food and drink business europe

October 2011

Big guns target Russia

Food & Drink Business Website:

www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com

C o n t e n t s

- 3 M ERGERS & A CQUISITIONS

- 41 S COTLAND

Coverage of British and international deals.

Diageo develops one of world’s largest spirits packaging plants.

- 5 E XPORTS

Scottish food and drink exports set new records

UK food and drink experts still growing.

Graham Mackay, ceo, SABMiller.

- 7 C OVER S TORY

P AGE 9

Muhtar Kent, chairman & ceo, Coca-Cola Company.

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R EGULARS Information Technology. . . . . . . . . 13 & 33

Big guns target Russia.

Energy & Environment. . . . . . . . . . . 13, 34

- 11 C HEESE

Processing & Manufacturing 15-24, 25, 39, 43

The continuing maturation of Cashel Blue.

Meat Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Baby food – The right formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

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- 17 M EAT P ROCESSING

Paul Bulcke, ceo, Nestle.

Irish Food Processors re-brands as ABP Food Group.

- 21 E NVIRONMENT & E NERGY

PAGE 23

Irene Rosenfeld, chairman & ceo, Kraft Foods.

Bottling & Packaging . . . . . . . . . . 27 & 42 Control & Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Logistics & Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

PAGE 35

Materials & Ingredients. . . . . . . . . . . 43-48

Neil Kennedy, ceo, Milk Link.

Leo Group – Recycling waste streams into ingredients and energy.

Managing Director: Colin Murphy Editor: Mike Rohan Sales Director: Ronan McGlade

- 31 A NAEROBIC D IGESTION

Advertising: Susan Doyle. Senior Sales Executive: Paul Lees

PAGE 7

BiogenGreenfinch – Converting food waste into green energy.

Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen, ceo, Carlsberg.

Production Manager: Susan Doyle

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- 35 D AIRY

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Milk Link to invest £20m to transform Lockerbie Creamery.

- 37 I NFANT N UTRITION Developments in baby milk.

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PAGE 9

Leading players in the global baby milk formula market.

Indra Nooyi, ceo, PepsiCo.

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FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

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M E E R R G G E E R R S S M SABMiller Forms Strategic Alliance With Anadolu Efes SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer, and Turkish beer and beverages group Anadolu Efes are to form a strategic alliance covering Turkey, Russia, the CIS, Central Asia and the Middle East. Under the agreement, SABMiller will transfer its Russian and Ukrainian beer businesses, which have an enterprise value of approximately $1.9 billion, to Anadolu Efes. In return SABMiller will receive a 24% equity stake in the enlarged Anadolu Efes, which will serve as the vehicle for both group’s investments in the territories concerned.

The strategic alliance will result in the enlarged Anadolu Efes strengthening its leading position across the territory. It will be the second largest brewer, in value terms, in the large Russian beer market with a strong portfolio of brands across key market segments. The combined Russian business is expected to yield cost synergies of at least $120 million per year, and provide additional revenue synergy opportunities.

The enlarged Anadolu Efes will also enjoy leading market position in Turkey with 89% share of the beer market and a 69% share of the carbonated soft drinks market via Anadolu Efes's 50% interest in Coca-Cola Icecek. Turkey is one of the world's high growth economies, with a large population of 74 million people and forecast real (PPP) GDP growth of 5.4% prr annum to 2015.

Anadolu Efes will also hold leading market positions in the growth beer markets of Kazakhstan, Moldova and Georgia. The alliance will facilitate further growth and acquisitions in the CIS and Middle East.

De Cecco Purchases Russian Pasta Maker De Cecco, the premium Italian pasta manufacturer, has captured 10% of the Russian pasta through

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A C C Q Q U U II S S II T T II O O N N S S A

the acquisition of PMK Group for Eur40 million. The deal gives the Italian company three production facilities in Russia, based at Moscow, Smolensk and Saint Petersburg, with a total annual output of 100,000 tonnes. Russia is the world’s fourth largest pasta market. Based in Abruzzo, De Cecco generates about 45% of its sales outside of Italy.

Unilever Expands Ice Cream Business Unilever is acquiring Ingman Ice Cream from Finnish dairy firm Ingman for an undisclosed sum.

With units in Sipoo in Finland, Aahus in Sweden, Mazeikia in Lithuania and Gomel in Belarus, Ingman Ice Cream employs about 700 people and achieved sales of Eur70 million last year. The deal is subject to competition authority approvals. Unilever expects the deal to be completed by the start of 2012.

Sara Lee to Sell Fresh Bakery Business in Spain and Portugal to Grupo Bimbo Sara Lee has agreed to sell its fresh bakery businesses in Spain and Portugal to Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo for €115 million ($154 million) in cash. The deal includes all Sara Lee fresh bakery brands in Spain and Portugal as well as seven manufacturing facilities. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearance, is expected to close within 60 days.

Sara Lee holds the number-one position among branded bakery manufacturers in Spain, with leading brands such as Bimbo, Martinez, Ortiz and Silueta. In the 2011 financial year, the business generated net sales of $408 million. It employs approximately 2,000 people.

“Divesting the bakery businesses allows Sara Lee’s international portfolio to become simpler and more focused on coffee and tea,

Constellation Brands Takes Full Control of Italian Wine Company

the categories around which we are building a leading pure-play international company,” says Jan Bennink, executive chairman of Sara Lee. Sara Lee’s remaining international bakery businesses headquartered in France and Australia remain the subject of a divestiture process and a strategic review, respectively. These two businesses generated aggregate revenue of approximately $318 million in fiscal year 2011, and sell products primarily in France, Sweden, Italy, Australia and New Zealand

Tangerine Confectionery Expands Brands Portfolio Tangerine Confectionery, the largest UK-owned sugar confectionery and popcorn manufacturer, has acquired the Wham and Highland Toffee brands from Millar McCowan, which recently entered administration. The acquisition of both brands is part of an ongoing growth strategy for Tangerine which has seen its turnover quadruple to more than £160 million in the last five years.

Tangerine now has six out of the top ten chew bar brands, expanding a category-leading portfolio which includes, Barratt Refreshers, Sherbet Dip Dabs, Sherbet Fountains, Black Jacks and Fruit Salads. Highland Toffee will add to Tangerine’s more traditional confectionery offering alongside brands such as Taveners, Lion and Jameson’s.

These sit amongst a broader portfolio which includes the market leading brands Butterkist popcorn, Princess Marshmallows and Henry Goode’s Soft Eating Liquorice.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

Constellation Brands, the world's leading wine company, has purchased the remaining 50.1% of Ruffino from MPF International, an entity controlled by the Folonari family of Tuscany, Italy, for approximately €50 million ($69 million). Constellation also assumes approximately €55 million of debt.

Constellation now fully owns the iconic Ruffino brand and historical production facility located in close proximity to Florence.

Among Ruffino's most recognised brands are the coveted Ruffino Riserva Ducale, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary vintage this year, and Riserva Ducale Gold, Il Ducale, Chianti Superiore, Lumina and Modus.

According to SymphonyIRI industry data for the last 52 weeks, Ruffino is experiencing approximately 8% growth in dollar sales in the US. Ruffino's yearto-date global sales are growing at 9%.

Of course, Constellation Brands recently disposed of its Australian and European wine business (subsequently renamed Accolade Wines) to Australian private equity firm Champ in a deal worth A$290 million (Eur217 million). Accolade Wines incorporates virtually all Constellation’s Australian, UK, and South African brands, wineries, facilities, vineyards, and a 50% interest in Matthew Clark, the UK drinks wholesale joint venture.

Eden Springs Acquires Lithuanian Water Business Europe’s leading water cooler supplier, Eden Springs, has acquired UAB Neptuno vandens pristatymas - Lithuania’s second biggest home and office delivery (HOD) supplier - via its subsidiary in the Baltic region. Active in all three Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania 3

M E E R R G G E E R R S S M Eden Springs employs over 60 staff and serves 18,000 customers in the region. The acquisition will increase Eden’s market share in the Baltics by 33%.

Unilever Strengthens Russian Presence Unilever is expanding its presence in Russia and enhancing its personal care portfolio with the acquisition of 82% of Concern Kalina, the leading Russian beauty company. The transaction, which is pending required regulatory approvals, values the equity of the total business at RUB21.5 billion (€500 million). Concern Kalina is Russia’s largest local personal care player with leading positions in skin and hair care and an expected 2011 turnover of around RUB13 billion (€303 million).

Wells and Young’s Acquires Scottish Beer Brands The UK’s largest independent family brewery, Wells and Young’s, has purchased two famous Scottish beer brands McEwan’s and Younger’s - from Heineken UK. The deal propels Wells and Young’s into the top three premium ale brewers in the UK. “This is a significant and major acquisition, and secures the future for the much loved McEwan’s and Younger’s brands,” says Nigel McNally, managing director of Wells and Young’s. “We are hugely excited about these fantastic Scottish ales joining our stable, they bring a wealth of opportunities to our business which we will realise through brand investment, innovation and exploiting export

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potential. We are committed to maintaining the rich Scottish heritage of the brands. We will continue brewing McEwan’s draught ales at the historic Caledonian Brewery and we will set up a small Scottish office to support the brands and our range of beers.”

In addition to buying McEwan’s and Younger’s, Wells and Young’s has also acquired the remaining 17% of the Courage beer brands from Heineken, following a deal in January 2007.

Daniels Group For Sale Daniels Group, the UK chilled and fresh food and beverages manufacturer, which is owned by Singapore Airport Terminal Services, has been put up for sale.

Daniels Group has a turnover of £177 million and operates in five categories – fresh soup, fresh drinks, fresh fruit, chilled ready meals and hot eating traditional desserts.

The group’s portfolio includes soup producer New Covent Garden Food, Johnsons juices, Farmhouse Fare desserts and International Cuisine ready meals.

Singapore Airport Terminal Services is reported to be seeking a sale price of about £200 million.

Danone Enters Indian Infant Nutrition Market With €250 Million Deal Danone is entering the baby nutrition and medical nutrition markets in India. The French food and beverage group has agreed to acquire Wockhardt Group’s nutrition business and brands as well as its related industrial operations from Carol Info Service, located in Punjab, India, for Eur250 million.

The strong brand awareness of Wockhardt’s Dexolac, Farex and Nusobee baby nutrition products and their credibility with healthcare professionals will accelerate Danone’s entry into the country’s baby nutrition market. With over 25 million children born each year, India is the fastest-growing infant nutrition market in the world.

In addition, the nutritional supplement brand Protinex will give Danone a strong foundation for developing its medical nutrition business. The acquisition will pro-

vide Danone access to a distribution network with nationwide reach

Arla Foods Advances German Dairy Acquisition Arla Foods has moved a step closer to acquiring Allgauland Kasereien after the last of the six co-operatives which own the Southern German dairy company voted in favour of the deal. If Arla Foods acquires AllgaulandKasereien, the German dairy will avert the threat of bankruptcy.

The acquisition is subject to approval by the EU competition authority.

“We see important potential in Allgauland-Kasereien’s cheese production. They produce excellent speciality cheeses for which there is important international potential and it is for this reason that the dairy is of interest to Arla Foods,” explains Tim Orting Jorgensen, executive vice president of Arla Foods, who is responsible for Arla's international markets Some of their products will supplement the cheeses Arla already makes, among them the cheeses marketed under the House of Castello quality brand. We see great potential in Allgauland’s products and not only in Germany.”

Earlier this year, Arla Foods merged with the northern German dairy, Hansa-Milch, which produces only fresh dairy products.

Arla’s aim is to become one of the largest dairies in Germany.

Kerry Group Acquiring Cargill’s Global Flavours Business For $230 Million Kerry Group, the global ingredi-

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

ents and flavours and consumer foods group, has agreed to acquire Cargill’s global flavours business for $230 million. Cargill Flavor Systems has annual revenues of approximately $200 million. The acquisition of Cargill Flavor Systems will strengthen Kerry’s capability to provide integrated customer solutions across all food and beverage end-use-markets and extend the group’s market spread in emerging markets. The transaction which is subject to regulatory approval is expected to be completed by year-end.

SABMiller Wins Foster’s As expected, SABMiller’s sweetened bid for Foster’s has been recommended by the Australian brewer’s board. The agreed proposal represents an acquisition enterprise value of A$11.5 billion, which is a 2.8% increase on the enterprise value of A$11.2 billion implied by SABMiller's initial proposal announced on June 21st 2011.

The acquisition is in line with SABMiller's strategic priorities and will provide it with a leading position in the stable and profitable Australian beer industry along with the opportunity to apply SABMiller’s capabilities and scale to improve Foster's financial and operating performance. ”Foster's will become an important part of our business, and through the application of our commercial capabilities and global scale, we expect to build on the initiatives that Foster’s management has put in place, further enhancing Foster’s performance and creating value for our shareholders,” comments on the agreement, Graham Mackay, chief executive of SABMiller

Graham Mackay, chief executive of SABMiller.

I EXPORTS

UK Food and Drink Exports Still Growing

Exports to China rose by 52.5% in the first half following large increases in the demand for fish and seafood, meat and vegetables.

K food and non-alcoholic drink exports grew to £5.8 billion U in the first half of 2011 – a rise of over 13% on the same period in 2010, according to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF). Exports to the EU increased by 12.6% to £4.4 billion with the majority of markets showing growth, and three of the top five biggest EU markets showing double-digit growth – The Netherlands up 27.8%, Germany up 27.8% and Belgium up 48.5%. Most non-EU regions grew in the first half - North America up 19.1%, Asia up 18.2%, Middle East up 9.4%, Africa up 19.8% and Oceania up 12.1%.

The fastest growing markets within the list of the top 20 countries are: Poland up 83.2%, Belgium up 48.5%, Sweden up 38.2%, and Saudi Arabia up 34.9. China continues to move ever closer to the top 20 with 52.5% growth in exports in the first half following large increases in the demand for fish and seafood, meat and vegetables.

Dairy was the best performing sector in the first half of 2011, as it was for the first half in 2010, with growth of 30.5% to £607.2 million, including a 24.1% increase in cheddar exports. Other sectors with notable growth during this period include: ice cream up 40.1%, fresh fish up 26.1% and coffee up 38.4%.

Melanie Leech, director general of the FDF, says: “It's extremely encouraging to see such strong growth in food and drink exports despite the challenging economic climate affecting several of our key markets, particularly in the EU. These figures indicate that we are on track to achieve our seventh consecutive year of growth and they also illustrate that there is still a huge appetite for our products abroad.” J FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

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COVER STORY

Big Guns Target Russia The world’s largest food manufacturer, Nestle, and biggest soft drinks company, Coca-Cola, along with their smaller rivals are continuing to invest heavily in Russia.

