Tues 18th Nov, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London

INTRODUCING EUROPASTRY’S PRE-CUT CHOCOLATE BROWNIE TRAY: THE PERFECT SWEET TREAT SOLUTION

Posted on by Ash Hirani

In the dynamic and demanding world of the foodservice industry, convenience, quality, and versatility are paramount. Europastry, a renowned name in the frozen dough and pastry sector, is excited to present one of our innovations tailored for the traditional channel: the Pre-cut Chocolate Brownie Tray. Crafted with premium ingredients and designed for ease of use, our precut brownies are set to revolutionize the dessert in cafes, restaurants, and catering businesses.

 

Exquisite Quality Ingredients

At the heart of our Pre-cut Chocolate Brownie Tray is a commitment to quality that reflects our passion for exceptional bakery products. Made with rich, decadent cocoa and creamy butter of extraordinary quality, each brownie square delivers an indulgent experience that will delight your customers. Moreover, our brownies are vegetarian, catering to a broader range of dietary preferences without compromising on taste.

 

Unmatched Convenience

One of the standout features of our Pre-cut Chocolate Brownie Tray is its unparalleled convenience. In the fast-paced environment of foodservice, efficiency is crucial. Our brownies come precut into perfectly sized squares, eliminating the need for time-consuming slicing. Simply thaw and serve – it’s that easy. This convenience allows businesses to quickly and efficiently cater to the sweet-toothed cravings of their customers, ensuring a smooth operation during peak hours.

 

Maximum Versatility

Versatility is another hallmark of our Pre-cut Chocolate Brownie Tray. These brownies are not only irresistible as standalone desserts but also shine as quick grab-and-go options, snacks, or sweet treats at any time of the day. Whether enjoyed with a morning coffee, as an afternoon pick-me-up, or as a midnight indulgence, our brownies are a versatile addition to any menu. Their rich chocolate flavour and perfect texture make them a crowd-pleaser in various dining contexts, from casual cafes to upscale restaurants.

 

Perfect for Dessert for Two

Elevate your dessert offerings with our Pre-cut Chocolate Brownie Tray, perfect for creating memorable dining experiences. For an easy yet impressive dessert, serve a portion of our brownie with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of your favourite topping. This combination transforms a simple brownie into a gourmet dessert that will surprise and delight guests. It’s an effortless way to add a touch of elegance to your menu, ideal for romantic dinners or special occasions.

 

A Sweet Business Opportunity

Incorporating Europastry’s Pre-cut Chocolate Brownie Tray into your product lineup not only enhances your dessert offerings but also promises a delightful experience for your customers. The high-quality ingredients, combined with the convenience and versatility of our brownies, make them an ideal choice for businesses aiming to provide top-notch sweet treats without the hassle.

As the demand for quick, delicious, and versatile desserts continues to grow, our Brownie offers a perfect solution. It’s a product designed to meet the needs of modern foodservice operations, ensuring that you can serve your customers with ease and excellence.

Discover the difference that Europastry’s commitment to quality and innovation can make. Enhance your menu, delight your customers, and elevate your business with our irresistible delight.

 

JOIN THE PASTA REVOLUTION

Posted on by Paul Dunne

Introducing The Smiling Cook: A Range of Pre-Cooked IQF Pasta & Ambient Ready-Made Sauces Now Available from Action Foods

Action Foods are excited to unveil an exceptional addition to the UK & Ireland market: The Smiling Cook, a new branded frozen range of premium quality pre-cooked pasta and ambient ready-made sauces. As the official UK and Ireland partner for The Smiling Cook, Action Foods are proud to offer these convenient, delicious, restaurant-quality meal solutions that promise to redefine your culinary experience.

A Gourmet Experience in Every Bite

The Smiling Cook range includes a wide selection of over 40 types of fresh frozen pasta and more than 25 ambient sauces, cooked to a secret recipe. Meticulously tested and approved by our team, each product guarantees the perfect combination of taste and texture, ready to satisfy the most discerning palates.

Why Choose The Smiling Cook?

  • Premium Quality: Crafted with the finest ingredients, ensuring a gourmet experience.
  • Convenient: Ready to heat and serve, making meal preparation a breeze.
  • Time-Saving: Perfect for busy chefs, reducing cooking time without compromising on taste.
  • Easy to Use: Simple instructions for effortless preparation. Products can be reheated to suit your kitchen; either by hob, bain-marie or steam cooker.
  • Minimal Waste: IQF, portion-controlled servings to reduce food waste.
  • Cost-Saving: Taking out labour and energy costs for your benefit.

