Tues 18th Nov, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London

Six consecutive RoSPA golds for Chalcroft

Posted on by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

Six consecutive RoSPA golds for Chalcroft

Chalcroft Gold Medal Award 03Chalcroft, a leading specialist construction contractor, has once again been awarded the RoSPA Gold Medal for Health & Safety amidst the scheme’s 60th year celebrations, having achieved Gold Awards for six consecutive years. This internationally-recognised accolade rewards organisations in all sectors that have demonstrated a clear commitment to the prevention of accidents and ill health.

The scheme is open to businesses and organisations of all sizes and types and, in awarding the prizes, judges consider each entrant’s overarching occupational health & safety management systems – taking into account everything from workforce engagement and safe practices at ground level, through to leadership principles.

Commenting on this milestone achievement, QEHS Director Todd Hallam explained: “Our robust health & safety policies and procedures are continually reviewed and refined to ensure we exceed the standards set by relevant legislation, and this culture of safety is embedded in all levels of the company. To receive independent verification of our achievements from RoSPA is extremely gratifying and everyone involved should be very proud.”

Chalcroft EX3_5615Julia Small, RoSPA’s Head of Awards and Events, said: “To win an award at such a highly-regarded event as the RoSPA Awards is a great achievement for our winners. It recognises their commitment to maintaining an excellent health and safety record and raises the bar for other organisations to aspire to. We offer them our congratulations.

“This year was doubly special for our winners as their achievements were recognised as the RoSPA Awards celebrated its diamond anniversary, which is a ringing endorsement of the thousands of businesses and organisations that have committed to continuous improvement in accident and ill-health prevention.”

For further information please visit www.chalcroft.co.uk

Nestlé and R&R to create Froneri

Posted on by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

Nestlé and R&R to create Froneri, an ice cream and frozen food joint venture

FroneriNestlé and R&R, a leading ice cream company based in the UK, have agreed to set up Froneri, a joint venture with sales of around CHF 2.7 billion in over 20 countries employing about 15,000 people. Froneri will be headquartered in the UK and will operate primarily in Europe, the Middle East (excluding Israel), Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the Philippines and South Africa. The new company will combine Nestlé and R&R’s ice cream activities in the relevant countries and will include Nestlé’s European frozen food business (excluding pizza and retail frozen food in Italy), as well as its chilled dairy business in the Philippines. The transaction is subject to employee consultations and the approval of regulatory authorities. Financial details are not being disclosed.

Paul Bulcke, Nestlé CEO: “This is an exciting growth opportunity in a dynamic category. Froneri will capitalise on complementary strengths and innovation expertise, combining Nestlé’s strong and successful brands and experience in ‘out-of-home’ distribution with R&R’s competitive manufacturing model and significant presence in retail.”

Ibrahim Najafi, R&R Ice Cream CEO: “I am thrilled about the potential of Froneri and the opportunity for R&R to combine with the biggest and best food business in the world. R&R has gone from strength to strength in the last few years and the blend of people from the two organisations will create a leading team, ideally suited to drive future growth.”

Frédéric Stévenin, Partner at PAI Partners: “Froneri, through the combination of Nestlé’s and R&R’s expertise, and the backing of PAI Partners, is a unique and exciting opportunity for further strong growth. We look forward to further leveraging our industrial approach to ownership and strong consumer expertise to support R&R in this new venture.”

Luis Cantarell, Nestlé Executive Vice President Europe, Middle East and North Africa, will chair Froneri’s Board of Directors which will be composed of three senior Nestlé executives and three senior executives appointed by private equity firm PAI Partners, R&R’s owner. Ibrahim Najafi will be Froneri CEO. Nestlé and PAI will have equal equity interests in the joint venture.

2015 BEST CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY & SUSTAINABILITY SUPPLIER

Posted on by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

COCA-COLA ENTERPRISES AWARDS CHEP AS THEIR 2015 BEST CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY & SUSTAINABILITY SUPPLIER

Partnership for Sustainable Growth, Innovation and CO2 Emissions Reductions

chep2-9897_1CHEP, the supply chain solutions company, was recently named winner of Coca-Cola Enterprises’ (CCE) 2015 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CRS) Supplier Award for its continuous efforts to develop innovative and sustainable supply chains.

