FoodChain Issue 115 July 2016

FoodChain Issue 115

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JULY 2016

The business of food and drink

On

trend

Keeping up with what’s new in the ingredients market

Industry News l

Wrapped up Plastic packaging is continually evolving, with its green credentials constantly under scrutiny

Another delicious new product launch from Rachel’s Organic

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Salads with a difference now available from Bodega

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Kirly-Sue’s new coconut oil is certified organic

Built on trust Damage limitation is essential when dealing with food recalls - this requires supply chain collaboration

FoodChain ISSUE 115 L JULY 2016

THE BUSINESS OF FOOD AND DRINK

Editor’s Welcome

On

trend

Keeping up with what’s new in the ingredients market

Industry News L Another

delicious new product launch from Rachel’s Organic

Wrapped up Plastic packaging is continually evolving, with its green credentials constantly under scrutiny

L Salads

with a difference now available from Bodega

L Kirly-Sue’s

new coconut oil is certified organic

Built on trust Damage limitation is essential when dealing with food recalls - this requires supply chain collaboration

Chairman Andrew Schofield Editor Libbie Hammond

Time of change

Art Editor Advertising Design Fleur Daniels Staff Writers Jo Cooper Andrew Dann Profiles Manager Emma Crane Sales Director Joe Woolsgrove Sales Mark Cawston Tim Eakins Andy Ellis Darren Jolliffe Jonas Junca Dave King Theresa McDonald Elliott Scales Rob Wagner Operations Director Philip Monument Editorial Researcher Alasdair Gamble Mark Kafourous Office Manager Advertising Administrator Tracy Chynoweth Studio Assistant Barnaby Schofield

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ell, here we are after a historic referendum vote for the UK to leave the EU. As I am writing this page, the dust is still settling and opinions on what the future holds change on a daily or even hourly basis.

According to Canadean, the keys to targeting consumers in the UK will remain

fundamentally similar in the near future, so hasty decisions need not be made just yet.

Consultants Frost & Sullivan also had some sensible words: “Although the results are a cause for concern, one must remember that they also herald the mark of a new beginning for the UK which will be influenced by a strong government policy, the success of negotiations with the EU and the rest of the world. We will have to wait and watch to see how the nation’s growth story

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unfolds.”

In the next issue I hope to look more deeply at the effects of Brexit – if you have any opinions, please do get in touch.

@FoodChain_mag

Schofield Publishing Cringleford Business Centre, 10 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich, NR4 6AU, U.K. T: +44 (0)1603 274130F: +44 (0)1603 274131 www.foodchainmagazine.com

libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

© 2016 Schofield Publishing Ltd Please note: The opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers within this publication do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor and publisher. Every reasonable effort is made to ensure that the information published is accurate, and correct at time of writing, but no legal responsibility for loss occasioned by the use of such information can be accepted by the publisher. All rights reserved. The contents of the magazine are strictly copyright, the property of Schofield Publishing, and may not be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Contents 8

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6 Features Food safety Keep it clean

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Innovations in plastic packaging include areas such as biodegradability, nanomaterials, or even edible solutions

Product recalls Built on trust

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Free-from foods, protein, organic, world foods and spice blends are all hot topics at the moment – Christine Peers reports

Hand hygiene compliance must not fall by the wayside in the wake of fewer food hygiene inspections by local authorities

Packaging Wrapped up

Ingredients A taste of what’s to come

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The need to conduct product recalls will unfortunately always be a concern for the food industry – efficient supply chains can help

Sour ale A sour twist

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Brewers are always experimenting with new flavours – at the moment sour beers are growing in popularity and sophistication

News

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Taste Test

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Up-to-date products and announcements from the food and beverage sector

The FoodChain team sample a selection of new and innovative foods and drinks

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44 48

20 Profiles

Innovations & developments within some of the world’s finest companies

Rocco Forte Hotels 20

Each Rocco Forte hotel has an individual identity that harks back to its location, so that each hotel, restaurant and bar is a fully unique concept

East End Foods 26

Its approach to providing the best quality ingredients helps to distinguish East End Foods from the rest of the competition

bartlett mitchell 30

With a culture based on the personalities of its founders, bartlett mitchell has honed a ‘can-do’ attitude throughout its operations

Alyasra Foods 34

Alyasra Foods supplies a wide selection of leading food and beverage brands to clients across the GCC markets

East of England Co-Operative 38

The East of England Co-op wants to be seen as a friendly retailer and encourages customers to feel free to ‘pop-in’ to its stores

Ickx 44

When it comes to its chocolate and pralines, quality is unquestionably at the top of Ickx’s list of priorities, alongside creativity and product innovation

RoyalMnandi 48

RoyalMnandi delivers exceptional food service solutions to a broad range of industries including commercial, healthcare, industrial and education

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Keep it clean A Don’t let a decline in food hygiene inspections equal poor hand hygiene compliance.

By Paul Jakeway 4

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ccording to new research published by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), there has been a dramatic decline in food hygiene inspections in the UK. Between 2003 and 2014 there has been a 15 per cent drop in inspections handled by local authorities1, with budget cuts and falling staff levels to blame.

However, food service establishments must not get complacent and let hygiene standards slip in the wake of these new findings. It is crucial that health and safety managers continue to implement effective hygiene practices in the workplace, because even if the

Paul Jakeway

threat of being inspected is minimised, customer’s health and wellbeing must remain of paramount importance.

Despite inspection numbers falling, there remains a worryingly high amount of food service establishments, which are not adhering to recommended hygiene practices. According to a second study by the FSA in 2005, 13 per cent of 5000 food service premises inspected failed to comply with statutory hygiene obligations, and a further 46 per cent of premises demonstrated some non-compliance2. This can only mean that there are many more food establishments that are also being noncompliant, but are able to slip under the

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Food Safety

Failing to adhere to hand hygiene best practice places the customer at a direct risk of contracting food poisoning, and can have a damaging effect on food service establishments too

radar due to the decline in inspection numbers.

Food service inspections are carried out by local authorities and are rated on a scale from 0-5. The grading is based on how the food is prepared and cooked, as well as the condition of the building and what management is doing to ensure that the food served is indeed safe.

Hand washing It has been estimated that 5.5 million people in the UK are affected by food poisoning each year3, primarily due to inadequate hand hygiene facilities being provided. Shockingly, 39 per cent of food service employees have

admitted to not washing their hands after visiting the toilet, and 53 per cent confessed that they do not wash their hands before preparing food4. Failing to adhere to hand hygiene best practice places the customer at a direct risk of contracting food poisoning, and can have a damaging effect on food service establishments too. It has the potential to lead to a loss of profit, poor company reputation and even compensation payouts or closure.

Whatever the food establishment, its goals will be to maintain profit margins and an impeccable reputation, and investing in hand hygiene procedures will help achieve both of those goals.

Firstly, it is crucial that employees are aware of the critical handwashing points, such as before and after visiting the toilet, after touching raw meat or any equipment that has touched raw meat, and before touching food. Employers must facilitate this regimented hand washing process by providing employees with the appropriate hand cleansers, sanitisers and dispensers at critical points in the workplace to encourage regular hand washing.

Ensuring that employees are in keeping with hand hygiene regulations will ensure that food service establishments meet inspection criteria, but to have a happy, skin-healthy workforce, it is also recommended to provide staff with pre-work protection and after-work restorative hand creams.

The hands are regularly exposed to a range of threats at the workplace, which could lead to employees developing an occupational skin disease.

In food and catering workplaces, chefs, waitresses, catering assistants and cleaners are likely to come into prolonged contact with potential skin irritants such as water, soap and detergents; which cause around 55 per

cent of occupational skin diseases at the workplace5. However, occupational skin disease is something that can be easily prevented if the right skin care creams are used. A pre-work cream should be used before employees come into contact with any potential irritants, creating a protective layer over the skin to prevent hazardous substances from reaching the skin. An after-work cream should be used after employees come into contact with potential irritants, and works to restore, recondition and moisturise the skin. This prevents the skin from becoming dry and chapped; a common predecessor of occupational skin disease.

Ultimately, even if the number of UK food service inspections continues to decline, as health and safety managers in food establishments, it is pivotal that the welfare of customers and employees remain a priority. Providing a comprehensive and cost-effective hand hygiene system that is fit-for-purpose will ensure that your food establishment is leading by example, all year round. D 1, 2, 4 Food Standards Agency (FSA) 3 The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) 5 Health and Safety Executive

Paul Jakeway is marketing director at Deb. For over 80 years, Deb Group has been establishing skin care regimes for all types of workplace and public environments, spanning industrial, automotive, healthcare, commercial, hotels, restaurants, catering and leisure, food manufacturing and retail sectors. Deb comprises 21 companies operating in 16 countries, with Deb products sold in over 100 countries. www.debgroup.com/uk

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Wrapped up The future of plastic packaging.

By Phil Jones

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ny discussion about plastic packaging is always going to end up as a debate about its environmental impact. Plastic packaging can extend freshness, protect against breakage and is becoming easier to recycle but the ‘life span’ of a plastic container continues to cause concern. And, because of the time it takes to biodegrade, plastic is one area of food packaging where some of the most fascinating innovations are being explored.

There is a lot of work being done to explore and improve biodegradable plastic by using natural materials like starch and corn which disintegrate almost immediately when soaked without producing methane gas. This biodegradable plastic only leaves a harmless residue of water and biomass, which can be safely washed down the drain or, in some cases, consumed.

Our client, Nestlé, is committed to reducing the use of plastic and in 2012 made a pledge to reduce and eventually remove the plastic from all their Easter egg packaging. Nestlé originally considered using a starchbased material but, after trial and error, decided on a cardboard tray. Nestlé UK & Ireland became the first major confectioner to present its entire Easter egg range in 100 per cent recyclable material by replacing rigid plastic with cardboard in its mug eggs.

High tech solutions Easter eggs create 3000 tonnes of UK waste each year and the impact of the removal of plastic packaging from Nestlé’s SMARTIES®, KIT KAT® and AERO® Easter eggs, was the culmination of a six year programme that has already saved 726 tonnes of plastic waste going to landfill per year.

Packaging The last products to become 100 per cent recyclable were the YORKIE®, MUNCHIES® and KIT KAT® Easter eggs, which include a branded mug. The 48 tonnes of plastic used to secure the mugs and eggs has now been replaced with recyclable cardboard certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and a compostable film for the windows resulting in a 30 per cent reduction in packaging in the mug eggs.

But the future of plastic packaging isn’t just about avoiding the use of plastic.

There are some high-tech solutions that are helping to shake up the industry from the inside. Nano materials are becoming more popular. Biodegradable plastic generally has poor barrier properties but when nano-additives are added, this can be addressed in an extraordinary way. One example that is currently being explored is loading micro-sensors with nanoparticles into biodegradable plastic. The technology can trigger a change in the packaging’s colour if it detects over two per cent of oxygen inside the container. The practicality for manufacturers and retailers of being able to see food that has passed its sell-by date in such a clear way will be welcomed.

The latest in the plastics family, and an innovation that’s creating huge excitement is graphene. Discovered by two professors at the University of Manchester in 2004 (who were awarded a Nobel Prize), graphene is a form of carbon made up of planar sheets that are one atom thick, with the atoms arranged in a honeycomb-shaped lattice. It’s because of this honeycomb structure that it has enormous strength despite it being one of the thinnest materials. Graphene has become champion of superlatives: 200 times stronger than steel, a superconductor more efficient than copper, the most transparent material and impermeable to liquid and gas.

Given its properties, graphene appears to be the best candidate to replace silicon in the future or to be incorporated into nanocomposites and adapted to all applications where transparency and resistance are required such as ultra-thin flexible screens, packaging and optical

equipment fitted with electronic circuits or ultra-resistant glass.

