FD27

DELICE

HealtkieTfood, happieTn1ood!

Maustaja'snewproduction line provides a handy solution for fluid or squeezable food supplies. The production process enables products fr.ee from preservatives and additives -healthy and deHcious!

Maustaja has a 50 years' experience of designing and producing sauces and condiments for private labels and brands. Maustaja provides an overal! service concept from an idea to finished products.

Currently available product categories are:

• Snacks

•Baby food

•Porridges

•Smoothies

• Functional beverages

•And plenty more

Are you looking for a comprehensive manufacturer for your product?

Feat of engineering

Made to be planet-positive and full of flavour, Avallen Calvados is a crisp and floral apple drink presented in a beautiful paper bottle that has 1/6 of the carbon footprint of a regular glass bottle. Enjoy this detailed look at the carefully engineered cardboard neck of the Calvados bottle.

Managing Director

John White

Finance Director

Filomena Nardi-Smith

Editor

Phil Nicholls

Editorial Assistants

Imogen Ward

Hannah Barnett

Feature Writers

Andy Probert

Romana Moares

Richard Hagan

Colin Chinery

Business Development Manager

Darren Foiret

Research Editors

Jeff Johnson

Mark Simmonds

Judi Wheaton-Mars

Ginelle Lorenzo

Natalie Martin

Dane Coady

Becky Scrivens

Sam Ransome

Matthew Spalding

Sales Director

Richard Brightmore

Sales Manager

Helen Leisi

Project Managers

Alexander Paterson

Tony Ingrouille

Kym Hamilton

Chris Renicar

David Earl

Lisa Smith

Will Tottie

Bobby Godfrey

Loretta Smith

Julien Carew

Art Director

Ian Spencer

Art Editor

Philip White

Webmaster

Michael Stamp

Designers

Sarah Jones

Georgina Harris

Events Manager

Jasmine Lodge

Marketing Executive

Adam White

Administration & IT

Summer Clover

Gavin Bellward

T: +44 (0)1493 445121 +44 (0)1502 566216

E: media@insidepublication.com

W: www.insidefoodanddrink.com

John White Managing Director

Managing Director John White shares a mince pie with Charles Dickens.

Welcome, Dear Reader, to your Christmas edition of Inside Food & Drink. What better magazine, amongst all our business titles at least, could we use to discuss the festive season?

This magazine is ever popular, due in part to all the tantalising imagery used to help portray the products and services of our customers to our readers. This edition, therefore, with its focus on ‘Taste of the Season’ and a piece on the nostalgia of seasonal food and drink, should, I hope, be a festive treat for one and all.

Personally, my nostalgic view of Christmas food and drink is based on ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens: cheeky young scallywags running around a snow-covered Victorian England, having snowball fights, singing carols outside the doors of jolly looking homes, cosy log fires burning and the smell of a turkey and trimmings fresh out of the oven.

Clearly, though, this was far from the truth for the poor in those days. The past was not without its poverty. Thankfully for many, but sadly not all, the present day

sees an indulgence in a wealth of seasonal food and drink choices that our ancestors from 180 years ago could only dream about.

Whilst romanticising about that table full of delights, we bring you, within the following pages, some ideas about modern tastes of the season. My editorial team have been busy reviewing and sampling many seasonal treats and are pleased to present their findings to you.

Before tucking in, though, I would encourage those of us with plenty, to take heed from Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge. Share the good cheer with those who have less, or none. Better that, than get indigestion whilst awaiting a visit from those troublesome Christmas Spirits! n

Latest developments from the UK’s industry

KINGDOM

Free training programme to inspire chefs

In November, the Marine Conservation Society, the UK’s leading ocean charity, launched its pioneering chef training programme, School of Fish. The short and easy to use course aims to educate catering professionals about sustainable seafood sourcing in the UK.

Working closely with the food service industry and catering colleges, the Marine Conservation Society has designed a comprehensive and entirely free training programme to empower chefs with the knowledge and skills needed to make responsible seafood choices. With the user-friendly and easy to use online course taking less than an hour to complete, and accessible via mobile devices, it offers a convenient and flexible learning opportunity for chefs, seafood buyers and catering students.

The launch of School of Fish is driven by the urgent need to promote responsible fishing, better fisheries management and protect the delicate ecosystems of UK seas. The course covers a range of essential topics, such as identifying sustainably sourced seafood, recognising unsustainable choices, and the importance of supporting marine conservation efforts.

This initiative is a significant step towards fostering sustainability within

the food service industry, encouraging informed, responsible choices that will benefit the UK’s environment and seafood industry. By educating chefs and food sourcing professionals on sustainable seafood buying, the Marine Conservation Society hopes to reduce the impact of overfishing, bycatch and other unsustainable practices that threaten the ocean’s health. The charity already works closely with seafood suppliers, with its Good Fish Guide used to check the sustainability of around 20% of the seafood meals served in the UK every year. n

To have your company’s latest news included online or in our Inside Food & Drink magazine, contact us today media@insidepublication.com

USA

FRITO-LAY and CHEETOS team up with athletes to support youth sports in Texas

To give more students the resources they need for the fun they deserve,

FRITO-LAY® Variety Packs and CHEETOS® Mac ‘N Cheese have donated more than $300,000 to GENYOUth to provide access to 10 million meals through Grab-and-Go school breakfast and after-school programmes.

Through the support of GENYOUth, a national non-profit that creates healthier school communities, this donation will also supply 120 NFL FLAG-InSchool kits to keep 66,000 kids active in youth sports.

In celebration of this partnership, husband-and-wife duo and former professional athletes JJ and Kealia Watt, are teaming up with Frito-Lay Variety Packs and CHEETOS Mac ‘N Cheese to spread awareness about the importance of increasing access to school meals and youth sports programming.

“As athletes and parents, we know it’s essential for our youth to have access to school meals and the value of accessible youth sports to develop teambuilding skills and teach the importance of hard work and perseverance,” JJ Watt said.

Watt, who spent 10 years of his professional American football career playing in

Houston, has long supported youth sports initiatives within the community.

“Schools play a crucial role in ensuring proper nutrition and providing safe places to play and learn for 55 million students,” said Ann Marie Krautheim, CEO, GENYOUth.

“With one in eight US children living in food insecurity and only one in four getting the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity, we ensure schools have the resources to help children thrive. We are grateful for Frito-Lay Variety Packs and CHEETOS Mac ‘N Cheese’s support to help end student hunger and encourage play through school sports programmes.”

The collaboration between Frito-Lay and GENYOUth builds upon their longstanding relationship and shared commitment to combating food insecurity. Frito-Lay, Quaker and the PepsiCo Foundation have collectively provided over $6 million to GENYOUth since 2009. n

Latest developments from the Japanese industry

JAPAN

Alexandrion Group introduces premium spirits and wine portfolios to Japan

Romanian-based beverage company, Alexandrion Group is planning to open a new distribution centre in Japan, following the successful soft launch of its products earlier this year.

Celebrated for its unique blend of tradition and innovation, the Alexandrion Group introduced its flagship portfolio to Japan, through a business reception in Tokyo. The event was the first step in the Group’s expansion plans in Japan. With a broad global network, coordinated through business hubs opened in the USA, Brazil, Dubai –UAE and the UK, Alexandrion Group has ambitious plans for Japan.

“Alexandrion Group has grown so much in the past few years,” Dr Nawaf Salameh, Founding Chairman Alexandrion Group, stated. “We sell our products on almost every continent and because we have already sold some of our products in Japan and the customers’ feedback was very positive, it made perfect sense for us to take the next step forward. We will open a distribution company in Japan in the first semester of 2024, a country where consumers appreciate well-made, premium spirits and wines like ours.”

Alexandrion Group has grown so much in the past few years “ “

Alexandrion Group’s sales strategy for Japan will be built around the premium and ultra-premium spirits and wine portfolios. In terms of spirits, the Group aims to sell over 50 types of single malt and blended malt whisky, the premium ranges Brâncoveanu Vinars, Alexandrion flavoured brandy and Saber Elyzia fruit liqueurs, as well as premium and ultra-premium gin and vodka brands. Japanese consumers will have the opportunity to purchase and consume premium wines from the Hyperion and Rhein Extra ranges, as well as premium vermouth. In the second semester of 2024, Alexandrion Group also plans to launch premium and ultra-premium ranges of rum in Romania and in Japan. n

Latest developments from the French industry

FRANCE

XPO Logistics signs a partnership to support

METRO's e-commerce development in France

XPO, a leading provider of innovative and sustainable end-to-end logistics solutions across Europe, has announced a partnership with METRO Markets.

METRO Marketplace, which has already been launched in Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Germany, is METRO's online marketplace. Unique in Europe, it offers a wide range of non-food products for hotels and restaurants. Building on the success of these initial launches, METRO inaugurated an 18,300sqm warehouse in Roye, France, on 12 September, to accelerate the roll-out across Europe.

The new warehouse brings together 3,300 direct non-food references (furniture, small and large appliances, tableware, food preparation, disposable solutions, hygiene and maintenance, office supplies and equipment, etc.) for a total of 100,000 references available for order.

To ensure the delivery of the heavy and bulky products on offer, METRO Markets selected XPO Logistics as its partner because of its expertise in palletised distribution and its last-mile delivery service.

One of XPO Logistics' largest distribution centres in France is located in the same industrial estate as METRO France's Roye warehouse, with a 7,500sqm cross-dock. With a workforce of 175 employees, including 93 drivers and a fleet of 127 semitrailers, an average of 600 deliveries are made daily for all XPO Logistics customers. The geographical proximity of the two sites is one of the key advantages of the collaboration, with deliveries possible throughout France within 24 hours.

By handling these deliveries for METRO Markets, XPO is reinforcing its position as a key partner for companies wishing to transform and accelerate their business by relying on a dependable and innovative expert. XPO Logistics' territorial coverage, its 10 years of expertise in last-mile delivery and its tracking system, which enables customers to follow the various stages of their shipments in real time, are among the main reasons why METRO Markets has placed its trust in XPO Logistics. n

Interesting and unusual facts from around the food and drink world

FACT M AT TER of

T he modern traditional UK Christmas dinner comes from the Victorians, and Charles Dickens in particular, who spread the idea of a Christmas dinner, with a roast bird, all the trimmings and a pudding on the table.

Traditional Swahili food for the Christmas holiday includes chapati and spicy rice and meat known as pilao.

Many Australians prefer eating cold ham and turkey instead of a warm formal dinner due to the hot climate. Some celebrate in their backyard with BBQ prawns and beer. The traditional Australian desserts, such as pavlova and the Christmas trifle, are also a huge part of Australian Christmas food.

In Japan, Christmas means KFC. On December 25th every year, millions of Japanese people sit down to a hearty meal of Kentucky Fried Chicken, with orders placed with the restaurant months in advance. The campaign started in the ‘70s to tempt tourists and expats with chicken on Christmas Day when they couldn't find turkey to eat, and was the brainchild of Takeshi Okawara, the manager of the first KFC in the country.

– Anthony Robbins –“ “

Every problem is a gift, we would not grow without problems

Picana, the main Christmas meal in Bolivia, is usually eaten after midnight mass and is a stew/soup made from chicken, beef and pork, served with potatoes and corn.

The oldest surviving fruitcake was baked in Tecumseh, Michigan by the loving matriarch of the Ford family, Fidelia, back in 1878. Unfortunately, Fidelia died before she was able to cut into the 1878 fruitcake. Her son then became its keeper, taking great care to ensure the cake was preserved to honour her legacy.

Christmas pudding began as something called plum porridge a dish made from beef shin, spices, sugar and fruit, boiled in a broth and reduced until gelatinous.

Most historians agree that mulled wine was invented by the Greeks sometime around the second century. Known as hippocras, it was intended to be a health tonic during the cold winter months. As the Roman Empire expanded across Europe, so too did the popularity of this hot, spiced wine.

Food futurologist Dr Morgaine Gaye reports on Christmas traditions.

Food Trends of Christmas Past,

Present & Futur

Food is a complex topic, involving society, geo-politics, culture and much more.

As a food futurologist, Dr Morgaine Gaye explores all facets of food, including trends, why we eat what we eat and what the future of food looks like. In the article for Inside Food & Drink, Dr Gaye examines Christmas foods.

INthe style of Charles Dickens, any review of Christmas should be broken into three parts.

Food of Christmas past It already seems like the Dark Ages when the much desired ‘selection box’ was a Christmas highlight for every child in Britain, because six individually wrapped whole chocolate bars was more than most children had seen all year. This was the same era that blancmange was a popular dessert.

Christmas also ushered in the yearly exoticism of the prawn cocktail. Turkey was

reence of Christmas can be divided into two very distinct phases; pre-pandemic in 2019 and post-pandemic up until the new year of 2023.

Three key shifts have happened during these past three years. Firstly, we became acutely aware of how much people meant to us and how sharing food was one of the anchors in our daily routine. We began cooking at home more mindfully and sharing food prep and creativity in the kitchen together.

always de rigueur on Christmas day and the table centre piece was the Christmas cake, often painstakingly topped with a winter scene that was lodged into the hardest substance known to man; royal icing. In the ‘90s, celebrity chefs began to encourage recipe and menu rebellion. Around the turn of the new millennium, the way in which food was presented started to become more of a styling focus and previously whole deserts were offered by brands in mini-individual portions.

Secondly, nature became our lifeline; we relished our daily walk and heard the words ‘forest bathing’ for the first time. Finally, our lives began to revolve around the table. It became a schooling hub, an office workstation, a family gathering space as well as a Zoom location which could be modified for meetings and social gatherings.

Given this trifecta of change within our lives, Christmas has been affected irreversibly. The key component of the Christmas meal became a dialled-up sharing concept. It is no longer about individual desserts and dishes but more about large sharing plates.

According to the data analysts Kantar, one million more Christmas puddings were

SPECIAL REPORT

Food futurologist Dr Morgaine Gaye reports on Christmas traditions.

Food futurologist Dr Morgaine Gaye

sold in 2022 than the year before, giving a nod not just to sharing but also to tradition and heritage - both things we crave during periods of uncertainty and instability.

Christmas 2023 is really building on these themes of nostalgia and nature, with Christmas colours of plain green and red a distant memory. We can expect plenty of floral inspired desserts that pay homage to nature will also sit alongside retro puddings which have been given a modern twist –from baked Alaska and Battenburg to Black Forest Gateau.

Nostalgia from the ‘80s will also influence this Christmas as food is ‘blinged up’ with gold leaf and hyper-coloured packaging. Expect to see a revival of beautiful, decorative and embossed tins of chocolates and biscuits – Christmas keepsakes which the Victorians originally created to appeal to children. There will also be a rise in delicious non-alcoholic tipples for the growing teetotal market.

is that it has given rise to what matters most to us. This has changed the future trajectory for many things including the way we will celebrate Christmas in future. Looking into the future, let us look at what will disappear by Christmas 2033. Firstly, goodbye Christmas cards. Several European countries do not send Christmas cards, and over the years, that trend is spreading. The rise of social media and concerns around the environment will contribute to the decline in this tradition.

The eight hottest Christmases on record have occurred in the past 10 years. Therefore, a white Christmas with snow scenes, songs and motifs will decline. We also see less and less of carolling and door knocking already, so we can expect it to be absent from our lives by 2030.

The over-buying and over-consumption at Christmas results in more food waste than usual (on average around 10% of all of Christmas food ends up in the bin). The issue of food waste is coming into sharper focus, and by 2030 our diners will be less tolerant of wasteful behaviour.

In turn, here is a look at what we can expect to become the norm by Christmas 2030. Firstly, gifting will be more eco-friendly.

More and more, we will be gifting experiences, our time or something we’ve made – plus we will re-use decorative materials to wrap our gifts.

Christmas will also become healthier. Even at the Christmas table we will expect food with added goodness, multi-functional ingredients, lower processed sugar and much less stodge. With warmer winters, we will be looking for lighter lunches and less calories. Desserts and treats will be less sweet, as our overall pallet has already begun to accept less sugar in most processed foods.

The rise of food allergies, specific food preferences and more bio-hacking information will have a big impact – one meal type will not fit all, so Christmas dinner will be more personalised, with of a buffet of options. We will be sharing a smorgasbord of dishes, plant-based options and interesting new combinations.

Food tech appliances will enable our home cooking to be easier and more integrated. We will have more in-house growing systems and in just a few years the AI tech will far exceed anything we can currently imagine, so cooking at home will be a much more efficient process.

itself with more augmented realities, haptic sweaters and even holograms to give the ability to share the day with absent loved ones – both far away and deceased.