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estle has just completed a $270 million expansion of its soluble coffee factory in Timashevsk, and has now spent more than $1 billion in manufacturing and distribution facilities in Russia. “This factory is a perfect example of our longterm commitment to Russia and its consumers. It highlights our ongoing investment in the country,” says Paul Bulcke, chief executive of Nestle.

Russia plays an important role in Nestle’s European operations, particularly in central and Eastern Europe. The company’s brands in the country include Comilfo, Nescafe, Mega, Maggi, Perrier and Purina Over the past 15 years, Nestle has built up a strong presence in Russia and now employs more than 10,000 people across twelve production sites, ten sales offices and ten distribution centres. With sales of around SFr2 billion Carlsberg’s Baltika brewery in St Petersburg. ($2.3 billion, Eur1.6 billion) in Russia, Nestle is market leader in coffee, chocolate, infant cereals and culinary products.

Nestle is currently investing more than SFr38 million to double pet food production at its Purina PetCare factory in Russia’s Kaluga region, following an investment of SFr60 million in 2010 in a new factory for Maggi products in the Vladimir region.

Investment By Coca-Cola The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partner, Athens-based Coca-Cola Hellenic, are to invest $3 billion in Russia, having already cumulatively invested over $3 billion in the country. The two companies have just opened their 15th plant in Russia, located in the Rostov region and involving investment of over $120 million. Indeed, Russia is the largest marketplace in Coca-Cola Hellenic’s business, which encompasses operations in 28 countries, serving a population of more than 560 million people.

“The Coca-Cola Company is proud to be serving this great nation's 140 million-plus consumers. Our system is part of the fabric of Russia's economic development and we continue to invest in Russia to create jobs and stimulate growth across our supply chain,” remarks Muhtar Kent, chairman and chief executive of The Coca-Cola Company.

“The Coca-Cola Company along with our bottling partner, Coca-Cola Hellenic, will invest in Russia more than $3 Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen, chief executive billion in five years from 2012 of Carlsberg. to 2016.”

$5.4 Billion Acquisition Arch-rival PepsiCo has already become the largest food and beverage business in Russia following its recent $5.4 billion purchase of dairy and juice company Wimm-BillDann. About $4 billion had already been invested in PepsiCo’s soft drinks operations in Russia before the acquisition. “Russia is one of our most exciting growth opportunities,” says Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief Paul Bulcke, chief executive of Nestle. executive of PepsiCo. The Wimm-Bill-Dann acquisition means that PepsiCo’s brands now rank first among food and beverage companies operating in Russia, with approximately $5 billion in revenue. PepsiCo has six of the twenty largest food and beverage brands in Russia.

PepsiCo is approximately twice the size of its nearest food and beverage competitor in Russia, with an unmatched distribution platform for its products. PepsiCo currently employs approximately 31,000 people in Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia and has 49 manufacturing facilities, making the company one of the largest food and beverage employers in the region.

Attractive Market The high level of investment is not surprising as Russia, with GDP of $22.2 trillion in 2010 and a population of 140 million, is expected to become the second largest economy in Europe, behind Germany, by 2013 and to overtake France as the largest food and grocery market in Europe by 2020.

Russia is an attractive marketplace for investment. It is the seventh largest global economy on a purchasing power parity basis and consumer spending is rising due to a growing middle class and an increasingly affluent population.

Russia with its neighbouring countries represents a market of almost 300 million consumers. The positive long-term macroeconomic trends in Russia, including rising GDP and increasing consumer spending, has created an attractive operating climate and a marketplace that offers healthy, sustainable profit margins.

Danone Becomes Leader in Dairy Danone is also targeting Russia. Having completed the merger of its fresh dairy products operations in Russia with those of Unimilk, Russia’s second largest manufacturer of dairy products and baby food, Russia is now Danone’s largest market.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

With sales of around Eur1.6 billion in Russia, Nestle is market leader in coffee, chocolate, infant cereals and culinary products.

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Muhtar Kent, chairman and chief executive of The Coca-Cola Company.

Generating annual sales of about Eur1.5 billion ($2 billion) and employing more than 18,000 people, the merged business is the leader for dairy products in the CIS area as a whole, and particularly in Russia, where it will account for around 21% of the total market and hold strong positions in high-value, high growth segments. The French food giant owns a controlling

58% stake in Danone-Unimilk.

“Danone-Unimilk represents a strategic move for Danone in a region which is offering a promise of growth in the years ahead, and where we will be pursuing ambitious goals for the future,” says Franck Riboud, chairman and chief executive of Danone. “It is also an important new step in Danone’s drive to extend business into new geographical markets.”

Reflecting similar confidence in the future, Austrian group Agrana is planning to invest Eur27.6 million to expand its Russian fruit preparation plant at Serpuchov to capitalise on rapid growth in demand for fruit yoghurt in Russia and neighbouring states, fuelled by rising consumer affluence and health consciousness.

The allure of long-term growth and profits in the Russian market has also prompted Roshen to invest $250 million building a new chocolate factory there. The new plant will be the Ukrainian confectionery group’s third facility in Russia.

Indra Nooyi, chairman Primary Processing Cargill, the global food, agricultural, finan- PepsiCo. cial and industrial products and services group, has further expanded its presence in Russia by recently opening a new animal feed facility in Efremov. To date, Cargill has spent about $400 million at the site as it continues to invest in primary processing in Russia. The investment is in response to a significant increase in meat consumption and meat production in Eastern Europe in recent years.

Cargill began its activities in Russia in 1991 with the opening of a representative office in Moscow. The company currently employs over 1,500 people and is one of the most significant foreign investors in Russia with over $700 million invested in the local agriculture and food industries.

PepsiCo has become the largest food and beverage business in Russia following its $5.4 billion purchase of dairy and juice company WimmBill-Dann.

Declining Beer Market Of course, not all sectors of the food and drink market in Russia are performing strongly. The beer market has been impacted by a sharp rise in excise duty in January 2010, which effectively pushed up consumer prices by

30%.

After a decade of strong growth when sales increased by 40%, Russia is now the fourth largest beer market in the world, after China, the US and Brazil. However, the market is currently The positive long-term macroeconomic trends in in decline, with vol- Russia, including rising GDP and increasing ume falling by 1% in consumer spending, has created an attractive the first six months of operating climate and a marketplace that offers 2011, according to healthy, sustainable profit margins.

Carlsberg, which through its Baltika Breweries business is the clear market leader with a 40% share. Baltika with four other brewers - SUN InBev, Heineken, Efes and SABMiller, control over 80% of the Russian beer market.

With Russian consumers still not fully adjusted to the substantially higher price levels, the overall recovery in the Russian beer market is taking longer than originally anticipated. Carlsberg is forecasting a low single-digit decline in the Russian market for 2011 (against previous growth expectation of 2-4%). However, Carlsberg chief executive Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen remains confident that the Russian business will return to growth Russia is Carlsberg’s largest market and the continuing decline in beer consumption is affecting the Danish brewer’s financial performance with group operating profit falling by 5% in the first half of 2011. Carlsberg has also been forced to review its full year projections.

Operating profit before special items is now expected to be around DKr10.0 billion (Eur1.3 billion) compared to DKr10.25 billion in 2010 and against previous expectation of high single digit percentage growth.

Strategic Alliance and chief executive of The Russian beer industry is consolidating with Efes and SABMiller about to join forces.

SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer, and Turkish beer and beverages group Anadolu Efes are to form a strategic alliance covering Turkey, Russia, the CIS, Central Asia and the Middle East. Under the agreement, SABMiller will transfer its Russian and Ukrainian beer businesses, which have an enterprise value of approximately $1.9 billion, to Anadolu Efes. In return SABMiller will receive a 24% equity stake in the enlarged Anadolu Efes, which will serve as the vehicle for both group’s investments in the territories concerned.

The strategic alliance will result in the enlarged Anadolu Efes strengthening its leading position across the territory. It will be the second largest brewer, in value terms, in the large Russian beer market with a strong portfolio of brands across key market segments. The combined Russian business is expected to yield cost synergies of at least $120 million per year, and provide additional revenue synergy opportunities. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

Russia is now the fourth largest beer market in the world, after China, the US and Brazil.

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GLOBAL STEEL would like to congratulate J & L Grubb Ltd on their fantastic achievement. The Cashel Blue story is a credit to the owners and employees over the years. As Global Steel is also a family owned Irish business, we are very pleased to have been a supplier of cheese racks and cheese mould turning machines over the years and be a part of this great successful company.

Kilcannon, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford Tel: 053 9233144 | Fax: 053 9233071 info@globalsteel.ie | www.globalsteel.ie

Established in 1978 Global Steel Manufacturing Ltd is now one of Ireland's leading bespoke developers of stainless and soft steel products. Global Steel manufactures a wide variety of products in stainless and mild steel:

STAINLESS STEEL • Hygiene Products • Handrails and Barriers • Automated Packing Systems • Tables and Trollies • Canopies and Ducting • Cooking Moulds • Computer Casing • Tanks

MILD STEEL • Tanks • Gates • Railings • Hoppers • Pipework • Powder Coating • Laser Cutting etc.

I CHEESE

The Continuing Maturation of Cashel Blue Irish farmhouse cheese maker J&L Grubb, which produces the Cashel Blue brand, has invested Eur6 million in a new manufacturing facility to double output and to improve operational efficiency as the company seeks to increase sales. he investment programme has allowed the Tipperary-based company to upgrade its production facility from an old farmhouse style premises to a new 25,000 sq ft stateof-the-art factory. Construction of the new facility was completed in December 2010 and it was officially opened last month.

The family-owned cheese maker received Eur2.3 million in grant aid from the Irish Government’s Dairy Investment Fund, designed to help the Irish dairy processing sector to increase the proportion of added value production and to ensure continued global competitiveness in the longterm.

Established in 1984 by husband and wife Louis and Jane Grubb, the company is now managed by two generations of the family, with the founders joined by their daughter Sarah Furno and son-in-law Sergio Furno. Current annual turnover is £2.5 million and the business employs 22 people between the production facility and the family farm, where the pedigree Cashel Blue Friesian herd is kept for supplying milk for cheese making. Cheese output is about 250 tons per annum with a stock holding of up to 30,000 wheels of cheese in the cellar at any one time.

J&L Grubb is the largest farmhouse cheese producer in Ireland and one of the

with the Irish Dairy Board to distribute Cashel Blue in the US. On the domestic market, the company’s products are sold through various retailers, including Supervalu, Tesco, Aldi and Superquinn along with premium speciality outlets such as Sheridans Cheesemongers, Avoca and Fallon & Byrne.

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J&L Grubb is the largest farmhouse cheese producer in Ireland and one of the biggest in the UK.

Branded Business

A family affair – from left to right: Jane and Louis Grubb and daughter Sarah Furno.

biggest in the UK. The new dairy has allowed the company to double production.

Created from a unique recipe in 1982, Cashel Blue was the first softer style of blue cheese to be made in either Britain or Ireland. This style of cheese proved to have considerable appeal to both cheese connoisseurs and consumers who were a little intimidated by conventional blues. In addition to its flagship Cashel Blue brand, J&L Grubb also produces Crozier Blue, Ireland’s first sheep’s milk blue cheese, which was created in 1994.

Exports

More than half of sales are generated by exports with the UK being the largest market followed by the US. Products are also sold in Continental Europe and Australia.

Cashel Blue was launched in Waitrose in the UK in 1995 and has been stocked there ever since. In 2007, J&L Grubb invested Eur100,000 in a new thermoforming packing line to facilitate development within the UK pre-pack market. In 2010, Cashel Blue pre-pack was launched in J Sainsbury in the UK. Cashel Blue has been well received in the UK and the cheese recently won Gold at the Nantwich International Cheese Awards for the third consecutive year.

Also on the export front, J&L Grubb recently signed an exclusive agreement FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

About 95% of the company’s sales are branded. “The Cashel Blue brand is key to the dairy. Speciality cheese production has become increasingly competitive over the last ten years, especially within the UK and US markets,” explains Sarah Furno.

“Unless you have a name that people can associate with it is very hard to gain any loyalty with the speciality cheese buyer, who tends to dip in and out of many different styles of cheese. Cashel Blue is quite unique in the US market as it is one of the few brands that are only made on one farm by one family as distinct from say Roquefort or Stilton. It is therefore a brand with true authenticity to a single dairy in rural Ireland.”

Marrying Tradition and Technology

The new cheese factory has been designed to provide extra capacity and flexibility for new product development, whilst preserv-

In addition to its flagship Cashel Blue brand, J&L Grubb also produces Crozier Blue, Ireland’s first sheep’s milk blue cheese, which was created in 1994.

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Specialised Engineering Solutions From Global Steel Manufacturing lobal Steel Manufacturing is a familyowned Irish company, based in G Enniscorthy, County Wexford. Operating from new purpose built premises on the outskirts of Enniscorthy town, fitted out with modem fabrication and machine shop equipment, the company has twenty full time employees. Global Steel Manufacturing offers a wide range of specialised engineering products and services to all sections of industry, particularly food processing, chemical and related sectors.

The company provides qualified trades-

ing the production techniques that have made the company’s cheeses so distinctive.

“The building is a balance of tradition and technology. For example, open 2,000 litre cheese vats have been retained, the same as those used since the late 1980s. However, turning of cheese is fully automated with the installation in February of this year of fifteen automated cheese turners, designed and built in Ireland for J&L Grubb,” points out Sarah Furno. “Another example of increased automation is the investment in an automatic cheese wrapping machine, which the company sourced in France. On the other hand, in the vat the same handstrung cheese harp continues to be used as that used for over twenty years.”

people fully conversant with all aspects of plant, boiler and pipe installations using mild and stainless steel. For the past 36 years Global Steel has provided a skilled workforce to companies in several European countries including Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. These have repeatedly voiced their satisfaction with the quality of Global Steel Manufacturing’s workmanship and the ease of doing business with the company.

Global Steel Manufacturing endeavours to create long term customer relations by ensuring total after sales service and is

always at hand to offer advice and assistance when needed.

The company provides a 24 hour 7 day a week back up service.

Global Steel Manufacturing is constantly upgrading and improving its manufacturing processes and it has a policy of continuous product development.

Investment in engineering skills and market research is fundamental to the company’s success.

Global Steel Manufacturing’s track record of providing first class products and services, its ability to meet deadlines and its policy of customer care are the company’s greatest strengths. In addition, the company offers very competitive prices.

Global Steel Manufacturing is confident of future growth as it continues to serve industry and home and abroad in the years to come. J

“The new facilities have been designed to ensure the Cashel Blue brand plays a key international role in the developing interest in speciality cheese. The facility has received considerable recognition from the QA departments of customers, who all comment on its admirable product flow and the standard of building and cleanliness,” she remarks.

home produced cheese. The blue cheese market in the UK is worth in the region of Eur70 million but competition is fierce within the increasingly fragmented speciality sector. However, J&L Grubb sees good opportunities for products with brand recognition, production capability and product support.

