FoodChain Issue 117 September 2016

FoodChain issue 117

l

Sept 2016

The business of food and drink

Rising up German bakery company Sternenbaek maintains a traditional approach to business and still makes many of its delicious products by hand

Industry News The London Crisp Co.’s new popcorn has eye-catching packaging l

Wrapped up The future of plastic packaging includes high tech solutions and materials

Ecoffee cup calls for changes to consumer behaviour to reduce waste l

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Musclefood’s high protein pizza now stocked in more UK stores

From table to tablet The mobile revolution could transform the way the hospitality industry operates

MUNT_FOOD_INGREDIENTS_A4_AD.qxp_Layout 1 15/07/2016 09:52 Page 1

AD & BIOGAS INDUSTRY AWARDS 2016

Best Food & Drink Industry AD project

WINNER MUNTONS Additional Notes: The judges felt this was a very strong category.

Muntons' entry was a compelling, clear submission with commercial logic and technical and operational implementation.

Muntons are an international malt and malted ingredients company supplying a wide range of ingredients - malt flours, extracts, kibbled and flaked grains and band & spray dried extracts - to the food, confectionery and drinks sectors. renowned for their clean label attributes, Muntons malted ingredients bring benefits to some of the world’s leading food and drink brands. when Muntons first embarked on its own green initiative (called ‘practical sustainability’) our modest aim was to reduce the company’s carbon impact to the benefit of our business, the industry and, of course, to do our bit for the planet. the initiative included a robust supply chain carbon footprint reduction analysis that has led the company to invest £15m in energy efficient technology to date.

little did we know, five years on, that our efforts would be rewarded by seeing a significant reduction in environmental impact and substantial energy and cost savings. the practical sustainability programme has enhanced our business and helped to establish a benchmark within the food industry.

Muntons new ad plant at the stowmarket maltings is our latest innovation in the company’s commitment towards a greener, more sustainable future.

Measurable successes from our Practical Sustainability programme include:

water A reduction in

consumption by

>25%

0%

Waste going to

LANDFILL

M u n t o n s p lc , c e d a r s M a lt i n g s , s t o w M a r k e t, s u f f o l k , i p 1 4 2 a g

01449 618300

Leading our industry to identify CARBON SAVINGS of up to

50%

info@muntons.com

w w w. m u n t o n s . c o m

FoodChain ISSUE 117 L SEPT 2016

THE BUSINESS OF FOOD AND DRINK

Editor’s Welcome

Rising up German bakery company Sternenbaek maintains a traditional approach to business and still makes many of its delicious products by hand

Industry News L The London Crisp Co.’s new popcorn has eye-catching packaging

Wrapped up The future of plastic packaging includes high tech solutions and materials

L Ecoffee cup calls for changes to consumer behaviour to reduce waste L Musclefood’s

high protein pizza now stocked in more UK stores

From table to tablet The mobile revolution could transform the way the hospitality industry operates

Future focus

Chairman Andrew Schofield Editor Libbie Hammond Art Editor Advertising Design Fleur Daniels Staff Writers Jo Cooper Andrew Dann Joshua Younespour Profiles Manager Emma Crane Sales Director Joe Woolsgrove Sales Mark Cawston Tim Eakins Andy Ellis Darren Jolliffe Jonas Junca Dave King Theresa McDonald Rob Wagner Operations Director Philip Monument Editorial Researchers Alasdair Gamble Natalie Griffiths Mark Kafourous Kya Johnson Wendy Russell Office Manager Advertising Administrator Tracy Chynoweth

I

s it me or has the topic of Brexit gone a bit quiet? My inbox was initially flooded with emails predicting every possible scenario, but there has been a significant slow down over the past weeks, as everyone

(apparently) has just continued on with life as it was before.

Of course I am sure the discussions will resurface, but at the moment, food and beverage companies appear to be continuing to innovate, looking for efficiencies, launching new products and focusing on best practice, so they are ready for the future in the strongest possible position.

It seems a very sensible and valuable approach – I am glad we get to feature such businesses in FoodChain and if you’d like to appear in the magazine (or have a comment on Brexit!) please do get in touch.

Follow us at:

@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 28 4

12

14

22

Features 4

Food safety Keep it clean

The growing requirements to display clear nutritional and related information on food packaging are a challenge

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

Packaging Wrapped up

6

Beverages What’s your tipple?

8

Andrew Dann takes a look at some of the new beverages that have been launched onto the market

12

A mission is underway to recapture the Scottish brand name of smoked salmon - ‘The Pride of Scotland’

Product recalls Built on trust

Ingredients A taste of what’s to come

14

The need to conduct product recalls will unfortunately always be a concern for the food industry

Sour ale A sour twist

Mark Jones considers the impact of Brexit on the food and drink industry

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16

24

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

Food manufacture Looking forward to 2050

28

Cranfield University’s Factory of the Future report revealed some interesting findings

New technology From table to tablet

30

Restaurants can take advantage of new technology to improve the customer experience

News Industry issues – Brexit Preparing for change

22

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

Innovations in plastic packaging include areas such as biodegradability and nanomaterials

Seafood Respect the heritage

20

Labelling trends Vying for attention

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

Taste Test

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

11 /19

32

82 38

75

88

62 Profiles

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

Muntons

34

Sweetdreams

86

Anglian Country Inns

38

Sternenbaek

88

44

Ickx

92

The Abergavenny Fine Foods Co

53

Morrow Brothers

Kendal Nutricare

57

CCL Products

98

CO-RO A/S

59

Cosucra

100

Balticovo

62

Lacons

103

The Gudrun Group

64

Alyasra Foods

106

Skagerak Group

66

Rocco Forte Hotels

110

The Taste of Suffolk

68

Pure Chocolate

116

Aston Manor Cider

72

East End Foods

118

Graysons

75

RoyalMnandi

122

Reflex Nutrition

78

Al Safi Danone

124

bartlett mitchell

82

East of England Co-Operative

126

The Southern Co-operative

96

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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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A

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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What’s your tipple?

W From refreshing fruit juices and stimulating energy drinks to crisp wines and eclectic varieties of speciality beers, 2016 has seen an impressive array of new beverages brought to market.

Andrew Dann takes a look at just a few of these that are currently whetting and inspiring consumer appetites

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ith the UK in the throes of the near legendary ‘British Summertime’ the nation’s demand for both refreshing hard and soft drinks is understandably high. Indeed, the period of 2015 to 2016 has represented an exciting time for the beverage industry across several sectors and markets, with changing consumer demands and new innovations driving a surge in tempting new hydration options. Within the UK soft drink market for example, research by the British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) in its 2015 ‘Changing Tastes’ UK soft drinks annual report, suggests that significant numbers of UK consumers are switching to low, zero and midcalorie options. Indeed, the report further revealed that the majority of soft drinks now sold in the UK are low and no calorie including 49 per cent of all carbonates. As of October 2015 57 per cent of the UK soft drink market was

comprised of low or no calorie options; five per cent mid calorie; and 38 per cent regular formulas.

Feeling fruity

The growing demand for healthier beverage options has seen the introduction of several new products, including bottled waters, traditional and cold-pressed juices, smoothies and low-calorie sodas into the UK market.

A recent example of this trend is the introduction of a groundbreaking line of cold-pressed fruit waters, which hit UK shop shelves during Spring 2016. The GROUNDED line of coldpressed fruit waters was developed and brought to market by 22 year old recent Manchester University graduate, Gabriel Bean and was developed out of a genuine passion to create a natural, healthy and thirst-quenching beverage.

Aimed at the health conscious and active audience, GROUNDED comprises three

exciting flavours including cucumber and mint; lemon and ginger as well as lime and lemongrass and is set to take the health and wellbeing sector by storm.

“It baffled me as to why it was so hard to find a refreshing drink that is 100 per cent natural, tastes great and has a humble sugar count. I call that “the healthy hat-trick,” Gabriel reveals.

“Sugar is already established as a major problem in the food and drinks industry, so I believe the arrival of GROUNDED comes at an ideal time. Not only that, but consumers are increasingly aware of ingredients and claims, and they now demand more transparency.”

Additionally, in response to consumer demand for healthy, low-sugar fruit drinks, the Cracker Drinks Company has recently re-launched its line of fruit juices as a ‘no added sugar’ range that retains all of the sweetness and flavour of a tasty and refreshing fruit juice. As a juice drink with no added sugar, the range is naturally lower in calories, averaging around 30 per cent less calories per 100ml than 100 per cent juice or added sugar juice drinks, however the range remains high in fruit content to offer the added benefit of one of the recommended five a day. “Consumers want to continue to treat themselves while also drinking products that are better for them,” says Gavin Cox, Managing Director at Cracker Drinks. “With this new range, Cracker has aimed to offer this, as while providing the benefits of fruit and a great tasting drink, the new range limits calories and sugar. As with all Cracker drinks, this range is completely natural and free from anything artificial for example, we have used natural Stevia to add a little extra sweetness.”

The company’s strategy for removal of added sugar actually began as early as 2005 and this next brand is just the latest in a series of new product launches offering clients healthier options. All Cracker Drinks products are now no added sugar and this re-launch has seen the brand increase its overall distribution in multiple retailers despite significant pressure on the overall category in recent months following the sugar debate. The new range will

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Beverages

The demand for low sugar and healthier beverage options is supported by a firmly established trend in the demand for natural ingredients rather than artificial alternatives

replace all other Cracker Co drinks currently on sale in the ambient aisle and will include mango and passion fruit; pineapple, coconut and lime; still and cloudy lemonade; as well as an apple, raspberry and sloe variant - a seasonal limited edition which will be replaced in Spring/Summer 2016.

Getting energised The demand for low sugar and healthier beverage options is supported by a firmly established trend in the demand for natural ingredients rather than artificial alternatives. In its Global Food & Drink Trends 2016 report, the Mintel market research company identified 12 key trends set to make an impact on the global food and drink market.

The report observed that artificial ingredients are considered ‘public enemy number one’ in the Western and Eastern European, Russian and Australian markets where the trend is fully established and in the North American market, where the trend is currently mainstreaming. Furthermore, the call for natural ingredients is also emerging in South America, Africa and Asia, meaning that the trend is gaining momentum on a global scale.

This trend has reached the energy drinks sector, which has faced some challenges in recent years relating to the public’s perception of the sugar and additive content of energy drinks and increased competition. This has seen the emergence of several allnatural energy drinks, including the Scheckter’s Organic Energy range. The brand has proven highly successful since the company’s formation during 2011 and during 2016 the company improved its market presence through the introduction of a new look and two exciting and energetic new flavours.

The Scheckter’s organic energy drink

brand is certified by the Soil Association and Informed Sport and is quickly establishing itself as the leader in natural energy. The new additions to the Scheckter’s Organic Energy range are Scheckter’s Organic Energy Green Tea & Mint and Scheckter’s Organic Energy Green Tea & Ginger. Both flavours are the perfect combination of sparkling filtered water, organic cane sugar, organic lemon juice, organic green tea extract, organic guarana, organic caramel, Vitamin C and organic ginseng.

The green tea ginger is flavoured with organic ginger extract giving it a delicious and zingy taste, while the Green Tea Mint has organic spearmint extract making it particularly refreshing.

Alongside the release of these two new flavours, the Scheckter’s Organic Energy packaging looks to break the mould of energy drinks by taking on a new design and challenging the category. The new can graphics where designed by Magic8Ball and are inspired by traditional and artisanal food packaging. Featuring a craft paper background and a bold ‘O’ for organic they enable the brand look to be closer to its organic credentials, while adding a level of sophistication that is currently missing in the energy drink sector. “We were the first to market as an innovator in the space of organic energy, and proud to offer a drink that is naturally different. We want to ensure we offer consumers a great tasting, refreshing and healthier way to energise, as well as provide retailers with an added volume and revenue opportunity,” comments Charles Phillips, CEO and co-founder of Scheckter’s. “With the new packaging and new flavours, we expect to further the growth of our brand and lead this new premium category of adult functional soft drinks.”

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Beverages Groves, Head Brewer at St Peter’s says this is ‘the Rioja of Black IPA’s’.

“There is a growing interest in real cider and we felt the time was right for us to bring something completely new to the market,” explains Steve Magnall, CEO at St Peter’s Brewery.

“We launched our first batch in March and completely sold out! The response has been phenomenal. Our new Black IPA continues our 20-year-old tradition of making the highest quality real ales, while the new bottle size will help us compete in the now highly competitive crafted ale sector.”

Consumer choice A crafty approach While the call for both organic and increasingly healthy options has been a major driver across the beverage industry within a number of sectors, across the market the demand for an exciting and flavoursome drink experience remains king. Indeed, throughout the market for fruit and energy drinks manufacturers like GROUNDED, Cracker Drinks and Scheckter’s Organic Energy have all introduced quirky new flavours to entice new customers and reinvigorate the interest of existing clients. The market for alcoholic beverages is no exception as the recent trend for unique craft beers has demonstrated, resulting in the introduction of several robust and refreshing blends.

Greenwich’s craft brewer Meantime Brewing Company for example, has recently launched The Pilot Series of a small-batch beers brewed at the company’s brand new state-of-theart Pilot Brewery. The Pilot Series will showcase new and unique beers, with a new style released every two weeks.

Housed within Meantime’s brewery in Greenwich, the new range will be brewed on a high-tech Bavarian style brew house, with capabilities to brew smaller volumes whilst ensuring there is no compromise on quality. Richard Myers, Marketing Director at Meantime, says: “Meantime has always strived to introduce the British public to a wide range of great beers and open their minds to trying something different.

The Pilot Series gives us the perfect

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opportunity to continue to push the boundaries of modern craft and have a bit of fun experimenting with some unusual beer styles. We’re proud to say that innovation and quality are the heart of everything we do, so expect to see some great beers coming out of The Pilot Brewery in 2016.”

Furthermore, during May 2016 the Suffolk-based St. Peter’s Brewery announced that it had introduced a new 330ml ‘Crafted Range’, which includes its first ever cider and a seven per cent ABV Black IPA. Taking its unique and iconic oval bottle, St Peter’s Brewery has created a smaller 330ml version to showcase its new and existing products.

The brand new 4.6 per cent St. Peter’s Cider is a refreshing, dry and crisp cider, pale straw in colour and carrying a fresh uplifted apple aroma and a slight fizz on the tongue, while its St. Peter’s Black IPA is a seven per cent crafted IPA that’s black in colour and heavily hopped as a traditional IPA with a sweeter flavour belying the higher levels of bitterness.

It offers a hint of raisins, sultanas, sloes and damsons and has an aroma of dark chocolate with vanilla notes. Steve

The period of 2015-2016 has represented an exciting time for the global drinks market, with a wide variety of innovations and new flavours emerging throughout several industry sectors to match the tastes of clients of all ages and inclinations. Several of these trends, such as the emergence of organically focused energy drinks are still relatively new to market and will continue to develop well beyond 2016, while others such as the explosion in craft beers have established themselves quickly so that even as the initial interest in the trend begins to decline, craft beers should retain an important share of the market. For manufacturers in all areas of the drinks market the challenge is always to remain on-trend and to produce the next successful innovation, while for the consumer the challenge is one of choice, with so many new options becoming available the question of ‘What’s your tipple?’ is perhaps a more complicated question than you might expect. D Grounded Fruit Waters: www.groundeddrinks.com The Cracker Drinks Co: www.crackerdrinks.com Scheckter’s organic Energy: www.schecktersorganic.com Meantime Brewing Company: www.meantimebrewing.com St. Peter’s Brewery: www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk

IndustryNews Top of the popcorn The London Crisp Co. has expanded its range from crisps to a selection of four new Popcorn flavours. The new Popcorn is inspired by different ‘urban tribes’: Lightly Salted – ‘City Slicker’, 30g, 63 cals per serving Sweet & Salty – ‘High-Vis Vester’, 30g, 71 cals per serving

War on waste Sour Cream & Black Pepper – ‘Yummy Mummy’, 30g, 73 cals per serving Caramel & Espresso – ‘Hoxton Hipster’, 30g, 71 cals per serving The new Popcorn flavours will be available in Tesco stores, initially as part of the Tesco Meal Deal across the UK, RRP 65p, from October 2016. www.thelondoncrispco.com

Following Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s recent BBC News Viewpoint piece on coffee cup waste, David McLagan, Founder & CEO of revolutionary new reusable and biodegradable coffee cup brand, Ecoffee Cup, has emphasised the need to focus on changing consumer behaviour rather than holding out for the big coffee corporations to effect change.

With estimates of up to half a trillion manufactured, globally, over 100 billion single-use cups go to landfill each year.

Starbucks, in the US alone, serves 8000 cups per minute.

David McLagan founded Ecoffee Cup in 2013. Made from biodegradable bamboo fibre and available in a wide range of stylish designs, Ecoffee Cup is light, practical and resealable for easy storage in bags. With a number of coffee shops and cafes offering discounts for those using reusable cups, it also saves money for the British coffee consuming public. Ecoffee Cup has set up the #stopthe100billion social media campaign in an attempt to raise awareness of the issue and effect real change in the way we consume coffee. www.ecoff.ee

Elegant branding Thomas J. Fudge’s has expanded its savoury line-up, launching new Mini Wafers for nibbling along with Crackers & Crispbreads for dipping and topping packs. Feeding into trends including the growing demand for snacking and sharing formats and spicy flavours, the launches also feature new packaging intended to boost cut-through with consumers and standout on shelf.

Available in Waitrose from 14th August, the Mini Wafers will launch in three new flavours; Punchy Jalapeno, Thai Chilli and Melty Cheddar; the Crackers & Crispbreads packs come as duos and will debut in Almond & Cranberry and Hazelnut & Apple crackers, Sunflower & Caraway and Pumpkin & Sesame crackers and Spelt Sourdough and Rye Sourdough crispbreads.

The launch follows recent investment from mid-market private equity business Livingstone. Announced in April 2016, this was secured to support Thomas J. Fudge’s aim to establish itself as the UK’s No.1 premium biscuit brand - a target to which innovation is key.

The new lines are being supported by revamped packaging, intended to drive standout on shelf and amplify Thomas J. Fudge’s brand values. Established

in 1916 in Dorset and celebrating its centenary this year, the new design nods to the brand’s British heritage, as well as its commitment to innovation, quality and taste. Inspired by the British butter, cream and cheese produced in the region, the new range’s ingredients also nod to the bakery’s history and commitment to premium and indulgent produce. www.thomasjfudges.co.uk

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Respect the

heritage

Neil Greig discusses bringing back the Scottish into smoked salmon

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W

hen you think of smoked salmon, what comes to mind? Well, for many people the association with Scotland would be uppermost in their thoughts. A bit like Scotch whisky, then so too does smoked salmon conjure romantic images of Scotland.

For Scottish smoked salmon, it is a picture of quality and a pristine environment; one of Scottish sea lochs and artisanal smokers carrying out their traditional craft. In short, Scottish smoked salmon is synonymous around the world for its quality and taste.

And quite rightly so, because Scottish smoked salmon really is something special. People like the association with

Scotland, the provenance of the fish and the care that has gone into producing this iconic product.

Naturally, other smoked fish producers around the world are keen to capitalise upon this and jump upon the Scottish bandwagon. It will, after all, help boost their sales and from their point of view makes sound commercial sense.

They are, in effect, looking to piggy-back upon the Scottish brand name.

This has led to all kinds of intricate wording on packaging – such as ‘Scottish-style’ - to give the impression that what they are producing is a Scottish product when in fact the association with Scotland is non-existent.

Labelling is often confusing and at worst,

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Seafood

While Scottish farmed and wild salmon already have protected geographical indication status, this sadly is not the case for Scottish smoked salmon

This is not some imaginary difference in quality, it really is there. The Scottish salmon we use is carefully sourced from selected farms and fish are selected so that they have the perfect fat content for smoking. Then, our master smokers gently smoke the salmon over the chippings from whisky casks to ensure that perfect flavour. The quality control processes are second to none.

Smoked salmon has become part of the Scottish DNA, amd many local smoking businesses have sprung up all across the country over the last 100 years or so, many of them proud of the techniques they use.

can be deliberately misleading. This is wrong and totally unfair and is an issue that needs to be addressed.