In short, we can expect Christmas 2030 to be more about personalised nutrition with high tech components, paired with very eco-friendly attitudes in the way we think about waste. The celebration will focus more on the core moments of togetherness and joy, whilst avoiding excess and extravagance. n

To learn more about Dr Gaye’s work, please visit: www.morgainegaye.com

TASTE OF THE SEASON

Exciting ways to celebrate Christmas

The very best

festive flavours

With Christmas calling, festive foods and tantalising tipples are very much on the minds of households across the world. Whether you celebrate the season with a bottle of bubbly or a stocking full of chocolate, we have gathered the perfect range of enticing options to get your taste buds tingling and your tummy rumbling – each one sampled by a member of the Inside Food & Drink team.

Holding the title as the UK’s number one Vegan & Free From chocolate brand, NOMO prides itself in creating delicious and chocolate alternatives that taste just as good as the real thing. Heralded as a chocolate revelation, the company seeks to remove FOMO from the agenda and replace it with NOMO – No Missing Out.

For those looking to treat their friends and family this Christmas, NOMO also offers a Christmas Selection Box, filled with the nation’s favourite choices.

This year, in celebration of the festive season NOMO has released several on-brand options. Whether you’re in the mood for the rich indulgence of a Choc Fudge Reindeer or the moreish decadence of the Hollow Reindeer, NOMO has made sure its Christmas range packs a punch. Here at Inside Food & Drink, we were lucky enough to give them a try.

“ The NOMO Hollow Reindeer was delicious! The cute packaging makes it the perfect gift for any Christmas fan – young or old – and the inclusion of rainforest alliance certified cocoa beans makes it the perfect feel-good treat. I can’t wait to try the rest of NOMO’s Christmas range!.” – Imogen Ward, Editorial Assistant.

Have FOMO NO MO-re. You can find the full Christmas range here: https://nomochoc.com/

NOMO

Limoncello Di Capri

Originating from the Island of Capri, Italy, Lemoncello Di Capri evolved from Vincenza Canale, the landlady of the renowned Mariantonia Hotel, and her desire to offer homemade limoncello to her guests. Now a fully-fledged business, Limoncello Di Capri took form in 1988 and became the first establishment to patent and use the name Limoncello. Ever since, the company’s drinks have become renowned for their distinct flavour and bright, lemon- yellow bottles.

Now, just in time for Christmas, the company has developed another way for fans to enjoy the flavours of Capri. Dressed in a beautiful deep blue bottle, Limoncello Di Capri Crema is a zesty indulgence that pairs perfectly with starters, mains and desserts.

Not just for Christmas, this delicately smooth cream liqueur can be enjoyed all year long in the form of cocktails and delicious desserts.

“ Limoncello Di Capri Crema has a gorgeous silky-smooth texture that works wonderfully with the sharpness of its Sorrento lemons. It was the perfect addition to my lemon tiramisu and has quickly become a firm favourite of mine ” – Editor, Phil Nicholls. i F D &

You can find out more about how the company turns lemons into limoncello here: https://www.limoncello.com/en/

TASTE OF THE SEASON

Exciting ways to celebrate Christmas

Made to be planet-positive and full of flavour, Avallen Calvados is a crisp and floral offering presented in a beautiful paper bottle that has 1/6 of the carbon footprint of a regular glass bottle. Brimming with delicious apples that have been pollinated by the company’s own bees, this brandy is sure to have a lasting impact on your pallet.

Determined to become the world’s most sustainable spirit, Avallen works in harmony with nature to create the perfect apple brandy using only apples, water and time.

Whether mixed with the perfect concoction of Christmassy spices or as a standalone refreshment, Avallen Calvados is the ideal option for any brandy fan.

“Avallen Calvados is the perfect combination of fruity and floral. It is refreshingly light, yet full-bodied and had me going back for more. With a sweet taste and a hearty fragrance, this is the perfect feel-good drink, with an import climate-conscious message that really made me think about the origins of my usual drink choices. The paper bottle was the cherry on top, making the entire product a piece of art.” – Jasmine Lodge, Events Manager.

To experience the refreshing taste of Avallen for yourself, head to: https://avallenspirits.com/

Avallen

The Cornish Scone Company

Christmas comes but once a year and the Cornish Scone Company has devised an ingenious way to enjoy the famous flavours of Cornwall, usually associated with summer, by adding a festive twist.

The company began when founder Karen Gilchrist’s father moved away from Cornwall, and she started sending cream teas to him in the post. The traditional Gilchrist family scone recipes have been handed down through generations and remain a closely guarded secret. All ingredients are, of course, locally sourced.

This festive season, the company has more Cornwall-related Christmas offerings in their hampers than you can shake a yule log at. These include, but are not limited to, Christmas cake slices, festive Christmas scones baked with extra spice, (as always, finished off with Rodda’s cream and delicious Boddingtons strawberry jam) and Christmas tiffin made with fairtrade dark chocolate, ginger snaps, Christmas spices, cranberries, raisins and sultanas.

There are also savoury options, including cheese and cranberry scones, or a tasty Christmas Cornish pasty made by the company’s favourite local specialist baker. The pasty contains turkey, sausage meat, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potato, swede and onion.

“ I adored the variety of this hamper.

I am a big fan of the Christmas scone, what a great idea! And the Christmas tiffin was exceptional. I could really taste the ginger nuts which gave it a truly delicious seasonal twist. ” – Hannah Barnett, Editorial Assistant. i F D &

To see the full range, and organise a hamper to be sent to your loved ones in time for Christmas, check out: https://www.cornishsconecompany.co.uk/

latest news from around the food and drink industry

Merchant Gourmet launches ready-to-eat Black Dhal pouches

The UK’s number one pulses and grains brand, Merchant Gourmet, has extended its pulses and grains offering with the launch of its new, readyto-eat Black Dhal.

The launch comes as Merchant Gourmet seeks to provide delicious, quick and better-for-you meal options, as research shows that 20% of Britons are eating Indian cuisine at least once a week at home in the UK.

Made with coconut cream, rich black lentils and a careful balance of over 20 warming herbs and spices to provide full flavour, Merchant Gourmet’s Black Dhal is vegan-friendly, a source of protein, high in fibre and contains 33% less salt than leading competitors.

Ready in just 45 seconds, the delicious dhal pairs perfectly with rice or naan, making it a great addition to speedy plantpowered lunches or dinners.

“With more and more people choosing to eat at home, we wanted to give shoppers an option for a high-quality, convenient ‘fake-away’ that doesn’t compromise on taste or health,” said Richard Peake, Managing Director at Merchant Gourmet. “Our creamy Black Dhal is perfect for foodies

with busy lives, looking for quick, easy and exciting meals that deliver on flavour.”

Merchant Gourmet’s new Black Dhal is available now in Sainsbury’s and Ocado.

The UK’s number one pulses and grains brand, Merchant Gourmet, was founded back in 1994 by brothers Mark and Oliver Leatham, who were inspired by the nation’s growing appetite for exciting and innovative cooking ingredients.

Today, the brand continues its mission to inspire more people to eat more plants, with 20% growth YOY and a market share of 47%.

Best-known for its colourful pouches of pulses, grains and top-selling chestnuts, Merchant Gourmet continues to pioneer new and exciting plant-based products that are simple to prepare and made using delicious, natural ingredients. n

Ocean Spray launches new pink cranberry juice drink

Ocean Spray®, the UK’s leading cranberry juice brand, has brought innovation to the juice category and the goodness of the cranberry to more consumers with the launch of a different, sweeter type of cranberry juice drink, Ocean Spray Pink Cranberry, with vitamin C and no added sugar, artificial colours or flavourings.

New Pink Cranberry is also filled with purpose as Ocean Spray has pledged to donate five pence from every carton sold to breast cancer trust The Pink Ribbon Foundation.

Launched into the ambient aisle in Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and independent stores from the end of October, Ocean Spray Pink Cranberry is different because it contains a unique blend of pink, red and white cranberries, giving it a smooth, sweet and refreshing taste compared to the crisp tangy flavour of red cranberry juice.

Not only does the sweeter taste appeal to a wider audience, but it also makes it a more versatile, healthier alternative drink outside the traditional breakfast occasion, such as at lunchtime, early evening or as an afternoon pick-me-up.

“We wanted to create a different type of cranberry juice filled with passion and

purpose that appeals to the younger, non-cranberry drinker who is often put off by the tartness of traditional cranberry juice,” explained Jo Dickinson, Senior UK Marketing Manager Ocean Spray. “It also needed to have wider appeal outside of the breakfast occasion.”

Ocean Spray has been a farmer owned cooperative since day one and its unique harvest produces inherently healthy fruit which has a distinctive taste and contains naturally occurring antioxidant vitamin C.

Ocean Spray is launching both ambient and chilled varieties of its new Pink Cranberry, with the ambient juice drink launching first into retailers in October, and the chilled variant, containing higher levels of vitamin C, launching in spring 2024. n

latest news from around the food and drink industry

Cavendish advises on the merger of fine wine merchants Goedhuis & Co and Waddesdon Wine

Cavendish, the full-service investment bank for growth and investment companies, announced that it had advised on the merger of Goedhuis & Co and Waddesdon Wine, a subsidiary of the Rothschild Foundation, which completed on 3 November 2023.

Both companies will initially continue to trade under their existing names while the two businesses are fully integrated, to ensure no disruption to clients or suppliers.

The new entity, Goedhuis Waddesdon Limited, is poised to become a formidable presence in the wine industry, uniting exceptional wine expertise, prestigious portfolios and first-class levels of service to create an unparalleled destination for wine collectors, retailers and hospitality businesses seeking to elevate their standards of wine excellence.

Goedhuis & Co is a distinguished, multiaward-winning fine wine merchant with over four decades of experience, celebrated for its expertise in all the great wine regions, with a particular focus on Burgundy and Bordeaux. Waddesdon Wine represents wines from Domaines Barons de Rothschild

Lafite and Edmond de Rothschild Heritage exclusively within the UK. Waddesdon Wine also represents Hundred Acre and collaborates closely with esteemed wineries including Henri Bourgeois and Penfolds.

Chateau Lafite Rothschild will retain a shareholding in the newly merged Goedhuis Waddesdon Limited. Goedhuis Waddesdon’s headquarters will be in London Bridge and at the Rothschild estate, Waddesdon Manor which has recently opened its newly renovated cellars which house the largest collections of Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Mouton Rothschild outside of Bordeaux.

The lead advisers on the transaction were Senior Partner Lord Leigh of Hurley, Director Rebecca McCredie and Associate Tom Holland-Hibbert. n

Stroodles partners with Treyd

Stroodles, the British edible tableware retailer that has made headlines worldwide for its food-based, biodegradable dining products, has partnered with ‘sell first, pay suppliers later’ fintech Treyd to capitalise on Stroodles’ already explosive growth.

Stroodles began revolutionising the notoriously unsustainable drinking straws sector in 2019 with its pasta-based straws; its range has since grown to encompass edible (wheat-based) cutlery, crockery, and most recently even play, activity kits. To fuel the growing demand for its products internationally, Stroodles has entered a partnership with Stockholmbased Treyd, which helps retail SMEs to grow by providing upfront financing for

paying suppliers in advance. The partnership will enable Stroodles to continue to expand its production as well as freeing up capital to invest in R&D.

Cashflow is a recurrent issue for food and beverage SMEs due to typically long payment terms – meaning SMEs can be out of pocket for many months on end. Treyd provides growth opportunities to long-shelf-life F&B retailers that are cheaper than investment and more flexible and attainable than bank loans.

Last year, Treyd grew its global customer base of small and medium enterprises by 500% and revenue by 1,000%. It now works with over 600 retail SMEs across Northern Europe, 150 of which are British. n

from crop to consumption

EVENT PARTNERSHIPS

A selection of upcoming events, followed by an overview of Gulfood 2024 and a preview of FOOD EXPO Greece 2024.

09-11 March 2024

FOOD EXPO Greece

FOOD EXPO 2024 represents the dynamic food and beverage industry at an international level in the best possible way, presenting all the trends and innovations shaping the future of the F&B industry. 1,300 leaders of the Greek and global industry will showcase products at this event.

[click here] for weblink

19-23 February 2024

Gulfood

Attend Gulfood to establish close connections with leaders from the F&B industry, government associations and world-leading brands. Source new opportunities and prospects from more than 5,500 exhibitors from over 125 countries - the ideal place to meet and expand your global F&B network.

[click here] for weblink

IFE 2024

IFE, ba tive will have a to uncover industry wil

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20-24 January

SIGEP: The Dolce World Expo

SIGEP is the world’s leading B2B dessert-and-coffee foodservice to discover the latest news, inno dessert-and-coffee sector: raw materials and equipment, furnishings, packaging a

[click here] for weblink

27 March 2024

, International Food & Drink Event, is ck to deliver high-quality and effece business connections. The event range of new features and exhibitors what the exciting food and drink l look like in 2024 and beyond.

here] for weblink

12-13 April 2024

The International Franchise Show

The only event in the UK to connect with a large selection of franchise brands. Each year, thousands of entrepreneurs and business owners flock to the ExCeL London for unmissable seminars, panel debates, insights and information from big brands, over 250 exhibitors, networking and more.

[click here] for weblink

y 2024

B show dedicated to the e industry. This is the event ovations and trends in the s and ingredients, machinery and services.

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CEO & President of BOD FORUM SA Thanasis Panagoulias shares his insights.

FOOD EXPO Greece 2

FOOD EXPO 2024 represents the dynamic food and beverage industry at an international level in the best possible way, presenting all the trends and innovations shaping the future of the F&B industry. Thanasis Panagoulias

CEO & President of BOD FORUM SA, a Member of NürnbergMesse Group, previewed the event for Inside Food & Drink’s Jasmine Lodge.

Inside Food & Drink last spoke with you about the 2022 event. How has FOOD EXPO Greece evolved since then?

Since our last talk, FOOD EXPO has cultivated the credibility, loyalty, recognition and support of the global food and beverage sector by being the biggest one-stop shop for the industry in Southeast Europe. FOOD EXPO 2024, which will be held March 9 to 11, will stay true to the trade show’s goal and mis -

CEO & President of BOD FORUM SA –Member of NürnbergMesse Group

2024

sion, and will present all the trends and innovations shaping the future of the Food & Beverage industry.

How many visitors and exhibitors are you expecting to attend?

The 2024 event will welcome a global lineup of 1,300 Greek and International exhibitors, all of whom will once again place their trust in the FOOD EXPO brand and will benefit from the valuable deals that the trade show offers to its participants. At this point, I would like to mention the fact that this year more than 280 exhibitors from 40 countries are expected to participate. Lastly, FOOD EXPO 2024 is expected to welcome more than 35,000 F&B professionals from all over the world.

What would you highlight about the show for visitors to this edition of FOOD EXPO Greece?

The trade show will provide buyers from all over the world with the perfect opportunity to discover what is new in the global food and beverage market, source around 50,000 products, build com mercial

CEO & President of BOD FORUM SA Thanasis Panagoulias shares his insights.

relationships with 1,300 Greek and international exhibitors – all market leaders – and learn how to stay ahead of competition. Industry experts and visionary leaders will meet buyers at the exhibitor’s booths to inform them about new ideas and products transforming the F&B industry.

In terms of your many exhibitors, what would you say are the advantages of attending the show?

FOOD EXPO is the place to raise brand awareness and showcase innovations, products and concepts to more than

9th – 11th March 2024, Metrop

35,000 global F&B professionals from the organised retail, the wholesale sector, the hospitality and catering industry and the food service sector.

The trade show will once again enable the exhibiting companies to establish new contacts, deepen existing partnerships with the Greek market, as well as expand into Europe and other markets around the globe. Over 4,000 food traders from 80 countries have already put the 2024 event on their agenda. At the same time, 900 key buyers will visit via the Hosted Buyers Programme and the event will facilitate 13,500 B2B meetings with exhibitors.

politan Expo, Greece www.foodexpo.gr

FOOD EXPO Greece runs alongside OENOTELIA 2024, the leading trade show for wine and spirits in Greece. What are the benefits to your visitors and exhibitors of running these two shows in parallel?

As part of FOOD EXPO, OENOTELIA offers a variety of important synergies, allowing exhibitors to present their products and get in touch with thousands of representatives from organised retail, wholesale and catering, as well as important international buyers. Nearly 190 of the industry’s best suppliers, wineries and distilleries will showcase their latest products and services to a stellar crowd of quality professionals from the food & beverage industry.

