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FROZEN FOOD MARKET RETURNS TO VOLUME GROWTH IN Q1 2023
The volume of frozen food sales has returned to growth in the first quarter of 2023, according to new Kantar data from the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF).
The 12-week figures to 19 March show that volume sales of frozen food grew by 2,572,000 tonnes, compared to the same period last year.
The value of the retail frozen food sales also continued to increase in the same period, up +9.5% (£273,061,000) largely driven by inflation across the entire food supply chain.
Frozen vegetables, meat & poultry, potato products, ready meals and savoury foods have all seen a jump in volume in the 12 weeks, whilst more indulgent products such as ice cream and confectionery have seen a drop in sales volume in the same period.
The news of growth in the frozen food market comes as Kantar also reports a decrease in the volume sales of fresh and chilled foods by -5.0% in the same period, showing that more consumers have recognised frozen food as a tasty, nutritious and affordable choice for helping them deal with the cost of living crisis.
Rupert Ashby, chief executive of the British Frozen Food Federation, commented: “I am delighted to see that the frozen food market has returned to growth in the first quarter of 2023. Our members have been working incredibly hard under huge pressure of rising costs to make sure that consumers can still find the best quality products with unrivalled value for money in the frozen aisle of their supermarket.
“The cost of living crisis has had a significant impact on consumer spending habits over the winter months, which has likely driven sales of frozen food. However, I am confident that many consumers will now regularly return to the frozen aisle during their weekly shop as more people experience the exceptional quality and taste of frozen food.”
Mr Ashby added: “Innovation is at the heart of the frozen food market, with exciting new products regularly hitting supermarket freezer shelves. I am always impressed with the products which are being brought to the market by our members, so I would encourage all consumers to make friends with their freezer and visit the frozen aisle during their next shop.”
The BFFF is proud to recognise the innovation and quality of frozen produce at our annual British Frozen Food Awards, with the 2023 ceremony taking place on 15 June. More information about this year’s awards can be found here.
Legislation: Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Draft Bill
The proposals would directly affect the persons in control of premises with a capacity of 100-persons or more (100-799 persons for the standard tier, and 800 persons or more for the enhanced tier). These include businesses and organisations who own and operate Publicly Accessible Locations (PALs), for example: sports stadiums, festivals, music premises, hotels, pubs, clubs, bars, retail stores, shopping centres, markets, places of worship (PoW), and transport hubs (this list is not exhaustive). As such, the provisions of the Bill will impact a wide range of sectors, including but not limited to:
- Security industry.
- Retail.
- Charitable and civil society.
- Visitor attractions.
- Events.
- Sports.
- Hospitality.
- Faith Groups.
- Entertainment.
- Small and medium enterprises.
- Education.
- Health.
- Transport.
In addition, there is the potential for other premises to be within scope including charitable premises, Government and local authority buildings, hospitals, police stations, and courts.
When did it change?
Allowing for a period of time between Royal Assent and commencement of the legislation will be necessary to allow responsible persons time to prepare. The likely commencement for this legislation is set for 2025 (the working assumption at time of writing).
What does it mean?
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill will aim to help keep people safe and enhance national security by ensuring preparedness for, and protection from, terrorist attacks. Proportionate new security requirements will be introduced for certain public venues and locations.
Qualifying premises/events
A person responsible for qualifying public premises or a qualifying public event will be subject to the terrorism protection requirements set out in the Bill. A person is responsible for a qualifying public premises if the person has control of the premises or event, both of which must be accessible to the public as described in the Bill. Premises are included by reference to their use and both events and premises must have the minimum capacities specified. Qualifying public premises may be located within other premises, such as a retail store within a shopping centre.
The requirements will not apply to premises (or parts thereof) that are used as private dwellings or offices.
Qualifying public premises may be either standard duty premises or enhanced duty premises. Enhanced duty premises are those with a public capacity of 800 individuals or more. Standard duty premises are those with a capacity of 100 to 799 individuals. The Bill allows for provision to be made for some premises to be treated as standard duty premises when they would otherwise be enhanced duty premises, and vice versa.
The requirements which will apply to enhanced duty premises will also apply to qualifying public events. These are public events held at premises that are not qualifying public premises with a capacity of 800 or over, where express permission is required to enter for the purpose of attending the event (with or without payment).
The public capacity of premises and events will be determined in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State. Such regulations might require some types of premises to determine their capacity differently from others.
Duties
Persons responsible for standard duty premises will be required to undertake what are intended to be low-cost activities which seek to improve protective security and preparedness. They will be required to ensure that relevant workers are given appropriate terrorism protection training. It is expected that they will be able to utilise free terrorism protection training materials to educate relevant personnel on the threat posed by terrorism, and the actions personnel should undertake in response.
