Tues 18th Nov, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London

PUKKA FUTURE PROOFS PIE PRODUCTION WITH CUSTOM BUILT SPIRAL FREEZERS FROM STARFROST

Posted on by Lauren Stephenson

Pukka, the UK’s biggest pie brand, recently invested in custom-built Helix spiral freezers from cooling technology experts Starfrost to support future growth.

As part of Pukka’s three-year growth plan, the family-run business introduced innovative freezing technology to further advance its business and production capabilities, appointing Starfrost to design and install two Helix spiral freezers at its bakery in Syston, Leicestershire.

The new Starfrost spiral freezing system was designed to replace the previous equipment and provide a reliable freezing solution that enables an increase in manufacturing throughput, reduces downtime, and minimises water usage. A state-of-the-art air defrost mechanism enables up to 12 hours of uninterrupted operation, while the automatic cleaning systems minimise downtime and reduce water usage. As a result, the spiral freezers future-proof Pukka’s production capabilities to support any upcoming product development or expansion plans.

Commenting on the project, Peter Gull, Engineering & Projects Manager at Pukka said: “We are always looking for ways to revolutionise and improve our business and upgrading our freezing equipment is part of this strategy. Pukka have recently experienced significant growth and expansion following an increase in demand for our pie products and we wanted to ensure our processing equipment could match our progression and take us to the next level.”

“Starfrost were an obvious choice for us, we were aware of the quality engineered equipment they produced and their position within the food processing industry. Central to the decision for selecting Starfrost was the company’s ability to offer a bespoke solution that worked within our existing infrastructure and tailored to our products and production line as opposed to an ‘off the shelf’ standard design.”

“The Starfrost spiral freezers work efficiently and as per specification. The new equipment has enabled us to future proof our production capabilities to support any upcoming product development or expansion plans. As a food manufacturer, I don’t think you can ever underestimate the value of quality processing equipment that works exactly how it has been designed to and Starfrost has met our expectations.”

RENOWNED INDUSTRIAL REFRIGERATION AND HEATING CONSULTANT, DR DERMOT COTTER, WINS COVETED IOR KENNETH LIGHTFOOT MEDAL

Posted on by Astrid Prado

Dr Dermot Cotter, the Managing Director of Star Technical Solutions, the consultancy arm of the Star Refrigeration group of companies, was awarded the Kenneth Lightfoot Medal Award at the Institute of Refrigeration’s annual dinner last night (23rd February 2023) in recognition of his knowledge and contribution to the refrigeration industry.

Selected by IOR members as the best research paper presented to the IOR during the year 2021-2022, Dr Cotter’s study, ‘Carbon Dioxide Hazard Assessments and Safety System Requirements’, establishes a systematic framework to enable industrial refrigeration owners and operators to efficiently and accurately assess and address the risks associated with the use of carbon dioxide (R744) in refrigeration systems in order to adhere to regulations and standards.

The award was announced at the 122nd annual IOR dinner, held at the Leonardo Royal London St Paul’s, in the city of London, with the prize comprising an engraved medal and £500 in cash.

On receiving the award, Dr Cotter said, “I am honoured and grateful to be recognised by industry peers with a prize that has been dedicated to enhancing and contributing knowledge to the refrigeration industry for years.

In line with Star’s longstanding commitment to researching and disseminating industry best practices, I trust that my paper will assist end-users of refrigeration equipment in meeting safety regulations and requirements.”

IOR President, Graeme Fox,  said “I was delighted to present the IOR Kenneth Lightfoot Medal for the best research paper to Dr Cotter at the IOR Dinner. The medal was bestowed for his paper and presentation on the pressing issue of ‘Carbon Dioxide Hazard Assessments and Safety System Requirements’.  The paper highlighted the increasing use of natural refrigerants and the importance of promoting safety awareness to meet the current and upcoming phase-down of f-gas usage to achieve net-zero targets. This award is voted for by the IOR membership and is a testament to our members’ appreciation for the high-quality technical output the IOR is renowned for.”

Dr Cotter’s research laid out a four-step workable approach to review the hazards and risks associated with the safe operation of carbon dioxide refrigeration systems. The paper provides a template for a systemic approach to risk assessment, emergency planning, and facility awareness to encourage the use of safe practices in refrigeration systems and reduce the burden of legislative compliance.