 

Diverse Product Range 

The Smiling Cook offers a comprehensive range of pasta, including:

  • Short-Cut Pasta: Ideal for quick and satisfying meals. Ready to be eaten after just 30 seconds of heating.
  • Long-Cut Pasta: Perfect for traditional and elegant dishes. Ready to be eaten after just 75 seconds of heating.
  • Stuffed Pasta: Filled with a variety of delicious ingredients for an extra touch of flavour. Ready to be eaten after just 5 to 8 minutes of heating.
  • Noodles: Versatile options for a global culinary experience. Ready to be eaten after just 75 seconds of heating.

Our range also caters to various dietary preferences, featuring vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and wholegrain. Each pasta is pre-cooked al dente to perfection and is deep-frozen to lock in freshness and flavour.

Explore Our Sauce Selection:

Complementing our pasta is a diverse array of sauces, designed to cater to every taste and occasion:

  • Tomato-Based Sauces: Rich and flavourful, perfect for classic Italian dishes.
  • Bolognese Sauces: Hearty and savoury, combining meat and tomatoes for a robust flavor.
  • Cheesy and Creamy Sauces: Smooth and indulgent, ideal for comfort food.
  • Culinary Sauces: Gourmet options that elevate any meal with sophisticated flavours.
  • Other Specialty Sauces: A variety of unique and exotic sauces to inspire your culinary creativity.

 

Convenient Meal Dishes and Portion Packs:

Our product range also includes a selection of meal dishes, perfect for quick and delicious dinners:

  • Risotto: Creamy and rich, a classic Italian comfort food.
  • Paella: A Spanish favourite, bursting with vibrant flavours.
  • Tabbouleh: A refreshing and healthy Middle Eastern dish.
  • Mac & Cheese: The ultimate cheesy comfort food.

For added convenience, we offer portion packs of a selection of pastas, noodles, and rice, including a special gluten-free pasta option. These portion packs are designed to make meal planning easier whilst catering to different dietary needs.

Endless Combinations, Unmatched Convenience

With endless pairing possibilities between our pasta and sauces, The Smiling Cook allows chefs to create high-quality meals in no time at all. Whether you’re looking to whip up a quick lunch or impress with a gourmet dinner, The Smiling Cook has got you covered.

 

Experience the Excellence

We invite you to discover and fall in love with The Smiling Cook. Elevate your restaurants with our exquisite range of pre-cooked pasta and ready-made sauces. Available now through Action Foods, bringing you ultimate convenience and quality.

For more information, please visit: www.smilingcook.co.uk or email us at paul.dunne@actionfoods.co.uk / rebecca.mehta@actionfoods.co.uk

Join us in celebrating the launch of The Smiling Cook. Join the pasta revolution and make every chef a smiling cook!

LUXURY AND INNOVATION TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT THE 2024 BRITISH FROZEN FOOD AWARDS

Posted on by Georgia Oxspring

COOK, Darta, PEPPADEW® and itsu [grocery] won the top accolades at the 36th annual British Frozen Food Awards, which took place on Thursday 20 June at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London.

The awards celebrate quality, innovation and success across the frozen food industry, and this time have been held in the milestone year of the industry’s centenary.

In 1924, Clarence Birdseye developed a method for flash-freezing food thus launching the frozen food industry. It has changed beyond recognition since and the British Frozen Food Awards present a great opportunity to highlight exciting new products being brought to the market.

The competition is split into two categories, retail and foodservice. The retail category is judged by 18 diverse consumer panels across the UK and professional chefs, who assess various aspects of the products. A panel of chefs then judge the foodservice entries.

Rupert Ashby, chief executive of the British Frozen Food Federation, commented: “The quality and standard of the entries was superb across all the categories. Once the scores were cast, COOK bagged the ‘Retail Product of the Year Award’ for its Rhubarb and Custard Pudding and the ‘Foodservice Product of the Year Award’ went to Darta for its Cuisin’ Easy Mambonito.

“itsu [grocery] won ‘Retail Innovation Product of the Year’ for its Chocolate Bao Buns and PEPPADEW® took home the Foodservice Innovation Product of the Year’ for its PEPPADEW® Bites. The panels were so impressed by the high quality, taste and presentation of all four products.”