At the same time, visitors will obtain a complete, global picture of both the gastronomic and the wine wealth of Greece. Thus, in a single visit, they will have the opportunity to look for all the products in which they are interested in investing and to lay the foundations of new trade agreements with the exhibitors.

In conclusion, what is most exciting for you about FOOD EXPO Greece, on a personal level?

I am really proud of the fact that we have built over the past 10 years a trade show that is a significant meeting point for the global F&B community. This is an international event that inspires conversations and collaborations, with an impact on the industry’s growth. n

FOOD EXPO Hosted Buyer Programme

One of the main factors that have led to the success of FOOD EXPO, and to its truly international appeal, is the trade show’s Hosted Buyer Programme. Our team will select 900 key buyers, importers and distributors from strategic countries from five continents so that they can attend the show. With all, or part, of their travel and accommodation expenses paid for, qualified Hosted Buyers will enjoy exclusive benefits and will also have the chance to participate at prescheduled B2B meetings with exhibitors. If you want to join the Hosted Buyer Programme, fill in the form on the website.

https://foodexpo.gr/en/hosted-buyerprogram-2023/

Gulfood 2024

Companies attend Gulfood to establish close connections with leaders from the F&B industry, government associations and world-leading brands. Here is the chance to source new opportunities and prospects from more than 5,500 exhibitors from over 125 countries – the ideal place to meet and expand a global F&B network.

Gulfood is the gold standard for the global F&B community, and the most trusted name as a source of lucrative deals, knowledge and networking. The event is the ultimate opportunity for retailers, food suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, chefs and thought leaders to discover the latest products, connect with industry players and explore the latest innovations shaping the future.

The 29th edition of Gulfood, taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 19th to 23rd February 2024, will host over 5,500 exhibitors from more than 125 countries. The show will unveil new business opportunities and provide solutions to new and evolving global challenges.

Visitors will experience the global diversity within the F&B industry thanks to 127 country pavilions. 2024 represents the event’s biggest lineup of participating countries. These pavilions are part of the astounding one million square feet of show floor space across 24 massive halls filled with exhibitors, country pavilions and culinary experiences.

Within these 24 halls, visitors will have the chance to explore more than 100,000 new products and innovations from Gulfood’s vast exhibitor showcase across seven distinct sectors. Almost half of the exhibitors are attending the show for the first time, meaning that visitors will be offered a first look at these fresh and innovative products.

Gulfood

- 19th-23rd, February 2024 www.gulfood.com

Sectors at Gulfood

The Gulfood show floor is segmented across seven food and beverage sectors. This organisation allows visitors to easily and quickly find the right products and suppliers.

• Beverage: Soft drinks, hot drinks, water and fresh beverages.

• Dairy: Milk, yogurts, butters and cheeses.

• Fats & oils: Nut and plant-based edible oils, animal fats, and ghee.

• Meat & poultry: Halal, grass and corn-fed, free-range, poultry, and organic meat.

• Power brands: One-stop shop for multiple product categories.

• Pulses & Grains: Grains, beans, rice, cereals, flour, oats, dry peas, pigeon peas and lentils.

• World Food: Country pavilions, niche and speciality products.

Events at Gulfood

Supporting events at Gulfood include a programme of free summits, giving visitors the chance to engage in thoughtprovoking conversations with over 100 industry leaders, gaining valuable knowledge and perspectives.

Gulfood also offers masterclasses and chef talks. Visitors will be able to participate in interactive sessions, learning new techniques and culinary secrets from the best in the industry. This programme promises to be a spectacular culinary experience featuring the world’s largest line-up of renowned Michelin-starred chefs.

Throughout the event, visitors will also have extensive opportunities to network and attend meetings. Gulfood is an ideal opportunity to establish close connections with F&B industry leaders through prescheduled meetings arranged via the official event app and meetings programme. n

from crop to consumption

BAKERY

delice de france c.h. guenther & son soreen the bread factory cavan bakery diatosta & rialto milish bakery brook bakery

Delice de France has continued to thrive as the UK’s largest independent distributor of bakery goods. With a booming order book, the company is planning a significant investment in its facilities: increasing its vehicle fleet and nudging its way to becoming a producer of fantastic-tasting food. Andy Probert sat down with CEO Thierry Cacaly to discover more about the company, which is on the cusp of 40 years of trading and a £100 million turnover.

The UK public’s appetite for affordable luxuries supplied by Delice de France shows no signs of abating as the UK’s largest independent bakery distributor continues to grow.

“We have been in the right spot at the right time,” CEO Thierry Cacaly reflected. “Our business plans continue to revolve around thinking creatively, from increasing the product range to stocking our trucks better. All these activities have converged to result in a very positive business performance.”

One milestone of recent times has been the adoption of a new ERP system that has quickly become the company’s backbone. “We also launched a new e-shop, which helped us attract more orders and made it easier to connect with clients,”

Mr Cacaly added.

This shift to ordering online compared to traditional telesales amounted to a £60 difference per spend. “This opened our eyes,” Mr Cacaly said. “We intend to make it more engaging for clients, who are mostly

corporate and from the tech-savvy, younger generation. The digital revolution is on: more people are ordering online, and we intend to take full advantage. ”

£100 million milestone

Delice de France has also switched focus to four specific channels – retail convenience, hospitality, contract catering and wholesale/innovations - where its teams have a deeper understanding of each and can provide greater added-value services to the clients.

“While we are primarily a B2B business in the foodservice-convenience sector, we have never been into the larger retail sector,” Mr Cacaly said. “However, we are testing a range of self-branded Delice de France bake-at-home morning goods with Tesco Ireland, and it is evolving well. It is all about projecting the brand for the long term.

“That said, Delice de France celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2024. While 202 3 will see us top £80 million in turnover, we are intent on climbing that £100 million milestone in the next 5 years.

“Covid has exacerbated the entrepreneurial spirit and we have quickly grasped that opportunity. We did the right things at the right time, and quickly re-positioned the business and continued building momentum.

“We are now contemplating going into production of bakery products as evidenced by our project in Ireland. It will be a change, but will help cement our position as a market leader in the UK industry.”

Comes with added bite

Launched in a small coffee shop in West London by forward-looking French chef Phillippe Signolet, Delice de France became a national distributor of frozen bakery products.

By 1999, it was owned by global bakery player ARYZTA and swallowed up in the organisation’s corporate structure. However, in 2019 Delice De France became independent again following a management buyout led by Mr Cacaly.

By 2021, the bakery specialist, in adopting ARYZTA’s UK assets and customer base, had nearly 1,000 product

lines which it supplied to more than 9,000 clients in the UK. These included food service and retail convenience channels, such as coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, food courts, contract caterers and leisure.

Delice de France employs 300 people and has distribution hubs in London and the West Midlands for frozen food products. It also has five satellite units across the UK, enabling 10 million palletised units to be distributed annually.

The move to independence has enabled the company to embrace true innovation and quality across all product types, which

the UK market demands. All its products are bought from huge bakeries, and it is renowned for genuine products.

The company’s chef and marketing teams launched Baked by Delice, a brand enabling Delice to deliver freshly baked delicious products daily, wrapped or unwrapped and distributed within the M25 or as a frozen thaw and serve option for national distribution.

Other branded developments included Delice to Go, the company’s modular retail proposition covering all-day parts with classic viennoiserie, hot food-to-go, sweet and savoury snacks, and a range of deli sandwiches – prepacked and freshly made onsite.

It also provides beverage partners Seattle’s Best Coffee for a rich and smooth comprehensive coffee and hot beverage solution in convenience retail and petrol forecourts.

With Projuice, the company offers customers healthy shakes, smoothies and

frozen gelato. It also works with high-end partner Coup de Pates, providing an extensive range of semi-prepared, mouth-watering reception delights.

On the vegan front, alongside its vegan cakes and sweet treats, its award-winning vegan sausage roll remains top of the menu within both convenience retail and foodservice sectors. Delice de France has also launched a new chilled range of sandwich fillers, including cheese, ham and bacon.

Moving forward

“Another milestone has been shifting our vehicles from providing completely frozen products to a frozen and chilled products’ operation,” Mr Cacaly added. “This has been quite a revolution for us and helped to bring lovely creations to the trade.

“We have developed new technology with a route metrics system to offer the most efficient way to deliver to our customers and improve our carbon footprint.”

The company has been highly active in trade conferences in London and Birmingham, plus in focused shows on retail convenience and at universities. “It is essential to put the brand out there and continue the momentum by showing our innovation potential,” Mr Cacaly said. “We produced our first catalogue for summer, offering 50 new products, such as bread ranges, pastries and desserts.

“We are also launching a winter TOP UP with 40 new products. We essentially act as the gateway for our suppliers to thousands of clients nationwide.”

A well-known Korean concept called Paris Baguette, a French-style bakery, has opened in London and has developed a high-end patisserie line in partnership with Delice.

“It is pushing the quality up all the time, with the products being the best of the best and tasting beautiful,” Mr Cacaly said. “We see catering contractors going from strength to

strength, and we provide more business to hotels across the UK. We also support innovative artisan coffee shops.”

The primary challenge is keeping pace with business growth through product innovation and infrastructure investment. Delice will spend £4 million to make its London warehouse more efficient and sustainable, while £250,000 will be invested in upgrading its West Midlands facility.

According to Mr Cacaly, the company’s transport fleet could be expanded by another 30 vehicles when it achieves its £100 million target. It is also tackling its Scope one and two carbon emissions and engaging with its supply chain on Scope three.

“All these activities have been achieved by our amazing team,” he concluded. “I would like to say a massive ‘thank you’ for their wholehearted support.” n

C.H. Guenther & Son is a leading food manufacturer that has delivered highquality products and ‘just baked from scratch’ flavours for over 170 years. With manufacturing locations worldwide – including Europe’s most advanced bakery – it is making significant strides in sustainability through energy and waste reduction, and progressive farming practices. Andy Probert discovered more in discussion with Rosalinda Sanquiche, Global Senior Manager, Sustainability & Communications, and Jean-Charles Philippon, Managing Director, Europe.

IN1851, C.H. Guenther & Son (CHG) began life as a humble flour mill near Fredericksburg, Texas. Its entrepreneurial visionary of the same name switched operations to neighbouring San Antonio, and CHG has been a powerhouse of production ever since.

Now employing 4,100 people across 29 manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe, the company is a leading supplier of value-added grain-based and frozen food products for food service clients and select consumer markets.

CHG’s current portfolio focuses on ten areas ranging from artisan bread, buns, and English muffins to baking, griddle, batter, and breading mixes, biscuits, doughs, gravies, and dips. Its much- loved

retail brands, such as Pioneer, White Wings, Sunbird, and Cuisine Adventures, have been present at family meals for generations.

While CHG which is owned by Pritzker Private Capital is deeply committed to advancing food quality across its diverse operations, its dedication to sustainability is deeply embedded within its DNA.

Sights on Coventry

These principles are best demonstrated at its latest high-tech operation at Coventry, in the UK. The £38M facility, which employs 90 people, can create 72,000 buns an hour or 1.1 million buns a day - one of the fastest bun production lines in Europe. The 106,000 sqft plant, designed and

built from scratch, is C. H. Guenther Bakeries in Europe’s third UK site.. Significantly, the facility is fully supported by McDonald’s as it will create fresh, quality buns exclu sively for the fastfood giant’s restaurants.

Jean-Charles Philippon, CHG’s Managing Director, Europe, said the facility underscored the company’s longstanding commitment to McDonald’s, which it has been supplying with fresh, quality buns since 2005.

Sited ideally in the West Midlands between major UK cities, the facility has been praised by senior McDonald’s management to help better serve their customers and is an excellent example of the work it is achieving with CHG.

The site is designed to BREEAM ‘Excellent’ specification and is targeting an EPC ‘A’ rating. Supporting CHG’s environmental commitments to reduce electricity, natural gas, and water intensity, and a zero waste

to landfill target, the building has installed solar PV, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and a water recycling system.

“CHG is committed to high quality products, while sustainability and flexibility are key considerations with this latest facility,” said Mr Philippon. “We believe the development will become a key asset in C.H. Guenther Bakeries’ European growth plan.

“One of our core values is to offer bespoke production that exceeds customers’ expectations. Our customers are considered valued partners as we often collaborate with them to ensure we’re fully invested in their specific operations. Ensuring we never compromise on quality means their end users get the best products.”

Sustainable strategy

Rosalinda Sanquiche, Global Senior Manager, Sustainability & Communications said CHG, backed by its parent company, is continuing to make significant strides in

sustainability activities on all its sites. This is through energy and waste reduction, advanced farming practices, and increased use of sustainable and recyclable sources for its product ingredients and packaging.

The company produced its first environmental, social, and governance report in 2022 and highlighted the many initiatives it is achieving, which are being shared with stakeholders, suppliers, and customers.

“Sustainability has become a firm focus for us. We are one of the few bakers in the industry to tackle Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions, and we are now looking at Scope 3,” said Ms Sanquiche. “We began this initiative with our German plant, and it is now being rolled out across the company’s footprint.”

The report highlights a variety of sustainability measures undertaken. For

e ach metric tonne of product CHG creates, it is working to reduce the usage of electricity and natural gas, and waste generated to help lower its carbon footprint.

CHG supports farming practices and water efficient technologies that protect watersheds in communities at drought risk. Its facilities also meet all environmental compliance requirements, ensuring water released into community systems is contaminant free.

Most of the organic waste CHG plants produce is diverted from landfill and converted to animal feed. CHG also diverts waste through upcycling, turning organic materials into new product. Working towards zero waste to landfill has already been achieved at eight facilities.

A greater focus has also been placed on products made from sustainable ingredients, according to Ms Sanquiche:

“CHG requires all vendors to adhere to a Supplier Code of Conduct that tracks where ingredients are grown and harvested.”

CHG is also working closely with partners to develop packaging that is 100% reusable, recyclable, or industrially compostable by 2025 for retail markets.

“Our effort remains to reduce electricity, natural gas, and water intensity from

a 2022 baseline with SBTi-aligned goals and to target zero waste to landfill,” she explained. The corporate headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, is a LEED Silver building, using solar panels and an innovative HVAC system.

CHG’s R&D and culinary team is innovating with clients to provide options for healthy offerings: high protein, low sodium, whole grains, clean label, and more. It is also seeking out sustainably sourced or harvested ingredients, including RSPO certified palm oil.

Praise for staff

“Having customers that share our beliefs and values, and backed by a parent company that is prepared to invest heavily, demonstrates how serious we

are in driving our sustainability goals further,” Mr Philippon agreed.

The company is also fully aligned with helping farmers look at new ways of innovating in growing wheat, maximizing yield while being mindful of best agricultural practices.

Both interviewees paid tribute to CHG’s global workforce in their commitment to maintaining best practices in performance, many geared towards the company’s sustainable goals.

The company is bestowed with many experienced workers who have served more than five, ten, and 20 years. “They are at the heart of what we do; they bring forward ideas for change and how we can evolve into a better company,” said Ms Sanquiche. “We ensure that the performance of the company and our sustainable goals are always interrelated.”

Additionally, CHG’s efforts to increase diversity and educate its workforce about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) culminated in the company being named by Newsweek as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity for 2023. CHG began its DEI journey in 2021 with a threeyear strategy to align diversity goals with its corporate business plan. The organization has spent the last two years implementing various programs and initiatives to help create a more diverse and inclusive corporate culture.

In conclusion, Mr Philippon said: “We never lose sight of what drives the consumer and how we work collaboratively with our partners to deliver on those trends and perceptions. CHG will never compromise on quality and will always strive for excellence. Those principles will always underpin our approach and growth.” n

Originally developed as a sweet treat, Soreen’s loaves have been a pinnacle part of Mancunian diets since the company was first established back in 1938. Now, off the back of the nationwide success of its Lunchbox Loaves, the company is launching another brand-new product. Managing Director Mark Simester explained more to Imogen Ward.

Th e heart-warmingly scrumptious taste of Soreen is well-known across the UK.

From its famous malt flavouring to its Lunchbox Loaves, Soreen is adept at making snacking solutions that satisfy

“Soreen is really strong with families with primary school-aged kids,” said Managing Director Mark Simester. “but, as those kids grow into teens and then young adults, it’s natural for them to progress on from the snacks they ate growing up – especially when they feel these snacks are targeted towards a younger audience. That’s why we designed the new Soreen Lift bars.”