And it’s not only UK scientists and academics that have been experimenting with graphene since its discovery. Researchers at Shanghai University have developed two waterbased dispersible graphene derivatives that they’ve used within antibacterial paper to effectively inhibit the growth of E. coli.

Brand engagement The scrutiny on food manufacturers in relation to how they package their goods is at an all-time high. And consumers are vocal about what they feel might be the wasteful or excessive packaging of food. Recently, individual oranges or bananas that had been sealed in plastic for sale resulted in consumers’ derision and criticism of the brand and retailer responsible. However, according to Lynn Dyer, president of the US Foodservice Packaging Institute, people shouldn’t forget the reason we use plastic is for sanitation. “That’s why single-use products were invented over 100 years ago,” says Dyer, “to help stop the spread of contagious diseases.”

Maybe the answer lies in the harmless packaging material that is being created and should be available soon for food brands. HarmlessDissolve does just that. It’s non-toxic and is degraded by microorganisms, moulds and yeast, but can also transform into a drinkable residue when placed in hot water. Created in the UK

by Cyberpac, the packaging material was first seen on newsstands, with a transparent bag containing Creative Review magazine in 2009. It’s not unique. US Company MonoSol has invented a water-soluble film called Vivos, which is edible and effective for a number of food and drink products such as coffee, cereal, hot chocolate and pasta. With no smell or taste, it dissolves in hot water and can be consumed safely.

But it may be a while before the consumers themselves take to eating packaging. For many of our clients the packaging has become a vital way in which the brand can engage with the customer. When tied into a larger marketing campaign that incorporates digital activities, the packaging can be the way to explain, inform and entertain.

The future of plastic packaging is connected. With the ability to deliver additional content to smartphone users and monitor engagement with customers, brands are recognising that the power of the packaging is contributing directly to their ecommerce efforts. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll get to the bottom of a tub of icecream and be able to scan a code with your mobile to reorder the same thing. D Phil Jones is European Operations Director at Anthem.

Anthem is a global creative agency that actively connects brands with people by amplifying desirability– creating an insatiable thirst for brands from package design to brand campaign. Anthem sells brands to drive brand performance.

Anthem is an SGK Group company and SGK is a division of Matthews International Corporation. For more information visit: www.anthemww.com

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Built on

trust T

Shaun Bossons discusses a global approach to food recalls in the supply chain

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he increasingly complex global supply chain has made food scares a common occurrence, with 63 food alerts issued by the FSA in 2015 alone. Food recalls are also on the rise: according to recent research, the number of recalls per year in the US has almost doubled since 2002.

Unless handled effectively, product recalls can have potentially damaging consequences, such as loss of consumer trust and damaging the image of the retail industry as a whole. The recent recall by Mars of products in 55 countries is a good example of how far reaching a recall can be. While some problems such as intentional food fraud are unavoidable, companies can ensure complete transparency across the entirety of their supply chain in order to act as quickly as possible when the problem occurs and limit damage.

Shaun Bossons

of its salad bags after ten confirmed and 134 suspected cases of Salmonella were reported across Australia. Tripod Farmer had also distributed products overseas to countries in Asia, but luckily managed to successfully notify customers before the product hit the shelves. Speed is of the essence when dealing with product recalls - to reduce the risk of harm and demonstrate that everything is being done to protect the public’s wellbeing.

Visibility into the supply chain can also help avoid problems occurring in the first place, according to some research from CIPS. Two thirds of supply chain managers with strong relationships up to three tiers and beyond said they avoided a major crisis in the previous 12 months, while this figure was only 45 per cent for those supply chain managers who have relationships with tier one suppliers only.

Far and wide

Complexity underlies the problem

It’s not just Mars that shows how one single incident can pose a massive threat to the wider supply chain. For example, in May 2016 the Australian salad company Tripod Farmer had to recall all

The complexity of the global supply chain means it is now only a matter of time before we see the next major product recall. Unfortunately retailers and manufacturers can’t stop recalls

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Product recalls

The need to conduct effective product recalls will unfortunately always be a concern for the food industry, but by ensuring complete transparency across the supply chain retailers and manufacturers can limit the damage and conserve consumer trust

happening, and the damage caused to consumer trust is likewise inevitable.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom – consumers do understand that mistakes can happen despite retailers’ best efforts. The only caveat is that retailers and manufacturers need to demonstrate that they are working to limit the damage caused by food scares as much as possible, and resolving the problem quickly through effective recalls.

This requires real time collaboration through all tiers of the supply chain: identifying products affected and removing them from shelves; identifying the cause of the problem and making sure the same mistakes cannot happen again; and finally communicating the action to the consumer to preserve that relationship.

Risky business Transparency can also help beyond the individual recall by letting the retailer or manufacturer know the level of risk they are exposed to by the suppliers.

They can then use this knowledge to limit the damage. In fact, the FSA recently committed to use science, evidence and information to improve consumer trust as a response to the damage caused by recent food scares.

Retailers and manufacturers can start by identifying the most vulnerable parts of their supply chain and then working back on this basis. Are there

any global health scares spreading to new countries that could compromise the safety of your ingredients? Do you know for sure that your supplier has passed all certification needed and can prove that they are responsible food producers?

Can you guarantee to a consumer that a product is 100 per cent gluten free?

If this information is shared throughout the entire supply chain retailers and manufacturers can comply with existing laws and use transparency as a marketing tool for consumers, championing ethical credentials as well at the product’s quality.

Food producers need to engender trust Trust is a delicate thing; but the retail and customer relationship is built on it. This is especially true in the modern competitive landscape where shoppers are losing brand loyalty and demanding more from the retailers they shop with.

Through introducing greater traceability of ingredients and transparency of information, retailers and manufacturers can start to repair some of the damage, one opinion at a time.

The need to conduct effective product recalls will unfortunately always be a concern for the food industry, but by ensuring complete transparency across the supply chain retailers and manufacturers can limit the damage and conserve consumer trust. Better visibility into the supply chain and forming stronger relationships beyond tier one suppliers will be essential in dealing with the challenge. D Shaun Bossons is Executive Vice President for Global Business Development at Trace One. Trace One connects all supply chain network stakeholders to accelerate product innovation while creating supply chain transparency. Trace One powers the world’s largest network for private label development with more than 20,000 companies in 110 countries developing over $300B in annual products spend.

The company has offices in Boston, Chicago, Paris, London, São Paulo, Lisbon, Madrid and Dusseldorf. www.traceone.com

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IndustryNews

Love a latte?

Rachel’s luscious and luxurious organic low fat Limited Edition Caramel Latte yogurt has now launched.

Inspired by the popular coffee flavour, the yogurt includes tempting sweet caramel, blended with real coffee and Rachel’s scrumptiously thick and creamy organic low fat yogurt.

Rachel’s is based in Aberystwyth, West Wales, and is Britain’s first organic dairy and pioneer of branded organic dairy produce. All Rachel’s products are made simply using the highest quality organic ingredients, with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. The complete range is available from major supermarkets and independent organic food stockists throughout the UK. The new low fat Limited Edition flavour was made available in Waitrose and Ocado stores nationwide from May 2016. www.rachelsorganic.co.uk

Snack with a difference A premium range of protein-packed snacks are being launched into Waitrose

by Meatsnacks Group Ltd. under the name Wild West Deli. The release of Wild West Deli marks the start of an exciting new venture for Meatsnacks Group a s it looks to attract a wider, more premium audience.

Most evident is the packaging, which marks a departure from its standard laminated foil packets to reveal a fresher look and feel with a matte packet and clean design.

Available initially in two appetising flavours, Thai Spice and Chilli & Lime, the pieces of lean beef brisket make a delicious pre-dinner snack and great for wine pairings such as a velvety Malbec with the Chilli & Lime or a refreshing Riesling for the Thai Spice.

Taste has not been compromised in the development of the new range, with the fresh ingredients and superior flavours of this latest offering shining through. The beef jerky promises to be both soft and

Further than flavour Leading olive brand, Bodega, has branched out into two new categories, launching a range of flavour-inspired grain salads and a selection platter that brings together a classic combination of antipasti ingredients.

As Mary Pennell, Marketing and NPD Controller at Continental Fine Foods explained: “Grain salads are wholesome and healthy but can often be bland. At Bodega we don’t take bland for an answer; we take the grains and add tasty ingredients and interesting textures to create mouthwatering colourful salads. While some salads conjure up images of limp leaves or mayonnaise laden mixes; the Bodega salads go Way Beyond Salad.”

The Bodega antipasti selection is classically continental and full of Mediterranean colour, taste and texture – perfect for sharing. Bodega aims to take their customers ‘Further than Flavour’

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and recognises that the world is full of undiscovered ingredients packed with flavour. While some seek these out, Bodega aims to bring together these different tastes, unusual textures and vibrant colours to create truly original dishes.

The salad range is divided into three individual statement selections: l Spanish – Quinoa and lentils with a rich tomato paste, sweet yellow tomatoes, Iberico cheese, salty capers and chilli pepper pearls. l Italian – Spelt and quinoa with a fragrant basil pesto, juicy red peppers, semi-dried tomatoes and creamy mozzarella pearls. l Moroccan – Bulgur wheat with spicy rose harissa, green beldi olives, sweet red peppers, yellow tomatoes, goats cheese and crunchy pumpkin seeds. www.mybodega.co.uk

tasty, made with only the highest quality beef brisket, which is then carefully marinated and smoked over applewood chips. www.meatsnackshop.com

IndustryNews

Pop of protein Bowyers has launched a new Snackerz range with the introduction of snack bags and larger tubs to market in a choice of three varieties; mini egg bites, cocktail sausages and mini sausage rolls.

Bowyers has created the smaller bags to aim more directly at deskers, busy commuters and drivers. With the mini egg bites and cocktail sausages launching in bags of seven and the mini sausages in a bag of six, they are the perfect answer to the consumers’ need for real food, with no mess portion control and an energy driver. They are incremental to a sandwich, slice or roll and tick the box for those looking for an alternative snack.

The move reflects customer insight and the demand for a protein-based snack as opposed to crisps and chocolate. www.addofoodgroup.com

Super accurate solution In response to a request from Unilever Ice Cream UK to increase the efficiency of the tray placement for their Viennetta product, Linkx packaging systems have just developed and installed four brand new, bespoke servo-driven pick and place tray systems in the company’s Gloucester plant.

Misplaced trays were a big issue on the Viennetta production line as they cause product and machine contamination and force sanitation to clean the machines - causing downtime on the production line. So Linkx developed a solution that integrates with their existing machine and has increased the efficiency of the product placement from three to ten misplaced trays per hour to less-than one misplaced tray every four hours giving an accuracy level of 99.99 per cent.

Barry Dunne of Unilever says: “Viennetta is a very important product for us and we had no hesitation in appointing Linkx to help improve the operations on one of the biggest production lines in the plant. The bespoke pick and place tray systems have made massive improvements in both reliability

and safety as well as being easy to use and maintain.”

The new systems further increases efficiency for Unilever as they prevent the need for any misplaced trays to be discharged, which previously caused delays on the production line. In the event of any misplaced trays the machine utilises the latest Allen Bradley Kinetix 5500 servo control system to stop the outfeed belts and swap the vacuum pick to a secondary servo unit. The primary unit has the ability to then reverse and self-clear, before attempting to re-start running again automatically.

Size change is fast and straightforward, as is the operation of the machine, which is controlled and monitored by a Panelview Plus 7 touch-screen operator panel. www.linkxpackaging.com

Multi-purpose product Vegan cook, vegan expert, author and TV presenter Kirly-Sue has launched her own brand of organic coconut oil with the brand name Kirly-Sue’s Kitchen Raw Organic Virgin Coconut Oil. “It was important to me that there were no chemical fertilizers or pesticides used so I sourced the best coconuts which are grown and processed according to strict rules for organic agriculture and more importantly the environment is protected to keep the natural balance intact,” explained Kirly-Sue. All ingredients are certified organic and are grown and processed in accordance with the EU & USA organic standards.

