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ICELAND SIGNS DEAL WITH JD.COM TO OFFER FROZEN FOOD TO ONE BILLION CUSTOMERS IN CHINA
Iceland Foods confirms its agreement to supply a range of its high quality, frozen food products to online retail giant JD.com
JD.com will be offering a range of Iceland frozen food items to its customers across China including award winning products such as its wood fired, stone-baked Italian pizzas which are produced in the heart of the Italian countryside as well as an array of snacks, ready meals and some of its famed ice-cream and desserts.
JD.com is one of China’s largest online retailers and sets the standard for online shopping through its commitment to quality, authenticity, and its vast product offering everything from fresh food, apparel, electronics, and cosmetics. Its unrivalled nationwide fulfilment network provides standard same- and next-day delivery covering a population of more than 1 billion.
Alistair Cooke, Head of Iceland International, commented: “We are now starting to see some real growth for the Iceland brand in China, and I have no doubt our new relationship with the esteemed JD.com will help us gain further recognition for the famous Iceland name across the country”.
JD-worldwide food, beverage, pet supplies, and fresh food director Jacky Xie said: “JD Worldwide is currently making efforts in the field of cross-border fresh food category. We will not only make full use of advantages of our platform, but also integrate supply chain resources. We cooperate with well-known brands and retailers around the world to provide excellent one-stop imported fresh food shopping experience for Chinese consumers.”
As well as occupying the position of No.1 frozen food retailer in the UK, Iceland Foods is no stranger to supplying products to international retailers and foodservice outlets, covering a further 60 countries across the world.
BIRDS EYE PARTNER WITH ASDA TO LAUNCH £20K “PAY YOUR BILLS” COMPETITION
To demonstrate how frozen food can support shoppers and consumers during the current cost of living crisis, Birds Eye has launched an Asda-exclusive competition that gives shoppers the chance to win £20,000 worth of prizes to help pay their bills. Running until the 14th June, the campaign will highlight the benefits of frozen food during these challenging times, which can also help to reduce household grocery bills.
The cost of living has had a drastic impact on consumers, with shopper research data showing that the average UK monthly salary is less than the average household expenses each month (1). Frozen food has always played an important role in helping shoppers get more for their money, offering consumers longer shelf-life and greater portion control which helps reduce food waste and therefore allowing budgets to stretch further. In fact, when swapping like for like fresh and frozen products, shoppers can make a saving of almost 25% on average, while receiving up to 50% more for the same price (2).
As the brand leader in the frozen category (3), Birds Eye is proud to support families through the inherent benefits of its frozen offering. The competition with Asda will help to reinforce the value of the category, while offering extra help for those shoppers who could benefit from support with their household bills.
Louise Collier, Category Development Director at Birds Eye, said “Frozen food has an important role to play during these challenging times. With the cost of living rising steeply, we’re all too aware that many shoppers find it difficult to pay for their weekly household bills, and so are looking for both support and ways they can save money. Despite this, there is still a misconception that frozen food is of lower quality than fresh food, when in fact it is just as nutritious and offers many cost-saving benefits. As well as helping shoppers get more for their money due to its longer shelf life, frozen food also helps to reduce food waste and help shoppers’ money go further thanks to how it can be portioned so that only what’s needed is cooked.”
“With all the inherent benefits of frozen food there’s a natural connection between the Birds Eye portfolio and helping shopper’s money stretch that little further. This competition underlines the “Food For All” pillar of our company purpose which strives to ensure that everyone can enjoy great mealtimes every day. With over £20,000 worth of prizes, this competition goes one step further in ensuring shopper’s feel supported at this challenging time.”
The competition will run with a Text to Win mechanic, with all entrants required to have proof of purchase of a Birds Eye product in an Asda store.
1 https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-uk-household-budget#nogo – 30th March 2021
2 Based on base online prices on 6.5.22 comparing 6 of Frozen bestselling lines to equivalent lines across the rest of the store, average across
3 Nielsen ScanTrack, total coverage, total frozen defined, L52wk w/e 23rd April 2022.
FSA UPDATE ON SOYA LECITHIN INVESTIGATION
The Food Standards Agency have given an update (last updated on 25th May) in response to a small number of concerns raised by people with peanut allergy relating to contaminated soya lecithin, the Food Standards Agency is advising that there is currently no evidence of unsafe food having been placed on the market.
The FSA has been urgently working with businesses and local authorities to investigate the issue and is reassured that evidence provided by industry to date suggests that the incident has been controlled.
Food Standards Agency Head of Incidents, Tina Potter, said:
“Following FSA and Food Standards Scotland guidance, retailers acted quickly and responsibly to carry out their own food safety risk assessments and hold products until they could be sure they were safe.
“All the information we have so far received from businesses indicates that no unsafe food has been placed on the market, and we have received no reports of allergic reactions linked to this issue.
“We will continue to work closely with key partners and industry to establish a clearer picture and will provide further updates should there be any change to our understanding.
“My advice to those with peanut allergy is to continue to closely follow precautionary allergen labelling on products as you normally would and sign up to our allergy alerts so you can be notified in the event that any product recalls are later undertaken.”
It is important that those with peanut allergy take extra care to avoid consuming products labelled with precautionary warnings that they may contain peanut, or may contain nuts, while further investigations are carried out.
FSA WELCOMES NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE REPORT
The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) Chief Executive Emily Miles has responded to the National Audit Office’s latest report ‘Regulating after EU Exit’, which was published on 18th May 2022.
The report considers three regulators whose work has been significantly affected by EU Exit. The report seeks to draw out common issues to help form regulators and policy departments as they develop regulations after EU Exit, both in the three areas covered and more broadly across government.
They have examined:
- The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) role in regulating food safety and standards;
- The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE’s) role in chemical regulation, in particular the Chemicals Regulation Division;
- The Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) roles in enforcing competition and consumer protection law; operating the Office for the Internal Market; and preparing to provide subsidy advice within the UK subsidy control regime.
Responding to the report, FSA Chief Executive Emily Miles says:
“We note the findings in this report, which recognises the significant growth of the FSA’s responsibilities since we left the EU. We have ensured, at all stages that food remains safe and is what it says it is and this continues to be our top priority.
“Since leaving the EU, we have taken on several new functions. In particular, we are now responsible for the approval of new food products that come on to the UK market. We have an enhanced role in import controls for food entering the country and we have expanded our work to tackle food fraud.
“We no longer have full access to EU data alerts, but we now link with more than 180 countries for food safety notifications, while also receiving third-country notifications from the EU. This ensures we effectively manage food incidents and tackle fraudulent behaviour.
To read the report, click here.
GLOBAL REPORT ON FOOD CRISIS 2022
The Global Network Against Food Crises – a body primarily driven by the European Union and United Nations – has published the Global Report on Food Crises 2022.
The report notes that the number of people experiencing crisis-levels of hunger or worse across the globe rose by 40 million in 2021, with 193 million people in 53 countries or territories faced “acute food security”.
The report states that “The outlook for global acute food insecurity in 2022 is expected to deteriorate further relative to 2021. In particular, the unfolding war in Ukraine is likely to exacerbate the already severe 2022 acute food insecurity forecasts included in this report, given that the repercussions of the war on global food, energy and fertilizer prices and supplies have not yet been factored into most country-level projection analyses”.
To read the report, click here.
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