Persons responsible for standard duty premises will also be required to undertake a standard terrorism evaluation in which they consider how best to respond in the event of a terrorist event, e.g. procedures to evacuate their premises.
Persons responsible for enhanced duty premises or qualifying public events will also be required to ensure that terrorism protection training is provided to relevant workers at their premises. In addition, they must appoint an individual as the designated senior officer for the premises or event and must complete and regularly review their terrorism risk assessment. In completing this assessment, they will consider the types of terrorist act most likely to occur at or around their premises or event and the ‘reasonably practicable’ measures that might be expected to reduce the risk of such an act occurring, or the risk of physical harm to individuals as a result of such an act.
Persons responsible for enhanced duty premises or a qualifying public event must implement reasonably practicable security measures to reduce the risk of, and harm caused by, terrorist acts occurring at or near the premises or event. Measures must include, for example, those relating to monitoring the premises and vicinity and procedures to be followed in the event of an attack.
Persons responsible for enhanced duty premises or a qualifying public event must keep and maintain a security plan, which must also be provided to the regulator. The security plan documents, amongst other things, information about the premises or event, the persons responsible for the premises or event, and information arising out of compliance with the other requirements.
Other persons who to some extent have control over premises – whether qualifying public premises or those at a which a qualifying public event is to be held – will be under a duty to co-operate with the person responsible for the premises or event under the Bill insofar as it relates to a matter within that other person’s control. For example, the person responsible for a store within a shopping centre must comply with the operator of the shopping centre as necessary for the operator to fulfil their duties under the Bill.
Persons responsible for both standard and enhanced duty premises will also be responsible for ensuring premises are registered with the regulator. Persons responsible for qualifying public events will be required to give notice of the event to the regulator.
Enforcement
‘The Regulator’ means:
- A public authority prescribed as the regulator in regulations made by the Secretary of State.
- If no public authority is prescribed, the Secretary of State.
It is anticipated that the regulator will primarily provide a guidance function for businesses. However, in the event of non-compliance, the regulator will have a range of sanctions to quickly address non-compliance and impose penalties where appropriate.
The regulator will also be equipped with a set of inspection powers (see Schedule 2) which will ensure that investigations into compliance at qualifying public premises and qualifying public events can take place. The Bill seeks to ensure that inspection activity is not hindered by obstruction or non-compliance with an inspector exercising their powers lawfully.
What’s changed?
Whilst there are already in existence legal requirements that could involve the consideration of the risks of terrorist attacks in relation to some buildings, there is no existing legal obligation to consider the risk of a terrorist attack occurring, and the harm that might arise if one did, across the range of premises to which this Bill will apply.
The creation of a new, statutory “Protect Duty” was a recommendation resulting from the public inquiry into the deaths of 22 victims at Manchester Arena on 22nd May 2017.
The Bill does not amend, repeal or otherwise touch upon existing legal regimes (apart from the provisions at clause 38 and Schedule 3 (Licensing of premises at heightened terrorism risk) which amend the Licensing Act 2003.
Please click on the url below for the full document:
Nitrous Oxide Consultation: Legitimate Uses and Appropriate Controls
This Home Office consultation seeks views to enable the UK Government to determine legitimate uses of nitrous oxide.
It is aimed at organisations or individuals that manufacture, sell, or use nitrous oxide as part of their business or for those who use it in a personal capacity where it is not used for its psychoactive effects, for example when used in home cooking and car maintenance.
This consultation will be used by the government to understand the full range and scale of legitimate uses of nitrous oxide to enable the design of a legal framework that permits its use for legitimate purposes once it becomes a Class “C” controlled drug under the 1971 Act. For the purposes of this consultation, “legitimate use” refers to uses of nitrous oxide which is not for its psychoactive effect in a recreational capacity.
It does this by asking for views on three proposed approaches. Some of these include establishing a requirement to obtain a licence for some actions and purposes. It also asks a series of questions to identify the full range and scale of legitimate uses for nitrous oxide, as well as the mechanisms and nitrous oxide products required for these purposes.
The consultation sets out three proposed approaches to facilitate legitimate use, which are:
- Introduce a licensing requirement for the import, export, possession, production, or supply of nitrous oxide where this is for a legitimate purpose.
- Exempt from licensing requirements the import, export, possession, production, and supply of nitrous oxide where this is for legitimate purposes. This would mean no licensing requirements for legitimate purposes.
- Introduce licensing requirements for the import, export, production, and supply of nitrous oxide and provide an exemption for the possession of nitrous oxide where this is for a legitimate purpose.
It is expected that a different approach may be required for medical, dentistry and veterinary use, in line with the existing scheduling approaches under the 2001 Regulations.
The consultation is open until 27 June 2023.
Home Office
May 2023
Please click on the url below for the full document:
Health and well-being and indoor environmental quality in buildings – health and well-being in non-domestic buildings. Code of practice
This British Standard gives recommendations for the measuring, monitoring and reporting of the well‑being and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) performance of an occupied building and the associated building services.