‘Smoked Scottish salmon’ is another classic one. It may well be Scottish salmon, but is it smoked in Scotland?

Well, with that wording, probably not.

For a salmon smoker like ourselves, based in Scotland and only ever using Scottish salmon, this is incredibly frustrating and is a misappropriation of the actuality. While Scottish farmed and wild salmon already have protected geographical indication status, this sadly is not the case for Scottish smoked salmon. Like our Scotch lamb and beef, we believe that safeguards are needed for Scottish smoked salmon too.

Pride of Scotland One should never forget either that the Scottish salmon sector is an international success story. It is Scotland’s top food export with sales overseas of around £450m every year. A million smoked salmon meals are eaten in the UK each week. How many of these consumers think they are eating genuine Scottish smoked salmon, when they in fact they aren’t?

It is for all these reasons that Associated Seafoods is embarking upon a mission to recapture the Scottish brand name so as to regain the high ground and bring back the name ‘Scottish’ where it should be. We are

doing this through our newly relaunched Pride of Scotland brand where throughout we are emphasising the Scottish provenance of both the salmon and where it is smoked.

We would like all genuine Scottish salmon smokers to join in this quest.

From a national perspective, we believe it will benefit both domestic and international sales, providing a boost to economically fragile areas of Scotland.

But as importantly, it will provide the consumer with the ability to make informed choices when buying their smoked salmon, knowing exactly its country of origin, rather than having to interpret the minefield of confused labelling. D Neil Greig is Commercial Director of Associated Seafoods. Using curing and smoking techniques developed over several generations by its Master Smokers, Associated Seafoods Ltd is a leading producer of the finest quality Scottish smoked salmon. Exported to 25 countries in five different continents, its Pride of Scotland Scottish smoked salmon is a regular feature on the menus of some of the world’s most prestigious hotels and restaurants. www.associatedseafoods.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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Preparing for change Mark Jones considers the potential impact of Brexit on the food and drink industry 16 www.foodchainmagazine.com

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lot has been written about Brexit and the challenges that are likely to materialise for the food and drink sector. Much like the pre-referendum campaigns, it is a challenge to understand what the big issues are and what issues are likely to be the most important in the coming months

Mark Jones

and years. What is clear is that the effects of Brexit (putting aside currency) are most likely to be felt in around six months to a year. Judging how the market is likely to shape up is difficult and future planning becomes more challenging when there is a high degree of uncertainty. So what are the big issues?

Industry issues: The impact of Brexit The changing market

Access to the single market is hugely important to our economy and taking the country in a direction where we turn our back on our biggest customer is not, I think, a likely one

Even before the referendum on 23rd June, food and drink suppliers had seen significant changes in the marketplace.

Reduced SKUs, over capacity, a change in consumer focus and a shift in how retailers sell their products, such as reduced promotions, were all impacting the sector. As a consequence of that, retailers are increasingly looking for long-term contracts.

Now of course, the big problem for suppliers is that the pound has dropped considerably in the wake of Brexit, making it more expensive to buy products from our continental neighbours.

Ordinarily, retailers will agree prices for a trading year, and in some cases it has crept in to two or three years. If a supplier’s prices are fixed for that period and the products they purchase from abroad are now more expensive, there is only one effect; reduced margins.

Pressure on margins of course is not new as retailers have been in a price war for the last 24 months. However, this is different. It is notoriously difficult to pass on increased costs to retailers when you have agreed a fixed price for a period of time.

Add to that the complexities of retendering for business and suppliers are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Retailers are unlikely to entertain a discussion around increasing the price to reflect currency fluctuations when, at the same time, the supplier is desperate to hold on to next year’s business in a market of reducing SKUs. Of course for those who have agreed long-term contracts and fixed prices, it will be even more painful if retailers do not agree to increase prices.

Many, including myself, believed that Brexit would result in a halt to food price deflation as a consequence of the increased costs of manufacturing.

The introduction of the National Living Wage and the drop in the pound have a significant effect on food manufacturer’s production costs, but even that does not seem obvious at this stage. As recently as July, Asda’s new boss, Shaun Clarke, has indicated that the supermarket intends to be more competitive on price. In circumstances where input

costs of manufacturing food may be rising, retailers slashing prices spells unhappy news for food suppliers. As we know, retailer cuts in price hit the suppliers.

Consumer patterns According to Nielsen, more than two thirds of shoppers thought Brexit would bring a rise in grocery prices and only two per cent of those surveyed thought grocery prices would fall after the UK left the EU. Subject to how the retailers react to the rise in input costs, it seems consumers believe prices will rise – even if the price war is fierce enough to delay any increases.

Those same consumers, 64 per cent in fact, believed Brexit would adversely affect the UK economy. The recession has undoubtedly influenced how consumers shop; they save more, they spend less and are increasingly transient in terms of where they shop.

Nielsen research also shows more than one third of shoppers plan to change the supermarket from which they currently buy most of their groceries in order to reduce, or offset, the rise in food prices. Switching to cheaper grocery brands and spending less on clothes were said to be the most popular ways to save money.

Before Brexit, it seemed as if the big four were beginning to find some stability in a market where Aldi and Lidl had been a huge disrupting force.

Consumer confidence was growing and wages were finally increasing beyond the rate of inflation, which had a real effect on disposable incomes. With that comes a desire to obtain better products and better choice – but just when the big four believed they could capitalise on consumer cash and confidence, Brexit happened.

Nielsen points out, if we need it to be pointed out by now, that price-led retailers are the most likely to benefit from shoppers changing retailer or brands to save money. So it looks as if Aldi and Lidl will be smiling for a lot longer than expected.

Regulation Regulation is a challenging shifting landscape for any business, particularly

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Industry issues: The impact of Brexit those in the food and drink sector. When regulations change there is a direct commercial effect on businesses.

Take, for instance, the new food labelling regulations that come into force on 13th December 2016. Food producers will need to learn, or pay for advice on, what such regulations mean to their business.

In all likelihood the introduction of the new food labelling regulations will mean their packaging might need to change and if it does, that may also result in increased costs - at the very least at an increased administrative burden which has to be paid for by using resources.

The new food labelling regulations are of course introduced by the European Parliament. They look at and intend to harmonise the way in which food products are labelled, presented and advertised, and what information they provide in relation to nutrition – but food producers currently do not know if they need to comply with such regulations for a year or indefinitely.

It is not just new regulations that are an issue; it will also impact schemes to tackle obesity and our ability to import and export foods to Europe (62 per cent

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of agricultural exports are sent to the EU and 70 per cent of agricultural import is supplied by EU producers).

On top of that, the EU is responsible for laws relating to the transfer of employees when a business is bought by another, competition legislation (which, it should be remembered, gave birth to GSCOP and the Groceries Code Adjudicator) and the EU protected name scheme, which protects 73 UK names from being exploited on the continent.

What happens to all of this regulation as a consequence of Brexit? The truth is, no one yet knows, but my guess is that most of the regulations which applies, or which is introduced, will still apply in the future or will be adopted by the UK. Access to the single market is hugely important to our economy and taking the country in a direction where we turn our back on our biggest customer is not, I think, a likely one.

As with all things change presents opportunity. Aldi and Lidl have thrived as a consequence of such a changing marketplace. Ocado and now Amazon have also seen how technology can change the food sector and Google,

of course, is also trying food sales in America.

Those businesses with less exposure to currency fluctuations and integrated supply chains that can be flexible are likely to profit most from the uncertainty. Those which are tied into long-term contracts and operate on low margins, on the other hand, could find themselves in severe difficulty if food deflation continues but input costs increase. To start where we finished, the height of the difficulties are likely to come to the fore after six months. D Mark Jones is a solicitor and food and drink industry expert at Gordons law firm. Gordons has offices in Leeds and Bradford, employs 235 people and has a turnover of £22.5m. The firm’s current food and drink clients include Iceland, Costcutter, Budgens, Londis, Goldenfry, Nisa, Kerry Foods, Morrisons, Molson Coors, Noble Foods, Timothy Taylor, P&B Foods and The West Cornwall Pasty Company. www.gordonsllp.com

IndustryNews

Nuts for coconut With the jam and spreads market in the UK forecast to reach £613m by 2018, the coconut water and oil sector already worth £140m and showing continued growth, and a 13 per cent growth in free from products predicted this year, Buko Foods has chosen the perfect time to launch of the UK’s first range of organic coconut jams in Holland & Barrett stores.

With availability of the jams (which are similar to a malty caramel spread) to date having been through independent health stores and online through Amazon, sales have been strong, riding on the back of the fact the jams are not only on trend with the current coconut craze, but also offer an exciting option for free from consumers, who currently have very few options, with almost all other spreads containing eggs, soya, milk, nuts, gluten or dairy.

557 calorie pizza The brand’s Managing Director, Aled Morris, now predicts the Holland & Barrett launch will be the jams first step into mainstream retail: “Based on the continued growth currently taking place in the spread sector, evolving taste preferences, consumers on the whole becoming more health conscious and an increased call for products that are free from dairy, soya and gluten we believe our jams are the perfect fit for UK supermarkets.

With Holland & Barrett coming on board I’m sure it won’t be long until our jams are a signature brand gracing breakfast tables around the UK.”

The big cheese The Saddleworth Cheese Company, founded by former Coronation Street actor Sean Wilson is thrilled to be adding another Medal to its growing collection of accolades, which now stands at 33 awards since the company launched in 2009. Lancashire cheese ‘Smelly Ha’Peth’ won the Silver Medal at this year’s International Cheese Awards in July. The International Cheese Awards is the biggest and best cheese festival in the world with thousands of international competitors so this is a huge achievement for Sean and The Saddleworth Cheese Company.

Sean is best known to British TV viewers for playing Martin Platt for 21 years in Coronation Street. He has always had a passion for food and after his time on the UK’s most famous

Soap, he trained at a Michelin starred restaurant under Nigel Haworth. After a chance meeting with a Lancashire Cheese Maker in 2009 Saddleworth Cheese was born and he is now the only hand maker of Lancashire cheese in the world.

As the business goes from strength to strength, Saddleworth’s range with the most amusing names including favourites ‘Mouth Almighty’, ‘How’s yer Father’, ‘Muldoon’s Picnic’ and’ Smelly Ha’peth’ can be found on deli counters, in specialist food shops and at branches of Asda, Tesco and Morrisons across the UK. A born and bred Northerner, who has lived in and around the North West and Manchester all his life, Sean attributes his love of food to spending time in the kitchen with his grandmother as a child. As well as establishing a successful business, in 2013 Sean presented a four-part TV series entitled ‘The Great Northern Cookbook’, a hit on Channel 5 and subsequently broadcast in both Canada and South Africa.

A book of the same name accompanied the series and was listed as a bestseller on Amazon Food & Drink in 2013. www.saddleworthcheese. co.uk

A high protein pizza, launched into retail just a few months ago and created for the health conscious consumer, is now being stocked in 427 outlets across the UK. The pizza, developed by online health and fitness retailer Musclefood. com, has seen a big increase in the number of stockists selling the healthy alternative to the fast food favourite.

Gyms, health food chains, and supplement stores have all come on board since it was launched to trade in February and the retailer is in talks with leading supermarket Sainsbury’s.

The pizza also launched in 155 Super Valu and Centra stores in Ireland earlier this year and since being stocked has recorded the best ever sales for a new frozen pizza brand.

Each pizza contains around 600 calories, the same amount of protein as three chicken breasts and five times less carbohydrates than the average takeaway pizza. Fat content is much lower too with each slice containing 2.4g of fat compared to 15.3g in some takeaway alternatives.

Each pizza has an authentic stone baked base but the traditional bread flour has been replaced by pea protein powder, which increases the protein content. Each pizza is also gluten free.

This is the first time the pizza has been made available to high street shoppers. Previously pizza lovers have only been able to buy the healthier alternative from the Musclefood.com website. www.musclefood.com

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Vying for attention With growing competition for shelf space and the demand for clear product information, the labelling sector is increasingly an important area of focus throughout the food and beverage industry. Stewart Serls of Label-Form shares a brief insight with FoodChain’s Andrew Dann on some of the issues facing the labelling sector in the food market 20 www.foodchainmagazine.com

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he food and beverage sector has always been a competitive market that represents a challenging arena for new brands and concepts.

Although it is understood that it can be difficult for new products to gain traction with consumers, there is some debate over the actual failure rate of new launches with estimates ranging from around 40 per cent to as high as 80 per cent! The upper estimate of failure rates in excess of 80 per cent was presented in ‘The 2020 Shopper’ white paper report, which was released by the Central Group in 2012 and written by the globally recognised speaker and industry leader, Inez Blackburn, Market Techniques and Innovations, University of Toronto. The report itself is focused on shopping trends generally rather than the food and drink market specifically, meaning that its findings do not necessarily accurately reflect the failure rate of new products in the food industry.

Stewart Serls

Indeed, the most intimidating predictions relating to failed project launches in the food industry have become something of an urban myth, however what is certain is that the sector is still a highly competitive environment where an eyecatching packaging and labelling can be critical.

The challenges facing manufacturers and suppliers to the food and beverage industry are further compounded by the growing requirement to display clear nutritional and related information on food packaging. The 2014 introduction of EU FIC regulations on food labelling, for example requires manufacturers to list any of 14 allergens used as ingredients in a pre-packaged food.

Businesses can choose what method they want to use to emphasise these allergens, including by listing them in bold, italics, highlighted or underlined, but information about allergenic ingredients is to be located in a single place, i.e. the ingredients list on

Labelling trends

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The rules governing nutritional values and presenting information to the public are changing year-on-year and as a result more new labels are coming through

pre-packed food. The requirement to comply with industry regulations coupled with the increasing competition for shelf space has created a rapidly moving market for packaging design, which has had a further impact on the labelling sector for food products. “For food and drinks manufacturers, new laws such as EU FIC regulation have had a huge impact on the industry as producers are forced to change their labels all the time – which is a good thing for our business,” observes LabelForm Commercial Director, Stewart Serls. “The rules governing nutritional values and presenting information to the public are changing year-on-year and as a result more new labels are coming through.”

Innovation Within the food and beverage industry, Label-Form supplies labels to some of the UK’s most prestigious brands and independent producers. The company is

focused on high-quality label solutions, including the ‘no label look’ to ensure products that stand out. To ensure the company is able to deliver the most effective solution, Label-Form works closely with customers from the initial concept design stages through to the sourcing of materials. An important trend within the labelling sector is the growing combination of digital with traditional printing methods which led to LabelForm deciding in April 2015 to install a Durst Tau 330 digital UV Inkjet label press, which will accompany its already well established print processes like Screen UV, Letterpress, Hot-Foil and Embossing. The decision has allowed the company to further expand its presence as a leading label printing specialist to clients within the food, luxury industry and beyond to reach what it refers to a ‘new level of digital print.’

In addition to increasing the capacity of Label-Form in the field of digital printing, the Durst Tau 330 places the company at the forefront of new developments in the use of low migration inks. The Tau 330 is fully compatible with SUNJET’s range of Tau low migration inks for primary food packaging, while substrates of the Tau Low Migration Inks comply with all of the guidelines of the European Printing Ink Association (EUPIA), the Swiss

Ordnance for Materials and the Nestlé Packaging Inks Specifications. Low migration ink expands the production range of the Durst Tau 330 to include self-supported foils, such as blister packaging, yogurt lids and many other applications and is critical in the food industry as it does not migrate into the food itself. “Many customers come to us because of the colour density and white we normally offer with screen printing,” Stewart explains. “The colours and white produced by the Durst range are absolutely fantastic, which is one of the main reasons why we opted for the Tau 330.”

Label-Form will be exhibiting at Packaging Innovations and Luxury Packaging London, set to take place at London Olympia 14 and 15 September 2016. The event will showcase further innovations within the labelling and packaging markets, including a new type of bottle made from black glass, produced by Rawlings. The bottle’s high gloss finish not only increases the product’s shelf presence but its UK light protection act as a protecting element that extends the life of its contents.

With so many innovations within the packaging and labelling market, supermarket shelves are set to become very exciting indeed in the near future! D www.label-form.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 22 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

www.foodchainmagazine.com 27

published in June 2015, brought together experts from CCE and Cranfield University, as well as wider industry and academia, highlighted six major themes of People, Big Data, Technology, Collaboration, Value and Resilience. A second stage of research, a programme of quantitative and qualitative research involving face-to-face interviews and workshops with experts in the field of sustainability has led to a roadmap for future development and a vision for a sustainable ‘factory of the future’ by 2050.

Anticipating the future

Looking

toward 2050 F

Professor Mark Jolly sets out the findings of the Factory of the Future report from Cranfield University’s Centre for Sustainable Manufacturing 28 www.foodchainmagazine.com

aced by challenges around price and availability of resources, the food and drink manufacturing industry needs to undertake a further stage of transformation. Speed, efficiency and customer focus are a given. For long-term sustainability there need to be major changes in the ways in which the industry collaborates and works with new partners in the supply chain, as well as more directly with consumers and society more widely.

Working in partnership with CocaCola Enterprises (CCE), we have been mapping the challenges and opportunities in order to identify what needs to be done and how. The first stage of the research,

The use of sensors, big data analysis and the Internet of Things is already enabling real-time transparency across the supply chain, from ‘farm to fork’. Methods are being developed to exploit this data, be more transparent and to collaborate more with customers, suppliers and even competitors. This will help manufacturers to maintain a resilient business while meeting the needs of markets in general and, eventually, the needs of specific individuals.

Some parts of the supply chain will use data to operate autonomously.

Sensing technology will, for example, monitor the quality of farmland in real-time, ensuring that problems can be fixed immediately, keeping the land operating at maximum productivity and more sustainably. An existing example of a ‘smart farm’ is one run by a British farmer in the Midlands, whose company grows crops on 4000 acres using hitech tractors and using GPS satellite technology to map fields and identify what part of a field needs spraying with fertiliser to within a few inches.

By working together, agriculture and manufacturing operations can ensure sustainable harvests for generations to come by using technology to better maintain land.

Similarly in factories, sensor technology will be used as a tool for monitoring quality and supporting real-time decision-making to keep manufacturing operating efficiently, identifying oncoming bottlenecks in the process.

For consumers, data will be passed on, providing more detailed information about the provenance of food and the chains involved, as well as visibility about the use

Food manufacture of fertilisers and their impact to the land and surrounding environment. ‘Smart tags’ on food products that indicate when it is no longer safe to eat and ‘smart kitchens’ will help manage the food available and reduce waste.

Providing nutrition Food producers will need to focus on resilience and delivering the greatest value to customers, not just financially but in the broadest, social sense. In the future product ingredients will be examined ever more closely, and industry will be held responsible. Food and drink manufacturers have to find ways to remove or alter ingredients that are considered unhealthy, continue to produce popular products, and balance this with the need to counter incidences of food over-supply and food waste.

A constructive way forward will be to introduce models, which are service based and personalised to deliver convenience and value - moving away from mass production towards making personalised products to order. This will be achieved by small, local facilities that use technology to synchronise resource availability, supply and demand. Specialist manufacturers that currently make personalised products will move from niche enterprises into the mainstream as advances in technology progress. Companies will be a combination of large and small operations that are better for the environment because they are more local to the consumer.

Sharing the benefits P&G and Unilever are planning to collaborate on new product development, while Nike has been allowing customers to co-create shoes online. The food and drink industry should work towards engaging society and sharing benefits when creating products. Well-being must be put at the centre of delivery and shared IP considered as a way to protect the environment. As collaboration increases, there will of course be more debate about the trade-off between, on the one hand, keeping data and intellectual property private and, on the other hand, the opportunities to minimise environmental impact by sharing big data

and providing superior levels of service.

It will be imperative that big companies take responsibility for leading the debate and acting ahead of consumer opinion.

Collaboration amongst businesses, organisations and suppliers will be a key enabler for supply chain sustainability.

Ninety per cent of executives involved in the research strongly support the need for collaboration across industry.

Companies will need to show resilience to environmental change and show leadership to build trust, demonstrate responsibility and lead the debate and take action, rather than waiting for consumer pressure. In the interviews, experts predicted there will be greater competition to work with sustainable farmers as manufacturers seek to collaborate to secure quality resources.

Customers will have a more direct role in collaboration and co-creation beyond just initial planning and product development.