Soreen was a staple for many growing up, with the iconic malt flavour still its best-seller.

According to Mr Simester, the reason for this is all in the ingredients: “Malt has so much power. It’s almost a superfood because it contains a whole host of health-boosting B vitamins. Not only do you get this wonderful malty-sweet flavour, but you get the health benefits as well.”

Yet, as coffee shop openings peaked around 2010 and eating out became more prevalent, Soreen realised that in-home sweet treats were becoming less popular. In 2012, the company released a product that would completely change its presence in the market.

Launching Lunchbox Loaves

From the get-go, Soreen’s Lunchbox Loaves were a hit. Designed to meet the nutritional needs of its infant or primary schoolchild target audience, whilst being the perfect portion for a lunchbox-sized snack, this product was enjoyed by both children and adults alike.

“ The Lunchbox Loaves were a huge success,” Mr Simester said. “In its early years, sales grew by 50 per cent every year, and its distribution grew significantly. It quickly became apparent that they were more than just a lunchbox item for young kids. Everybody was eating

them, even households without children. We’d launched the products at a convenient size for lunchboxes, but we didn’t realise how convenient this health snack would be for all ages.”

Initially introduced to the market with a malt and banana flavour, the Lunchbox Loaves range quickly grew with the addition of apple in 2017 and strawberry in 2018. Soreen also entered the seasonal market in 2015 with its first Halloween offerings, Toffee Apple and Chocolate and Orange Lunchbox Loaves.

“Entering the seasonal market was a successful growth strategy,” Mr Simester explained. “With our initial target audience being school children, we know that they get very excited over the key seasons, so we started with Halloween

and released a number of Lunchbox flavours for that occasion, including Toffee Apple and, more recently, a Scary Cherry Jelly flavour. We then released gingerbread along with raspberry and white chocolate flavours for Christmas. Our number one best-selling seasonal product, however, has been our Easter limited edition lemon drizzle.

“Our presence in the seasonal market really highlights our versatility, but also shows that Soreen is a brand people can have fun with. And our consumers really look forward to finding out what new flavours we have planned.”

Each malt Lunchbox Loaf is individually wrapped, ready to eat and boasts a nutritional value with less than 100 calories, 0.5 g of fat and 5.7g of sugar. For consumers, these Lunchbox Loaves were ticking all the right nutrition boxes and

l ed to a complete overhaul of Soreen’s marketing strategies, welcoming in the new era of Soreen snacking success.

Sweet treat to healthy snack

In 2016, following the huge success of Lunchbox Loaves, Soreen made the strategic decision to focus its marketing message solely on the nutritional benefits of the products, whilst also entering the snacking sector.

“At the time, our marketing messaging was really split,” Mr Simester said. “We were marketing Soreen as both a nutritional snack and a treat food. Although Soreen has the benefit of being a healthy snack that is sweet and tasty, we realised that we needed to focus on one market

position. Our products are low in fat, and Lunchbox Loaves have 50 per cent less sugar than alternative cake bars on the market. Thanks to our nutritional values, all Soreen products are also HFSS compliant (not high in fat, salt, or sugar).

“Being HFSS complaint was a pivotal moment for our business, it highlighted that we have been using the right recipe for 85 years: one that is healthy before anyone really knew about it.”

Over the years, Soreen has worked hard to promote healthy eating and encourages its consumers to have more active lifestyles. Thanks to its commitment to nutrition, the company has actively removed 78 tonnes of sugar from the nation’s diet between 2020 and 2023.

“To promote Soreen’s positive nutrition values, we have sponsored a lot of sporting events,” Mr Simester said. “We were the official snack of the Tour de Yorkshire and Tour of Britain. We even sponsored Olympic gold medal cyclist Laura Kenny.”

Alongside its sporting sponsorships, Soreen also has a strategy to support community-based initiatives.

“We want to have a wider and more positive impact on the country, the nation and the planet,” Mr Simester said. “We have partnered with a foodbank called the Bread and Butter Thing, where we donate a lot of our products. Our staff regularly volunteer at these food banks as well. To help ensure kids get access to the right nutrition in school holidays, we

also provide hundreds of thousands of free snacks for kids’ summer sports and activity clubs across the UK.”

Raising sales with Lift

Keen to become a part of everyone’s snacking routine, Soreen has just launched a new product range, targeted towards teenagers and young adults.

“Soreen Lift comes in three flavours and is high in vitamin B12 – providing essential anti-fatigue benefits perfect for a target audience who are very active,”

Mr Simester explained. “These bars are available now from Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Co-op, along with Tesco from September 2023.”

With the launch of this new product range comes new opportunities for

Soreen. For the first time, the company has produced a marketing campaign for TikTok and created promotional events for Freshers’ Week. As part of the company’s largest marketing spend to-date, this campaign is set break records.

Like all of its products, Soreen Lift comes in sustainable packaging. The company has steadily removed unnecessary packaging from its products and continues to work in collaboration with suppliers to remain at the forefront of the latest innovations.

Sustainability at Soreen:

Playing its part in the UK Plastics Pact, Soreen has pledged to use 100% recycled packaging by 2025. The company is also monitoring its energy usage and carbon emissions output to be more environmentally conscious.

Over the years, Soreen has been on an impressive journey, one that is filled with progression, excitement and success. Since 2014, the company has more than doubled its sales and now makes a whopping four million products every week. Going forward, it would love to continue on this path, and further its presence to really make a difference to making the UK diet healthier.

“ Soreen would love to be recognised for playing a really positive role in helping the UK snack healthier,” Mr Simester concluded. “We’re going to continue help educate about good nutrition, and we hope t hat in doing so, we can raise awareness with consumers, retailers and the media.

Despite our success, we are a small-sized business run by 160 amazing colleagues, and we are proud of everything we have achieved so far.” n

Nestled in the heart of London, The Bread Factory has been setting the standard for artisanal baking for three decades. And now, as the company celebrates its 30th anniversary, Tara Griffin, the Bread Factory’s dynamic Head of Food Service, took Richard Hagan behind the oven doors to share the secrets of the Bread Factory’s success, explaining how traditional breadmaking methods – preservative- and additive-free - never go out of fashion.

Established 30 years ago as an artisanal bakery, The Bread Factory has become synonymous with artisanal breadmaking. “Right up until today, our focus remains on using traditional breadmaking methods and ensuring that our products are completely natural,” Tara Griffin, Head of Food Service, explained.

A diverse customer base: Originally servicing 5-star hotels and Michelin restaurants, The Bread Factory has since broadened its reach, catering t o national wholesalers, independent cafes, delis, restaurants, casual dining chains, contract caterers and more. This expansive

customer base, demanding about 1,000 direct deliveries from The Bread Factory facilities every single day, showcases the scale of the company’s operations.

“The needs of those customers vary significantly,” said Ms Griffin. “Being able to cater to these different segments makes us fairly unique in the market. Our clients have come to understand the quality that we can offer, and we’re committed to continuing all of those relationships by

The most exciting part of working at The Bread Factory is working with, talking about and being involved with food all the time

ensuring that we maintain our quality and flexibility, even as we grow bigger.”

The other significant arm of The Bread Factory’s business is the grocery sector. The company recognised the growing demand for natural products in supermarkets, where preservatives are often used to extend shelf life.

“We're continuing to strengthen our presence in the grocery market,” Ms Griffin said. “We’re quite unique in the grocery bread market because our products are natural, which is more unusual for that

sector. It’s also a great opportunity for us because we want our products to be available to everyone, not just on the tables of fancy restaurants.”

Baking for the nation

To keep the nation’s tables stocked with delicious artisanal bread, The Bread Factory owns five production sites around the UK. Its largest production site, occupying 100,000 sqft, is located in Hendon, London, and is responsible for producing sourdoughs, pastries and

cakes. Next is its semi-automated bakery in St Albans: that produces mainly burger buns and bread rolls, with some being produced fresh and some frozen.

Two more sites - in Manchester and Bath - operate regional wholesale offerings. And finally, The Bread Factory’s newest facility is located in Milton Keynes. This new, highly automated facility spans 60,000 sqft and has additional room for future expansion. Its primary role at present is making burger buns.

“This site has a huge amount of potential for us,” Ms Griffin said, “and adds more than 50 per cent capacity to our overall capabilities.”

Across all five sites, The Bread Factory employs approximately 1,000 staff members ranging from skilled bakers to sales staff, new product development and operations teams.

Traditional baking at scale

Despite its vast growth in the last three decades, The Bread Factory has not wavered from its core values, as Ms Griffin explained: “We don’t do temporary trends, and whilst we’re unlikely to be offering the next rainbow bagel or the next cruffin, we do forward-thinking tradition very well, and that never goes out of fashion. That’s especially true now, with consumers being more knowledgeable than ever before, valuing the quality and provenance of ingredients, and the story behind the food that they buy.”

The company’s sales figures confirm this. Following some challenges during Covid, The Bread Factory’s food service business in particular has grown 20% year-on-year. On the whole, its most popular products continue to be burger

buns, pastries and sourdough: “the classics,” as Ms Griffin noted.

Each day, The Bread Factory’s substantial scale is brought to bear as its facilities produce 200,000 units per day across hundreds of SKUs for its customers all over Britain. This scale – plus the company’s flexibility - is a big part of what sets the company apart from competitors.

“Our ability to produce artisanal recipes at scale is what makes us special,” said Ms Griffin: “we have huge agility as a business across our sites, both in size and ability. We happily occupy the middle ground between very large but inflexible producers making millions of products, and small producers who are doing amazing things, but sometimes lack the infrastructure that we can offer.”

Vital sustainable farming

Sustainability and the planet’s wellbeing are both key concerns at The Bread Factory. This has led to the installation of solar panels on its larger facilitie, as well as various other interventions, such as its fleet of electric delivery vehicles and trials for using reusable crates instead of cardboard. Notably, the Bread Factory has also embarked on an exciting sustainability project with Wildfarmed, a regenerative flour co-operative carrying out sustainable farming in the UK.

“With growth and size comes a responsibility that we must take seriously,” Ms Griffin said. “We are in a position now where we are big enough to make a real impact to farming methods, and this is

really important to us. By using grain that’s grown in the right way, we hope to make a significant difference to the way in which our farmland is treated as well as how our crops are grown, and the soil rotated.

“Making a difference is so important to us, so our work with Wildfarmed is really exciting for The Bread Factory. And though we’ve already scored a lot of good wins with our sustainability programmes, we firmly believe that we

should never rest on our laurels. You’ve got to always try to innovate and move forward.”

Concluding, Ms Griffin highlighted both her own and her colleagues’ passion for the business: “The most exciting part of working at The Bread Factory is working with, talking about and being involved with food all the time. We’ve got a team of people who are trying to do something really transformational, and that’s especially exciting to be a part of.” n

Cavan Bakery has been making authentic handmade bakery goods since it was first established in 1929. From perfectly flaky pastries to wonderfully crusty loaves, Cavan Bakery is a doyen of dough. CEO Jeff Greenall laid out the bakery’s journey, in an exclusive interview with Hannah Barnett and Imogen Ward.

CAVAN BAKERY I PROFILE

Family-built and organically grown, Cavan Bakery has maintained a history of success over nearly a century.

According to CEO Jeff Greenall, this can be attributed to a very important set of principles: “From the very beginning, Founder David Cavan embraced innovation, craftsmanship and quality. Those principles remain a crucial part of the business today, and they have been incredibly successful for us. Last year, we managed to surpass £5 million in turnover.”

Established in 1929, Cavan Bakery was brought to life by the Cavan family whose passion for pastries res onated throughout every element of the business. From its first expansion in the 1950s to its leap into wholesale at the turn of the century, the bakery has always strived to create an enjoyable and memorable experience for everyone involved.

“In 2012, we moved the bakery to a new location,” Mr Greenall said. “At the time, we had six shops, and 30 per cent of the business was dedicated to wholesale. When the pandemic hit, we were really beginning to focus more on retail and that led to the introduction of our sourdoughs and more up-market products.

“We had to reassess our business strategy: most of our wholesale customers were in the hospitality sector, and with the whole industry shutting down overnight, we lost a big chunk of our business. That’s when we really refocused our efforts on expanding our retail portfolio.”

A baker’s dozen

The company has invested in further shops, taking its total to 13. After coming to the conclusion that its site was too small to accommodate this expansion, the company made the courageous decision to relocate to a new facility in 2022.

“We moved into a 16,000 square foot purpose-built facility last November,” said Mr Greenall, “and that has really opened the door for future growth. But it wouldn’t have been possible without significant investment from Lloyds Bank.”

When the company decided it was ready to relocate, there were many factors to take into account, number one being the cost.

“The move cost us somewhere in the region of £750,000,” Mr Greenall said. “On top of that there were a lot of other smaller things to consider, including the acquisition of new machinery. Our relationship with Lloyds was purely transactional until 2021 when I approached them about a loan for the factory move. They allowed us to modernise our facilities, take our wholesale sector into new markets and were incredibly supportive throughout our expansion. All that was really thanks to the bank’s Relationship Manager, Victoria Vawdrey, who has been really helpful.”

The move has also enabled Cavan Bakery to take a more hands-on approach when it comes to sustainability. The company now uses an electric delivery van and intends to purchase more in the near future. The bakery also features an eco-oven that is designed to retain heat and reduce the

need for firing up. Waste management is an important factor, and the company has been using recycled and recyclable paper and cardboard packaging where possible for many years.

Despite expanding the retail side of the business, wholesale remained a vital component. Once hospitality reopened its doors, the bakery set its sights on rebuilding its presence within the sector.

“Our wholesale trading took a huge hit from Covid, and once we were on the other side, we decided we wanted to reinvigorate that side of the business. However; we really wanted to go in with a different approach and change the way we interacted with that market,” Mr Greenall said. “Before the pandemic, we would go after anybody that

wanted bread; now, we feel our relationship with the client is much more important.

“If a client’s only priority is price, then that isn’t the kind of partnership we want to go into. They have got to value quality as much as we do. They need to understand our process and the time and effort that goes into that. Not just that though: we want to ensure that our clients feel they can come to us when they want a new product. We can work together to create something great.”

The perfect balance

Keen to stick by its roots, Cavan Bakery incorporates many traditional methods into its production process. With a commitment to authentic, great-tasting goods,

The creations behind Cavan:

Currently making 15 different types of cakes each week, and around 6,000 cakes, 5,000 pastries and 10,000 loaves per day, Cavan Bakery expects these numbers to double in the future thanks to the capacity of its new state-of-the-art facility.

the business has developed a process that mixes passion, skill and time to make the perfect products.

“Much of what we do is handmade,”

Mr Greenall explained. “Making sourdough bread for instance: that is a four-step process which occurs over the space of 48 hours – sometimes even longer. All the pastry for our morning goods is also laminated, rolled out and cut by hand.

“Of course, we incorporate technology into that as well. We have mixing machines

and ovens and also utilise new technology that ensures the accurate measurement of ingredients, but those technologies still remain a smaller element of the business. If we were to automate everything, we would lose the essence of what we have and who we are. That’s why we are determined to remain an artisanal bakery.”

Everyone at the bakery goes the extra mile to ensure its customers receive something handcrafted and special. Cavan Bakery aspires to create an experience for its customers at every step, and that is not limited to its food.

“We strive to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere in all our shops,”

Mr Greenall said. “With our riverside café an exception, our shops are not coffee shops; we are a grab-and-go bakery company: one where people can expect an exceptional service.”

Sweet on sourdough

As the company has adapted, so has consumer preference. Twenty years ago, a firm favourite was the bakery’s traditional white bloomers. Today, that bloomer has been superseded by the company’s sourdough selection.

“Our biggest seller now is the classic sourdough,” Mr Greenall said. “Hot on the heels of that bread is our multiseed sourdough, which is also fantastically nutritious. We also have rosemary and sea salt, malted, and our house Cavan Rye sourdoughs which are starting to kick off as well.”

Going forward, Cavan Bakery intends to continue baking goods that its customers love. With an eye on developing trends, it remains open-minded about what the future holds.

“Whatever people come into our shops for, we really want them to leave feeling satisfied with their purchase,” Mr Greenall concluded. “Ultimately, we want to blow our customers’ socks off, and really have a positive impact on their daily lives. If we are doing that, then we are doing well.” n

Diatosta specialises in the exclusive manufacturing of toast and mini toast. Its sister company, Rialto, offers a diverse range of bread-based products such as breadcrumbs, croutons and flavoured toast. The two companies are jointly owned but keep their products and marketing separate. Hannah Barnett spoke to Tiago Lameiro, Communication & Marketing at Rialto, and Vitor Barbosa, Director of Exports at Diatosta, to find out more.