Coconut oil is a very versatile product as the strap line ‘one jar, hundreds of uses’ in the advert suggests. We are no longer afraid to include coconut in our diet, however many are unaware of the uses for coconut oil, which include acting as an antibacterial, antiviral and antiinflammatory.

Coconut oil is perfect for healing nail fungus, bug bites, chapped lips, kills topical yeast infection, acts as a makeup remover and a good moisturiser, oil pulling for gum protection, soothes eczema and psoriasis, prevents stretch marks, cracked heals and of course cooking, baking, frying. So the list goes on, making it truly a useful product for an all-round healthy lifestyle. www.KirlySuesKitchen.co.uk

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A taste of what’s to come T Diets and healthy eating trends, free-from foods, protein, organic, world foods and spice blends are the hot topics at the moment and here, Christine Peers shares her insights on the current trends in food ingredients 12 www.foodchainmagazine.com

he ingredients market is an exciting place to be as there are constant shifts in tastes, demand for international herbs and spices, waves of world foods and new eating trends and diets.

Food manufacturing requires constant innovation and product development, and ingredients play a huge role in this so it’s important to ensure a reliable supply of authentic, fully traceable, quality natural herbs, spices and dried ingredients to include in dishes and formulations.

The UK market for seasonings, herbs and spices is calculated at around 86,000 tonnes and is valued at £166 million (RTS Resource). These go to all sectors of the food manufacturing industry to be used in international ready meals, meat, fish and vegetable dishes, soups, sauces and starters, bakery and morning goods and for meal kits and marinades.

To diet or not to diet….

There is a clear trend for eating and making free-from, unprocessed foods, to fit in with today’s fashionable diets and lifestyles, such as the Paleo diet and clean eating craze. In addition, there is an increase in self-diagnosis of food intolerances, especially with wheat, dairy, yeast, and this has led to a surge in demand for ingredients that fit into diets that omit processed foods and allergens.

In line with this there has been a revival of certain food ingredients with coconut holding a key place in the market and experiencing an increase in demand. Coconut has received positive media coverage highlighting the health benefits of the superfood.

Its reputation has brought it to the forefront of health food store shelves and catapulted into the mainstream.

Consumers are discovering the health benefits of coconut as a functional food

Ingredients – it is highly nutritious and rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals, can help stave off infections, reduce hunger pangs, lower the risk of heart disease, and also boost brain function. In addition, it is a natural sweetener and is recognised as a gluten- and lactose-free ingredient so is suitable for vegans, those following free-from diets and consumers with intolerances and allergies.

We have stocked coconut as a food ingredient for many years and it has always been popular in the health food and natural ingredient sectors, but increasingly, we are increasingly seeing it appear within sweet and savoury foods on supermarket shelves. Over the last 12 months we have witnessed an uplift in sales of our coconut ingredients and we predict that this growth is set to continue and that demand will remain high due to several factors: the rise in self-diagnosis of food allergies and intolerances; the popularity of free-from diets; and the increase in NPD in this sector with coconut products becoming more mainstream and having a broader appeal in the marketplace.

Gluten-free is a hot topic of conversation in the food industry right now so it’s important for food manufacturers to be aware of the

ingredients available to them, stay one step ahead and develop popular, quality free-from products that consumers will love and buy time and again.

Protein power Protein is a key buzzword in the food industry and we expect its popularity to grow even further. The rise in popularity of protein-packed ingredients, such as seeds and nuts, suggest consumer demand is gathering pace for protein intake. Adding nuts and seeds to prepared foods, salads, baked goods, savoury biscuits and snacks is a great way to enhance existing products, highlight health benefits, offer new tastes and textures and meet preferences for proteinenhanced foods.

Organic growth According to The Soil Association, UK sales of organic products increased by 4.9 per cent this year with the market currently valued at £1.96 billion. The research also revealed that shoppers are becoming more and more health conscious, and organic products offer answers to questions about food quality and provenance1.

Organic September is the UK’s biggest celebration of organic food and drink, so food manufacturers and processors should invest in a selection of organic herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, grains and spice blends to develop quality end products to meet market trends and consumer demand for quality, international organic dishes.

The spice is right Foods from around the world are on the menu daily with more and more international cuisines finding themselves on supermarket shelves, in restaurants and on family dinner tables.

Indian, Chinese and Mediterranean have always been popular options in the UK, but we are witnessing a rise in demand for Brazilian, Mexican, Peruvian and Asian, including Thai, Korean and Vietnamese.

With the Olympics taking place in Rio in August, we anticipate that ingredients and dishes from Brazil will experience a boost in popularity in the UK, influencing the flavour combinations and products available to consumers.

There has been a rise in Brazilian restaurants in many cities in the UK, with consumers eager to experience new and exotic flavours2. Manufacturers can tap into the worldwide sporting celebration by experimenting with authentic Brazilian ingredients and blends with foods for supermarket shelves and foodservice outlets. D 1 Soil Association 2 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/ features/rio-riot-uk-gets-taste-for-brazilianfood-ahead-of-olympics-2016/

Christine Peers is sales director at EHL Ingredients, an importer, blender and packer of food ingredients form around the world.

From herbs and spices, to beans and pulses and dried fruit, it supplies over 300 food ingredients to all areas of the food industry, and boasts a 200-strong organic range as well as over 70 custom blends. www.ehl-ingredients.co.uk

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A sour twist

With the global trend in craft beers continuing to accelerate unabated, brewers are increasingly experimenting with new and sometimes unexpected flavours.

Andrew Dann speaks with Alan Pateman of the Wisbech brewery Elgood & Sons Ltd about the growing popularity of ‘sour beers’ within the UK and abroad

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hether it is a craft IPA, traditional bitter or dark porter, the UK’s demand for a quality pint of beer appears to be as yet unquenched.

Figures released by the Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) during January 2015 for example, revealed that a decade of decline in UK beer sales had come to an end with a 1.3 per cent rise in sales throughout 2014. Indeed, with over more than 25 million drinkers supporting around 700,000 jobs in a market valued at circa £20 billion a year, beer is a significant force in the UK beverage

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industry. There are presently over 1400 breweries and micro breweries throughout the UK that produce an estimated 8000 regular beers and thousands of seasonal and speciality beers.

The rise of the UK beer industry has been driven by a number of factors, arguably the most important of which are the scrapping of the beer tax ‘escalator’ policy and booming interest in craft ales within the US market. Prior to 2014 significant tax rises were blamed by the BBPA for a drop in sales of beer of a staggering 24 per cent over nine years.

Sour ale

A duty increase of some 42 per cent on beer from 2008 to 2013 increased the duty (plus the VAT on duty) from 42p to 65p on a typical pint. It is estimated that this period saw the closure of 7000 pubs with a loss of 58,000 jobs. Following two historic cuts to beer duty, beer sales finally stabilised during 2014 and while the market remains highly competitive for both brewers and pub owners, a recent freeze of the duty on beer has continued to help sales to recover.

Within the US the beer industry has had to compete with its own challenges.

Inside the world’s largest market for

beer production, figures collected in a Consumer and Shopper Insights report authored by German Estevez Rutishauser, Stefan Rickert and Frank Sänger during 2015 for McKinsey & Company showed that production volumes within the US stagnated between 2007 and 2014. In other key markets including Germany, France and the UK the report also revealed that production volumes fallen by as much as ten per cent during the same period. Demographic changes, the increasingly popularity of wines and other beverages, tighter regulatory

and taxation measures, as well as the continued impact of the global economic slowdown were all heighted as contributing factors to the plight of the beer producing sector.

The 2015 report also observed that in addition to production and sales issues, competitive pressure has become an increasingly dramatic influence of beer production in both the US and Europe.

During 2014 for example, while overall

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beer production in the US rose by just 0.5 per cent, the output from smaller brewers swelled by as much as 18 per cent. This resulted in smaller brewers taking an 11 per cent share of the $100 billion (£69.2 billion) US beer market for 2014 with a similar trend emerging in Europe. The rise in the market share smaller brewers in turn sparked a revolution in the availability of craft and speciality beers as more and more products were introduced to supermarket shelves. For example, in Italy there were eight times as many new beer products that were introduced in 2012 than in 2007, while within the Czech Republic (Czechia) there was a X5 increase, a X4 increase in Spain and an increase of X3 in France. Until recently the UK was slower to adapt to this trend, however the market has since begun to catch up and even take a lead in the development of exciting new beers.

Traditional methods One highly successful example of the development of craft and speciality beers within the UK has been the release of Elgood & Sons (Elgood’s) award-winning sour and fruit wheat beers. Although the Elgood’s brewery is currently one of the UK’s smallest independent brewers, the company has been inspired by the taste trends within the US craft ale market and has begun to export its products to the region. Located in the Cambridgeshire town of Wisbech, the brewery itself was established in 1795 while its current owners, the Elgood family took over ownership of the business during 1878.

Today the family is in its fifth generation of operating the company. The Elgood’s brewery was originally founded as a tied pub and today has a network of 37 pubs, most of which are within a 30mile radius of Wisbech.

The potential for relatively small UK brewers to sell their beers to national supermarkets and even to export to customers in the US is a strong indicator of the demand for high-quality and innovative brews across the market.

Indeed, the development of the Elgood’s brewery’s range of Coolship blonde and fruit sour beers and its selection

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‘

for fruit wheat beers demonstrates how the combination of traditional brewing methods and innovative thinking are indispensible tools in today’s competitive beer market. “The development of our Coolship sour beer in particular was actually somewhat of a leap compared to our traditional ales and was partly bound to the brewery’s history and the equipment that we have here, as well as the growing competition in the market. There are currently around 15,000 brewers operating within the UK at present, with a lot of smaller brewers competing with essentially the same type of product.

We had been looking for various other products and trying various different varieties of beer some time. The sour beer project has certainly been a great success and raised the brewery’s profile so that presently we are contacted by organisation wanting to know more about the beer almost every week,” explains Elgood’s Head Brewer and Production Director, Alan Pateman.

“Some of the original brewing equipment at Elgood’s dates to very early in the company’s history.

One of our tanks for example, was manufactured locally in 1795 – or certainly that vintage, which makes us a very traditional brewing plant.

We also have two origional coolships, which are old-fashioned cooling trays that were used before the advent of advanced engineering and refrigeration.

The only way to cool the brew in the past was to wait for it and you did this by pouring it into a very shallow tray until the heat naturally dissipates into the atmosphere,” Alan continues.

“Regarding the development of our sour beers and the move into the US market, it happened that an importer of Belgian beers operating in the US came over to look at the Elgood’s brewery and upon seeing the coolships immediately observed that we could brew Lambic type sour beers. I was sceptical at first, however we had a look at the idea and have since enjoyed great success with the sour beer that we have produced.

The worth of it in our view, is that it is brewed in precisely the correct manner as it is done in Flanders, although we do not actually call it a Lambic because

We have developed a much greater understanding of sour beers in recent years and are focused of developing the reproducibility of the product

it is a protected regional name, hence the name Coolship Sour that we are selling it as in the UK while in America it is sold as Elgood’s Sour Ale.” Research published by Mintel during November 2015 revealed that craft beer accounted for 8.5 per cent volume sales of the beer category in the US market during 2014, representing an increase of 83 per cent from 4.5 per cent of volume sales in 2009. Furthermore it is estimated that craft beer in the US market achieved 22 per cent dollar sales growth during 2015, bringing the category to a value of around $24 billion (£16.6 billion). Further market analysis from the leading marketing agency released in March 2016, reveals that the

Sour ale proportion of new flavoured beer product launches in the US has grown from just 15 per cent total US beer launches to 27 per cent in 2015. This figure represents an increase of some 80 per cent over a five-year period. Within the US market Mintel research also indicated that 57 per cent of drinkers who increased their beer consumption during 2015 attribute this to the increased availability of flavours. Indeed, as many as three in five US alcohol drinkers said that they are interested in fruit flavoured beers, with 45 per cent of alcohol drinkers showing an interest in tart/sour beers.