Inspiring the next generation With growing automation of both hard technology and soft information technology, fewer people will be developing, managing and improving complex businesses but these people will remain vital to tackling the challenges of sustainability. The growing skills gap - as a generation of experienced employees retire and there is a particular dearth of skilled engineers - will mean the need for more integration with universities and to reach learners as early as possible in schools.

A highly skilled, ethics-led workforce will be required in the future to maintain financial competitiveness, as well as address the pressing need to change the way we use the earth’s resources. This will include business leaders who are skilled innovators who instill an ethical stance of the business into those around them, as well as nurturing the careers of individuals in the wider community and meeting the expectations of all stakeholders. To make this happen, companies will need to support career development, not just for their staff but also in local society through community programmes in schools etc; nurture leaders at every level of the business; ensure leaders are visible not only to

employees but also directly involved with local communities; develop staff to drive change towards sustainability and embed this knowledge into their technical competencies.

Joining forces How value and leadership is understood will change dramatically as companies join forces with each other, and with customers and society. This will become accepted as the only way to grow positively whilst reducing impact and footprint. It will require manufacturers to be key agents of change, as they have the capabilities and insight required to help educate and strengthen different aspects of the value chain. The concept of ‘loyalty’ has to extend beyond a company, into the supply chain and to further connect with consumers and promote the value of resources. Employees will openly consider themselves as members of a wider supply chain to find ways to prevent negative supply chain impact on the environment. Connecting global environmental problems such as resource scarcity directly to individuals’ personal activities and lifestyles will be a major challenge but is an opportunity to encourage collective accountability.

Co-operation will be essential to ensure the ‘circularity’ of resources, to eliminate waste and allow valuable resources to be reused. Manufacturers will work beyond the industrial value chain system to educate society on how to achieve positive environmental impact.

In general, the food and drink industry will have to find ‘levers’ to improve value to customers that also benefit the environment and society. D Mark Jolly is Professor of Sustainable Manufacturing and Head of the Sustainable Manufacturing Systems Centre, Cranfield University.

Sustainable manufacturing for the future: The journey to 2050: research on the vision and pathways for sustainability in the food and drink industry in Great Britain, can be downloaded from www.cranfield.ac.uk

www.foodchainmagazine.com 29

From table to tablet

R

According to Raj Parmar, the hospitality industry is in the midst of a mobile revolution 30 www.foodchainmagazine.com

unning a successful restaurant comes with its own slew of challenges; dealing with busy rush hours puts pressure on all staff, from managers to dishwashers. With cooks and waiting staff juggling so many orders and customers, it’s all too easy to slip up. A single miscommunication between front and back-of-house, an error on the order slip or bill for example, could be disastrous. Without a faultless performance, it’s inevitable that even the most esteemed restaurant will lose out on customers due to the extra pressure put on staff during peak periods.

This common problem pervades time, place and product. Every eating establishment, from haute cuisine to all-night pizza joints, has to deal with the occasional error and resulting loss of customers and sales. Making errors, of course, is only human.

The technological solution

Raj Parmar

With that in mind, it should be no surprise to discerning restauranteurs that the key to overcoming these errors lays in advanced and innovative technology.

In fact, a market report recently released by the British Hospitality Association predicted that technology would have a major impact on every aspect of the food service industry.

This same technology has already been embraced within the retail sector, where it has helped countless high street shops achieve success and stand tall in the wake of online commerce. With new applications and hardware designed specifically for the hospitality sector, it is now being used by restauranteurs to overcome the timeless obstacles associated with running a successful restaurant, pub or other food service establishment.

New technology

By employing the agility and efficiency of mobile tablets for example, these businesses can ensure a quick and seamless customer journey. Equipped with these tablets, staff are free to move among tables, display menu items via high-definition displays and suggest upsells to customers as they order. The use of digital menus has, in many cases, cut ordering times in half, a vital benefit for busy peak times.

Additionally, shock and waterproof cases make these tablets incredibly durable, even in a busy restaurant or pub setting, extending their lifespan and allowing businesses to protect their important investment. As the past decade has seen tablets become widespread within the consumer world, and more recently in the retail sector as well, these devices have become affordable enough for even smaller, independent food service establishments to find a return on investment relatively quickly.

More than just a menu When wirelessly connected with digital displays, staff can use these tablets to take orders, which are then displayed in the kitchen in near real-time. Along with saving precious time by doing away with the need for staff to make constant trips between tables and the kitchen, these digital displays also eliminate the need for chefs to decipher messy handwriting, greatly reducing the risk of human error and ensuring customers receive exactly

‘

Along with digital displays and mounts, there is an abundance of peripherals restaurants can adopt, such as receipt printers, to improve convenience and cut waiting times even further

what they order. This drives significant timesavings for restaurants, while also improving the customer experience.

When not being used by staff, tablets can be fitted into secure, swivelling mounts, making them an asset behind the bar or counter as well. These tablets can then be utilised as effective customer engagement tools – providing customers with easy access to bill information and display advertising.

Along with digital displays and mounts, there is an abundance of peripherals restaurants can adopt, such as receipt printers, to improve convenience and cut waiting times even further. By using the tablet as a point-of-sale device, the lengthy process of printing the bill, delivering it, fetching a payment device and taking a card transaction, transforms into a fast, seamless process handled right at the customer’s table. As tablets benefit from full connectivity, which can include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or NFC in order to suit specific requirements, they can be used to take orders, process contactless card or mobile phone payments and send the receipt straight to a nearby printer

– all without the need for wires or timeconsuming delays.

In addition to mobile tablets, restaurants, particularly quick service and takeaway establishments, can also take advantage of digital displays for the front-of-house environment. These fully customisable displays can be used to show menu items or advertisements to customers. Since they can be easily controlled from the back office, any changes to the menu or prices can be instantly incorporated.

By taking advantage of this technology, restaurants can provide an agile and convenient experience for both customers and staff, ensuring they maximise profits and overcome any challenges caused by peak periods. D

Raj Parmar is Marketing Director at Box Technologies.

For over 20 years Box Technologies has operated across retail, hospitality, banking, finance and other related sectors to transform operational efficiency and customer experience through its solutions. Its specialist consulting, support and technical teams help businesses communicate and engage with their customers more effectively, whilst ensuring staff increase their productivity through mobile devices, kiosks, POS systems, interactive digital signage and related technologies. www.boxtechnologies.com

www.foodchainmagazine.com 31

TasteTest

Authentic tastes

Do you fondue?

GLORIOUS!, best known for its awardwinning range of flavoursome fresh soups has launched a range of fresh and adventurous BBQ-style marinades.

Available in the chilled meat section of supermarket aisles, the mouthwatering sauces are all packed with distinct, different and delicious flavours: Tennessee Chilli BBQ, Carolina BBQ and Korean BBQ. www.gloriousfoods.co.uk

Fudge Kitchen has used a range of premium, all-natural ingredients to create and flavour their new Fudge Fondues, available in sea salted caramel and rich chocolate. Each fondue comes with five, handmade Belinda Clarke marshmallows and a mini jar of flavoured liquid fudge.

For 33 years, the company has been hand-making its products and now exports to 20 different countries from France to the Falkland Islands. Fudge Kitchen also boasts seven Great Taste Awards and was named Ambient Manufacturing Company of the Year at the 2014/15 industry Oscars. A combination of an original 1830s American whipping cream recipe and a unique gourmet butter fudge recipe creates the famously creamy texture and authentic flavour of the fudge. The company has a range of 60 different gourmet butter fudge products including Drinking Fudge, Fudge Sauces, Gift Hampers and Dipped Sticks but is still continuing to develop new products such as the Fudge Fondue. www.fudgekitchen.co.uk

“I already knew the quality of GLORIOUS! Soups so I had high expectations of the BBQ sauce and I wasn’t disappointed,” said the tester.

“The Tennessee Chilli BBQ had a sweetness and stickiness, but still a good chilli heat, while the Carolina option wasn’t too mustardy – just the right amount of tang and savoury deliciousness to pep up a chicken breast.

The Korean option had a really good gingery flavour with a nice balance of spice. They were all super easy to use and you could taste the high quality. Very impressed!”

A product called Fudge Fondue was always going to get the attention of the Taste team, but the Editor decided that she needed to oversee this particular test personally! “I couldn’t wait to try these as soon as I saw the little individual packs of four squidgy marshmallows paired with a personal pot of gooey, delicious fudge. And they were amazing.

There was a very generous portion of fudge, which meant no skimping was needed, and the flavours just paired so well they were extremely addictive. What a super indulgent treat, not only for myself but as a brilliant present – I would definitely buy these.”

Rice and easy Rice producers Riso Gallo has introduced two varieties of rice cakes (Venere Rice Cakes and 3 Grain Rice Cakes) into its brand portfolio, with secured orders in Ocado.com. Both varieties are produced in Italy and have seen successful distribution throughout Europe.

“Riso Gallo is a traditional family business, but every year we are exploring new opportunities,” commented Riso Gallo UK MD Jason Morrison. “Over the last few years we have introduced Venere rice (black rice) and 3 Grains into the UK, both as pouched and vacuum pack varieties. For these healthy option products, it was only natural to develop these into Rice Cakes and

32 www.foodchainmagazine.com

bring them to the UK market,” he added. www.risogallo.co.uk

“I tried the black rice version and I loved the look of them immediately – much more interesting than a bland white rice cake. Thankfully they also had more crunch and texture and less ‘squeak’ than rice cakes I’ve tried before, and they made a perfect base for cheese.

I also had them with just a little butter, and they were a satisfying snack, which kept my hunger pangs at bay for a while! I know my snacking habits need improving, and I could picture myself easily integrating these into my diet with some simple healthy toppings.”

TasteTest

Snacking sensation

Creative flavours

An ideal alternative to regular potato crisps, Wellaby’s Simple Bakes are a brand new range of delicious, savoury snacks that everyone can feel free to enjoy because they are also free from most common allergens, including gluten.

The new, light and crispy wholegrain snacks go against the historically ‘hard textured’ and ‘bland flavours’ that are often associated with gluten free snacks with a simple focus on moreish texture and great taste. They come in a range of flavours including Pinch of Sea Salt & Pepper, Spicy Chilli and Smoky BBQ. Sporting a range of tempting flavours and manufactured with a long-lasting shelf life of 12 months, from a retail perspective, they make an ideal alternative to traditional crisps. Simple Bakes are centred on great taste first and foremost with the belief that the need to skip on gluten, nuts or eggs doesn’t have to mean a compromise or bland and tasteless food.

John West tapping into the rising popularity of superfood ingredients with the launch of its new foodie Creations range – salmon or tuna infused with spices and mixed with grains, lentils and pulses.

Presented in 180g microwaveable pouches, the packaging features a window to showcase the quality of the ingredients and a highly distinctive illustration of the ingredients.

Creations can be enjoyed hot or cold, on their own or added to a meal. The range of four products has been inspired by recipes from around the world and comprises the following variants: Salmon in Harissa Spices with Giant Couscous and Lentils, Salmon in Honey & Ginger with Wild Rice and Lentils, Salmon in Moroccan Spices with Bulgur Wheat and Chickpeas and Tuna in Indian Spices with Wild Rice and Lentils.

The Creations range is made from a highly nutritious combination of natural ingredients, making it high in protein and Omega 3, as well as free from artificial flavours, preservatives and colouring. The range also counts as one of your five a day. www.john-west.co.uk

www.wellabys.com

The word ‘moreish’ was used a few times in the info about these snacks and once the team tried them, it was obvious why – they are impossible to resist! “I will admit I was surprised about how good these are,” said the tester. “In fact I think they are by far the best gluten free, dairy free and vegan approved product I’ve had. They were deliciously crunchy, extremely flavourful and totally addictive.

I ate my way through the bag without any problem and I would definitely buy them.”

Udderly delicious Summer 2016 saw Shaken Udder getting bigger and better with a brand new one-litre version of its favourite shakes. Uber Udder is a delicious, onelitre dose of thirst-quenching Shaken Udder in two flavours: Vanillalicious and Chocolush. Made from fresh British milk, real vanilla and chocolate, Shaken Udder’s Uber Udder is an indulgent, but wholesome treat for any time of the day.

Uber Udder will be available in 283 Waitrose stores, East of England CoOp stores and independent retailers, with an RRP of £2.20-£2.70. www.shakenudder.com

If there’s a product that the entire team is keen to try, it’s milkshake.

“I loved the packaging with the cow logo – it immediately made me feel that the product was fun! The Uber Udder’s texture was really good – not too thick but with nice velvety quality, making it feel like a treat,” said one tester. “I liked how the

flavours weren’t overpoweringly sweet and there was no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives – they did taste natural and good quality,” said another. “I couldn’t decide which one was best as I liked them so much, they were really tasty. Now I’ve also seen the other flavours available from Shaken Udder in their individual bottles I need to try them too! Salted caramel in particular…”

John West never lets the team down with new products, but this time we were really wowed. Every bit of feedback about the Creations range was positive, with full thumbs up for the chunky, meaty bits of salmon, appreciation for the amount of spice and the choice of fish and how it blended well with the grains.

The packaging even got recognition!

“The salmon with bulgur wheat and chickpea Moroccan style was excellent,” summed up one tester. “It had nice size salmon chunks, wasn’t too spicy but had a warm heat – delicious!”

www.foodchainmagazine.com 33

A maltitude of achievements Muntons is a leading global player in the supply of malts, malt extracts, flours and flakes and many other malted ingredients relevant to the food and drinks industry exporting around half of its production

34 www.foodchainmagazine.com

Muntons

Muffins - Maltichoc vs standard

T

he origins of Muntons provides an insight into how the company has developed and honed its skills in the malt industry, and as an introduction to the company manufacturing and sustainability director Nigel Davies explored this: “The business goes back to 1921, originally it was a business that made malt extract, so right back at the start of the business it made malt and also processed it into malt extract. Skip forward to 1948 and that was when we moved to our current site in Stowmarket, and we now have a maltings there. Since that time, we have also opened another facility in Bridlington in Yorkshire. At Stowmarket we have got facilities for making malt into malt extract which we can also blend with additional healthy ingredients required by our customers and dry in two ways, we can either do it on a band drier, which tends to go into products such as the malted

milk beverages sector or use spray drying which is ideal for producing a fine consistency for the baked goods sector. We have mills to make our malt into flour - and we also crush it for small brewers, and package liquid extract for home beer making. These are just some of the products we make in Stowmarket, but there is quite an impressive range of products.” While Muntons has clearly come a long way since its start almost a century ago, it has also kept true to its traditional values, retaining the passion and knowledge it has always had for malt and the malting process. Peoples’ tastes may have evolved and changed over this time but Muntons has been able to both match these and be a part of changing them.

Whether it is in drink or food Muntons malt can claim to be a key factor in anything from breads to beers, and this diversity was something that Nigel elaborated on: “If you split us then

we would probably be 50 per cent food and 50 per cent beers and whisky’s.”

Nigel then continued to discuss these two sides of the business: “If you take ordinary malt that would go into beers, that is a fair proportion of our market, and they sell well internationally. I believe we are dispatching to around 90 countries now. The malt will either go into beer, or into whisky production, and our major markets for whisky are Scotland, the US, Japan and Taiwan.

The last two years we have supplied the companies who produced winning whisky in the main international competitions with some if not all of the malt they used, which is quite nice to be associated with. On the food side, we go into a whole range of products - there is quite a long list. There is the obvious bread and cakes as a broad category, but it also goes into all sorts of things, it will go into chocolates, breakfast cereals, soft drinks, Maltesers – all the centers for Maltesers that are made in the western hemisphere start with us, we make the malty dried powder for the centres. I also believe that every Kellogg’s Corn Flake factory in the world now uses malt extract from us as well. The product even goes into very different things like cough medicines, lipsticks – so a very extensive range.”

Since it seems as though there is no end to the use of malt, and with most people unaware of how much it is used already, it can then raise the query as to why is it that malt is so useful, and Nigel provided some answers to this: “The reason for this is that there are three core attributes to using malt, it can help with colour, with flavour, and with texture. Obviously malt extract has sugars, it also has protein in it, and as soon as you heat it up it goes brown so it will impart colour when added as an ingredient, but as well as all this it will give a nice malty flavour. Then with special malts they can be roasted in one of two ways, if you take malt halfway out of the malting process and you put it into a large roaster you can effectively stew it first – the starch inside turns to sugar in the process and then the sugar

www.foodchainmagazine.com 35

‘

I would also say that we are also about 12-14 per cent more efficient than we would have been this year due to our sustainability agenda

crystallises – so you have crystal malt.

You can create anything from sweet sugar style to a treacle sugar, but they are all crystal malts. The other way is to take the malt we normally produce that we call white malt, which is effectively finished and would normally go off to brewers and distillers, but you can now roast this which will result in a really dark colour that is associated with things like Guinness or Christmas pudding.

Then after the taste and colour, there is the texture, we can make something that is extremely sticky like a malt loaf, an attribute which we call diastatic because it is created by natural starchdigesting enzymes in the malt, brings with it benefits of moisture retention and longer shelf life. We can also make malt products that are extremely non diastatic which would make a biscuit really crispy.” Since it can offer those three fundamental aspects to food and drink products it is no wonder that it is so widely used, and increasingly the preferred option to artificial options.

Another key strength of the product of Muntons is that it offers very good nutritional benefits, while also being low in fat, low in salt, and containing essential minerals, it is particularly high in specific vitamins like B12 and B9. Since the malt offers this range of vitamins and minerals it means can be a very useful for everyone’s diet, but particularly vegetarians or vegans – as normally B12 is gained through consuming meat. With the addition of malt extract and malt products it can ensure that those that have specific requirements do not have to have a bland diet. Nigel continued to build on the various ways malt produce

36 www.foodchainmagazine.com

can be used: “We can add a sweet malt extract and yet depending on how you blend it you can make things taste more cheesy or make things taste more salty, without any additional salt. The other thing we are seeing people use malt extract for is as a flavour enhancer – for example it can be used when making cookies, and it will make them more chewy, the fruit more juicy and even take less time to cook.”

New innovation Muntons is always looking for new ways to use or improve its products, and Nigel elucidated on something new the company is working on: “We have a product called maltichoc that is a real innovation, it is a combination of ingredients that makes it a cocoa replacer. The benefit of this is it is cheaper than cocoa - it has huge saving in road and air miles, and also a massive saving in terms of deforestation. The result of this new innovation is that we are selling more product sourced from local farms, and the customer is making a cake that has lower cost, is more environmentally friendly and yet perceived by the end customer as a premium product, due to it actually tasting better, and that it is true sustainability, things customers do not always expect to go together.”

The market in Asia is a promising one for Muntons, as there is already a clear demand for malt there, and malt-based drinks are a mainstay of most supermarkets and food places.

The drink in Asia called Milo has a large place in the region’s drinks sector, and in part is drunk to gain health benefits. The

ways in which Muntons has developed her was something Nigel also explained: “In Asia they love the malt flavour, and we band dry our malt extract mixed with milk powder, vitamins and other ingredients, and these are drunk like healthy energy drinks there. The market is so large there that the factory we have in Thailand puts out 7000 tonnes a year of production that amounts to only about one per cent of the market.”

Nigel then went on to address the US market: “It is a bit different in America, a main market for us is based around craft brewing, and we are seeing a rise of the craft distiller as well. In the UK there are between 1300 and 1700 craft brewers and we service about 25 per cent of them. Whereas in the US the number that we cover is much higher – we have an extremely good reputation among the craft brewers so they will quite often start with our small 1.6 kilogram cans of malt extract and their production will be small scale, and then they quickly become extremely big. One example that demonstrates our position here, is that at a craft brewers conference in America a few years ago we found that among the thousand or so brewers that were at the event – between two thirds or three quarters of them had started with our products. They like our product, the barley we grow in Europe is different to that grown in the US, it makes beer that

Muntons tastes different, but it also comes with a strong heritage.”

