F&d business europe dec:jan 2018

December/January 2018

Barilla invests â‚Ź100 million in Italian pasta and sauces production

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- 7 C OVER S TORY

Barilla invests €100 million in Italian pasta and sauces production.

Greg Behar, CEO, Nestlé Health Science.

- 37 M EAT P ROCESSING ABP Food Group and Fane Valley extend joint venture arrangement.

140 years of growth at Barilla Group.

R EGULARS Bottling & Packaging . . . . . 11, 17, 22, 38 & 39

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Kevin Havelock, President of Refreshment, Unilever.

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- 23 F ROZEN F OOD McCain Foods starts work on £100 million renewal of UK facility.

Martin Leonard, MD, Inver House Distillers.

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M E E R R G G E E R R S S M Nestlé Extends Consumer Healthcare Portfolio in $2.3 Billion Deal Nestlé has agreed to acquire privately-held Atrium Innovations, a global leader in nutritional health products, from a group of investors led by Permira Funds for US$2.3 billion in cash. Atrium's 2017 sales are expected to reach almost US$700 million.

The move supports Nestlé’s pursuit of growth opportunities in consumer healthcare to complement the company’s focus on its high-growth food and beverage categories. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018 following the completion of customary approvals and closing conditions.

Upon closing, Atrium, with its corporate offices in Quebec, Canada, will become part of Nestlé Health Science. Its existing management team will continue to manage the business.

Greg Behar, chief executive of Nestlé Health Science, says: “Atrium’s portfolio will extend our product range with valueadded solutions such as probiotics, plant-based protein nutrition, meal replacements and an extensive multivitamin line, enabling consumers to address their health and wellness goals.”

He adds: “Atrium’s established brands are in attractive categories and have the potential for continued strong growth as part of Nestlé through category, channel and geographic expansion. It also represents additional offerings in the segment for non-GMO, organic and natural supplements, a fastgrowing consumer trend, as well as a new sales channel.”

Greg Behar, chief executive of Nestlé Health Science.

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Refresco to be Sold For €1.6 Billion Still in the process of integrating its recent Eur1.1 billion acquisition of the bottling activities of Cott Corporation of Canada, the executive board of Refresco Group, the Netherlands-based

Our ownership structure is never a goal in itself. Rather, our focus remains on being in an environment that allows us to continue executing our proven strategy of buy-andbuild.”

Indeed, PAI first approached Refresco prior to its public listing in 2015.

Hain Celestial Acquires UK Natural Sweeteners Business

Hans Roelofs, chief executive of Refresco.

leading independent producer of soft drinks and fruit juices for retailers and A-brands, has recommended that shareholders accept a Eur1.623 billion offer from a consortium of PAI Partners and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC).

The acquisition of Cotts’ bottling business has made Refresco the world’s largest independent bottler with leadership positions across Europe and North America through the addition of 19 production sites in the US, four in Canada, one in Mexico and five in the UK to Refresco’s business. The consortium fully supports Refresco’s buy-and-build strategy going forward, including the completion of the Cott acquisition.

Hans Roelofs, chief executive of Refresco, comments: “This Offer represents a fair value for our shareholders and is yet another milestone for the company. The consortium fully supports our strategy and with its track record, financial strength and understanding of our business, they can support the company whilst we accelerate our growth plan going forward.”

He continues: “Obtaining a public listing in 2015 was a well-considered decision and it has brought the company many opportunities. However, we have also grown and prospered under private equity ownership.

The Hain Celestial Group, a leading organic and natural products company with operations in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, has acquired Clarks UK for an undisclosed sum. Based at Newport in South Wales, Clarks produces natural sweeteners under the Clarks brand, including maple syrup, honey and carob, date and agave syrups, which are sold in leading retailers and used by food service and industrial customers in the UK. “We welcome Bob Clark and his team to the Hain Celestial family and look forward to working with Clarks in expanding the brand's development in

the United Kingdom and continental Europe,” says Irwin D Simon, founder, president and chief executive of Hain Celestial. “The Clarks brand and products are a strategic fit with the Hain Daniels spreads business for various natural sweeteners applications to complement our health and wellness portfolio of brands as consumers continue to seek to reduce their sugar intake and look for better-for-you alternatives to refined sugar.”

In calendar year 2016, Clarks generated approximately £7 million in net sales and is expected to be accretive to Hain Celestial's earnings in fiscal year 2019.

Owner of the Ella’s Kitchen,

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

Linda McCartney Foods and Gale’s Honey businesses, Hain Celestial operates sites in the US, UK, Canada, Belgium, France, Germany and Austria.

The Zamora Company Moves into American Whiskey The Zamora Company, a Spanish fifth generation, familyowned global wine and spirits business headquartered in Madrid, has acquired an equity stake in Yellow Rose Distilling, a leading American whiskey dis-

tiller in Houston, Texas. The Zamora Company is best known for Licor 43, Spain’s leading liqueur brand, as well as Villa Massa Limoncello and a wide array of wines led by the iconic Ramon Bilbao range.

“We have been looking into the burgeoning US whiskey market for some time now, and we are ecstatic to be able to incorporate Yellow Rose into our growing global portfolio,” says Emilio Restoy, managing director of the Zamora Company. “We are excited about the prospects and trajectory of the Yellow Rose brand, and we are committed to significantly increasing the investment to further the Yellow Rose footprint.”

Orkla Acquires Leading Czech Frozen Vegetable Producer Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Hamé, Nordic food group Orkla has purchased Agrimex, a leading frozen vegetable producer in the Czech Republic, for an undisclosed price. Hamé is a leading branded food company in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and holds strong positions in the liver paté, ready meals, ketchup, jam, baby food and tinned vegetable categories. Through the acquisition of Agrimex, Hamé

M E E R R G G E E R R S S M has strengthened its position in the frozen vegetable category.

“Agrimex and Hamé are a good fit. We are market leader in several categories in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and by purchasing Agrimex we will also acquire a solid foothold in frozen vegetables. Furthermore, we are strengthening our position in the out-of-home sector since more than one fourth of Agrimex’s sales are made through this channel,” says Atle Vidar Nagel Johansen, chief executive of Orkla Foods.

Unilever to Acquire TAZO Brand From Starbucks Unilever is to acquire the TAZO brand from Starbucks for US$384 million. TAZO is a leading brand in the fast-growing specialty tea category. The transaction represents a multiple of 10 times pro forma EBIT. TAZO had sales of US$112.5 million over the past year.

Founded in 1994, TAZO has a strong position in Specialty Black, Green and Herbal teas, as well as liquid concentrates focused in the Chai Latte segment.

“TAZO represents another strategic addition which strengthens our tea portfolio towards high growth segments.

Its artfully crafted specialty teas perfectly complement our global tea business, which includes Lipton, Pure Leaf, PG Tips, T2 and our recent addition, Pukka,” says Kevin Havelock, president of Refreshment at Unilever.

Kevin Havelock, president Refreshment at Unilever.

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Danone Invests in Deep Ocean Bottled Water Danone Manifesto Ventures, the corporate venture unit of Danone, has taken a minority stake in the Hawaii-based company Kona Deep. Kona Deep is creating a new category of premium water with its unique deep ocean water, sourced 3,000 feet below the ocean surface in Kona, Hawaii, from a pure source containing natural minerals.

After launching in Hawaii in late 2015, Kona Deep has recently expanded onto the US mainland where the demand for premium waters and performance waters is growing rapidly.

Danone Manifesto Ventures participated in Kona Deep’s $5.5 million financing round alongside Grand Crossing Capital and local Hawaiian investors.

Danone Manifesto Ventures was created in 2016 to invest in early stage, disruptive food and beverage, and food technology companies. Danone Manifesto Ventures partners with companies that share its vision of a healthy and sustainable future of food and leverages its experience to support its partners’ growth as a collaborative investor.

Arla Foods Disposes of Stake in Brazilian Dairy Following a change in ownership of Brazil’s leading dairy company Vigor, Arla Foods has decided to divest its 8% share in the company with immediate effect. Vigor has been sold by majority shareholder JBS to Mexican dairy company Grupo Lala. Arla Foods has sold its stake in Vigor to Lala.

“Arla has operated in the Brazilian market for decades, however a co-ownership of Vigor no longer serves our strategic purpose.

Our decision to divest is the best solution for Arla as we continue to focus our strategic investments on

Total Produce Acquires 50% of The Fresh Connection

pose of the sale is to concentrate Orkla’s activities on fewer categories.

K-Salat has a product portfolio of salad spreads, mayonnaise, remoulade, dressings and potato salads in Denmark. Under the agreement, Stryhns will take over the factory with around 100 employees in Havnso, Vestsjælland.

Orkla is a leading supplier of branded consumer goods and concept solutions to the grocery, outof-home and bakery markets in the Nordics, Baltics and selected markets in Central Europe and India.

Total Produce, the leading fresh produce company, has acquired a 50% equity stake in Californiabased fresh produce company, The Fresh Connec-tion. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Lafayette, California, the company is one of North America’s premier produce export companies with 2016 sales of about US$ 165 million.

Suntory and PepsiCo to Form Joint Venture in Thailand

creating sustainable growth through our business in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and USA,” explains Tim Orting Jorgensen, executive vice president of Arla Foods, who is responsible for the group’s international business.

The Fresh Connection is engaged in the year-round distribution and export of a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables to customers in more than 35 countries. The company serves its customers from operations in four key production regions.

The company partners with a network of trusted growers throughout the US, Mexico, South America, South Africa, and Australia to enable it to provide many varieties of fresh produce, principally citrus, apples, pears, grapes, berries, cherries, and stone fruit, to its customers.

Carl McCann, chairman of Total Produce, says: “This transaction further broadens our US presence and provides us with strategic access to other key markets.”

Orkla Sells K-Salat to Stryhns Orkla Foods Danmark has agreed to sell its K-Salat business to Stryhns, which is part of the Norwegian Agra group. The pur-

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

Tokyo Stock Exchange listed Suntory Beverage & Food and PepsiCo have agreed to form a beverage joint venture in Thailand.

The new joint venture is designed to build on PepsiCo’s strong existing position in Thailand and to create new growth opportunities for both companies in the market.

PepsiCo is one of the leading players in Thailand’s growing liquid refreshment beverage market, and the alliance is intended to combine the strengths of both companies in ways that are mutually beneficial to their businesses, customers and consumers. The joint venture also positions PepsiCo to continue to transform and expand its beverage portfolio to meet consumer demand for healthier options, and incorporate Suntory’s complementary brands and broad offerings.

Under the terms of the joint venture agreement, PepsiCo’s Thailand beverage business will change its name to Suntory PepsiCo Beverage (Thailand) Co. Suntory will become a 51% shareholder, while PepsiCo will retain 49%. Suntory and PepsiCo have an established record of successfully working together in other markets, including the US, Japan, Vietnam and New Zealand.

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COVER STORY

Barilla Invests €100 Million in Italian Pasta and Sauces Production Having celebrated its 140th anniversary in 2017, Barilla Group, the world’s largest pasta producer, is investing €100 million to enhance its Italian manufacturing base as it moves to further consolidate its market leadership.

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arilla Group has earmarked about Eur50 million to upgrade the world’s largest factory for dry pasta, located near the city of Parma. The Italian food group is already spending Eur50 million to expand its pasta sauces plant at Rubbiano, also near Parma.

The pasta plant, which has an annual output of about 350,000 tonnes, will be extended with the enlargement of the warehouse to improve efficiency.

Quality Raw Materials Of course, Barilla’s world-wide reputation for the high quality of its pasta is dependent upon the raw materials used. Barilla Group sources the best quality, high protein content duram wheat for the production of its pasta. The group has committed to purchase 900,000 tons of Italian wheat from 5,000 local farms in the Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Umbria, Tuscany, Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise, Basilicata, Campania and Apulia regions for the 2017-2019 period.

Barilla Group has earmarked about Eur50 million to upgrade the world’s largest factory for dry pasta, located near the city of Parma.

ly-owned company is also a leader in pasta sauces in continental Europe, bakery products in Italy, and crisp bread in Scandinavia.

