As the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) begins celebrating its 75^th anniversary year, chief executive Rupert Ashby says he expects the category to perform well in the year ahead.

Celebrations to mark three-quarters of a century of BFFF representation of the frozen food industry will take place throughout 2023.

Mr Ashby said: “This anniversary year will be a celebration of all things frozen. We have come a long way over the past 75 years, and frozen food is now more popular than ever as a healthy, nutritious, and affordable way of stocking our kitchens.”

Between 1948 and 1973, the Federation was known as the National Association of Wholesale Distributors of Frozen Foods (NAWDOFF). In 1973, the Federation expanded to represent the entire frozen food value chain and was re-named as the British Frozen Food Federation.

The inaugural meeting of the Federation took place on 11^th June 1948 and the 1^st AGM was held on 19^th October 1948. The first full members paid a membership subscription of £10.10 per annum.

Since 1948, when freezing food was a solution to preserve seasonal or spasmodic produce such as peas and fish, the industry has undergone immense change. With the unparalleled range and quality of frozen food available in supermarkets today, frozen food has become a staple of the weekly shop.

Mr Ashby added: “I believe that we are at the start of a ‘frozen food boom’ and, in the coming years, households across the country will purchase and enjoy more frozen food than ever before.

Consumers are increasingly seeing that frozen food is high quality, tastes great, and during a time of high inflation provides an affordable way to maintain a good diet.”

With ethical consumerism in the UK now worth £122 billion[2], Mr Ashby also commented that consumers can make a choice for the environment by buying frozen food.

“Food waste accounts for up to an astonishing 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Frozen food reduces waste throughout the supply chain and at home, as consumers can cook what they need and save the rest for a later date which means that less food is thrown away. This is something we will be emphasising in our anniversary year.”

Now, with 241 members, the BFFF is the leading trade association for the frozen food sector, giving a strong voice to the industry in Parliament, to consumer and foodservice markets.

[2] https://www.co-operative.coop/ethical-consumerism-report-2021

In December, we delivered an open IOSH Managing Safety Training Course to some of our members including FareShare, Holdsworth Foods and Fullers foods. Simon Brentnall, said; “We have received some great feedback. The course is the market-leading health and safety course for line managers as it makes them aware of their responsibilities and accountabilities in the Health & Safety field while helping to improve the safety culture in your organisation”.

The course is designed for managers and anyone giving work instructions to others. The syllabus includes:

• Assessing risks
• Controlling risks
• Understanding responsibilities
• Understanding hazards
• Investigating incidents
• Measuring performance

It takes around 22 hours to complete the course and we deliver this over 3 consecutive days. The course can be carried out in either face-to-face or virtually on Zoom. Following the training, the delegates take a written assessment and take away a risk assessment project which is returned within a month. Successful delegates then receive a certificate and we currently have a 100% pass rate.

We hope to run another session in April 2023 for the federation which will be advertised on our website.

The BFFF Technical and Health & Safety teams are pleased to announce the dates for the 2023 Expert Group Meetings. We are looking forward to meeting with the group members to continue our discussions on industry news, changes and challenges to gain a wider understanding of the impact it may have on our members and how we can support them.

We are always happy for our members to raise questions or concerns for us to discuss at the expert group meetings and we will feedback accordingly. The meetings are held under Chatham House rules, meaning we aren’t able to share the full set of minutes, but we can provide an update on any of the topics discussed if our members are interested.

The Technical Expert Group Meeting Dates for 2023:

• 25^th January 2023
• 7^th June 2023
• 11^th October 2023

For further information, please contact Denise.

Health and Safety Expert Group Meeting Dates for 2023:

• 25^th April 2023
• 13^th September 2023
• 6^th December 2023

For further information, please contact Simon or Carla.