Central Foods shines again in BRC accreditation.

Frozen food distributor, Central Foods, has been awarded the BRC Agents and Brokers certificate for the sixth time – once again achieving the highest possible classification level, they report.

The company received Double AA accreditation, passing the audit first time.

The good news follows hot on the heels of Central Foods once again being awarded a position in the top 100 businesses in Northamptonshire.

MD, Gordon Lauder (pictured), said: “We are thrilled to have once again received the highest possible BRC classification. Confidence in supply chain procedures and processes is so very important, and we are proud that Central Foods is operating at the very highest levels in this area.

“As one of the UK’s leading frozen food operators, Central Foods prides itself on a strong commitment to quality assurance. Achieving the Double AA accreditation once again is testament to the skill and expertise of our brilliant technical team.

“By holding the gold standard in quality assurance, we can provide our customers with the best possible confidence in our processes and procedures, which ties in with our Making Your Life Easier company pledge.”

BRC Global Standards operates global standards for food safety, packaging and packaging materials, storage and distribution, consumer products, agents and brokers, retail, gluten free, plantbased and ethical trading which set the benchmark for good manufacturing practice and help provide assurance to customers that products are safe, legal and of high quality.

Central Foods supplies a range of products to the food service sector. The company was founded more than 25 years ago and is proud to be a catering partner across the whole food service sector, supplying to hotels, restaurants, bars, universities, schools, pubs, care homes, garden centres, leisure outlets and more. It currently sells to over 180 independent wholesalers, as well as larger national and regional wholesalers.

Dina Foods’ new QR code offers ideas and insight

Mediterranean foods supplier, Dina Foods, has introduced smart QR codes on new look packaging for its Paninette® flatbreads range, with two new Paninette variants also launched - sourdough and oregano.

The new QR codes allow Dina Foods to share ideas with customers about how they can use its best-selling soft Lebanese two-layered flatbreads, linking through to a website with ideas for easy, varied and accessible recipes based on the Paninette.

Project director Wilda Haddad explained: “We wanted to do this as there are so many exciting ways to serve Paninette. They can be filled, with sweet or savoury fillings, used as a wrap or topped like a pizza, and eaten at any time of day.”

In preparation for the introduction of the QR codes, Dina Foods has created new recipes with stunning photography as well as building a new micro site within the website which is exclusive to customers who scan the QR code. The packaging has also been refreshed.

Wilda Haddad added: “This has been a sizeable project, but a great investment to allow us to offer our customers and consumers inspiration and ideas, and to give added value.”

The QR codes also give international supplier Dina Foods insights into consumer behaviour, as they indicate what regions particular products are being scanned in and how often. All labelling requirements for the Paninette speciality breads, which are baked in Dina Foods’ traditional stone ovens, are found on the packaging itself.

Dina Foods recently launched oregano Paninette in QR coded packaging following requests from consumers. Oregano is widely used in Lebanese and Mediterranean cuisine as a marinade or flavouring.

Alongside the oregano, Dina Foods has launched a sourdough Paninette. The health benefits associated with sourdough in areas such as gut health are well documented, and the new launch reflects growing public interest in sourdough, say the company.

Both the new launches are available in packs of five and make key health claims - rich in vitamin D, low in fat, low in sugar, no artificial colours or flavours and a source of protein. The oregano and sourdough Paninette are available as a Dina Foods branded bakery item in Morrisons, and via foodservice, as well as own-label customers.

New complete range of films from a single source

A range of films to manufacture food packaging, whose top and bottom webs are perfectly aligned and are designed to be processed on standard machines, has been launched by SÜDPACK, called Pure-Line.

Its innovative material structures also set standards in terms of functionality, processing capability and, above all, sustainability, claim the firm, the film manufacturer already offering a wide range of high-performance mono-materials with thermoforming properties for the production of recyclable PP-based packaging concepts in widths ranging from 200 to 400 µm.

Be it meat, sausage, cheese, fish or even fresh pasta – SÜDPACK has become a packaging partner for a wide range of products and packaging requirements and now, thanks to PurePP, SÜDPACK customers have access to a strong product family to replace conventional, non-recyclable packaging concepts, say the firm.

The film manufacturer is helping both its national and international clients to meet recyclability requirements because material structures - the majority of which contain material components that are assigned to a single polymer family - are classified as recyclable in many countries (the recyclability of such a singlematerial solution can also be substantiated by a certificate from independent external institutes if required, say the company).