Pictured (from left to right): Luca, Guido and Paolo Barilla.

Farmers are paid a financial incentive linked to the quality of wheat supplied. This is about 10-15% above the average market price, allowing growers to achieve profit levels that are on average 25% higher than with standard contracts.

Barilla Group also uses wheat sourced from outside Italy for its pasta production, importing on average 30% of its annual requirements, chiefly from France, North America and Australia. In 2016, the company purchased 1,167,000 tons of durum wheat globally, with about 70% sourced from local suppliers in close proximity to Barilla’s pasta production sites (Italy, United States, Greece, Turkey and Russia). In Italy, it purchased 732,000 tons of durum wheat, which is over half of the overall wheat that is bought in the country.

In addition to its global pre-eminence in pasta, the Italian fami-

Investment in Pasta Sauce Barilla Group’s paste sauces plant at Rubbiano was only opened in 2012, at a cost of Eur40 million. When the current Eur50 million expansion project is completed in 2018, the site will become the largest and most efficient production plant for pasta sauces in Europe, and one of the most sustainable in the world, in line with Barilla’s corporate ethos of ‘Good for You, Good for the Planet’.

About 75% of the facility’s output is destined for exports, especially to Europe. Barilla Group is currently the Italian market leader in pasta sauces by value, it ranks second in Germany and France, and third worldwide. Indeed, since Barilla inaugurated its plant at Rubbiano in 2012, volume sales of its sauces have increased by more than 45% in all geographical areas.

The Rubbiano plant is already running at near capacity and the expansion programme will increase production up to 122,000 tons/year. The Eur50 million investment will also expand the range of products made at the plant from tomato-based sauces, Pesto and Pestati to all recipes containing meat.

“It will be a totally integrated factory, designed in-house and fully consistent with the ‘Good for You, Good for the Planet’ business strategy,” comments Carlo Carteri, head of Pasta and Sauce Production Plants in Europe at Barilla Group. “It will feature innovative technology with robotised and digitalised equipment in line with Industry 4.0 logics, capable of further boosting the levels of product quality and safety by combining efficiency and flexibility with a sophisticated traceability system.”

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

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The new plant, which is being totally designed in-house by Barilla technicians, will use the latest technology to reproduce the authentic flavours and product quality associated with Italian home cooking but on an industrial scale. The ingredients for the sauces are sourced in Italy. All the fresh basil is Italian, and the tomatoes are from the Po river plains. Furthermore, the meat comes from animals raised in Italy, with full traceability for all the recipes produced in the Rubbiano plant.

Barilla Group is spending Eur50 million to expand its pasta sauces plant at Rubbiano.

Global Expansion Barilla was established in Parma in 1877 as a shop producing bread and pasta. The family business has since developed from just another small Italian pasta producer into the world’s largest and best-known pasta brand (see Panel). Operating 28 productions plants (14 in Italy and 14 abroad), Barilla Group generated sales of Eur3.41 billion in 2016 – up 2% on 2015. It currently employs

140 Years of Growth at Barilla Group ed product from Italy and packaged it in Syracuse, New York. Barilla constructed its first US production plant at Ames in Iowa in 1998.

To meet rising consumer demand, Barilla opened its second US facility at Avon in New York in 2006.

Capable of producing 130 tons of long pasta and 165 tons of short pasta daily, the Avon site is characterised by technical expertise derived from Barilla’s Italian operations coupled with lessons learned from its first factory in the US, to create a state-of-the-art production facility.

Barilla was established in Parma in 1877 as a shop producing bread and pasta. Pietro Barilla, a grandson of the company founder, who joined the family business in 1947, is credited with masterminding the transformation of Barilla from just another small Italian pasta producer into the world’s largest and best-known pasta brand.

A trip to New York after the Second World War convinced Pietro Barilla of the importance of marketing and communication. He adopted stylish designs for the first pasta packaging in the 1950s and pioneering promotional campaigns featuring Italian singers, actors and film-maker Federico Fellini.

However, the business left family hands in the early 1970s when it was sold to US multinational firm Grace.

Pietro Barilla managed to buy back the company in 1979, when his focus turned to growing the business by bringing pasta to all of Italy, then to Europe and beyond under the belief that ‘pasta is the soul of Italian cooking’.

Future Direction In 2013, Barilla completed the sale of Lieken, its German bakery product business, to Czech group Agrofert.

Lieken had net sales of approximately Eur780 million in 2012 and employed 4,700 people. It was bought by Barilla Group in 2002, as

Rapid Growth The turnover rose tenfold during the following decade and the number of factories increased from five to 25 and employment from 2,000 to 8,500 people as Barilla began to internationalise the business. Following Pietro Barilla’s death in September 1993, the leadership of the company passed to the elder son, Guido, with Luca and Paolo becoming vice-chairmen.

Barilla Group continued its rapid internationalisation process throughout the 1990s and the first decade of the new Millennium, growing its presence in European and US markets, opening new production plants and acquiring important brands such as Pavesi (Italy), Misko (Greece), Filiz (Turkey), Wasa (Sweden), Yemina and Vesta (Mexico), Lieken (Germany) and Harry’s (France).

The Italian group’s assault on the US pasta market commenced in 1996 - and within three years Barilla had become the leading US brand. Its current market share is close to 30%. Indeed, Barilla is attempting to emulate its success in the US in other international markets.

Initially, Barilla import-

part of the acquisition of Kamps.

The sale of Lieken was in line with Barilla’s new development strategy, announced in June 2012, which is to focus on growing in pasta, sauces and ready meals worldwide, and to strengthen its branded bakery business in Italy and other key European markets.

For example, Barilla Group recently spent Eur15 million to install two new production lines dedicated to pasta at its Solnechnogorsk plant, in the Moscow region, which was already producing sauces, bread, bakery products and biscuits. Barilla operates in Russia and in other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States through the Harry’s CIS brand, which was acquired in 2004.

“Russia is a strategic market for the Barilla Group, as shown by the investment in the Solnechnogorsk plant, which represents an important page in the history of our brand in this country,” says Luca Barilla, vice president of the Barilla Group. “It is a sustainable choice, in line with the only way we do business – ‘Good for you, Good for the Planet’ - which allows us to make pasta of the same quality produced in Italy, using local raw materials and collaborating with important and qualified partners in the agrifood sector.”

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

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over 8,000 people and exports to more than 100 countries. Pasta, ready meals and sauces account for over half of group revenue.

Pietro Barilla, a grandson of the company founder, who joined the family business in 1947, is credited with masterminding the transformation of Barilla into an international food group.

Following his death in September 1993, the leadership of the company passed to his elder son, Guido, with Luca and Paolo Barilla becoming vice-chairmen.

A key factor in the company’s successful international expansion has been its ability to adapt to changing conCarlo Carteri, head of Pasta and Sauce Production Plants in sumer demanEurope at Barilla Group. ds.

Nutritional Profile Barilla Group has been improving the nutritional profile of its product portfolio since 2010 by reducing fats and salt, and increasing the number of whole grain products. In 2016 alone, the enterprising company reformulated 150 recipes, removing palm oil from all its bakery products in the process. Indeed, during 2016, Barilla Group invested Eur40 million in research and development activities targeted at improving the nutritional profile of its products.

“We want to plan our future around our mission of Good for You, Good for the Planet,” explains Guido Barilla, chairman of Barilla Group. “The goal of our development model is for Barilla to be the preferred brand for people, promoting healthy and joyful eating inspired by the Mediterranean lifestyle.”

Future Development Since 2012, Barilla Group’s development strategy has focused on expanding its core business in pasta, sauces and ready meals worldwide, while strengthening its branded bakery business in Italy and other key European markets. The Italian family-owned food group is concentrating on consolidating its leadership in the European and US markets, and taking advantage of new opportunities in emerging markets, particularly Brazil.

“Basically, we are pasta makers and bakers; this is the line of work our family has pursued over the last four generations, with the help of outstanding co-workers. It is the only line of work we can and try to improve every day,” says Guido Barilla. J

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FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

Ricciarelli – The Packaging Systems Specialist icciarelli was established 175 years ago as a simple mechanic R workshop, before becoming a specialised company in the production of dies for pasta and finally, since in 1956, a company that builds packaging machines.

Barilla has been an abiding companion in this journey Ricciarelli is Barilla’s historical supplier. Clients like Barilla, who are always looking for new and more advanced technologies, who always respect the safety rules for the users of their machines and who always check the quality of the packaging, have made it possible for Ricciarelli to develop new solutions.

The wide range of automated solutions Ricciarelli suggests for the packaging and palletizing areas totally meet the requirements of the Italian and foreign markets in the pasta sector, with different options available so that every client has a completely customized installation that is designed and implemented in every detail to provide more sophisticated solutions in order to improve the quality of the packaging and guarantee safety measures throughout.

Solutions designed and implemented for Barilla, are afterwards adopted by other clients. This gives Barilla the leadership in innovation and it gives Ricciarelli an opportunity to propose to customers other solutions which have already been tested.

In 2017, Ricciarelli supplied packaging machines to Barilla’s Turkish factory for bags of spaghetti with a length of 170 mm and for long goods in cartons. In Italy, Ricciarelli supplied the packaging for the latest long pasta line for ‘food service’ in the Voiello factory.

Many other projects are in development phase both for the Italian operations and the American and Russian ones - projects that need a major commitment in terms of long-term development time and the human resources involved. Ricciarelli is grateful to Barilla for its trust through many years of collaboration. J

New Website Simplifies Tray Sealer Selection ray sealing specialist Proseal has launched a new website, specifiT cally designed to help visitors identify the best solution for their sealing requirements. The easy-to-navigate site includes two special sections to guide customers through the different Proseal machines and variety of options that are available to deliver fast, high quality sealing for a huge range of products.

Visitors can either search via the Food Categories page to identify the recommended equipment for different food types, such as red meat, pork, poultry, ready meals, sandwiches and snacks, fish, produce, and desserts. Alternatively, for those users who already know their process and sealing speed requirements, the Find My Machine page enables them to select these criteria from a simple grid and then click on a button to bring up the suitable machines.

The new website also provides full details of all Proseal models as well as the company’s ancillary equipment and comprehensive support services, including the ability of Proseal tray sealers to provide

centralised set-up and operation of the entire packing line.

The new website can be viewed at www.proseal.com. J

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I CONFECTIONERY & SNACKS

ProSweets Cologne – Ingredients For Sweets & Snacks ProSweets Cologne, the international trade fair for the sweets and snacks industry, will be taking a look at the industry’s future in 2018. n important topic for the consumer is less artificial ingredients, less sugar and fat, and instead more natural tastes, colours and consistencies for sweets and snacks. In order to adapt the sensory and nutritional characteristics in a natural way, manufacturers are making use of the opportunities provided by the ingredients industry. Market-leading companies such as Döhler, GNT and Olam are represented at ProSweets Cologne as well as smaller and medium-sized companies. ProSweets Cologne is once again being staged parallel to ISM, the world’s largest and most important trade fair for sweets and snacks.

A consumer study by Döhler Sensory & Consumer Science comes to the conclusion that over half of consumers are interested in more healthy sweets and snacks and that they place great value on more natural ingredients.

Healthy foodstuffs are increasingly positioning themselves on the market according to the criteria of what they do not contain.

Claims such as ‘sugar-free’ and ‘lactose-free’ are beginning to break away from their niche existence and becoming mainstream instead. “Brands particularly profit from marketing health and naturalness,” Julia Buch, Food and Drink Analyst at Mintel, confirms. The industry is reacting to the

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preferences of the consumers with recipe adaptions and the development of new products.

Sweets Without Sugar The search for an alternative to sugar is reflected by the long-standing commitment of the food industry. The ingredients specialists are supporting the industry with

functional carbohydrates that are intended to replace traditional granulated sugar without compromising quality. Product developers, who implement these cleverly combined with plant fibres can in this way reduce the calories and at the same time improve the mouthfeel, creaminess and texture.