Diatosta and Rialto may keep their product lines separate, but being jointly owned, this combined Portuguese enterprise ensures the core principles are the same. “There are three areas that are very strong from both companies: service, quality and price,” Tiago Lameiro, Communication and Marketing at Rialto said. “These three pillars bring the know-how of the companies together to manufacture a high standard of product.”

Maintaining standards

Quality is a non-negotiable point at Diatosta and Rialto, despite the fact that price is an increasingly sensitive issue, especially in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods sector.

Director of Exports at Diatosta, Vitor Barbosa

As a result, Diatosta has recently responded to the challenging business environment and industrywide sharp rise in prices. The board decided to absorb a significant part of these costs in-house, (rather than passing them on to customers) in recognition of the support the company has enjoyed over the last 47 years. But that has meant Diatosta has had to adapt accordingly, too.

“We’ve developed new working methodologies with the target to be more efficient in production and with the management of costs,” Director of Exports Vitor Barbosa said. “This has been an important milestone for the company, it has involved all personnel, stretching from the board to the production line.” The strategy has paid off as Diatosta has seen an increase in sales by an average of 35% over the last few years, while production capacity has risen 20%.

There is plenty of activity going on at Rialto, too. The company has been investing in staff and expanding production facilities. It has a new hub of over 3,000 square metres and a state-of-theart full production line to produce the

dough, along with the baking, cutting and packing of items.

The investment is paying dividends with Rialto’s production capacity up to more than 40 tonnes per day and a turnover of €9 million in 2022, which it is expecting to hit €12 million for 2023. Rialto has a market share of around 60% in Spain and Portugal, and close to 10% in the Netherlands.

“We keep the two companies separate, because Diatosta is more focused on mass-market products,” said Mr Lameiro. “and at Rialto, we have higher versatility and adaptability to do more value-added products such as mini toast or croutons with flavours.”

True to this versatility, with its newest production line Rialto has begun to offer croutons specifically developed for soups. The croutons stay crunchy for at least five minutes in liquid and are

already available in the Portuguese market, though the company intends to promote this line more widely.

Sustainable development

Both companies came together as one in October for the global leading food and drink fair Anuga, in Cologne. Diatosta and Rialto shared a booth – made of materials it intends to reuse at the next event – in keeping with the 2023 theme of sustainable development.

Outside of events, both companies are actively addressing the reduction of their environmental footprint wherever possible Diatosta is focusing on promoting natural lighting in its facilities, managing wastewater and using recyclable packing materials. The company is aware of its s ocial responsibility and recently received SMETA certification. This is the most widely used format for social audits in the world,

enabling businesses to assess their sites and suppliers to understand working conditions in their supply chain.

“Both companies have invested in solar panels and are trying to be as sustainable as possible,” Mr Lameiro added. “In addition, we are part of a project group along with 27 other Portuguese companies, led by large Portuguese paper manufacturer, Navigator. This project is backed by €103 million of funding and is called ‘From Fossil to Forest’ with the final goal of using pape r instead of plastic packaging.”

A commitment to service

With a clear eye on the future, Diatosta is expanding its R&D department to continue to reflect the needs of customers and practice its goal of strong service.

“The department is working for our customers, not working for us,” Mr Barbosa said. “We are also increasing our marketing services, which means that we are investing in innovation, commitment and engagement with the clientele. This encompasses the full package, from the very first approach to the end of the negotiation.”

Alongside customers, both companies maintain a close relationship with suppliers, working closely together for mutual benefit, such as with the development of recyclable packaging materials. Both companies plan to continue their trajectory of steady, successful

and sustainable growth by expanding their offerings to reach current and new clients.

“Our new production strategy is to diversify our portfolio,” said Mr Lameiro. “Customers ask for new products all the time; they want us to explore the new trends of the market. So we will do that, whilst also maintaining our established category of goods.”

With the rising cost of living, it falls to socially responsible companies like Diatosta and Rialto to take this into account when making decisions for the future.

“We think about our customers, but we also think about the people who are working for us every day,”

Mr Barbosa concluded. “One of our main targets is how to increase the wellbeing of our staff. We want to create conditions that mean they have a good quality of life. If they don’t have that, they will not be able to produce to such a high standard.” n

With a history as rich as its muffins, Milish Bakery has been baking scrumptious treats for more than 60 years. Milish’s strong roots within Dublin’s historic high street bakeries is an important part of that journey, and the bakery has recently updated its name to reflect this. Sales Director Gillian Wilson spoke exclusively to Inside Food & Drink to explain more about this exciting development. Report by Imogen Ward.

Initially set up by Kitty Coghlan and her brother Liam in 1959, as KC Confectionary, the company took Dublin’s fresh bakery sector by storm. Under the management of current Owner Liam Coghlan Jr, the bakery continued to evolve.

After Liam Jr took over the business in 1989, the bakery went through a major rebrand, changing its name to Milish Foods (Inspired by the Gaelic Cáca Milis, meaning sweet cake). The new name brought with it a change in direction for the bakery, and its renowned specialism of muffins and scones was born.

Now, with its 65th anniversary around the corner, Milish has transformed once again: this time to embrace a rich heritage and the skill set of an amazing team. Under the name Milish Bakery, the company has lots of exciting things planned.

“Milish is a craft bakery, and the people here have such pride in what they do,” said Sales Director Gillian Wilson. “We really wanted to communicate that

externally – to let people know we are a fabulous specialist bakery. That’s what the new brand is all about. Over the past few months, we have modernised the whole brand and launched our new website.

“We’ve already had amazing feedback. What’s even more special is the enthusiasm of the team: there’re people who have worked here for over 30 years, and the rebrand has lifted everyone spirits.”

Dedicated to Dublin

Milish’s state-of-the-art facility in Dublin covers 3,500 sqm and is home to 100 passionate employees. With the help of these individuals, the bakery has honoured its history with the perfect blend of modern and traditional techniques that leave consumers wanting more.

“Liam has always been committed to providing premium quality,” said Ms Wilson. “Of course, we could buy a lot of machinery and focus in on the efficiency of that, but in doing so, that premium essence would be lost. Liam will only invest in machines that retain the core quality of each product.

“The traditional methods go right back to Kitty Coghlan in her shed. We don’t use premix for anything; we make every recipe from scratch with fresh ingredients, and even blend our own cocoa powder mixes.”

Thanks to Milish’s dedication to the craft, the bakery can adjust each recipe to best suit its customers, producing muffins and scones that are unique and retain that authentic homemade feel.

Batch-baking is also an essential step in Milish’s recipe for success. “Rather t han running a fully mechanised production line with external variables, we batchbake all our products,” Ms Wilson said.

“In doing so, we can tweak the process to ensure a premium bake every time.”

When it comes to making the perfect muffin or scone, the ingredients list is crucial. Milish believes in supporting sustainable baking, and in doing so always aims to purchase fresh ingredients locally and direct from growers.

All the chocolate within Milish’s muffins is Rainforest Alliance Certified, and the company only purchases palm oil from sustainably certified sources. The bakery’s packaging is also made from previously recycled material that can be recycled once again.

Unique muffins for the UK Milish is fully equipped to handle any future increases in demand. Not only is the bakery’s current facility prepped to generate the business’ target of double the current production output, but the building also has space for an additional production line. Should even more space be required, the bakery has an additional plan in place.

“If we reach full capacity, we also own a large greenfield site next door,” Ms Wilson explained. “It has already been fitted with basic foundations, so doubling the size of our factory with a purpose-built facility would be a quick and straightforward process. The greenfield

site is a huge asset to us because buying land in Dublin is an almost impossible feat.”

Future facilities are not the only potential expansion on the cards for Milish. Having previously broken into the UK market, the bakery is hoping to further expand its presence there.

“As a business, Milish has supplied the UK market for a number of years,” said Ms Wilson, “but there are still a lot of UKbased buyers that don’t even know who we are or what we do. This really solidified our decision to rebrand and expand.

“In a time of the cost-of-living crisis and the pressures on health, now more than ever people need an affordable

indulgence. We believe that’s what we bring to the market, and we are seeing a growing demand for that.”

Regional recipes

Innovation is also a big factor of Milish’s operations, with product development a continuous endeavour. The bakery even accounts for the varying tastes and preferences of each market. “We’re very aware that the same flavours don’t suit every region,” Ms Wilson said. “When developing new

recipes, we always consider local flavours and tastes. At the moment we make blueberry and hemp muffins for the Danish market: those aren’t sold anywhere else because it is very specific to that country’s tastes. We even made a promotional line of egg liqueur muffins for a customer in Germany this year.

Ingenious inventions:

Over the years, Milish has developed some amazing and downright unusual product ideas; some of which include the fantastical unicorn muffins and the more daring pink lemonade muffins that come complete with their own sugar-crafted straws.

Everybody thought we were mad, but that product is perfect for that market.”

This year, the bakery also successfully launched vegan muffins, which look, taste and feel like a standard muffin.

These creative developments would not be possible without Milish’s ingenious product development team.

“We have an amazing NPD team run by Technical Director Gary McCarney,” said Ms Wilson. “He’s been working for the company for over 20 years, and there’s nothing about a muffin or a scone that Gary doesn’t know. The entire team is exceptionally experienced and isn’t afraid to develop new products or adapt our old recipes.

“For a lot of bakeries within the food industry, it’s all about efficiency and driving the prices down. That is important of course; we also have efficiencies and offer value for money, but we believe tha t o ur ability to give customers a product

that is unique to them is what makes us special. From our choice of paper cases to ingredients and unique toppings, we can adjust every element to our clients’ requirements.”

When discussing her role at Milish, Ms Wilson’s joy really shone through: “It’s a fantastic place to work: everyone here has so much passion and care, and they really love what they do. They care abou t the quality, and having a skilled team that is committed and takes pride in the excellence of a product really makes all the difference

“For Milish it’s all about craft, care and passion with every bake,” she concluded. “That ethos has worked for us since 1959 and will continue to do so in our next chapter as Milish Bakery.” n

In a corner of Shiregreen, Sheffield, lies Brook Bakery; a company that boasts an impressive 35-year journey in the bread and confectionery business. Director & Company Secretary Susan Gravill fondly shared with Richard Hagan the story of the company’s evolution and how it rolls with the ever-changing trends of the industry.

Brook Bakery was originally an ordinary retail store when it was purchased by John Emes at the young age of 23. The modest store opened its doors under his ownership on the fourth of July 1988, but it was not long before Mr Emes made a decision that would prove to be rather historic: he decided to try his hand at baking.

Mr Emes quickly found a knack for baking, resulting in an expansion of

his baked offerings from simple bread products to include confectionary also. His delicious baked goods proved to be an instant hit, particularly with nearby businesses.

As demand for the shop’s baked products grew, so did the store and its staff, with Mr Emes’ parents, Jack and Eileen, soon joining the business. Subsequently, in 1990, the garage at the back of the shop was converted and extended to accommodate

the increase in trade, and a van was purchased for deliveries.

Given his constantly increasing workload, in 1992 Mr Emes roped in his sister, Susan Gravill, to assist him so that he could focus on expanding the business. With her background in business administration, Ms Gravill was the ideal business partner for her brother, allowing Mr Emes to grow the business further. “It really became a family affair at that point,” Ms Gravill recalled, and she remains in the business as Director and Company Secretary.

A knead for new facilities

By 1994, Brook Bakery had outgrown its original premises and it moved to an industrial unit only two miles away in Wincobank, Sheffield. The unit next door became available five years later, which Brook Bakery quickly snapped up and duly expanded into to create a 4,500sqft production area. Meanwhile, Brook Bakery had established three retail shopfronts as well.

It comes as no surprise then, that only a decade later in 2005 it was time to move

again. This time, Brook Bakery relocated to a large facility that once housed an ice cream factory. Brook Bakery completely redeveloped the property into a 22,000 sqft purpose-built bakery, where the com pany remains today.

Manufacturing bread, rolls and confectionary at scale, including bespoke and standard products, Brook Bakery now serves customers that include wholesalers, major retailers and sandwich makers. Altogether, Brook Bakery employs 50 staff members, including three apprentices, spread across its factory and three retail outlets.

The company’s high-tech machinery ensures that Brook Bakery is able to

Director & Company Secretary Susan Gravill (Right)

meet its customers’ most demanding requirements. Its factory features two Oddy six-pocket roll plants – made in Britain – as well as a bread plant built by Mono Equipment, also based in the UK. The shaped and moulded dough is then baked by one of a fleet of sophisticated ovens, including a Salva deck oven, two Agiv Forni rack ovens and a travel oven built by Spooner in the UK. Finished products are packaged by three Carrera 2000 inline flow wrap machines.

The factory has recently also seen the addition of a Stevens automatic weighing system. “This eliminates over-weighing and manages traceability,” said Ms Gravill, “so that in the unlikely event that there is anything wrong with the end product on a production line, we can quickly and easily trace the source of that issue. It also ensures consistency in quality and taste,”

Customer relationships

Today, Brook Bakery is an award-winning bakery supplying a large range of highquality baked goods, including bread, rolls, cakes, speciality bread, fresh pastries and confectionary, baked from both its standard product catalogue and bespoke according to customer requirements.

Brook Bakery’s customer relationships are formed around that ability to meet its customers’ demands, Ms Gravill explained: “We deeply understand our customers’ preferences and either adapt our standard range of products to their needs, or we produce bespoke products specifically tailored to their requirements.”

The company’s flexibility ensures that it is able to evolve according to the market’s demands too. One such example is Brook Bakery’s recent foray into vegan products. A new vegan Brioche, boasting a remarkable 28-day shelf life without compromising on taste, stands as a testament to the company’s continuous development. This is not Brook Bakery’s only venture into longer shelf life either, as many of their confectionary products - including brownies, flapjacks, lemon drizzle, carrot cake and more - last up to twelve weeks post-production, ensuring that quality and taste are intact.

The food industry, especially baking, has seen significant changes over the years: with the advent of cooking shows

and influencer chefs, trends are rapidly evolving. “There is a trend towards vegan products, and we’ve responded with the vegan Brioche,” Ms Gravill noted. She also highlighted increasing consumer interest in ingredient transparency and the rise in convenience as additional major industry drivers: “Many people suffer from allergies and therefore the industry will have to continue to find ways to remove allergens from the products that it manufactures.”

Certified quality & freshness

For over twenty years, Brook Bakery has been a member of the Craft Bakers Association. Over a similar period of time, it has also enjoyed SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval) accreditation. And now, Brook Bakery is ambitiously aiming for the coveted BRC certification.

BRC, an acronym for British Retail Consortium, is a professional association of distributors that sets a specific standard

BROOK BAKERY

We are Brook Bakery, your commercial baking partner supplying high-quality baked goods for over 35 years.

As a family-run business, we love to deal with other family businesses and Envior Limited, one of our packaging suppliers, is just that. Envior’s packaging is all recyclable, which gives us the opportunity to do our bit for the planet!

editorial mention

for food safety and food product controls. BRC certification, therefore, offers strong guarantees regarding food safety, traceability and quality.

When asked about the company’s uniqueness in the market, Ms Gravill emphasised Brook Bakery’s adaptability and commitment to excellence: “Our ability to meet the customer’s needs, our versatility, passion for what we do and an obsession with excellence sets us apart.”

In the meantime, Brook Bakery’s teams are kept busy every day, with rolls and finger rolls for the wholesale market across Britain keeping them especially so - and it is not slowing down, either. “Our production year-on-year for these products has increased by around 30 per cent,” Ms Gravill revealed. “Our confec -

tionary squares have also increased in demand, with our brownie being the best seller.”

Meeting constantly growing demand is all in a day’s work for Brook Bakery’s teams, as Ms Gravill explained, in conclusion: “There will always be a challenge waiting for us and our teams, some of whom have been here for 25 years! We love working here, we love our customers, and we look forward to serving them our delicious baked products for the next 25 years and beyond.” n

from crop to consumption

frutco primaflor regal springs europe coffee island northern monk tradin organic i F D &

PRODUCERS

First founded in 1992, Frutco has remained a major supplier within the natural ingredients market. With vast experience in tropical fruit trading, the company has recently expanded its offering, further developing its line of juices. Deputy General Manager Stefan Fischer explained more, in an exclusive interview with Inside Food & Drink. Report by Imogen Ward.