The strength of the growing trend in speciality beers throughout the US and its continuation into both Europe and the UK has proven to be fertile ground for the introduction of the sour and fruit wheat beers introduced by Elgood’s brewery. The unique character of Elgood’s Coolship Sour Fruit, Coolship Blonde and its varieties of wheat fruit beer have proven to be a refreshing choice for both consumers’ palates and the beer industry at large. “Sour beer

is really more akin to a fine cider, so it is full of sour notes and the Elgood’s Coolship Sour that we produce has a nice citrusy, fruity note that offsets the sourness. We have been considering other flavours that we can blend with the beer and our Coolship Fruit has enjoyed a lot of success recently. This is blended which raspberry, which again offsets the sourness and results in a completely different drink altogether,” Alan says. “We have also introduced a Cherry Wheat beer as well as an Apple and Vanilla Wheat, which are different style of beer to the Coolship varieties.”

Award winners Elgood’s won a gold and silver medal in the Society of Independent Brewers’ (SIBA) national beer awards during 2016, winning gold for its Cherry Wheat beer in the small pack category and silver in the keg beer competition for its Coolship Fruit. Prior to this Coolship won ‘Europe’s Best Sour Beer Lambic’ at the recent World Beer Awards and the silver for its Coolship at the International Brewing Awards. While it is difficult to predict how strong the demand of craft ales within the US and beyond will remain at its current high level, it is unlikely that consumers will abandon speciality beers completely, particularly in an ever competitive and innovative market. As such, brewers like Elgood’s will continue to develop new

and exciting speciality beers that will quench the thirst of consumers old and new. “This has been a very interesting exercise and to pick up two national awards in the specialist brewing beer department was really quite pleasing. I think the segment in the UK is always going to be small, by definition of the size of the market compared to the US and I don’t think that sour beer is quite as popular here as it is in the States.

That said the market has certainly grown and we have more people who are interested in our sour and fruit beers and taking them on,” Alan reflects.

“We have a dark sour up our sleeves, which we are hoping to release to the American customer in the near future and this has again taken some time to prepare. The dark sour is brewed as a dark sour recipe, rather than a blend of a sour beer and a dark beer we have gone the whole-hog and brewed a full dark sour,” he concludes.

“We have developed a much greater understanding of sour beers in recent years and are focused of developing the reproducibility of the product. We have shipped several orders out to America and we are hoping that they will take these products as permanent lines, which should help us to sell further sour and fruit varieties into the UK and we hope that this trend will continue for some years to come.” D www.elgoods-brewery.co.uk

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TasteTest

Clean eating Founded by Katrina Hopewell in 2015 and launched in March 2016, Eat. Clean.Granola has introduced three new granola recipes in its clean-eating range, Pecan Pie, Cacao Crunch and Aromatic Almond. Each recipe contains only natural ingredients, including gluten-free oats, quinoa flakes, raw nuts and seeds that are slow roasted in raw coconut oil, ensuring that the granola is high in fibre, rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Eat.Clean.Granola was founded as a result of not being able to find a glutenfree and refined-sugar free cereal option on the supermarket shelves and being

confused by all the hidden ingredients in the nutrition information. www.cleangranola.co.uk

“I do find the cereal aisle a bit of a minefield as I love the sound of many options but when you look closely at the ingredients, they aren’t actually as healthy as you’d imagine,” began our tester. “So knowing the clean eating origins of these products but still being offered flavours like Pecan Pie and Cacao Crunch was brilliant. Also the gluten-free aspect was welcome as it’s not always easy to find a breakfast cereal without

wheat. I also loved that they were made by hand – it gives the products an artisan feel but also boosted my trust in their authenticity. And let’s not forget they taste great too!”

It’s crunch time Ryvita has added Caramelised Onion to its popular ‘Thins’ flatbread selection.

The crispy flatbreads have a hint of sweetness and a deliciously light onion flavour, ideal as a versatile snack and perfect served with a selection of tasty dips such as hummus or salsa or even dunked into melted soft cheese. What’s more, with only 27 calories per portion and plenty of fibre, they can also be enjoyed completely guilt-free!

Caramelised Onion is the fifth flavour variant in Ryvita’s selection of

baked flatbreads, which also includes Multi-Seed, Cheddar and Cracked Black Pepper, Sweet Chilli and Sundried Tomato. The new products were available to purchase from major retailers from June 2016. www.ryvita.co.uk

Every tester who had one described the Ryvita Thins as delicious!

While a unanimous result is not unprecedented, it’s still a great endorsement of these tasty snacks, which had just the right amount

of crunch, with a good Caramelised Onion flavour.

We topped them with whipped soft cheese (this has become the topping of choice for all crackers from now on – Ed) and the entire package was swiftly demolished. If speed from opening packet to completely empty is a measure then the team was united – these are really, really good.

Nice cup of chai With no other Chai offering in the UK flavoured milk market, Drink Me Chai is keen to exploit the growing sector, currently valued at £42 million, and the increasing popularity of the Chai flavour profile. The company is launching Drink Me Chai Iced Chai Latte - a low fat, low sugar blend of tea, milk and exotic spices best served chilled, but with a nine-month ambient shelf life.

“Flavoured milk is set to grow at double the rate of white milk, driven by busy consumers who are health and taste conscious,” says Drink Me Chai’s founder Amanda Hamilton. “Chai

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Latte is growing 30 per cent YOY, and is particularly popular amongst young consumers and office workers, for whom the availability of their favourite beverage in ready to drink form is certain to be an attractive proposition.”

The Drink Me Chai brand is already well known in the UK, supplying coffee stores and the major multiple supermarkets, and is also receiving an enthusiastic response across Europe, Scandinavia, the Far East and South Africa. The traditional Indian Chai flavour is growing its profile in the UK and is currently valued at £3.2 million in grocery.

www.drinkmechai.co.uk

“I am very much in favour of these new iced coffee and iced tea products we’re getting to try,” said our tester. “The Iced Chai Latte in a carton was very conveniently packaged and as a drink was delicious, with the right amount of spice and not to much sugar.

I also took a look on the website and the recipes using the Drink Me Chai products also sound very tempting – the Spiced Chai Honey & Yogurt Muffins are now on my list to make!”

TasteTest

Feeling a bit fruity

Anyone for coffee?

A new range of iced coffees has arrived in the UK, created by Bournemouth based beverage king, Jimmy Cregan.

The family includes Mocha, Skinny and Original, and offer easy and convenient on-the-go refreshment options.

The Original flavour was inspired by Jimmy’s travels around Australia, where an iced coffee break post surf was the norm, Jimmy created his original creamy kick and coffee flavour with three simple ingredients: milk, Arabica coffee and demerara sugar. The range also includes Skinny and Mocha. www.jimmysicedcoffee.com

“I used to love an iced coffee when I lived in the US but since returning it’s a rare treat,” said one tester. “Finding Jimmy’s available in the UK is a great bonus! I loved the Skinny option as at 118 calories it still feels like an indulgence.

But the Mocha stood out for me as it’s not sickly sweet but still delivers a chocolaty coffee hit. The cartons are easy but I poured mine over ice and wished the sun would shine outside!”

Doing good You’ve heard of drinking responsiblynow it’s high time to drink socially responsibly. Lemonaid and ChariTea is a project that pioneers a new take on social drinking; the range of seven soft drinks and ice teas not only taste good, as a social enterprise, they also do good.

Lemonaid is a trio of truly sustainable soft drinks and ChariTea a range of equally ecological iced teas - the ingredients are organic, vegan and are sourced from small-scale farming cooperatives in Sri Lanka, Paraguay, Mexico and South Africa. Lemonaid & ChariTea are committed to Fairtrade: they pay higher prices for their raw ingredients and, vitally, they support a fair and humane agriculture. With help from the Fairtrade Bonuses, local farmers can improve their living conditions and initiate community projects.

Every bottle of Lemonaid & ChariTea that is sold also contributes to a higher cause, having just raised £1,000,000 for development aid projects, including education, childcare, mental health and infrastructural initiatives. The brand is dedicated to supporting local projects that improve social, ecological and economical structures in those parts of the world that global economic developments have placed at a significant disadvantage, donating

five pence for every bottle sold to the notfor-profit charitable organization Lemonaid and ChariTea e.V. www.lemon-aid.com www.charitea.com

“These products stood out immediately as I just loved the packaging,” said one tester. “The little glass bottles reminded me of school milk! I tried the Lemonaid Lime (love the pun there too) and it was nice and lemony and still had some sharpness, and I was pleased it had less sugar than a regular soft drink.

The range of flavours of the ChariTea (again, sterling work on the product naming) was also impressive as it’s always great to see something new and innovative coming out. But of course the standout achievement is raising £1m for charity – who would think buying a soft drink could make such a difference?”

Bringing the fruit cup into the grown up world, fruit snack brand Nature’s Finest, has launched a premium range of adult fruit snacks - Juicy Pineapple in Coconut Water and Juicy Mango in Coconut Water - to join the already successful range of products currently within the brands portfolio. The aim of these is to attract health conscious consumers to the ambient fruit snacks category by offering on trend, revitalising coconut water, teamed with popular exotic fruits.

After seeing great success in the snacking market with its 220g range, Nature’s Finest has developed a range of products specifically for adults using additions of unique carrier liquids to give refreshment and capitalise on current health trends – which is the use of coconut water. The snacks will be available in 200g pots, tapping into the food-on-the go trend, which has seen a significant rise, with the convenience snacking seeing a +39 per cent growth compared to last year.

Nature’s Finest ensures all fruit is picked and packed at the peak of its ripeness to guarantee quality and value.

The pineapple and mango pieces contain only naturally occurring fruit sugars and the addition of coconut water brings innovation to the product and capitalise on the brands core properties. www.spcnaturesfinest.co.uk

“Mango is my favourite and so a little convenient pot of it to snack on was something I was keen to try!” said the tester. “The coconut water made it very refreshing to eat, and super easy – no mess or peeling needed. I like the idea that the coconut water also has healthy properties so there was nothing wasted, it was a pot of goodness through and through.

Superb!”

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Star quality Located in truly exceptional locations around the world, Rocco Forte Hotels offer luxury hotel and resort services as well as exquisite culinary experiences

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Rocco Forte Hotels

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oday encompassing ten fivestar luxury hotels situated within some of the finest cities in Europe, Rocco Forte Hotels was founded in 1996 and has continued to grow to include both fully-owned and part-owned locations, with new openings scheduled in Jeddah during September 2016 and Shanghai in 2018. All of the hotels are landmarks, both old and new, occupying

magnificent buildings in exceptional locations with their own individual styles, incorporating the zeitgeist of their locations. Brother and sister Sir Rocco Forte and Olga Polizzi originally established the business, which today continues as a family-run operation with sisters Lydia and Irene Forte joining the group in recent years.

“Each Rocco Forte hotel has an individual identity that harks back

to their location, we try and appeal to a local market so that each hotel, restaurant and bar is a fully unique concept, tailored to the city it’s in and individual in its food and service offering.

No chains,” explains Bar & Restaurant Development Manager, Lydia Forte.

“Also, because we are still a small company, I can personally visit every restaurant and bar and develop the details. For example, we just launched

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Sophia’s in The Charles Hotel in Munich – the concept was developed around the botanical gardens next door and the beautiful terrace we have because the hotel is in a very green area, with lots of dishes and cocktails focusing on fresh herbs, spices, vegetables and fruits. Each restaurant is really created for the local population and we want all of the venues and bars in our hotels to be a local meeting point as well as a reference point for the city.”