Practical sustainability Aside from the product itself, and the markets that it supplies to, another major feature of Muntons that sets it apart from its competitors, is the position it has on sustainability. There are many facets to this, one of which is that Muntons make a sustainable, environmentally friendly, and effective business product – it can help a cake cook quicker, which in turn means that energy will be saved or higher output can be achieved, but it also makes it taste better. This is a small example of a phrase that Nigel coined and that underpins Muntons approach, it is called practical sustainability, which means making changes and improvements that have a lasting and significant impact. Rather than a token gesture, the company is committed to not just talking about how important sustainability is to the business, but rather showing it. Something that has clearly worked, as its developments and attitude has resulted in being invited to give presentations to groups that range from German farmers, to working with the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform, there is an extensive list of groups and events that Muntons has influenced, from small local barley growers, to international companies.

It has also resulted in awards, many in fact, such as the 2016 Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association Award and the 2015 Manufacturer Top 100 Award, which are just two of the accolades received.

product carbon footprint, as they are always the same three just in varying orders irrespective of the modelling software used and as a result of changes we have made 14 per cent savings over 12 years in our energy use.

It also emerged that growing the barley was our biggest carbon factor – so again we practically looked at what could be done, and it was fertilizer that was the key contributor here, and after some changes made by fertilizer producers to abate their emissions by 40 per cent, Muntons now requires its suppliers to use these best in class products which are at no greater cost.” Another way in which Muntons implemented practical sustainability was by building a plant that would take the high sugar waste that couldn’t be put directly into the water treatment facilities at the company. Previously the material had been taken offsite, which cost around three quarters of a million pounds to do. The company therefore installed an anaerobic digestion system plant to turn the waste into methane and then the sludge became a highly nutritive fertilizer. This meant it didn’t need to be transported offsite, and the energy produced by the plant now provides 14

per cent of the facility’s electricity. This demonstrates practical sustainability, taking something that cost money to cause waste into something that cuts down on waste and returns over a million pounds profit.

Therefore Muntons has not only become a beacon of sustainability, it has done so in a way that has financially benefited the business, and Nigel provided some estimates on how much: “Sustainability has won business for us, which will likely account for helping us to win 35 per cent of our business.

I would also say that we are also about 12-14 per cent more efficient than we would have been this year due to our sustainability agenda, and that equates to about half a million pounds a year we have avoided spending that can be reinvested in the company.” This incredible achievement by Muntons will not doubt set a precedent that other companies will follow. And with increasingly strong positions in the markets of South East Asia and within the US, Muntons is certainly one to watch for its versatile product, practically sustainable approach, and expanding markets. D www.muntons.com

The way Muntons has gone about practical sustainability is something Nigel provided examples of: “We looked at the top three contributors to our

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Keeping it in the family

The Pavilion, The Cricketers, Weston Inset: Brancaster Staithe oysters

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Anglian Country Inns

James Nye - Managing Director

Providing an attractive offering based on ‘good food and the best traditional hospitality’, Anglian Country Inns manages several pub and dining venues located in stunning locations throughout the East Anglian region

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he history of Anglian Country Inns (ACI) began two decades ago when the now chairman of the company, Cliff Nye, purchased The Lobster Pot pub in Brancaster Staithe, during August 1996. Although the venue featured stunning views of the north Norfolk coastline, the pub itself was very run-down and in need of refurbishment. Cliff reverted the pub back to its previous name, The White Horse and redeveloped the site as a welcoming country Inn with 15 guest bedrooms, locals bar and restaurant in an area that is ideal for walkers, sailors, golfers, cyclists, birdwatchers and dog owners as well as holidaymakers, families and special occasion groups. Over the following 20 years ACI has grown to include a total of seven welcoming establishments, with four venues throughout Hertfordshire and three within North Norfolk.

“The company has continued to grow year-on-year throughout its history and has really grown momentum during the past five years. We now have seven pubs within the Anglian Country Inns group, we simply offer the best in hospitality by making the best of each location and sourcing locally where possible” says Managing Director, James Nye. “On the 19th August we celebrated our 20th Birthday with an oyster and champagne festival at The White Horse and we will be celebrating throughout the year with several smaller events.”

Each ACI establishment offers a different concept. “We have three different dining concepts all offering seasonal locally soured produce.

Three Country Inns with rooms, The White Horse, Brancaster Staithe, The Kings Head, Letheringsett and The Fox at Willian. The Jolly Sailors and The Cricketers, which offer traditional pub food as well as freshly made stone baked pizzas as a big part of

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Anglian Country Inns Beach Hut Bar & Service in the garden at The Jolly Sailors

Brancaster Brewery ales at The Jolly Sailors, Brancaster Staithe

their menus are really geared towards families. Our motto is ‘pizzas, pints and playgrounds’ to provide excellent local pubs,” James reveals. “The Jolly Sailors was recognised as the ‘Family Pub of the Year’ at the Great British Pub Awards during 2015, which was a great national accreditation. The Cricketers was recognised as the BEST Pub & Bar, Hertfordshire at the national Pub & Bar Awards in 2016. The Cricketers offers a friendly, welcome and traditional service with several events and quizzes.

Our third concept is our high-street brassieres with cocktail bars at our Water Lane and Hermitage Rd. venues. Again, each offers its own independent menu with fresh food and grills, as well as a large bar that specialise in fine wines and cocktails. These bars operate in town centres meaning that they are slightly different to our other venues, which simply means that we offer the same quality of food to a different market.”

Cocktails at Hermitage Rd, Hitchin

Throughout 2016 the ACI group has enjoyed great success, winning several awards. The White Horse for example, was recognised as Restaurant of the Year TOP TEN, Seafish 2016, East of England Winner, National Pub & Bar Awards 2016, Good Hotel Guide Editor’s Choice 2016, Best Destination Pub Norfolk, Muddy Stilettos 2016 and was also selected by The Times as one of the top venues for seafood in the country.

Additionally during March 2016, it was announced that the multi-award winning ACI pub group was a finalist for the ‘Best Food Offer’ (2-50 sites) Publican Awards.

The company has been shortlisted in this category four times consecutively up until 2016, winning the award outright on two occasions. The Publican Awards celebrate the achievements of leading pub companies across a range of categories that reflect the products and services of the British pub estate. The Best Food Offer accolade is awarded

Hermitage Rd Bar & Restaurant, Hitchin

to businesses that deliver a successful food service across their estate, with food as a key part of the company’s total sales. “It is amazing to have been short listed again for the Best Food Offer. The whole team across the ACI estate put their hearts into the business and this is recognition of their incredible hard work.

It was a seriously tough category this year and we were up against the best in the country,” James exclaims. “It is such an honour to have been named a finalist in the industry’s most sought after awards.

Thanks must not only go to The Morning Advertiser, their judges and sponsors but most importantly to the ACI dedicated team of staff.”

ACI also operates Brancaster Brewery, which takes its name from Brancaster Staithe, a North Norfolk village steeped in brewing history. Located in the heart of prime barley growing terrior, brewing in the region dates back as far as to Roman times. Since taking over control of the leasehold of The Jolly Sailors pub during February 2009, which included inheriting its brewery, the Nye family have concentrated on returning the pub to its former glory with sympathetic

Cote de Boeuf

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‘

We want to make sure that our service offering is correct, up to the minute and enjoyed by our customers

restoration and reinstating the brewery.

Brancaster Brewery is a five-barrel brewery and produces small batches of high quality real ale using top quality local ingredients. It produces bottleconditioned ale, rather than cold filtered varieties to ensure that the beer is in peak condition when it reaches the customer.

While the company operates in both traditional pubs and high-street venues, ACI incorporates all of the workings of a modern business. For example, it manages an up to the minute IT system provided by Ideasanvil. “I think that in the current world, it is really important to have the best IT support. All our systems are based around internet connection and our customers also expect access to the internet. Communication is becoming stronger all the time and this is increasingly important in the age of social media. Ideasanvil provides a great

Anglian Country Inns service in this respect and we have been working with them for nine years,” James says.

High quality Throughout all of its operations, ACI remains committed to providing the highest levels of quality in its hospitality offer, while leveraging the strengths and advantages of family ownership to create a warm and welcoming experience. This quality will enable ACI to build on its already impressive success and continue to grow into the future. “By operating as a family business, we have a unique insight in the pub industry. We are governed by what we want to do, rather than being influenced by a large corporate entity. The model of family ownership has worked very well for us during the past 20 years, as it has allowed staff to get to know each other very well by sharing this family experience, which definitely helps to create a good working environment,” James concludes. “We are currently adding guest rooms at The Fox in Willian, Hertfordshire and have just acquired The King’s Head in

Letheringsett, Norfolk. We are continuing to work on our growth strategy and still have a lot of potential at our existing sites. We have a lot of changes coming up, which will be centred on preserving authenticity. We want to make sure that our service offering is correct, up to the minute and enjoyed by our customers. We are also keen to preserve sustainability and our environmental credentials, while continuing to work with local suppliers.” D www.acinns.co.uk Norfolk tapas for 2 at The White Horse

Brancaster Bay tidal marsh, bottom of the garden, The White Horse

Garden rooms, The White Horse

The White Horse, Brancaster Staithe

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Making a difference With a genuine passion for its local area, The Southern Co-operative Ltd is a successful independent regional business owned by its members

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The Southern Co-operative Ltd

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stablished in Portsmouth (Hampshire) over a century ago, the business now runs community food stores and funeral homes across 11 counties in southern England, and can trace a continuous line of unbroken ownership by local people over the past 143 years.

This impressive heritage is something of which The Southern

Co-operative Chief Executive Mark Smith is very proud. “We were formed in 1873 in the centre of Portsmouth by a group of dockworkers who wanted to set up something in the city they had seen operating elsewhere in the country.

They started small with one shop, but as success grew, the number of shops spread out. And that is very much the model we have established, we aren’t the result of a number of reasonably sized Co-operatives coming together and merging, we have grown organically. Our footprint now stretches from the eastern tip of Kent to the middle of Devon so it is generally a south of England proposition,” he began.

From that one humble shop, The Southern

Co-operative has successfully grown its stable to 199 food retail stores throughout the region, including 25 franchised operations. “It is tantalising at the moment, as we are so close to getting to 200 managed stores!” said Mark. “Then like many societies we have a funeral related business, which is a part of our historic background as well. That runs to 53 funeral homes, two crematoriums, a natural burial ground, masonary and florist. That side is a very important part of our business, but is relatively separate from the food operation.”

The growth in the number of food stores is the result of an ambitious investment programme, with 11 added in the last financial year, and around 100 in the previous seven. Mark highlighted how this has been achieved: “We have been growing quite ambitiously and that programme continues and we are aiming at the region of another

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The Southern Co-operative Ltd Key2 Group Key2 Group is proud to have worked with The Southern Co-operative for the past 12 years and during that time has continuously branded and re-branded its stores throughout the Southern area with full internal and external signage, graphics, acrylic display and other sundry items and services.

The Hampshire-based company is a direct manufacturer of plastic fabrication, acrylic display, signage, graphics and digital print.

All work is produced in-house and the company has the capability to provide a complete and comprehensive service - which includes product design and installation - without outsourcing any elements.

ten to 20 stores this year, 2016. We aim to put ourselves down in areas where we are not currently represented but we feel we can put a good service in front of local people. There are some places where we have already ventured into, such as the Greater Bristol area and east Sussex, where we also see more opportunities going forward, along with parts of Devon, Kent and around the M25. The expansion is very well researched, as we always want our offering to be a good match for the local community and for what is currently there.”

He added: “I think what we have been able to do is establish a model that is regionally focused that works for the south.

Therefore it has been replicated and scaled up from within. There has been a degree of careful business management over a number of years to make sure that there is the resourcing in place to accomplish that growth. Furthermore, we have been able to fund that growth, through financial prudence and taking a

The Tomato Stall The Tomato Stall, speciality tomato growers on the sunny Isle of Wight, have been supplying the Southern Cooperative since 2011, initially supplying six stores across the Island before expanding to locations within Hampshire and West Sussex last year. Their award winning tomatoes are famous with chefs and foodies for their exceptional quality and flavour. Sustainably grown under glass, every tomato is allowed to fully ripen on the vine for maximum taste before being handpicked and delivered swiftly to store. Their range of artisanal products includes pure tomato juices, sauces, accompaniments and slow roasted tomatoes.

long-term view on opportunities, which is part of the model.”

Local flavours As a local food retailer, the customer service offered by The Southern Co-operative stores extends beyond its customers to the communities it serves. This dedication to ensuring that what it offers is going to benefit the local community is a huge part of The Southern Co-operative’s business success and that in-depth knowledge of its market brings benefits to the table that perhaps a big multiple can’t offer. But this approach does require a genuine focus on the local community’s needs and one way in which the organisation has addressed this is by establishing close working relationships with regional producers. “‘Local Flavours’ has been an important area of focus for us for probably about ten years now,” explained Mark. “We have been able to establish a range of local products that sits alongside our nationally sourced items through the Co-operative joint venture. We have taken an approach that focuses on a county or adjacent county for the definition of ‘local’ and it has reached a serious scale now, in terms of the range, with about 2000 lines of local products, and these are represented in around three quarters of the stores.

“What is stocked in each store is carefully selected as one size doesn’t fit all. We are always keen to meet the needs of the local area, and we find out which products work best in certain demographics and in certain types of areas.”

Mark also explained that this approach originated on the Isle of Wight, and then, using its strong retail presence, the business was able to build the concept and extend it across from Hampshire.

The suppliers that it works with become close partners and The Southern Cooperative is keen to build a long-term relationship with them. “We do try to behave quite differently with small suppliers, and some of them have grown with us, like The Tomato Stall and The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight, who have been with us for about ten years.

“This is where our medium-size and flexible approach are beneficial, as we can adapt our logistics procedures if necessary, even at the very small scale, where someone brings their products in the boot of their car! We’ve built a bit of a local hub model that has enabled us to receive those deliveries in and start distributing them on to our network.”

The support for suppliers extends further than logistics though, as The Southern Co-operative also helps the smallest suppliers with advice, in areas such as writing business plans, getting funding, complying with rules and regulations and so forth. “If our local sourcing staff are out there in the field, then they are more than happy to have a conversation and offer advice, which also helps to put a bit of added value into something like a business plan. We have even done some work with that in Chichester College, to further a more formal training approach for start-up SMEs in the food production side in Sussex. There’s loads more potential to develop on the local side.”

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The Southern Co-operative Ltd Support options This support for local products works in harmony with another of The Southern Co-operative’s programmes called Love Your Neighbourhood. This is a refreshed community programme, which builds upon its history of supporting local groups and replaced a previous community support scheme that had been running for ten years.

It is designed to reinforce all three of the company’s sustainability priorities to share, protect and support. The new programme will include inkind donations, cash donations, local fundraising partnerships, local volunteering, foodbank collection points and even community defibrillators.

“This is a community focused scheme, that we are able to drive through the store footprints,” explained Mark. “The great thing with convenience retail, and with funeral, is that your locations tend to be in neighbourhoods,

Caroline’s Dairy Ice Cream Caroline’s Dairy Ice Cream is made at Chalder Farm, Sidlesham near Chichester in West Sussex. Caroline uses only the milk from the family dairy herd to make their luxury ice cream, which supplies 19 Southern Co-operative shops. All year round flavours are a must such as Royal Bourbon Vanilla and Belgian Chocolate, not to mention their National Gold Medal winning Toffee & Honeycomb but for something a little special try one of this summer’s seasonal flavours; Amarena Cherry, Lime Cheesecake or Coconut.

On 23 August this year Chris and Caroline Spiby are inviting Members to visit their dairy farm and to also see how their ice cream is made which is proving to be of great interest, with the Southern Co-op’s Events Team saying they have had an overwhelming response from Members wishing to visit the farm. During the visit Members will learn all about how the cows are looked after, what they eat, where they sleep and see the milking. They will also learn about the conservation that is so important to the local habitat before setting off to the ice cream parlour where they will find out how the ice cream is made then it will be time for a delicious tasting.

small high streets, and so forth. So the touch points with the community are more obvious and easier to create, though obviously they need to do something with it.

“Love your Neighbourhood is putting a framework together that is pretty flexible, depending on where you are and what the local catchment is and wants. But stores are then able to offer a range of different support options, whether that be volunteering, or help with donations, or work with mentoring, apprentice opportunities, those sorts of things, tailored to the specifics of their catchment.

“We are trying to get to a place where in some respects our store managers are like the old traditional shopkeepers, that they are an integral part of the community, they are able to take part in the activities that are going on there, whether that is being active in the local trade association, or good works that

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The Southern Co-operative Ltd down stores in brand new housing developments where we can, that is a long-term play.”

are being done for a good cause, to provide that local focus, and Love your Neighbourhood is a part of that.”

Relevant and modern Love your Neighbourhood perfectly complements the Local Flavours initiative, as customers can see how a store supports local growers, and that narrative helps to highlight The Southern Co-operative’s aim to create long-term partnerships with its local communities to the benefit of everyone.

As the second half of 2016 unfolds, the food retail sector is facing the new challenges that have been born as a result of the UK’s referendum decision.

But Mark is confident that The Southern Co-operative will weather any storms that may be on the horizon: “Our business model has dealt with many things over 143 years, and long-term it will deal with this as well. I think there will be a little short term uncertainty, on how consumers are going to behave, and perhaps more importantly how bigger retailers are going to behave.

“But we are in some ways in the best place to handle that, because our food retail isn’t big ticket, it is convenience pop-up rather than big spend. Of course there are still a lot of unknowns, and bigger picture, we have to consider what it means particularly for currency and devaluation and how that flows, and will it go on to put further pressure on margins – all these questions are still unanswered.

“But we are carrying on with our strategy. There is always more to do,

finishing the job that we have been doing for the last six or seven years, which is to further replicate this model into areas that don’t yet benefit from it.

We are trying to target areas that are new and growing communities, putting

He concluded: “We still are very much following that approach, playing into what we think is a long-term desire of people to support local businesses, and to see local people employed, and where possible local products sold in there as well. That holds good whatever.

There are clearly some near term pressures, which we have to keep an eye on like everyone else, and some cost base pressures around, like the national living wage, and business rates, which are obviously the two big ones for all retailers. But we think we are in a good place to deal with those, and that with these plans that we have, we can continue to be even better.”

The story of The Southern Cooperative is one of longevity, experience and steady, continual growth. Thanks to its attention to detail and genuine care for every community where it has a shop, the company has been able to recently report a 4.7 per cent increase in total income, and a profit increase of 4.4 per cent. By staying relevant and modern, and maintaining its successful growth strategies, there is every reason to think there will be another 140 years of success for the business as it goes forward into the future. D www.thesouthernco-operative.co.uk

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The Abergavenny Fine Foods Co.

Grate expectations One of the UK’s most exciting independent food manufacturers, The Abergavenny Fine Foods Co. believes in creating innovative foods that delight customers again and again

Kate Innes & Melanie Bowman

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hen Pam and Tony Craske retired in Wales on a hill farm in 1981 with visions of ‘The Good Life’ in their minds, little did they know that Tony’s decision to buy seven goats instead of one cow at the local village market would be the catalyst in the establishment of The Abergavenny Fine Foods Co. (Abergavenny Fine Foods).

“Because we had a glut of goats milk and were unable to sell it, my mum went to the library, borrowed a book on cheese making, and the rest, as they say, is history,” says Melanie Bowman, Managing Director of The Abergavenny Fine Foods Co.

“We started by making goats cheese for family before taking it to the local Abergavenny WI market, and, once we gained a loyal following in Wales, we decided to try and sell our product in London. This led to an appointment with Harrods, who liked our goats cheese but didn’t buy directly, so we then got an appointment with its wholesaler that same afternoon; Harvey & Brockless agreed to take on our product and began buying our goats cheese.

“It was during this meeting that we were told about a cheese event in Cheshire, which we decided to go to.

This was a major event with tent after tent of cheese and we took first prize

in all competitions we entered; we also happened to catch the attention of a gentleman who worked with Sainsbury’s and was looking for regional cheeses. This led to our first step into retail, which began with half a dozen cheeses delivered each week into a local Sainsbury’s in Wales; 28 years on we are still working with Sainsbury’s and are now supplying up to 15,000 cheeses to its stores weekly,” she adds.

