The food and drink sector is one of the most tightly regulated and monitored industries, subject to ever-evolving health and safety rules and regulations. Which is why new BFFF member Contact Attachments Ltd, based in Newtown, Powys, stresses how vital it is for manufacturers to invest in the right equipment.

In a bid to help fellow members stay ahead of the game and avoid potential pitfalls, they’ve put together a handy guide on the ‘Top Five Benefits of Using Specialised Forklift Attachments in Food and Drink Manufacturing’.

Mark Jones, Technical Sales Advisor at Contact Attachments says:
“The frozen food sector is subject to particularly time-sensitive logistics, along with its own unique set of challenges from working in sub-zero environments. It’s also an extremely competitive sector, with constantly changing consumer preferences, tight profit margins and considerable brand rivalry all adding an ongoing pressure to be at the forefront of innovation whilst keeping costs low. Investing in specialised forklift attachments isn’t just about upgrading your equipment – it’s about creating smarter, safer, and more cost-effective processes, which in turn will enable you to gain (and maintain) that competitive edge.

“From enhancing hygiene and safety compliance to increasing efficiency whilst reducing waste, our latest guide is packed full of information on why you should be paying close attention to the forklift attachments your operatives are using – ensuring they’re fit-for-purpose, compliant, and above all – safe. You can check it out here.

“At Contact Attachments, we’re always on hand and happy to help with expert advice and guidance, and over the coming weeks and months we’ll be sharing some top tips and recommended attachments to help BFFF members streamline their cold-chain logistics safely and with ease. We’d love to hear from our fellow BFFF members for a friendly no-obligation chat if they’d like to explore this subject further or have any specific questions for us.”

Contact Attachments offers standard and bespoke material handling solutions to businesses of all shapes and sizes in the UK and overseas, with its range of stainless steel attachments being particularly favoured by the food and drink and cold-chain sectors. For more information, visit: www.forklift-attachments.co.uk, or call 01686 611200.

The Move to -15°C is a global industry coalition working to reduce standard freezing temperatures from -18°C to -15°C and in the meantime optimise temperatures within current regulations to bring cost and carbon savings across the industry.
The latest members meeting brought together businesses from every part of the cold chain to share updates, discuss insights from real-world trials, and align on the regulatory and technical progress needed to support the transition.

The Coalition also welcomed several new members, including IKEA, Thistle Seafoods, Prodalim, Greenyard Frozen, and Farm Frites, further strengthening collaboration across the supply chain.
There are practical ways for companies to get involved:

• Every Degree Counts – work to ensure shipments/storage are kept at the most efficient temperature, track progress, collect data and contribute to a framework to monitor energy and carbon savings.
• Pilots – participate in first-mover trials and contribute data using the Move to -15°C Protocol.

If you are interested in supporting or joining one or both of these workstreams, please contact Rupert Ashby – RupertAshby@bfff.co.uk

Flexible Packaging, Rigid Values

From Flow Wrappers to Palletizers, Bag Fillers to Vertical Form Fill Seal baggers, the reliability of the Hayssen, Symach, and Thiele equipment and our customer-centric teams are world-renowned. Prioritizing ergonomics, hygiene/cleanability, and sustainability in all our projects, we offer solutions to protect your products, your brand, and your operators.

Our global teams deliver effective and custom solutions, with thousands of installations for food and non-food products. Maximize your packaging line’s efficiency by working with a company that values lifetime support, strong customer relationships, and our customers’ success over short-term transactions. With numerous BW Flexible System (BWFS) options for parts, service and technical support, as well as upgrades, remanufacturing, and training, you determine the lifespan of your machine.

Your Trusted Brands

BWFS creates flexible packaging solutions by bringing together some of the industry’s most trusted and innovative brands. Building on the rich heritage of Rose Forgrove, Sandiacre, Schib, and Simionato, our Vertical Form-Fill-Seal and Flow Wrapping product lines are consolidated under the legendary Hayssen name, while Symach and Thiele aligned to provide reliable palletizing and bag filling solutions.

Whether you’re looking to add or upgrade a single component, or plan and install a full line system, we have the brands and over a century of experience to provide reliable flexible packaging solutions for your specific requirements.