Scottish charm The group’s Balmoral hotel is no exception as it is set within a magnificent and historic building. It was the first of the great railway hotels in its vibrant location at the heart of Edinburgh. The Balmoral hotel offers 188 suites and rooms, designed by Olga Polizzi to include a touch of Scottish charm. It is also one the group’s strongest hotels in terms of food and

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‘

The Balmoral Bar is perfect for both pre and post-dinner drinks with delicious cocktails, wines and beers from across the globe. Scotch is a particular favourite and with over 500 malts, blends and vintages of whisky, the bar boasts one of Edinburgh’s largest collections beverage offerings with its Number One restaurant retaining its Michelin star for the 14th year in a row in 2016.

“Number One is all about modern Scottish cuisine, the emphasis is placed on using delicious local ingredients to create innovative, contemporary dishes whilst keeping the friendly, inviting atmosphere that the restaurant has had since its opening in 1997,” Lydia elaborates. “Jeff Bland is our Executive Chef and has held the Michelin Star for

Rocco Forte Hotels 14 years - he is truly excellent and a brilliant asset to the team. Equally, our head chef Brian Grigor is incredibly talented and as he is from a family of gamekeepers, local produce is of the highest importance. My aunt Olga has designed the restaurant in a way that retains a warm atmosphere, with eclectic artworks from Scottish artists, in combination with touches of Scottish heritage.”

While the Number One restaurant offers an outstanding culinary experience featuring modern Scottish cuisine, Hadrian’s Brasserie offers a more casual dining experience that still guarantees diners the very best of regional Scottish produce. The lavish setting of Palm Court is enhanced by the beautiful accompaniment of a harpist to create the perfect setting for champagne and some delicious teas, coffees and pastries. These dining experiences are further enhanced by two outstanding bars, which offer a staggering array of beverages to suit all tastes. “The Balmoral Bar is perfect for both pre and post-dinner drinks with delicious cocktails, wines and beers from across the globe. Scotch is a particular favourite and with over 500 malts, blends and vintages of whisky, the bar boasts one of Edinburgh’s largest collections,” Lydia explains.

“The Whisky Ambassadors are on hand to help guests make a selection from amongst the varieties and are complete experts in the field. It’s easy to spend hours there learning about the processes whilst tasting Whisky and the delicious specially selected snacks that accompany it.”

Healthy options Throughout the Rocco Forte Hotels group there has been a growing focus on delivering a healthy as well as a relaxing experience, which has been driven by the introduction of the brand wide spa proposition, Rocco Forte Spas, which includes the Forte Organics bio-cosmetic range and the continued use of nourishing healthy food offerings across all of its premises. “The use of seasonal and local produce has been a trend for a long time and is something the group never compromises on. Now

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more than ever, there is a strong push towards foods that are good for you, but still delicious. Rocco Forte Nourish is something I have developed with my sister, Irene Forte, partnering with local nutritionist personalities across the group to develop healthy menus. Not only are these available throughout the day in the hotel restaurants, but we also have healthy in room bar and breakfast buffet offerings. Having access to healthy food and drink at all touch points of the hotel is vital nowadays, when society is very health focused,” Lydia details.

“In the restaurants we are currently focusing on food that is fresh and light, with ingredients like vegetables and fish.

In Florence for example, we launched the new restaurant Irene at Hotel Savoy – named after my grandmother who was an amazing Italian cook. Fulvio Pierangelini, Creative Director of Food for Rocco Forte Hotels, developed

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Rocco Forte Hotels a menu there that is Tuscan, but a fresher, lighter version of what is often a very heavy cuisine, filled with fried food and lots of bread,” she adds. “We also did traditional Tuscan dishes but in a very feminine way and introduced lots of lighter soups and fresh, seasonal dishes where vegetables are the protagonists of the dish rather than an accompaniment.”

Continuous improvement Working within the multifaceted hotel industry certainly presents several exciting opportunities to deliver breathtaking culinary experiences and taking into account the global presence of Rocco Forte Hotels, the potential to experiment with local cuisines only magnifies this potential. Indeed, the company has big plans for the future with several new and tempting venues due to open over the coming months and years. “The Assila is opening during September 2016 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and will include five wonderful restaurants opening with five completely different concepts including the Il Café Italian coffee lounge; Twenty Four, the all day dining restaurant that will play host to specially themed evenings; the Argentine steak restaurant, Pampas that features a colourful and eclectic design, by the famous interior designer Martin

Lydia Forte

Brudninski; Aubergine restaurant, located on the top floor of the hotel, by the pool, serving Arabic Mediterranean dishes, including Lebanese, Turkish and Armenian dishes as well as more local specialities; and finally the Coco’ba chocolatier bakery,” Lydia concludes.

“Currently, we also have a very exciting project in development in Shanghai, China. We will be opening a hotel there in 2018, in the bund district, surrounded by galleries and shops. The hotel will house three restaurants, a tea lounge and a cocktail bar and focus on a variety of cuisines. Authentic Italian and Chinese food will feature. We are lucky to work in an industry that is multifaceted and exciting. This does also mean however, that we also need to be up-to-date with trends. We are constantly updating and renewing our restaurants, ensuring that we have the best offerings.” D www.roccofortehotels.com

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Raising standards Operating in a competitive market place, East End Foods’ values of quality, innovation and social engagement are marking it out as an example to the rest of the food industry

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t can be difficult to cram 40 years of history and family values into a short 20-minute interview, but talking to Tony Deep Wouhra MBE, Chairman of East End Foods, it quickly becomes clear that underpinning the company at every stage of its history is a committed attention to quality. Founded in 1972, the wholly family owned and run West Bromwich business today operates four cash-and-carry branches,

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stocking major FMCG brands, and imports spices, rice and lentils from all over the world to the UK and European markets. It’s by no means alone in its ambitions in importing food, but its approach to providing the best quality ingredients certainly goes some way to distinguishing East End Foods from the competition.

“Our father taught us not to sell anything that we wouldn’t eat ourselves,

East End Foods

co-operatives, East End Foods secures contracts that ensure local growers meet the exact specifications and quality standards required by the firm in the UK. Ultimately, the approach ensures that the company has full control of the supply chain. This maintains the quality aspect.

“For instance, once the spice crops have been harvested they are cleaned at source and tested to ensure they meet the UK legislation around toxins, artificial preservatives, additives and pesticide residues,” Tony continues. “Then, once they reach us, we test them again in our in-house laboratory and the product undergoes our own cleaning and crushing processes. We use a very sophisticated cleaning plant to remove any excess stalks, stones and other impurities that may have slipped through the initial cleaning procedure, and then use a slow and ‘cool’ grinding process to retain the volatile oils and pungent flavours that are essential to good quality spices. By doing this we believe our ground spices are the purest you will find.”

Focus on CSR

and to this day that very value informs the way we do business,” Tony explains.

“Unlike many of our competitors in the UK we clean and grind all of our spices here in Birmingham and ensure that we have full control of the ingredients right from the source. We also clean and pack all dry beans, peas, rice, lentils and spices before distributing them to customers.” By engaging with suppliers around the world through farming

Our customers recognise the quality of our products and therefore come back and it’s from this that our business is able to grow

Such a commitment means that from a range of over 1400 products, East End Foods currently supplies into some of the UK’s biggest superstores including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Morrison’s, Asda, the Co-operative and Aldi.

However, it is not just the company’s focus on quality that marks it out as a pioneer in the industry. Beyond this, East End Foods’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme is exemplary. At its headquarters in West Bromwich, for example, a third of the roof space is covered in 80,000 sq. ft. of photovoltaic (PV) film, and its newest branch in Aston Cross, has an additional 25,000 sq. ft. with photovoltaic panels creating enough energy to power 145 homes for a year.

Rainwater harvesting systems have also been installed to help improve the environmental footprint of its sites.

Yet it is perhaps the firm’s most recent undertaking that really demonstrates its solid commitment to environmental and social engagement, with the installation of a state-of-the-art hydroponic Urban Farm

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system at its Aston office. Reaching the height of the building’s three-storey atrium, this hydroponic installation is currently growing a variety of organic produce such as lettuce, spinach, rocket, dill, coriander and tomatoes.

“We want to demonstrate that we are an innovative, forward-thinking company,” Tony explains. “It’s not something that’s going to make us money, instead it’s showcasing a possible solution to ensure food security, which is going to become more and more of an issue as global population rises over the coming decades.”

Healthy future Inspired by Japanese urban farming systems, the vertical system is made up of multiple layers of plants to maximise space for cultivation and offers full control of nutrients and water to optimise the quality and speed of growth. Whilst the company’s own installation will be a

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one-off demonstration of the concept, rather than a commercial enterprise, the business does have plans to produce and sell simple, non-mechanical hydroponic systems, which can introduce the technology into the homes of people around our country and later worldwide.

East End Foods’ £1.3m investment – which is currently the biggest of its kind in the UK – will also be the centrepiece of the company’s vision of a healthy future as it invites young people to learn about healthy eating.

The visitors will include school and university students so that they can learn about the importance of purity in food without chemicals and pesticide residues. The leafy crops like lettuce, spinach and fenugreek leaves will reach the harvesting stage in 30 days.

“Our guides will take the visitors round the atrium to understand how the hydroponic Urban Farm works. The

outcome of eating excessive meat in our diets is often responsible for high cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and heart trouble. The visitors will hear the evolution of human food consumption as they go round the colourful vegetable growing area. On the top floor, our chefs will welcome them to the food auditorium.

“The chefs talk about how simple it is to grow vegetables without the use of chemicals and pesticides. They will demonstrate how to cook the freshly harvested vegetables using pure spices and flavours which makes them tastier and flavoursome. Children should be encouraged to eat vegetables and quality organic ingredients.

“We’re by no means telling people to become vegetarians,” Tony adds.

“Birmingham in particular has historically been labelled the obese capital of Britain so we felt it our moral duty to help educate people how

East End Foods important healthy eating habits are to adopt, and how just a small reduction in meat intake can have great health benefits.”

Continuing this focus on CSR and environmental sustainability will undoubtedly remain central to East End Foods as it moves forward. “It is these values that make us a strong business,” Tony emphasises. “Our customers recognise the quality of our products and therefore come back and it’s from this that our business is able to grow.

This sector is tough at the moment with lots of competition and price pressures changing all the time. However, we firmly believe that the way forward is to keep on the road of initiatives and innovation and we know that when we do come up with good ideas, the consumer responds positively.”

Putting this into practice, Tony highlights that over the coming months a number of other initiatives designed

to enhance East End Foods’ reputation and profitability within the market are in the pipeline. He also discusses the company’s ambition to expand both nationally, by opening up more cashand-carry branches in cities outside of Birmingham, and internationally.

“At the moment we’re supplying into

European markets like Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, but there is no reason why we cannot take our quality products to the US, Australia, the Middle East or the Far East,” he says. “So that will also be a focus moving forward.” D www.eastendfoods.co.uk

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Putting food first

Operating in 90 locations across the UK, multi awardwinning contract catering company bartlett mitchell puts 35,000 smiles on a plate every day

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bartlett mitchell

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ovingly kneaded into reality by its three founders, Wendy Bartlett, Ian Mitchell and David James, bartlett mitchell began in 2000 thanks to a vision to run a catering company that respects and values its clients while also keeping its team and ‘fundamentally food’ principles at the heart of its operations. With a culture based on the personalities of its founders, all of whom are entrepreneurial foodies, the company has honed a ‘can-do’ attitude throughout its operations and built strong, long-term relationships with clients.

“Founded in 2000, the company was a real millennial start-up,” begins Francois Gautreaux, Managing Director of bartlett mitchell. “Wendy and her business partner Ian Mitchell established the company with a strong belief that food must always come first, however, this cannot be done without an absolute obsession about their teams.