The concepts developed by Beneo, based on the sugar replacements isomalt and inulin, a natural fibre from the chicory root, are a prime example of this. Thanks to its long-chain molecule structure, under shear force it forms a fat-like texture in water-based systems, which in the case of milk chocolate helps to reduce the fat content without affecting the melting characteristics to a large extent. In combination with isomalt, the sugar content can be reduced by over two thirds. The milk chocolate keeps the blood sugar level down low and can be marketed using the claim ‘without added sugar’.

Innovative Production Processes The success of reformulated sweets underlies many of the innovative processes, which in addition to ingredients and packing materials are under focus at ProSweets Cologne. In the case of boiled chews it is

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FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

particularly the sugar base that causes challenges for product developers. Chewinggum with its dry kneading processes on the other hand enables a long-lasting taste experience without calories. Candy2Gum

by Wacker unites both worlds. The technology enables chews to be produced that turn into chewing-gum in the mouth. The basis is a ready-to-use premix, which can be completely melted down and which can be homogeneously mixed into sweet masses that contain sugar or that are sugar-free.

The raw material enables chewing gum-like sweets to be cooked and formed into any desired shapes. In this way, water-based ingredients that contain fats as well as natural ingredients such as fruit juices, cocoa or coffee can also be added.

The Wacker technicians spent two years of intense work perfecting the right mixture. Parallel to this the engineers of the sweet machine builder, Chocotech, adapted the machinery. They equipped a production line that is used to make hard caramels with an additional melting container including a pump and flow meter. The cooled down mass finally runs through a cut and wrap machine that cuts the sweets into bite-sized pieces and wraps them.

Natural Alternatives Whether fruit lollies, creamy chews or dark chocolate with matcha, exhibitors at ProSweets Cologne are presenting a wealth of natural alternatives and aromas for a perfect sensory profile of sugar-reduced products. These include fruit extracts and stevioglycoside that is gained from the stevia plant, which are used in MultiSweet Fruit and MultiSweet Stevia offered by Döhler for instance.

In total, over 300 companies from the manufacturing, packing and ingredients sectors are once again expected in Cologne from 28 to 31 January 2018. Experts will

explain at the stands how the all-in-one ingredient systems harmonise with the other recipe ingredients. Manufacturers, who want to expand their portfolio to include sugar- or fat-reduced sweets and snacks, can find experienced contact partners for the development of new and innovative product ideas at the fair.

The ‘Ingredients - Reformulation for Sweets & Snacks’ special event continues to

be part of the event programme of ProSweets Cologne. The DLG will once again be offering tours to different exhibitors from the Ingredients section.Furthermore, lectures on the theme of ‘Reformulation’ are again on the agenda at Speakers Corner.

For further information visit www.prosweets-cologne.com and www. ism-cologne.com. J

Top 30 Players in the Confectionery Market in Europe Company Ranking 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

Ultimate Holding Company Mondelez Internationa Mars Nestle Lindt & Sprungli Ferrero CFP Brands Haribo Guta Group Cloetta AB Alfred Ritter Storck Fazer Toms Elah Dufour Udarnista Tangerine Confectionery CVC Capital Orkla Ricola Bremer Hachez Lotte Confectionery Colian Wawel Ekovita Cemoi CD Holding Heilemann Ritter Migros Baronie Group

Company Market Shares 17.73% 12.72% 8.41% 7.13% 5.32% 4.32% 3.57% 3.22% 2.66% 1.94% 1.91% 1.59% 1.46% 0.99% 0.71% 0.62% 0.57% 0.52% 0.52% 0.47% 0.47% 0.46% 0.44% 0.44% 0.44% 0.41% 0.40% 0.40% 0.40% 0.39%

Source: Food for Thought, see: www.fft.com.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

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I CONFECTIONERY & SNACKS

ProSweets Cologne – Sustainably Packed Sweets & Snacks Sustainability and usability are the current mega trends when it comes to the packing of sweets and snacks. t ProSweets Cologne the packaging theme is being addressed in a number of ways. Numerous exhibitors supplying packing machines and packaging materials will be presenting their ranges of services and new developments.

These include among others Belgian Sweets Design, Robert Bosch Packaging Technology Division, ESBE Plastic, Fuji Packaging, Gerhard Schubert, Loesch Verpackungstechnik, MC Automations, Schur Star Systems, Sopp Industrie and Theegarten-Pactec. A new special event ‘Function meets Design’ focuses intensely on the challenges of packing design and its significance for the consumer.

Furthermore, various lectures are being held on this complex theme within the event programme.

Not only big groups, but also mediumsized companies are placing more and more importance on sustainability. A survey by the consulting company Smithers Pira came to the conclusion that this commitment should pay off at the point of sale.

Because for the majority of the distributors and brand owners interviewed it is primarily the consumers, who are demanding sustainability today when purchasing sweets.

For packaging to be considered sustainable, it has to be recyclable, made of renewable and if possible lightweight material, have a low ecological footprint and be either biodegradable or compostable.

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Recyclable Trays, Bowls and Blisters The exhibiting companies at the Cologne fair grounds are picking up on the sustain-

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ability aspects across the entire packing value chain and are consistently relying on material downsizing. This strategy is being pursued by implementing packing materials that can be easily recycled and which thanks to reduced material thicknesses save raw materials.

The options available range from wrap-arounds for chocolate bars to tins for stacked crisps and biscuit liners, through to multifunctional display packing for bags of sweets, which guarantee easy recycling. Examples of these include the foldable boxes of Metsa Board, which guarantee lightweight and stable box qualities through the use of fresh fibres. The Finnish company will be represented at the coming ProSweets Cologne by printcity.

A further exciting alternative to classic materials such as aluminium and plastic are films made of cellulose and bioplastics.

Regrowing raw materials such as plant starch made of maize, potatoes or wheat, but also fibres containing cellulose as well as agricultural remnants provide the source molecules for the bioplastic, which is gaining increased significance on the market.

Packing Without a Flaw On the machinery front, the exhibitors at ProSweets are satisfying the current market requirements with machines that are optimised for the sustainable processing of a wide range of packing materials. The LTMDUO by LoeschPack for instance enables all types of fold wraps for bars of chocolate and packs up to 180 bars a minute in bio-degradable film.

Thanks to the two-stage design, the machine folds and welds the film exactly - without flaws which in practise leads to a result that is comparable to the haptic and visual appearance of aluminium film.

Whether it is about sustainable materials or packing machines for chocolate, sweets or savoury snacks, ProSweets Cologne offers abundant professional support and guides the way to carbon

neutral packaging. Sustainability is however just one of the mega trends, because as classic on-the-go products, snacks and sweets are frequently purchased spontaneously and eaten immediately. The aim is to develop packing that is tailor-made to suit the needs of the consumers.

Fuji Packaging, which is exhibiting in Cologne, specialises in convenient packing for sweets and snacks. Its Alpha Wrapper offers a solution which meets the demands of convenient packing. Thanks to the report control, the machine produces pouches that are sealed on one side - for wafer-thin mint bars, which can be easily extracted from the delicate packing. This is just one example of many of how the over 300 exhibitors at ProSweets are reacting to the latest market trends.

ISM ISM, which is being staged in parallel, will also show which ideas are currently being implemented by the manufacturers in terms of packing sweets and snacks. Over 1,600 exhibitors from across the globe will be presenting their products at ISM, including numerous innovations. The ‘ISM Packaging Award powered by ProSweets Cologne’ will once again in 2018 be conferred within the ambit of the ‘New Product Showcase’.

As in 2017, the ProSweets Cologne admission tickets are also valid for visiting ISM and similarly the ISM admission tickets entitle holders to visit ProSweets Cologne. Further information, the exhibitor list and admission tickets are available at www.prosweetscologne.com/www.ism-cologne.de. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

I PROSWEETS 2018 PREVIEWS

Flowpack Packaging Machines and Robotics – Working Together Seamlessly t the ProSweets fair in Cologne between 28 and 31 January A 2018, Schubert will once again be showcasing its expertise in packaging confectionery and snacks in a wide selection of variants and packaging formats. At the show, the Flowmodul flow-wrapping component, which is seamlessly integrated into a TLM system, will be presented. The innovation has enjoyed great success since its market launch, especially in the confectionery sector. In addition to its top-loading packaging machine system and packaging into flowpacks, the company offers this sector a close to unlimited range of possible packaging variants. Furthermore, Schubert will be focusing on ‘industrial digitalisation’ with topics such as predictive maintenance and the company's own GRIPS.world service platform.

At the ProSweets show, Schubert will use its Flowmodul to demonstrate a flow-wrap packaging component which is seamlessly integrated into a TLM packaging system.

In combination with proven robotics and image processing technology, the Flowmodul enables the highly flexible packaging of snacks and confectionery of all types of flowpacks. The end-packaging

tion solution delivers. Overall, when it comes to packaging a wide range of products, the technology achieves unprecedented performance levels in terms of space requirements, changeover times and product variety. In Cologne, Schubert will be presenting a picker line with five F4 robots that place sandwich biscuits into the Flowmodul’s product infeed system and which then packs them in flowpacks.

process into cartons can also be seamlessly connected to the primary packaging process, in a single TLM packaging line.

With the Flowmodul, small batch sizes, short product life cycles and extensive product variety can be handled more efficiently than ever before. Schubert’s flowwrap packaging technology has since proven itself in the packaging of a wide range of products such as chocolate bars, biscuits, cakes and chocolate figures.

Unified system control, ease of use, highly flexible robot loading, powerful image processing and the fact that the customer receives a solution from a single vendor are among the unique advantages this automa-

Schubert 4.0 Another focus of the exhibition will be digitalisation. In this context, the market leader in digital packaging machines will be presenting its web-based GRIPS.world platform, which will ultimately combine all important functions for monitoring and documenting machine data via a single user interface. By networking the TLM machines via this digital solution, Schubert will be able to continuously monitor machine performance and any deviations from target status – thereby further expanding its preventive service portfolio.

The objective is to entirely avoid unplanned machine downtimes.

For further information visit www.gerhard-schubert.de. J

Bradman Lake Group at ProSweets Lake Group is participating at the ProSweets, where Bradman visitors to Bradman Lake’s stand number 10.1 E051 can discuss

their projects and packaging requirements. Bradman Lake’s experts will be available throughout the show for consultation and advice regarding state-of-the-art, technology focused equipment solutions to cover primary, secondary and tertiary packaging formats.

Bradman Lake offer a comprehensive range of machines for product storage and distribution, orientation and collating, flow and roll wrapping, robotic loading, cartoning, wraparound tray and case packing. All machines – delivered and supported by awardwinning customer service – have been specifically designed to meet the challenges of today’s packaging industry and with over 65 years of experience, Bradman Lake’s knowledge in the gentle handling and packaging of all types of chocolate, confectionery and snack products is second to none.

Bradman Lake has one clear aim – to maximise customer’s profitability by utilising leading edge integrated technology. With many thousands of installations to its credit worldwide, whether your requirement is a single machine or a totally integrated solution, Bradman Lake makes the ideal partner. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

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I CONFECTIONERY

Back to the Future – A New Generation of Finn Coaters and Polishers inn Coaters and Polishers manufactured by family business DT & F G Limited in Great Britain have stayed at the forefront of belt coating for generations and now with the development of a closed surface continuous belt with no hinges, opening or crevasses, allowing improved production and improved sanitary and hygiene processes, they are delivering a ‘first’ again.

ThermoDrive Belt with Intralox Continuous Belt, a new generation of belt coating from Finn. “We support the DT&G Ltd Finn team in this ground breaking development.” – Intralox.

Finn Drip and Finn Spray Bars.

Lyn Pitt, Manging Director, says: “The Continuous Solid belt is on all of our trial facility machines for Coating and Polishing, it is a winner and we are absolutely sure it is the way forward for all confectioners.”

Wayne Woods, Engineering Manager, comments: “It is another first for us, innovating for the future to improve dragee production and reduced cleaning downtime. We have maintained our excellent design and build standards while proving our commitment to our clients.”

