Macphie appoints new commercial director

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

Macphie appoints new commercial director

Scottish food ingredient manufacturer Macphie has announced the appointment of Warren Wells as commercial director.

He joins the family-owned business from international food business Aryzta, supplier to a variety of high street customers including Costa, Starbucks and Caffé Nero.

With nearly 30 years experience in the food industry, Warren has worked for a number of global brands, including Nestlé, Danone and McCormick.

Chief executive Andy Stapley said: “We’re delighted to welcome Warren to the business.

“In a challenging industry environment, his strong background in the food industry and undoubted expertise make him the ideal candidate to lead our commercial unit.”

Warren said: “I’m looking forward to this exciting new challenge with the team at Macphie.

“For me, the company has so much potential and I see a real opportunity to develop and grow the brand and make a difference in this outstanding family business.”

JB Foods Supports ‘World’s Biggest Sleep-Out’ Event

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

JB Foods Supports ‘World’s Biggest Sleep-Out’ Event

Leading Scottish wholesaler, JB Foods, has supported one of its country’s biggest fundraising events to help tackle homelessness in Scotland by volunteering as an official catering partner. The wholesaler was also supported in its efforts by its foodservice buying and marketing group, Caterforce.

The companies helped the social enterprise, Social Bite, by playing a leading role at Edinburgh and Glasgow’s Sleep in the Park last month, supplying the fundraising events with essential catering supplies.

Over 10,000 people turned out to spend the night outside across Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow with the number believed to be the world’s biggest sleep-out event. JB Foods spent the night at the Edinburgh site in Princes Street Gardens and at Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow.

With donations from Caterforce of its own-label Chefs’ Selections products, together the two companies provided thousands of people with hot drinks throughout the night.

Charlotte Thompson of JB Foods said: “We supported Sleep in the Park last year, which was its first year, and it has already grown to become one of the world’s biggest events of its kind. It’s fantastic that this takes place across four cities in Scotland and is calling for an end to homelessness in our country. For this reason, it’s an easy decision for us to support the cause where we can.”

Nick Redford, Managing Director at Caterforce, said: “The event is an innovative way to raise awareness of the difficulties homeless people face. We were made aware of Sleep in the Park’s good work through JB Foods. To help support our member in its CSR efforts and an extremely worthy cause in Social Bite, we supplied essential items to help those who were challenged to spend an extremely cold night outside.”

Sleep in the Park is organised by Social Bite, a not-for-profit organisation which is building a collaborative movement to end homelessness in Scotland.

For more information visit www.caterforce.co.uk or https://www.jbfoodservice.co.uk.

ADBA urges new Food Waste Champion: don’t forget about recycling

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

ADBA urges new Food Waste Champion: don’t forget about recycling

Industry body reminds new Champion of importance of recycling inedible food waste
Food waste collections “vital” for managing non-preventable/non-redistributable food waste
Separate collections can also help reduce amount of edible food thrown away

The UK’s food waste recycling industry has written to the government’s newly appointed Food Waste Champion urging him not to overlook the importance of recycling inedible food waste through anaerobic digestion (AD).

Philanthropist Ben Elliott was appointed the government’s first Food Surplus and Waste Champion at the end of 2018 to help drive forward Defra’s plans to cut food waste and support redistribution of edible food waste following the publication of the Resources & Waste Strategy in December.

Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA), has written to Mr Elliott this week congratulating him on his appointment and urging him not to neglect food waste that cannot be avoided and that is not suitable for redistribution to people or animals. Six million tonnes of food waste are currently sent to incineration or landfill, causing emissions of climate-change-inducing methane and the loss of the energy and nutrients locked up in food waste.

In her letter, Ms Morton highlighted the need for universal separate food waste collections to allow inedible food waste to be separated from black-bag waste and recycled through AD into renewable energy and natural fertiliser. She also pointed out that the introduction of food waste collections is also associated with a reduction in food waste levels as householders and businesses become more aware of the amount of food they are throwing away.