They have always maintained a strong focus on team values such as honesty, openness and integrity while also providing a fun place to work where all employees feel they can contribute.

“This formula worked and today bartlett mitchell operates over 90 locations around the UK. These are predominantly in London and the South East. The company now employs over 800 team members, feeds over 35,000 people a day and is on track to achieve an annual turnover of approximately £35 million in 2016.”

New developments Remaining true to its roots while other catering firms have expanded into facilities management and other sectors, Francois believes this commitment is key to bartlett mitchell’s success and growing customer base: “We are exclusively caterers and operate for cafes, restaurants, hospitality, executive dining and events. We do not cater to a specific demographic, though a lot of our clients are in the B&I sector; other clients are advertising firms looking for something a bit more creative from their caterer. Our customers include, but are not limited to, sectors such as financial, property, media, technology, engineering, charity, retailers, pharmaceutical, legal and government.”

Although it may be easy to think this dedication to the food sector will restrict bartlett mitchell’s expansion or profitable growth opportunities, the company has proven this is not the case with its move into the event and coffee arenas. Having acquired event catering specialist Inn or Out in the final quarter of 2014, the company formed a new company, bartlett mitchell Services Ltd, which boasts a combined turnover of £32 million and a team of approximately 800 personnel.

“The events business was a natural transition for us as we have been doing events for years through our current business. However, we have found there has been an increasingly larger demand as companies have risen out

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of the recession in recent years,” says Francois. “This strategic decision has opened up some fantastic opportunities for us and has created a great area for our teams to flex their creative muscles and work in some exciting venues.”

The deal means that bartlett mitchell acquired a new London office and central production kitchens; these will also be used as a base for its new Chef’s Academy for training. Other benefits include increased power to compete more effectively with other caterers and the opportunity to further develop the skills, knowledge and expertise of its personnel.

Coffee co-operative A more recent development for the dynamic catering firm is its launch of ‘Perkee’, a new premium, sustainable coffee brand, in March 2016. Produced in partnership with Bewleys and the Soppexcca coffee co-operative in

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Contract Options Contract Options are proud to support Bartlett Mitchell, with our London City office in particular providing experienced and skilled staff across the spectrum. Our relationship continues to flourish year on year with on-going staffing support both within London and outside.

Contract Options are a nationwide agency supplying temporary and permanent staffing solutions to the catering and hospitality sectors, from contract caterers and independent restaurants to conference centres, hotels and other leisure venues.

Nicaragua, Perkee has been developed to meet customer expectations for a coffee with strong ethics that is also of exceptional quality. With dark chocolate and caramel notes, Perkee coffee is single origin 100 per cent Arabica bean from Nicaragua that is roasted in Yorkshire.

Speaking about the launch of Perkee, CEO Wendy Bartlett said: “The UK coffee market in 2014 turned over in excess of £7.9 billion and we take it very seriously within bartlett mitchell. With Perkee, our customers can drink a great tasting, fair-trade coffee and make a positive difference to the Soppexcca community.”

Indeed, Soppexcca’s profits are put back into the education, diversification and health centres of Nicaragua.

Proud to use the finest quality ingredients across all operations, bartlett mitchell believes its supply chain is one of the integral pillars of its success.

The company’s purchasing process is based on working closely with suppliers

bartlett mitchell and developing long-term, sustainable relationships that allow both parties to win. “Once we find the right fit, there is a rigorous process where we test the quality to ensure it is fit for our business.

We tend to look at promoting British food

only did we win the Food Made Good Caterer of the Year for the third year in a row with the Sustainable Restaurant Association, but also were awarded the Corporate Social Responsibility Award at the Cost Sector Catering Awards.

Sustainability and CSR have to be part of your identity to win these awards; it has to pervade every aspect of what you do.”

In addition to this award recognition, the company is also accredited with Investors in People Gold.

Having announced a record turnover for the fifth year in a row on April 22nd 2016, bartlett mitchell will push forward with its five-year plan to grow in a measured way and never forget the values and culture that makes it special, as Francois concludes: “We announced a 50 per cent increase in turnover, taking the company to £32 million; we are forecasting £36 million for 2016, which will fully double our turnover since 2012. We will grow to £50 million by 2020 and expect to have 1200 employees; that growth, both in finances and people, will allow us to do more and more of the projects that we have had our eye on, but that will have to wait for the next interview!” D www.bartlettmitchell.co.uk

heroes and try to champion local produce. We seek out ethical sustainable sourcing, food picked in season and ripened on a vine rather than during transport; 80 per cent of vegetables are seasonal varieties from the UK. We also only use free range eggs and MSC certified seafood; these are just some examples of what we look for in a supplier.”

Award winners This dedication to sustainable food has resulted in the company winning several awards, such as the Corporate Social Responsibility Award and the Best Chef Award at the recent Cost Sector Catering Awards. Discussing these awards, Francois states: “The Corporate Social Responsibility Award is huge for us; not

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A full menu

With over 25 years of industry experience, Alyasra Foods carries a wide selection of leading international food and beverage brands to homes and businesses across Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets 34 www.foodchainmagazine.com

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ince the company was founded in 1989 by Yousef Al Sager in the Shuwaikh Industrial area in Kuwait, Alyasra Foods has grown from a relatively modest venture into a trusted name in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and foodservice markets, supplying a wide selection of leading international brands from the food and beverage markets to clients across the GCC. The business later commenced operations

in Iraq during 2003, before expanding into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in 2013. Alyasra Foods today continues to operate with ambitious plans to become the region’s best distribution and marketing solutions partner in the Middle East.

Alyasra Foods is currently managed by a multi-cultural team of over 2700 employees that serve homes and businesses, representing the largest supplier to the hotel, restaurant and

Alyasra Foods and business-to-consumer operations.

Its business-to-business activity involves modern trade in the foodservice sector, including hotels, fine dining restaurants, fast service restaurants, franchises, cafes and catering operations. Alternatively, its operations in the business-to-consumer market are comprised of retail and direct customers, including hypermarkets, local supermarkets and grocery stores. By operating in a diverse base of food and beverage outlets, Alyasra Foods can serve the interests of all its stakeholders. Indeed, as one of the largest suppliers to the food service and retail sectors, the company’s partner brands are the top three players in water, fresh dairy and potato chips, as well a market leaders in the cereals, frozen poultry, meat and vegetable categories. By implementing an innovative approach to the market, Alyasra Foods increases the visibility of its partner brands, therefore strengthening its client relationships and position in the market. This has allowed the company to become a trusted distributor of products for leading brands in the FMCG market including Sadia, Al-Safi Danone, LambWeston, Kellogg’s, Pringles, Dr. Oetker and many others.

café (HORECA) sector within the Gulf region. “Alyasra Foods leads the market in frozen foods, fresh dairy and potato chips amongst other highquality products,” says Marketing Manager, Gebran Edouard Charbine. “In everything we do, Alyasra Foods strives to retain and enhance the essence of what makes the company successful.

This is the company’s uncompromising commitment to our customers, vision and core values. Alyasra Foods prides

itself on its simple company values of integrity, diversity and the passion to succeed and has achieved international standards in ISO 22000:2005 certification for food quality and safety in receiving, storing and delivering goods to customers.”

Trusted distributor Across the company, Alyasra Foods serves two key business channels comprising its business-to-business

Alyasra Foods aims to provide excellent services to all of its partners to achieve complete satisfaction, thus ensuring the welfare of stakeholders and to continuously innovate the foodservice sector. With a fleet of over 400 vehicles, the company is able to provide full end-to-end supply chain solutions for all areas of the food and beverage market, including retail, key accounts food service, government institutions and home delivery. To support its logistical operations, Alyasra Foods continues to invest in cutting-edge technology through the implementation of the Oracle

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Alyasra Foods E-Business Suite, IBM Cognos Business Intelligence and INFOR (EXCEED) WMS to drive process efficiency and manage both the performance and inventory of the business. This allows Alyasra Foods to reach every segment of the market, as well as to manage its own private labelled products in addition to leading licensed brands, which together with the brands that it distributes results in a complete product offering. This allows the company to move in line with the market and to deliver the highest levels of quality and service.

“As market demand changes so do we.

We want to continue being the leader in providing value-added brand distribution solutions to Kuwait and the GCC as well as to continue to focus on investing in our people,” Gebran explains. “We will always continue to develop our expertise, invest in the company’s private brands and inspire our partners for immediate and long-term results.”

The company’s private brands are an important concept within Alyasra Foods that enables the business to achieve its goal of delivering a complete service package to the food industry. “Juman is our very own private label that we take great pride in. It is exclusively produced by Alyasra Foods and spans several product categories that include water and beverages, rice, nuts, spices, coffee, rice and dried fruit. The range is available within the retail market through our network of store concessions and represents greater taste, freshness and value,” Gebran details. “ Alternatively, the ‘Only’ range represents our premium brand of organic products that offers healthy products to the market, helping to achieve personal health and wellbeing. The range includes juices and eggs that are farmed free of harmful chemicals, resulting in produce that is packed with natural nutrients and taste.”

with that being said we have always found various ways to stay on top when it comes to providing solutions to both the company’s shareholders and stakeholders. We will continue to be market leaders and to develop, motivate and create expertise with our team to increase sales and long-term results,” Gebran concludes. “During the coming 12 months we will be focused on delivering outsourced full solutions to the international food service industry by providing end-to-end solutions to Kuwait and the market within the KSA. This will also involve giving full attention to our value added proposition services, which includes a strong supply chain planning team for product availability and forecasting, a user-friendly order placing system and an excellent warehousing storage capacity within the chilled, frozen and dry categories.” D www.alyasrafoods.com

These exclusive ranges are supplied alongside the company’s Altaiyeb Rice private label that delivers the finest Indian basmati race and its Chef Juman range, which delivers a full range of solutions in the dairy category. Additionally, its Makani label, taken from the Arabic meaning ‘my place’, represents a uniquely designed concept for retail stores that highlights the selective categories of Alyasra Foods’ seafood, poultry, meat and dairy products to consumers and restaurant owners.

End-to-end solutions The market for fresh and tempting food items is a highly competitive environment in which clients demand the very highest standards in freshness, quality and service. With close to three decades of industry experience, Alyasra Foods is on-hand to meet and exceed the expectations of its customers and deliver exceptional food and beverage services. “One of the market challenges that we face daily is the increased competition in the sector, resulting in a need to reduce the cost of our overheads. This is especially true in light of the staggering drop in oil prices worldwide that has caused a trickledown effect throughout the region. However,

Certified Angus Beef LLC Founded in 1978 by real Angus cattlemen, the Certified Angus Beef® brand is the original Angus brand of beef. These family farmers and ranchers created the brand with a shared a passion for delivering great-tasting beef – a passion that still drives the brand today. It utilises ten exacting standards that every cut must meet – more selective than USDA Choice and Prime*. In fact, only one in four Angus cattle meet the standards and ensure incredible juiciness, unparalleled tenderness and exceptional flavour.

Serving as a leading distributor in the Middle East market, Alyasra Foods continues to strive for excellence. Providing a high level of customer service and quality products such as the world’s first premium brand of beef, Certified Angus Beef ® to its customers.

Alyasra Foods has connected with customers through taste demonstrations and last fall hosted a chef competition featuring Certified Angus Beef®. The winning Chef was awarded the opportunity to participate in a Global Chef Tour in the United States learning about the beef industry and networking with top chefs from around the world.

The Certified Angus Beef ® brand. From our family ranchers to your family table.

36 www.foodchainmagazine.com

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When we set out to create the world’s first premium brand of beef, we started by choosing Angus cattle, known for producing beef of superior taste and tenderness. But that alone wasn’t going to satisfy us. So we put into place 10 exacting standards that every cut of the Certified Angus Beef ® brand has to meet. The result is an Angus beef of unrivaled flavor, juiciness and tenderness.