Following a move to purpose built food factory unit in Abergavenny in 1987, the company was officially established the same year under the name Abergavenny Fine Foods Ltd. As goats cheese became increasingly more mainstream over the

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The Abergavenny Fine Foods Co. JBT JBT is a leading global technology solutions provider to the food processing industry, which provides stand-alone or integrated in-line systems for every stage of the food processing chain. These include portioning, coating, frying, cooking, baking, freezing, chilling and proofing. The company specialises in offering equipment that delivers high yield and throughput, combined with premium food product quality and minimal maintenance, working closely with customers to enhance the quality, value and safety of meat products. Its UK manufacturing site near Edinburgh houses a Food Technology Centre where customers can test JBT equipment with trained technicians using their own products and recipes.

years, Abergavenny Fine Foods also benefited from opportunities to further diversify its product portfolio, which led to continued growth for the company and a foothold in the party foods market. Eventually the firm outgrew its Abergavenny site, which remaines a raw milk processing plant, and it expanded into larger facilities in Blaenavon in 2007; it was during this same year that the company rebranded itself to Abergavenny Fine Foods Co. “We grew too big for Abergavenny and moved into the Blaenavon site; we made a number of modifications and expanded the site while continuing to produce products such as goats cheese, the blended cheeses and a huge range of party foods such as mozzarella fingers and breaded jalapenos,” confirms Melanie.

Further major investments took place in recent years, with the company investing £1.2 million in new facilities to increase capacity in its goat milk processing plant, which resulted in

the launch of Abergavenny Creamery in 2014; for this side of the business, the company works with 15 local and regional farmers.

It was during this peak in product innovation, investment in facilities and market demand that a devastating fire hit the company’s Blaenavon manufacturing plant, reducing the site to ashes and putting all future production at risk. Despite the immense challenges that the fire put Abergavenny Fine Foods under, the family-run company refused to give in, and within one week of the fire it had relocated its 105 employees to its Abergavenny plant to continue production.

Looking back at this difficult time in the company’s history, Melanie comments: “After the fire we worked in partnership with retailers in the UK and we managed to convert a disused area down in the creamery to continue producing goats cheese and thus not lose supply. We were off sale for approximately six weeks, which isn’t too bad going. We also worked with the retailers to cover our party lines during 2015 by contracting work out to third party manufacturers; this was a huge amount of work for all involved and really

shows that our relationships with our customers have stood the test of time.”

She continues: “I would never like to relive an experience like the fire, however, out of the ashes we have developed a fantastic new facility that incorporates efficiencies such as energy and green environmental regulations. It was a blank canvas, which in itself is a challenge, but also gave us the opportunity to eradicate niggling issues from previous experience of operating in the existing building. When you start from scratch you can ensure long lines of production, build in efficiencies, ample storage and so on. It is a bittersweet positive outcome to an experience we never expected to happen.” Rebuilt on the grounds of the old site, the new £10 million manufacturing plant was officially opened

by HRH Prince Charles in July 2016.

As a supplier to companies such as Tesco, Marks & Spencer’s, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s and Waitrose, Co-Op, Costco (UK, the US and Canada) and Whole Foods, the company continues to maintain a strong presence in both the UK and abroad despite the challenges it has faced. Looking ahead, the company will continue to rebuild the business and sees a bright future ahead, complete with new product innovations that are certain to delight its ever-growing customer base.

“As a company that is continuously developing new products, we typically launch between 25 and 30 new products in any given year, with the Blaenavon site focused on party foods and Abergavenny focused on liquid milk conversion & blended cheeses for our export market.

This year were are going to launch a new range of extended life goats cheese, which has new branding of Little White Goat and benefits from sustainable long life packaging that we have been working on. It is a very exciting time in our history and we look forward to an interesting and bright future,” concludes Melanie. D www.abergavenny.uk.com

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Kendal Nutricare

Supporting healthy growth With a manufacturing heritage dating back to 1900 when Glaxo first introduced its roller dried infant milk, Kendal Nutricare is a leading manufacturer of baby milk and nutritional products

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ased at the edge of the Cumbrian Lake District, Kendal Nutricare is a world class British pharmaceutical research company that creates new and innovative, pharmaceutical-grade healthcare products for both domestic and global markets. The company’s Kendal factory has a long history of making branded products for HJ Heniz, Nutricia and other leading names, with many of Kendal Nutricare’s employees boasting between 20 and 36 years of industry experience in early life nutrition product research and manufacturing.

The company is dedicated to creating products for all stages of infant development and continues to manufacture infant formulas and cereals that have a provenance in the dairy farming community of Cumbria.

The Kendal Nutricare product portfolio is comprised of infant milk formulas, which are produced to specialist recipes, infant cereals with a mixture of fruits, vegetables, grains and rice in combination with prebiotics, vitamins and minerals; a medical range, and adult-formulas for pregnant women.

It is also creating a specialist formula for active and working people - Kendalife.

One of the company’s core products is its unique and innovative Kendamil Infant Formula, which is specifically manufactured in three stages to meet the requirements of infants aged 0-6 months at Stage 1, Follow-On 6-12 months at Stage 2 and toddlers at 12-36 months.

“Our infant formula brand Kendamil has two unique selling points. Firstly it is the only infant formula in Britain

that is actually manufactured in Britain and secondly, it is the only infant formula on the market that retains the goodness of the cream of cow’s milk by using a traditional full cream, whole milk recipe rather than skimmed milk.

This is as close to Mother Nature as a manufactured cow’s milk infant formula can be, which enables us to deliver enhanced nutritional benefits to infants and peace of mind to parents. We also stand apart in our sector by putting infant welfare and health ahead of profits and cost-engineering,” says Kendal Nutricare’s CEO, Ross McMahon.

“Kendamil delivers nutritional benefits to the baby or toddler, provides a naturally sweet taste and is easier-todigest, which promotes better sleep.

Every other infant formula on the market uses a skimmed milk recipe and relies

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Kendal Nutricare

on the heavy use of vegetable oils to try to provide the energy that we derive from the cream of the milk. Sourcing our milk from our local area instils a pride in our workforce, which is reflected in the quality of our product.

It has also enabled us to gain Red Tractor accreditation – a farm and food assurance mark that represents the traceability and environmental concern that underpins the Kendamil Infant Formula.”

Nutritional benefits Kendal Nutricare’s range of infant formulas also includes a Bia Land formula that uses goat’s milk, which

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has several advantages over cow’s milk.

“Goat’s milk is nutrient-filled and a good source of key vitamins and essential minerals. It is high in fatty acid, about 35 per cent as opposed to 17 per cent in cow’s milk, as well as being calcium rich. This makes it an exceptionally nutritious, wholesome drink,” Ross explains.

“Many people who consume goat’s milk have a lower incidence of allergies and fewer digestive complaints. With less lactose and smaller fat globules than cow’s milk, it is easier to digest and may prevent inflammation and bloating, as well as constipation. When it comes to babies, goat’s milk is closer to a mother’s breast milk than cow’s milk, because of its chemical make-up and the oligosaccharides within it that act as prebiotics in the gut. This can help prevent the growth of harmful bacteria and assist digestion, which is beneficial for an infant.”

Organic formula Over the coming months, Kendal Nutricare will continue to develop new and innovative formulas, while focusing on further capitalising on a strong market within the UK and beyond.

During December 2016 for example, the company will introduce its Kendamil Organic formula that further emphasises its dedication to both promoting the highest standards of quality and capturing market trends. “All baby weaning foods are dominated by organic products, but there are limited choices of organic formula nationally in Britain and none made in Britain. This presents us with exciting possibilities to sell an organic infant formula. The advantage of this is that it provides a baby with a highly nutritious formula that is free from any ingredient that could have been exposed to pesticides, herbicides or any other chemicals, during the farming process. This is important to parents who have adopted an organic lifestyle themselves and want the same for their baby,” Ross concludes.

“There is rightly a strong promotion of breast feeding, but economic challenges for parents, combined with the fact that not all mums are able to breast feed, leaves the industry with the scientific challenge of providing the safest alternative. Because we formulate our full cream, whole milk Kendamil Infant Formula to be as close to Mother Nature as possible, we can give these babies more nutritional benefit than is possible with a skimmed formula.” D www.kendalnutricare.com

CO-RO A/S

A matter of taste

Incorporating more than seven decades of innovation and development, the Danish soft drink manufacturer CO-RO represents a global leader in the provision of delicious soft drinks and home-freeze ice lollies

T

he story of CO-RO A/S dates back to 1942 when the business was founded by the two brothers Jep and Flemming Petersen, in a 16-m² room in a suburb of Copenhagen. The company was originally established to provide flavourings and essences for mineral water, ice cream and bakery industries before moving into the development of soft drink concentrates and candied fruits. By the 1960s the Petersen brothers decided to create their

own brands through the development of the Sunquick line of concentrated fruit-based cordials. Driven by a strong commitment to high quality, a compelling brand strategy and continuous product development, CO-RO has steadily grown to represent a leading market player with a strong presence in close to 80 countries around the world with strong footholds in Northern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, China and South East Asia.

The CO-RO group today continues to be 100 per cent owned by a single

private foundation and currently employs more than 1100 motivated staff worldwide. Its ambition is to expand the role of its brands in people’s lives, leading in markets through a series of firsts using its independence to create strong partnerships and invest in long-term, sustainable growth. During 2015 the company enjoyed revenue valued at DKK 1.95 billion, resulting in a pre-tax profit of DKK 326 million. Furthermore, its equity capital for 2015 of DKK 1.45 billion puts CO-RO in a strong position to seize new

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opportunities and to establish long-term strategic plans.

The company’s present product portfolio is comprised of three core brands made up of Suntop, a fruity non-carbonated, cartoned soft drink; Sunquick, a concentrated cordial

available in over 20 flavours; and Sun Lolly, a home-freeze ice lolly, which leads the market in Denmark. CO-RO also further enhances its brand portfolio through the delivery of its Suncola noncarbonated cola and Sunjoy fruit drink products, which allow it to provide a

refreshing selection of fruit-based drinks and home-freeze ice lollies to suit all tastes.

CO-RO was previously featured in FoodChain magazine during September 2015 since which time it has continued to develop its product range. The company currently provides more than 3.5 billion servings of products each year, among which its Sun Lolly has featured as an increasingly welcome treat during the warm summer months.

“CO-RO’s home freeze ice lolly has been popular among kids as well as adults ever since it was first introduced.

It is a high-quality product, based on an original Danish recipe and as the packaging says, it is ‘the original from Denmark – since 1979’,” says AnneMarie Navarro, VP Europe. “What makes them unique is that they are made from refreshing, real fruit juice, without preservatives and they contain no artificial flavourings and sweeteners.”

w

We move your shipments – in Europe and Globally around the world.

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Jumbo Transport Group in: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary.

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CO-RO A/S Ice lollies made convenient for the home and for trade The home freeze ice lolly concept is convenient as it is able to be transported and stored in ambient room temperatures at at retail outlets, this means that there is no need to store the product in chillers or freeze them and that they can be easily placed on shelves or on displays in retail environments.

Furthermore, the packaging of Sun Lolly ice lollies is designed for easy handling and the brand’s associated displays and packaging has clear instructions on how to handle and prepare the ice-lollies, which results in a clear, ready-to-sell solution.

“The design of the Sun Lolly box makes it easy for the consumer to handle and when shopping there is no need to be afraid of the ice lollies melting into the shopping bag. The product can just be brought home with no rush and put in the freezer for 24 hours, before the consumer cuts off the top, squeezes the lolly and enjoy a delicious treat! The small triangular shape of the individual ice lollies makes them easy to handle and perfect as an everyday treat for kids and adults. Sun Lolly comes at an affordable price for a pack size of ten and is available in a variety of flavours, including of a total of eight refreshingly great tastes comprised of strawberry, raspberry, pineapple, exotic, grape, blackcurrant, orange and cola so that there is a flavour for every family member,” Anne-Marie says.

Ever since the first introduction of the home freeze ice lolly, it has captured the hearts of Danish consumers and CO-RO has since grown into a clear market leader for home freeze ice lollies in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. CO-RO is now concentrating on bringing the home freeze concept to new markets such as Germany and Benelux. “It is clear to us that we need to further market the home freeze ice lolly concept in countries where this is a relatively new category. That is why we in our marketing put emphasis on the simple steps of freeze, squeeze and smile, which the consumer needs to follow in order to end up with a delicious and refreshing treat,” Anne-Marie explains.

“Talking to consumers it seems clear that for both children and their parents, Sun Lolly is a firm favourite for its great taste. The general feedback from consumers and increasing numbers of followers on Facebook and Instagram, who post images of everyday breaks with their kids eating Sun Lolly, is highly positive and a great sign of that the CORO brand has turned into a much-loved brand for children and grownups.”

As CO-RO continues to develop its impressive market presence, the

company is focused on increasing its range of products within all of its brands by making them available to consumers on more occasions.

“We have taken the refreshing flavours of the home freeze ice lollies and developed them into three fruitbased ready-to-drink variants. The new products hit the market this spring and have received very positive feedback. Just like the ice lolly the drink contains real fruit juice and is free from preservatives, artificial flavours and artificial sweeteners,” Anne-Marie concludes. “While the ice lolly is a seasonal product we expect that with the introduction of the new fruit drink the season can be expanded beyond that of our Sun Lolly home freeze products. We are also continually working with further tastes and new product concepts, to be on the forefront of market trends. Not just within home freeze ice lollies, but just as much within related products.” D www.co-ro.com

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Cracking more markets

B

Balticovo is the major producer of table eggs and egg products in Northern Europe. It offers modern, high quality products and services to its consumers

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alticovo is one of Northern Europe’s major producers of fresh eggs and egg products. It has over 40 years of experience in the egg industry and modern production facilities have helped Balticovo become one of the leaders within its field of expertise. The company produces a significant amount of eggs and egg based products, something that chief commercial director Toms Auskaps explained: “We currently have almost 250 employees, and 2.8 million birds – with a daily production of 1.8 million eggs and yearly production of 630 million eggs.

The company also has a market share in Latvia of 60 per cent, and an export share of about 70 per cent.”

The product of Balticovo might be quickly summarised simply as eggs – but this would miss out a great deal of what it does with the product and what the company has on offer for its clients.

There is an extensive but varied list, which helps the business appeal to a wide array of countries and clientele. It is a long-standing supplier of shell eggs, but some of its other core products are liquid egg products, boiled eggs, quail eggs, mayonnaise, and egg powders.

Another aspect of the company was described by Toms: “We have our own

facilities and rape seed oil production site. This is a fantastic synergy, which we are able to use in our other products, such as mayonnaise, ensuring that we have almost total control over all the products that are involved in the final product.”

The diversity of Balticovo products demonstrates the company’s commitment to its customers – always trying to find new ways of appealing to people. Some of the varieties of shelled egg products, for example, include caged, barn, and free range. Then there are further egg specifications that include various brown egg types and a range of sizes. The company is attentive to its customers needs, even providing egg selections for different every day uses, if a customer prefers large eggs for breakfast Balticovo offers that. This even takes the form of producing eggs that are specifically made to offer health benefits. Such examples include eggs with extra selenium to boost immunity, eggs with added omega-6 to aid a good physiology, and there are even eggs perfect for omelets that contain extra omega-3. There is quality, choice, and healthy enhancements, across the range that Balticovo has to offer, which demonstrates the company’s passion for its products and its customers.

Balticovo The company also develops liquid egg products, which include premade mixtures or refined parts of the egg, such as liquid pancake mix, scrambled egg, egg white, and many more liquid egg products. These will appeal directly to customers, but also to retailers and food producers that rely on egg produce – such as those making bakery goods.

This might explain why the company has been identified as one of the fastestgrowing and most dynamic businesses across the EU. This recognition came from the London Stock Exchange 2016 Group’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Europe. In order to achieve this accolade the company had to be EU-registered, active, have revenues between EUR ten million and EUR 300 million and show consistent revenue growth over a minimum of three years. The European Business Awards also recognised Balticovo for its exports accomplishments.

With such a wide variety of products in its portfolio and having been recognised for several awards, Balticovo is in a strong position. It will no doubt continue this expansion, and its eggs, mayonnaise, quails eggs will be found feeding people from the US to the UAE, and everywhere in between. The company is committed to growing its exports, and claiming a larger market share within Europe and across the world. Balticovo is identifying key

products for specific areas and Toms provided an example: “The market is booming for egg white as a product – this is particularly the case in the US.” Balticovo is still continuing to improve its production, expand its range, and build its presence in global markets. It has no shortage of ideas or ambitions, and has already proven over the past four decades that it is an adaptable and growing business – Balticovo will no doubt be supplying food and ingredients that will feed more people every year. D www.balticovo.lv

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Truffle hunting A

The Gudrun Group is a global leader in the development, production, packaging and commercialisation of real Belgian chocolates and truffles 64 www.foodchainmagazine.com

t the heart of Gudrun is a passion for the products it makes, it is a company that takes pride in every truffle and every box of chocolates it crafts, all of which is done to create the best possible customer satisfaction. A huge part of this comes from its position as a Belgian chocolate maker, which is an esteemed label to hold, but is also one that comes with a great deal of responsibility – as a key Belgian chocolate producer all the truffles that are made by Gudrun are expected to be a class above. Gudrun shoulders this expectation without any trepidation and takes it further, the company goes to great effort to ensure that every chocolate it makes is not just delicious - but is also at the very highest standard for Belgian chocolate and the world.

Gudrun cares passionately about the chocolate quality, and it is no doubt essential to the company’s success that it achieves it, and this was something that CEO Eddy Walraevens discussed: “The reputation we gain through being from Belgium is key – it gives us a high end reputation in quality. This is just one factor that has meant we are the absolute leader in premium

private label chocolates – we have a unique organisation to serve, and develop the segment of gifting in the premium private label. We have enough market coverage to be able to serve the mass retailers in this segment.”

Eddy then went on to elaborate on how the company makes such excellent chocolate: “We use premium chocolates with 100 per cent cocoa butter, we also use 100 per cent natural ingredients and colouring. All of which are used within our very strict BRC procedures to guarantee a constant artisanal quality.”

The products that Gudrun offers are as varied as peoples’ tastes - which include very dark 76 per cent chocolate, as well as dark, milk, and white chocolates, all of which have a wild and wonderful choice of flavours. There is something for everyone, whether it is a white chocolate hazelnut praline truffle, or a soft blueberry flavoured truffle filling that holds a fresh layer of blueberry jam. There really is something that will appeal to almost anyone, whether a person is a chocolate traditionalist that likes to enjoy a simple quality Belgian chocolate truffle, or those with more experimental taste buds that like a cocktail of flavours all within a first-class Belgian chocolate case.

The Gudrun Group As with any food-based manufacturer, safety and standards are crucial, and this is something that Gudrun places as an absolute priority. Indeed, this was something that Eddy highlighted as essential to everything the company does: “We work for the high standard retailers like Marks and Spencer and we have very strict and high standards on ingredients that come in for us to use, we audit our suppliers, with strict procedures on hygiene, foreign objects – all to the HACCP standards.” Therefore, the fact that it ensures that it meets all of these standards demonstrates how committed the company is to quality of process, quality of ingredients, and quality of product, and as Eddy explained it is willing to invest heavily to ensure this: “We invested approximately one million euros in upgrading our quality standards in a manner of ways, which included sift, clothes, material and QA and QC procedures. We have also invested on

the food manufacturing side as well – we have invested in frozen shell technology, which gives us an advantage on knocking of the shell, more liquid filing and more creative decorations.”

Gudrun has forged a business that has a position as a leader in premium private label Belgian

Shanghai Shanyi Enterprise CO. Ltd Shanyi was established in 1997 and since then has been exporting its boxes and bags to buyers in Europe, North America, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The company offers the following benefits: l

Three wholly owned factories occupying 30,000 square metres

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Sedex-listed supplier

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Up to 30,000 boxes, 60,000 paper bags and 700,000 labels daily

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Over 50 R&D staff produce 50 new items monthly

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Samples ready in five days

chocolates, and it looks determined to stay there. In order to achieve this it is always further improving what it does by developing new chocolates, and branching out and appealing to even greater audiences from more countries.

This explains why the company is already very active across the whole world, particularly in the US, UK and Japan, but is also expanding into new regions like the Middle East.