Only around a third of households in England currently have access to food waste collections. ADBA estimates that universal collections for households alone could achieve a carbon saving of up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent per year, the equivalent to taking three quarters of a million cars off the road, and lead to the production of an additional 187 MW electrical-equivalent of electricity capacity, enough to power all the homes in a city the size of Glasgow.

The Resources & Waste Strategy outlines an ambition for universal food waste collections across the UK by 2023, with Defra due to consult on its plans for achieving the goal.

Ms Morton said:

“The appointment of a Food Waste Champion is vital to ensuring the goals of the Resources & Waste Strategy are met, and it’s absolutely right that this new role will prioritise prevention and redistribution of edible food waste in line with the Food Waste Hierarchy.

“It’s essential, however, that the need for separate food waste collections to recycle food waste that can’t be prevented or redistributed is not forgotten. The government’s own findings identify AD as the best treatment option for inedible food waste, allowing this waste to be recycled into renewable energy and soil-restoring natural fertiliser.

“It’s also important to point out the critical role of food waste collections in reducing food waste, through making householders and businesses more aware of the amount of food they are throwing away.”

Speciality Breads Goes Nut Free

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

Speciality Breads Goes Nut Free

Red Tractor-certified baker Speciality Breads has announced that its two bakeries and eclectic portfolio are now 100% nut free as of the 1^st January 2019.

In order to be compliant, the company has delisted two lines from its artisan portfolio and both bakeries have undergone a rigorous process and restructuring.

Managing Director Simon Cannell comments:

“At the beginning of last year we saw an increase in the number of customers requesting ‘nut free’ breads. As we only had a couple breads containing nuts, we made the decision for both our bakeries to become completely nut free. Allergens are a concern for every catering establishment so we wanted to make sure that our customers have complete peace of mind and we can provide chefs and consumers with a clear guarantee and assurance.”

The move follows the company’s recent vegan launch, which saw the roll out of 60 breads that have been registered by The Vegan Society as the trend for plant-based eating continues.

For details of the full portfolio, please visit – www.specialitybreads.co.uk.

After environmental and health gains, soil health becomes Company’s top priority

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

After environmental and health gains, soil health becomes Company’s top priority

In the last ten years, Lamb Weston / Meijer reduced CO₂ emissions by 30% and used 24% less energy per ton of product. It also increased its use of healthy vegetable oil to 86% of its pre-fried products and uses only recyclable plastic in its packaging. This is disclosed in the latest Sustainability Report (2017-2018) which is published annually and in it, Lamb Weston / Meijer announces soil health as a top priority in collaboration with its growers.

Last year Lamb Weston / Meijer added ‘sustainable agriculture’ to its six focus areas for sustainability. Closer collaboration with growers is key to its Sustainable Agriculture Plan. This focuses on healthy soils as the most valuable and scarce natural resource growers use. Other relevant topics in the plan are water, greenhouse gas emissions, plant protection products and biodiversity.

Dealing with drought

“Declining soil health is a major issue”, CEO Bas Alblas comments. “It is absolutely vital that we tackle this. The biggest impact we can have, is by working more closely with our growers.” Lamb Weston / Meijer feels obliged to support its growers in dealing with the effect of climate change. In 2018 growers had to deal with excessive drought. This underpins the importance of Lamb Weston / Meijer’s collaboration with its growers. Healthy soils support the natural water holding capacity. Combined with water-efficient irrigation such as drip irrigation, the grower protects both crop quality and the ground water level.

‘Sustainable Seven’ achievements

Water belongs to Lamb Weston / Meijer’s Sustainable Seven, which are the seven pillars of their sustainability strategy. Up to 2018 Lamb Weston / Meijer managed to reduce its water intensity by 3.8%, compared to 2008. Other important achievements disclosed in the new Sustainability Report 2017-2018 are 24% lower energy intensity and 30% lower CO₂-emissions intensity, both compared to the 2008 baseline.

