Hemmilä, bread artist and innovation director, Viipurilainen Kotileipomo.
“The new concept is an excellent example of innovative solutions made possible by joint brainstorming. In designing the packaging, we used a virtual model at our Excellence Centre to quickly and accurately visualise the material, structure and its sustainability,” says Ilkka Harju, packaging services director, EMEA and APAC, Metsä Board.
The bakery packaging is made of lightweight MetsäBoard Prime FBB EB, a dispersion coated barrier board, which can be recycled using paper or paperboard collection waste streams. The MetsäBoard Prime FBB EB board is thick and resistant to grease, which is key for food that naturally have a high fat content such as pastries and cakes.
Colpac reinforces sustainable commitment with creation of an ESG manager role
Colpac has appointed Talia Goldman (pictured) to their newly created role of environmental, social and governance (ESG) manager. The development comes as the importance of ESG is rightfully recognised as central to any leading organisation’s strategy and operations, feel Colpac, a UK based SME, designing and manufacturing food packaging from renewable resources, who have a history of embedding sustainability into its products and have worked to have a positive impact on the industry, community, and the environment. The appointment of Talia Goldman will focus all areas of the business on continuing to strengthen Colpac’s ESG activities, whilst building a stronger voice for the company to help shape legislation and other initiatives to develop food packaging for the future, say the fi rm.
Talia Goldman brings a wealth of experience across sustainability, communication, and environmental policy to the position, having previously supported Colpac as sustainability lead while studying for an MSc in Environment, Politics and Society from UCL, and now returning to Colpac as ESG manager, having spent the last year on secondment to the Cabinet Offi ce as a policy advisor on the UK’s COP26 Nature Campaign. “Nature, deforestation, and sustainable resource use was front and centre at COP26,” said Talia Goldman. “It was a defi ning moment where people realised the vital role that materials and resources play in addressing climate change, and that businesses are often a step ahead of the government in making considerable changes as we move towards a net zero and nature positive future.” This commitment is refl ected within their own business, say Colpac, who point out that while sustainable resource use has long been at their heart - through eco-design principles, waste reduction, and using recyclable and compostable materials from sustainable sources such as FSC® and PEFC™ - they have also invested in nature locally and in cutting its carbon footprint. One of Talia Goldman’s fi rst objectives is to scale up the company’s decarbonisation plans and continue to drive forward due diligence in the company’s multiple supply chains, in a bid to provide customers with complete traceability. “ESG is integral to Colpac,” added Andrew Grimbaldeston, Colpac’s commercial director. “Each of the elements are central to our values. This vision is shared throughout the company as we seek to develop food packaging for the future. Now, we are witnessing a change in emphasis across the entire industry which refl ects the reality that best practice goes beyond the typically narrow defi nitions of sustainability. Our ESG role will develop and drive our agenda forwards to meet those challenges with innovation and creativity. “Talia’s knowledge, experience, and passion for nature are a great asset, and we are delighted that she will now spearhead our initiatives and steer us into the future within this new role.”
