Page 422 — British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF)

BIRDS EYE BUILDS ON CHICKEN-FREE SUCCESS WITH GREEN CUISINE NPD

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Pete.Johnson@birdseye.co.uk

Birds Eye is adding to its plant-powered Green Cuisine range, with the launch of three more Chicken-Free options. The new Chicken-Free products will see Crispy Grills, Southern Fried Grills, and Burgers hit shelves from mid-May, helping to bring a wider choice of meat-free alternatives to shoppers in the frozen aisle. Taking inspiration from the brand’s much-loved chicken portfolio, Birds Eye has seen over 31% of total Green Cuisine sales come from the three Chicken-Free SKUs launched in 2020 (meat-free Dippers, Nuggets and Strips)[2].

Bird Eye’s foray into Chicken-Free has helped bring new shoppers into the category, with penetration of the Green Cuisine range now up to +8.7%[1]. With shoppers, now more than ever, looking to the freezer for extra meal-time inspiration, the new launches will emulate the most popular products in the Birds Eye chicken portfolio, making meat-free eating easy and appealing to those shoppers who also want to reduce their meat intake.

Jess Ali, Marketing Manager at Birds Eye, said: “Our Green Cuisine Chicken-Free products have gone from strength to strength since our first launches in 2020. Shoppers love both our great tasting chicken products and our Green Cuisine alternatives, which makes us proud to be able to cater for all family members. This extension of the Green Cuisine chicken-free range will continue to play off recognisable formats that shoppers already enjoy, but that are powered by plant protein.

“The combination of our heritage in frozen food and our reputation for producing family mealtime favourites such as Chicken Grills and Chicken Dippers has helped to make these products so successful and popular. By recreating mealtime classics using plant power, these new additions to our Green Cuisine range will continue to help shoppers to add meat substitutes to their plates, showing them that plant-based meals can be just as tasty and convenient.”

Birds Eye’s 2020 launch into meat-free chicken alternatives, with plant-based strips, dippers and nuggets, was very popular amongst shoppers – with the dippers winning Product of the Year 2021[4]. With 46% of Green Cuisine sales coming through NPD^[5], the range’s success has also seen the brand expand into frozen bakery products including meat-free sausage rolls and vegan pies. To further the brand’s efforts to make eating meat-free more mainstream and promoting the power of plants, Birds Eye’s Green Cuisine brand has become the official plant-based supporter of Team GB ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The Birds Eye Green Cuisine Chicken-Free Southern Fried Grill is already available in Tesco, while the

Chicken-Free Crispy Grill and the Chicken-Free burger will launch from mid-May in Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.

[2] Nielsen MAT TY 27.03.21

[1] Kantar MAT 52 Weeks 18.04.21

[4] Nielsen MAT TY 26.12.2020

[5] Nielsen Scantrack data Latest 4 weeks value sales to 28.11.2020

SafetyCulture: Health and Safety: Technology to help tackle the new normal

Posted on May 12, 2021January 9, 2026 by

The past year brought challenges and changes to the working environment on a scale we’ve
never seen before. As we prepare to bring all employees back into work, health and safety must
be top priority. BFFF partner, SafetyCulture, sets out some of the biggest trends and challenges
across health and safety today:

A dispersed workforce

A return to the workplace is imminent for many businesses, but having your complete workforce
back to the office or on-site full-time seems less likely. Remote and hybrid working
arrangements are here to stay, but with this comes distance. We must embrace these new
models and accommodate accordingly, embedding new approaches such as virtual learning and
training. We must make a conscious effort to stay in touch with our dispersed workforces.

Embracing technology

The best way to ensure communication and processes are upheld is through the use of
technology in health and safety. While technology will inevitably produce new ways of working, it
can help control risk and spearhead accountability.
The uncertainty produced by the pandemic has transformed many businesses and forced new
ways of working upon us. Technology is clearly the solution to help us answer this change
effectively among the new normal: whether that’s for communication, completing checks, raising
issues or assigning actions, or continuous development.

Frontline empowerment

Our frontline employees make up over 80% of the global workforce: we need to ensure
technology works for them. When it comes to COVID-19 processes, employees are also more
than likely the ones charged with ensuring we’re compliant. This means that ever-changing
guidance needs to be accessible and easy to implement for them, rather than being perceived
as an additional burden on already-stretched time and resources. Digitised checklists can
combat process fatigue and drive frontline empowerment: helping our teams rise to the
challenge.