Cutting the product carbon footprint from field to fork

Next to the reduction of the carbon footprint from processing, a substantial CO₂ reduction is achieved by more efficient transport to customers. Optimizing the routing in collaboration with their logistical service partner, and increasing shipments via water- and railways, Lamb Weston / Meijer reduced its annual road kilometres by 6.5 million and cut 6,033 MT CO₂ emission from transport. The carbon footprint from field to freezer was cut by 20.4%, and from cold store to customer by 8.8%, both compared to 2008. This means a 20% smaller total product carbon footprint from field to fork.

Caring about the environment, nutrition and health

From a circular point of view, Lamb Weston / Meijer achieved that 97.3% of its by-products and waste streams are reused, recycled or recovered, while products are packed in 100% recyclable plastic and cartons made from 100% recycled, FSC certified cardboard. From a nutrition and health perspective, they managed to increase the use of healthier vegetable oil to 86% of all its pre-fried products sold. In the past 10 years they cut 30% salt from their premium fries and 10% from seasoned potato products, while half of their total volume sold contains no added salt.

If you want to read more about Lamb Weston / Meijer’s achievements so far, and its targets towards 2030, go to www.lambweston.eu/sustainability to view the full Sustainability Report 2017-2018 online or download their summary report, available in seven languages as pdf.

For innovative ideas, recipes and potato inspiration, head over to www.lambweston.eu/uk , call 0800 963962 or email us at salesUK@lambweston.eu

Partnership proves fruitful one year on for Erudus and Brandbank

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

Partnership proves fruitful one year on for Erudus and Brandbank

Erudus, which provides the foodservice industry with instant access to food product data, and Nielsen Brandbank, the world’s largest digital content provider, have revealed exciting plans for 2019 as their partnership continues to go from strength to strength.

At the top of the agenda is the availability of more than 250,000 product images on the Erudus platform, a feature constantly requested by foodservice businesses.

The two companies joined forces 12 months ago to provide wholesalers and caterers with an unprecedented data pool of product information that significantly benefited manufacturers, too.

In that time, the number of foodservice professionals accessing Erudus and Nielsen Brandbank’sdata has continued to grow, with nearly 90,000 caterer users now able to access more than 60,000 products.

Jon Shayler, chief operating officer at Erudus, said: “Our mission is to revolutionise food industry data, and working closely with a like-minded organisation has been fruitful for both parties.

“When we announced the partnership it was well received and sparked a lot of interest with brands and wholesalers calling it a huge step forward for the industry. It’s also closing the gap between retail and foodservice lines as Erudus is predominantly foodservice and Nielsen Brandbank retail and wholesale.

“Both sets of users have experienced added value because of the link up. For manufacturers they have less duplication and can quickly add specifications to Erudus via the Nielsen Brandbank Sync feature. For Wholesalers they have benefited from greater product coverage, as well as saved time through less phone calls and emails asking manufacturers for product specifications.

“Adding more than 250,000 product images will be a huge milestone in the partnership. The images can be used for marketing material, price lists, e-commerce sites, and mobile ordering apps, where integrations are in place.

“When the partnership went live, the feedback at the time focused on how progressive it was for collaboration in the foodservice industry, and how much of a positive step forward it was.

“Now, the feedback focuses on the high-quality service offering and how much time people save using the platform to access and manage nutritional and allergen product information. It’s illustrative of the impact it has had on the sector and there’s more to come in 2019.”

Phil Gabillia, Western Europe commercial director at Nielsen Brandbank commented: “It’s fantastic to see the first year of our partnership with Erudus deliver so much value to the industry. Collectively, we’re now focused on delivering even more value and greater efficiencies for the wholesale and foodservice industries in 2019.”

Erudus is the leading foodservice data pool software and hosts the specifications of major manufacturers including Heinz, Premier Foods, and Unilever.

Nielsen Brandbank is the world’s leading product content creation management and publishing solution for multi-channel retailing. The business works with major multinational grocery and health & beauty retailers and over 7,000 FMCG suppliers

For more information, visit https://erudus.com/and www.brandbank.com.

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