Thanks to its long-standing representation of Paradise Ingredients (one of the world’s largest suppliers of banana puree), Frutco has expanded its product offering.

“We have represented Paradise Ingredients throughout the entirety of our operations,” Deputy General Manager Stefan Fischer explained. “As Paradise has expanded, we have been able to do the same, offering customers two new products.”

A growing portfolio

Initially set up as Gerber Ingredients, Frutco’s partner evolved into Paradise Ingredients to reflect the beauty of its home in Costa Rica. The partnership was formed in 1992 and saw Frutco become the European sales partner for Paradise’s

excess banana volumes. Over the years, Frutco has gone on to sell banana puree, and expand and diversify its offering with more exotic fruits.

“Our long-standing partnership with Paradise Ingredients has afforded us many advantages, including, of course, its consistency in garnering high-quality produce and its access to some of the largest raw material stocks available,”

Mr Fischer said. “Thanks to this, we are always able to answer client requests for additional stock.”

Frutco is confident when it comes to increasing demand as Paradise Ingredients currently supplies the company with more than 15,000 tonnes of bananas annually. For Paradise this is just a fraction of what it produces each year, with an impressive crop yield of 45,000 tonnes. Due to Paradise’s year-on-year fruitful yield, Frutco has been

able to expand its product range using Paradise’s bananas.

“We now offer frozen, peeled whole bananas, which are sourced directly from Paradise Ingredients,” said Mr Fischer. “These are used mainly by the bakery and dairy industries.”

Inspired to extend its capabilities, Frutco also recently introduced another new

product: with a focus on the juice sector, the company now offers coconut water to its customers. This product can be bought on its own or in a blend with other tropical fruit juices.

These new additions are joining a complete range of tropical fruit products, from mango puree to guava concentrate. Frutco even offers a sourcing service for the more unique flavours that it does not stock.

Whether a customer is in the market for yuzu juice or dragon fruit puree, the company works in collaboration with its longstanding international network to find the perfect batch.

All natural

With expertise in exotic fruit purees, concentrates and juices, it is safe to say Frutco was destined for the baby food market.

“As choices become more complex and spending patterns emerge, Frutco is proactive in adapting to shifting demands,” Mr Fischer explained. “Both the organic market and the baby food segment are growing in popularity, and we have been quick to utilise our knowledge to answer that call.

“According to a recent study, banana puree turnover is increasing at an annual global rate of 8.9 per cent. This is driven by the growing middle class – particularly in South America and Asia – who have more disposable income and, therefore, want higher quality baby foods. By step -

ping into the baby food market, we were able to provide this quality.”

Frutco offers pineapple and banana baby food which comes in either puree or juice form. The fruit used in these products is monitored to meet the baby food safety guidelines in both Europe and the USA. Organic versions of these products can also be purchased from the company.

To possess the organic label, Frutco collaborates with select organic development projects, which often work with small-scale farmers and benefit local communities through the generation of stable income.

Market expansion

Over the years, Frutco has developed a reliable and high-quality supply chain of producers, which helps the company meet the demands of these new markets.

“We have been able to work with some producers for years and have built up trusting and transparent relationships that allow us to negotiate favourable conditions for our customers,” Mr Fischer said. “For our producers, it is very important to have a reliable partner, and we are proud to live up to that label. In return, we can

rely on them to deliver produce that is high in quality and complies with international standards of delivered goods.

“Our partnerships with producers have demonstrated how we can rise to the challenge of shifting trends. Now, more than ever, customers are looking for long-term contracts with stable prices. They also want to be able to order additional quantities that need to be available from our warehouse at short notice. We can be relied upon to deliver that quick turnaround, whilst maintaining the quality we are renowned for.”

Although the company is expanding, it is keen to do so organically and transparently. As a founding member of the Sustainable Juice Covenant, Frutco is working hard to ensure it continues to meet growing demand in a responsible manner.

“We encourage all our suppliers to work with the covenant to ensure their produce is sourced, processed and traded sustainably,” Mr Fischer said. “On top of this, we are determined to become 100 per cent sustainable by 2030 and are confident in achieving this. As of the end of 2022, we had successfully reached 78 per cent. When it comes to produce, trust and transparency is expected: both our customers and partners get that from us.”

The company is also a member of the Rainforest Alliance. This certificate reinforces its commitment to responsible sourcing, and currently, the company

offers customers the option to buy sustainably sourced banana puree.

As Frutco continues to sow its success, having a company filled with passionate employees certainly helps. “Being able to work with food is a special and satisfying job,” Mr Fischer concluded. n

Primaflor was established in the 1970s as a family-run enterprise in Pulpí, Almería, southeast Spain. The company has been in the fresh produce business since the eighties, meticulously nurturing all the vegetables it grows – while responsibly preserving the surrounding environment. Cecilio Peregrin, Corporate Director, explained the secret of Primaflor’s success to Hannah Barnett.

Innovation and improvement have always been driving forces at Primaflor. The comp any takes its name from the Spanish for flower, having initially been established for their cultivation and sale. But for the last 40 years it has provided fresh vegetables that complement the Mediterranean diet, and now does so on a large scale.

This is no mean feat, according to Cecilio Peregrin, Corporate Director: “People think a smart phone is innovative technology: and it is, as a design and then the smart phone is made by a machine, and it is fine. But innovative technology is also being able to grow multiple heads of lettuce all the same size, or broccoli the same weight and carrots the same colour. The secret is having a fantastic technical team and to work hard, consistently.”

Fantastic facilities

A t the end of the 2023 financial year, Primaflor reported a turnover close to €187 million, partly thanks to the company scaling-up production extensively in the last decade. “We moved from being producers and growers with some exporting spirit to adopting an industrial mentality,” said Mr Peregrin.

Alongside an extensive 6,000 hectares of fields, Primaflor operates four indoor facilities. One, at its HQ in Pulpí, is for fresh produce and stretches across 10,000 square metres. There is another 4,000 square metre factory specifically for peeled garlic, with an output of 18,000 tonnes per year.

After moving into the prepared salads sector in 2005, the company

purpose- built another 18,000 square metre factory . As part of the same initiative, Primaflor acquired Ensaladas Verdes in 2010, and took over a second factory for prepared salads in León to cover the northern Spanish market.

Cultivating crops at different altitudes, ranging between sea level and 1,200 metres, gives Primaflor a strategic advantage as it can grow the same produce 52 weeks of the year. This allows the company to maintain a consistently high quality of products, while adapting to, and respecting, natural growth. Staff numbers average 1,800 but can peak at 2,700 with around 24 different nationalities represented. Staff welfare is a paramount concern of the company.

Primaflor keeps abreast of trends, with a trial centre of three hectares dedicated to testing new products. “At the moment we are focusing on leaves that can be used in prepared salad bags,” said Mr Peregrin. “It is a challenge to come up with new varieties, but we keep doing it because it's part of our mentality. We are always researching; not only for our market, but also for our customers. Ultimately, we are

also consumers, so we also like to go to the shops and try new things.”

Maintaining fully traceability of products is vital. “The only thing we don't produce is the seeds,” Mr Peregrin explained. “But we test all the varieties from different seed companies so we can choose the best: and this means seeds which are appropriate for fields in this area, only 200 metres above sea level, as well as ones that grow in our nurseries up in the mountains.”

Sustainable from the start

Sustainability has always been paramount at Primaflor. “It's not what we do, it’s how we do it,” said Mr Peregrin. Efficient use of water is especially important in the hot climate: the company utilises two methods of drip irrigation and has reduced water consumption by up to 40%.

Primaflor was also the first agricultural business in Spain to have its ESG report verified. “The ESG report is significant because it has demonstrated that all the processes carried out at Primaflor are based on our strategy of sustainability and responsibility,” Mr Peregrin said.

An ESG report discloses information covering the organisation's operations and risks in three areas: environmental stewardship, social responsibility and corporate governance. Consumers look to ESG reports to find out if they are supporting a company which has values which align with theirs. Primaflor completed its first ESG report in 2013.

As a result of this level of commitment to the development of sustainable policies

in its businesses, in June 2023 Primaflor received the Credit Suisse Sustainability award for the agricultural sector. “For us, it is validation that we are doing something right,” Mr Peregrin reflected. “Sometimes, sustainability might cost money, but as my father, (one of the founders of this company), often said: ‘It is not always about turning a profit:’ and we try to practice that to this day.”

Social sustainability

In 2019, the company launched the Primaflor Foundation to undertake outreach projects of general interest, especially for Primaflor employees and their families. “Last year, we gave a grant to ten of our workers’ chil dren to buy books,” Mr Peregrin said. “This year, we are doing it again and we're going to extend the amount of money, as well as involving the directors of the schools here in Pulpí.”

The foundation is also involved in initiatives that encourage the selfsufficient cultivation of crops. Though it may initially appear counterproductive to the company’s business interests, such a scheme is very much in-line with the Primaflor ethos of prioritising community over profit. Subsequently, during the Covid pandemic, it donated land to local families to grow their own food.

Cecilio Peregrin, Corporate Director

The company provides soil, water, technical support and seeds for the purpose.

“The only thing they need to provide is their work” Mr Peregrin explained, “and the only thing they have to do is to work on that small field to get products for themselves. Every year, we do a small check-in to make sure everything is being kept ok.”

In the midst of the pandemic, Primaflor also ensured supermarket shelves remained stocked with its products.

“We had a commitment to society to provide food,” said Mr Peregrin, “but we invested in safety too. We used three times the normal number of buses to transport our workers with sufficient space, for example.”

A family affair

The company maintains a robust, local supply chain, with 50% of suppliers located in a radius under 50km, thereby

supporting the local economy. Primaflor also emphasises the importance of minimising its carbon footprint in fields and factories by upholding tight regulations.

But for Mr Peregrin, it is not the awards and the success that matter so much.

Primaflor began as a family firm, and ultimately remains one. “My father, the co-founder, was 95 when he died,” he concluded, “and he came here pretty much every day. He was always emphasising the importance of looking after people, rather than only focusing on profits.

“So this is the aspect of the work that now excites me most. To see the smile of a child is really better than anything, and, as my father used to do, I love walking around and greeting everyone. My father and I share the same name and the street the company is on is now named after him. It is fantastic to be able to continue his legacy.”

n

For over three decades, Regal Springs Europe GmbH has been cultivating premium tilapia through highly responsible aquaculture. Managing Director Petra Weigl and Product Manager Anne-Marie Koch discussed the many benefits of tilapia. Report by Phil Nicholls.

Tilapia like no other. Regal Springs farms in deep freshwater lakes with the highest social and environmental standards.

Operating at the core of Regal Springs is its sustainability programme, the world's only fully integrated whitefish and tilapia hatchery business. The company currently has aquaculture production sites in Honduras, Mexico and Indonesia.

“We are farming in pristine natural lakes set in beautiful locations,” Managing Director Petra Weigl explained. “As a consequence, there's not much infrastructure in these places. Regal Springs is really supporting the communities around these wonderful lakes.”

Founded in 1988 by a UN development worker, Regal Springs is now the largest

vertically integrated supplier of high-quality tilapia in the world. The founding vision was for a fish farm that would contribute to a certain level of prosperity for the residents of regional communities affected |by poverty and unemployment.

For the past 35 years, Regal Springs has been delivering on this commitment. The company made a special effort to celebrate its achievements as a pioneer in sustainable aquaculture farming with cakes – sent to sites around the globe to mark the event.

Premium fish

The tilapia at Regal Springs are bred without the use of chemicals and growth hormones. The fish are frozen immediately after processing to ensure the best possible quality. These premium tilapias have firm, white flesh and are grown in natural lakes.

To ensure the health and development of the fish, Regal Springs source

high- quality, mostly vegetarian food. Since the taste of a tilapia is largely determined by what it eats, the fish from Regal Springs have a delicate, very mild and somewhat sweet taste. This quality was also confirmed by the receipt of two stars from the International Taste Awards.

“The distinctive trait of the tilapia is the low water content in its flesh, which makes it so easy to prepare,” Ms Wiegl explained. “The flavour is neutral, so it really adapts to any seasoning. We can prepare it the Asian way - spicy, sweet and sour – or use it in a more traditional dish by boiling it. Even people who do not like fish can eat tilapia, because it's more or less like a chicken of the sea.”

Regal Springs supplies this flexible fish in a variety of ways: tilapia are available as whole fish, descaled and gutted before packaging; practically boneless fillets offer consumers many cooking options, with Regal Springs also

supplying premium loins or versatile fillets/portions.

Yet, for all the benefits of this amazing fish, Ms Wiegl highlighted the challenge o f

Favourite ways to prepare tilapia.

Ms Weigl: Take a fillet, add lemon and a pinch of salt. Roll the fillet in wheat flour, then pan fry it and serve with mashed potatoes.

Ms Koch: Marinate cubes in soy sauce and sesame oil, then put onto a lemongrass skewer and grill.

educating customers to the potential of tilapia: “Here in Northern Europe, we still pretend to be fishing nations. Looking at the German market, for example, national consumption is 1.1 million metric tonnes catchweight of fish, while the local production is only 160,000 tonnes. Fish dependence day in Germany is already

early March, meaning this is when our local supply of fish runs out for the year.

“As Europeans, we really should increase our fish consumption from sustainable healthy catches or aquaculture. At Regal Springs, we are trying to help the consumer be really curious about enjoying the versatile tastes seafood can bring.”

Sustainable fishing

At the heart of the Regal Springs operation is the sustainability programme. One strand of this programme is about responsible aquaculture practices, where Regal Springs carefully monitors water quality and protects the environments where it operates, as well as caring for the tilapia.

“In order to produce a good fish, one with true premium value, then pristine water is required,” said Ms Weigl. “It is crucial to use a very good feed, and to treat the animals properly, without overloading the cages.”

The sustainable operation at Regal Springs is also dedicated to a zero-waste policy. “We are currently using almost 95 per cent of our fish,” Ms Weigl continued. “This means that any bone, skin and belly from the fish is finding a second home. We are able to sell these as byproducts, or we use them in-house for fish oil and fish meal production: nothing goes to waste.”

The sustainability programme extends to the local communities around Regal Springs’ aquaculture operations. The company takes its social responsibilities very seriously, supporting the families and local communities of its workers around the world. In Honduras, for example, Regal Springs is one of the three largest employers in the country.

“Regal Springs supplies income directly to more than 4,300 employees globally,” Ms Weigl explained, “and indirectly we help about 27,000 people around the world, because we also organise the transportation of our workers from their villages to the factory.

“There's a lot of infrastructure we create around our factories and the aquaculture

sites. Plus, we invest a lot into the communities where we work, supporting schools and hospitals.”

Swimming into the future

With such a solid foundation, Regal Springs is eager to expand further into Europe. Sustainable aquaculture is a realistic route to supplementing the local production of fish, and tilapia from Regal Springs can answer this need.

At times, it seems that the main challenge to achieving this goal is consumer awareness. “The product itself is convincing,” said Ms Weigl. “From what we have seen, 100 per cent of people who try our fish simply love the taste. Even some professional chefs could not believe it was tilapia; the fish was so different from whatever they had expected.”

Regal Springs is particularly keen to expand into the UK, according to Ms Weigl: “This seems to be an open-minded market, perhaps because the UK is a melting pot of nationalities, with such a wonderful restaurant scene. The market seems more open to new foods, which helps us a lot.

“UK retail is really demanding. Starting talks with any UK retailer results in very detailed and strict analysis about farming methods and the way we treat the fish. We have now introduced electrical stunning for the UK retail market, with the support of a UK company.”

The combination of delivering sustainable aquaculture and supporting communities around the world make Regal Springs a great place to work, according to Product Manager Anne-Marie Koch: “When I started, the most exciting thing about the job was the wide range of tasks. Today, I take inspiration from helping our production communities, who are so invested in this project.”

“First of all, I'm happy about the diversity at the company,” Ms Weigl said, in conclusion. “Plus, there is simply so much potential for finding productive uses for our products, from cosmetics to medical applications. I need to use all my skills here, and this is really exciting for me.” n

with a mission

Beginning as a single coffee shop in Patras, Greece, Coffee Island has blossomed into an international franchise network, backed up by its own production and packaging centre. Report by Phil Nicholls.