CCE praised CHEP’s sustainability efforts as well as their rise to Gold Level – the highest possible – in the analysis system of EcoVadis, the leading European agency for evaluating supply and service partners. Every year, EcoVadis assesses about 20,000 suppliers from over 100 countries and across 150 business sectors and rates them on 21 criteria related to Environment, Fair Labour Practices, Ethics/Fair Business Practices and Supply Chain.

David Cowell, Vice President, Procurement at CCE, said: “CHEP is leading the way in sustainability and keeps pushing innovation boundaries in modern supply chains. In addition, CCE and CHEP collaborated and jointly developed an efficiency enhancement in the form of an innovative new CHEP dolly, a wheeled conversion of the CHEP quarter-pallet”.

CCE also participates in CHEP’s Collaborative Transportation Programme in which CHEP customers and partners work together to make sure loaded trucks never run empty after a delivery, instead collecting empty pallets from a CHEP partner or quality-inspected pallets from the nearest CHEP plant to be sent to another CHEP customer.

This closed loop process eliminates empty truck movements and reduces transportation costs. In the past 12 months, the Collaborative Transportation Programme has removed three million kilometres of truck haulage from European roads, reducing Carbon Dioxide emissions by 2.946 metric tons – the equivalent of CO2 emissions from the electricity use of 397 homes for one year[i]– while saving cost for CHEP customers.

Michael Pooley, CHEP President for European Pallets Operations, said: “It is an honour to be named Coca-Cola Enterprises’ Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Award winner. A great achievement that we reached due to the continuous sustainable collaborations and initiatives we established and continue to set up across Europe. The award demonstrates what can be achieved by working together. When we are recognised by our customers in this way, we know that we are moving in the right direction”.

CCE is the world’s third largest independent Coca-Cola bottler, and manufactures, sells and distributes Coca-Cola products across eight countries in Europe: the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway and Sweden.

[i] According to the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency

 

Campden BRI achieves food authenticity testing recognition

Posted on by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

Campden BRI achieves food authenticity testing recognition

Campden BRI’s overall expertise in analysis and testing has been recognised following its inclusion in the general proficiency section of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs UK Centres of Excellence in food authenticity testing.

Campden BRI is active in many areas of food authenticity testing, including meat, fish and seafood speciation, olive oil analysis, and spice adulteration. Methods used include real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays, DNA sequencing, immunoassays, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), microscopy, and a wide variety of liquid and gas chromatographic techniques.

Steve Garrett, food authenticity specialist, commented:

“Our analytical testing services are supported by a range of scientific research projects, funded by our members. Included in these is a project looking at development of ‘next generation’ analytical technologies to protect the food industry from fraud. Amongst the outputs from this project have been evaluation of commercial isothermal DNA amplification  assays for meat species  and fish (red snapper), and a commercial immunoassay dipstick test kit to detect the presence of cow’s milk in  products such as ewe and goat’s milk cheese. We have also developed a fast and sensitive real-time PCR nuclear DNA assay for the detection of horse DNA in meat products, and looked at volatile profiling of olive oil for rapid authentication.”

Steve is the point of contact for authenticity testing queries – +44(0)1386 842175 stephen.garrett@campdenbri.co.uk

CONSUMERS SEEK NEW AND EXCITING COOKIE COMBINATIONS

Posted on by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

CONSUMERS SEEK NEW AND EXCITING COOKIE COMBINATIONS SAYS DAWN SURVEY

Dawn Foods Cookie Close UpDawn Foods’ has recently undertaken a survey among consumers to find out more about their cookie consumption, what’s popular, the frequency and time that cookies are eaten as well as desired flavour combinations.

While soft eating American-style cookies continue to reign as the most popular sweet treat – in comparison to brownies, muffins and pastries – consumers are seeking out new and interesting flavour combinations, giving bakers an opportunity to get creative with their bakes.