Cultural shift

It’s time to move beyond seeing health and safety as purely compliance: we need to build
cultures centred around empathy and empowering our teams.
However, a dispersed workforce complicates our ability to create a culture change. Accessible
technology can help bridge this by empowering our teams and removing communication
barriers.

Our teams can create real-time visibility through digital inspections, photos, messaging, and
more. The essential feedback loops this creates help build strong cultures where employees are
able to speak up and take action. Not only does this reduce risks and improve your processes, it
drives accountability. When our teams can take ownership for their workplaces and
management can see what’s really happening on the ground, we can drive real, meaningful
change. That’s what our ‘new normal’ demands.

Get Ready…

Get ready for your workforces return by visiting BFFF’s dedicated dedicated partnership page
and get started for free. You can also discover more about ‘How to build strong EHS Cultures
in 2021’ in SafetyCulture’s free eBook.

About Safety Culture

SafetyCulture is the operational heartbeat of working teams around the world. Its
mobile-first operations platform leverages the power of human observation to identify
issues and opportunities for businesses to improve everyday. More than 28,000
organisations use its flagship products, iAuditor and EdApp, to perform checks, train
staff, report issues, automate tasks and communicate fluidly.

SafetyCulture powers over 600 million checks per year, approximately 50,000 lessons
per day and millions of corrective actions, giving leaders visibility and workers a voice, in
driving safety, quality and efficiency improvements.

NEW CAPPUCCINO FUDGE ICING FROM DAWN FOODS

Posted on May 11, 2021 by

Dawn Foods has expanded its range of easy-to-use Fudge Icings with a Cappuccino flavoured variety.

With its authentic, creamy and sweet cappuccino taste, made with all-natural flavours, Dawn’s new Cappuccino Fudge Icing taps into the current trend for ‘coffee shop’ flavours. It can be used for sandwiching and decorating classic layered or sheet cakes as well as muffins, cupcakes, donuts, pastries and desserts. Its mild milky coffee flavour complements both chocolate or plain bases.

All the fudge icings in the Dawn range – Chocolate, Coffee, Lemon, Strawberry, recently introduced Raspberry and White Chocolate and now the new Cappuccino – are easy to use straight from the 10 kg pail. Bakers simply need to warm the fudge icing to 40-50°C and use it to spread, flood or drizzle to turn everyday products into signature sweet bakes. The fudge icing is fast drying to give a firm and smooth natural colour finish and is also freeze-thaw stable.

Dawn’s new Cappuccino Fudge Icing is suitable for both vegans and vegetarians. A range of inspirational recipes using the new fudge icings are available at dawnfoods.com/uk.

XPO LOGISTICS WINS UK CONTRACT WITH PEARSON

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Hayley Mc Quade

XPO Logistics, a leading global provider of supply chain solutions, was awarded a contract by new customer Pearson Education to distribute courseware and assessment materials in the UK. British-based Pearson is a leading provider of educational materials, e-learning programs and assessment services for schools, corporations, students and clinicians in 70 countries.

Pearson’s published materials in the UK are distributed mainly to primary and secondary schools and clinicians. By relocating distribution from Belgium to the UK, Pearson has shortened lead times for deliveries to its customers while gaining greater visibility and seasonal flexibility. XPO uses its technology to manage all materials for a course of study as a single SKU, accommodate peaks in demand, and customize clinical testing kits. XPO’s hub in Merlin Park, Birmingham, distributes materials for Pearson’s retail and educational channels and fulfils both direct-to-consumer orders and orders placed by major e-commerce companies and wholesalers.

“We’re delighted to welcome our new customer, Pearson Education, a prestigious name in learning materials worldwide,” said Malcolm Wilson, chief executive officer of XPO Logistics Europe. “A key to this relationship is our capability for tailored, value-added services across diverse customer markets. Our combination of technology and expertise puts us in a unique position to help Pearson enhance its customer service for years to come.”

GET READY FOR THE PLASTIC PACKAGING TAX

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

HMRC have now published initial guidance to help businesses prepare for the new Plastic Packaging Tax.