Chocolate is loved by so many around the world, it is not just a food it is a pleasure, and it can bring a great deal of joy to people. Though it is truffles that really fulfill this more than any other chocolate, and that is why a gift of truffles can hold many uses, it can be to comfort, to congratulate, or to show affection. For all of these situations there is no better at providing these truffles than Gudrun, Belgian chocolates that are made with experience and passion. D www.chocolates.be

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First for fish S

Skagerak Group AS aims to satisfy the demand for food and culinary experiences, both nationally and internationally by offering quality seafood products

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kagerak has a long and proud history, something that it values very highly, and it began and continues to be a family owned and run business. In 1930, Sigurd Espersen founded Skagerak, which has today grown into a group of companies - the Skagerak Group. From the beginning, the main activities were fishing and the processing of herring, and, as today, the domicile was Hirtshals – an important fishing port in the northern part of Denmark.

In addition to the present herring activities, the various companies in Skagerak have also been involved over the years in the processing of salmon, cod and black halibut; fish meal production and fishery with its own fleet of pelagic vessels. Skagerak remains a family-owned business, where quality in every possible sense - in terms of products, processes, delivery and service is given top priority, and where old virtues like trust and reliability, combined with continuous business development and innovation, will continue to be key elements in its relations with business partners.

Skagerak is situated in three different locations in the harbor of Skagen and Hirtshals and it has a total floor area of about 25,000 square metres at its disposal. The company’s stateof-the-art factory ensures the highest level of efficiency in all processes, and the working environment is of a very high standard. The factory can handle 126,000 tonnes of herring a year, with the possibility of increasing volumes considerably by working on shifts. Located next to its factory is FF (fishmeal factory) of Denmark, and these two factories are connected through efficient logistics systems. The company’s factory is among the most dynamic pelagic processing factories in the world and meets all food safety and environmental requirements.

Skagerak is one of the leading pelagic seafood production companies in Europe, specialising in herring and mackerel products customised according to customers’ requests. In order to secure supplies of raw material and to be sure of getting the best possible quality for further processing, it has entered into agreements with a number of fishing vessels. The organisation is guided by several key goals: quality, flexibility and speed - both internally in the organisation and in relation to the surrounding world.

Skagerak is constantly striving to adapt to the external environment and the competitive situation in its business system, which has changed considerably in recent years due to globalisation.

Skagerak’s products are fresh, frozen and marinated herring products, fresh and frozen mackerel products, matjes, and salted herring roe. When the sea-fresh catch of herring or mackerel arrives at the quay next to the factory, it is weighed, graded and transferred

Skagerak Group AS directly to the factory for processing.

Throughout the production process the fish is kept at low temperatures. The company’s flexible production system facilitates a wide range of products, including all known cuttings and various kinds of packaging. The business works closely together with its customers regarding product development, and products and packaging are customised according to their requests.

Fully traceable Skagerak is a consumer-oriented production company with an acute awareness of consumers’ increasing demands for healthy, nutritional and sustainable food products. It only uses raw materials from sustainable fisheries and offers full traceability from catch to the final product.

The major markets for Skagerak are Europe and Asia, and the business specialises in serving these important

markets. It aims to continue to meet the future trends in the global food market, and Skagerak is always looking to the future. Its customers are large international supermarket chains and companies in catering, production, wholesale and global trading. The company has built up business relations over generations through a common understanding of high-quality products, delivery, service, reliability, flexibility and a rational business code.

Furthermore, in order to ensure sustainability, Skagerak only uses fish caught with purse seine or pelagic trawl. These types of fishing gear do not affect the seabed. The company also meets all of the stringent EU and Danish traceability and sustainability legislations, demonstrating the clear commitment it has to the environment where it gets its fish.

Skagerak wants its customers to see it as the leader in fish processing

when it comes to quality, food safety, innovation and sustainability. Through an understanding of its surroundings and insight into the customers’ businesses, the company intends to strengthen its competitive position and give customers, suppliers and other partners a world class leading product and service - to the benefit of both parties. Together with customers Skagerak wants to continually develop and improve its company to help ensure the company is still succesfull for yet another century. D www.skagerakgroup.com

Iver Espersen 2nd generation

Christian Espersen 3rd generation

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A taste of

tradition

Based in Bury St Edmunds, familyowned and run meat production and wholesale supply company The Taste of Suffolk benefits from not only a dedication to selling the finest produce, but also a management team of exceptional knowledge and experience 68 www.foodchainmagazine.com

O

wned by Chris Simons, the company is run by his father Roger Simons who is responsible in part for the success of both the Taste of Suffolk and its sister company Broad Oak Farm. Roger has spent his entire adult life in the sausage business and he came out of retirement when Chris acquired the manufacturing site, in order to share the benefits of his years of knowledge. As he explained to FoodChain, after six years at the helm, significant improvements have already been achieved: “The company had been going for about 35 years when we

bought it, and we took over just over six years ago. Since I have been here we have increased the turnover by 25 per cent, expanded the product range and made significant changes to the facility.�

Roger continued with more details about the improvements he has introduced: “When we purchased the business there were two sites, which were on the same industrial estate but separate. One of my first tasks was to enlarge one and when the leases ran out on the other one we gave it up, which created one bigger facility with all staff in one place. From that site, today we run six vans and one small

‘

The Taste of Suffolk

There has been a trend over the last few years of people wanting to buy more locally produced products for their consumption and this is something we’ve been able to assist our customers with

capacity. “Of course, if extra business comes along we will always do our best to accommodate it, but we are getting to the stage now that if we do much more we will need a second shift and that’s not on the agenda at the moment,” Roger added.

When The Taste of Suffolk took over the business in 2010, it consisted of DP Meats (bacon and ham) and Country Cottage Cooked Meats (sausages), and these were long established, quality

food ranges that included historic smoked meats using a natural oak smoking technique that has remained unchanged for many years. Roger brought all the products under The Taste of Suffolk branding, and over the ensuing years has added new products to the range as well.

The quality and pedigree of the products is also something that Roger has prioritised, and he believes in providing firm evidence about how, over the years, the business has achieved

lorry, which are on the road most days serving customers in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and a bit of Cambridgeshire.

“We’ve now also refurbished 90 per cent of the factory, with the remaining ten per cent scheduled to be improved in early January 2017. This section will see the addition of two new big steam ovens for cooking hams, an investment of around £150,000. These will much bigger than our current ovens – the two new ones will produce more than our current four do!”

Such has been the success of Chris and Roger’s strategy that the company is almost operating at maximum

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the very high levels of satisfaction that all of its customers now expect. It has gone through several accreditation programmes to guarantee quality, and as a result it can include the SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval), Freedom Food RSPCA Monitored, and BPEX Gold Award winner logos on its packaging and website. These not only signify that the business adheres to all legal requirements of producers, but also the enhanced expectations of ‘best practice’ of professional food buyers.

“Today our main products are smoked and green (unsmoked) gammons, smoked and green back bacon and other cooked meats like topside and tongue, and a variety of sausages,” Roger added.

“We still have our own oak-chip smoker so we do all our own smoking of the meats, and we often come up with new products, so for example we have just launched a hot and spicy chicken for sandwich making and also a chicken tikka variant, as well as a shaved ham, which is extremely thinly sliced.”

Special relationship These products are supplied to supermarkets including East of England Tesco and Asda, hotels, delicatessens, restaurants, fish and chip shops, butchers, and pubs, plus The Taste of Suffolk has contracts with several county councils, providing sausages for schools.

“There has been a trend over the last few years of people wanting to buy more locally produced products for their consumption and this is something we’ve been able to assist our customers with,” said Roger. “Of course, we can’t get all our ingredients from Suffolk but we try to get it as locally as possible, and we source our main materials from Norfolk, Essex and Bedfordshire, but the items like spices have to come from abroad.”

The business still focuses heavily on a quality delivery service to local clients, and in addition it has a long established relationship with the East of England Co-operative Society providing bespoke ranges for its retail stores including Craske special recipe sausages and products for the ‘Sourced locally’ range.

Indeed, the two companies have a special relationship, and in August 2015 The Taste of Suffolk received a

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The Taste of Suffolk County Winner trophy at East of England Co-op’s Producer of the Year’ awards.

Thousands of members and customers of the East of England Co-op voted to nominate the winners and Roger and his team were delighted that their products are enjoyed so much. He noted: “Sourced Locally gives a great boost to businesses like ours and these awards help remind everyone of the amazing array of food and drink being produced on our doorstep here in East Anglia.”

Working with The East of England Co-op has helped the growth of The Taste of Suffolk, and as the relationship developed, so did the range of products on offer: “We now do direct store deliveries twice a week, and we have built up a rapport with the staff so we can offer them different ideas of new products and get their feedback. They benefit from our products being locally produced as this is one of their flagship initiatives, and we enjoy greater success

from being present on their shelves.”

Roger described how closely the two businesses operate and it was clear that the service supplied by The Taste of Suffolk goes much further than just a phone call and delivery van. “We do bend over backwards to accommodate our clients requests, as this company has been built on the standard of our customer service,” he agreed. “This

in combination with the quality of our products is what helps us succeed. It’s a tough world out there selling, as there is a lot of competition and so we are always looking for different angles to progress the business, and ways to differentiate ourselves. Maintaining the highest quality along with exemplary customer service is vital to our success.” D www.thetasteofsuffolk.co.uk

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Crisp from the orchard E

As the UK’s largest independently owned cider maker, Aston Manor Cider is dedicated to producing quality products from orchard to glass 72 www.foodchainmagazine.com

stablished in February 1983, Aston Manor Cider, a family-owned business, is also the country’s second largest cider manufacturer overall. The company produces a diverse range of cider brands from four modern production facilities including three in the West Midlands; a fruit pressing and processing mill in Stourport-on-Severn, a production and packaging facility in Aston and a logistics and warehousing hub in Witton, plus a further production and packaging facility in Tiverton, Devon. Aston Manor also has orchards in Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

Although 95 per cent of its ciders are currently sold in the UK, Aston Manor Cider enjoys sales in as many as 20 countries around the world and its global export presence continues to grow.

“Being a family-owned business gives Aston Manor Cider the advantage of being able to plan for longer-term growth. We have greater control over business decisions and are focused on sustainability,” reveals Managing Director, Gordon Johncox. “The company’s passion and dedication to making quality products and providing excellent customer service, coupled with the ambition to be recognised as the most capable and progressive cider company, is driven by the business owners and is shared by everyone within the organisation. The strong commitment to the success of the cider category and the future growth of the company filters down from the business owners to all our employees.”

Indeed, throughout its history Aston Manor Cider has worked to further

Aston Manor Cider enhance the growth of the business and the development of its cider products.

The company is presently undergoing a major investment plan that will enhance its production and processing facilities, including an investment of £3 million to increase capacity and capability. In total the investment plan is worth around £50 million over a decade.

As part of this, in spring 2013 the business announced the planting of 1000 acres of additional orchards while also agreeing several 25-year contracts with its farming and growing partners.

Furthermore, in order to support further growth in the company, Aston Manor Cider announced a multi-million pound deal to create an outstanding logistics facility in July 2014 at a new site in Witton, just three miles from its main production site. “We have invested heavily over the past four or five years in our manufacturing capability and capacity. As part of a significant

Cobell Cobell are the largest UK supplier of processed fruit juices and a leading supplier throughout Europe. We are extremely proud to have supplied Aston Manor with fruit ingredients from the very beginning and they remain an important customer to us. Our Core Values underpin everything we do and our commitment to flexibility and integrity serves to strengthen our customer relationships. We are delighted to work closely with Aston Manor to meet their needs in the future and support their future success.

investment programme, we have focused on enhancing our operations across our production sites to help us become more sustainable to support wider company growth. The new equipment and initiatives we’ve introduced this year alone will help reduce waste, save energy and will make us even more efficient,” Gordon says.

“Another significant investment that we are proud of this year is our extended

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Aston Manor Cider relationship with the Rugby Football League and in England Rugby League, giving us a great platform for consumer engagement with our flagship cider, Kingstone Press.” The cider is now the principle partner of England Rugby League, an agreement that covers two major international tournaments, the Four Nations later this year and the World Cup in 2017.

Extensive portfolio Further to its flagship Kingstone Press brand, Aston Manor Cider takes pride in being the only producer that offers a high quality cider that meets the unique requirements of every consumer and occasion. Its extensive portfolio spans the breadth of the cider category from mainstream ciders through to premium brands, which are all available in a variety of different packaging formats.

“Aston Manor Cider has made significant investments in new product development this year to enable us to manage our brand portfolio and expand into new areas. Premium cider is experiencing a surge in growth, thanks to the rising consumer interest in provenance and quality. This led to us putting increased investment into the premium end of our portfolio,” Gordon explains. “We have developed our craft cider range under the Friels First Press Vintage Cider (7.4 per cent abv) brand to include new packaging formats and flavour variants.

Friels First Press Vintage is made in small batches with 100 per cent fresh apples from the first press of juice from a variety of dessert apples delivering a fantastically fruity, light-bodied yet full-flavoured craft cider. Great for consumers looking for an authentic cider, it is available in 20l bag-in-box, 500ml glass bottle and now a stylish 330ml can. A hops-infused variant has also been added to the range, offering a unique and refreshing flavour profile.”

BRC Accreditation In addition to its continued investment into new facilities and increasing its product portfolio, Aston Manor Cider was recently awarded an ‘AA’ rating at its Stourport cider mill and an AA* rating at both its production and packaging sites in Tiverton and Aston by the British

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Retail Consortium (BRC) meaning that all of its production locations now have the highest possible accreditations for quality of operations.

While the cider market may have suffered in recent years, Aston Manor Cider continues to enjoy growing success and is set to look to new markets in the near future. “UK cider sales have fallen in the last two years and whilst we’re not immune to prevailing market conditions, Aston Manor is doing better than the category as a whole. Though cider has declined as a total category there continues to be opportunities for growth, especially within the premium cider sector which as a category is experiencing the strongest rate of growth,” Gordon concludes. “Whilst the drinks industry will remain very challenging, we anticipate that we will continue to outperform the market over the next 12 months. We’re pleased with how we have improved the mix of business we do and that we are able to invest to support the future success we expect to see at home and abroad.” D www.astonmanor.co.uk

Graysons

Bespoke dining

Graysons quality homemade food

With a real passion for quality standards, Graysons delivers fresh and delicious food and a fabulous service to its growing customer base

Tim O’Neill, Managing Director

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stablished in 2008 by industry leader Sir Francis Mackay, Graysons has developed over the last eight years under the founding principles of the business: to use the freshest, most local ingredients it can, to inspire its chefs and managers to create delicious food and fabulous service and to tailor make its services to the environment it is operating in. These principles have proven fruitful for Graysons as its reputation as a specialist in bespoke catering services has grown throughout the UK and resulted in lasting partnerships with clients.

“We were launched by Sir Francis Mackay, a leading figure in the foodservice industry for over three decades. Graysons is led by Tim O’Neill, our Managing Director, with Francis as our Chairman. Graysons is a group of businesses with a common ethos and senior management team; Graysons Restaurants operate staff restaurants

and hospitality services in the business and industry sector, while Graysons Venues manage commercial conference and events centres on behalf of our clients. We also have a small high street restaurant business and a sister company,

By Word of Mouth, who specialise in highend party and events,” begins Simona Oproiu, Business Development Director.

While the fact Graysons serves great British food and combines this with exceptional front of house service may seem standard procedure for those in the catering industry today, the company differentiates itself through delivering an innovative approach and, ultimately, a bespoke solution to each and every customer. The highly adaptable company also allows its chefs to find their own suppliers that are local to their site; these products and ingredients are then tested by a Commercial Director and purchasing team to ensure they are of the best possible quality. Not only are chefs given the freedom to seek out their

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Graysons Hospitality food

own supplies, Graysons also embraces a culture of inspiration to enthuse and motivate chefs into continually creating superior solutions for customers. “It is really about going the extra mile to inspire them,” says Simona. “For example, we may send them to River Cottage for workshops or send them to

Food provenance and sustainability

eat in various restaurants and cafés in London or Manchester, or host sessions at farms.”

Esteemed clients Discussing the strengths that led to Graysons winning a £4 million per year contract for catering services at

the British Library from October 2016, Simona comments: “Our experience in conference and events, as well as corporate dining, and our experience with public catering has given us a unique selling point in the market and has led to us becoming the catering partner for some esteemed venues we cater for employees, visitors, and the general public, for us it’s all about creating amazing food that people want to eat. For example, at the British Library we have a public restaurant and cafes catering for over £1m visitors per year as well as providing all of the hospitality for this major conference centre, but we also cater for the 900 staff on-site in St Pancras as well as a further 600 in Boston Spa.

Customer culture “The fact that we are flexible and go out of our way to understand the culture and ethos of our customers contributed massively to us winning this major contract. Our unique selling point is that we don’t have an off-the-shelf offer and instead we look to understand the exact requirements from a client, customer, and organisational point of view so that we can tailor make a specific food and beverage offer for each site.”

Running for the next five years, this major contract will see Graysons work in partnership with the library to manage the public restaurant and cafes; the company will also undertake event catering and hospitality services for the British Library Conference Centre, assist the library in developing its food and drink services and manage staff catering

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Graysons facilities. Additionally, the company will refurbish all the public catering areas in the library in the first quarter of 2017.

This contract follows Graysons securing a £6 million catering contract at the Francis Crick Institute in July 2015, which will involve the company managing the 300 cover staff restaurant and staff café for the 1500 people operating on site. In addition Graysons will also be responsible for managing the public café and delivering hospitality services for meeting rooms and events.

“Alongside these projects we also cater to the entire BMW Group in the UK, including its brand new headquarters in Farnborough, and Rolls Royce Motor Cars in Goodwood.”

She continues: “Other major clients include Vertu, the high end mobile phone company, and we have also recently secured a contract with Milton Keynes based ID Medical.”

By combining experience, expertise and flexibility, Graysons has become the catering partner of choice for a

number of esteemed venues, a trend that Simona anticipates will continue over the coming years. “Our goal is to grow organically, particularly in London where we have two fantastic new contracts in the amazing St Pancras area to compliment our existing client

base. To do this we will continue to develop our people so we can offer more opportunities for managers and chefs, which in turn develops more opportunities for business growth,” she concludes. D www.graysonsrestaurants.com

Graysons Team

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Tomorrow’s supplements today Founded with a passion for windsurfing and delivering superior quality sports supplements, Reflex Nutrition represents an innovative solution in both nutritional and physical excellence

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Reflex Nutrition

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ithin both the demanding fields of sporting competition and personal physical development, the requirement for supplements that are safe, healthy and of the highest level of quality is critical. Reflex Nutrition was founded by its current owner and Managing Director, James Phillips with a goal of providing the world’s best sports supplements that address

the goals of lean muscle; weight management; muscle and strength; health and wellbeing; energy and endurance; and recovery. “I started Reflex Nutrition in 1996 to make the best supplements money can buy and I can put my hand on my heart and say that we achieve this goal daily,” James says. “Look at our range, you simply cannot find better and this is perfectly illustrated with 100 per cent Native

Whey, which is factually the world’s purest form of whey protein. You cannot buy better because it doesn’t exist.

It’s this type of commitment that has made Reflex Nutrition one of the most respected and trusted sports nutrition brands in the world.”

The remarkable story of Reflex Nutrition began while James was pursuing a career in professional windsurfing. During this time he realised

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that he would need to gain weight to become more competitive and subsequently found sponsorship with an American sports nutrition brand.

It was while using and gaining an understanding of these products that James began to consider the possibility of creating a superior solution to match his own needs and those of other competitors in a similar position. The Reflex Nutrition brand was born soon after and has quickly grown into a globally successful business. “I think what really separates us from the rest of the market is the genuine passion of James himself and the fact that he wanted to develop and manufacture the products himself. All of this coincided with his father deciding to sell the business that he owned and subsequently investing some money into the idea,” elaborates Marketing Director, Julian Wright. “They initially brought a fairly modest factory in Hove

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and James and his family attended various trade shows to understand more about the machinery used to manufacture the supplements. It was something of a baptism of fire in relation to how to create a factory, however with his sporting and nutritional knowledge James knew that he could produce a product that was far superior to anything else on the market.”