According to Dr. Cotter, current EU and UK legislation requires refrigeration systems to operate safely in all circumstances but provides users with little practical guidance.

Dr Cotter said,“UK regulation is legally binding but there is little actual guidance contained within current best practice standards. The aim of my research was to create a practical guide to improve safety levels at end-users’ facilities and compliance with legal directives.”

Dr Cotter has published multiple papers on refrigerant safety for the IOR, the IIR, Eurammon, Cold Chain Federation and British Frozen Food Federation and has spent over three decades researching and improving the refrigeration sector’s approach to international regulation and best practice. As part of his managerial role at Star Technical Solutions and his position on the Cold Chain Federation’s Board of Directors, he provides training, advice and support to refrigeration users from diverse industries.

The Kenneth Lightfoot Medal is supported by Lightfoot Defence and named after Kenneth Lightfoot, a former president of the Institute of Refrigeration, who encouraged young researchers to pursue scientific knowledge. Star Refrigeration staff members who have won the award in recent years include: Star’s Group MD, Dr Andy Pearson, Group Sales and Marketing Director, Dr Rob Lamb, Director of Star Data Analytics, John Clark, Senior Consultant, David Blackhurst, Service Manager, Chris Druce and Technical Director, Angus Gillies.

A CPD certified article summarising Dr Cotter’s research findings can be found at https://www.star-ref.co.uk/smart-thinking/carbon-dioxide-hazard-and-safety-requirement-assessment-a-systematic-approach-to-risk-assessment-and-emergency-planning/

To find out more information about Dr Cotter and Star Technical Solutions, visit https://www.star-ts.co.uk/

CHIP CHIP HOORAY FOR THE CORONATION!

Posted on by andreadeutschmanek@lambweston.eu

As the country throws out the bunting once again and comes together at restaurants, bars and street parties everywhere to celebrate the King’s coronation, we’re doing our bit in helping operators do what they do best with some coronation inspiration!

Our award-winning chips, The Dukes of Chippingdom, can play a right royal role in a range of commemorative recipes, such as our individual Dukes British Bites for snacking, Dukes Royal Brunch for something more substantial, and even Dukes Dessert to end with something sweet.  All of which come together for King and country!

The Dukes of Chippingdom are THE proper chip.  Super tasty, irregularly thick cut to appear homemade, feathered golden edges, richly rewarding taste, beautifully crispy on the outside (even though they’re non-coated) and fluffy on the inside.  These golden beauties, used imaginatively, are richly rewarding and worth throwing a party for!

Peter Evans, Lamb Weston’s UK Marketing Manager, says: “The Dukes of Chippingdom chips are award-winning, Red Tractor-assured and 100% British so are a great fit for anyone wanting to put on a celebratory coronation menu.  We are proud to proclaim our chips are 100% British and revel in their noble character!”

The Dukes of Chippingdom ‘Royal Brunch’ (GF)

Shake up your coronation menu with this fun Dukes of Chippingdom recipe from Lamb Weston; a posh chippy twist on the classic Eggs Royale.  This recipe is really simple and allows flexibility to make it your own…  You’ll need: Dukes of Chippingdom Chips (skin-on or skin off), fresh duck egg, smoked salmon, hollandaise sauce and micro herbs to garnish.  To serve, prepare and gently heat the hollandaise.  Poach duck egg.  Fry or oven bake the Dukes of Chippingdom chips, then season and stack on a plate.  Place smoked salmon on top, add the duck egg, serve with a dollop of warm hollandaise and garnish with micro herbs and serve.

Charlie’s Churros (GF & V)

Looking for a memorable sweet bite to serve during the coronation period?

Try this quirky British take on a churro, featuring Lamb Weston’s Dukes of Chippingdom chips!  To prepare you’ll need Dukes of Chippingdom Proper British Chips (Skin-on or Skin-off), lemon curd (bought or home-made), freeze dried raspberries, caster sugar, fresh raspberries and edible flowers to garnish.

To serve, blend freeze-dried raspberries to a powder and combine with caster sugar.  Fry off the Dukes of Chippingdom chips in fresh oil, then coat in the raspberry sugar mix.  Add three blobs of lemon curd to your coated fingers, and place a fresh raspberry atop each one.  Finally, garnish with edible flowers & serve.