Pride in the Finn brand and love of the confectionery world has seen projects the team have travelled to in Europe, SE Asia, USA, Africa and early in 2018 to Latin America, Australia and India.

Lyn Pitt is so proud of her team and their determination to innovate for the benefit of clients.

Alongside the Continuous Solid Belt development, the Automation and Health and Safety aspect has been continually improved.

“Finn Coaters and Polishers have aspired, with ourselves, to deliver outstanding automation incorporating efficiency, reliability and ease of use.” - Chris Tye, Director, Tycon Automation.

The Finn Customer Advisory team working to deliver excellence to all of clients. “We love Monday Mornings and working with Confectioners, this is one of the best Companies in the World!”- Jane, Robbie, Wayne, Luke and Lyn.

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Listening to production teams has added another service to the Finn portfolio with specialist consultants working to help develop products and the very best machinery for optimal production.

If you have any projects you would like the support and focus of DT &G Limited please contact: • Lyn Pitt, Managing Director: Email lyn.pitt@dtg-ltd.co.uk • Wayne Woods, Engineering Manager: Email Wayne@dtg-ltd.co.uk J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

I EVENTS

Trade Fair and More – The Event and Congress Programme For Anuga FoodTec 2018 esource efficiency will be the primary focus of Anuga FoodTec R 2018, the leading international trade fair for the food and beverage industry, which will be held in Cologne, Germany from 20 to 23 March 2018. Around 1,700 suppliers from more than 50 countries will be presenting their new products for the production and packing of all types of food on 140,000 square metres of exhibition space.

The comprehensive range of exhibits will once again this year also be accompanied by a multi-faceted event and congress programme featuring target group-specific lectures, conferences, forums, guided tours, special events and networking events. As usual, the German Agricultural Association (DLG) is responsible for the professional organisation of the congress programme.

Optimise production processes, reduce the energy and water consumption, minimise the loss of foodstuffs as far as possible - the half-day opening conference of Anuga FoodTec, which is completely dedicated to the theme resource efficiency, demonstrates this and much more. The speakers are the internationally renowned experts including Prof Dr Michael Braungart (Scientific Manager of the Hamburg Environmental Institute (HUI), Hamburg); Prof Dr Ruud Huirne (Food & Agri Director, the Netherlands, Rabobank), Prof Pierre Pienaar (President of the World Packaging Organisation) and Prof Dr Alexander Sauer (Director, Institute for Energy Efficiency in Production EEP, University of Stuttgart). The opening conference is scheduled to take place at 2:00 pm on 20 March, in the Europasaal of the Congress Centre East.

Guided Tours The guided tours offer a compact and informative overview of specific themes of the food and beverage industry. In the course of the tours, selected exhibitors will present and explain their products, machines and functions live on-site. Interested visitors can take part in different tours daily. The themes of the guided tours include among others robotics, Industry 4.0, more flexibility in the filling and packing technology, meat and dairy technologies as well as innovative packing materials. Registrations are possible from 24 January onwards and are urgently recommended.

Plenty on the Programme Anuga FoodTec 2018 exhibitors will present their companies, their product range and/or innovations to a broad trade audience in the Speakers Corner. A different, exciting theme is on the agenda every 30 minutes throughout the entire duration of the trade fair. The Speakers Corner can be found in Passage 4/5. Furthermore, the trade visitors can look forward to special events like the ‘RobotikPack-Line’ or a special exhibition on the theme of ‘Packaging Design’. The numerous live presentations of the exhibitors round off the Anuga FoodTec experience perfectly. Those, who would like the opportunity to see a certain machine in operation can find out online about the demonstration times of the machines shortly before the fair begins. Interested parties can find the respective categories and the demonstration times of the machines via the event search and the option ‘Extended Search’/’Themes’.

For further information on Anuga FoodTec visit www.anugafoodtec.com/aft/trade-fair/events/index.php. J

Diversity Guaranteed: The Expert Forums of Anuga FoodTec From food and beverage technology, to packing, through to current and future trends - the expert forums of Anuga FoodTec offer numerous opportunities for gaining new information and for exchanging views with national and international experts. This year’s leading theme ‘Resource Efficiency’ is both the focus of the forum and the opening conference. Two further focuses of the expert forums are ‘Themes, Trends, Technologies - that are moving the food industry’ as well as ‘Food Ingredients’.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

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Aseptic Filling – A Component For Safe Food hether fresh milk, yoghurt or fruit juice, the market for aseptically filled W beverages is growing. The flip side of the coin: Food manufacturers have to be even more consistent in ensuring hygienically impeccable production conditions. Physical processes for preservation and aseptically filling systems come to their aid here, like those that will be the centre of attention at Anuga FoodTec in Cologne from 20 to 23 March 2018.

Today, foodstuffs have to be as fresh and as untreated as possible - according to the consumer demands at the point of sale. The trend towards natural food leads to the manufacturers having to adhere to extremely high hygiene standards in the production, if they want to do without the implementation of preservatives and high temperatures during the preserving process. Minimal processing is the key term under which Anuga FoodTec is bundling the related necessary techniques and systems at the fair grounds.

Aseptic Through a Sterile Food Environment The cold-aseptic filling process into plastic bottles or beverage cartons is considered worldwide to be the supreme discipline in this area - a process that fills a receptacle with a commercial sterile beverage or foodstuff using food technology related sterile machinery. The entire production is carried out in a low-germ environment, in the course of which the foodstuff and the pack-

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ing materials are sterilised separately and brought together under aseptic conditions.

Such a sterile food environment is essential for aseptic filling - especially when sensitive products are filled that have a low level of self-protection against the growth of microorganisms. Guaranteeing this is no easy task for the producers - after all in addition to the technological aspects, the related costs also play an important role in the investment decision-making process.

Minimising the Critical Section In the sections of the machinery that products come into contact with, an area around the machinery has to be created where the sterile conditions are maintained. In order to increase the security of the cold-aseptic filling as well as its economic efficiency, the machine builders pursue above all one aim: The critical sections that come into contact with products should be kept as small and simple as possible. The more complex a filling system is, the more costly it is to ensure permanent aseptic conditions. However, clean rooms are not implemented for all aseptic systems. In some cases, an aseptic zone is implemented, which is kept aseptic using a positive displacement flow of sterile air.

Ways Toward Sterilisation The prerequisite for aseptic conditions is the easy-to-clean design and the reliable cleaning of systems, machinery, devices and com-

ponents as well as if necessary the process environment, if it is classified as coming into contact with the products. The sterilisation has to be maintained throughout the entire production time. The packing material and packing aids have to fulfil the same prerequisites. This means they have to be cleanable and sterilisable and aseptically fillable.

Depending on the packing material different techniques can be implemented for aseptic systems: Sterilisation using hydrogen peroxide (dry aseptic) or using peracetic acid (wetaseptic). Sometimes the techniques are also combined. The sterilisation of the packing material can also be carried out on the preforms. Pulsed-light is a further technique.

The principle: A high-intensity flash impacts for around 0.3 seconds on the surfaces of the cups and lids sterilising them effectively.

The outlook for Anuga FoodTec 2018 shows: There is a high demand for coldaseptic processes among the food and beverage manufacturers. Here, pieces of fruit and vegetable have recently come under focus, which until now could only be hot-filled an aspect that will no doubt play a role in the guided tours of the dairy technology at Anuga FoodTec. In the course of a one-hour tour around the trade fair, exhibitors will each have ten minutes to present innovative products including aseptic lines and readyto-use filling systems. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

I FROZEN FOOD

McCain Foods Starts Work on £100 Million Renewal of UK Facility Canada-based McCain Foods, the world’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, has commenced work on its £100 million investment programme to renew its production facility at Scarborough in England. cCain Foods GB is the leader in the UK retail and food service sectors in frozen potato products such as French fries, potato specialties and appetisers. Indeed, McCain is the best selling frozen potato brand in the UK. Established in 1968, McCain Foods’ Eastfield production facility at Scarborough is one of the Canadian food group’s most successful sites. McCain Foods has been operating in the UK market since 1965, initially through exports before establishing a manufacturing presence. Indeed, Britain was the group’s first major overseas market and was used as a platform for further expansion into continental Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

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Renewal Programme In addition to equipment upgrades, the £100 million investment programme at Eastfield, which has been approved by Scarborough Borough Council, includes extensive landscaping around the perimeter of the factory along with implementing renewable technology to further reduce environmental impact.

Nick Vermont, chief executive of McCain Foods GB & Ireland, comments: “The investment we are making to renew the facility will secure the continued, long-term success of our site here in Eastfield for generations to come, allowing us to meet the increased demand for our products. As well as upgrading equipment, we will also be delivering broader environmental benefits, such as installing state-of-the-art odour reduction technology.”

McCain Foods McCain Foods GB is the leader in the UK retail and operates four factories across the UK and also food service sectors in frozen potato products.

Pictured (left to right): Derek Bastiman, leader of Scarborough Borough Council; Stuart Herd, vice president of McCain Foods; Jim Dillon, chief executive of Scarborough Borough Council; and Nick Vermont, chief executive of McCain Foods GB & Ireland.

owns a seed potato business based at Montrose in Scotland. Indeed, McCain Foods is the UK’s largest purchaser of British potatoes, buying approximately 15% of the annual potato crop. The company has established close links with over 300 potato growers across the UK, so that it can exert control over its field to fork supply chain to ensure optimum quality. $1 Billion Investment The renewal of the Scarborough site is part of an extensive investment programme of more than $1 billion to increase capacity across the frozen food giant’s plants and facilities in the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, France, Belgium, Argentina, Colombia and India, reflecting the company’s continued growth on a global scale. Having celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2017, McCain Foods remains family-owned. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

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I FRESH PRODUCE

FRUIT LOGISTICA 2018 – 7-9 February 2018 – Berlin, Germany rom 7-9 February 2018 companies from F across the entire fresh produce sector – from global players to small and mediumsized companies and organisations from all over the world - will again be present at FRUIT LOGISTICA 2018 in Berlin.

Over 3,000 exhibitors and approximately 76,000 visitors attend FRUIT LOGISTICA, the leading global trade fair for the fresh fruit and vegetable industry, every year. FRUIT LOGISTICA covers the entire spectrum of the fresh fruit and vegetable sector: • Fresh fruit and vegetables • Dried fruit and nuts • Packaging and labelling • Transport and logistical systems • Produce handling and storage • Computer and internet solutions • Cultivation systems • Greenhouses and greenhouse technology.

Because FRUIT LOGISTICA encompasses every single sector of the fresh produce business, it provides a complete picture of the latest innovations, products and services at every link in the international supply chain. It consequently offers superb networking and contact opportunities to the key decision-makers in every sector of the industry.

Range of Events One of the strengths of FRUIT LOGISTICA is that it brings together a vast array of experts who offer valuable advice. From its annual curtain-raiser ‘Fruitnet World of Fresh Ideas’, which presents the latest trends and newest innovations in the world of fresh produce, to the ‘Fresh Produce Forum’, which addresses a series of key challenges facing the industry, FRUIT LOGISTICA’s programme of events is your fast-track to finding the right answers.

There is also the ‘Future Lab’, where the industry’s brightest minds highlight some of

‘Ulti-Mite Swirski’ - a compostable bag containing a breeding medium for the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii developed for the biological

the most interesting products, services and trends in their conceptual stage. Plus visitors can learn about new developments in cold chain logistics at the ‘Logistics Hub’; see tomorrow’s technology in action today at the ‘Tech Stage’; and stop by the ‘Frutic Symposium’ to hear how water use is being optimised in the fresh produce supply chain.