A key market trend is the growth in popularity of softer, sweeter styles of blue cheese and in smaller pack sizes. Last year, Cashel Blue pack sizes were reduced from 175g to 125g to appeal to single users within the family and to reduce waste for the consumer.

J&L Grubb has identified a number of opportunities to expand its product offering and to grow the business. These include the introduction of ‘hard cheese’ products, blue cheese spread and whey products.

In August 2011, the company invested in an automated foil wrapping machine to enable it to provide consumers with a more traditional look pre-pack offering.

Later this year, J&L Grubb also plans to launch a Cashel Blue cream cheese to serve as an introduction to the brand for consumers who may be averse to the idea of blue cheese. J

Market Outlook

The outlook for J&L Grubb’s two largest markets is mixed. The Irish speciality cheese market has an estimated value of Eur3.5 million and growth prospects are promising as consumer tastes continue to develop and show a preference for quality

Environmental Features

The building was designed by heritage architect Brian Grubb. Although three times the size of the previous production facility, the new building consumes only half the energy. The existing farm entrance has been retained along with the hedgerows surrounding the building. A proprietary water treatment plant has been installed and a heat recovery system uses heat from the refrigeration units to heat the offices.

12

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

Preactor Announces Another Strategic European Partnership he Preactor Group, a leading provider T of Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solutions for over 18 years, has announced details of a strategic partnership with leading Swedish technology consultancy PlantVision. The agreement will see Preactor’s proven family of production planning and scheduling solutions offered to the Scandinavian market as part of PlantVision’s comprehensive solution portfolio.

Headquartered in Kista (Stockholm), PlantVision has over 50 employees and an annual turnover of approximately SKr60 million. It also offers Scandinavia’s widest range of solutions for operational improvement and in the last 15 years has delivered over 200 major projects around the world.

Magnus Severin, PlantVision’s chief executive, comments on the benefits the partnership will bring: “Preactor’s proven capabilities will help existing and future customers in achieving operational excellence by reducing lead times and inventory levels, while at the same time increasing

productivity.” He continues: “As a company, Preactor has a very deep knowledge and understanding of planning and scheduling, which has been transferred into its software. The Preactor solution is therefore easy to install and configure enabling it to

Mike Novels, chief executive of Preactor.

quickly and powerfully contribute to the customers' existing business processes .This helps deliver a very fast Return on Investment, which is important in today's challenging financial and competitive business climate.”

Mike Novels, chief executive of Preactor, is equally positive about the partnership: “We pride ourselves on working with partners that value and demonstrate the depth of industry experience that has helped make us the leading independent provider of production planning and scheduling systems.

PlantVision has a proven track record of working with a broad range of companies across many industries with a view to increasing their efficiency. Preactor will help them to do this to an even greater extent and we are a confident of a long and successful relationship.” J

Cereal Partners Worldwide Receives International Recognition For Greener Buildings n innovation centre built by Cereal A Partners Worldwide in Switzerland has been recognised as a leading example of sustainable design. The firm, a joint venture between Nestle and General Mills, has been awarded a platinum certification by the United States Green Building Council for the building in the Swiss city of Orbe.

It is the first time a Swiss building has

won the highest level of certification the council awards to recognise leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED).

The centre uses water from melted alpine snow for its cooling systems, an innovation that helps reduce energy usage by a third.

More than 50,000 gallons of rainwater are collected and stored in tanks for irrigation and for use in sanitary facilities at the site. Burned ground coffee waste produces steam to provide a back-up source of heating. And more than half the building was constructed using locallysourced recycled materials.

Nestle and General Mills set up the joint venture CPW to produce and sell ready-toFOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

eat breakfast cereals worldwide beyond the US and Canada. The innovation centre is part of CPW’s global Research and Development network. It focuses on ideas to improve nutritional content, freshness, taste and texture for the firm's well-known breakfast cereal brands like Fitness, Cheerios and Nesquik.

Switzerland is not the only place in the world where Nestle is developing greener buildings. In the United States, Nestle Waters North America recently received the LEED Gold certification for its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. It is the company’s tenth LEED-certified building in the country.

Elsewhere in the US, Nestle Purina PetCare is converting the sun’s rays into renewable energy at its Flagstaff pet food factory in Arizona. Currently, 21 Nescafe factories worldwide are using spent coffee grounds as renewable energy source. J 13

I MEAT PROCESSING

New Injector For Dalehead to Help Double Poultry Meat Production alehead Foods has taken delivery of its D second injector from Interfood Technology in a matter of months, this time to operate in the production of poultry and beef products at the company’s site in Corsham, Wiltshire. As Hygrade, the company was one of the first to produce own label products for Waitrose.

Since 1999 Corsham has operated as a Waitrose dedicated site and, now part of Dalehead Foods following the purchase of the Hygrade group of businesses by Tulip, the site continues to supply Waitrose with sliced cooked meats and joints of ham,

turkey, chicken, pork and beef.

Jon Higgs is the factory manager at the Corsham site and recognised that a new injector would play an integral part of the company’s plans to double production of its range of beef and poultry products over the next five years. Jon Higgs comments: “We knew that our existing injector was not capable of doing what was required so we spoke to a number of injector manufacturers to see what would best suit our needs. We have a very good working relationship with Interfood and had spoken to Jon Winnan, our Bacon Unit Manager at our Bury St Edmunds site, who was very pleased with the performance of a Schroeder IMAX injector supplied by Interfood a few months ago. That is one of the benefits of being part of a large group like Tulip – we can learn from the experiences of our colleagues and find out how machines have coped with different challenges.”

As part of the evaluation process, he visited the Schroeder manufacturing and test kitchens facility in Germany to see the quality of manufacture at the heart of Schroeder’s operation. Colin Brain, production manager, and Mark Williams, product development manager at the

Corsham site, also visited German food processing facilities to see how the IMAX was able to cope under the pressure of an actual working environment.

All agreed that the IMAX represented the best option for them. Jon Higgs continues: “We were able to spec the machine to our specific requirements. It is quicker, more reliable, and offers better consistency of brine distribution throughout the product.

Hygiene is also very important to us and we were impressed by how easy the injector is to strip down prior to cleaning. Everything seems to have been thought of in terms of how the injector has been designed.”

The IMAX range of injectors can be integrated into existing product lines with an almost infinite variety of options with food safety and hygiene of primary importance and ease of cleaning and sanitation engineered into all phases of the equipment.

Digital control of all curing and processing data is achieved through the ‘MMI operator-machine interface’ touch screen, with the machine’s low pressure process minimising muscle damage and improving the quality of the end product. J

Turn Extra Capacity into a Lower Cost Per Pack an increasing slicing capacity help you C real terms in today’s uncertain global economy? The CFS GigaSlicer – in combination with a CFS PowerPakNT – offers the highest effective output for almost every application on a consistent and proven line concept. Take slicing calibre 135 mm, for example, where the CFS GigaSlicer is able to slice 4 instead of 3 products at a time.

With the common product size in the cheese industry of 4 times 110 x 165 mm slicing in upright position, the GigaSlicer delivers benchmark performance. The same is true for slicing four logs of 135 mm diameter cooked ham in the meat industry.

Both applications have one common question: can such an impressive slicer output be handled by your packaging operation?

With CFS yes, as with an extended version of the CFS ShingleLoader conveyor loading system or robotic loading, you can rely on meeting the capacity requirements of your

CFS GigaSlicer.

complete slicing and packaging line.

The CFS GigaSlicer has a slicing area of 550 x 210 mm, one of the largest for almost all applications. But what is the economical benefit of investing in a CFS GigaSlicer system? Holger Herzberger, product manager slicing, says: “Although this machine is designed to meet very high FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

slicing capacity requirements, it also makes economic sense for manufacturers who are not at this point yet. Investing in a slicer that offers more capacity than you currently need does not mean you have to use that capacity to produce more. It can also be used to produce the same volume in less time, leading to significant potential savings in manpower and other operational costs. This compensates for the extra investment in a surprisingly short payback time.”

Of course, it is also wise for a company with growth plans to invest in a slicer that can grow with it. Holger Herzberger continues: “Much is said about investing in future-proof equipment, and the CFS GigaSlicer is an example that really lives up to this claim. With the ability to increase the capacity by up to 50%, it is possible to produce up to twice the amount of product in the same operational time as before.” J 15

I MEAT PROCESSING

Irish Food Processors Rebrands as ABP Food Group International meat group Irish Food Processors, which incorporates Anglo Irish Beef Processors (AIBP) in Ireland and Anglo Beef Processors (ABP) in the UK, is being re-branded as ABP Food Group. he private group, which is owned

by Irish beef baron Larry Goodman and family, is one of Europe’s largest meat processors with production sites in the UK, Ireland and Poland. Headquartered in Ardee, County Louth in Ireland, the new-look ABP Food Group now comprises five operating divisions covering its various areas of activity – beef and lamb processing, convenience foods, rendering, renewable energy and pet foods.

Paul Finnerty, chief executive of ABP Food Group, explains: “Our business has both expanded and diversified in recent years and we have come to the view that a re-brand will provide our customers and suppliers with a clearer understanding of our overall operational structure, product offerings and brand strategy.”

T

ABF Beef Now incorporating ABP Ireland, ABP UK and ABP Poland, ABP Beef is one of Europe’s leading beef processors.

Operating from a total of 17 production sites, ABP Beef processes more than one million cattle each year throughout Ireland, the UK and Poland. It produces high quality Ultra-Tender beef for the retail, food service and manufacturing sectors throughout Europe. ABP Beef offers a premium range of quality regional food service brands for domestic and export markets as well as bespoke products in the manufacturing sector.

ABP Ireland is Europe’s leading beef exporter. Specialising in beef processing, de-boning and retail packing, the business

supplies to European and worldwide retail markets. ABP Ireland operates six processing plants and controls about 24% of the national kill.

Operating ten facilities, ABP UK supplies multiple retailers, manufacturers and caterers with fresh and frozen meat and meat based products.

With its plants strategically located throughout England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is the UK’s largest beef processor. ABP Food Group has strengthened its presence in the UK in recent years by acquiring factories at Guildford, The convenience foods division consists of five dedicated stand alone food manufacturing businesses - Silvercrest Sturminster and Blackburn.

ABP Poland is the newest addition Foods, Wessex Foods, Freshlink Foods, Eatwell and WA to the ABP Food Group. Based in the Turner. heart of cattle country 30 km west of Poznan, the plant is ideally located to serve Freshlink Foods, Eatwell and WA Turner.

Founded in 1983 and based in County the European marketplace and complements the Monaghan, Ireland, Silvercrest’s state-ofproduct offerings of ABP the-art purpose built processing facility Ireland and ABP UK. The produces frozen beef, lamb and pork recently acquired Poznan burgers and grill steaks.

Located in Northallerton, Yorkshire, facility has the capacity to slaughter and debone Wessex Foods produces frozen beef, lamb and pork burgers, grill steaks and mince 60,000 cattle per annum products.

Glasgow-based Freshlink Foods is the ABP Convenience largest private label frozen sausage supplier Foods ABP Convenience Foods in the UK retail market, producing over comprises five processing 120 varieties of sausage and a range of sites throughout the UK frozen formed grill steaks for both retail and Ireland and was formed in 2005. It and food service. supplies multiple retailers, manufacturers Operating from Knowsley, Merseyside, and caterers with fresh and frozen meat Eatwell’s modern production facility proand meat free convenience products. duces the Feasters range of chilled To supplement its traditional core activ- microwaveable snacks. ity in beef processing, ABP Food Group Based at Tunbridge Wells in England has been developing the added value ele- and supplying sausages and pies across ment of its business. The convenience several of the leading UK multiples in foods division consists of five dedicated both supermarket own label and branded stand alone food manufacturing business- formats, WA Turner became part of ABP es - Silvercrest Foods, Wessex Foods, Food Group in 2007.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

17

Operating from a total of 17 production sites, ABP Beef processes more than one million cattle each year throughout Ireland, the UK and Poland.

ABP Proteins Comprising two processing sites at Cahir and Waterford in Ireland, ABP Proteins is the rendering and by-products division of ABP Food Group. Focusing on providing sustainable, bio-secure and environmentally responsible services to the food industry, ABP Proteins specialises in the recovery, rendering and recycling of animal by-products.

ABP Renewables ABP Renewables was established to add value to organic waste produced by food processors, retailers and catering establishments. Operating 15 collection and four processing sites in the UK and Ireland; it provides on-site storage, collection, processing and conversion services. The process produces high quality refined used cooking oil, which is converted into biodiesel and electricity.

ABP Petfoods ABP Petfoods comprises three processing sites in Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands. Producing high quality pet food products since the late 1960s, ABP

Pet Foods has become one of Europe’s leading manufacturers in the field. It offers a complete range of products in pouch, alutray, canned and dry formats.

The division’s aim is to be the leading manufacturer of private label pet food and supplier of choice for leading retailers throughout Europe.

English Acquisition Since announcing the re-branding, ABP Food Group has increased its annual beef processing capacity with the acquisition of English beef and lamb processor RWM Food Group for an undisclosed sum. RWM Food Group has

processing facilities at Langport in Somerset and Yetminster in Dorset and also incorporates Southern Counties Fresh Foods, previously one of the largest exporters of cattle meat to Europe, and Blade Farming Southwest, a contract calf and cattle rearing business.

The RWM beef processing facility in Langport has the capacity to slaughter 100,000 cattle per annum. The lamb processing and retail packing facility at Yetminster can slaughter one million lambs per year and will supplement ABP’s facility at Lurgan in Northern Ireland. The Blade Farming operation finishes around 16,000 cattle per annum.

The deal strengthens ABP Food Group’s presence in both the UK beef and lamb markets. “This is an important milestone in the development of ABP UK, augmenting its beef supply in the cattle rich South West region of England and giving the business a platform in lamb to further develop its existing lamb processing activity in Northern Ireland,” says Tom Kirwan, managing director of ABP UK. J

ABP Food Group is one of Europe’s largest meat processors.

Busch a Leader in Vacuum and Low Pressure Pump Technologies usch (UK) and Busch Ireland are part of B the international Busch group of companies; founded in 1963 by Dr Ing Karl Busch and his wife Ayhan Busch. With manufacturing plants in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and the USA, the group now boasts 55 companies and 2,200 employees around the world.

Busch (UK) was first established to support the food industry in 1971 and has been providing local support for everything from a simple spare to a complete central vacuum system design, installation and commissioning ever since. In addition it has an established company in Ireland and a service centre in Scotland providing a com-

prehensive level of support throughout the UK and Ireland.

Busch is a world leader in manufacturing a broad range of leading edge vacuum and low pressure pump technologies and is the manufacturer of the R 5 oil lubricated rotary vane pump – the most popular and FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

common pump in the food industry with a reputation for reliability and low cost operation. Available in a range of sizes to suit all application it is simple to install and maintain and support all makes of mechanical boosters for great pump down times and end pressure performance.