The Certified Angus Beef ® brand.

From our family ranchers to your family table™.

P.O.Box 3228 - Safat - 13033 - Kuwait T : +965 184 0012 | T : +965 222 49100 | F : +965 222 49699 www.alyasrafoods.com Foodservice@yasra.com alyasra_foods Alyasrafood

Community focus With roots tracing back to 1861, today The East of England Co-operative Society is one of the three largest consumer co-operatives in the United Kingdom

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East of England Co-op

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t was in 2005 when the organisation finally took the form that it has today, when the Ipswich and Norwich Co-operative Societies joined forces with the Colchester and East Essex Co-operative Society and created the East of England Co-operative Society. As a result of this step, the company became the largest independent retailer in East Anglia, with a coverage stretching from Heacham in the North down to Burnham-on-Crouch in the South.

While Food may be the first area of business that springs to mind when thinking of the East of England Coop, in fact there are three strategic pillars within the business, as well as several other smaller businesses. To get an insight, FoodChain spoke to Roger Grosvenor, who is today one of the business’ five joint CEOs. Roger has over four decades of experience at the company, and he gave more details about how the organisation works: “One of the pillars is of course Food, and the other is Funeral, which includes masonry. We also have a huge Property portfolio with over 600 rental properties split between commercial and domestic,” he began.

“The other smaller businesses give support to our membership and they are Pharmacy, Opticians and Hearing Care, Travel, Electricals and Security (this business is called Secure Response Services.) Furthermore, we have petrol station forecourts and post offices and we also have an events, conferencing and wedding centre based at our head office Wherstead Park. This is a grade II listed mansion with a stunning full height atrium. This building functions as a high quality business centre, as well as offering exceptional facilities for corporate and private events. I am confident we will establish Wherstead Park as one of the finest events and conference venues in the region.”

These multiple divisions have taken time to create and evolve – the two years following the merger saw several big changes, but since 2007 the organisation has enjoyed significant growth. “We took the opportunity to focus on areas that we felt would

have a longer term sustainability for us, so during that period we exited from a processing dairy for which we used to serve doorsteps as well – we sold that business onto Dairy Crest,” Roger explained. “We also had a motor division, department stores and jewellery and we exited from those, too, so our core focus could go onto food retailing, funeral and property.”

The food side has been expanding ever since, and a recent programme of investment is still only midway through its schedule. “This is called Carousel, and it involves refurbishing all of our 132 food stores – that will be completed by August 2017,” said Roger. “We are also continuing to expand our funeral business, so by 2017 we will double our number of branches and will have somewhere in the region of 60 funeral homes from a starting position of 32.”

lady baking cakes in the village, who just supplies one of our stores.

“With the smaller companies we wanted to be able to give them a route to market because it’s very difficult to get past what can be complicated legal requirements associated with barcodes, packaging and distribution. We recruited a Trading Standards Officer who can discuss their needs, such as labelling requirements, health and safety, EU Law and risk management. As part of this scheme we’ve helped over 100 local suppliers.

“We also have a three P policy - Profit for the producer, Profit for the society and a Price that is acceptable to customers.

So local strawberries might be 10p dearer than some from Holland and I think that is easily tolerated – but £1 more expensive would be insulting. I fear that is what happened to the whole Organic trend – they tried to use what I call ‘insult pricing’ and that is why it failed.”

Natural partnership

In fact, 2007 was a significant year for the Food side of the business in another way, as it was then that the East of England Co-op entered into local sourcing in a big way, with its Sourced Locally initiative. “This is part of our focus on the communities that we serve and also as a membership organisation we look to do things a little bit differently so it’s about the smaller things that we do,” Roger pointed out.

“With local sourcing we were very keen to support local producers, whether they are large or small. So we could be talking about a national producer that supplies all our stores – for example Adnams - and then you might have a

The company is also scrupulously honest with its Sourced Locally Pledge, as Roger noted, because some ingredients just have to be found elsewhere. “We pledge that products in the Sourced Locally initiative are produced or grown in our region wherever possible but we let customers know if it comes from further afield. You can’t have a coffee with beans grown in East Anglia but they can be roasted and blended here, so we put that little proviso in – just to make sure it’s clear for our customers.”

Roger mentioned Adnams and indeed the two organisations have a very close and successful relationship: “Adnams actually approached us to bottle some beer!” he said. “They only bottle beer for Marks and Spencer’s and us, so that’s pretty significant. They produced two beers for us - a pale ale and a brown ale - and they do very well.” John Lynsdale of Adnams is also very pleased with the two companies’ working relationship: “This is a really natural partnership between two trusted businesses who together share a rich heritage, a commitment to serving local communities and a passion for the amazing food and drink in our region,” he said.

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To give some idea of the genuine ‘localness’ of products, which the East of England Co-op states as coming from ‘within 30 miles of the store’, Roger gave some examples of other producers. “Tim Briscoe from Buxton Potatoes in Cawston supplies all the Norwich stores with potatoes, and Fairfield Farms supplies Suffolk and Essex. Cornerways Tomatoes from Kings Lynn supply our tomatoes and their business is amazing, as it’s totally sustainable, using heat from the sugar beet factory next door and 180 beehives to help pollination. They even sift the soil that comes off the roots and send it to Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal football grounds for use on the pitches!”

At this time of year strawberries are in big demand and as Roger noted, the further they travel, the more the quality suffers. “Fresh is a big pull on these products and Richard and

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Charlie Tacon of The Tacons near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk have been supplying the East of England Co-op food stores with fresh local strawberries and asparagus since 2009,” he said. “We also work with Gnaw chocolate, which is Norwich based. They do a range of chocolates that we sell in the Norfolk stores, and Lakenham Creamery does our ice cream.”

Business success Lane Farm Country Foods produces some of Suffolk’s most succulent sausages, hams and bacon – all from happy, home-reared pigs. The farm supplies many of the East of England Co-op stores around the region, which has helped the business to grow steadily in the last few years, including opening up job opportunities for a new generation. Owner Ian Whitehead credits the Co-op with much of his businesses’ success: “We are so proud

to be able to supply and feel part of the East of England Co-op. We have grown our businesses together and Lane Farm Country Foods wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.”

Overall, such has been the success of Sourced Locally, which started only selling locally grown asparagus, that it now includes thousands of different products from over 100 suppliers across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex: everything from beer, bread and bacon

East of England Co-op to honey, haddock and heat logs.

There has been a year on year growth in sales of Sourced Locally sales, with a £16.8m turnover in the last financial year. “This means that since the scheme launched, we’ve ploughed more than £45 million back into the regional economy and supported the creation of around 400 new jobs in the region,” said Roger proudly.

One of the reasons Sourced Locally has been so successful is because the East of England Co-op has a dedicated team who hunt out the very best local produce the region has to offer. Their hard work and enthusiasm for sourcing the highest quality local produce has meant that the scheme has scooped an array of nationwide and regional industry awards, from achieving Finalist in the Grocer Gold Awards to winning the Hermes and Retail Week Supply Chain Award.

Community support

totally renovated and re-opened as ‘The Oak Café’, a new, alcohol free community venue, which alongside the café includes a music venue on the ground floor and short-stay accommodation on the first floor, to support those recovering from addictions to drugs, alcohol, gambling, shopping and gaming.

Roger explained how this project came into existence: “We had 75 street drinkers in Ipswich which was a problem. We worked with the police, the NHS and the local council to help resolve this, and one of the steps was for us to stop selling cheap, superstrength alcohol from Ipswich stores, before extending it to all our stores, as part of the successful Reducing the Strength campaign.

“It was from this that we met Simon Aalders and we then got involved in setting up the recovery centre, where I am one of the directors.”

Simon Aalders is now Director of The Oak Café and has had more than 25 years of experience working with and running services that treat addiction. He added: “So many people have helped us to renovate the former Royal Oak and start its exciting new journey as an alcohol free café and community venue.

The East of England Co-op has been there for us every step of the way – from leasing the building to providing support with food waste, electrical equipment and security.

“We want the café to be a comfortable, relaxed and safe space for people to chat and enjoy themselves, and we have even created a child friendly area for families to relax and play in. We are really pleased to be opening our doors to the public - it is the culmination of a lot of hard work and we look forward to welcoming everyone to the cafe for some great coffee, tea, sandwiches and cakes.”

At the heart of Sourced Locally is the local community, and the East of England Co-op recently illustrated another way it supports customers by adopting 12 Post Offices, in order to save them. “They don’t make us any money but they would have been lost if we didn’t take them into our stores,” said Roger. “This trend for Post Office closure is also seen in local pubs and so far we have converted two of these as well, in partnership with others to provide support for homeless people and those reintegrating back into their local community.”

The most recent of these opened in April 2016, in the former The Royal Oak in Ipswich. The premises were

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Nick Denny, Joint Chief Executive at the East of England Co-op added: “I am so impressed with the hard work and dedication that Simon and his team have put in to the project. The building has been completely transformed and is now a light, welcoming and warm space for people to enjoy.

“We are very happy to have been able to help Simon through his journey, directly giving back to the community through his innovative idea. To be able to contribute to and support a cause that sustains people when they need it most is something we feel passionately about at the East of England Co-op.”

Closely following the opening of The Oak Café was the launch of Emmaus Ipswich’s new shop. The Emmaus team supports people who are rebuilding their lives after experiencing homelessness and unemployment, and Emmaus Ipswich offers work opportunities to develop skills, with the aim of helping

‘

people into long-term employment. The new shop sells upcycled furniture and household items, and will help fund plans for the organisation to provide accommodation for homeless people.

Years after a chance meeting on a train with the East of England Co-op’s former chief executive Bill Brown, Terry Waite CBE, who is now the Emmaus UK president, officially opened the Emmaus Ipswich store, with Nick Denny, present on the day.

Other community schemes include working with schools during Fairtrade Fortnight, and Meet and Mingle sessions, designed to help combat loneliness, take part in fun activities and maintain health and wellbeing by speaking to friendly colleagues and accessing free of charge services. “We’ve also added a token scheme in our stores and over 250 local good causes have benefitted from the token scheme,” added Roger.

“Customers get a token from the

We want to be the friendliest retailer, so over 3000 of our 4700 colleagues have all been trained in customer service and acts of kindness

checkout and use these to show which of three local charities they would like us to support. Each location has £1000 every three months and its gets divided as a percentage of the tokens that have been put in. Customers get to choose who benefits in their area and we see it as a way of sharing the love between good causes.”

Sustainable future The past 11 years since the merger and the beginnings of the transformation of the East of England Co-op have seen major changes in the organisation, but Roger was keen to point out that there is no time for slowing down or losing momentum: “The strategic vision is to reshape our business, to have a sustainable future. This isn’t all plain sailing, as we may have to consider closing some of our stores that we believe do not fit our long-term portfolio, however, on the expansion side we are also looking to work with partners, such as bringing big names such as Subway and Brantano into the larger stores. This is designed to make our stores more of a destination, with a wider appeal to the customer.

“We also want to really make people’s lives easier, so we are encouraging people to ‘pop-in’ – if your glasses break, if you need funeral advice, if you need some food, we want people to pop down to the Co-op - no appointment needed, just come in and see what we can do for you. On top of the convenience factor, we want to be the friendliest retailer, so over 3000 of our

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East of England Co-op 4700 colleagues have all been trained in customer service and acts of kindness, as part of a Dementia Friendly Initiative.”

Minnie Moll, Joint Chief Executive at the East of England Co-op gave some more details about this: “As a community retailer it’s important that we support all of our members and customers to retain their independence and feel part of their community for as long as possible. We know that popping to the Co-op and speaking with one of our store colleagues may be the only social interaction that person living alone has for days or even weeks. For people living with Dementia there may be challenges going shopping so ensuring our colleagues have the knowledge and support to make those interactions positive is a key part of us becoming a leading dementia friendly retailer.” Such was the success of this initiative that the East of England Co-op won the Staff Education award at this year’s Better Society Awards for its Dementia Friends Awareness Training.