Wilfried Wollbold, FRUIT LOGISTICA Global Brand Manager, comments: “As consumers become more interested in eating healthily, fresh produce suppliers and their service providers have an enormous opportunity to satisfy that demand. To do so, however, they must show that they can offer buyers tasty, high-quality products that are

‘Wasabi Giftbox’- a gift box made of untreated wood containing a fresh wasabi rhizome and a wasabi rasp.

also convenient, safe, readily available and, in many cases, sourced ethically and sustainably. FRUIT LOGISTICA is the best place to do that by far.” J

The 2018 FRUIT LOGISTICA Innovation Awards Nominees The shortlist for the 2018 FRUIT LOGISTICA Innovation Award (FLIA) has been announced. The special feature of the FRUIT LOGISTICA Innovation Award is that it is selected by the more than 75,000 high-profile trade visitors from over 130 countries attending the exhibition.

A panel of experts consisting of rep- ‘Adora’ – a firm, dark-brown Marmande tomato with an resentatives from all levels of the fresh exceptionally balanced intense sweet-sour taste and an produce trade has nominated the fol- excellent shelf life. lowing ten innovations from more than 70 submissions: • ‘Adora’, HM Clause, Spain - A firm, dark-brown Marmande tomato with an exceptionally balanced intense sweet-sour taste and an excellent shelf life.

• ‘H2Hybrid’, H2Hydroponics, Spain - A patented nursery and irrigation system for hydroponic plant breeding using oxygen enrichment to reduce water consumption by up to 80% and energy consumption by up to 25%.

• ‘In-field Laboratory for Agricultural Testing’, Croptimal, Israel - A mobile technological solution for carrying out accurate real-time practical tests on crops, soil and water over a period of minutes rather than days.

• ‘LogoFrucht’, Kellermeister Manns, Germany - A process for printing on fruit and vegetables of any shape.

• ‘Malver’, Turatti, Italy - An electromechanical system for the precise automatic peeling of all kinds of pitted and halved mangos with an average capacity of approximately 48 pieces per minute.

• ‘Pook Coconut Chips’, PookSpaFoods, Germany - Tasty natural crisps made from fresh coconut with a unique taste, processed without oil or fat and available in Original Sea Salt, Mango Sea Salt and Chocolate Sea Salt varieties.

• ‘Scheufelen Grass Paper – Greenliner’, Papierfabrik Scheufelen - Ecological packaging material made of up to 50% fresh grass fibre. The raw material base contributes to a sustainable reduction in energy and water consumption.

• ‘The Alberts Smoothie Station’, Alberts powered by Greenyard, Belgium - A smoothie vending machine that prepares 100% natural smoothies from frozen fruits and vegetables based on the user’s own individual selection and recipe.

• ‘Ulti-Mite Swirski’, Koppert Biological Systems, Netherlands - A compostable bag containing a breeding medium for the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii developed for the biological control of thrips. Patent-pending.

• ‘Wasabi Giftbox’, East4Fresh – Color2Food, Netherlands - A gift box made of untreated wood containing a fresh wasabi rhizome and a wasabi rasp.

control of thrips.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

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I FRESH PRODUCE

How Technology is Paving the Way For the Fresh Produce Industry Cottage Farms has implemented a software system designed specifically for packhouses proving how technology has paved the way for the fresh produce industry and how important it really is. ottage Farms is part of the Avalon C Produce group of Grower/Packers, based in Tonbridge, Kent, whose main line of produce is apples and pears, they carry out third party packing at their new facility, which opened in 2014. Gently handling up to 55,000 apples per hour at their busiest.

It was vital to have a capable software solution in place, as they pride quality as their key to success.

The Challenge Before Affinitus became involved, all warehouse and packing information was manually entered into spreadsheets. This meant that there was no real time information on stock levels, production efficiency, status of orders and P&L information, as well as the time consuming task of manually entering data.

Chris Browning, Managing Director, approached Affinitus, to discuss the implementation of a full ERP system that would cover warehouse management, sales, production and distribution.

The Solution Affinitus recommended the Freshware Packhouse software solution, along with wireless handheld units to capture data in real time.

Additionally, Affinitus was able to integrate their software with cottage Farms’ multi million pound Aweta Apple grader, which allowed stock to be booked in to the system in real time, and every bin graded has a unique barcode identifier, which allows for full traceability throughout the packing and distribution process.

The system went live in April 2016, and the impact was immediate. All stock is now updated in real time, which allows for better control over quality and quantity of product. Duplication of information is greatly reduced as all production details such as quantity packed, stock used and line efficiency is entered directly at the point of packing in real time.

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Additionally, Freshware is able to communicate with other ERP systems in the Avalon Group, to allow automatic downloading and uploading of sales orders, and other vital information, using our new featured drag and drop module.

Picking of orders are also done using handheld units, so finished product is exactly matched to a sales order, so full traceability from the farm to the customer is achieved. As all sales picking is done in real time and updated, an accurate display of the status of any order can be viewed simply and easily at any point in the day.

Key Benefits Key benefits include: • Information Available for anyone to view anytime • Accurate stock figures • Less paperwork • Accurate view on grading information • More control of the business as a whole.

Georgi Belov, Production Manager, comments: “We have had Freshware for about year and half now. But the real development and proper using of the sys-

tem started pretty much in November 2016. For the last 7 months the system has been tailored to us to get product market fitment. Every single team and department is benefiting from the software. It helps that we can see everything live and do not use excel spreadsheets which cuts printing down by 45% saving so much paper. In the next 3 months with the further development projects, we are aiming to reduce the printing by another 25%. Also with the auto upload and allocation we have saved our admin team at least 6 hours per day!”

He continues: “Working together with AFFINITUS we are now creating something big and bespoke. One of my favourite features is I can drag all the reports for production, stats for sales, profit, production cost, packaging and product waste with our customers seeing the live report, which is beneficial on a daily bases.

“As a customer and user of Freshware I feel like the system is very user friendly and is pleasure to work with. If we as business can help with further sales and presenting the system we are more than happy.” J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

ENERGY

ENVIRONMENT

I WATER TREATMENT

Could Water be the Source of Energy Savings in Food Processing?

By Gary Sewell, General Manager, Clearwater Technology ost reduction is a constant challenge C for any food processing business, yet many fail to realise the benefits that optimised water consumption can have on their overheads. Through investment in the right water treatment technologies, food processors can significantly reduce water consumption which can impact hugely on their utility bills.

Water, electric and gas are the main contributors to the overall expenditure of the business operation which set the base for the cost per kilogram of product produced, therefore employing a proven technical approach to water usage optimisation can drastically reduce utilities expenditures as well as carbon footprints.

Water treatment technology can be applied to reduce both influent and effluent water consumption, providing businesses with a reduction in cost per kilogram of product, thereby offering a strong competitive advantage. For businesses obliged to meet greener standards from customers, governments or trade associations, it brings the peace of mind that those standards can be more

easily met.

By assessing each application in which water is used, food processors can develop a deeper understanding of where, why

and how their water consumption can be optimised, ultimately making their dependence on water friendlier to both the environment and the bottom line.

Feeding the Process Sourcing water from the local water authority, businesses are permitted to purchase a limited quantity of water within a specified time frame. Often this is extremely difficult to comply with and various methods of water storage are required to buffer the situation, yet these aren’t often effective enough. If the operations that rely on that influent water are not completed within the given time frame and water capacities become depleted, it must be sourced elsewhere.

For many businesses, borehole water is the best solution and probably the cheapest option. However, water treatment is essential to ensure it is compliant with water regulations and fit for purpose, especially if it is to be used as part of the process or product. The filtration and disinfection of borehole water can be completed efficiently with chlorine dioxide

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

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ENERGY

ENVIRONMENT

generation systems and the correct pre-treatment. Some processes may also require reverse osmosis or re-mineralisation depending on the application.

To make the process of sourcing and treating borehole water cost effective compared to additional pre-treated water from the local water provider, the right technologies must be applied. All too quickly, the costs of implementation and treatment can add up, but an experienced water technology provider with the right expertise can ensure that a cost-saving solution is tailored to the business’ unique requirements.

Analysing the Processes Once influent water is of usable quality, its intended usage must be analysed. Common food manufacturing processes such as steam cooking and steam boiling require processed water to be treated to a quality that avoids scaling within the industrial and process equipment, reducing the costly requirement to clean, service, repair or replace equipment, while meeting hygiene standards.

It is then important to look at the amount of energy required to create the steam. Through analysis of a typical water treatment and pre-treatment program, the cycles of concentration in each boiler can be optimised to reduce the amount of water required to maintain a constant steam load. This is achieved by integrating a turn-key pre-treatment plant designed specifically to reduce the amount of water having to be blown down the drain to prevent deposition. This removes the requirement to replace the water that has been blown down the drain and can save in excess of 5 percent of energy expenditure. This also reduces the amount of waste water, helping businesses achieve a direct reduction in energy usage and a reduction in the total cost of operation.

Cooling towers are another common area where measurable savings can be achieved. The quality of make-up water can be optimised through treatment, but the system must also be analysed for losses and leaks. Within the Food and Beverage industry, losses and leaks are rarely managed for optimisation and can often result in as much as a 33 percent water saving.

The fans and recirculation pumps used to cool the water within the towers can also be replaced with more energy efficient solutions that allow water to be recirculated at a desired rate rather than a constant which is typically the norm and often results in water returning and overflowing the cooling tower base holding tanks. As part of water saving optimisation, systems have been developed to capture and re-use a portion of the bleed water from cooling tower systems which further improves their operational efficiency.

Optimising With Expertise Selecting the correct water technology provider to apply the most suitable solutions is critical to achieving the goal of reduced water consumption. The right provider will be able to highlight key areas in which savings can be achieved such as energy, chemicals and equipment, otherwise it cannot deliver true ROI. The service provided must be tailored to each unique business case in order to guarantee that the water treatment solutions are both economical and effective. After sales care is equally as important and regular service visits will ensure that water consumption not only remains cost effective, but can be further optimised in response to future developments.

By implementing the correct water treatment technology, it is clear that energy costs can be reduced by optimising both influent and effluent water across food processing. J 28

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Growing Usage of Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Technology our recently announced or completed F waste-to-energy projects highlight the increasing uptake in the adoption of

tion with used cooking oil to provide the energy requirements on site.

Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas technology by food and drink processors and the benefits in terms of improving efficiency and reducing environmental impact.

ABP Food Group, which is recognised as an industry leader in sustainable practices and environmental initiatives, has just opened a new 15 MW Anaerobic Digestion facility at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in England, following investment of £22 million(see Page 36 in this issue). The new facility is located adjacent to one of Arla Foods’ dairy plants, allowing the dairy to become a zero carbon milk processing facility.

Dairy Another recently completed project in the dairy sector is the Lake District Biogas plant, which uses feedstock from First Milk’s Aspatria creamery site in Cumbria (see Page 34). This is the first on-site AD plant in the dairy industry in Europe to feed bio-methane to the gas grid, generated exclusively by digesting its cheese making residues. The plant also supplies up to 25% of the Aspatria Creamery’s energy requirements.

The new plant produces an estimated 40 million kWh’s of biomethane per annum.

“This was a highly technical project which combines anaerobic digestion with a gas upgrade plant followed by injection of the gas to the national gas grid, and was one of the first of its kind in the UK,” explains Uisdean Fraser, Managing Director of Synergie Environ, which specialises in AD and Low Carbon engineering projects. “As specialist engineers in this field we used our expertise to manage all contractors on site to ensure that this complex project which combines gas upgrade/injection with a CHP plant and biogas boiler was delivered successfully. We have found our expertise in AD in great demand and are due to commence with a similar project in 2018. In addition to this our team are also currently delivering a number of other AD projects within a variety for food, industry and whisky production sectors.”

The project is an excellent example of the circular economy in action, with multiple supply chain partners working together to deliver a truly sustainable outcome, according to Robert Behan, managing director of Olleco, ABP Food Group’s renewable division. “Sustainability is a key priority right across the ABP Food Group,” he says. “The company has invested and implemented innovative sustainability measures that are world class, trail blazing and meet the exceptionally high targets – to reduce the environmental footprint of our business – we have set ourselves.”