With a customer service focus geared towards ensuring the maximum production time for customers Busch offers a comprehensive range of products and services to support your business. To discuss your new pump, rental, repair, onsite service, spares or system requirements please contact your local Busch company - see details in the advert on page 16. J 19

I ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY

Leo Group – Recycling Waste Streams into Ingredients and Energy Leo Group has developed, through organic growth and acquisitions, from a small family enterprise into a diversified group with operations spanning rendering, pet food ingredients, waste management, recycling and energy. oday the business employs more than 400 people across ten operational sites throughout the UK and Ireland. Leo Group is one of the largest suppliers of pet food ingredients in the UK. All of the group’s companies are dedicated to the collection and processing of animal byproducts, and of more general waste streams, including wood and food. Leo Group collects nationally at every level of the food chain – from providing skips for household waste to the collection of animal by-products from slaughterhouses.

Leo Group collects and processes more than 500,000 tonnes of waste material annually.

From this it produces 130,000 tonnes of meal and bone meal and 60 million litres of tallow oil a year.

T

Rendering Leo Group operates a series of rendering plants across the UK. Rendering converts animal by products into protein meal and purified fats. The process involves cooking the material to remove all moisture and then pressing to separate the fat content from the protein meal. Raw feathers are also treated using a hydrolisation process which sterilises and dries them to produce a high quality, high protein meal.

Leo Group collects animal by-products from abattoirs throughout the UK processing them to produce high quality meal and oils for use in the pet food, oleo chemical and power industries. It processes, blends and freezes animal by-products for use by the leading pet food manufacturers in Europe.

Leo Group’s rendering activities also produce more than 200 million litres of biodiesel, enough to fill the tanks of over 3 million cars.

Leo Group operates an animal by-product processing site in Bradford, Omega Proteins. The Bradford plant is a registered Category 1 animal by-products processing facility. The meals and oils produced at Bradford and at a sister plant at Kintore, Aberdeen, are used as feedstock for bio-diesel,

fuel for cement kilns and for generating electricity.

The group’s Alba Proteins business encompasses sites in Penrith, Dumfries and Halifax.

Alba Proteins in Penrith renders poultry and non poultry to produce oils and meals for use in the oleo chemical industries, pet food manufacture and power industries. The facility produces nearly 1,000 tonnes of tallow oil weekly. The Alba Proteins sites at Dumfries and Halifax supply pet food manufacturers in the UK and Europe with pet food ingredients.

Development The enterprising group is self-sufficient in terms of financing and sustainable growth.

Founded by Margaret and Leo Sawrij in the 1970s, Leo Group was initially involved in mink farming. However, following the abolishment of mink farming in the UK, the business focused on maggot trading to the fishing industry.

In 1999, the company diversified with the

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

acquisition of a rendering plant facility. This was the start of Omega Proteins. In the same year, Leo Group also acquired two knackers businesses creating Robinson Mitch-ell, and began the collection of fallen stock.

In 2002 the expanding company purchased a sister rendering operation, Alba Proteins with sites in

Penrith, Dumfries and Aberdeen. 2005 saw the purchase of two businesses, Goodwill Fats & Proteins and Premier Pet Food.

In 2007, Leo Group completed the construction of modern and more efficient facilities at Halifax Pet Food. The following year, in 2008, Leo Group branched further North securing ownership of Kintore rendering plant in Aberdeenshire.

Recycling and Renewable Energy Leo Group is active in two of the UK’s fastest growing sectors – recycling and renewable energy. “We are a one stop shop with the ability to take every product available and recycle 100 per cent of it,” says Danny Sawrij, managing director of the Leo Group. “No other recycler in the UK has the ability to do this.”

Leo Group collects ‘fallen stock’ from over 7,000 farms and is a member of the National Fallen Stock Scheme (NFSS). Its Robinson Mitchell business, based at Ingleton in Yorkshire, is one of the UK’s leading collectors of fallen stock and services farmers throughout the North of England and Scotland. Ingleton in turn supplies Category 1 material to the group’s rendering operation but also exports hides and skins to Europe for use as leather.

Another Leo Group business, Big Green Timber Company in Halifax, specialise in the collection, reprocessing and recycling of tim21

We have made the line for handling frozen platefreezer blocks at LeoGroup Ltd, Halifax and also the equipment for filling of the plate-freezers.

We have more than 20 years of experience from helping the customers with handling different kind of raw-materials. We have been providing the customers in food and slaughter waste industry with process equipment.

SPECIALISTS IN:

• raw material process lines for sausage production

• systems for handling frozen plate-freezer blocks

• products for meat and slaughter waste processing

• equipment for filling of plate-freezer plants

• mixers, conveyors, bins, tilting and lifting equipment

• co-operating with Freezertech Ltd in platefreezer loading/unloading projects

• tailormade turn-key deliveries for food processing

ber-based products. The facility recycles 100% of the waste wood into materials for the production of chip board, animal bedding and fuel for power generation.

Food2Energy, also in Halifax, is Leo Group’s latest venture and offers a nationwide collection service for a variety of food waste, which is then processed at one of the group’s specialist facilities.

“We are the only company in the UK that has the capability and expertise to handle and recycle so many different forms of waste products,” points out Danny Sawrij. “One hundred per cent of the food waste we take is reused in one form or another, including turning it into significant quantities of fuel to meet the country’s ever growing energy needs.”

Re-investment Harnessing the latest technology is central to the company’s ongoing development. Leo Group is committed to re-investing in the business and continuously replacing and renewing equipment with the aim of ensuring its plants are amongst the most technologically advanced and efficient in the world.

It is currently investing over £4 million at its Yorkshire based headquarters at Swales Moor, Halifax. The investment programme entails a major upgrade of the existing pet food plant, the erection of a supplementary building housing animal carcasses, a new food storage area, a new building to house waste transfer operations and the expansion and refurbishment of office blocks.

“This sizeable investment in Swales Moor is part of our long-term strategy to play a major role in the country's renewable energy market, helping the Government achieve its green energy targets,” he says. “What we do at our operations around the country massively reduces the burden on landfill sites.

For each of the different categories of waste

we handle we can find another use for it.”

The enterprising business is also expanding into power generation. Leo Group has major plans to develop anaerobic digestion and wind power. Danny Sawrij comments: “We are continually striving to increase the diversity of our growing portfolio of renewable energy sources. It is a natural step forward for us to expand into these processes and invest in the most modern technology to make them a success.”

Biomass Plant in Scotland Leo Group has secured planning permission and a grid connection for a 10 Megawatt biomass power plant at Kintore, near

Aberdeen in Scotland. The methane gas produced from the anaerobic digestion of the biomass, both plant and animal material, will be used to produce energy. The plant will generate enough electricity to power 15,000 homes.

“The power plant will generate electricity by using biomass fuel from our adjoining plant and UK facilities,” explains Brian Maguire of Leo Group. “The proposed biomass fuel source has a similar calorific value to coal but without the damaging greenhouse gases. The new plant will contribute to the Scottish Government’s target for producing 80 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.” J

PET FOOD Nestle Purina Launches TV Commercial For Dogs Nestle Purina has created the first-ever television commercial especially for dogs. The TV commercial to be screened on Austrian television uses different sounds – including a high frequency tone – to capture the attention of dogs and their owners. The TV commercial includes different sounds which are likely to be picked up by dogs.

The first is a ‘squeak’ which is similar to the sound dogs’ toys make. Both dogs and people can hear this. The next sound is a high frequency tone, similar to a dog whistle, which humans can barely hear. And the third sound is a soft, high-pitched ‘ping’ which can be heard by dogs and people.

Created by Nestle Purina for its dog food brand Beneful, the TV commercial was first broadcast on German TV channels, national internet sites and the Beneful website during the summer months.

Nestle’s cat food brand Friskies recently launched a free series of iPad and Android tablet games for cats. The three web-based games – Cat Fishing, Tasty Treasures Hunt and Party Mix-Up – feature images of fish, or Friskies food or treats, which move around the screen for cats to interact with.

Cat owners anywhere in the world with an iPad or Android tablet device and access to the Internet can simply type in the link www.gamesforcats.comand the games will work immediately.

I BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Kraft Foods Chief is the Most Powerful Woman in Business rene Rosenfeld, chairman and chief executive of Kraft Foods, has overtaken Indra Nooyi, IBusiness’. to top Fortune Magazine’s annual ranking of the ‘50 Most Powerful Women in In second position in 2010, Irene Rosenfeld made the headlines this year with her decision to split Kraft Foods into two companies.

Indra Nooyi has continued to develop PepsiCo’s nutritional products portfolio with the aim of growing it into a $30 billion business by 2020. However, she has been critised for losing ground to arch rival Coca-Cola in the North American soft drinks market.

Patricia Woertz, chairman, chief executive and president of Archer Daniels Midland is third in the listing. Denise Morrison, the new president and chief executive of Campbell Soup, is ranked 21st. J FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS, OCTOBER 2011

Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and chief executive of Kraft Foods.

23

Freezertech – A Modern Company With a Commitment to Tradition rimsby-based Freezertech specialise in G the development and manufacture of double contact plate freezers, for the food and animal by-products markets.

Established in 2008 by ex-Jackstones Froster employees left without jobs after the companies collapse, Freezertech has showed phenomenal growth since its conception and there is little signs of slowing down.

Initially concentrating on providing worldwide OEM and aftermarket compatible spares for existing Jackstone plate freezers, Freezertech quickly expanded into larger premises soon after achieving more and more sales for new machines.

With the benefit of over 60 years of development history and the 34 years of extensive experience of Steve Cole at the reigns of the company, Freezertech has quickly proven itself to be a major competitor in the international plate freezer market.

The Audacity to Reject Compromise

"A key part of Freezertech's success," explains Kyle Bennett, " is we're actually listening to our customers and doing something about it - gone are the days where one machine fits all and our customers pick a model from a list. Different customers have different needs, so each machine is specifically tailored to their individual requirements, for instance marine customers need a compact design that maximises the available floor space, whilst land customers need to focus on automation and

ergonomics as much as possible - taking feedback off every customer allows us to implement the best parts of everything."

Every Freezertech machine is hand built 100% in the UK, so every part goes through stringent quality control and nothing leaves the factory without being signed off personally by the managing director, Steve Cole - and it's this commitment to judge every detail that has helped create some of the best plate freezers available in today's market.

Freezertech also ensure they remain competitive on orders by offering not only some of the best prices, but offering maximum flexibility - in the height of the fishing season a quick turn around on new machines is very often needed, and that challenge is always met with success by Freezertech.

"Everyone here is 100% dedicated to their jobs, we not only employ the best and the brightest, we also employ the most committed workers we've ever met - our guys will stop all night if they have to in order to make sure something goes out 100% correct, and likewise all our products are backed up by a 2 year comprehensive warranty to prove it," says Steve Cole.

Recent Projects The Creativity to Surpass Expectations

Not only does a Freezertech customer benefit from their plate freezing experience, but also from their wide network of partner companies and dealers. It is this network that helps take the pain out of managing large and small installations projects - Freezertech can help cater for all aspects of the refrigeration and food handling industry, enabling the customer to have an easy ‘single source’ for 24

all their requirements.

Steve Cole explains: "it is this network of partners that helps us achieve our goal of complete customer satisfaction, we put people in touch with the right companies for the job, and in today's fast paced world of food processing, it's not just about getting the job out the door, it's about ensuring everything and everyone works at the level their meant to work at. Customers can benefit from automatic unloading and handling systems to reduce employee labour and strain, and also enjoy the advantage of more efficient power consumption when dealing with properly trained and experienced refrigeration engineers like the ones we work with."

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

Although the majority of Freezertech’s products are exported, the company recently built a new plate freezer for Leo Group’s Halifax facility in England. During this project it worked with Finnish engineering company Mesmec to provide freezers specifically suited automatic unloading.

Freezertech and Mesmec have since started working closely together to benefit their customers with easier food handling options, not just limited to automatic unloading, but loading up the raw materials and palletising them for transport - "the key is to reduce employee strain, so we then reduce sick time and save money, as well as ensuring better quality products by reducing physical handling," says Kyle Bennett. J

Mesmec Brings its Expertise to Britain and Ireland lready highly regarded by food manufacturers in the Nordic region, Finnish A engineering firm Mesmec has now brought its extensive expertise and experience to the UK and other markets in Western Europe.

Founded in 1989, Mesmec specialises in designing, manufacturing and installing production equipment and systems to meet the specific requirements of customers.

and manufacture to installation and servicing on a design-build basis, as agreed with the customer.

“Our aim is to design and manufacture products and systems that add value and improve the efficiency of our customers’ processes. We use standard products but tailor them to meet the precise needs of our customers,” explains Mats Strandvall, managing director of Mesmec.

He adds: “We can offer customers a complete package including mechanical and electrical aspects and automation. We have vast experience of taking full responsibility for all elements of a project, so the customer only has to deal with a single supplier.

Mesmec stands for reliability and flexibility.”

for frozen blocks, and transportation, weighing, and packaging equipment. The system was supplied as a turnkey project.

“We have been dealing with plate freezer blocks projects in Finland for over ten years, helping the local players who treat and take care of slaughterhouse or fish waste from the food industry. Our biggest project for a production line was in St Petersburg, Russia, for handling raw materials for sausage production,” explains Mats Strandvall. “We specialise in helping our customers to improve their

Impressive Client List

These customised solutions range from a single piece of equipment to complete processing lines.

Operating from 2,600 sq m of production facilities in Finland, the company has an annual turnover of Eur5 million and employs 35 people. The scale of projects handled varies in value from about Eur50,000 up to Eur2.5 million.

Mesmec has over twenty years of experience in designing and installing equipment and systems in the food and fodder industry. The company has particular expertise in supplying customised production lines and equipment for handling and processing meat, sausages, fish and other raw materials. These include reception and storage silos, blenders, mixers, conveyors and pipelines, filling and emptying equipment and systems for storage and distribution.

Mesmec’s client list within the Nordic food industry includes the major players like Danisco, Atria Group, Snellman, HK Scan etc. For example, Mesmec has recently provided a turnkey delivery of a handling system for raw meat materials used for the production of salami and a line for standardisation of minced meat at Snellman. The contract included screw and belt conveyors, mass separation equipment, meat silo blenders for mixing, installation, commissioning and a fat-analyzer controlling the process.

At the Fish Logistic Centre at the port of Kaskinen in Finland, Mesmec supplied reception and handling equipment for Baltic herring, including reception of the fish, pumping system to transfer the fish into plate freezers, the handling equipment

Turnkey Solutions

Drawing on its extensive experience of the food industry, Mesmec offers a turnkey service, taking a project from concept to completion.