Supreme quality From its humble beginnings Reflex Nutrition has grown from a highly hands-on entrepreneurial team of as few as three individuals to a fully ISO 9001 accredited business that operates from a fully bespoke and modern manufacturing facility. During its early history the company quickly began to experience high levels of growth, historically enjoying expansion of as much as 20 per cent per annum and although the market for sporting

supplements has become increasingly competitive in recent years, Reflex Nutrition has continued to grow to meet the needs of sporting athletes and fitness orientated individuals across the world.

The company moved into its current manufacturing facility in 2007. The twoacre plant is located in Woodingdean, Brighton and houses powder production, its own pasteurising plant, a bar manufacturing line and capsule lines.

“This is something that I think makes us quite unique within Europe as a sports nutrition brand,” Julian observes.

Reflex Nutrition “The purpose of having our own manufacturing facility is to allow us to guarantee the quality of the sports supplements that we produce from start to finish. When it comes to the development of new products, James and the new product development (NPD) team will develop new lines and go on to specify the ingredients and formulation of the new product based on key research that incorporates the latest scientific studies and double placebo tested research.”

By working with a highly trusted and respected network of suppliers on a global scale, Reflex Nutrition has great flexibility in purchasing raw ingredients and formulating high quality sports supplements. The company also employs strict product testing to ensure that it provides proven product to its clients. “We have every single batch of our protein products tested in-house, which is unusual for a protein company and we employ our nitrogen combustion analyser to test the protein levels. Additionally, we randomly double test the proteins through an external lab and there is always absolute consistency between the recorded results,” Julian says. “We are also Halal certified by a UK based accredited company that works with Jakim in Malaysia. This can be a very emotive subject for some segments of our client base and in practical terms this meant that we had to avoid using alcohol in any cleaning products. We ensure that none of the ingredients that we buy are produced using alcohol in production or during clean-down processes. The absolute guarantee of absence of alcohol can only be a good thing when you are using products for sports and trying to optimise health.”

because to do so we would need an entirely different pasteurising plant,” Julian explains. “The development of this product came about in a very fortuitous manner and we worked with our suppliers to launch a pre-mixed product that is a recognition of the ever growing market when it comes to protein. Again, we work with trusted suppliers who care about the product to ensure that we can absolutely guarantee quality.”

While there are challenges within the market in terms of increased competition, Reflex Nutrition has a proven track record and an unrivalled passion that match its demanding pursuit of quality. Over the coming years, the business will continue to expand its presence within the UK and around the world, as Julian concludes: “I think the UK has become saturated in terms of brands and the different business models that have been applied to the UK market mean that where

ten years ago we were one of perhaps 20 brands, we are now one of 200 brands. Inevitably that is going to make the UK market a far more competitive environment, however the quality of our sporting supplements and the credibility of being an English manufacturer means that we are incredibly well received in certain markets further afield including Europe and the Middle East.” D www.reflexnutrition.com

Proven products Reflex Nutrition presently offers an extensive product portfolio that includes amino acids, bars and drinks, capsules, carbohydrates, creatine, health and wellbeing and high protein products.

The company’s philosophy is to produce its products in house, aside from a few rare instances including its new range of protein coffees. “We currently do not produce our protein coffees in-house

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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

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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

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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.

found there has been an increasingly larger demand as companies have risen out 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

bartlett mitchell Soppexcca coffee co-operative in 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 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 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.”

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 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.

Berkeley Scott Since 2010, Bartlett Mitchell have relied on Berkeley Scott to provide them with chefs, kitchen porters and front of house staff in order to successfully grow their business. They not only want legally compliant, fully trained and reliable staff, but they need an agency that is able to support their growth and shares their vision. For this reason Berkeley Scott have become increasingly important partners, supplying a growing number of staff each year. With their own sustainability and ethical supply chain, Berkeley Scott also remove the logistical headache away from Bartlett Mitchell, who can rely upon the quality and unrivalled service offered by the UK’s oldest, most established and largest hospitality recruitment experts.

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

Award winners This dedication to sustainable food has resulted in the company winning several awards, such as the Corporate Social

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Chocs away!

Through diversifying operations and investing in new machinery, Northern confectioner Sweetdreams is enjoying sweet success

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riginally an accidental creation

by Dobsons Confectionary in Ponteland, Choc Nibbles has developed a dedicated following in the North of England over the last 30 years. In 1998 the unique milk chocolate snack formed the foundation for Sweetdreams Ltd, which was acquired

by Matthew Stephenson nine years ago with the goal of establishing a nationally successful brand of chocolate products.

Talking with FoodChain in November 2015, Matthew commented: “The core product is Choc Nibbles, but as we have developed flavours and ingredients the product range has increased. The second largest seller is Toffee Crumble, followed by Choc Lick, and then we have introduced flavour variants of orange and mint. In 2015, we have launched two new products, which are Jammie and Posh. Our products are completely unique and can’t be mixed up with being anything else as we’re the only one doing it. We affectionately call it an ‘ugly’ treat, which can be a struggle to get new consumers to buy into, but those who have tried it, trust it and keep coming back.”

Indeed, with a loyal brand following in the North, Matthew and his small, dedicated team made the strategic decision to put the development of new flavours on the back burner and instead focus on new markets. “If you look at our business, historically we focused being a supplier to the traditional wholesale market, who then sold onto the traditional sweet shops. Three or four years ago we progressed into the re-bagging market and began to supply our products in bulk; this wasn’t innovation in any way, but gave us an opportunity to create a whole new market for Sweetdreams. This development resulted in our company getting listed with Bonds Confectionery and their three for a pound range – and for the first time ever, Bonds Confectionery added our Original Choc Nibbles branding alongside their logo – a first for this range. This shows how far we have come.”

Alongside this project, the company has also recently announced it has secured its first order for Choc Nibbles to go into the UK’s national discount retailer, B&M Stores; a breakthrough for the company that stems from an investment of £100,000 during 2015 that has enabled Sweetdreams to diversify its packaging formats and be more reactive to market developments.

“We have spent a lot of money on improving areas such as quality, production and packing, the latter of which includes investment into new in-house bagging machinery,” says Matthew. “Following this investment we have been working with B&M on the development of our 250 gram pre-pack bags of Original Choc Nibbles. Once the bag was up to a standard we were happy with, B&M listed the bag and got it a prominent showing in a retail environment, which is a hugely difficult task for a small company to achieve; thankfully we had fantastic support from B&M and their confectionery team.

“We are now supplying the whole of the B&M estate and are supplying tens of thousands of bags. In fact, our forecast for the year for the new bag was just over 120,000, and we have already superseded that in the first six weeks.

It has been an astonishingly brilliant success that has been well supported by

Sweetdreams B&M.” Made with premium ingredients and real milk chocolate, the 99p packs of Choc Nibbles continue the company’s trend of delivering high quality ingredients at excellent value.

With the B&M contract an undeniable success, Sweetdreams is now keen to increase its market presence by building on the national brand exposure. “Having tangible, successful sales data from a national retailer for our products will hopefully open doors to new markets and new customers,” says Matthew. “We are hoping to announce a second listing in a large national retailer in the coming weeks, as well as introducing new products and flavours in the prepack format.

“These are exciting times, and we are in a good place at the moment, but as a private, family-owned business, any risk is my risk, so we make sure we keep our core customers and suppliers happy and then take manageable, controlled steps to grow the business for the future.”

MOULDED PACKAGING SOLUTIONS (MPS) MPS is a UK based manufacturer of containers and closures for the food service and confectionary markets. As a relatively young and expanding company it has invested significantly in its product ranges and production capabilities to improve its offering to these sectors.

In addition to its expanding product portfolio, MPS customers benefit from a quick and responsive service, with over 50 years of packaging and processing/production experience that it is more than happy to share with you.

With the business now in prime shape for continued growth, Sweetdreams has turned its attentions to expanding its operations by integrating its strengths in a controlled manner. “Our growth will be over 30 per cent this year and I don’t see a problem maintaining or even surpassing that in 2017. The key to this growth has been investment, innovation and finding the right people who work together,” highlights Matthew.

“Although we took a risk and invested before we had the orders we are now reaping the benefits and looking positively to the future; in the next six months we are looking to relocate as we have outgrown our factory and have more than doubled our staff numbers in the last six months. We want to increase these numbers again and are looking for technical personnel to join our team at this exciting time in our history,” he concludes. D www.chocnibbles.co.uk

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Sternenbaek GmbH

Rising up Celebrating its 250th anniversary in 2016, ninth generation family run bakery Sternenbaek GmbH is as fresh as ever

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eginning operations with its first bakery in 1766, Sternenbaek GmbH has grown over the last 250 years to accumulate more than 270 locations and over 1800 employees. The company also has production facilities in Gera, Spremberg, Hechingen and Enfurt, all of which operate with a philosophy that the processing of baked goods by hand is just as important as the utilisation of modern technology.

“Sternenbaek GmbH was founded in 1766 by my great grandpa nine times over,” begins Gerhard Bumuller, Managing Director at Sternenbaek GmbH. “During the eighth generation in the 1950s and 60s, the company was a small bakery with one shop at the front of the building, a bakery in the back and a restaurant on the first floor. Managed

by my grandpa from the 1960s, the company was driven forward to deliver products to regular customers and by the final years of the 80s we had around 80 stores in West Germany. Following this growth, my Dad decided in 1989 to expand into East Germany and diversified our services for a brief amount of time before focusing only on doing business with shops by 1992.”

He continues: “A major benefit for our ongoing growth throughout the 1990s was the fact that we were in the right place at the right time to expand. We also has the right business partners, which enabled us to grow quickly in East Germany, while also maintaining a solid presence in West Germany. However, this growth wouldn’t be possible without our competitive levels of quality and evolving menu of products; we also offer a mix of traditional and

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‘

non-traditional business. For example, if we are making strudels we will use machinery that can produce 14,000 rolls per hour, but for baked sweet traditional items, we will produce these by hand.”

As a fresh baker that believes in

Maintaining tradition

and pastries are integral to

Indeed, alongside the latest production technology, which is used for high volume products, the company places strong emphasis on the importance of craft within the pastry departments.

Here employees produce goods almost entirely by hand; a tradition that also extends to many other baked goods.

The facility in Hechingen, which stands at 15,000 square metres and has been in operation since 1992, focuses on modern artisan bakery and confectionary, the production of frozen dough pieces that are focused on liquor goods, Danish pastry and puff pastry.

Meanwhile, the Gera production facility, which stands at 7200 square

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delivering ‘taste with heart’, the careful selection of ingredients and fresh preparation of breads Sternenbaek’s successful delivery of high quality foods

metres and opened in 2000, focuses on bread and pastry, confectionary and frozen goods. In this location around 60 million units per year of the popular Kaiser buns are produced; Gera has also been awarded the DLG award for its Champion Roll and rye rolls as well as the silver DLG award for its pumpkin seed buns.

The final production facility, Spremberg, stands at 7000 square metres, and focuses on bread and pastry, confectionary goods and frozen goods. It is here that approximately 90 million pieces of precooked Kaiser, bread and Schrippenteiglingen are produced, and also the Schrippen were awarded with the Silver DLG Award for quality in 2013.

“After 250 years it is important to remember that we are still the only owner of this company and have maintained tradition throughout this time. We are not a big bakery with

Sternenbaek GmbH

machines, and have instead stuck to our roots by producing a lot of our products by hand; these include cakes and rolls,” highlights Gerhard.

knowledge on baking products within the company’s growing portfolio remains up to date. “We listen to the market and what our customers want to remain up-to-date on market trends and in turn train our employees to produce

Daily improvement As a fresh baker that believes in delivering ‘taste with heart’, the careful selection of ingredients and fresh preparation of breads and pastries are integral to Sternenbaek’s successful delivery of high quality foods. This commitment to quality also naturally extends to the choosing of suppliers and the training of its bakery professionals; these employees are trained continuously to ensure their

WACHTEL With us, oven-building is linked to decades of experience, care and precision.

We have been producing ovens, loaders and refrigeration equipment, all Made in Germany, since 1923 – and all this now in the 3rd generation of the family. Our passion for service to our customers and our quality expectations for future-fit premium equipment made us pioneers in the shop bakery sector.

Today we continue to develop product innovations that become the models for the entire industry. Regardless to which industry the customer‘s company belong we can offer ovens that correspond exactly to the needs.

these food items to a high quality,” says Gerhard. “However, although we pay attention to trends, our key focus is on delivering our day-to-day products to a high level of quality every day. In fact, a big part of our product range is the same as it was 20 years ago.”

Once baked, the company’s goods are sent to locations such as bakeries and cafes in retail establishments in the payment zone; bakeries and cafes in shipping centres and retail parks, bakeries and cafes in pedestrian areas or busy places such as buildings at road junctions, metro, tram and bus stops; products are also available at self service bakeries, which would be found at bus stations or train stations.

By placing itself in locations that are central and highly frequented, with good infrastructure, metro, tram or bus stops nearby and good visibility to the public eye, Sternenbaek has developed a strong presence in Germany. Despite its success, the company is keen to continue growing through ongoing expansion into new strategic areas, with its most recent opening taking place in a shop in Meßkirch, Germany, in June 2016.

“Over the coming years we will focus on developing our presence in East Germany further while also developing our shops through refurbishment and so on. Improvement is a daily process, which is why it is important to keep progressing as a way to maintain our competitive edge,” he concludes. D www.sternenbaeck.de

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Delight

for all seasons

Belgian chocolatier Ickx has built its reputation on quality products for all occasions 92 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

‘

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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Cask masters

Proud to be supporting the brewing industry, Morrow Brothers has continuously improved its business, with a new kegging-filling operation next on the agenda

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lready a world leader in cask and keg refurbishment, when FoodChain last spoke to Morrow Brothers in late 2015, the company was in the very early stages of its new venture, Morrow Brothers Packaging Ltd. The new business includes a new facility, based in Buckshaw Village and operates as a contract bottling plant providing bottling, labelling and packaging services, as well as further distributing products for speciality beverage manufacturers.

The company founders Alan, Kieron and Liam Morrow believe that Morrow Brothers Packaging Ltd is a natural diversification from its roots in the repair and refurbishment of kegs and casks. They spent two years dedicating themselves to market research in order to ensure they could provide the highest standard of service to customers, with a primary focus being on maintaining the characteristics of the beer sent to the plant, as well as achieving high quality and consistency with low losses when filling. The plant is set up to eliminate dissolved oxygen contamination and process the beer as efficiently as possible. Since opening, the production

team at Morrow Brothers has managed to reduce losses for customers to well below five per cent on average and on recent regular runs losses have been zero. Such low losses have been achieved on run sizes between 10 BBL and 100 BBL. With a laboratory on site Morrow is even able to provide a full analysis service along with specified carbonation and filtration levels, offering a bespoke service to all customers.

Having a high quality production plant is one thing, but efficiency is really the key factor as that is what makes bottling worthwhile for brewers of all sizes. As Morrow’s client Seven Bro7hers Brewery stated on its website: ‘We really struggled to find a packaging partner with the high standards we sought. Having had a bad experience at two other companies we were reluctant to go down the contractor route for a third time. After visiting the Morrow Brothers plant and meeting the team of people our fears were allayed.

The beer they packaged for us not only tastes fantastic in pack but they provided us with 100 per cent of it back therefore saving us a significant amount.’ Having now been in business for almost a year, Morrow Brothers

Morrow Brothers Ltd Packaging has firmly established itself as one of the leading contract fillers for microbreweries within the UK, and its plans for expansion keep growing. As Liam Morrrow told FoodChain previously: “The next phase will be to offer our own contract kegging facility, which is an obvious fit with our keg business. This will enable us to provide the keg while the customer supplies the beer, once the keg is full it can be delivered to wherever it is required.” Twelve months on and at time of writing the new kegging operation is just weeks away from launching.

While the new businesses are demanding a lot of attention, the heart of Morrow Brother’s success lies in its repair and refurbishing services for kegs and casks within the brewing industry.

Indeed, when the business was founded in 1969 Alan and David Morrow really created the British keg and cask repair sector. “What previously happened when kegs or casks began to leak is that they were sent to the manufacturer and exchanged at scrap value on a pro rata basis against the purchase of new ones. This was fairly inefficient and not very economical compared to repair and reconditioning,” explained Liam when he last spoke to FoodChain. Seeing that this process could be improved, the Morrow Brothers created a service where stainless steel and aluminium kegs and casks could be repaired and refurbished.

“A further benefit of this, although this was perhaps not as considered during the 1960s, is that it is also a relatively green approach,” added Liam.

Since its foundation, Morrow Brothers has established an unparalleled reputation in the UK and also now exports to all major continents around the world. Over the past decades many millions of containers have been processed through its factory and hundreds of breweries have been

satisfied with the best quality and service in the industry. Going forwards, Morrow Brothers Ltd will continue develop its service offering and consider new investments that will enable it to further support the brewing industry. D www.morrow-brothers.co.uk www.morrowbrotherspackaging.co.uk

Unparalleled reputation This trend for innovation continued as the company evolved – in 1988 Morrow Brothers started selling new stainless steel kegs and became market leaders in the UK and a year later it introduced the Boetzkes tamper evident snapcap to the UK. A decade later, Morrow Brothers became UK agents for GEA Till, and has been successful in selling over £25m of keg systems in the UK. The company now offers additional services including cask and keg sales, cleaning, and rebranding. The business has continued to grow through industry trends of growth and decline and today employs 40 people across its three sites.

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Rich potential

O With over two decades of industry experience, CCL Products (India) Ltd. has grown into a leading specialist in the manufacture of rich and aromatic instant coffee products

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perating as a public limited company listed on both the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE), CCL products (India) Ltd. was founded in Duggirala Village, Andhra Pradesh, India by its current Executive Chairman, Sri Challa Rajendra Prasad. The company was established during 1994 with a single 3000 MTs plant and has since continued to grow in terms of its market presence and manufacturing capacity.

With a strong manufacturing base and distribution network, CCL is able to offer a comprehensive variety of coffee products from a single location with a broad range that includes: • Plain instant coffee • Speciality instant coffees - flavoured, non-flavoured, caffeinated, non decaffeinated • Spray dried coffee • Freeze dried coffee • Liquid concentrated coffee • Roasted coffee, roast and ground coffee • 3-in-1 coffee (premix) • Functional coffee • Certified coffee, speciality coffee

Upholding the reputation for being one of the most trusted brands in the industry, CCL Products is committed to delivering its promise of manufacturing unparalleled quality products. Roasted, blended and processed to the precise requirements of clients, the Arabica and Robusta green coffee is handpicked from different parts of the world. Its coffee is manufactured at -60 degree Celsius to retain the original flavour and aroma and CCL is among the only companies in the world to produce all four types of pure soluble coffee from a single location. What’s more, the company maintains all of the relevant quality certifications, including BRC version 7, manages a fully certified quality management system (QMS) and regularly conducts internal quality audits to ensure the consistency in product quality. This allows major brand owners to rely on CCL for an excellent grade of proven coffee products.

As the first company to establish and operate a freeze-dried coffee plant within India during 2005, CCL has developed a reputation for both innovation and quality. This is further highlighted by its use of both Swiss and

CCL Products (India) Brazilian coffee making technology, as well as the company’s continued investment into its plant facilities.

To give an insight into its manufacturing procedure, and using the Freeze Concentrated Liquid coffee as an example, the speciality of Freeze Concentration technology is its ability to retain product quality to the maximum, as a result of operation at sub zero temperatures. The closed system design of this technology eliminates vapour/ liquid interfaces. There is no loss of aromas or other volatile components, no thermal degradation, no oxidation and there is retention of sensory properties of the original feed product.

The modern freeze concentration process consists of a crystallization section, where part of the water is converted into solid ice crystals with the use of a refrigeration system. The ice crystals are then separated by filters, centrifuges or with the help of wash columns. This technology is based on a specific form of suspension melt crystallization and has made freeze concentration economically feasible for a wide range of applications.

Supporting its range of coffee products and to ensure they arrive at the customer in perfect condition, CCL offers a wide range of packaging options, including jars, cans, pouches/ sachets, bag-in-box, drums and bulk box. Its range of jar options illustrates exactly how flexible the business can be – it has the capacity to offer coffee in 25 gms, 50 gms, 100 gms and 200 gms jars. The jars and caps on the jars can be customised in varied shapes, and printed or embossed with labels and design/logo, as per the requirements of the customers. CCL is also in a position to offer shrink sleeve labels. The jars can be further packed in corrugated boxes and loaded into the containers or can be shrink wrapped on trays and palletised as well, depending on the requirements of the customer.