Dawn’s cookie survey results showed that consumers are embracing the classic soft and chewy American-style cookie (over 80% of respondents), but the sweet bakery sector is highly competitive with all types of innovation vying for consumer attention. This is being demonstrated in the cookie category too with new product formats and ingredient combinations taking the cookie from a mid-morning coffee snack to a breakfast option and even a base for dessert.

As far as cookie flavour trends are concerned, Dawn’s survey revealed that chocolate chip is still a fail-safe choice, as well as perceived ‘healthier’ options like dried fruit, nuts and oats getting the thumbs up. Interestingly, nearly 20% of people opted for branded chocolate pieces (e.g. Rolo, Mars and Smarties), a trend which was also reflected when people were asked to describe their ultimate cookie flavours. Many people described cookies that replicated popular chocolate bars through inclusions, toppings or injected sauce centres.

Texture is increasingly important across a variety of bakery items and it looks like it’s important to cookie consumers too. A point made by Dawn’s consultant food futurologist Dr Morgaine Gaye too, who says: “New flavour combinations have been stealing the show for many years, but now it’s texture’s turn to step into the spotlight”.

Cookies with crunchy outers, velvety chocolate chunks and injected cookies with smooth centres are all textures that consumers love. Adding multiple inclusions like Maryland Mix’ems is also very popular. The successful Mix’ems contain popcorn, Smarties, candy shells, caramel and fruit jellies.

Alongside traditionally flavoured chocolate chip and oatmeal/raisin cookies, salted caramel is moving into the mainstream. A variety of sweet flavours such as cookies & cream, toffee, fudge and butterscotch are on the rise, representing flavour trends in the wider sweet bakery category. We are also starting to see a rise in the popularity of red velvet, chocolate orange and white chocolate & honeycomb. When we asked consumers what they would like to see in their cookies, many suggested gooey centres filled with chocolate or caramel sauce, as well some more unusual flavours suggestions like marshmallow, lemon and coffee.

Like other items in sweet bakery, there is a ‘premiumisation’ of cookies with many consumers opting for a cookie as a treat. Whilst many consumers buy pre-packed and off the shelf cookies from supermarkets (41%) the majority are now bought from the fresh bakery sections of supermarkets, for a more indulgent ‘freshly baked’ treat (43%). People are also treating themselves to cookies away from home in coffee shops and cafes, and most likely as a mid-morning (24%) or mid-afternoon (44%) snack.

The survey also found a real mix of ‘overloaded’ cookie suggestions, combining indulgent chocolate with healthier ingredients and of course for that all important mouth ‘texture’,  muesli or granola style cookies are perfect for breakfast and grab ‘n’ go markets as consumers seek out more ‘natural’ and health-enhancing breakfast snacks.

Dawn offers a range of options for bakers to tap into the expanding cookie market, from finished frozen ‘pucks’ that can simply be baked off, to our frozen Scoop & Bake dough option. Dawn’s luxury American-style cookie pucks are available in classic Belgian Chocolate Chunk, Triple Belgian Chocolate Chunk, Belgian White Chocolate Chunk, Cranberry & Belgian White Chocolate Chunk and Oatmeal & Raisin reflecting the popularity of choc-fruit combos. They’re a simple and easy way to offer freshly baked cookies and fill premises with a tempting aroma without having to buy in additional ingredients or train for new skills. Dawn also offers fully finished frozen cookies for the ultimate in ease and convenience.

The perfect bridge between scratch bakery and ready to serve/bake, Scoop & Bake enables users to create all kinds of cookie in different sizes and price points using just one base mix. All natural flavour Scoop & Bake Vanilla Cookie Dough for example, offers a great traditional cookie taste to which bakers can add their own touch with the addition of different flavours and inclusions/ decorations – whatever the consumer preference!

For production information go to www.dawnfoods.co.uk and for recipe ideas visit www.dawnbakery.co.uk or call 01386 760843 or email  info.UK@dawnfoods.com

 

70% of businesses missing opportunity to develop collaborative solutions

Posted on by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

70% of businesses missing opportunity to develop collaborative solutions to drive customer success

DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, today launched its latest white paper highlighting the emergence of a new collaborative business model. The white paper revealed that most organizations still conduct business as separate entities, interacting transaction by transaction, but the way of doing business is changing and organizations must now meld together to face the market as one. This new approach refers to a collective of organizations aligning on a shared mission and competitive strategy; working together to capitalize on their strengths and overcome weaknesses to deliver customer success.