In the retail categories, Iceland scooped two Gold Awards and two Silver Awards. Fullers Food International took home the Gold and Silver Awards for Best Bakery and Morning Goods, Freiberger UK Ltd.won two awards in Best Pizza or savoury bread, and Agristo won the Best Potato Product Award.

For foodservice, Brakes won two Gold awards and four Bronze Awards, while Best New Ingredient went to Gerald McDonald & Co Ltd. for its Yuzu Juice, with Best Ice Cream going to Destiny Foods for its Artisan Ice Cream Mulled Wine Sorbet. Meadowvale Foods Ltd. won the Best Meat Main, and Paramount 21 won Best Fish Main with its Coquille St. Jacques.

Ashby added: “The frozen food industry has come so far in the last hundred years, and the award entries are a testament to that. I’m confident the frozen food industry will continue to thrive, with constant advancements and innovations being brought to the market.

“Using frozen food helps reduce waste, preserves nutrition, and no additives are needed in the products. It’s already a great option for foodservice and retail sectors and with the current quality and innovation on show, the next 100 years of success for frozen food should be very exciting.”

View the 2024 winners here: https://bfff.co.uk/british-frozen-food-awards-2024/

SYSCO GB ANNOUNCES ASHFORD PRIDE SPONSORSHIP

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

Sysco GB has announced that it will be sponsoring Ashford’s first-ever Pride celebration.

Sysco company, Brakes, has been a prominent business in Ashford for around 50 years, and is committed to supporting diversity, which makes its sponsorship of the inaugural event a natural fit for the business.

Pride Ashford takes place on Saturday 22 June, and Sysco’s sponsorship will be part of a comprehensive Pride month programme for the organisation’s LGBTQ+ community, with all group sites featuring prominent stands to offer advice and support to colleagues.

All Sysco businesses, including Brakes, Fresh Direct, Medina Foodservice and kff will publicly show their commitment by changing their social media logos for Pride month to help highlight the ongoing need to support diversity and inclusion both within its businesses and across the country. In addition, Sysco GB has announced that it will roll out its ‘Progress Pride’ pedestrian crossings and site signage to further sites, following the successful additions of Fresh Direct’s Bicester depot and kff’s Aylesford depot in 2023, as a visual and permanent reminder of the importance of recognising and embracing diversity.

Paul Nieduszynski, CEO of Sysco GB, said: “Ashford has been the home of Brakes for almost half a century, and we want to support our local community. As a business, we want people to be proud of who they are. Our sponsorship of Ashford Pride is testament to our commitment to creating a diverse workforce where everyone is welcome.

“This is a major step forward for us. Over the past few years, we’ve undertaken a range of events, including painting Pride crossings at some of our sites as an enduring reminder of the importance of diversity, but this is a real sea change in our Pride campaign.”

Katrina Simpson-Haines, HR Director, Sysco GB added: “It’s so important that all of our colleagues can bring their whole selves to work, and that our business reflects our customers, consumers and communities. A diverse, inclusive and engaged business is a better business and while the celebrations are welcome, it’s feeling this day in and day out, that’s essential. Initiatives like the roll out of LGBTQ+ signage at our sites to promote inclusivity and safety, our Spectrum resource group building allies, and the continuation of leadership education that enable us all to support DE&I in teams and our communities.”

Joint organisers of Pride Ashford, Sam Griffin and Heather Hayward, want to celebrate the fabulous diverse community within Ashford, they said: “We’re delighted that Sysco and Brakes, a long-standing business here, have decided to partner with us. We are a not-for-profit organisation and reliant on partnerships such as this to be able to deliver our first Pride event on Saturday 22nd June 2024. We are so incredibly grateful. Thank you!”

As part of its 2024 programme, Spectrum, which is Sysco GB’s colleague resource group dedicated to supporting the LGBTQ+ community, will once again be fundraising for AKT, which supports displaced LGBTQ+ young people, providing safe homes and a better future.

TRANSAID’S NEWCASTLE TO EDINBURGH AND CYCLE KENYA 2024

Posted on by Georgia Oxspring

NEWCASTLE TO EDINBURGH
19 – 22 SEPTEMBER 2024

Join us to support Transaid’s work in sub-Saharan Africa, providing safe and sustainable transport solutions where they are needed most.