ABP is already operating the world’s first certified carbon neutral abattoir at Ellesmere, which uses waste material from the food processing operation in conjunc-

Brewing Within the brewing sector, Carlsberg Group has just completed development of its first carbon-neutral brewery at Falkenberg in Sweden (see Page 31). It is now 100% powered by biogas and green electricity, making it the group’s first big brewery with zero carbon emissions from its energy consumption. Carlsberg Group aims to have all its breweries using 100% renewable electricity and to eliminate coal

as a source of energy by 2022.

Distilling In distilling, Inver House Distillers has commissioned a new anaerobic digestion system, which breaks down the co-products of whisky production using micro-organisms to produce clean, methane-rich biogas to power its Balmenach site in Speyside (see Page 35). The £3 million biogas project will significantly reduce the site’s carbon footprint, making it one of Scotland’s greenest distilleries.

Synergie Environ is also project managing the construction of the anaerobic digestion plant at the Balmenach Distillery site, having guided the project previously through feasibility, planning, permitting, and procurement of technical solution providers.

Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste Rapid advances in all aspects of AD and Biogas technology have made these systems more efficient, reliable and accessible for food and drink processors. For example, improvements at both the pre-digester and post-digester stages have resulted in making the overall AD process more economical.

“We deal with both pre and post-digester solids/liquid separation at Huber and have seen greater acceptance that solutions are required in both places,” points out James Tucker (MEng), Industrial Business Development Manager at Huber, which specialises in supplying equipment into specific parts up and downstream of the AD process (see Page 32). J

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Hydrodynamic Cavitation Technology – The Future of Food and Drinks Processing & Biogas From Food Waste aviMax integrates the ROTCAV cavitation reactor into your process line to proC vide you with product better, faster and with less energy, maxing processes in the following sectors: food waste to biogas; food & drink production; brewing; distilling extractions; biomass disintegration; bioresources; nutraceuticals.

Process Intensification or do more with less. Hydrodynamic cavitation produces millions of cyclical high-pressure micro bubble collapse events in liquid mediums which disintegrates solids & amalgamates liquids/solids/gases subjected to the cavitation field in the spinning rotor-stator reactor chamber. Hydrodynamic cavitation forces are more powerful than mechanical or sonic sources, the cavitator manipulates high pressure fluid dynamics, the machine may be new tech, but the natural process is timeless.

By the speeding up the rate of physical/ chemical/ biological reactions; energy, time and feedstocks are saved and yields increased.

Some cavitaion ideas for the food & drink industry:

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• Biogas: Reduce particle sizes of food waste, even hard to digest lignocellulosic feedstocks • Anaerobic digestion: Stabilise gas production • Brewing & distilling: Increase flavour from hops and botanicals

• Nutraceuticals: Extract from expensive and rare feedstocks • Valorise your food waste i.e. extracting carotenoids from tomato peels and seeds, • Create biodiesel from waste oils • Homogenise milk: breakdown fat globules • Edible oils: extracted more efficiently • Gas in liquid dispersion of microbubbles N2 and CO2 in beverages, mousses and yoghurts • Solids in liquid mixing creating homogeneous suspensions or dispersions • Liquid and liquid mixing of differing viscosities.

Are you looking to intensify and decarbonise your food or biogas production?

Then CaviMax have a laboratory scale machine and range of industrial sized reactors available to suit your operation - commercialising research is CaviMax’s forte.

For further information contact Emma Greenwood on Tel +44 (0)7912 210369 or visit www.cavimax.co.uk - food waste biogas plants; www.epic-srl.com/en/ - multi-sector food production. J

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Value Through Leading Anaerobic Technologies rocess effluents from the food and P beverage sector are characterized by high concentrations of well biodegradable components.

Anaerobic technology proves to play a key role in the effluent treatment and resource recovery of industrial effluents. It is a sustainable and economically attractive way of processing effluent streams.

The principle of anaerobic solutions is the utilization of anaerobic bacteria (biomass) to convert organic pollutants or COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) into biogas in an oxygen free environment. The produced biogas can be reused as a renewable energy source in a factory boiler, electricity can be generated, or it can be injected into the grid.

Biothane is Veolia’s technology centre for anaerobic technologies and is one of the world's leading companies in the field of biological treatment of industrial wastewater. Biothane offers a range of anaerobic technologies adapted to the specific needs of the food and beverage industry.

Biothane anaerobic technologies prove their added value through: • Energy recovery through biogas production • COD removal efficiencies up to 99% • Robust reactor design

• • • •

Low footprint Low energy and chemical requirements Minimal biomass or sludge production.

Effluent suitable fornutrient recovery and water reuse.

Also in the needs for preand post-treatment is foreseen: technologies for nutrient removal and recovery, water reuse and technologies for biogas treatment and biogas upgrading for injection into the grid are present in the extensive portfolio of Veolia. This allows designing and delivering the complete water treatment route for a client.

To select the most attrac-

tive process route in terms of investment, operational expenses, sustainability, and reduction of by-products, Biothane offers roadmap studies. In a roadmap study possible treatment routes are mapped and insight is given in all mentioned aspects. These studies are based on full scale expertise in food and beverage industry and if needed supported by tests executed at Biothane laboratories or by pilot plants on site.

For further information contact: Biothane on Tel +31 15 2700111, Email: biothane@veolia.com or visit www.biothane.com. J

Carlsberg Group’s First Carbon-neutral Brewery arlsberg Group’s brewery at Falkenberg in Sweden is now C 100% powered by biogas and green electricity, making it the country’s first big brewery with zero carbon emissions from its energy consumption.

Earlier in 2017, Carlsberg Group launched a new sustainability programme – ‘Together Towards Zero’. One of its four ambitions ‘Zero Carbon Footprint’ is supported by a target to eliminate carbon emissions from all breweries and achieving a 30% reduction in the beer-in-hand carbon footprint by 2030. To achieve the ambi-

tious targets, Carlsberg Group’s breweries will use 100 percent renewable electricity and eliminate coal as a source of energy by 2022.

As part of this journey, Carlsberg Sverige’s brewery in Falkenberg is now fuelled 100% on biogas and green electricity, which reduces the brewery’s carbon emissions from thermal energy and electricity to zero. The brewery has been using green electricity for many years, and 26 percent of the thermal energy comes from biogas generated from the brewery’s own waste water. The remaining 74 percent have so far been natural gas, which has now, in co-operation with energy supplier Orsted AB, been converted to biogas with certificates ensuring that the biogas supplied to the grid has replaced an equivalent amount of natural gas.

“For many, many years we have been working to create a more efficient brewery with as little impact on our environment as possible. This is clear when looking at how much we have reduced our energy consumption over the years. It is motivating that we now take a big step forward and use solely carbon neutral energy sources,” says Ted Akiskalos, Managing Director of Carlsberg Sverige.

In Sweden, the well-functioning infrastructure and availability of biogas from the grid makes it possible to convert to fully renewable sources by buying green energy, while other solutions will be deployed for markets where this is not an option. J

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Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste – Innovative Solutions From Huber ooking at Anaerobic Digestion of L food waste brings its own problems and Huber have specific equipment for

cant volume reduction is achieved and the dry “cake” produced can be transported in trailers rather than vacthe various challenges faced. At the uum tankers. front end, Huber’s well proven screenThe role of the food and drink industry as an integral part of the ing and grit removal systems have reinenergy/Anaerobic Digestion supply forced, complete stainless steel conchain is increasing. Many plants with struction to handle the high solids existing wastewater treatment plants loads that are found in this applicamay be able to reduce operating costs tion. These remove grit and packaging by providing AD plant feedstock. By material prior to digestion. Packaging and grit can be further washed and Huber’s effective grit removal and washing at a Northern thickening or dewatering sludge prodewatered by the equipment, which Ireland AD plant minimises build up in the digester, without duced during the wastewater treatment process, material can be re-used provides the combined benefits of sacrificing biogas yield. rather than disposed of, turning a cost reducing disposal volumes and minimising lost organics.

Strainpress units, operators are now able to into a potential revenue stream. The At the back end, plastics removal and achieve PAS110 and use the digestate as a Huber range of sludge treatment equipdigestate dewatering are helping with fertiliser. For sites where there is no adja- ment includes a wide range of technologies digestate reuse as a fertiliser. Residual plas- cent farmland, the transportation of liquid and unit sizes to cater for different sites. tics in the digestate can result in farm fields digestate can be very costly and dewatering To find out more, please get in touch via covered with small pieces of plastic. By the material becomes viable. By dewater- james.tucker@huber.co.uk or +44 (0)7720 screening these plastics using Huber ing digestate using a Screw Press, a signifi- 086 808. J

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AD Operators See Performance Benefits With Micronutrient Technology D and biogas plant operators can sent for optimal bacterial growth and shortensure their systems perform to maxi- ages of specific micronutrients, which are A mum capacity with the help of OMEX. critical components of enzyme systems in

Licensed operators are increasingly treating waste such as slurries and vegetable offcuts through AD for the production of both biological fertilisers and constantly generated renewable energy in the form of biogas, which can either be used on-site to reduce reliance on costly fossil fuels or sold as electricity.

It is rare for an AD plant to have the complete range of nutritional elements pre-

the bacteria, often occur. This can mean that the digester plant and connected system do not run at full efficiency with a consequential loss of performance and output.

OMEX offer a complete nutritional package to prevent these deficiencies with their product range including bioavailable liquid trace element solutions, enzymes, micronutrient blends to boost the availability of essential trace elements and a range of iron powders all used in the anaerobic process to help improve the bacterial performance in the digestate and increase the methane content of biogas production.

This helps commercial operators to run their Plants at optimum levels, maximising their revenue streams and return on investment through increased profits.

The OMEX support service includes a nutrient profiling service in their fully-

equipped laboratory with analysis of plant influent, effluent and biomass, through which a nutrient solution will be recommended. Dependent on the individual requirements of the plant and operations, a tailor made micronutrient solution can be produced. This support service also includes onsite visits, consistent and effective aftercare and complete crop nutrition packages for on-farm ADs. As well as specialising in trace element additives, OMEX Environmental Ltd also manufacture and supply a complete range of wastewater treatment solutions for anaerobic and aerobic systems as well as de-icers and concrete ad-mixtures.

For further information visit www.omex.co.uk or E-mail environmental@omex.co.uk. J

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Green Energy From First Milk Cheese learfleau, a leading British provider of C on-site treatment solutions for the food and beverage sector, recently commissioned a complex plant, which feeds biomethane into the gas grid in rural Cumbria. The plant has been designed and built for Lake District Biogas, which will operate the site for twenty years taking feedstock from dairy co-operative First Milk’s Aspatria creamery site. This comprises low-strength wash waters such as process rinses, supplemented by whey permeate (cheese production residue after protein extraction for use in energy supplements). This is pumped to the AD

plant from the creamery.

By feeding the bio-methane into the gas grid, the facility will produce over £3 million per annum in cost savings and revenue, while supplying up to 25% of the creamery’s energy requirements.

This is the first on-site Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant in the dairy industry in Europe to feed bio-methane to the gas grid, generated exclusively by digesting its cheese making residues. At full capacity, it is able to treat 1,650 cu m per day of process effluent and whey and generate around 5MW of thermal energy.

It can produce 1000 cu m of biogas per hour, of which over 80% will be upgraded for injection into the national grid. At least 60% of the bio-methane can be used in the creamery for steam generation, with the balance used by local businesses and households in Aspatria.

Clearfleau’s unique process takes the feedstock from the Aspatria creamery site, comprising low-strength wash waters such

as process rinses, supplemented by whey permeate. The liquid is then pumped into the AD plant from the creamery where the bugs convert the fats and sugars in the feedstock into biogas.

This is stored in the gas dome before being upgraded to bio-methane - 80% of the biogas is fed to a membrane based upgrade unit that removes carbon dioxide from the gas to produce bio-methane with a comparable thermal value to North Sea gas (some biogas is also fed to a CHP unit to provide power to run the treatment plant). J

Synergie Environ – The Specialist in AD and Low Carbon Engineering Projects ynergie Environ have a track record of delivering successful AD S projects, starting with one of first AD plants in Scotland over 10 years ago.