The new business model is about creating an end-to-end mutually executed process that extracts waste and creates sustained value. Yet, a survey conducted alongside the white paper has revealed that more than 70 percent of businesses are either only starting to explore new partnering models or are still partnering at a transactional level.

‘Business Collective 1.0: Partnering Reborn’ is a white paper by Lisa Harrington, President of the lharrington group LLC that was commissioned by DHL to identify the opportunities available to companies taking on this emerging and transformational business model. A model which is enabled by technology and talent, driven by the speed of business, and necessitated by competition.

Harrington said, “Leading companies are recognizing the need to do business differently. CEOs and supply chain managers are asking one of the most pressing business questions: how can we work together to win in the global marketplace? Many companies are now realizing that thanks to new technologies – combined with new management science – it is possible to identify challenges and develop collective solutions. It is outdated to adopt an inside-out approach to the world of business that is informed only by your own business’s perception and capabilities.”

A survey by DHL confirms that a small number of companies are just beginning to embrace the Business Collective approach but most have a long way to go. Companies typically progress through several stages of maturity as they adopt this new business model. Under the old transactional model, companies approached business from an ‘inside-out’ perspective with a single lens. The new ‘outside-in’ approach involves partners collaborating to develop a more complete picture of challenges and solutions.

The least mature stage can include an outside expert reviewing operations and providing solutions to streamline it, such as extracting waste at the customer’s facility. DHL’s survey revealed that only 5 percent claim to have reached a fully integrated partnering model with customers. More mature stages can include multiple organizations coming together in recognition of joint capabilities to solve a problem collectively.

Damian Pike, Vice President, Innovation & Transformation, DHL Supply Chain, said, “The days where businesses can succeed by interacting transaction by transaction is over. No longer are businesses able to face competition through an “us versus them” lens. The customer is the focal point for the predictive enterprise, and the Business Collective is the means to serve them. By serving customers as a single entity, with a predictive mindset, businesses can create shared benefit for everyone.

“In a traditional business relationship, waste occurs at the edges where one company stops and another starts. In a business collective, you soften and blur the edges, and in so doing eliminate the waste and cost that stems from boundaries. This move towards a more collaborative business model is just beginning. 74 percent of respondents to our survey are either just starting to explore partnering, or partnering on a transactional basis only – this is a clear sign that businesses must now seize this opportunity and reap the benefits.”

You can download the “Business Collective 1.0: Partnering Reborn” white paper here: www.dhl.com/Bus-Collective

DHL Business Collective Infographic

Reed Boardall and employees celebrate long service

Posted on by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

Reed Boardall and employees celebrate long service

Reed Boardall long serviceReed Boardall, the Yorkshire-based cold storage and transport business, is celebrating an employment milestone – it now has 200 employees who have worked for the family firm for over ten years.

Since opening its single site in Boroughbridge in 1992, the £66m turnover business has grown into one of the leading names in the British food logistics sector, serving retailers and food manufacturers throughout the UK.  It has built up a loyal workforce and is one of the biggest employers in the area with a team of 745 people.  As well as over a quarter of staff having completed more than ten years of service, 31 have chosen to stay with Reed Boardall for two decades or longer.

Andrew Baldwin, managing director of Reed Boardall’s cold storage division, said: “There’s no doubt that our high staff retention levels play a key role in the continued success of the business and our ability to consistently deliver on our promises to our customers.  We don’t use any agency workers, instead all of our team are long term employees, many of whom have built up valuable understanding and knowledge about what we do and this gives continuity to the business, enabling us to be the reliable, responsive partner that our customers need.

“This constancy of approach is reinforced by the high numbers of family members all working here across the generations- we have numerous husbands and wives, a mother and daughter and several dads and sons as well as a husband, wife and father in law.  What makes us unique is that we have the same staff, providing the same levels of service – it is all about the people and we’re proud that so many of our team choose to stay with us.”