Your Market Needs, Our Solutions

Your products and customers have unique needs and expectations. Whether your priority is product protection, shelf life, and food safety regulation, consumer appeal and convenience, or cost-effectiveness and maximizing uptime, our team of market experts will work with you to create your ideal solution. We offer experience ranging across a wide variety of industries, including agriculture, cheese, IQF/frozen, fresh produce, pet food, and even non-food applications like hardware, fertilizers/chemicals, and sand, gravel or cement, and much more.

Lifetime Support Through Parts, Upgrades, and Tech Support

Need maintenance parts? Or troubleshooting help? Perhaps it’s time to invest in a new machine, but budgets are tight so you’re looking for a remanufacturing option instead.

With an extensive Aftermarket Parts & Service program, we help you choose how long you keep your equipment running. Though building your packaging machines is our highest priority, it is closely followed by the innate focus on building and sustaining lasting customer relationships.

To serve your needs, we provide a lifetime of outstanding support by offering consistent integrity, expert execution, and a full range of services including parts, upgrades, remanufacturing, service, and personalized training.

Brakes, the UK’s leading foodservice wholesaler, has revamped its premium ice-cream range with the introduction of an exclusive range of gelatos and sorbettos from award-winning producers, Hackney Gelato and Jude’s.

The new gelatos from Hackney Gelato are produced using traditional methods, where they are churned slowly to keep the ice and air out for a smoother texture. It also makes its gelato with a higher ratio of milk to cream, so it contains less fat than most ice creams. creating deeper, more intense flavours.

With 13 varieties in a 4.5L format, Hackney Gelato offers a range of high-quality flavours. This includes 2 Star Great Taste winners Raspberry and Alphonso Mango Sorbettos, Pistachio and Chocolate & Roasted Hazelnut Gelatos, and Sea Salted Caramel Gelato – winner of the coveted 3 Star Award.

Brakes is also adding a new 4.75L Napoli range from award-winning producer, Jude’s. The exciting new flavours include Bubblegum, naturally coloured with spirulina, and Speculoos Caramel Biscuit. The range combines quality and creativity, which is designed to delight customers and elevate ice cream offer across foodservice.

Paul Nieduszynski, CEO of Sysco GB, said: “We have seen an increasing number of customers wanting to differentiate menus by introducing a more premium range of ice-cream. With Summer and National Ice Cream month both fast approaching, it’s a great opportunity for customers to review their ice-cream range and make sure it still fits their needs.

“The products and ranges that we’ve launched, which are exclusively available to Brakes customers, are designed to offer a comprehensive consumer experience, which is sure to have them coming back for more!”

Ends

For further information please contact Kevin Coles – kevin@fifthdimensionpr.com or 07776026012

About Sysco 

Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. With more than 76,000 colleagues, the company operates 340 distribution facilities worldwide and serves approximately 730,000 customer locations. For fiscal year 2024 that ended July 1, 2024, the company generated sales of more than $78 billion. Information about our Sustainability program, including Sysco’s 2023 Sustainability Report and 2023 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report, can be found at: www.sysco.com.

Sysco in Great Britain 

As Britain’s leading national broadline supplier, Brakes delivers the highest quality fresh and frozen food and ingredients from its nationwide network of distribution centres to some of the nation’s most famous pubs and restaurants, as well as schools, caterers, care homes and hospitals.  It has the biggest range of award-winning products in foodservice.

kff and Medina Foodservice both offer a regional broadline service with a comprehensive range, delivered with a passion for customer service and local knowledge.

Sysco fresh businesses in Great Britain are led by Fresh Direct, which is the leading specialist supplier of locally and globally sourced fresh produce and dairy across Great Britain, bringing the best of the seasons to chefs’ menus, as well as the finest sourced fresh fish and seafood from M&J Fresh Seafood, as part of a consolidated delivery for many corporate customers.  The very best ingredients for chefs are available from fine food specialist Wild Harvest.

Brakes Catering Equipment provides commercial catering equipment for a variety of catering establishments and their services include a bespoke design service.

Specialist convenience supplier, Country Choice, completes the group and is Britain’s leading supplier of in-store bakery and retail foodservice products.

Sysco has 8,400 colleagues servicing more than 20,000 customers from 30 distribution centres across Great Britain.