Pure-Line films are extremely thin and already available from SÜDPACK in film widths starting from 60 µm. However, depending on the products to be packaged, these modern material structures can be flexibly equipped with different mechanical and functional properties in order to provide optimum product protection and extended shelf life, point out the company (these range from puncture resistance and peelability, through high transparency to a high oxygen barrier).

The significantly lower weight of the packaging compared to other concepts not only saves resources, but also has a positive impact on DSD fees, and last but not least the overall carbon footprint.

Guild of Fine Food launches new Great Taste Bursary for 2023

To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Great Taste, the Guild of Fine Food is offering 50 micro producers the chance to put one new product in front of its expert panel of Great Taste judges for free (applications must be in by 7 February 2023).

Great Taste is recognised as the world’s most trusted food and drink accreditation scheme. It’s an opportunity for any food and drink producer to have its products assessed by chefs, buyers, food writers and retailers. Currently, the awards scheme is open for entries from members of the Guild of Fine Food, with general entries opening on 23 January 2023.

This new bursary is aimed at micro producers who have never entered Great Taste before or have a new product, which has never been entered before. The bursary panel, consisting of Adrian Boswell, buyer at Selfridges, industry commentator and food entrepreneur Mallika Basu, and PR & marketing expert AJ Sharp, will select the 50 most eligible entries.

John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food said: “Here at the Guild, we are proud to be celebrating the 30 years of Great Taste. Since its inception the accreditation scheme has celebrated and helped excellent food and drink. We’ve always been about working with businesses across the industry and our activities have an ecosystem of scaled entry costs that mean our biggest entrants also support our smallest ones. It’s true, though, that the micro producers often need more help, especially with the current economic headwinds, and that is why we are excited to be launching the Great Taste Bursary. By helping fledging makers, we continue the great work that our team, our judges, and the sector is doing to nurture start-ups and innovative new businesses.”

Eligible micro producers must be less than two years old, have a turnover of less than £100,000, only enter one product per business (that hasn’t been entered in Great Taste before) and be commercially available in the UK.

Vegware announces new MD and its 2023 plans

Vegware, the Edinburgh-based packaging company, says that it is delighted to welcome Helen Mathieson as its new managing director.

Helen joined Vegware in 2018 as supply chain and operations director, overseeing all aspects of products from ideation and manufacture through to logistics and client services.

“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to lead Vegware in its next phase of growth. I have been lucky to spend a great four years working alongside the company’s founder Joe Frankel, and I’m proud to be taking over the reins of this global brand,” said Helen Mathieson.

Working alongside Helen, Vegware’s new leadership team comprises Lucy Frankel (environmental and communications director), Dave Smith (sales director), Oliver Elsner (commercial director) and Llinos Appleford (finance director). After more than 15 years building Vegware into a globally recognised packaging brand, founder, Joe Frankel, has stepped down confident that the company is in excellent hands, report the firm.

2022 key product launches included Vegware’s award-winning paper cutlery as well as Nourish moulded fibre takeaway boxes which are certified for home or industrial composting. As Wales plans to ban conventional plastic lids, 2023 will see further client choice with new Vegware hot cup lids made from paper or moulded fibre, say the company. In addition, Vegware says that it is developing its offering for food retailers and manufacturers with new heat-sealable lidding solutions to fit PLA or fibre bases.

Vegware has become renowned for its environmental expertise, helping clients set up new waste streams getting food-contaminated disposables to commercial composting. In addition to partnerships with waste collectors around the UK, Close the Loop is Vegware’s own waste composting service for businesses in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fife, Dundee and surrounding areas. With Extended Producer Responsibility policies such as Mandatory Takeback in sharp focus, Vegware says that it is seeing a lot of interest in its environmental support.

Thus, 2023 will see continued engagement with UKRI-funded research project the Compostabe Coalition UK, say the company. This entails Vegware working closely with behaviour change experts from the University of Sheffield and Hubbub, London waste collector Recorra and in-vessel composting facility EnVar, to help diners choose the right bin for compostable packaging.

The heat is on at packaging innovation show

Answering consumer demands for more sustainable packaging solutions, The Jenton Group say that they will be showcasing new machine and material combinations at Packaging Innovations 2023 this month (15 and 16 February, NEC, Birmingham).

Subsidiary Soken Engineering will demonstrate machine, material and heat-sealing developments being taken by customers to their address carbon footprints and reduce waste. For example, how one wholesale sandwich customer - Proper Tasty from Northallerton – has virtually doubled the shelf life of its previously handpacked pre-cut sandwiches to four days.