The team’s AD experience and reputation for solving low carbon technical challenges are in demand as we can offer the client a full range of services. Synergie Environ can get involved at any stage of the project and have a specialist team of engineers in-house who can provide a service from feasibility, planning, design, permitting and procurement of technical solution through to construction and commissioning of the plant, remaining technology agnostic throughout to achieve the best solution for the client.

Recent projects include the successful Lake District Biogas project, one of the largest on-site dairy AD plants in the UK, and the Inver House Distillers project currently under construction at Balmenach which will make it one of the first distilleries to be powered entirely from low-carbon energy. More details can be found on www.synergie-environ.co.uk. J 34

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Inver House Distillers Drives Sustainability With £3 Million Biogas Investment at Balmenach almenach, one of Speyside’s oldest B whisky distilleries and the home of Caorunn Scottish Gin, is set to become one of Scotland’s greenest distilleries with the announcement that work has started on a £3 million biogas project to significantly reduce the site’s carbon footprint.

Inver House Distillers has commissioned a new anaerobic digestion system, which breaks down the co-products of whisky production using micro-organisms to produce clean, methane-rich biogas to power the site.

The new technology will integrate with Balmenach’s existing wood-pellet biomass boiler, and once complete, the combined system will generate enough renewable steam and electricity to meet 100 per cent of the Distillery’s energy requirements with a surplus of electrical energy supplied to the grid.

When operational in summer 2018, approximately 130 cu m of whisky coproducts (pot ale and spent lees) will be processed to produce 2,000 cu m of biogas each day, feeding a combined heat and power engine which will supply 200kW of power and 230kW of heat.

Located near Grantown on Spey and one of Inver House Distillers’ five malt whisky plants, Balmenach is on track to produce 2 million litres of whisky for the blended Scotch market in 2018. The site is also the home of Caorunn, one of the fastest growing Scottish gin brands.

Benefits As well as the benefits of reduced emissions, improved energy efficiency and reduced operational costs, Balmenach’s use of these technologies will significantly reduce heavy goods vehicle movements from its remote location in the Spey Valley. The new system will also return clean water to the nearby burn, and nutrient rich bio-solids to the land for barley farming in the Speyside region.

Inver House Distillers’ Managing Director Martin Leonard comments: “Inver House Distillers was an early champion of green distilling in Scotland, and sustainability and consideration for the environmental impact at each of our sites is at the heart of our business strategy. With this new investment at Balmenach we are using the very latest technology to further that commitment, working with the best partners in the business to help us achieve our environmental goals. It’s an exciting step in our journey and one that we know is recognised and appreciated, not just by the communities surrounding our distilleries, but by the drinkers around the world who enjoy our premium spirits. We also hope this investment will demonstrate how low carbon manufacture and clean growth are achievable, regardless of the size, location or output of the production site.”

Specialist Suppliers A team of specialist suppliers has been recruited by Inver House Distillers to deliver the new system. Synergie Environ, the Glasgow-based low carbon energy engineering company, is project managing the installation at Balmenach through all feasibility, planning, permitting, procurement and construction phases. Managing Director Uisdean Fraser comments: “We have a longestablished working relationBalmenach Distillery is set to become one of Scotland’s greenest ship with Inver House distilleries.

Distillers and have worked

Martin Leonard, Managing Director of Inver House Distillers.

hard with the management team over a number of years to help this exciting AD project come to fruition. I commend the Inver House management team for their forward thinking and vision and we are delighted that they chose us to lead the project from outline concept through all development stages to the current construction delivery phase. We believe the project will deliver a malt whisky distillery which is powered entirely from renewable energy sources with the on-site combination of biomass for the primary heat source and electricity from the CHP powered by biogas from the anaerobic digestion plant.”

Clearfleau, the specialist provider of onsite biogas plants for the food and drink industry, is working with Inver House to design and build the new system.

Balcas operates the existing biomass steam system at Balmenach, which uses brites wood pellets produced from home grown Highland timber local to the Distillery to produce zero carbon steam for the Balcas system. In the past 2 years since installation, it has enabled Balmenach to reduce its carbon footprint by 10,000 tonnes. J

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ABP Food Group in £22 Million Renewable Energy Project £22 million investment by ABP Food A Group’s renewable division in a green energy plant will produce enough sustainable energy to power the equivalent of 12,000 homes. ABP’s renewables division, Olleco, has recently opened the new 15 MW Anaerobic Digestion facility at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in England.

The ABP Food Group facility is located adjacent to one of Arla Foods UK’s plants, allowing the dairy to become a zero carbon milk processing facility.

Circular Economy According to Robert Behan, managing director of Olleco, the new facility, is an excellent example of the circular economy in action, with multiple supply chain partners working together to deliver a truly sustainable outcome. He explains: “This state-

This state-of-theart Olleco facility will convert in excess of 100,000 tonnes of waste into heat, power and bio-methane for export to the national grid, and biofertiliser for both of ABP Food Group’s and Arla’s farmer suppliers.

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of-the-art Olleco facility will convert in excess of 100,000 tonnes of waste into heat, power and bio-methane for export to the national grid, and bio-fertiliser for both of ABP Food Group’s and Arla’s farmer suppliers.”

He continues: “Sustainability is a key priority right across the ABP Food Group.

The company has invested and implemented innovative sustainability measures that are world class, trail blazing and meet the exceptionally high targets – to reduce the environmental footprint of our business – we have set ourselves.”

Industry Leader ABP Food Group is recognised as an industry leader when it comes to sustainable

practices and environmental initiatives. In 2015 the company opened the world’s first certified carbon neutral abattoir at Ellesmere where waste material from the food processing operation is used in conjunction with used cooking oil to provide the energy requirements on site.

Earlier in 2017, ABP achieved triple accreditation from The Carbon Trust for the third consecutive year and is one of only a handful of companies to have achieved such accreditation.

Olleco, the renewables division of ABP Food Group, collects waste food and cooking oil from the retail and food service sector and converts this waste into bio diesel, bio gas and bio fertiliser. The company employs over 600 people across the UK. J

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ABP Food Group and Fane Valley Extend Joint Venture Arrangement ABP Food Group, which is one of Europe’s leading privately owned agribusiness companies, has reinforced its position as the largest beef processor in Ireland and the UK by extending its joint venture arrangement with Northern Ireland-based Fane Valley Co-operative Society. mploying 10,000 people and operating 46 manufacturing plants in Ireland, the UK, Denmark, Poland, Austria, Holland, France and Spain, ABP Food Group is an international supplier of fresh beef to the European and global markets. ABP Food Group is also active in pet food, renewable energy and proteins. The group operates eight meat processing plants in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Fane Valley is a farmer owned co-operative and is active in meat processing, porridge oats and breakfast cereals and feeds. It also owns a network of retail shops for farm requisites.

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Joint Ventures ABP Food Group has taken a 50% stake in Linden Foods, the UKbased meat processing business of Fane Valley. Linden Foods operates facilities in Dungannon (Northern Ireland), Burradon (England) and Kettyle Irish Foods (Fermanagh). ABP Food Group already held a non-controlling interest in Linden Foods. The increase in this shareholding to 50% means that Linden Foods is now jointly controlled by ABP Food Group and Fane Valley. The European Commission has cleared unconditionally the proposed acquisition.

The transaction follows the 2016 deal between Fane Valley and ABP Food Group which involved the Slaney Foods and Irish Country Meats joint venture in Ireland. This entailed ABP Food Group joining forces with Fane Valley to acquire Slaney Foods and Slaney Proteins.

Operating three meat processing plants in Ireland, Slaney Foods comprised two divisions - Slaney Foods International, incorporating its cattle slaughtering and beef meat processing business located in Ireland, and Irish Country Meats, encompassing its sheep/lambs slaughtering activities and mutton and lamb business in Ireland and Belgium. Slaney Proteins operates a rendering plant for the

Linden Foods operates facilities in Dungannon (Northern Ireland), Burradon (England) and Kettyle Irish Foods (Fermanagh).

processing of animal by-products generated by the activities of Slaney Foods in Ireland.

Successful Partnership According to Frank Stephenson, chief executive of ABP Food Group, taking joint control of Linden Foods will allow ABP to build further on its successful partnership with Fane Valley. The joint venture with Fane Valley is about securing better international markets for Irish meat products and will allow ABP to compete with much larger global players.

Trevor Lockhart, chief executive of Fane Valley Co-op, says: “Linden Foods is a growing company within the UK red meat sector, delivering the highest levels of innovation, quality, service and value to its long established customer base. The business continually challenges the way it works, seeking out new ways to advance and improve. Our experience of working closely with ABP Food Group in the Republic of Ireland has been extremely positive and we now wish to build on this success.”

Trevor Lockhart continues: “The Joint Venture, which will continue to trade as Linden Foods under the current management team, will ensure that the business can capitalise on new commercial growth opportunities within both the domestic and international market place. The involvement of ABP will strengthen our global sales network and assist in ensuring Linden maximises the returns from all parts of the animal, including the 5th quarter. This will be a pre-requisite to delivering sustainable returns to primary producers in a post-Brexit era.”

The extension of its joint venture arrangement with ABP Food Group marks the latest phase in a restructuring of Fane Valley’s business. In 2016, Fane Valley sold its dairy business to Lakeland Dairies, based in the Republic of Ireland, for an undisclosed sum. J

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Packaging Excellence From Limerick Packaging e asked a raft of Packaging consumers to rank in order of W importance the attributes that make a very good Packaging Supplier. Good Quality came out tops followed closely by on-time delivery.

We asked the same Customers how they would rate how well a Packaging supplier knows their business - “very important was the answer but the truly excellent suppliers are the ones that also know and understand our business.”

Very few Packaging Companies are capable of this but the people in Limerick Packaging are. In their mind they only exist to deliver “On Time Everytime”.

Set up in June 2002, Limerick Packaging has grown to a formidable size and the staff are very proud to count among their many Customers some of the biggest names in the Food Industry and Medical /Pharmaceutical sectors. Once they get to fully understand their Customers business they stock product to Purchase Order and deliver daily or weekly as required.

Sales Director, Mike Boland stated that for Customers within our famous “stock and serve” model, they can call product off today before noon and we will deliver tomorrow: even a timed delivery if required. J How can they do this, I hear you ask. Well, they do it by taking the time and effort to understand your business and usage patterns, stock products to order, in advance of your needs and deliver weekly or daily as necessary.

Very many Food Industry and Pharma/Medical companies throughout Ireland and the UK are experiencing “a nice easy life” safe in the knowledge that the packaging materials they need are but a phone-call away in Limerick Packaging’s warehouse. These companies no longer have stores full of boxes that they don’t need and a packing hall without the boxes they do need. They have zero capital tied up in packaging stocks, allowing that money to be invested in turnover that perpetuates the business, and they have production and value-added activities where once they had stores.

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Food and Drink is at the Heart of the UK’s Largest Packaging Show ackaging Innovations, Empack and Label&Print returns to P Birmingham’s NEC on 28 February-1 March 2018, and is set to be the most innovative show to date. With over 290 exhibitors already signed up, the UK’s largest annual event for the entire packaging supply chain will feature the latest industry innovations and technologies, alongside a major free-toattend seminar programme, all with a big focus on the food and drink sector.

James Drake-Brockman, Divisional Director of Easyfairs’ Packaging Portfolio, comments: “We work hard to create a diverse show that offers unrivalled opportunities for brands and decision makers to come together with leading international suppliers and do business. It’s great to be back for our thirteenth edition, and this year we have plenty for the food and beverage market to get excited about.”

Innovation on the Show Floor Top suppliers, such as HP, RPC, AEGG Creative, James Cropper, Alexir Packaging, Apllic’etains, Leonhard Kurz UK and Epson have all been quick to book stands. The majority of leading suppliers on show will be using the two-day event to launch new products and services to the wider UK packaging market.

For example, glass packaging company, Croxons, will bring its wide range of premium spirit bottles and luxury closures to the show. The range sits alongside its comprehensive selection of glass packaging solutions which cater for all sections of the food and beverage industry.