It is clear from its vast sway of activities and sectors that the East of England Co-op is an eclectic business, and Roger confirmed it is unique in many ways. “We don’t have a single Chief Executive, we have five Joint Chief Executives but we all have specialist areas. The specialist area for me is the retail and distribution functions, because we have our own distribution centre. Doug Field covers finance and technology, Mark O’Hagan covers people and performance, Nick Denny covers property and Minnie Moll covers membership and marketing. We also have an independent secretary that reports to the Board of Directors and liaises with us as an executive team. That is how our governance works and we

have a lay board of 16, which are voted for by our members.”

And ultimately, it is the members of the Co-op who make the difference.

All of their members own a £1 share in the business. The Co-op works out how much dividend each of the members will get, depending on the amount of points they have collected over the year – the more they spend, the more they get! Members also get the chance to give back to the community and have a say in how the Co-op is run. 2016 will see over 220,000 members of the East of England Co-op looking forward to a share of a £3 million dividend payment.

The company is incredibly pleased to be able to share such a good dividend with its members once again, and this is the seventh year that it has been able to pay a dividend of 2p for every £1 spent in its stores. For regular shoppers, this will be a welcome and substantial dividend.

The original Co-op was created

because the founders felt there was a better way of doing business; one that would make a difference for its customers and the communities that they live in.

From speaking to Roger, to this very day those same values remain at the East of England Co-op, despite having been founded over 140 years ago. Thanks to keeping a focus on the community and its members, the business has grown to become one of the largest, totally independent businesses in the region, with over 200 stores, 4,700 employees and a turnover of £350m a year. Without big corporate shareholders; the decisions made by Roger and his fellow Joint Chief Executives are always done with their members and customers in mind. And that is why when you pop into your local East of England Co-op, you will find good value, locally sourced food, a friendly face, and ability to share in the profits.

It would be difficult to ask for more! D www.eastofengland.coop/home

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Delight

for all seasons

Belgian chocolatier Ickx has built its reputation on quality products for all occasions 44 www.foodchainmagazine.com

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ased in Belgium, Chocolaterie Ickx was first formed in the 1970s when it started making its first exclusive hand-made pralines alongside other chocolate products. Success within the market for the company quickly followed, so much so that in 1982 it opened up a small studio in Kapellen, employing

traditional chocolate making methods to create the high quality, premium range of chocolate confectionary it has become well known for today. Growth continued at such a rate that Ickx was eventually able to build a completely new chocolate factory in Essen, marking the firm out as an innovative and thoroughly modern company.

Ickx NV

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All ingredients are carefully selected for the highest quality and the company follows its own objective to constantly develop new ideas continually surprising the customer with unique and exclusive pralines

Attention to quality In 1993, Ickx’s sister company Dragee, which began as a wholesaler of chocolate dragées and a small selection of other chocolate products in Roosendaal, Holland, moved a large proportion of its business to the Essen site. The move brought with it a dedicated sales team for the Dutch

market continuing to operate from Roosendaal and in 2008, the Dutch importer/exporter, Rosenberg, was acquired to further enhance the brands’ presence in the region alongside its range of exclusive and high quality products destined for Dutch multiples.

In addition to a core market in Belgium and Holland, Ickx has also established

itself a market across the globe including in the UK, Germany, Japan, Australia and the USA. When it comes to its products, quality is unquestionably at the top of Ickx’s list of priorities. Through a refined mix of various modern techniques and traditional handcrafting, the company works in strict accordance with a quality assurance

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system based on the principles of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). As a result anyone who indulges in the firm’s luxurious chocolates can rest assured that it is of consistently high quality and satisfies all HACCP guidelines, its own internal specific requirements and any appropriate legislation concerning foodstuffs. The business also has BRC Higher Level certification.

However, attention to quality at Ickx goes beyond a mere adherence to regulated guidelines and legislature, and to the care and passion that goes into making exquisite chocolates. All ingredients are carefully selected for the highest quality and the company follows its own objective to constantly develop new ideas continually surprising the customer with unique and exclusive pralines. As such, every year, adjustments and extensive investments are made to keep it

ahead of the competition with a unique selection of chocolates.

Themed products All of this is thanks to a team of highly motivated specialists who are responsible for the continual updating of a wide selection of handmade pralines and other chocolate assortments. The studio is underlined by quality, creativity and innovation as core values for the business’ success and the ongoing development of expert recipes. A keen streak of traditional chocolate making mingles seamlessly with cutting-edge and state-of-the-art production techniques to produce Ickx’s unique signature of flavours before each chocolate is individually hand-finished with extreme care.

With new products added to its range every year, Ickx not only provides an extensive variety of specially made seasonal and occasioned products.

Its Autumn range of chocolates, for example, reflects the season’s warm colours and natural themes with a large selection of luxurious chocolates, varying from pine-cones to walnuts and tree trunks to pumpkins, all in typically autumnal hues. As autumn turns to winter, the brands are similarly quick to capture the atmosphere with a special range of Sinterklaas chocolates marking the Dutch celebration of the Feast of St. Nicholas. A range of hollow, solid and lolli-popped St. Nicholas and his ‘merry Zwarte Pietje’ helper become a firm favourite of the company’s customers alongside exclusive marzipan products.

Christmas swiftly follows Sinterklaas and Ickx and Dragee never fail to get stuck in with a wide range of fine, high-quality chocolates consisting both traditional and modern festive themes.

Holly leaves, wreaths, baubles, stars and Santas all feature in a range of products that gets refreshed and updated every December.

Creative chocolates As with Christmas, Easter marks a particularly busy time for the company as modern-takes on the tradition revere chocolate more and more as each year passes. Yet again, Ickx is a step ahead

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Ickx NV with a wide range of Easter figures for its customers, including solid chocolate ducks and bunnies. More traditional eggs come in all sizes, wrapped or coated in weights of 5.5 grams to 13 grams, ranging from solid chocolate to deliciously filled assortments. Other products include decorated chocolate drops and figures covered in hundred and thousands, plus a selection of tasty filled products such as sugared ducks, filled nests, half-decorated eggs, pralines and countless other mouthwatering products.

and marriages, are also available throughout the year with like-wise assortments of luxury products.

The rich and smooth taste of chocolate is as timeless as it has ever been and the market for premium products that appeal to young and old is one that looks steadfast in its market

position. The careful attention paid

by Ickx and its sister brand Dragee to quality, innovative and creative chocolates and pralines is exemplary and will surely play a significant role in the business’ growth and success around the world for years to come. D www.choc-ickx.be

Throughout the year numerous events like Valentine’s day, the Queen’s birthday and major sporting events all follow suit with varieties of chocolate selections that both mirror the occasions’ unique celebrations and maintain Ickx’s long-standing commitment to quality and innovation.

Beyond this chocolates to mark a host of other occasions, such as births

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Food fit for a king

A

South African based catering company RoyalMnandi has become a preferred food service solutions supplier to industries including commercial, healthcare, industrial and mining, education and events

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specialist outsourced catering company with a taste for delivering the best possible solution to each client’s unique requirements, RoyalMnandi has enjoyed significant growth since it first began trading in 1990 as Royal Food Services. A decade on from its inception, the company merged with Sechaba Catering Services to become Royal Sechaba, which thus enabled the firm to extend services to a broader South African market. Following further ownership changes, RoyalMnandi was launched in June 2011; named after the Zulu word for delicious, RoyalMnandi was set up with a simple service philosophy: ‘Made from the heart’ and today operates throughout South Africa.

With Bidvest Group’s purchase of Mvelaserve Pty (Ltd) in November 2013, RoyalMnandi became a proud member of the Bidvest family, as Chief Executive Officer Rob White explains: “Royal Mnandi being a wholly owned subsidiary of Bidvest Group gives our clients and staff a greater sense of comfort in terms of stability and support. The Bidvest Group added catering to their service offering as strategic intent to further the services that they are able to offer.”

As part of Bidvest Group, RoyalMnandi continues to deliver an exceptional service to a broad range of industries, as Rob comments: “Our main sectors are commercial, healthcare, industrial and mining, education and events.

Our commercial clientele receive a customised and unique on-site food solution, offering catering for breakfast, lunch, coffee breaks, functions, vending services and special events. We pride ourselves in offering a high standard when it comes to serving restaurant standard lunches, café meals, barista services, fine dining events, cocktail functions or executive board function catering. Of course, all services are customised to each client’s unique requirements and budget.”

Meanwhile, the company’s presence in the healthcare sector remains strong and continues to grow; it is within this sector that it offers patient meals to hospitals in a variety of service systems to best suit the customer’s needs. “By utilising our unique electronic patient meal ordering system, we’re able to accurately capture information for meal ordering and production schedules. Our passion is for patients to look at healthcare catering as a compliment to their health recovery, as opposed to the negative stigma that surrounds hospital food,” says Rob. To make this goal possible, the company serves homely meals to patients that are suited to their dietary and healthcare requirements. “Health and wellbeing is such an important part of our food services that we employ a qualified dietician to ensure that all menus contain the right components in the correct quantities.”

In comparison to the blossoming healthcare sector, RoyalMnandi has been at the forefront of the remote and urban catering industry for over two decades and was awarded the biggest catering tender in Southern Africa in 2010 at a power station, with more than eight million meals served on-site to date. “For our mining and industrial sectors we have a highly innovative and comprehensive HACCP compliant centralised kitchen that delivers fresh, prepared and cooked produce to our operational units, which enhances efficiencies in cost and labour components. The central kitchen also acts as our disaster recovery plan in the event that any of our operational units are unable to prepare meals for our valued customers,” says Rob. By using the experience it has gained in industries such as industrial and

RoyalMnandi mining, RoyalMnandi has gained an enviable portfolio of customers in sectors such as education and events also.

Aware that a well-balanced diet is pivotal for young bodies to get the most out of their day, the company prides itself in having some of the best universities and private schools within its elite customer base. “From a lunch packed with brain-boosting nutrients, to a healthy homely meal away from home, we have the passion, experience and knowledge to exceed students’ and clients’ expectations,” says Rob. “Moreover, when it comes to our events sector, no matter the size, scale or budget of your required occasion, our leading event catering service is able to provide unique solutions to the most challenging of requirements,” he

management and events team will look after even the smallest of details to provide a turnkey solution that will make your special event run smoothly.”

At the heart of RoyalMnandi’s success

adds. “We love to get creative and these occasions provide the perfect opportunity.

Whether we’re catering in a field, under canvas or in a boardroom, our event

are its people, who are encouraged to be creative and entrepreneurial in their delivery of exceptional quality food solutions, and its commitment to

innovation. “We place a lot of emphasis on our people,” says Rob. “We have a highly skilled and passionate research and development team that have been working diligently on a few new product ranges, one of which will see us enter a new untapped market, however, we don’t want to give too much away at this stage and spoil the fun!”

Although the market is on a decline in South Africa, the company remains a competitive player thanks to its focus on delivering the best possible solution for the changing demands of its customers. “The next three to five years will see RoyalMnandi resuming a pivotal position as one of the largest contract catering companies within South Africa. The economy, environment and people’s needs and wants are constantly changing, and we have the agility and speed to move faster and more quickly than our competitors,” concludes Rob. D www.royalmnandi.co.za

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FoodChain The business of food and drink

Schofield Publishing Ltd

10 Cringleford Business Centre Intwood Road l Cringleford l Norwich l NR4 6AU T: +44 (0)1603 274130 | F: +44 (0)1603 274131 Editor Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Director Joe Woolsgrove jwoolsgrove@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Rob Wagner rwagner@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

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