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

WRIGHTS LAUNCHES CHICKEN BALTI PIE PROMOTION IN TESCO

Posted on by franck.houssaye@wrightfsg.com

Wrights Chicken Balti Pies are making an exclusive three-week appearance in Tesco chiller cabinets as the retailer prepares to mark British Pie Week.

Combining a unique naan bread-inspired pastry base and cumin seed-garnished puff pastry lid with an authentic balti curry filling, Wrights’ 96 years of pie making expertise has made its Chicken Balti Pie a fan favourite in Premier League football grounds across the country for more than 10 years.

Launched for a promotional period of 22 February – 14 March including British Pie Week (6-12 March) the much-loved North West brand will be available for the first time throughout the UK with listings secured in 240 Tesco stores at a special price of £3.50 for two pies.

Commercial Director Helen Bowyer said: “Wrights Chicken Balti Pies are a real favourite and we are delighted to bring our historic brand and our decades of pastry perfection to a national audience for the first time in our company’s 96-year history.

“Wrights began as a husband and wife team who created wholesome meat and potato pies to feed their neighbours and with our original family recipe, we’re continuing to make pastry like you’ve never tasted! Our 15 Wrights high street bakeries operating across Stoke-on-Trent mean we’re a real staple locally and we’re excited to now be sharing our pastry expertise and our generous fillings with the rest of the nation.”

Operating today as part of The Compleat Food Group, Wrights specialises in the manufacture and distribution of 750 product lines including sweet bakery, savoury bakery products and gastro ready meals into retail and foodservice.

BRAKES LAUNCHES NEW LIVERY TO CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Posted on by clare.twiss@brake.co.uk

Brakes, the UK’s leading foodservice wholesaler, has launched a new vehicle livery to encourage women to consider a career in wholesale.

The vehicle, which is designed in purple, the colour of International Women’s Day, features three women in various wholesale roles and will go into service on the 8th March, when International Women’s Day is celebrated across the globe.

Margaret Gooch, HR Director for Sysco in Great Britain, said: “Within Sysco, we aspire to create a culture that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. We want to encourage people to apply to the company without restriction and ensure that we do what we can to remove systemic barriers and biases so that outcomes are based only on an individual’s talents, gifts and work.

“Women are under-represented in wholesale and we saw International Women’s Day as the perfect opportunity to get our latest vehicle on the road, emblazoned with photographs of women in a range of roles across the business.”

The new lorry will initially be based on Brakes’ Warrington depot, before embarking on a tour of Brakes depots, a moving billboard of some of the opportunities on offer to everyone.

Aicha Lahsen, who will be the first to take control of the new vehicle when it goes into service, said: “I love my career as a driver at Brakes, so it’ll be nice to encourage other women to follow in my footsteps. While it’s still unusual to see a woman driving a HGV, with the support of companies like Brakes, it won’t be long before we see more women behind the wheel.”

The launch of the new vehicle, which was led by Clare Lowrie, Senior Learning & Development Partner at Sysco in Great Britain, is part of the ongoing activities by IMPACT (which stands for Influence, Mentor, Potential, Achieve, Collaborate, Transform), which is the Sysco in GB female-focused colleague resource group. The group was founded in 2019 with a mandate to create safe spaces for women to share their stories, support each other and improve female colleague experiences, inspiring them to reach their goals and be advocates in driving balance for better.

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES WINDSOR FRAMEWORK TO ADDRESS NORTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL

Posted on by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

27th February saw the unveiling of The Windsor Framework, hailed as the answer to the problems surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Agreed by the Prime Minister – The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, and European Commission President – Ursula von der Leyen, the Framework replaces the old Northern Ireland Protocol, effectively rewriting the treaty to fix the practical problems for the people and businesses of Northern Ireland whilst protecting Northern Ireland’s place within the Union and restoring the balance of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.

To give businesses and individuals time to prepare, the implementation of the agreement will be phased in, with some of the new arrangements being introduced later this year and the remainder in 2024. In the meantime, the current temporary standstill arrangements will continue to apply.