Mesmec’s services range from mechanical and electrical manufacturing and assembly to automation and process control. Mesmec manages the entire process from design FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

productivity, flexibility and cost effectiveness without increasing their labour costs.”

International Expansion

Mesmec is now offering its services to food manufacturers in the UK. The Finnish engineering company is currently undertaking a number of projects at Leo Group’s site at Halifax and has formed a strategic alliance with UK engineering company Freezertech.

Mesmec has supplied a system for the automtic handling of frozen plates at Leo Group. The project involved the implementation of a discharge system for frozen blocks, encompassing a track for the roof crane, lifter, robotcell and pallet loading equipment including control system.

“We see a growing demand in the market in the UK and Ireland for our expertise and we are looking for the new challenges together with Freezertech,” says Mats Strandvall.

Mesmec has successfully handled projects in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lituania, Russia, the UK, Germany and the USA. J 25

I POUCHES

Strong Demand Growth For Stand-Up Pouches he positive advantages of the stand-up pouch (SUP) will continue to drive T strong growth in European demand for this packaging format, according to a new report from PCI Films Consulting.

Although developed nearly 40 years ago, the stand-up pouch has taken some time to be truly accepted in the European flexible packaging marketplace. In 2009, nearly 19 billion SUPs were estimated to have been supplied, accounting for 5% of the total value of converted flexible packaging used in Europe. Wet pet foods accounted for almost a third of this volume and nonretortable food pouches were among the fastest growing.

Report author Paul Gaster notes: “In

recent years, attitudes towards the SUP have become much more positive as brand owners, retailers and consumers recognise the attractions of this format as a cost-effective, convenient and environmentally superior alternative to rigid packaging.” PCI’s study has found that, in the five years up to 2008, European demand for stand-up pouches grew by 10-15% pa. Demand slowed during the economic downturn in 2009, but stronger interest from packers is expected to return in future years.

The renewed interest in SUPs can be attributed to a variety of factors, including the development of new packaging machinery, which delivers much higher production and filling speeds, as well as improvements in sealing efficiencies. Other technological advances have helped improve functionality and better heat and puncture resistance of the laminate material.

Brand owners and food retailers have also more successfully exploited the consumer benefits offered by the SUP, providing a packaging solution with convenient features such as easy-open, reclosing, measured dosing and ease of food preparation. J

Selo UK – The Expert in Pouch Filling elo UK has been supplying pouch filling equipment, in to the UK and Irish marS kets, for over 15 years. With the knowledge and experience gained, this means that Selo has become experts in all aspects of pouch/product handling.

Baby Food Moves into Pouches M Packaging has recently produced several stand-up pouches for baby food, including J ranges for Annabel Karmel, Aldo Zilli, Ella’s Kitchen, Truly Scrummy and Asda. All the pouches are gravure printed with tear notches for easy opening.

These retort pouches offer 12 months ambient shelf-life therefore providing a great light weight product for parents and babies on the move as they are easy to slip in a bag or store in the cupboard without taking up important space in the fridge. For further information please contact sales@jmpackaging.com. J

With the introduction of new and innovative pouch styles, Selo can offer equipment for filling and sealing pre-made pouches or pouches made from a flat roll of film.

Whether the pouches are flat, stand-up, reasealable or spouted, equipment from the Selo range can suit most applications.

With the introduction of new concepts with the food industry, there is an increasing demand for multiple products to be deposited in to a pouch. Using the latest equipment and technology available, Selo is able to supply various systems for depositing various different components in to a pouch. These products are then often put through a retort system or sous vide, so the quality of the seal integrity needs to be of the highest standards.

Selo has also supplied pouch filling systems to the non-food and pharmaceutical industry. Selo’s in-house Project Engineering team offer the facility of compiling full validation procedures and documentation.

Selo UK is part of The Selo Group that has a number of offices located over the Continent. Information on the latest developments and technologies are shared within the group so that personnel are kept abreast of all of the latest packaging designs and processes from all over Europe. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

27

I PALLETISING

Pace Mechanical Handling Steps Up in Robotic Palletising With Yaskawa ace Mechanical HanP dling, the family owned Lincolnshire business that specialises in robotic palletising, packing and handling systems in the food and aggregates industry, has selected MOTOMAN robots from Yaskawa as the preferred robot for its robotic automation projects. “The main reasons for a move towards MOTOMAN robots were ease of programming, speed performance and the choices of communication protocol that are available for the series of MOTOMAN robots,” according to Nick Cesare, managing director of Pace Mechanical Handling. In addition, a key consideration for robotic palletising is the combination of available working envelope and stacking height and here the dedicated series of MOTOMAN MPL palletising robots meets the exact needs for Pace

Mechanical Handling.

Yaskawa UK and Pace Mechanical Handling have developed a standard programming structure for robotic palletising that can be used across different cell configurations and palletising patterns, which means that programming time and installation times can be dramatically reduced thereby reducing the investment level for the end user.

Pace Mechanical Handling will be exhibiting at The British Potato Show 2011, Hall 2, Stand 403, held at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate on 24 and 25 November 2011. This is an important event for the potato industry in the UK

Dublin Port

• 200,000 sq. ft of Cold Storage at Molloy & Sherry (Eirfreeze) Ltd., Dublin Port • 20,000 temperature controlled pallet spaces available • Just 2 minutes from the M50 • Warehouse management stock system • Dock Levellers and Cross Docking • Wash Bays • Diesel Sales • Truck and Trailer parking with plug-in points for 40 trucks • Transport provided daily to Ireland, U.K. and Europe Both

Self-running independent Cold Store available in Swords or We can run it for you Swords • • • • • • • •

28

Cold Stores Bonded

4,000 temperature controlled pallet spaces 10 mins from Dublin Port 36,000 sq. ft.

80,000 sq. ft of dry storage Offices available Truck and Trailer parking with plug-in points for 40 trucks Own yard and entrance Dock Levellers Bond Road, Alexandra Quay, Dublin 3.

Transport: +353 1 8772620 Email: transport@molloyandsherry.ie Eirfreeze: +353 1 8772610 Email: eirfreeze@molloyandsherry.ie Email: info@molloyandsherry.ie Website: www.molloyandsherry.ie For Cold Storage at Molloy & Sherry (Eirfreeze) Ltd enquiries please contact Susan Molloy 01-8772610 and for Molloy & Sherry Transport contact Eric Doyle 018772620

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

and concentrates on many aspects of potato handling and automation. On display will be a demonstration of Pace’s specific market offer for the potato handling industry, which includes a MOTOMAN MPL100 palletising robot. For further information visit www.yaskawamotoman.co.uk. J

I PALLETS

Paper Pallets – Seeing is Believing – But Trying Them is Even Better! he Paper Pallet Company is a new start-up business, financed by individT uals who support green, environmentally friendly projects. Operating from a 40,000 sq ft plant in Wellingborough, England, the company has installed a fully automatic manufacturing plant capable of producing 4000 paper pallets per shift.

The pallets are made from sustainable recycled paper and are 100% recyclable

after use. The pallet weighs approx 5 kg and therefore saves a ton of weight and CO2 emissions on an average 40ft trailer lorry, as confirmed by carbon management consultants Giraffe Innovations.

With fuel surcharges, the pallet makes a perfect partner for any exporter using airfreight and it has the added advantage

of being exempt from ISPM 15 compliance.

The pallet is designed to be robust and suitable for use in modern pallitisers. It is capable of lifting 1000kg in weight and has a stacking strength of more than 8 tonnes. Manufactured and delivered to a consistent standard, clean and stretch wrapped, the pallets are water resistant with no nails and splinters to cause handling problems within your operation. J

FEFPEB Launches Pan-European Campaign to Promote Timber he European Federation of Wooden Pallet and Packaging manufacturers T (FEFPEB) has launched a new public relations campaign to promote wood as the raw material of choice for pallets and packaging.

Entitled ‘Packaging from Nature’, the initiative will communicate the economic and environmental benefits of timber use in packaging and pallets, particularly compared with alternative materials such as plastics. It

will be active across Europe, with the aim of presenting “a powerful, accurate and consistent message” about timber use in the industry, in countries represented by FEFPEB, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UK. It is being funded by FEFPEB full members, representing the manufacturing sector, as well as pallet pools and associate members.

A website, www.packagingfromnature.com, has been set up featuring information about timber’s benefits for the environment; questions left unanswered about plastics, key facts

and figures about timber use; as well as news, media resources, downloads and further useful links, including social media sites.

Information sheets about the benefits of timber, plastics, facts and figures, and the issue of biomass have been produced. These sheets are now available to download free of charge from the website. FEFPEB currently represents more than 20 associations, which account for 1,000 companies. J

I TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT

LeanLogistics Expands into Europe and Welcomes CHEP eanLogistics, a global solutions provider L of transport management system (TMS) applications and supply chain services, has expanded into Europe with offices opening in the UK and Spain. LeanLogistics’ European offices provide sales and support for the suite of LeanLogistics technologies.

LeanLogistics On-Demand TMS delivers exceptional value for organisations seeking ways to leverage their transport process as a means of improving supply chain efficiencies. In addition, On-Demand TMS offers multi-language capabilities and specific functionality to support European regulations and processes.

CHEP, a global leader in pallet and container pooling, is a LeanLogistics technology customer in North America and is currently implementing On-Demand in Europe to manage inbound and outbound truckload, less-than-truckload and intermodal shipments. CHEP’s 300 million pallets and containers support more than 500,000 customer touch-points globally.

“CHEP operates in 49 countries, so it only makes sense to implement the same technology throughout our other business sectors to manage our transportation more efficiently while reducing costs,” says Juan Pablo Negus, vice president of logistics, FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

Europe. “We selected LeanLogistics to manage CHEP’s millions of dollars in freight because of its proven success with our North American operations.”

CHEP issues, collects, conditions and reissues pallets and containers from a global network of service centres for global companies and brands, such as Kellogg's, Kraft, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Sysco, Ford and GM, helping manufacturers and growers transport their products to distributors and retailers. J 29

I ANAEROBIC DIGESTION

BiogenGreenfinch – Converting Food Waste into Green Energy BiogenGreenfinch is one of the UK’s leading anaerobic digestion specialists. he company designs, builds, owns and operates AD plants and has been responsible for the development of 16 plants to date in the UK. It has constructed plants ranging in size from 5ktpa to 45ktpa. These include seven small scale AD farm plants for the Scottish Government project in 2004 and further plants from 2005 onwards.

Anaerobic digestion is the process of recycling food waste and agricultural waste into renewable fuel to generate electricity and heat. A nutrient rich biofertiliser (digestate) is also produced which can be used on farm land, so ‘closing the loop’ BiogenGreenfinch operates three food waste AD plants - Biocycle in Shropshire, Twinwoods in Bedfordshire and Westwood in Northamptonshire. Twinwoods was completed in 2006 and processes 42ktpa of food waste and animal slurry to produce 1.7 MW of electricity. Biocycle processes 5ktpa of food waste and produces 200 KW of electricity. Following an investment of around £10 million, Westwood was commissioned in 2009, processes 45,000 tonnes of food waste each year to produce 2.1 MW of renewable electricity (sufficient for 3,600 homes).

The three AD plants process a mixture of household and commercial food waste to generate ‘green’ electricity for the national grid – enough to power over 6,000 homes continually for a year. It is estimated that the UK produces 22 million tonnes of food waste each year, the majority of which goes to landfill where it releases methane gas and is responsible for half of the greenhouse gas emissions from waste. BiogenGreenfinch’s

T

The Westwood AD plant in Northamptonshire processes 45,000 tonnes of food waste each year to produce 2.1 MW of renewable electricity.

technology captures the methane gas from the food waste to generate renewable energy while also producing a valuable bio-fertiliser for farmers that is itself a substitute for fossil-fuel derived chemical fertilisers.

Specialist Between its sites in Bedford, Northamptonshire and Ludlow, BiogenGreenfinch employs over 50 people and has an annual turnover of almost £10 million.

“BiogenGreenfinch is unique,” says Richard Barker, chief executive of BiogenGreenfinch. “It is the only specialist British anaerobic digestion company that can design, build and operate large-scale anaerobic digestion plants with a proven track record.”

He elaborates: “We are the only food waste AD company that utilises its own British technology, has demonstrated operational capabilities and also has its own R&D facilities that continually develop improvements to both process and biology.”

The company has successfully designed and built AD plants for Branston, one of the UK’s leading potato suppliers; Copys Green Farm in Norfolk, the Agri, Food & Biosciences Institute (AFBI) at Hillsborough in Northern Ireland; Kemble Farm in Cirencester; and Cannington Cold Stores in Somerset.

Indeed, BiogenGreenfinch won the prize for Waste to Energy Provider of the Year at this year’s National Recycling Awards, which recognise the best recycling and waste management achievements in the UK. Latest Project The company’s most recently completed plant is for Harper Adams University College in Shropshire. The new green energy plant running on cow slurry and food waste is now fully operational following a ten months construction period and official handover in August 2011. BiogenGreenfinch designed, built and commissioned the 25,500 tonne per year AD plant in the spring of 2011, working with two other major partners, utilities company E.ON and local contractor Adonis Construction.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

The Twinwoods AD plant in Bedfordshire processes 42,000 tonnes of food waste and animal slurry per annum to produce 1.7 MW of electricity.

The AD plant, operated by Harper Adams Energy, now recycles locally sourced food waste from retailers, manufacturers, and caterers along with dairy slurry from the University College’s 400 cow dairy unit to produce renewable energy for the campus and the national grid. The plant also produces around 23,000 tonnes of a nutrient-rich fertilizer, which will be used on the farm, grounds and surrounding Harper Adams farmland as a substitute for fossil fuel fertilisers. It is estimated that the AD plant will offset campus carbon emissions more than three times over.

BiogenGreenfinch’s latest plant has also been shortlisted for two categories in the prestigious Renewable Energy Infrastructure Awards - ‘Best Use of Biogas’ and ‘Renewable Electrical Facility Award’.

Development Strategy BiogenGreenfinch’s strategy is to develop a national network of at least ten AD plants over the next five to six years. “We currently operate three AD plants and have secured planning permission for another two plants, Merevale in Warwickshire and Bygrave Lodge in Hertfordshire. The plants will range in size but will typically be up to 45ktpa,” says Richard Barker.

So does the company have any plans to take it expertise beyond England? “Not within the immediate future as we have our plates full in the UK at present,” he replies. “However we believe that there will be significant potential internationally, in due course.” J 31

I ADVANCED PLANNING & SCHEDULING

Preactor and Advenco Serve Up a Satisfying Solution For Wander reactor International, one of the P world’s leading specialist planning and scheduling software companies, has been selected by German food business Wander to deliver greatly improved production planning and scheduling efficiencies. The project is being undertaken by advenco Consulting, the leading German Preactor reseller and is expected to go live in June 2012.