It provides an evaluation and rating system, the purpose of which is to enhance IEQ, with the aim of creating buildings which support and improve the well-being of building occupants; including, but not limited to, staff, visitors, tenants and customers.
The IEQ performance score generated as an outcome of this evaluation provides organizations with a benchmark score that can be used to identify areas of below par performance and enable improvements to be made accordingly.
It is applicable to non-domestic buildings, including existing building stock. It can be used, along with other standards and design guidance, in existing buildings, renovations and new build developments for target setting, evaluation and assessment of health and well-being in buildings. It covers a good practice approach to the evaluation and assessment of the following factors:
- Air quality.
- Light quality.
- Thermal comfort.
- Acoustic and soundscape quality.
There are several areas not covered by this Standard, including spaces used for permanent or semi-permanent habitation, temporary structures, construction methods, medical assessment or evaluation, etc.
The British Standard is aimed at any organisation of any size and sector. It is intended for use by design, construction, surveying and facilities management professionals, and also by landlords, employers, employee representatives, occupational health and safety and well‑being professionals.
BSI
April 2023
Please click on the url below for the full document:
Lithium Battery Fires
With emerging technologies being introduced into the Food and Drink industry, especially Electric Materials Handling Equipment we refer our members to the following article from the London Fire Brigade (LFB). LFB give safety tips to delivery drivers using e-bikes following a growing number of fires in the capital.
Firefighters across London are meeting delivery drivers to give them safety advice in a bid to reduce the growing number of e-bike fires that are happening in the capital.
The delivery driver engagement activity is part of the London Fire Brigade’s #ChargeSafe campaign. It aims to highlight the fire risks associated with lithium batteries which are commonly used with e-bikes.
The outreach work with delivery drivers follows incidents where fire crews have found delivery bags at the scene of fires.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) Deputy Commissioner Dom Ellis said: “We are focussing on reaching out to delivery drivers using e-bikes, and the companies that employ them, to reduce the risk of fires.”
The Brigade is also reaching out to delivery companies such as Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats, so they can support efforts to provide urgent safety messages to their drivers, in order to prevent ferocious fires associated with e-bikes and lithium batteries when they fail.
Deputy Commissioner Dom Ellis continued: “We know that there’s been a surge in people ordering food to be delivered to their door. In order for that hot dinner to arrive quickly, it makes sense to employ delivery drivers who can work around the clock, who can hop on an e-bike and get to a pick-up point and doorstep speedily. The benefits for e-bike users are numerous: no fuel costs or emissions. Sadly, there are cons too – we’re seeing deadly fire risks all too often at the moment.
“We want to make sure employees who buy an e-bike for work are aware of how to use their e-bikes safely. We’ve attended over 158 e-bike and e-scooter fires from the start of 2022, to the end of March this year. There’s been 78 injuries and some fatalities. There’s no time to waste in making sure that e-bike users know how to protect themselves and loved ones.”
In 2023, on average, London Fire Brigade has been called to an e-bike or e-scooter fire once every two days – a 60 per cent increase in the rate of these fires compared to the same period as last year. According to data collected by the Brigade, most people injured in fires related to e-bikes and e-scooters are in their 20s, and often the fires are in homes where multiple adults are living together without children. The most risky time for e-bike and e-scooter fires to take place are when charging batteries. This is the time that batteries are most likely to fail.
Safety tips
LFB’s advice for all e-bike users to follow is as follows:
- Never block escape routes with anything, including e-bikes and e-scooters.
- Store them somewhere away from a main through route. LFB advice is to store these items in a safe location if possible, such as a garage or a shed.
- Do not attempt to modify or tamper with the battery. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Converting pedal bikes into e-bikes using DIY kits bought online can be very dangerous. They pose a higher risk of fire.
- Check the battery and charger meets UK safety standards.
- Watch out for signs that the battery or charger aren’t working as they should – if it’s hot to the touch or has changed shape.
- Always use the correct charger and buy an official one from a reputable seller.
- LFB have particular concern where batteries have been purchased from online marketplaces and when they’ve been sourced on the internet, which may not meet the correct safety standards.
- Let the battery cool before charging.
- Batteries can get warm during their use and it is advisable to allow them to cool down before attempting to re-charge as they could be more susceptible to failure. If charging batteries indoors, the LFB’s advice on safe charging should be followed.
- Unplug the charger once it’s finished charging.
- Always follow manufacturers’ instructions when charging; LFB advise not to leave it unattended or while people are asleep.
- Fit alarms where charging takes place. Ensure there are smoke alarms fitted in areas where e-bikes or e-scooters are being charged and make sure they are tested regularly.
London Fire Brigade
April 2023
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