Reed Boardall is one of the largest temperature controlled food distribution businesses in the UK, storing and delivering frozen food from manufacturers across Britain, Europe and further afield to all the UK’s best-known supermarkets.  Operating 24/7, its 180-strong fleet of vehicles moves up to 12,000 pallets a day and it stores around £100m worth of products on behalf of its customers.  It is based at a single site in Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, which is the largest of its kind in Europe.

KENILWORTH & SOUTHAM MP BACKS LOCAL BIOGAS INDUSTRY

Posted on by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

KENILWORTH & SOUTHAM MP BACKS LOCAL BIOGAS INDUSTRY

Kenilworth and Southam MP, Rt Hon Jeremy Wright QC, visited Stoneleigh based businesses operating within the anaerobic digestion (AD) industry on Friday, 8 April, to learn how they support the local economy and jobs.

By building and supplying AD technology to British farmers across the UK, Stoneleigh Park based agriKomp and Stoneleigh Abbey based Weltec Biopower are delivering vital baseload power, decarbonising the energy, waste and farming sectors, and improving food production .

After his visit to both businesses, Jeremy Wright MP commented:

“Anaerobic digestion has a great deal to offer in both energy generation and waste disposal and it was good to see locally based firms operating in this sector.  They are adding to Stoneleigh’s strength as a centre for rural industries and innovation.”

The Chief Executive of the industry trade body (ADBA), Charlotte Morton, added:

“We were pleased that Jeremy took the time to listen to the AD businesses operating in his constituency and offered pragmatic and proactive support in raising industry concerns with the relevant government departments.

“AD offers our homes much more than round-the-clock green energy alone. It reduces the UK’s carbon footprint, reverses soil degradation that is estimated to cost the UK £1.2 billion a year, limits our reliance on imported energy and artificial fertilisers, and integrates perfectly into existing farming businesses to support rural economies the length and breadth of the British isles.

“During his visit Mr Wright learned of the local industry’s uncertain future amidst falling tariff support and a severely restrictive cap on continued deployment. With support capable of sustaining the recent surge in AD deployment, the industry could significantly improve its already excellent return on investment over the next five years, potentially delivering 30 per cent of the UK’s domestic heat or electricity and employing a further 30,000 people.”

AgriKomp’s General Manager, Quentin Kelly-Edwards, explained:

“AD has proved to play a major part in providing base load electricity, district heating and biomethane in the renewable energy mix across Europe. The challenge is it takes longer to deploy compared to other renewables, so requires longer term support from the Government to reach maturity and fulfil its role in the energy market.  We are constantly developing new products & processes towards making AD more efficient, to not only become a significant part of the UK renewables sector, but a truly global product.

“With our focus on agricultural plants, we are committed to providing farmers with market leading technology that is simple, cost effective and highly efficient, which in turn enables them to create much needed additional revenue streams at a time when agriculture faces challenges. By utilising on farm waste, particularily slurry and manures, the potential is there to provide much needed employment to rural communities and electricity and heat to the nation.”

Weltec Biopower’s UK Sales Manager, Dr Kevin Monson, added:

“AD is very much a sector that provides many diverse benefits for ‘UK plc’, and is therefore worth supporting at Government level.

“AD provides home-grown secure renewable energy, safe baseload power that we don’t have to buy from Russia or the Middle East, de-centralised energy supply, availability of organic wastes from Lands-End to John O’Groats, dealing with materials that would otherwise go to landfill or cause pollution.  AD also provides a profitable use for break-crops, recycles organic materials to land, enhancing soil quality, provides long-term employment in rural areas, and underpins/safeguards farms incomes – often keeping them in business meaning they can continue to produce food!”

Images from Mr Wright’s visit to agriKomp and of a Weltec Biopower AD plant can be found online here. Included in the agriKomp image from left to right are: Kenilworth and Southam MP, Rt Hon Jeremy Wright QC; agriKomp Director, Steven Cook; and agriKomp General Manager, Quentin Kelly-Edwards.