WRAP, in their 2015 report Reducing Food Waste by Extending Product Shelf Life, determined that by extending the use by date by just one day could see the food industry save up to £600 million annually. Within this report, it was also estimated that poor seal integrity contributed to 480,000 tonnes of food being wasted in the UK every year.

In food to go packaging, the quality of the heat seal is fundamental to fresh food product quality, emphasises Soken Engineering’s sales manager Stephen Hawes, who says: “The primary topic and challenge facing the entire market is adapting packaging and extending the eco-options while simultaneously navigating disparate and non-coherent recyclable waste management strategies.”

To assist, Jenton offers a range of machinery and packaging options. With their banding systems, for example, customers are seeking new ways to minimise primary packaging, reduce the use of shrink wrap, replace rubber bands and keep packs stable during shipping. Likewise, in bag and pouch sealing, the company remains focused on reducing packaging weight, whilst increasing shelf life and reducing waste product.

The Soken four-pack semi-automatic heat-sealing machines, installed by Proper Tasty, will be on display at the show on stand E26.

Sandwich entrepreneur extraordinaire

It is with great sadness that Sandwich & Food to Go News must report the recent passing of Frank Boltman, who was known to many in the sector, not least in connection with the British Sandwich & Food to Go Association and the “Sammies”.

Having started his first group of bakery cafés in 1982 to 1992 (French Franks), taken on a McDonalds franchise in 1992 and sold it back to them in 1995, then started Thanks for Franks Luncheonettes group (1996 -2011), he went on to open and develop Thanks for Franks Bakery Co Ltd where he developed their range of gluten free granola products and signature baked products.

Together with his wife, Marion, he started Trade Coffee Shops - an independant group of award-winning cafés (winner of Best Independant Café and Sandwich Retailer in the UK 2015 and 2016) - with Alex Stone in 2013 serving speciality coffees, home smoked pastrami and turkey for sandwiches alongside their own range of baked cakes, cookies and full menu range served seven days a week in their restaurants In Commercial Street, Essex Road and Old Street in London.

“It’s a sad day for our industry. Frank Boltman was a colourful character and very much the entrepreneur with an ambition to create the best sandwiches on the market,” said BSA director, Jim Winship. “From being a McDonalds franchisee, he moved on to create Thanks for Franks and more recently the award winning Trade sandwich bar in London. Even when facing adversity, he had the ability to pick himself up and move on with enthusiasm. Moreover, he always had time for others and was willing to share his knowledge and experience with others. He will be missed.”

“Frank will be so missed,” added Chris Brazier, group event director - lunch!. “I first met him before I officially worked on lunch! and his passion for the industry was contagious. At different times, Frank was a visitor, buyer, speaker, judge and exhibitor. He was always involved, always supportive of the show, the industry and of me personally. We never lost touch and I’ll miss catching up on the phone, at shows and at BSA events. He loved the industry, was endlessly ambitious and was pure hospitality. I’ll remember him, as a great friend and a legend!”

Soho Sandwich Company’s managing director, Dan Silverston, said: “Frank was a legend, a proper old school independent caterer with the highest standards and some of the loudest shirts in the business, if you met him even just once, you didn’t forget him.

“With his wife, Marion, there was years of experience and they formed a formidable partnership. I met him in the early noughties when he was refurbishing his kitchens in his American sandwich shop (Thanks for Franks off Carnaby street in London) and he trusted us to deliver interim supply. I got the hair dryer treatment over the phone if every single sandwich we supplied didn’t meet his exemplary standards. Trade, his most recent sandwich retail venture leaves a lasting legacy. If you are able to pop into one of their central London stores you will get the best Reuben or Cuban Club sandwich in the UK.

“He was always a partisan supporter of the BSA and the food to go industry as a whole. When we met at committee meetings we had many passionate debates often with Frank talking and the rest of us listening! His uncompromising style wasn’t always everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved him and so did many others. The world will be a duller place without him that is for sure.”

The team at The Collaborators (a food and drink branding and design agency), who Frank worked with on and off since 2016, first met him on the original Bread & Jam mentoring scheme (although it wasn’t called that at the time), their main project with him to create the Thanks for Franks range of oat bars and subsequent range extensions, summed up the sentiment of many: “Frank was such a character and full of energy with a huge heart, bit of a geezer always after a deal! He absolutely adored his wife, and family meant everything to him; he was so proud of his children and grandchildren. He was doggedly determined to make a success of his businesses and worked tirelessly to make a difference. He had such belief and passion in his product and with every knock back he would come back fighting. We are so very sad to hear of his passing and send our sincere sympathies to his family.”

© Sandro Sodano photography