The Windsor Framework legal text and command paper can be found here along with a set of explainers here. But for ease, please find a summary of the key points below:

  • A simplified version of the Trusted Trader Scheme, the ‘UK Internal Market Scheme’, will allow goods destined for the NI market to flow freely through a ‘green lane’, without red tape or unnecessary checks.
  • Goods from the Rest Of the World will also be allowed to pass through the green lane provided they are produced to UK/EU standards, meet UK public health standards, and pose no disease risk.
  • All goods destined for the EU will use the ‘red lane’.
  • Existing businesses who are already part of the Trusted Trader Scheme will be enrolled automatically.
  • Businesses do not need premises in NI to join the scheme.
  • The Scheme for Temporary Agri-food Movements to Northern Ireland (STAMNI) will continue until a new Retail scheme for the green lane is introduced in October 2023.
  • Membership of the UK Internal Market Scheme will be broader than STAMNI encompassing a range of businesses for example wholesalers, caterers, hospitality, public sector food providers.
  • Membership will be dynamic, meaning businesses can join and leave as supply chains develop and evolve over time.
  • All paperwork accompanying the consignment will be reduced to a single manifest.
  • The manifest will not need to be signed by a vet and there will be no requirements for certification of food (as when exporting to EU) or supporting paperwork for composite products.
  • Checks on movements will be significantly reduced and any physical checks will be risk based and intelligence led.
  • Commercial data will be shared with Government authorities before arrival in NI.
  • All products sold on the UK market will be allowed to be sold in NI. Note: this removes the problem of EU ban on imports of meat preparations.
  • Product regulations for food (and non-food) will follow UK standards in terms of public health and safety. For food, that covers all food production, organics, marketing, labelling, genetic modification, wines, spirits, and mineral water.
  • NI will follow EU animal and plant health regulations, but there will only be a need for checks at the border where the Government approach to tackling disease differs from the EU.
  • New labelling requirements for some higher risk foods will be introduced using a phased approach (October 2023 all fresh meat and dairy products, October 2024 all remaining dairy products, July 2025 composite products, fruit, vegetables, and fish). But as these are phased in, physical checks on vehicles will be significantly cut down to 5%.
  • As labelling changes will be UK wide, Government will need to agree the form of labelling with Scottish and Welsh Governments
  • The phasing period for any labelling changes will be two and half years, allowing industry time to make required changes.
  • Customs changes will be implemented from October 2024.

Government departments will be busy ironing out the detail of the new Framework over the coming months but have promised to work with us to ensure the new processes are understood. We will bring you regular updates as that work progresses, but in the meantime, please check our website and newsletters regularly to keep abreast of the developments.

 

BFFF VISIT NATIONAL CENTRE FOR FOOD MANUFACTURING

Posted on by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

The BFFF were pleased to be able to visit the University of Lincoln’s National Centre for Food Manufacturing (NCFM)  in Holbeach recently, to see first-hand how this world-renowned centre is supporting the transformation and growth of businesses by developing and supporting key skills and innovation needs in the areas of Food Robotics, Automation & Processing Research.

The NCFM also partners with the Lincoln Institute of Agrifood Technology (LIAT) and is key to the South Lincolnshire Food Enterprise Zone, which launched in September with an investment of over £16m to support Greater Lincolnshire’s agri-food sector and help position it as the UK Food Valley and a top 10 global centre for international food trade.

And with an impressive new £10m campus on site, including an Innovation Centre with labs, test kitchen, sensory suite and teaching rooms, along with an abundance of academic and industry expertise on tap, it’s clear to see how they could play a vital role in helping businesses navigate the challenges ahead.

We would like to extend a huge thanks to all those involved in what turned out to be a most informative and worthwhile day.

If you would like more information, then please do not hesitate to contact us and we will happily oblige.

TIOGA FOODS ORGANISES FOOD DONATIONS WITH TURKISH FROZEN FOOD MANUFACTURERS

Posted on by Murat Bayizit

“Tioga Foods Ltd“, a member of British Frozen Food Federation based in London, as a socially responsible company, has been organising food donations with Turkish frozen food manufacturers to help the most vulnerable categories of society since the very beginning of deadly earthquake in Türkiye.

Deeply affected by the new situation in Türkiye, “Tioga Foods” immediately organized several food trucks, emphasizing food for children and the elderly.

“Let this situation unite all people and let everyone who is able help these people who are truly need support. United contribution will certainly give a great result and warm the hearts of many people who are going through the most difficult period of their lives these days”, said Murat Bayizit, managing director of the company.

Tioga Foods Ltd is a British Company which imports frozen food products from the country of origin for sale to food processors, manufacturers and wholesalers.