Established in 1999, Coffee Island has steadily expanded. The first franchise opened in 2000, but it was not until 2009 that Coffee Island became international, with a branch in Cyprus. Its growing list of franchises reached the UK in 2016 and Canada the following year, with the first branch opening in UAE in 2019.

Today, Coffee Island has an impressive range of facilities. An early expansion into

a roasting unit to support the growing portfolio of branches became a dedicated production and packaging centre in Patras. Opened in 2015, this site deploys the latest technology. Growth continues today, with over 400 shops, including a new London branch. This network is supported by the Coffee Campus, Coffee Island's certified training facility in Thessaloniki.

“We are proud of our story, having begun with a single coffee shop in Patras in Greece in 1999,” CEO Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos explained. “Coffee Island has become the sixth largest coffee brand in Europe and was recognised as the Best Coffee Chain in Southern Europe by the 2016 Allegra Coffee Awards.”

Premium roasts

The delicious beverages served at a Coffee Island espresso and brew bar are the cumulative result of specialty coffee knowledge and brewing methods. A wide variety of cof fees are served, each one created with sophisticated brewing methods, such as pour over, Chemex, AeroPress, Syphon, cold drip and unique signature cold coffee drinks. Each carefully crafted method offers different cup profiles for the customer.

Coffee Island believes that every coffee has its own story. Every year, 25 different

varieties are selected from different countries around the world. The franchise network requires 1,400 tonnes of green coffee to be roasted annually.

“Customers today want distinctive experiences – as coffee consumption increases in the public, so does coffee knowledge,” Mr Konstantinopoulos continued. “Origin and ethics are as important as quality now. We travel a great deal to find the most select beans and specialised growers, ensuring not only that our flavours are the best, but also that we are able to reach out further as we expand our network of coffee shops worldwide.”

The Direct Trade policy keeps Coffee Island in close contact with international coffee growers. Under this model, Coffee Island cultivates mutually beneficial relationships with individual farmers and cooperatives in coffee producing countries.

COFFEE ISLAND

“We work in many countries to support farmers in the protection and improvement of the soil, water and the local microclimate,” Mr Konstantinopoulos explained.

“Coffee Island also supports projects that improve the living conditions of workers on

these coffee farms. What’s more, consistent coffee purchases at fair trade rates, increase the income of farmers and even improve the quality of the coffee yield.

“We have signed long-term, exclusive contracts, with specialty coffee producers in Brazil, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. All of the producers we work with promote ecological, sustainable and socially responsible coffee production.”

Sustainable coffee

Indeed, Coffee Island is committed to ensuring that it contributes to the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the places from where it sources coffee beans. The Direct Trade Policy is a key player in this goal.

Closer to home, the Coffee Island team regularly participates in projects like the nationwide CSR Environmental Action organised by ELLA-DIKA MAS. This is one of the largest corporate environmental actions carried out in Greece. Over

900 corporate volunteers participated, in 14 different locations across the country.

Patras was the focus for Coffee Island’s participation, where the team worked around Dasyllio hill, an important green lung for the city.

Alongside these actions, Coffee Island is embracing the transition to a circular economy, with an investment into CoffeEco. This innovative company upcycles espresso, beer and wine waste from

hotels, cafes, coffee shops and wineries. Coffe-Eco then turns the natural antioxidants and caffeine into effective and eco-friendly skincare products.

Award-winning coffee

Over the years, Coffee Island has accumulated multiple awards, for both its franchise programme and its overall growth strategy. This trend shows no signs of diminishing.

In the 2023 Franchise Awards, Coffee Island was recognised as Best Coffee Roaster. This award demonstrates the company’s expertise and passion that characterises the 23-year journey to democratise specialty coffee.

2023 also brought an award for the campaign ‘Coffee Island Single Estate –Where will you travel today?’ received from the Peak Awards 2023. Coffee

Island also did well in the ‘Best Performance in Food & Beverages’ category by winning a Bronze award. This achievement highlighted the company’s effective and innovative practices in the field of performance marketing.

The future at Coffee Island looks bright, enhanced by enthusiastic participation in trade shows such as

the World of Coffee event. As part of the world's biggest coffee event, Coffee Island welcomed friends and partners from around the world to the company’s shop in Athens. Colleagues from Brazil, Colombia and Rwanda met, chatted and built mutually beneficial relationships, while enjoying fabulous coffee. n

For the past 10 years, Northern Monk has stocked the nation’s shelves with vibrantly delicious craft beer. Now, having reached an important anniversary, Co-Founder & Managing Director Russell Bisset mapped out the company’s journey so far and revealed how it has been celebrating the occasion. Report by Imogen Ward.

Or iginating from one man’s desire to open a brewery and the loving support of his granny, Northern Monk has nurtured its humble roots into success.

“In 2013, the beer landscape was quite different,” Co-Founder & Managing Director Russell Bisset explained. “At the time, there was a big gap in the market for a progressive Northern craft brewery, and I had harboured a dream of creating one called Northern Monk that had pride of place within its Northern identity.

The monetary catalyst that made that dream a reality was a £5,000 gift from my granny.”

Mr Bisset was quick to add that when it comes to starting a brewery, it takes a lot more than £5,000. However, through sheer determination and hard work he utilised all available means to make it happen.

Initially operating from the cellar of his mum’s house, the company began to search for premises that reflected its Northern values in 2014. That search led to a Grade II listed abandoned mill on the outskirts of Leeds, where the brewery still resides today.

Championing the community

Throughout its journey, Northern Monk has experienced widespread support from its community of beer-loving patrons. Keen to share the spiri t of collaboration and community, the Brewery set

Managing Director Russell Bisset

“WHEN WE ESTABLISHED NORTHERN MONK, WE SET OUT WITH THE AMBITION OF CREATING

THE BEST BEER EXPERIENCES IN THE WORLD”

up Patrons Projects as a way of rewarding that support, whilst also helping creatives in the community.

“We feel that community and collaboration are the pillars of the North, and that is reflected in Northern Monk as well,” Mr Bisset said. “Teamwork was an important element that really got the business going, and so many people supported us. Patrons Projects was born from a desire to offer an outlet which expressed that ethos.

“For our first series, we worked with local photographer Tom Joy, who used our beer as a medium for his exhibition. That beer was created in collaboration with a local coffee roaster, and Patrons Projects really ignited from that.”

Each series features a different creative and is a positive way of supporting the local area. According to Mr Bisset, the decision process for each series is organic and evolves from discussions with people.

In honour of its dedication to collaboration, the company has also partnered with numerous businesses to celebrate special occasions. To honour Yorkshire Day, Northern Monk created several special editions in partnership with Don’t Mess With Yorkshire, which have been extremely popular year-on-year.

Northern Monk also established For The North in 2019; this foundation later evolved into Faith in Futures to ensure there were no barriers when it came to

helping communities in need. In honour of the generosity of Granny Bisset and her legacy, the foundation donates £5,000 grants to various community projects, companies and charities throughout the UK. So far, Faith in Futures has donated an awe inspiring £50,000 and is determined to triple that by 2025.

“It is quite a challenging time for a lot of businesses and charities,” said Mr Bisset. “so we are being diligent in choosing the right partners. As times toughen, these funds are more meaningful than ever, and we want to make sure we can support those that need it most.”

Bringing back old favourites

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the company is re-releasing 10 special edition beers – all of which are past exclusives – now with an updated twist, including one that gives a nod to the company’s inspiration.

“We have re-brewed a number of past editions in celebration of our anniversary, including Granny’s Mix,” Mr Bisset said. “Initially released for our fifth anniversary as a tribute, the beer was inspired by Granny Bisset herself, and her lasting l egacy within the company. When we were growing up, she would let us concoct our own special drinks from a variety of juices and fizzy water. Now, with two of my brothers working at the brewery, our childhood of mixing drinks in Granny Bisset’s kitchen has become our inspiration.”

Pale Ale perfection:

Currently, the most popular beer on offer at Northern Monk is Faith, a juicy, hazy Pale Ale. Presented as the hallmark of modern progressive craft beer, Faith’s strong brand message of ‘Keeping the faith’ resonates strongly with customers.

Granny’s Mix has been re-released as a tropical IPA full of pineapple and reminiscent of the nostalgic memories of the Bisset household. The company has also released an alcohol-free version of its Infinity Vortex, which, a few years ago held the incredible accolade of being one of the highest rated IPAs in the world.

Endless accomplishments

This is only one of the many incredible accomplishments achieved by the Brewery. At this year’s Great Taste Awards, Holy Faith became the first non-alcoholic beer to receive three stars. This was a major milestone for the company and highlights to any aspiring brewers that hard work and dedication really do pay off.

“We were over the moon with the results of the Great Taste Awards,” Mr Bisset said. “It was a super exciting outcome, and we are so proud of the entire brew team for all the effort they put in to achieve that.

“When we established Northern Monk, we set out with the ambition of creating the best beer experiences in the world. Certainly, not all our beers achieve that status, but the ones that are a success prove that the commitment that goes into a quality beer is worth it.”

Other titles garnered over the years include being ranked number one in the Ward Hadaway Yorkshire Fastest 50 List –which labelled the company the ‘fastest overall growing business’ and ‘fastest growing small business’. Northern Monk

was also listed in the Sunday Times Top 10 Best Food and Drink Companies to Work For 2022.

“These achievements are the biggest sign that we’re creating something that people are excited about,” Mr Bisset continued. “We are immensely proud of being recognised as the fastest growing brewery last year, and to have gained the title of fastest growing company in Yorkshire the year before.

“We have also picked up quite a few accolades on the brewing side of the business. One of the earliest was at the 2016 World Beer Cup, where we became the first English brewery to win a medal for an IPA. That was really the first sign that we were on the right track.”

Having filled the past 10 years with outstanding success, Northern Monk

intends to repeat that as it heads towards its next major milestone.

“We’ve invested around £3 million into our production site to enhance our effi ciencies and reduce our carbon footprint, and we now have a water t reatment facility that has made a massive difference,” Mr Bisset explained. “This investment has helped bring us closer to our goal of becoming B Corp certified by 2025. However; our big ambition for Northern Monk’s 15th birthday is to double our turnover to £25 million.

“With the hard work and dedication that the team brings every day, we are confident that we will achieve that. Ultimately, they are the driving force behind every win, and there is no better feeling than knowing that we can share those accomplishments with the entire team.” n

Tradin Organic is the global front-runner for organic ingredients. With an extensive worldwide network of suppliers, the company is a strong player in the modern organic food industry. Tradin sources premium, certifiedorganic ingredients and has more than 150 products linking famers from over 60 countries of origin to manufacturers in Europe, the US and Asia. Rafal Taciak, Commercial Director of Cocoa, Sugar & Sweeteners, explained to Imogen Ward and Hannah Barnett how the company thrives.

Over 30 years of operation, Tradin has evolved into a specialised importer of ingredients, serving the entire organic industry. The company’s secret to success is its vertically

integrated supply chain and investment in quality control and traceability.

“Organic is our core business, but the concept of what is truly natural can be confused,” Commercial Director of Cocoa,

Sugar & Sweeteners, Rafal Taciak said. “The big picture for Tradin Organic is to renew, refresh and rebuild awareness about what organic really is; it requires a lot of work to ensure full traceability. The concept of a mass-balance system doesn’t exist in organic.”

Setting the standard

Tradin employs 700 staff with sales and sourcing offices stretching from Mexico to France, and an HQ in Amsterdam. The €500 million business also has three fullyowned processing facilities which allows it to ensure best organic practices and a high level of quality control.

“Our Dutch factory for cocoa processing, Crown of Holland, was established 10 years ago with one line,” Mr Taciak said. “Four years later, we added a second line. In the cocoa world, you may find new factories in Africa, Latin America or Asia. But in Europe, for a long time there was nothing beyond

some additions to existing facilities. But ours was a greenfield investment, which was the first established in a long time in Europe.”

The Bulgarian plant, SunComo, is a flowerto-factory facility processing top-quality, bulk, organic sunflower products, grown in ideal conditions between the Danube Delta and the Black Sea’s north shore. In 2018, Tradin opened SunVado, an Ethiopian plant to process organic avocado oils with the vision to offer smallholder farmers access to the international export market. The company now works with more than 30,000 local organic farmers across Ethiopia.

There are other advantages to having such a wide international footprint: “We have sourcing managers on each continent,” Mr Taciak explained. “They are responsible for managing existing projects and searching for food that is not yet well known in Europe or the US but is used by locals and could be sourced in industrial volumes. A good example is when products such as quinoa and chia became very popular in the West.”

Full value chain

Tradin Organic operates a full value chain approach. This means, with internal system controls, each batch can be fully traced. Vendors are also thoroughly audited:

“Before we source from anyone external, the supplier has to be approved by our quality department,” Mr Taciak said. “We audit to ensure there is coherence in the way we are working, and we can trace raw materials to a cooperative at least. Farmers themselves are not always possible to trace because sometimes they are very small producers.”

It is vital, therefore, that the company

enjoys robust relationships with its network of cooperatives and farmers, and sends representatives to visit them regularly whilst also continually refreshing the vendor-approval procedure. This ensures strong partnerships aimed at collaborative and responsible business conduct. “We have our own system of internal checkups for cocoa beans: they are tested on residues,” Mr Taciak added. “This mitigates the risks if a particular batch is contaminated. Depending on origin of supplier, we test from 10 to 25 per cent of all batches we receive in the Netherlands.

“When we find the residues we must reject, most of our suppliers have no way to sell the product further or cover the difference. We, as partners for those people, find ways to mitigate the losses. We don’t treat them purely as business associates but also as part of the whole project.”

Going the extra mile

Tradin Organic has been working in Sierra Leone since 2015, with 28,000 organic certified cocoa farmers. The cooperative model uses the Fairtrade premium, and the company regularly invests in training and registration for farmers to successfully pass the audit and start exporting organic cocoa. The farmers now function totally independently, while Tradin has designed a local control system with dedicated quality coordinators.

“We have our own team there,” Mr Taciak explained. “When crop starts, we have around 50 people responsible for managing all supply chain operations, quality checks and relations with local Sierra Leonean authorities and cooperatives.”

Alongside several technical NGOs, the company is also part of an innovative scheme working towards personal

digital ID cards for each farmer, allowing information to be exchanged in both directions and reducing paperwork.

“We are also working with another NGO to explore a pilot programme with a limited number of farmers which will allow the ID cards to provide them with healthcare insurance,” said Mr Taciak. “This is in the initial stage; it will take time until we are going to get where we want to be.”

The company is also invested in reforestation and regeneration, conducting agroforestry projects in western South Africa. The products derived from these areas receive Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC), a step above organic standard. This shows that Tradin Organic is not only sourcing organically but responsibly, ensuring that both farming communities and ecosystems can thrive.

“Certification was a very new idea a few years ago, but it has grown to the level where the number of labels on products is so high that it has lost meaning,” Mr Taciak reflected. “It has caused mistrust. On any food, there’s at least one or two labels and often an advertisement claims a product has

been produced sustainably, or organically: but what does this really mean?

“We are one of the only companies with such a long history in organic food and we have the largest portfolio of products. As a market leader, we play a key role in regaining trust. Organic certification is not green washing, it’s a robust programme t hat is not about simply doing well in a business sense.”

Mr Taciak is clearly passionate about the work that Tradin carries out. As he explained, he has been able to make his mark at the company, joining when the Crown of Holland factory was being built and sales were at just 20% of capacity.

“It was my job to fill our capacity, and after a few years to double it, while ensuring the factory continued to run smoothly,” he concluded. “With the help of several people, we did it. At Tradin Organic, we can really have an impact, which means we are also accountable. It’s a hands-on approach; something that’s very difficult to find in big companies. Here, there is a chance to introduce your own ideas and to make things happen. This is the value of being in a company like Tradin Organic.” n

i F D &

from crop to consumption

MANUFACTURING & EQUIPMENT

wyma europe icoel coalza

Wyma Europe is a long-established business that provides technologically advanced solutions for vegetable producers to deliver quality produce from field to fork. The Czech- and UK-based company is thriving by staying fully focused on meeting customer and market requirements. Andy Probert spoke to Managing Director Jason Gerrie about Wyma’s evolution.

With farmers and producers experiencing ever-tightening margins, maximising produce quality and yield whilst minimising operating costs and process waste is crucial to remaining competitive. Deriving the best crop is the field of expertise of Wyma Europe and Wyma UK.

Sitting strategically in Prague (Czech Republic) with efficient links to clients across the Continent, Wyma Europe is a solutions and innovations hub; designing, project managing, manufacturing, installing and servicing complete vegetable processing, cutting and peeling lines.