With origins dating back to 1865, Wander is now a leading developer and manufacturer of high quality food products including household names such as Ovaltine, Caotina, Dawa, and Jemalt. A subsidiary of Associated British Foods, one of the largest international food companies in Europe, Wander understand-

“Preactor has been successfully integrated many times and is widely used in food and drink manufacturers at a European and global level.”

industry knowledge in the food and drink sector.”

ably places great importance on high quality, the innovativeness of its products as well as delivering outstanding customer satisfaction.

Supply Chain Management Strategy When the company needed to improve its production planning and scheduling capabilities as part of its overall supply chain management strategy, the natural choice was Preactor Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) from Supply Chain Management specialist advenco.

Preactor is already used and trusted elsewhere in the ABF group and with Preactor used in nearly 200 food and beverage companies, 127 in Europe alone, Preactor APS is increasingly recognised as the APS solution of choice in this sector.

Valerie Goulevitch, head of global marketing and communication for Preactor International, comments on the business win.

“Wander is a perfect example of a company that needs not just an industry leading solution, but also an implementation with a real depth of industry experience in order to maximise the benefits the solution can deliver.”

She continues: “As a QAD Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) user, the company also needs a solution and partner that provides a seamless integration between production planning and its wider ERP and SCM systems. Preactor has a respected relationship with QAD and Preactor partner, advenco Consulting, is recognised as an expert in Supply Chain Management with strong FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

Successful Integration Michael Fatum, general manager of advenco, is equally positive. “For a company that places such high value on quality and consistency it is essential that any implementation not only delivers the expected benefits but also does so in a way that does not interrupt the ongoing operations of the business. Preactor has been successfully integrated many times and is widely used in food and drink manufacturers at a European and global level. This combined with our expertise and proven ‘advenco Consulting method’ will ensure that Wander will get the very best from its investment in Preactor.” J

“Wander is a perfect example of a company that needs not just an industry leading solution, but also an implementation with a real depth of industry experience in order to maximise the benefits the solution can deliver.”

33

Branston Hailed Best Supplier For Carbon Reduction Technology by Tesco K potato supplier Branston has been U named as the 2011 Tesco supplier with the best technology innovation to reduce carbon. Tesco has congratulated Branston for effectively innovating throughout its production processes and investing in technology to reduce carbon emissions. The Carbon Reduction Technology award is part of Tesco’s ‘Greening the Supply Chain’ initiative.

“This award is particularly important to us, because its recognition from a retailer which sets extremely high environmental standards for both itself and its suppliers,” says Vidyanath Gururajan, Branston’s projects director. “Over the

Peter Cattell, category director at Tesco, and Gururajan, Branston’s projects director.

past few years we’ve been looking at a wide range of green initiatives and it’s only after careful analysis that we’ve invested in the best of this technology - innovations that really work for us.

All our projects have sustainability built into the brief – from a long-term environmental and a financial perspective.”

Over the past few years, Branston has completed a Branston has invested £2 million in the AD plant, which has number of projects which enabled the company to reduce electricity use by 40% at the have helped it to reduce Lincoln site. resource use. A key achievement is the purpose-built prepared fresh potato factory are used in a new foods factory, which is aligned Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant which with Branston’s philosophy of produces a steady 400kW of electricity. low carbon = low cost. Energy Branston invested £2 million in the AD efficiency was an integral part plant and it has enabled the company to of the design brief. reduce electricity use by 40% at the The prepared foods factory Lincoln site. was designed to maximise effiThe company also invested in innovaciency and reduce waste. The tive water recycling technology, which is factory recycles warm air from fully integrated with the AD plant at the chillers and utilises waste pal- Lincoln site. This enables Branston to lets and broken potato boxes in recycle water used for washing potatoes a biomass boiler. and the water extracted in the anaerobic Vidyanath Food waste from the factory digestion process. It has reduced mains and outgrade potatoes from the water consumption by 60% at the site. J

Coca-Cola Hellenic in Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes For Fourth Consecutive Year oca-Cola Hellenic, one of the world’s largest bottlers of products C of The Coca-Cola Company, has been included for the fourth consecutive year in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI), the premier global sustainability benchmark.

The DJSI are based on an analysis of the economic, environmental and social performance of the world’s 2,500 largest companies measured by freefloating market capitalisation. Only the top 10% achieve inclusion after assessment of a range of general and industry-specific issues including climate change mitigation, supply chain standards and labour practices.

Coca-Cola Hellenic is one of only three 34

beverage companies worldwide to merit a place on the DJSI World index, and one of just two to make it into the DJSI Europe index. It is also the only Greek company included in either index. In the assessment process, Coca-Cola Hellenic received top scores for the beverage industry in nine

assessment categories including perfect marks in two – Environmental Policy/Management Systems and Packaging.

Dimitris Lois, chief executive of Coca-Cola Hellenic, says: “Gaining inclusion in the Indexes is an achievement on its own. Maintaining our position for four years requires continual improvement, which is the focus of our long-running Towards Sustainability programme. We know we will need to demonstrate further progress to be included next year and we are determined to do exactly that.” Coca-Cola Hellenic’s overall score improved year-on-year from 72% to 77%. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

I DAIRY

Milk Link to Invest £20 Million to Transform Lockerbie Creamery ilk Link, the UK’s largest cheese maker M owned by over 1,600 dairy farmers, is to invest £20 million to transform its Lockerbie Creamery in Scotland, enhancing both its capacity and capabilities and making it one of the UK’s leading Cheddar production facilities. The investment will make Lockerbie the biggest dairy processing facility in Scotland and one of the largest and most advanced creameries in the UK. The site will benefit from a major redevelopment with the installation of the latest processing technology increasing

annualised production by 12,000 tonnes to over 37,000 tonnes of cheese per annum.

The major investment being made at Lockerbie will not only secure the long term future of the creamery but also help to provide a strong platform for the expansion of dairying in South West Scotland and the North of England. In line with the new creamery’s increased processing capacity, Milk Link will now be actively recruiting additional Members in Scotland and the North of England to supply Lockerbie.

The investment will enhance Lockerbie’s product consistency and productivity. It will complement Milk Link’s other major Cheddar creameries – Taw Valley in Devon and Llandyrnog in North Wales.

“Our investment at Lockerbie will transform the creamery and reinforce Milk Link’s leadership position in the production of high quality British cheeses,” says Neil Kennedy, chief executive of Milk Link. “The capital investment programme will be the largest undertaken to date by Milk Link and indeed is one of the largest investment projects in cheese manufacturing seen over the last 20 years in the UK.”

Neil Kennedy, chief executive of Milk Link.

It follows on from Milk Link’s major investments at Taw Valley in relation to a next generation whey processing plant and the building of a new soft cheese creamery at Cornish Country Larder’s Trevarrian site, both of which will be fully operational this Autumn. Work at Lockerbie will start later this year and will be completed by Autumn 2012. J

Watson Dairy Consulting – The Dairy Manufacturing Specialist ased in Aberdeen, Scotland but operating world-wide, JWC Services (trading as B Watson Dairy Consulting) offers independent advice and consultancy to dairy processors. Drawing on over thirty years of experience, the company provides project management services in the design and build of dairy production plants as well as bespoke consultancy for individual projects relating to the dairy industry.

Watson Dairy Consulting offers management services for green field dairy developments, expansions and relocations as well as process optimisation to existing dairy factories seeking to become more automated and to reduce costs.

Established in 1998 by John Watson, who

Infant formula milk powder factory in Iran.

is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, the company provides factory design and consultancy services for milk powder, infant formula milk powder, butter, butter-oil, cream, ghee, ice cream, frozen yoghurt, pasteurized milk, cheese, UHT milk and yoghurt factories throughout the world.

For example, Watson Dairy Consulting recently undertook the project management and liaison between the client (PSIG) and supplier (Niro/GEA) for the building of a $100 million state-of-the-art infant formula milk powder factory, capable of producing 15,000 tonnes per annum, in the MiddleEast. Another recent contract entailed leading the design team and supervising the building and installation of a new greenfield dairy factory in Pakistan to manufacture 10,000 tonnes per annum of fortified milk powders, cream, butt and butter-oil to European standards.

Clients of Watson Dairy Consulting include: Danone, Cadbury, Engro Foods, GEA, Alfa Laval, Orrani Consulting, Orkney Creamery and Kingdom Cheese Company.

The Scottish consultancy firm also provides

Infant formula milk powder high hygiene packing room in Iran.

advice on acquisitions. For instance, it recently helped a UK-based spray drying contract company to locate a suitable acquisition target to meet its expansion strategy. Having carried out confidential enquiries using its extensive industry contacts, Watson Dairy Consulting was able to successfully complete the brief within weeks.

Watson Dairy Consulting also provides a recruitment service to dairy industry globally.

It specialises in two areas – dairy products manufacturing recruitment and milk production executive recruitment For further information contact Watson Dairy Consulting on Tel +44 1224 861507, Mobile +44 7931 776499, E-mail jw@dairyconsultant.co.uk or visit www.dairyconsultant.co.uk. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

35

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I INFANT NUTRITION

Developments in Baby Milk The global baby milk formula market is expanding at about 9% per annum as manufacturers continue to invest heavily in R&D, more sophisticated ingredients and new production technology and capacity. he world baby milk market risk of obesity. was worth $11.5 billion in In both developed and emerging 2010 with volume sales of markets, the leading manufacturers 1,130,000 tons, according have been investing heavily in new to UBIC Consulting, the business technology and capacity in order to to business marketing and consultkeep adding value and to maintain ing firm. Growth is being fuelled brand share against intensifying by emerging markets such as Asia, competition. For instance, Danone particularly China which is now recently decided to invest Eur50 recovering from the melamine million to significantly expand scandal, Eastern Europe and to a capacity at its baby food manufaclesser extent the Middle East and turing plant at Macroom in Ireland.

Latin America, reflecting higher More recently, Dutch co-operative birth rates and improving con- FrieslandCampina is to invest Eur130 million to double production of FrieslandCampina has unveiled sumer affluence in these regions. infant formula and associated ingredients at its sites in Beilen and Bedum plans to invest Eur130 million to However, the markets of Western in The Netherlands. double production of infant formula Europe and North America are and associated ingredients at its sites mature and have become stagnated. related industrial operations for Eur250 in Beilen and Bedum in The Netherlands.

Baby milk is the largest part of the total million. With over 25 million children The expansion is due to the growing global baby food market (including juices, born each year, India is the fastest-growing demand for ingredients for infant nutrition cereals, baby snacks and soups), with a infant nutrition market in the world. and for the production of total infant forshare of about 40%. The baby milk market Similarly, Abbott is investing $230 mil- mulas, primarily in Asia. Infant nutrition is consists of three main segments - infant lion (Eur160 million) to build a state-of- a core element of FrieslandCampina’s formulas (for babies up to 6 months), sec- the-art nutrition manufacturing facility in route2020 growth strategy. ond age and follow-on milks. Follow-on China. The facility represents Abbott's milks is the fastest growing segment. largest investment in China to date and will Major Development manufacture premium powdered milk A key development within the industry is Leading Players products for Chinese infants and children. the decision by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Nestle is the world’s leading producer of More than 17 million infants are born each to sell its Wyeth baby formula business, baby milk formula with almost 20% of the year in China and rising incomes and a which is estimated to be worth between $8 global market, followed by Mead Johnson, growing middle class have created increased billion and $10 billion. With roughly 80% Danone, Abbott and Wyeth (see Table). demand for high-quality nutrition prod- of its sales generated in high growth emergIndeed, the top five players account for ucts. To meet the needs of this dynamic ing markets and 60% in Asia, Wyeth is an about two-thirds of the total market. market, Abbott anticipates launching a attractive acquisition target for the other Although Nestle and Danone (incorpo- number of new product innovations over major players within the infant formula rating Royal Numico, Dumex, Milupa) are the next three years across the pediatric industry. Nestle and Danone are favourites the leading players in Western European, nutrition category in China. to acquire the $1.9 billion annual turnover the market is fragmented with a host of business as rival Mead Johnson appears to smaller companies competing. According Market Trends be more focused on organic growth. Asia to UBIC Consulting, the only growth The key thrust of development within baby accounts for about 45% of the world milk prospects in Western Europe are in the fol- milk in recent years has been to create formula market and the region also low-on and ‘growing-up’ segments products which most closely resemble accounts for over half of the births in the Controlling about 80% of sales, Abbot mothers’ breast milk along with catering for world. J and Mead Johnson dominate the US baby specific needs, such as low weight babies, or Leading Players in the Global Baby milk market. However, the product range producing hypoallergenic formulas. This is Milk Formula Market in the US is less segmented than in Europe. reflected in Nestle’s recent opening of new Company Market Share The Asian market is supplied by the big Eur117 million factory in Germany dediNestle 19.3% global manufacturers but the trend is cated to producing hypoallergenic (HA) Mead Johnson 16.4% increasingly towards joint ventures and the infant formula.

Danone 13.5% development of local production. For The main trends currently driving new Abbott 12.1% instance, Danone is entering the baby product development are product conveWyeth 5.6% nutrition and medical nutrition markets in nience, reinforcement of the immune sysSource: Reuters India by acquiring Wockhardt Group’s tem, reinforcement of brain and eye develnutrition business and brands as well as its opment, and adapting the formula to the

T

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I INFANT NUTRITION – CASE STUDY

Baby Food – The Right Formula he Hochdorf group is one of the leading T food companies in Switzerland with three production sites. Made from natural ingredients such as milk and wheat germ, Hochdorf products have been contributing to consumer's health and wellbeing since 1895 – from babies to senior citizens. In their plant in Sulgen, near the Bodensee, Hochdorf Nutritec decided to increase the production capacity of infant formula and standard milk powders. High quality and hygienic standards and effective process flow with perfect traceability were the main requirements. The very many different recipes made a quick, flexible and safe change-over without cross contamination necessary. Ergonomics was another key area.

The Solution

Tetra Guerin offered an ambitious global, full turnkey solution divided into two main parts: 1) Before the dryer: raw material handling and storage to accurate feeding of Tetra Almix vacuum mixer. Raw materials in bulk are transferred through 1 truck reception station. Due to long distance between truck and silos (25m), and even though the trucks are all equipped with

Inert gazing big bag filling station.

For ‘gentle dosing’ and hygienic purpose, the extraction of product from this buffer hopper is made by vibrating bottom and vibrating

diate silo storage for standard milk powder or direct feeding to baby food milk powder inert gas big bag filler. The dryer produces either skimmed milk powder for truck filling and silo storage, or baby food milk powder into big bag filler with different mixed and/or premix products. Start/stop product for baby food: at beginning and end of production phase, product out of specs (rework) is diverted from the normal route to a 5m3 hopper. This hopper is used as a buffer either to reintroduce rework at inlet point of fluid bed below dryer, or to feed big bags. Dryer output solution: to comply with baby food very high quality specs, a pressure dense phase pneumatic transport system is used to transfer product from dryer to storage silos. This ‘gentle transport’ allows minimizing breakage by combining a very low speed (between 3 to 6m/s) with high concentration of product into the transport pipe (between 40 to 50kg of product per kilo of air). Due to layout constraints, single pot pulse conveyor has been selected. The flow rate is tuned according to dryer output and product characteristics.

conveyor.