Get ready for the Plastic Packaging Tax provides a high-level overview of the tax and is designed to help manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging understand:

If they will need to register for the tax
What records they will need to keep
What steps they will need to take to begin preparing for the introduction of the tax in April 2022.

Further information about the Plastic Packaging Tax contains additional detail around key definitions, registration, record-keeping, exemptions and reliefs.

You should read the above linked guidance if your business:

manufactures or imports plastic packaging, including packaging made of bio-based plastics and plastic packaging around imported goods, such as plastic bottles full of drinks;
buys plastic packaging (or goods that are supplied in plastic packaging);
expect your plastic packaging to already contain 30% or more recycled plastic, or be exempt from the tax;
exports plastic packaging or goods in plastic packaging from the UK.

Note: this is billed as ‘initial guidance so it may not answer all questions you may have about the tax. More detailed guidance is planned to be published later this year in advance of the introduction of the tax in April 2022.

NEW INDUSTRY 4.0 COURSE LAUNCHED TO HELP FOOD SECTOR MODERNISE PROCESSING

Posted on May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 by karen.jones@campdenbri.co.uk

The three-day online course will cover the limitations and new possibilities of digitalisation to help food businesses understand how they can implement Industry 4.0 and modernise their systems.

The course is the result of a collaboration between Campden BRI Hungary, EIT Digital, the National Research Council of Italy and ELTE Faculty of Informatics to bring the industry up to date with digital transformation.

Dr András Sebők, general manager at Campden BRI Hungary and chair of R&D Expert Group at FoodDrinkEurope, said:

“Despite the food and drink sector being the largest manufacturing industry in the EU, it is far behind other industries when it comes to digital transformation. This is a big, unexploited opportunity because many of the available solutions in other industries can be adapted to solve food problems relatively easy, potentially reducing food waste and maximising profitability. To maintain its position as a global powerhouse, the sector must reposition itself for an Industry 4.0 world. This requires digitally-minded leadership.”

The course, held on 1-3 June, will feature experts of cutting-edge research and experienced professionals of food processing to deliver a comprehensive outline of digitalisation in the food industry. It will include:

An overview of Industry 4.0 and digitalisation and how they apply to the food processing sector
Insights on using technology to develop new products and processes
Hands-on experience with essential digital techniques such as data collection and analysis, and
A detailed breakdown of IoT (Internet of Things) systems, artificial intelligence, digital twinning, additive manufacturing, and robotics.

Sebők has identified that a lack of training on digital solutions is the reason why the food industry is behind on its uptake of Industry 4.0 and the use of big data processing.

He added:

“The real risk is that the industry will be limited by a lack of skilled people. Current employees need training in this area so that they can implement digital solutions, and managers need to convey the digitalisation message to staff. This is exactly why we developed this course.”

The course – ‘Digitalisation and Industry 4.0 in Food Processing’ – is most suited to food industry professionals who want to learn about new possibilities with digitalisation and Industry 4.0, and digital solution providers who need to understand the specific problems, needs and requirements of the food processing sector. Those interested can now register at the EIT Digital Professional School.

A few reasons to become a member of BFFF

To find out more about becoming a member call 01400 283 095 or email the team

Join BFFF

Member profile on BFFF website

Free BFFF Member List

Free listing in the annual Member Directory

Access to latest industry news and information

Weekly newsletter, press and media opportunities

Press and media opportunities

Marketing, sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities

Networking via opportunities at BFFF events

Free market data provided by Circana and World Panel

Access to industry specialists

Expert guidance from Technical and Health & Safety teams

Access to Primary Authority schemes and assured advice

H&S Audit Service/Advice

Free access to HR and legal guidance and advice line

Training and Education

Member Benefits

Exclusive Partnership deals on key products and services:

BFFF energy deals and rates
Vypr member deals and introduction
Defib Plus deals
Company Shop – membership
Mentor – MHE training health check

Exclusive access to networking opportunities and events:

Meet the Buyer events (retail & foodservice)
Annual Business Conference with networking dinner
Specialist H&S and Technical Conferences
Special interest groups (packaging, frozen food temperatures)
Annual Lunch
Awards Night

Become a member

Sponsorship Packages

We offer a range of sponsorship opportunities to BFFF members across our events throughout the year, with flexible packages that can be tailored to suit your business objectives.

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