“As a local company, we support agricultural businesses across the EMEA region while having the backing of a globally strong parent group,” Wyma Europe’s Managing Director Jason Gerrie said.

A highly innovative business, Wyma has been at the forefront of delivering new optical cutting and trimming technology into the UK, revolutionising the parsnip and carrot industry. This is as well as being the main integrator in the world’s most advanced potato processing facility recently opened in Spain. Wyma’s technology delivers significant savings operationally for clients, and performance improvements in cutting accuracy, yield, quality and compliance with supermarket requirements.

LBS CONVEYOR BELTS

YOUR STRATEGIC PARTNER IN CONVEYOR BELTS

LBS Conveyor Belts, located in the Netherlands, is a young and dynamic company with a family culture. Since their foundation in 1993, they have achieved numerous successes with their customers.

LBS develops unique, customized synthetic and rubber conveyor belts using innovative machinery. These conveyor belts repeatedly support reliable, safe installations and production processes that can meet the demands of tomorrow. Supporting the food, agriculture

and recycling sectors, LBS provides customers with the best conveyor belts that contribute to sustainable and safe products.

We value our cooperation with Wyma. We maintain monthly contact and have excellent communication via MS Teams or phone with the Technical Staff, despite the distance. Regardless of the time zone, we are flexible and adapt to our customers' needs.

Find out more: www.lbs.cc

Employing 50 people, Wyma Europe has doubled the size of its Prague headquarters to 4,000 sqm in the last 12 months, and looks after clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Its UK operation, near Norwich, offers sales, service support, project management, warehousing for spare parts and assembly potential.

‘Global-local’ approach

Founded in 1962 in New Zealand, Wyma was sold in 2001 to the Barclay family, who transformed it from a small domestic supplier to a global company. Realising the potential of the existing technology, the focus went on improving the design and taking Wyma’s equipment to the world.

It recently unveiled a new state–of–the–art facility in Christchurch (New Zealand) from where its staff coordinate business across Australia, Asia, and the Americas. It now has machinery operating in over 50 nations

Having established its European operation in 2010, Wyma Europe has doubled in size in

the last three years due to greater demand for its technology. Its client base is predominantly large-scale farming operations that process vegetables for fresh market supply to leading retail chains in the UK and Europe, and further processing companies in the root vegetable industry.

While the company has recently been acquired by MHM Automation, Mr Gerrie remained confident: “For Wyma’s clients and partners in the EMEA region, nothing has changed: it is business as usual.

“Now we have the support of a much larger parent company with great automation and robotic capabilities that will allow us to offer even better addedvalue innovation to our clients.”

R&D focused Wyma’s initial breakthrough was inventing root vegetable polishing technology, but it has gradually transitioned from a product-focused to a customer focused solutions-based business delivering complete line integration.

“We are, and must continue to be, fully customer-centric in everything we do: providing great machinery, service and support for the lifetime of that asset,” Mr Gerrie added. “If a client wants to build a green field site, we can consult and engage with them and work the entire process to a fully functional operating line, or design and install lines into existing facilities.

“Our approach is to be consultative – to listen and understand customers’ needs. We look at the most efficient way to design and install lines to generate maximum yield and maximum productivity at the lowest operational cost. Energy, sustainability and water management are key elements of the design process.”

Being market-driven, Wyma has designed and developed a complete range of products and solutions for potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions and other bulk root crops.

“We have recently also released new micron filtration and mud separation technology and are developing potentially game-changing bolt-ons to further enhance these water solutions,” Mr Gerrie said. “We recognise each customer has different needs, produce varieties and scales of operation. With a strong emphasis on collaboration, our team configures and tailors post-harvest solutions to match those requirements.

“With 50 years’ experience, we still operate along a strong set of family

values and continue to do so as they align with clients, who, in the majority, are family-based businesses.”

Advanced technology

In the last six months, Wyma Europe has delivered the most automated fresh market potato processing site in the world for Patatas Meléndez of Spain, a leading supplier of fresh market potatoes. “It is truly a benchmark for the potato industry globally,” said Mr Gerrie.

The project comprised two new Intake, washing, polishing and optical grading lines, plus distribution systems to an automated warehouse. It also provided 16 packing lines taking raw material from an automated store to the packaging systems.

Another recent project was the installation of the most advanced parsnip line in the UK for Frederick Hiam Foods. Wyma implemented a two-phase project plan that initially included a completely new intake, destoning, washing, polishing, presizing, water management and recycling system. Phase two saw the installation of six Roto-Cut optical trimming systems, buffering systems and a flumed feed to the post-cut Vege-Polisher.

The results have been impressive: the client has reduced water consumption by 30% and energy use by 25%. Product quality has dramatically increased with crop efficiencies rising from 60% to 95%.

“The upgrades have seen a significant improvement in product uniformity and presentation to box or bag,” Mr Gerrie explained, “making parsnips more attractive to the end customer and

saving Frederick Hiams the cost of hand trimming to meet customer specifications.”

With Wyma’s European and UK business doubling in size, its capabilities have grown significantly from a service and sales distribution hub to one that offers an enhanced suite of solutions.

“We have a strong pipeline of projects for the next 24 months,” said Mr Gerrie, “and are working to double our business by 2028.” Potential projects under discussion are based across EMEA.

“Critically important for our customers is that we are local, in both Europe and the UK,” he added. “Our challenge has been to change market perception that we are a New Zealand business selling to the world. We are anything but. We are a European and UK-based operation, with local expertise, and localised relationships: we manufacture and supply into our local markets.

“We have grown strongly because we provide innovative solutions, with a customer-centric view, and we work hard to achieve their objectives while fostering long-term relationships. Based in the Czech Republic, we are central for clients, with excellent distribution routes and well situated from a supply chain perspective.

“We like to think we are a strong and trusted post-harvest solutions partner,”

Mr Gerrie concluded, “helping clients contribute to providing fresh, healthy food to consumers across the UK and Europe.”

ICOEL is dedicated to the research and development of cuttingedge technologies for the fruit and vegetable market. Owner and General Director Bruno Stravato explained ICOEL’s innovative mindset.

For over 50 years, the Italian company ICOEL has been supporting customers around the world in the fruit and vegetable processing market.

ICOEL's aim has always been to listen to its customers, and to design and implement highly personalised solutions based on their needs.

From its origins as an artisan business, the company has undergone a process of evolution that has led it to equip itself with a state-of-the-art industrial organisation.

“We export all over the world and we are always curious and attentive to the new needs of each market,” explained Owner and General Director Bruno Stravato.

“Thanks to our partnership with TOMRA, we put all our experience and expertise at the service of innovation and the improvement of our customers’ business.”

A cutting-edge portfolio

ICOEL manufactures a complete range of machines for every stage of processing for various categories of fruit and vegetables: cherries, kiwis, stone fruits such as peaches, plums, apricots; citrus fruits, apples and more.

From feeding to packing, via sorting and grading, ICOEL offers manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic configurations to meet the heterogeneous and evolving needs of its customers. The aim is to automate the process without returning to solutions that are too rigid and unable to adapt to requirements that vary in structure, processed volumes and market demand.

“What makes our range popular is the evolution of the software and HMI interface, which, together with the automation inherent in our peripherals, simplifies and

speeds up the management of information for the operator,” said Mr Stravato. “This is a huge competitive advantage, as it allows us to meet customer requirements by adapting to the changing needs of the market. We are pleased to be able to offer machines that improve both the relationship between operator and machine and the relationship between the quantities processed and the degree of delicacy guaranteed.

“This choice goes hand-in-hand with that of staff training. Even in a context of

strong internationalisation and great integration with even more market-oriented realities, man and his authenticity remain the cornerstones of ICOEL. The entire value chain is nurtured by the constant training of engineers and technicians; this is the only way we can guarantee the excellent quality of our machines and software.”

A fruitful partnership

Of particular note is the agreement with TOMRA, a Norwegian company with expertise in the design and manufacture

of sensor-based sorting solutions; a partnership that began more than 20 years ago with Compac, and has grown since it was acquired by the TOMRA Group.

The agreement with TOMRA, signed in 2022, makes ICOEL a privileged partner for the supply of peripherals in Italy, Greece and Turkey; markets where it enjoys a strong reputation. For the Latin American countries, the strong collaboration in the development of fully integrated technologies for cherry processing continues, offering the best ICOEL – TOMRA technologies as synergetic solutions.

S uch a collaboration brings together the know-how of two different and comple -

mentary companies able to combine their advanced technologies in a single solution. The customer thus interfaces with a single entity that guarantees a linear relationship and faster responses throughout the design and implementation process. Their relationship is based on the shared importance of the customer throughout the process – from design to commissioning of the installation .

“The added value also lies in the attention we pay to the relationship with the customer: training and technical assistance are fundamental to enable our customers to work independently, fully aware of the strengths of the technologies installed,” stressed Mr Stravato.

This symbiotic work gives the customer the confidence to facilitate the selection process and streamline the after-sales relationship, which makes a real difference By sharing the burden of development

and research, both companies can specialise and offer both the latest software and peripherals.

Complex production processes

ICOEL knows that in the world of fruit and vegetables, it is misleading to talk about the standardisation of machinery. There are simply too many factors involved: the geographical location of production, the type of fruit and the specific quality processed, the target market and its requirements, and finally the size of the plant and the volumes handled.

Bringing all these factors together in a solution for a customer means that ICOEL must adjust many parameters, not just the level of automation of the machines.

“We work with customers all over the world, with products that are all different,” Mr Stravato explained. “This means that we have to listen to all the customer's needs and create a solution that varies in terms of the level of technology, but also in terms of the number of people to be employed and the size of the premises.”

Recently there has been a lot of talk about our cherry trees, both in Italy and abroad, particularly in South America. We are carrying out many studies to optimise the working process because it is a very delicate fruit which needs to be treated with great care. Our technologies cover a much wider range of fruits: in Greece, there is a growing presence in the processing of kiwis, and only last year ICOEL completed the installation of a large plant for Protofanousis Fruit, which chose the

ICOEL-TOMRA duo to renew the entire line, from feeding to palletising.

Changing the geographical area and going to Turkey, ICOEL is strongly involved in the citrus and apple market, as well as the cherry market, according to Mr Stravato: “We have adapted to different production volumes, moving from the huge production of lemons to more limited lines for younger companies.”

An ambitious future

Meanwhile, ICOEL's future revolves around the company's continuous innovation, as Mr Stravato pointed out: “We focus on the development of our system, studying new technologies that have a positive impact on the performance of our machines.

“To meet the challenges of the market, we are convinced that we must continue to invest in three important factors: structure, research and human resources. The year 2023 will continue to be marked by t he study and research of new technological solutions to optimise the machine s already in our catalogue and to develop new ones. Increasing the resources devoted to this phase of the project is fundamental to strengthening our policy of supporting manufacturers.”

And it is precisely this process of close collaboration with the customer that Mr Stravato enjoys: “The dynamism of this work is extremely stimulating; it is gratifying to see the impact of my commitment and that of my staff on each project, from the study phase to the personal relationship with the customer.” n

Coalza was founded in 1963 and immediately began to play an important role in the development of the Spanish food industry. Thanks to the company’s vertical packaging solutions, artisan producers were able to take their first steps towards industrialisation. Hannah Barnett spoke to CEO Fernando Fernández Garcés to find out more.

For a company that has been operating for 60 years, the secret to Coalza’s success may be never standing still. Evolution, adaptation and modernisation have proved essential.

“The main thing is innovation; it’s key,” said CEO Fernando Fernández Garcés. “If we are not re-inventing ourselves, we are not improving or producing something that is as efficient as possible for customers. And if we don’t, and run the same machines for years, we risk being overtaken by new players.”

Coalza started as a small company, manufacturing vertical packaging machines. A strong drive for growth came when it began to incorporate key projects into its operations. It has now sold machines in over 75 countries with partners and distributors the world over, from France to the US, and from Ecuador to Morocco.

From its headquarters and 5,000 square metre factory in Valencia, Coalza maintains a powerful commercial presence. The company also has a subsidiary in Palencia in the north of Spain, which it opened three years ago to carry out R&D into the best available technology on the market. The innovative facility mainly develops solutions for end-of-line automation and palletisation.

An innovative partnership

In February 2022, Coalza acquired another big player in the packaging sector, IRTA, which specialises in manufacturing Vertical Form Fill Sealing machines (VFFS).

Like Coalza, IRTA is known for its innovative engineering department which develops robust, reliable and versatile machinery for packaging food and other products.

Coalza and IRTA have achieved a union that mixes skills and values, as a result of

COALZA

a pioneering partnership in the field. The collaboration between the two packaging heavyweights demonstrates what sets them apart from the competition.

“These factors include the experience of both companies in the market and our exemplary customer service,” explained Mr Fernández. “We offer remote assistance for all cases where required. We are the leaders in process control and comprehensive solutions. And our machinery is

easy to use for clients, meaning it is not necessary to have specialised personnel operating it.”

The other key to the success of the acquisition is the opportunity for improvement. “Innovation is the base for growing our company,” as Mr Fernández put it. Innovation takes many forms, but one of the most pressing – for Coalza as for any company – is to find new ways to manage its environmental footprint.

“We see ourselves facing the future, growing and doing so responsibly. That’s why we are currently in the process of perfecting paper packaging, offering an ecofriendly alternative that benefits the environment,” said Mr Fernández.

Coalza had already made €15 million in sales halfway through 2023 and plans to reach €20 million by the end of the year. Most of the increased revenue will come from IRTA, which is projected to grow by 50%, and will be upgraded with larger facilities to complement an extended production capacity.

An innovative product

The advantages of vertical packaging machines are numerous. They include minimal packaging costs, simplicity of operation, reduced production space and a rapid return on investment. One of the company’s most exciting new products is the doypack vertical packaging machine series.

The doypack series includes the necessary equipment to form, fill and seal doy bags. This type of bag stands out for its elegance and stability, as well as for the maximum use of its size to display the brand, product or descriptions on its surfaces.

“The main thing about the doypack series is that we can build five different formats with only one machine and very small changes are required,” explained Mr Fernández. “It’s very fast solution. If a customer is thinking of switching the package format or product, they can configurate it using the same machine. It’s a very functional and flexible multiformat machine.”

Coalza is consistently investing in technological and research resources, aiming to exponentially improve its solutions, speed and production capabilities.

Both hardware and software follow the same progression since CoalzaIrta is also working on the upgrade and implementation of a SGA program, which

will ultimately allow its solutions to manage stock more efficiently.

Coalza is highly committed to the preservation and well-being of the environment and is strongly motivated to recycle and give a second life to machinery parts where possible. This commitment will be the key to achieving ISO 14000 certification in 2024. Coalza also receives significant support and incentives from the Spanish government to strengthen and continue its strong legacy of corporate culture.

An innovative future Coalza values loyal, long-term relationships with its suppliers. One reason for this is simply because it makes good business-sense.

“We try and always work with the same supplier,” explained Mr Fernández. “Clients don’t want electronics that are constantly changing and disparate parts. We need to control the stability of our inventory, because we are not just manufacturing the machines, we are operating the aftersales service. So it’s really important that

when clients call ten years later, we are not saying: ‘sorry, you have to change half of the machine.’ We are able to provide them that spare part instead.”

Of course, Coalza still pushes for innovation and evolution of equipment where possible too. “We do ask our suppliers to improve,” Mr Fernández said. “If we find a better product, we test it, and if our suppliers can give us that, we continue with them; but if not, we have to move forward.”

The last few years have been especially turbulent for the supply of electronics, according to Mr Fernández. Many items from the big companies like Siemens, Rockwell and Omron are manufactured in China, where the supply chain has experienced numerous delays. But coming up against adversity is where a company like Coalza flourishes.

“We had to develop new products and new solutions, because the delay had

increased from 48 hours to up to six months in some cases,” Mr Fernández explained. “You can’t keep all that stock in advance. The only way that we could try to keep the time down on the projects was to engage with our clients.”

The company intends to keep growing. It has a plan to raise turnover to €30 million within the next three years. This involves increasing production capacity, supplier numbers, manpower and its international footprint: and of course, to keep innovating

“For innovation, we need a good research and development department staffed by the right people,” concluded Mr Fernández. “We are a small company in the scope of the world, so we must be sure about what kind of machines we are investing in. But I like selling good products. And I like it when a project is a success. Our clients are our best ambassadors, so when they are happy, we are happy.” n