Apart from maintaining the highest standards of quality in respect of its products, CCL is also vigorously devoted towards its responsibilities to observe standards in respect of environmental protection and ethical fair trade. As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

initiative the company has undertaken many projects such as the promotion of education in rural areas, infrastructure and sanitation development, improving the welfare of young girls, and facilitating pure drinking water to rural areas identified in and around the factory at Duggirala, Guntur District, Andhra

Pradesh. The company also contributed towards the improvement of health and sanitation by setting up Green Toilets at several places throughout Guntur District. Furthermore, the organisation took the initiative to construct houses for the Hudhud cyclone victims at Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh. The overall objective of its CSR programme is to operate the business in a sustainable manner respecting society and the environment, while recognising the interests of all stakeholders.

As coffee continues to grow in popularity around the world with both domestic and commercial clients, CCL is in a favourable position to expand its market presence within India and abroad. Although the industry inevitably faces some challenges relating to cost and increasing competition, the company is confident that the coming years will be very positive indeed. D www.cclproducts.com

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Deep-rooted history ‘From seed to food’ is the motto at Cosucra and is something it truly believes in.

Partnerships with more than 400 food manufacturers and more than 1000 product references worldwide demonstrate that Cosucra works alongside clients from idea to launch 100 www.foodchainmagazine.com

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ith a rich history that can be traced all the way back to 1852 in Belgium, Cosucra is a family owned business led today by Jacques Crahay (CEO) who is the fifth generation of the family. It began business by extracting the sugar from locally grown beets, something that would evolve in the coming centuries. Having this pedigree that can be followed back centuries is core to the ethos of the company - one of traditional values that are combined with modern methods.

Despite an expanding market across the world, it never yields quality, integrity, or values in order to achieve this. It is a well-established Belgian chicory and pea processor, and has continued to find new ways to improve its high pea protein Pisane, which provides high

levels of nutrition and functionality to its customers. This alternative is free from common allergens, non-dairy, and supports bone health, as well as cutting out many of the sugars and fats that can be found in other high protein foods. Cosucra also produces Inulin Fibruline, which is a chicory root soluble dietary fiber, and is globally recognised fiber that has wide reaching nutritional benefits.

The lists of useful applications of the pea are remarkable, and appear to almost be endless. Cosucra itself is not a small figure in this sector, but rather a leading character. Already having pioneered products such as pea protein Pisane, pea fibers Swelite, Exafine, and pea starch Nastar, it is one of the most experienced companies in the market, and when discussing this with Michel

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Cosucra

Cosucra is determined to respect the natural resources, help mitigate any impact on the environment, and to ensure a sustainable process from start to finish

premium with a lot of applications.

We have already greatly increased our capacity, however with the market continuing to grow we have more plans to continue expanding capacity to ensure that we can meet demand.” For most companies this is a considerably more advantageous problem to have. It can still be a concern, but it also offers a lucrative opportunity, which Michel said the company is intending to take advantage of: “There is a reason why

our brand is of premium reputation.

And so we have decided to be the first to announce massive increases in capacity, because the market is really demanding these.” Cosucra is ahead of the competition by having already seen expansion, and Michel presented the intention to increase further: “The future plan is to continue increasing our capacity, as we have already made investments in modern systems, as well as modern abilities.”

Deweal, commercial director, it was something he expanded on: “Pisane has very strong demand, and we have been able to produce this for more than 25 years. We started in the 90s, and we were one of the first ones in the market.

We have built upon this by a continued effort to improve our products. There is a long history, with extensive experience in processing peas and chicory roots, and the subsequent adaptations of these products.”

Expanding capacity One of the biggest hurdles the company has to jump over is that of meeting a higher level of demand, as with good product comes increased reputation, which inherently brings greater consumer numbers. Michel elaborated on this situation: “Our products are

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Cosucra Clean label Cosucra is also managing to achieve this success and expansion while maintaining an environmental consciousness at the heart of the company. Crops are grown by local farmers, which Michel cited as having another positive: “Our products are useful for those wanting to have a no GMO diet, and all the things our company puts on the market are clean label products.” Cosucra is determined to respect the natural resources, help mitigate any impact on the environment, and to ensure a sustainable process from start to finish. There are many more ways in which it tries to act environmentally, the use of green energy as much as possible is one, energy effectiveness is another, and managing water use. Sustainability takes another form as well, as Cosucra works long– term with its farmers, ensuring that there is a positive and fair relationship, where there is a dialogue between the two parties.

The overwhelming principles of the company are clear, it believes in the products it makes, and these provide a healthier and more wholesome alternative for people. There is a pride in what is being done at Cosucra, and the product offers dietary and nutrition solutions to needs and preferences of growing sections of society. Whether it is for weight loss, low salt, or low fat, there is a multitude of applications in which Cosucra products can help. There is another benefit of the company, which is that with the market growing it provides a higher quality and more reliable product than its competitors, something Michel was keen to emphasize: “On the market today you can probably find other companies producing this, but of a lower quality. As there are more and more companies in Europe and US that want a large supply of this product, they don’t want to rely on Chinese producers, as they can be concerned about quality issues or safety risks.”

Dietary solutions With people across the world, particularly within Europe and the

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Temafield Cosucra has opted to work with Temafield to transform its industrial processes. Temafield uses TPM/WCM – a structured, staff-wide, cohesive management process – to drive change within its partners’ organisations.

TPM/WCM is an effective method that delivers long-lasting results, promotes employee ownership and garners management support. It involves implementing an enterprise-wide project underpinned by practical methods and tools, in which individuals are encouraged to look after, manage and continuously improve their workstation. In turn, this personal ownership contributes to the success of the collective project.

The TPM/WCM method delivers a more structured, coherent organisation in which there is genuine integration across all disciplines. And because the corresponding tools are practical, transparent and easy to use, every member of the organisation is able to make a meaningful contribution to healthy, sustainable performance.

TPM/WCM is about taking the long view and looking ahead with confidence. It fosters a positive corporate culture that benefits each and every employee.

US, becoming more environmentally conscious and seeking alternatives, it is no wonder that Cosucra can boast such success. With people every day moving towards a more varied diet, whether it is a wish to avoid meat, lessen the environmental impact, or due to specific dietary concerns, Cosucra offers the solution, and it comes from the humble yet beneficial and versatile pea. From such a proud history, there will no doubt be an even prouder future to come. D www.cosucra.com

Lacons

Brewing

legacy

With a history dating back over more than 250 years within Norfolk’s historic seaside town of Great Yarmouth, Lacons brewery represents an iconic name that has experienced a phoenix-like return to the market in recent years

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he Lacons brand was originally established during 1760 as a family-run and highly self-sufficient brewery, with its own malting houses and brewing equipment. “Eventually the company moved to a larger premises located at Fullers Hill in Great Yarmouth. At its peak Lacons brewery sent over 150,000 pints of ale per week to London. The brewery also had more than 350 tied houses, as well as a further 50 in London and at that time was producing 80,000 barrels of beer per year,” elaborates Communications Manager, Simon Baldry.

“The brewery continued to grow from strength to strength as a family run business until 1957, when Whitbread first became involved in the company and started to acquire a shareholding in the business following its insertion on the stock exchange,” Simon continues.

“Over a number of years Whitbread continued buying up shares in Lacons and gradually took complete control.

Unfortunately the brewery was ultimately mothballed in 1968 with the loss of over 150 jobs in Great Yarmouth, as Whitbread’s main interest was Lacons vast pub estate.”

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Following its closure the business and the Lacons name laid dormant for close to half a century, until 2009 when the company’s present Managing Director, Mick Carver began to research into the possibility of reawakening Lacons.

After several years of negotiation with the modern brewing arm of Whitbread, (Luxembourg based SA Brand Brew, a subsidiary of AB Inbev) the iconic Lacons’ falcon was refreshed with the brewery finally opening its doors again during May 2013. Most recently the company has further solidified its position by unifying the brewery and its distribution partner as a single entity under the Lacons banner during 2015.

Prior to taking on Lacons brewery, Mick was also the Managing Director of the Lowestoft based company JV Trading. Following the rebirth of the Lacons brewery, JV Trading continued to operate as a leading distributor for Lacons alongside many other iconic drinks brands. The decision to merge the two businesses has enabled both to grow even stronger under the firmly established and fondly remembered Lacons name.

“We have worked in partnership with JV since our return and the relationship

Today the company crafts a core range of five ales, comprised of Encore, Legacy, Affinity, Pale Ale and Falcon Ale alongside seasonal and heritage ranges they have with the licensed trade in the Anglia region is second to none. As a business, the core values of JV Trading are parallel to Lacons and for us and all involved it makes perfect sense to marry both entities together under the iconic Lacons name and manage them as one,” Mick says. “Lacons as a name carries such nostalgic significance for so many people in this region, it’s a story that began over 250 years ago and was nearly lost forever in the late 1960s.

This decision means the name can once again stand proud, not only as a brewer, but as a business that offers a complete drinks and support package to the many public houses that require it.”

Original yeast The impressive rebirth of the Lacons business has been matched by the quality of the beers the brewery has

Lacons developed. Once the management team of Mick Carver and Sales Director, Trevor Hourican managed to acquire the Lacons name and intellectual property the company was finally able to secure the original Lacons yeast for beer making from frozen storage in the National Collection of Yeast Cultures (NCYC), based in Norwich. Around this time the multi-award winning brewer Wil Wood joined the business after previously brewing at Scotland’s Fyne Ales and began to develop the next generation of Lacons ales. Today the company crafts a core range of five ales, comprised of Encore, Legacy, Affinity, Pale Ale and Falcon Ale alongside seasonal and heritage ranges.

“We began by developing three core beers, which were trialled extensively before general release and contain the finest whole cone hops and malts. The beers are also crafted in a unique way, using the original Lacons yeast. Most brewers have their own yeast strain that they brew with and each yeast reacts differently and this gives the range its unique flavours, making it fully authentic and therefore allowing the beers to be crafted under the Lacons name,” Simon details. “Further to our core and seasonal beers, we also produce our popular heritage range.

This is comprised of nearly ten beers that have been inspired by the original Lacons recipes that we have in our archive and the original artwork that was associated with them. Our head brewer has modernised these recipes and they are now released on a month-by-month basis and are very popular beers in addition to our core range.”

London’s Olympia which is an honour,” Simon exclaims.

With a successful resurrection and many award-winning beers already under its belt, the future appears to be very bright for Lacons. Indeed, the company has recently invested a six figure sum into commissioning new brewing plant, which will allow it to

Mick Carver with William Lacon

increase its levels of production by at least four or five times, once the equipment is installed. “The level of investment that we are committing speaks volumes about the amount of opportunity in the market for our ales. Norfolk is a hot bed for cask ale breweries at the moment, with over 30 in operation in the region,” Simon concludes. “We are focused on fully restoring the Lacons name to its former glory. Once the new brew plant has been commissioned we will be able to substantially grow our business at quite a pace, through our own delivery network and by going further afield around all over the UK. On the drink distribution side, we are about giving our customers quality and consistency of deliveries and ensuring that our customers have the right products on their bars to serve to their patrons – including Lacons multiaward winning ales.” D www.lacons.co.uk

Champion ale Indeed, the Lacons range has proven so popular that its flagship ale, Encore, has no less than eight awards to its name out of a total of 16 awards across the core range. “These accolades include the recognition of Encore as the World’s Best Bitter under four per cent at the World Beer Awards, as well as being awarded the title of CAMRA’s Norfolk Champion Golden Ale for 2016. We are also very pleased to have been invited

by CAMRA to pour Encore on the bar at this year’s Great British Beer Festival at

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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 106 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.

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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

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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Sweet Success Pure creates high quality chocolate products, in particular delicious and unique truffles.

These come in a wide choice of flavours and blends that make it stand out from others in the chocolate industry

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P

ure Chocolate began in 2007 with just one factory, and has since opened another in 2013.

It derives its name from the city it was founded and operates in, Pure in Latvia. It is a family owned business – by a father and son - that strives to be a strong and fast growing company. Though it is in some respects a small producer, in a small town – which has a population of around 2000, it supplies countries all over the world with uniquely designed chocolates. The approach taken at Pure means that in less than a decade it has built a global reputation.

The company outsources several products - it produces ice cream and cakes, which prove popular in the summer, but the heart of the company and the main focus of it is chocolate truffles. These are all made from natural materials and for special customers it has fair trade and UTZ chocolate, and Pure is committed to providing the most innovative flavours for its consumers, and makes about 60 or 70 tonnes of chocolate a month.

Pure works according to ISO 22,000:2500 and the BRC food safety management system, ensuring that everything it makes not only provides an amazing taste, but also peace of mind that it is has been made under brilliant standards.

The chocolates are all made by a team of passionate and dedicated experts, that come up with the various flavour combinations and truffle designs.

The love that goes into the product should not be underestimated, there is a genuine belief in the food that is being made. This is able to happen due to it being a small family owned business, and the staff are committed to doing the company proud and meeting its values, all in order to ensure that a customer will try Pure chocolates once and will want the truffles again.

Member of the board Karlis Kvals went into greater detail about the truffles it crafts: “We have three lines of chocolate truffles. The first one that is really unique and shows why Pure chocolate is high class is the decorated option, this is our premium line, which is more for special events like Christmas, Easter, EID Mubarak or birthdays etc.

The raw material is purchased as a chocolate from Belgium, and we then use only natural fillings and natural garnishing around it, such as dried fruits etc. Then we have the smaller truffles without decorations, these are more for every day enjoyment, and this has two lines, the berry line and the cream line.

The berry line has a square box of 75g,

Pure Chocolate it also has a larger box option as well for the more indulgent days. Lastly, we have a more recent addition that we launched a year and a half ago which is really exciting, and these are big twisted truffles, which are for pick and mix bags or standup bags.” Karlis was also keen to impress that Pure is always innovating and adapting to changes in tastes: “Our technologists are always working on new flavours. Different regions have different tastes, some that are proving popular in the Gulf are flavours like cheesecake, whereas in the USA cookie butter is preferred.” The variety of products means that whatever occasion, and whatever taste someone has in chocolate, then there will be a selection from Pure that is perfect.

Ambitious aims One way in which Pure has established itself in the global market is by attending trade fairs, something that

Karlis highlighted: “The trade shows are very important for us. All our customers who we have outside of the Baltic States we met there. The most important fair is the ISM in Cologne, and next year it will be the 6th year in a row where we have participated. Every year we get around three to five deals from it, one recent deal we secured is in New Zealand.” Pure also is active at many other events as well, these range from in Chicago in America, to Shanghai in China.

The company has achieved a great deal in a short period, but intends to build on this, and one of the ambitions that the owner’s aim for is that one-day everyone in the world will taste a Pure chocolate at lease once. The company has other strategies, which are a less long-term than that, as Karlis outlines: “The plan is to grow at least twice in terms of volume and turnover until 2020. The next four years we have to

build the business up, and it is quite realistic at this point. We will invest in new equipment, and we will move forward in some places at varying speeds depending on the market.” This flexible approach means Pure is more sustainable, rather than booming too fast and getting caught out by material price changes or demand drops.

Pure has seen improvements year on year, which is no wonder when the range and quality of the product is considered. The truffles that the company makes are unique, and the flavours stand out, to such a degree that whether it is in the US, Russia, Gulf States, Japan, or anywhere in-between, there is a growing demand for its chocolate. Pure has made inroads in a great number of countries now, it seems just a matter of time until the people in those areas try one truffle and can’t stop having more. D www.purechocolate.lv

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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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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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Cream

of the crop

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Joint venture Al Safi Danone has pushed boundaries over the last 35 years to ensure consumers in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East receive dairy products that not only provide proper nutrition, but also maintain quality, fun and exceptional taste 124 www.foodchainmagazine.com

stablished in 1981 by Saudi entrepreuner giant Al Faisaliah Group, the Al Safi Dairy Farm was initiated with the goal of enriching consumer’s lives while also taking care of their families’ nutritional needs. Over the last 35 years this goal has been met and exceeded time and again thanks to the company’s commitment to delivering wholesome and delicious dairy products. Keen to push for further innovative developments, Al Safi Dairy Farm partnered with Danone Group, the leading French dairy producer, in 2001 and swiftly expanded and enhanced its operations in the dairy industry. By pooling both companies’ knowledge into the industry, the joint venture has not only successfully made a difference to the community, but also cemented its strong reputation in the market.

“Al Safi Danone is a dairy company that provides 100 per cent fresh products directly from our farm, which is located in Al Kharj area, 120km southeast of Riyadh. Al Safi Dairy Farm has been operating in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East for the past 35 years, allowing it to fully understand the culture of the community and thus meet the needs of its consumers. Furthermore, our farm is globally recognised as the largest integrated dairy farm in the world and has been credited as such since 1998; we have more than 3500 hectares

of land, more than 32,000 Holstein Friesian cattle that produce 165 million litres of milk per year and have around 1200 employees working around the clock,” begins Abdulmajeed Alrasheed, Senior PR Officer at Al Safi Danone.

Complementing what is arguably the world’s most advanced and wellrespected dairy farm in the world is Danone Group, an organisation that has been recognised since 1973 as Europe’s leading nutrition-driven company and holds the crown as the largest dairy producer in the world. “A pioneer in the field of healthy nutrition research and development, Danone’s partnership with Al Safi Dairy Farm has enabled Al Safi Danone to introduce innovative and value-added products into the Saudi market.”

Today distributing to 28 branches inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through 600 distribution routes that reach 35,000 retail stores, as well as 11 countries including the GCC region, the company’s varied portfolio includes fresh milk, long life or UHT milk, Al Safi yoghurt, Al Safi cream, Safio flavoured milk and yoghurt; Danao’s milk-juice with essential vitamins and flavours, Activia Laban and Danette pudding with different flavours.

New products Commenting on the company’s ever-expanding range of products, Abdulmajeed says: “Our biggest brand is Al Safi, the traditional Safi brand, which started more than 35 years ago and is really the core of our business and features products such as milk and Laban; the latter is a drinkable yoghurt that also has 100 per cent pure cows milk in it that has proven highly popular in the Middle East. We always have new innovations in the pipeline; in fact, our latest collaboration was with Disney by co-branding our flavoured yoghurt and using various Disney characters for our younger customers.

“Moreover, we recently launched a suite of cheese types under our main brand, Al Safi, to cover all tastes and needs of our consumers, and are extremely happy to announce that we are entering the fresh juice market in August with seven flavours. This is the single

Al Safi Danone biggest investment in our company’s history and we are aiming to be a strong contender in the juice market within the region,” he adds.

Proud to be known as an innovator, Al Safi Danone has also introduced a new size of 1.5 litres, which is a brand new innovation in the entire region and offers benefits when it comes to pricing and availability for customers. The company has also added introduced chocolate, cream caramel, a brand new innovation from Danone, which is also seeing positive results. “We are the most innovative company in the region and are bold when it comes to creating new products,” says Adbulmajeed. “For example, one of the main themes of the Saudi Vision 2030 is ‘Caring for Health’ and promoting preventative healthcare,

antioxidants through using green tea; this is a new innovation for the region.”

which is already synced with our main message and products. However, we are taking it a step further, as some of our upcoming juice line-up includes

With the Saudi market showing yearon-year growth between five and ten per cent, the company is enjoying solid growth and accumulating new customers

each year. However, Abdulmajeed comments that the biggest challenge facing the dairy industry in Saudi Arabia is price capping: “The price cap on dairy products was established in the 1980s as the Government views milk and yoghurt as a basic commodity. It is a challenge but we are working with the Government to solve this issue, particularly when it comes to inflation that has taken place over the years, the rising cost of labour, production and utilities.”

Despite these issues, Al Safi Danone continues to grow in the market and attract new customers that want products that provide good health, yet taste great. With innovation, quality and nutrition a constant focus for the company, Abdulmajeed concludes: “It is our goal to introduce products that will be game changing to the Saudi and GCC market and for us as a company too, so stay tuned!” D www.alsafidanone.com

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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

I

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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East of England Co-op 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

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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.

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