Skimmed Milk

their own blower, an additional blower is provided with its own air treatment. Truck unloading time is about 1h.The storage of raw material is made into 3 indoor stainless steel silos: 2 of 80 m3 each for lactose and dextrose and 1 of 30 m3 for premix. These silos are all fully explosion risk protected, equipped with continuous level indicator, dry air blown, and fixed on concrete first floor. Premix silo is fed by existing pneumatic transfer, the 2 others by truck reception station. Silo extraction and product dosing is done by vibrating bottom and screw feeder into 2x5000L weighing hoppers (accuracy +/- 2kg) for lactose and dextrose and 1x2000L weighing hopper (accuracy +/- 1kg) for premix. For cleaning and production flexibility, lactose, dextrose and premix silos can be fully emptied into big bags. For this, Tetra Guerin provided 1 big bag filling station with capacity of 6 big bags per hour minimum (see photo). Once dosed and weighed; the raw materials are fed into a Tetra Almix vacuum mixer with an output of 5000kg/h (2 batches of 2500kg per hour).

2) From dryer output: dense phase pressure pneumatic transport to either intermeFOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

For skimmed milk, this pneumatic trans-

Raw material silo dosing by screw feeder.

39

port system feeds 2 indoor stainless steel silos of 130m3 each, fully explosion risk protected, and equipped with continuous level indicator and air drying system.

Handling from intermediate silos: extraction from silos by vibrating bottom and screw conveyor dosing device to feed surge hopper. A rotary valve regulates product feeding into pneumatic transport. Skimmed milk powder transfer to truck fill in station: a 20T/h diluted phase pressure pneumatic transport is used to transfer product from silos to truck filling station. Extraction flow is regulated by rotary valve above adjustable truck filling device equipped with cyclone de-dusting station. Truck filling time is about 1h. The same pneumatic transport is used to feed 3 existing silos. Due to additional air volume, we supply new filtration system.

from this buffer hopper is made by vibrating bottom and vibrating conveyor into 2000L inert gas hopper. This hopper is

The Result

Baby Food

For baby food, the pneumatic transport system below dryer feeds an intermediate 6000L buffer hopper above inert gazing big bag filling station. For ‘gentle dosing’ and hygienic purpose, the extraction of product

40

equipped with continuous control of remaining oxygen level (max. 2%) and feeds big bag filling station with a capacity of 5T/h.

Anticipating the future, a more productive and flexible way of handling the ingredients was also proposed, using big bags, truck and can filling machines.

Furthermore the offer includes the dry ingredient handling for every powder in the plant, with full traceability from raw material to finished product. The equipment is designed to meet the highest quality and hygienic standards taking an ergonomic and safe working area into account.

Single pot pulse conveyor for ‘gentle transport’ to minimize product breakage.a

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

The new plant has different hygienic level and dedicated rooms for raw material silo storage, skimmed milk silo storage, pneumatic transfer, and Baby Food milk powder filler. The Guerin process and equipment ensure that all raw materials are free of foreign bodies, lumps or metallic particles.

Increased production capacity and full traceability are achieved with high quality and hygienic standards. J

I SCOTLAND

Diageo Develops One of World's Largest Spirits Packaging Plants The major extension to Diageo’s bottling plant at Banbeath in Leven, Scotland is nearing completion following investment of £86 million at the site. even spcialises in packaging white spirits, ready to drink products and Scotch malt whiskies. One of Diageo’s supply sites in Scotland, Leven is responsible for producing famous brands, including Smirnoff and Gordon’s Gin. The expansion work at Leven will increase bottling production at the site to more than 30 million cases a year, creating over 400 new jobs. The project has entailed the An aerial view of the new bottling hall at Leven during construction. construction of a new 16,500 square metre bottling hall, associated build- Diageo sites is part of a restructuring of the ings and infrastructure for roads, drainage drinks group’s operations in Scotland. and utilities. About 1,550 tonnes of steel Scotland is one of Diageo’s largest spirit have been used in the construction of the supply centres responsible for producing new bottling hall, which covers an area the nearly 50 million (9 litre equivalent) cases size of two and a half football pitches. of Scotch whisky and white spirits and over Once the new bottling hall opens, the four million cases of ready to drink brands Leven site will become one of the world's annually. Around 85% of Diageo’s brand largest spirits packaging plants. volumes produced in Scotland is sold overseas.

Restructuring in Scotland The restructuring programme includes The investment at Leven and at other the consolidation of distilling, packaging

L

and warehousing activities and involves the closure of a packaging plant, a distillery and a cooperage over a two-year period.

In addition to Leven, Diageo is also investing in its packaging site at Shieldhall near Glasgow, which is the largest plant of its type in the industry, packaging Diageo’s high volume Scotch whisky brands. The restructuring involves the consolidation of Diageo’s packaging operations in Scotland from three bottling plants to two and rationalisation of its packaging lines from 38 to 28.

The restructuring in Scotland will reduce the headcount by 500 people for the same production output and deliver savings of approximately £40 million across both packaging and distilling. According to Diageo, the measures will make its Scottish operations very cost effective and sustainable as well as ensuring continuous employment for the 4,000 people in Scotland who still remain in the business. J

Scottish Food and Drink Exports Set New Records Having reached record levels last year, export sales of Scottish food and drink products have broken the £2 billion mark for the first time in the first six months of 2011.

Figures for the first half of 2011 show food and drink exports now stand at £2.4 billion up 21% on the same period last year.

Scottish food and drink exports reached an all-time high of £4.5 billion in 2010, up 28% since 2007 and up 11% on the previous year. France was the top market for Scottish food exports in 2010, consuming £276 million worth of food, ranging from fish and shellfish to fruit and vegetables.

While fish exports continue to account for the majority of food exports from Scotland (59% in 2010), the sector that saw the biggest growth was fruit and vegetables. The value of exports in this sector grew by £14.6 million, or 62%, in 2010.

When it comes to drink exports, the market is dominated by whisky and

the USA remains the top destination with £499 million worth exported in 2010.

“The food and drink sector is a valuable part of Scotland's economy, and growing the export demand is a key part of this. That’s why we are continuing to support businesses to help them achieve continued export growth - which can only be a good thing both for the businesses themselves and the economy as a whole,” says Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead.

“We have been working in partnership with industry organisations to encourage Scottish food and drink companies to become more internationally ambitious, and to proactively target new markets,” remarks Anne MacColl, chief executive of Scottish Development International. “The strong export performance for the first half of 2011 shows that this approach is paying off, and that our food and drink sector remains ambitious, competitive and has a product which is very much in demand.”

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Esterpeel Lidding With Reseal-it – Two Market Leaders Join Forces FP Packaging Solutions, the leading manF ufacturer of lidding films, and MacFarlane Labels, producer of label reseal

There are a number of important advantages of using the Esterpeel Reseal-it system.

Esterpeel Reseal-it is a ‘solution on the reel’ which means that the packer can apply the film and seal the packs on a standard packing line, running at the normal speed; there is no need for any further packaging beyond the lidding film, so packaging is reduced in weight and simplified; Reseal-it is unique amongst label reseal systems in having a credible and effective tamper-evident function, and perhaps best of all, the pack is interesting, eye-catching and adds value to the products.

FFP worked closely with a number of producers to make sure that the new packaging could run easily on their production lines, leading up to the successful mid-September

products, have together developed Esterpeel Reseal-It, a secure, reliable recloseable lidding system that has been introduced to Tesco’s snack range of pasties, snack rolls, sausages and savoury eggs. FFP Packaging Solutions has decades of lidding film experience, and the multi-award winning Esterpeel brand is both well proven and trusted throughout the convenience food industry.

Reseal-it is the proven tamper-evident, recloseable label system produced by MacFarlane Labels. Added together they form a recloseable, tamper-evident heat seal lidding that simplifies and reduces packaging while being easy to use and attractive.

launch of the new Tesco range.

Commenting on the development, Gary Tee of FFP states: “Resealable lidding film has a huge potential to add value and reduce packaging. Now, with Esterpeel Reseal-it, we know that we have a fantastic new packaging option for a huge variety of products.” J

The One to Watch: Nicola Swann From Videojet Technologies icola Swann (pictured right) from Videojet Technologies is the winner of the PPMA Show's Ones to Watch awards, which recognise promising under 35 N years olds who have made a real impression on the packaging and processing machinery industry. As marketing manager for the UK and Ireland, Nicola, 29, is credited with revolutionising Videojet Tech-nologies' profile within the industry.

New business enquiries through the website have risen by more than 300%, making her one of the company's most valuable assets.

Chris Buxton, chief executive of the PPMA (pictured left), and one of the judges for the award, says: “We have such a wealth of young talent across the packaging and processing machinery industry and so it's only right that we celebrate the contribution they make. I congratulate Nicola and wish her every success in her future career.”

Sabine Fiehl from Busch UK and Greg Austin from Endoline Machinery also collected awards for Silver and Bronze respectively. J

Intersnack Chooses Kliklok’s Display Card Loader liklok has just installed a Display Card K Loader (D.CL.) for Intersnack, the UK’s fastest growing snack producer.

Specialising in the processing and packing of nuts at its plant in Haverhill, Intersnack called on Kliklok to provide innovative machine which automatically attach bags of nuts to display cards, for point of sale presentation in shops, bars and off-licences.

The DCL is a small footprint, high performance machine designed for twentyfour hour operation and can be integrated 42

with any bag maker operating at up to 90 bags per minute. The machine principle is based on two indexing conveyors, one feeds bags to a pick and place mechanism, the other delivers the display card to be filled.

The DCL loads and inserts filled bags onto the display cards without the use of staples or glue. The cards have a pattern of locking slots to retain the bags firmly in place during distribution and display, yet still allowing the bags to be easily removed at point of sale. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

Cargill’s Cocoa & Chocolate Business Offers New Speciality Chocolate Tastes

by Cargill’s cocoa and chocoIlatenvestment late business has boosted Cargill’s chococapabilities in speciality tastes. Three new chocolate tastes are the first fruits of this investment: chocolate with mocha (coffee) paste, chocolate with hazelnut paste, and an authentic Gianduja (hazelnut) chocolate, and are produced using two new processes developed by Cargill.

Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate offers the food industry a wide range of both standard and customised cocoa and chocolate ingredients to be used in bakery, confectionery, and dairy applications all over the world.

Coffee flavouring in confectionery is a growth area, and in the past three years the number of new confectionery product launches with coffee flavouring has increased dramatically from 378 in 2008 to

834 in 2010.

Traditionally, it has been difficult for manufacturers to create chocolate with strong flavours such as coffee, but Cargill has developed two new processes that allow such flavours to be incorporated into chocolate in a homogenous and consistent way. They also resolve the issue of line and product contamination with strong flavours, ensuring a consistent taste experience.

Cargill’s new mocha paste is flavoured with superior coffee beans and can be used mainly in dark, but also milk chocolate, for applications such as filled bars, pralines, ice cream, and bakery products, including biscuits.

Cargill’s chocolate with hazelnut paste is available from 0.5% to a maximum of 40% hazelnut content. At 0.5% hazelnut con-

tent, the chocolate has a greater creaminess and an enhanced mouthfeel, from 1-2% a subtle and natural signature nut profile emerges, and at 15-20% an authentic Giandjula chocolate is produced.

Giandjula chocolate paste has a legal definition for minimum hazelnut content – 20% for dark and 15% for milk chocolate. J

Bosch’s New Ultrasonic Guillotine Cutter For Clear Cuts in Bar Production osch Packaging Technology has B launched the new WRQ 0400 US ultrasonic cross-cutting guillotine device for bar production. The device is particularly suitable for products that are difficult to cut such as bars, cakes and pet food. The WRQ 0400 US uses ultrasonic technology

Bosch’s new ultrasonic guillotine cutter for clear cuts in bar production. The cutter offers high product quality even for difficult cutting a pplications while the ultrasonic-powered knife ensures that product does not stick to the surface of the blades.

to cut product arriving in mass ropes into individual bars and applies minimum stress and pressure while cutting to preserve product quality. “Due to its high-speed micro vibration, the ultrasonic technology results in clean cuts with sharp edges and smooth surfaces for further quality benefits,” explains Frank Jansen, product manager at Bosch Packaging Technology.

The ultrasonic-powered knife ensures that the product does not stick to the surface of the blades. Thus, the system is ideal for difficult cutting applications such as sensitive, sticky, laminated or layered products. The machine’s hygienic, open design allows easy access to all parts with product contact. Good accessibility enables quick cleaning after production as well as easy inspection before the start of production. This feature produces aesthetically pleasing products and also results in reduced cleaning times and minimal product waste.

With its universal design, existing WRQ guillotine machines can be easily retrofitted with the ultrasonic blade, capable of producing 80 cuts per minute. When equipped with a standard knife, performance is increased to up to 180 cuts per minute. J FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

Han Defauwes, new president and chief executive of Meyn.

New President and CEO at Meyn eyn Food Processing Technology has M appointed Han Defauwes as the company’s new president and chief executive.

Han Defauwes will succeed Han van der Broek, who managed the company since 1999 under a wide variety of business conditions, ranging from strong international growth to the crisis in 2009. The company’s come back from this crisis and the relocation of its headquarters is regarded as a prelude to a new ambitious era for Meyn. J 43

Fi Europe & Ni 2011 – The Global Platform For Food Innovation he leading event of the global food industry is coming to Paris between T 29th November and 1st December 2011.

Fi Europe & Ni 2011 gives the global food industry access to food ingredients and related services from all over the world.

Fi Europe & Ni 2011 will feature over 1,500 exhibitors, including key industry manufactures such as Corman, Dohler, Roquette, Cargill, Brenntag, Tate &Lyle, ADM, National Starch, FrieslandCampina, Barry Callebaut, DSM, Naturex, Cognis, BASF, CNI, Fortitech, Rousselot, Beneo, Döhler, ABF Ingredients, ACT, Azelis, Prayon, Caremoli, Bio Springer, Glanbia and Vitablend and many others.

Over 23,000 visitors are expected to attend the three day event. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Fi Europe, new and extended show features will be launched before and during the show, including expert innovation tours, a tasting bar, dedicated pavilions for new business, FiPSS (Food ingredients Processing, Safety & Services), organic food and different country pavilions.

The New Product Zone will not only display present innovations this year, but will also review how the industry has developed, and will take a visionary look into the future of food. The renowned Food ingredients Excellence Awards will recognise the leading ingredient manufacturers and their latest innovations alongside the 25th anniversary networking evening.