Duration: 4 days

Cycling: 2 days

Distance: 159 Miles

Climb: 7,300ft

Reg Fee: £139

Fundraising Pledge: £1,400

CYCLE KENYA 2024
4th – 13th October
Join Transaid on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure

Transaid transforms lives through safe, available, and sustainable transport. Founded by Save the Children, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), and its Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, Transaid works with communities, partners, and governments to solve transport challenges throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Transaid’s road safety work focuses on influencing safe driver behaviour with long term programmes in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Its partner-led approach responds to local needs for improved training for drivers and riders of trucks, buses, motorcycles and forklift trucks. Transaid facilitates knowledge and skills exchange via its ‘train the trainer model’ to deliver sustainable change to driver training standards in sub-Saharan Africa.

On the access to health side, Transaid is working with local partners and communities to strengthen access to health services, primarily in rural areas. This includes establishing emergency transport systems (ETS) to reduce the barrier to healthcare posed by lack of transport. For example, ETS has utilised ox-carts and bicycle ambulances in Zambia, public minibuses in Madagascar, and taxis in Nigeria. Transaid also works to strengthen health supply chains in collaboration with local partners and governments.

MAGNAVALE UNVEILS UPGRADE OF CONTRACT PACKING CAPABILITIES

Posted on by shane.meharg@magnavale.co.uk

Magnavale, one of the UK’s leading providers of temperature-controlled storage solutions, has announced a significant investment in upgrading its contract packing equipment and capabilities across its network of temperature-controlled storage facilities.

This strategic move reinforces Magnavale’s commitment to offering comprehensive cold chain services that aim to simplify logistics for its customers and ensure greater efficiency in their cold chain operations by reducing touchpoints and wasted transport miles.

As part of this investment, Magnavale has introduced or updated various elements of their packing services, including:

  • New date coding and labelling lines,
  • High-speed flow wrapping machines,
  • Versatile sleeve wrapping and tray sealing equipment,
  • Automated bagging systems.

Amanda Cogan, Magnavale’s Chief Operating Officer, comments,

“By consolidating multiple processes under one roof, we enable our customers to focus on their core activities and what they do best. With our upgraded and versatile packing equipment, including high-speed flow wrappers, tray sealers, and automated bagging systems, we can now provide an even broader range of capabilities within our packing service, enabling us to take on new customers and process a greater variety of our existing customers’ product lines.”

Magnavale’s upgraded packing facilities are designed to meet the highest standards of food safety and quality, offering customers peace of mind and minimising risks associated with product handling and storage.

For more information about Magnavale’s comprehensive cold chain solutions, including contract packing services, visit www.magnavale.co.uk or contact enquiries@magnavale.co.uk.

NICHIREI LOGISTICS GROUP TO ANNOUNCE ACQUISTION SOLIDIFYING ITS LEADERSHIP IN FOOD LOGISTICS

Posted on by Kevin Hancock

Nichirei Logistics Group, a global leader in cold store logistics, are pleased to announce the successful acquisition of Admark Shipping Solutions Ltd a prominent export forwarding company based in Felixstowe and known for its exceptional services and expertise in facilitating international trade. The company will come under management of Thermotraffic Ltd.

This strategic acquisition marks a significant milestone for Nichirei Logistics Group and Thermotraffic Ltd. as we continue to expand our capabilities and strengthen our position not only in global (food) logistics but also extend our presence in the major ports. With the addition of Admark Shipping Solutions Ltd, we are ready to enhance our ability to meet the evolving needs of our customers and provide comprehensive end-to-end solutions for their logistics requirements.

Admark Shipping Solutions Ltd brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record in export forwarding, offering a wide range of services specialising in ocean freight. Their dedication to excellence and customer satisfaction aligns seamlessly with our values, making this acquisition a natural fit for both organizations.

“We are thrilled to welcome Admark to the Thermotraffic family,” said Rob Haesakkers, Managing Director at Thermotraffic Ltd. “Their industry expertise and commitment to delivering superior service will further strengthen our ability to provide innovative solutions and support our customers in the food industry as well as their success in the global marketplace.”

CAMPDEN BRI BLOG ON UNDERSTANDING AND CONTROLLING STEC

Posted on by Georgia Oxspring

In light of recent recalls of various prepacked, ready-to-eat sandwiches, wraps and salads, announced due to possible contamination with E. coli, colleagues at Campden BRI have issued a useful blog.

Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) are thought to be the most potent group of pathogenic E. coli. Campden BRI’s blog demystifies E. coli, STEC, VTEC and O157, and looks at the difference between Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and non- Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. Most importantly, the blog covers how to control these pathogens and prevent contamination and recalls