Producer of aluminium cans and bottles, Envases Group, will showcase its innovative aluminium aerosol cans, screw neck bottles and shaped and debossed cans.

Kotkamillis will showcase its AEGLE™ range of Folding Boxboards for folding carton packaging and the ISLA™ range of Food Service Boards for disposable cups and plates. The company also plans to launch a range of water-based, dispersion coated barrier products that are easily recyclable and re-pulpable.

Automated Packaging Systems will demonstrate its wide range of bagging machines, from simple desk-top units through to fully customisable systems. It will also showcase its new alternative packag-

ing solution - a horizontal, food compatible bagging machine that minimises product damage and increases productivity.

Nth Degree will be showcasing the new TruPack range, which is a complete solution for creating colour accurate samples, mock-ups and prototypes. This allows customers to quickly and easily produce any form of packaging including cans, pouches, and cartons with spot accurate colour.

James Drake-Brockman, Divisional Director of Easyfairs’ Packaging Portfolio, comments: “Our research shows that one of the key reasons visitors attend the show year-on-year is to discover all the latest innovations within the marketplace, so it is fantastic to see so many of our suppliers using Packaging Innovations 2018 as the launchpad for their new products and solutions.”

Unbeatable Content Headed up by the Keynote Stage, Packaging Innovations’ conference programme will run across five unique seminar stages and feature over 20 hours of CPD-accredited content. The two-day educational agenda will focus on key sectors, with dedicated forums for retail, beauty, pharmaceutical and ecommerce, and of course, food and drink.

The food and drinks market will take centre stage as part of the Keynote progamme, which will see experts from The Wild Beer Co., Salcombe Gin, R&D Distillers and Anno Distillers taking part in a panel discussing the power of imaginative packaging in the drinks industry. The Keynote Stage will also host a series of talks focussed specifically on packaging for the food industry.

Running alongside the Keynote Stage will be the Innovation Stage, The Label&Print Stage, The Ecopack Stage and The Packaging News Stage.

Plus, the show will also feature The Pentawards Exhibit, which was successfully launched at Packaging Innovations London. This will give attendees a global perspective of the best and most creative packaging designs from the last year.

For further information, visit www.easyfairs.com/PIUK, www.easyfairs.com/EmpackUK and www.easyfairs.com/Label&PrintUK or via the show team on +44 (0)20 8843 8800 or PackagingUK@easyfairs.com. J

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Online Ordering Fuelling Sector Growth ood and Drink is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK, it F has a turnover of £78.7 billion contributing £20 billion in Gross Value Added to the UK economy. Many questioned what made this sector grow throughout the economic downturn with the government focussing on improving this growth by 20% by 2020. To add some perspective to these statistics, this sector is bigger than automotive and aerospace combined.

Food and Drink has the same intricacies as any other.

The wide range of products are constantly changing, the availability from the suppliers varies by the minute alongside the complex pricing structures. With customer specific delivery routes this means outlet managers need to order by a certain cut off time when they actually have no time in their trading day. It would be conceivable to think that due to the overworked nature of food and drink managers, order volumes take a hit but actually the industry is booming and this is partly due to availability and speed of re-order 24-7, 365 days of the year. There is not one journey you can do on the motorway without noticing the Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Trade Team trucks completing the final stage of their delivery.

Online Ordering The sector’s year on year growth comes of no surprise to Netalogue Managing Director Andrew Robathan who has worked closely with many of the industry leaders over the last year delivering the very best online ordering platform.

“The most exciting aspect of working within the drinks industry is that they understand the need for online ordering and they know the importance of delivering the goods when the customer needs them despite the complex business processes. Where these operators are different is that they plan for 2020 and not what they should be doing today. They have the courage and determination to be at the top of their game and it is this ambition and vision that is paying dividends.”

Netalogue are experts in the B2B ecommerce industry delivering tangible business benefits promoting growth whilst driving cost efficiencies. Applying the logic of such a powerful B2B platform to the drinks industry that already has the foresight to deliver their

customers with a great frictionless purchasing experience is the reason we keep seeing these results. Powerful industry specific features such as customer specific promotions, quick order pads to encourage repeat orders which saves on order time, automatic assignment of the delivery schedule at the basket and bulk ordering for chains of pubs ensures that the publicans have all they require to trade efficiently. Feature rich product data and easy attribute filters are what customers now expect when ordering for their business, similar to how any of us would purchase online but with the core business rules and processing underpinning each sale.

Netalogue B2B Platform Well-known companies such as Matthew Clark, EI Group, Marstons and Greene King all have very different online strategies with a Netalogue B2B platform at the core. EI Group boast that customers now have everything they need at their fingertips whilst Matthew Clark have halved customers order times online appreciating that 36% of its customers order outside normal office hours.

Mike Fisher, Head of Digital and E Commerce, stated: ‘’Netalogue was chosen as our e-commerce partner due to their experience in the industry coupled with their flexibility in delivering to our tight timescales. The working partnership has been a positive example of how Netalogue engage with customers from the outset to share with long term strategic goals and ensure there is a viable digital roadmap. I look forward to delivering the next phase of our digital strategy with Netalogue and growing into the functionality that is available.’’

For further information on how to deliver your digital strategy and increase your growth, please visit www.netalogue.com/fd. J

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British Company Smokes Out Sales in Argentina outh America is the latest market to tap S into the expertise of a world leading company based in the quiet Essex town of Billericay in England. A leading Argentinean manufacturer was looking for a safe, fool proof method of adding smoke flavours to selected food products and after an extensive search concluded the necessary expertise did not exist in South America.

Whilst scouring the World Wide Web a chance, word-of-mouth encounter led to the company contacting Unbar Rothon for a safe method of adding smoky flavours to food.

The Billericay company, which next year celebrates its centenary, has decades of experience of handling concentrates like liquid smoked for atomisation.

“With our product they were able to remove the risk of fire on site and they achieved consistently reliable results,” says Unbar Rothon director, Richard Rothon.

The atomised smoke Unbar Rothon provided contains scarcely a trace of the carcinogenic or genotoxic substances which can be found in traditionally produced smoked products.

“We have proved you can have smoke without fire,” adds Richard Rothon.

With established business throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australasia and the North American content, Unbar Rothon is now looking for the right agency to further develop its sales in South America. For further information visit www. unbarrothon.co.uk. J

Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate Inaugurates Solar Power Facility in Ghana argill has inaugurated a new solar power facility at its Cocoa & C Chocolate site in Tema, Ghana. This energy project contributes to Cargill’s global strategy of investing in environmentally friendly, renewable ways of generating power for industrial production. By investing in renewable energy, Cargill is living up to its responsibility to find ways to continuously decrease the environmental impact of its businesses.

The new solar plant is a fully automated, digital photovoltaic solar system. It augments energy needs at the site and boosts Ghana’s renewable energy portfolio by producing 764MWh of electricity annually. The solar energy produced at the plant is equivalent to powering nearly 400 homes with electricity for a year.

The solar project consolidates Cargill’s continued support towards a sustainable cocoa business in Ghana. Pieter Reichert,

managing director of Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate in Ghana, says: “Cargill sets ambitious targets every five years to reduce greenhouse gas intensity, improve energy efficiency and increase renewables as a part of our portfolio. One of those targets is to increase renewables to 18 percent of our global energy portfolio by 2020. Today, 14 percent of our energy needs are met by renewables, and this solar project will help us realize our 2020 goal.”

The solar facility is just one of the innovative and technological solutions Cargill has implemented at the Tema site to improve its environmental footprint. Other recent projects include the installation of LED lighting, an energy-efficient grinding facility and a biomass boiler. Collectively, all four projects at the Tema sites have resulted in a 32 percent decrease in energy consumption, a 71 percent reduction of CO2 emissions and 66 percent renewable energy generation.

Thanks to close collaboration with the Ghanaian authorities, including President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who commissioned the facility, the plant allows Cargill to support Ghana’s commitment to strengthening industrial production in the cocoa sector through a sustainable and energy-efficient investment The contractor of the project, Dutch & Co (Gh) Ltd, a company that specializes in energy efficiency through LED lighting and PV Solar installations, divided the installation capacity over an open field ground mount system of 413KWp and a Car Port system of 152KWp. In total, 2,136 solar panels were used, each with a capacity of 265Wp. To install the ground mount structure, a specialized Pile Driver provided the supporting structure for the panels, a technique most often used for large-scale solar installations. The installation’s peak power generation period is between 11am and 3pm, during which period 15 percent of Tema’s electricity needs will be supplied by the solar panels. J

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Fi Europe 2017 Innovation Awards – The Winners true barometer of food and beverage trends, the Fi Europe A Innovation Awards honour research teams and product developers for their outstanding innovations and invaluable contributions to the industry. Mirroring the market, protein solutions featured high on the winners’ podium this year.

More hotly contested than ever before, the 2017 Awards were presented at a festive ceremony on 28 November at Messe Frankfurt, Germany. There were ten Fi Europe Innovation Awards categories, plus two Start-up Innovation Challenge categories. A total of 17 companies were shortlisted in the Fi Europe Innovation Awards and a further 10 in the Start-up Innovation Challenge.

The winners of the Fi Europe Innovation Awards 2017 are as follows: The Sustainability Champion Award went to pioneering oils producer IOI Loders Croklaan for its sustainable and transparent supply chain strategy for palm oil.

Sustainability Champion Award – IOI Loders Croklaan.

The Organic Champion Award was won by herba ingredients, an allergen-free producer of organic rice flour for baby food that is fully traceable, from cultivation to final ingredient.

90 percent protein, these can be consumed as they are or used as an The Future of Nutrition Award (the only category open to non- ingredient in bars and breakfast cereals.

Fi Europe exhibitors) was presented to Alberts for its Automated The Reduction & Reformulation Innovation Award went to Smoothie Machine, Europe’s first fresh smoothie vending machine DSM for an innovative cheese culture that makes it possible to – now in use at Carrefour outlets in Belgium. reduce the fat content of cheese by up to 30 percent and still mainThe Clean Label & Natural Innovation Award went to tain the texture and mouthfeel of full fat cheese.

Ingredion, who convinced the jury with its clean label-compatible For the Expo FoodTec Innovation Award there was no winner, functional rice flour for use in soups, sauces and ready meals. but the company Handary received a high commendation for its Winner of the Life Stages Innovation Award was Novozymes, a biodegradable antimycotic protective film that prevents mould leader in biological solutions, for its Formea® milk proteins – a growth in solid, packaged food. promising ingredient for infant formulas with a reduced risk of allergic reactions.

Start-up Innovation Challenge Winners The Performance Nutrition Innovation Award went to ARLA The Best Innovation Award went to Chromologics, a biotech Food Ingredients for its taste-neutral whey protein isolate for use company spun out from the Technical University of Denmark in in protein-enriched sports drinks that are as crystal-clear as water.

July this year. Its first product is ChromoRed, a water-soluble, natThe Growth Categories Innovation Award was won by ERIE ural red pigment produced from a proprietary non-GMO fungal Foods International for its low-fat milk protein crisps. Containing strain.

The Best Natural Ingredient Award was won by Swiss start-up Alver for Golden ChlorellaTM , a protein-rich, nutrient-dense sustainable micro-algae.

Richard Joyce, Fi Europe Brand Director, and Awards Jury chairman Peter Wennstöm of The Healthy Marketing Team led the celebrations and presented the awards.

Commending the winners for their achievements and successes, Richard Joyce said: “The theme of Fi Europe 2017 is ‘Thought Leadership’, and reflecting this, our Awards winners are concrete proof of how those who are experts in their fields can push boundaries and pave the way for the development of solutions that satisfy consumer demands and drive new trends.”

Peter Wennstöm added his congratulations, saying: “The jury was thoroughly impressed by the diverse ways in which companies are mastering current challenges and trends, such as with all natural and plant-based solutions. The high calibre of the entries as well as the jury members, who had expertise in every field of the industry, are both proof of the quality of Performance Nutrition Innovation – ARLA Foods Ingredients. the Fi Europe Awards.” J 44

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018

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