Fi Europe & Ni offers a wide range of features. * FiE & Ni Conference 2011 - a 3-day conference addressing the most important issues currently faced by the industry and highlighting exclusive case studies from top manufacturers. Each module will feature a line-up of expert speakers from leading food and beverage manufacturers, ingredients suppliers and research organisations sharing their expertise and experience

munity, and recognise these who have demonstrated exemplary work throughout the year.

Fi Europe & Ni 2011 is the must attend event for the food ingredients industry.

Visit the Fi Europe Website at www.fieurope.ingredientsnetwork.com for more information and register online for free.

from across the globe. * Seminar Sessions - the 30-minute seminar sessions are free to attend and will inform visitors on the latest innovations, developments and news. Key exhibitors will present new products applications, cuttingedge technology and practical insight. * New product Zone - new ingredients in the spotlight! For our 25th anniversary, the New Product Zone has been extended ; this year, not only it displays present innovations, but also reviews how the industry has developed in the last 25 year, and takes a visionary look into the future to foretell how food will look like in 25 years. * Fi Excellence Awards – the awards celebrate the best people, innovations and companies involved in the ingredients com-

Finalists for the Excellence Awards 2011 The finalists have been named for the Fi Excellence Awards 2011, which recognises the major innovations in the food industry across six categories.

Bakery Innovation of the Year * Muntons – Maltichoc - to be used as a partial cocoa powder and chocolate replacer in baked goods. * AIT Ingredients - VITALMALT SEIGLE - a “Clean Label” ingredient that advantageously replaces emulsifiers (E471, E481). * National Starch Food Innovation Homecraft Create GF20 - gluten-free flour is designed to meet the demands of bakery manufacturers and consumers.

The product is proprietary functional flour based on tapioca and rice.

Chengdu Wagott Launches Private Label Stevia Sweeteners For the Table Botanical extracts specialist, Chengdu Wagott Pharmaceuticals of China, has expanded its natural stevia extracts line, ViaSweet, to a new range of tabletop rebaudioside A sweetener formulations. In co-operation with Brenner Pharma/food, Israel, Wagott offers three private-label product alternatives to current trade retail brands.

“Wagott’s goal is to provide its customers strategic, value-added natural products with cost-efficient solutions,” explains Gary Brenner, founder of Brenner Pharma/food. “We are co-operating with well known toll manufacturers in Europe and Israel for three distinct options, with ViaSweet inside. We are extremely pleased with the finished product results, having successfully maintained the clean flavor profile of Wagott’s stevia.”

The customized versions include tablet dispensers, blisters and a patented liquid formulation. All products are offered in cleverly designed, convenient packaging and delivered directly from the toll manufacturer to Wagott customers.

“In anticipation of EU approval of stevia, Wagott has been consistently reaching out to European food and beverage markets the last two years, and is already a preferred stevia supplier for key marketers of the naturally derived, zero-calorie sweetener,” notes Gery Brenner. "Our strategy is to position ViaSweet as the sugar/artificial sweeteners substitute of choice for beverage and food industry sweetener producers in the US and Europe. The EU Commission Regulation will enter into force on 3 December 2011 and we anticipate ViaSweet sales will grow accordingly. ViaSweet was declared SelfAffirmed GRAS—‘generally recognized as safe‘—by the FDA earlier this year.”

Visit Wagott at booth 3C20 at FiE in Paris. For further information, contact Yonatan Brenner at +972 52-5613914, yonatanbrenner@pharmafood-bd.com.

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Dairy Innovation of the Year * Chr. Hansen A/S - Red Strawberry Fragaria 100 WS - The new patent pending carmine has superior process stability enabling a decrease of pigment concentration by 10 - 20% compared to standard carmine. * IDI - cheasing'up - new technology and new proteins for cheese production. * DSM - DELVOFRESH Sour Cream the first portfolio of concept solutions to be launched under the umbrella, catering for regional trends in the global sour cream market.

Beverage Innovation of the Year * D.D. Williamson - Acid-Proof, Class One Caramel Colour (DDW 520) Conventional Class One caramel colour is stable down to pH 3.5. DDW 520, stable below pH 2.5, is a breakthrough in soft drink concentrates. * National Starch Food Innovation Purity Gum- a unique emulsion stabilizing starch derived from waxy maize. * Archer Daniels Midland Company CLARISOY™ - the world’s only transparent soy protein that provides beverage manufacturers the ability to achieve an FDA ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ source of protein rating in qualifying transparent low pH beverages.

Savoury/Meat Innovation of the Year * Sotexpro - Texta Pois 65/70 - A new Textured Vegetable Protein (100% from Pea ) * Walter Rau Neusser Öl und Fett AG Brata breaded coating MP 5808 and

MP 5809 - help consumers to fight obesity, simplify processing, improve work safety, and reduce energy and vegetable oil consumption. * Purac - PuraQ Arome NA4 - a breakthrough in clean label, natural solutions for sodium reduction in food.

Confectionery Innovation of the Year * AAK - CEBES™ LS 75 - an unhydrogenated coating fat with a reduced content of saturated fatty acids * Purac - PURAC Powder MA - a revolutionary designed coated acid developed for the confectionery industry. * Barry Callebaut - Terra Cacao - This

revolutionary, all-natural, controlled fermentation technique method consistently produces top-quality cocoa with zero defects or off-flavors.

Snacks/On-The-Go Innovation of the Year * Lyckeby Culinar AB - Culinar Include - an innovation especially designed to bring 100 % natural colours and flavours to breakfast cereals and muesli. * Vis Vitalis gmbH - vis-vitalis®-Potato Mineral Flour - a completely new and natural food ingredient, which consists of a high quality natural minerals and trace elements obtained from potatoes, dolomite and quinoa sprouts. J

POLARIS Nutritional Lipids at FIE 2011 POLARIS, one of the main players in the field of health by nutritional lipids, will be present at the 2011 Food Ingredients Europe show. POLARIS will present its activities and its products innovations. POLARIS, expert in innovative nutritional lipids, offers a wide range of health ingredients and a new high value ‘custom manufacturing’ activity.

POLARIS will exhibit at FIE its last innovation on powders for food applications - a powder rich in Omega 3 DHA without taste, without odour, which is ideal for bakery. As for the nutritional oils, POLARIS offers a pure and natural salmon oil which is deodorized and rich in Omega 3 fatty acids. POLARIS also has a whole range of deodorized oils with different EPA/DHA Omega 3 ratios.

POLARIS assures the high stability and the purity of marine and vegetable oils thanks to its QUALITYSILVER patented process that allows the stabilization of oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids against oxidation. This process acts by delaying the phase of oxidation of oil. The organoleptic and nutritional properties of marine and vegetable oils are thus efficiently protected. POLARIS will be exhibiting on the stand 3B89-9.

Natural Ingredients From Fortivia ortivia is a natural ingredients supplier F specialized in rice by-products valorization. Its expertise in rice industry has been expended through different R&D projects which have led to the development of OryzaGerm®, a new ingredient made from stabilized rice germ.

Rice germ is the fraction of the rice kernel with the richest content in nutrients. Its richness in natural vitamins and minerals makes it the ideal solution to increase the nutritional profile of processed cereal-base food products. OryzaGerm® is a nutritional treasure containing most of the essential nutrients indispensable for life. It supplies vegetable proteins of high quality, essential fatty acids whose 45% are polyunsaturated and a wide range of antioxidant compounds. Because of its richness in 46

natural vitamins and minerals, OryzaGerm® benefits from several positive claims from EFSA (Nervous system, Cardiovascular system, Bones system, Immune system).

OryzaGerm® can favorably replace wheat germ in food applications because it shows a nutritional profile at least equivalent to it, but doesn’t contain any gluten.

Thanks to the absence of gluten in OryzaGerm® it may be consumed by gluten intolerants and coeliac persons or more generally by people who wishes to FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

avoid gluten and other allergenic compounds. With its high fiber content, rice germ is very digestible and ideal for sensitive intestine persons.

OryzaGerm® is available under different forms such as raw, powder or flakes according to its final application. Its pleasant nutty flavour enables its consumption directly by sprinkling it on salad, meat or yoghurt. It can be used in many kind of food industries.

Suggested applications include: * Biscuits and dietary biscuits * Industrial bakery * Energy bars and drinks * Gluten free industry * Food supplements * Animal nutrition * And much more! J

Irish Dairy Board Opens New €12.7 Million Dairy Ingredients Facility in England dams Food Ingredients, an English subsidiary of the Irish Dairy A Board, has opened a state-of-the-art dairy ingredients plant at Leek in Staffordshire. The new 65,000 sq ft facility, including an innovation centre, was completed on time and on budget at a cost of ?12.7 million. It marks the successful delivery of a €70 million capital development programme by the IDB in Britain over the past five years.

The new AFI plant is dedicated to developing customised dairy ingredient solutions, aimed at customers in Britain and export markets. It complements the IDB’s cheese pre-packaging plant, also based in Leek, which was commissioned in 2009 and is the largest pre-packer of cheese to the British retail sector.

The new dedicated powder blending production facility further strengthens AFI’s position in the British market as a leading specialist of dairy-based food formulations by doubling capacity to over 20,000 tonnes per annum and giving greater flexibility to produce a range of packaging formats to meet specific customer needs.

The innovation centre will enhance AFI’s ability to add value to dairy ingredients and will provide AFI with the platform to develop more advanced specialist applications in partnership with food manufacturers.

The new facility will employ 50 people and replace AFI’s existing facility in Prince Street, Leek. The new manufacturing centre is located on a site adjacent to Adams Foods, IDB’s British consumer foods business. The total IDB complex comprises of six hectares.

The new AFI plant is dedicated to developing customised dairy ingredient solutions, aimed at customers in Britain and export markets.

In 2009, the IDB commissioned its new Adams Foods cheese pre-packaging plant in Leek, which packs over 3.5 million packets of cheese a week. The IDB has also invested in its Meadow Cheese ingredients plant in Ledbury, Herefordshire. J

Kerry Group Acquiring Cargill’s Global Flavours Business For $230 Million erry Group, the global ingredients K and flavours and consumer foods group, has agreed to acquire Cargill’s global flavours business for $230 million.

Cargill Flavor Systems has annual revenues of approximately $200 million.

Cargill Flavor Systems has well-established international flavour technology development expertise serving a global customer base through provision of flavour ingredients and flavour systems for beverage, dairy, sweet and savoury applications. The business has longstanding relationships with leading global food and beverage manufacturers and employs 700 people through its integrated flavour development and application centres in France, the UK, South Africa, India, Malaysia, China, the USA, PuertoRico, Mexico and Brazil, supported by a network of sales representative offices in

tweleve other countries.

The acquisition of Cargill Flavor Systems will strengthen Kerry’s capability to provide integrated customer solutions across all food and beverage end-use-markets and extend the group’s market spread in emerging markets. The transaction which is subject to regulatory approval is FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

expected to be completed by year-end.

Kerry is also expanding its sweet ingredients and flavours business with the acquisition of SuCrest. With production and product development facilities located in Hochheim, Germany and Vitebsk, Belarus and a sales representative office in Moscow, SuCrest is a leading provider of sweet ingredients to the bakery, icecream, confectionery, cereal and snack sectors in European markets. SuCrest has annual revenue of ?50 million. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed by year-end.

Serving a wide customer base in 140 countries, Kerry employs some 23,000 people across the group’s manufacturing and product development facilities in 23 countries and its network of international representative offices. J 47

Volac Puts the Spotlight on Opportunities in the Nutrition Bar Market he $982 million global nutrition bar market is mature, crowded and T noisy. However, a new consumer focus on lifestyle-oriented brands which provide more than simply a snacking need has opened up niche opportunities for driving added value.

Volac, Europe’s largest supplier of nutritional whey protein for lifestyle applications, is creating exciting opportunities for its customers to take advantage of this current market dynamic.

Recent reports show that 75% of nutrition bars are bought by women, offering manufacturers and retailers new commercial opportunities for product development and positioning potential. Whilst the established sports nutrition bar segment continues to grow, a more mainstream consumer is emerging as the future of the category. Driven by a combination of wanting healthy food choices, which includes weight management and satiety solutions plus convenience, this new consumer is seeking much more from a nutrition bar than has traditionally been the case.

Suzane Leser, nutrition manager for Lifestyle Ingredients explains how this can be achieved: “By adding whey protein into

a bar, a balance of nutrients delivers an ‘all in one’ nutritional solution, whether as breakfast ‘on the go’ or an ideal guilt free snack. This way, people can balance the intake of high quality proteins with carbohydrate, and potentially less sugar.”

Volactive ProCrisp is a particularly exciting ‘on trend’ member of Volac’s Lifestyle Ingredients nutritional whey protein range, since it enables a potential bar

format with great taste, crunchy texture and low calorific content, all purchasing motivations for women.

Volac’s head of Lifestyle Ingredients, Mark Neville comments: “Our customers realise that with an increasingly mainstream audience, who are interested in healthy but tasty choices, they need to meet a growing demand for lowcalorie bars which offer protein in order to provide a nutritionally balanced snacking option. We see this as a promising growth area for whey protein in lifestyle applications and will be working with both existing and potential new customers to fulfil this consumer demand. With Volac’s reputation for innovative and creative product development, we know we can offer manufacturers whey protein ingredients to propel the bar segment to the next level.”

Concept products containing Volactive ProCrisp will be available to sample at Food Ingredients Europe, 29th November-1st December 2011 (Hall 3, Stand 3B50).

For further information visit www.volac.com/lifestyle-ingredients or contact sales@volac.com. J

New General Manager for Frutarom Flavors Europe lobal flavours and fine ingredients supplier Frutarom has appointed Karen CroftsG Hotston as new general manager Flavors Europe. She will have responsibility for flavour sales, technology and R&D, as well as site management, and will report directly to Frans Struiwig, general manager of Frutarom Foods Europe.

Karen Crofts-Hotston has more than 30 years of experience in the flavours and fragrances industry, having started her career at Bush Boake Allen and then with IFF. She has experience in all elements of the business from marketing, technical, sales, creative management and business development at both regional and global level.

Frutarom has pursued an intense growth strategy in recent times, as demonstrated by its acquisitions of the flavour specialists EAFI, Aromco, Flavor Systems International as well as other companies earlier this year. Assimilating these versatile companies and turning their particular areas of interest into new opportunities for people and markets has opened up new challenges for Frutarom.

“My aim will be to take Frutarom to the next stage of its successful development and ensure sustainable and organic, yet profitable growth by meeting the demands of today’s markets, consumers and manufacturers,” says Karen Crofts. “In today’s challenging markets, we need to understand our customers like never before and everything we do must be of benefit to them.” J 48

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, OCTOBER 2011

Karen Crofts-Hotston, new general manager of Frutarom Flavors Europe.