FoodChain Issue 103 July 2015

FoodChain Issue 103

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JULY 2015

The business of food and drink

Raising

awareness Oerlemans Foods is working hard to promote the benefits that come from fresh-frozen products

Industry News Dairy tales

Managing the risks associated with the construction of dairy plant infrastructure

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Reducing food waste at festivals Keeping superfoods super

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Smiley meals launched

Less is more

Global packaging legislation and why manufacturers must adhere to the regulations

FoodChain issue 103

l

JuLY 2015

The business of food and drink

Editor’s Welcome

Raising

awareness Oerlemans Foods is working hard to promote the benefits that come from fresh-frozen products

Industry News Dairy tales

l

Managing the risks associated with the construction of dairy plant infrastructure

Reducing food waste at festivals Keeping superfoods super

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Smiley meals launched

Less is more

Global packaging legislation and why manufacturers must adhere to the regulations

Chairman Andrew Schofield Editor Libbie Hammond Art Editor Advertising Design Fleur Daniels Staff Writers Jo Cooper Andrew Dann Ben Clark Business Development Director David Garner

A taste of

Sales Manager Joe Woolsgrove Sales Rob Wagner Head of Research Philip Monument Editorial Researcher David Brogan Office Manager Advertising Administrator Tracy Chynoweth

T

success he team at FoodChain has been very fortunate in this issue – we were sent an amazing selection of different products to sample for the Taste Test pages (as well as some samples just for us to enjoy!)

I acknowledge that being sent these delightful foods and drinks to try is a

lovely perk of my job – and the office always get a buzz if we see a box arrive.

One thing that I am passionate about is making sure that all the samples we get are enjoyed and none are wasted. So I was thrilled to see the news item on page 15 that highlights a new scheme to reduce the amount of edible food

Follow us at:

wasted at the end of festivals. When you consider the figures – the project intends to salvage 60 tonnes of unsold food and distribute it to the most

@FoodChain_mag

Schofield Publishing Cringleford Business Centre, 10 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich, NR4 6AU, U.K. Tel: +44 (0)1603 274130 Fax: +44 (0)1603 274131

vulnerable – it’s an impressive idea and I wish it much success.

libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

www.foodchain-magazine.com www.schofieldmediagroup.com © 2015 Schofield Publishing Ltd

Please note: The opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers within this publication do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor and publisher. Every reasonable effort is made to ensure that the information published is accurate, but no legal responsibility for loss occasioned by the use of such information can be accepted by the publisher. All rights reserved. The contents of the magazine are strictly copyright, the property of Schofield Publishing, and may not be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Contents 4

16

12

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Features Risk Management Dairy tales

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Understanding the risks of developing dairy plant to enable projects to be planned appropriately to mitigate exposure

IT The smart choice

Special Feature - Packaging 16 Less is more Non-compliance to global packaging regulations is not a sensible business option

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Energy efficiency in 2015 should be as important as health and safety for food manufacturers

News Special Feature - ERP A technological soufflĂŠ?

Is cloud-based ERP for food manufacturers as hard to achieve as the perfect soufflĂŠ?

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7 / 15/ 19

Up-to-date products and announcements from the food and beverage sector

Taste Test

The FoodChain team sample a selection of new and innovative foods and drinks

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24

30

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36 Profiles

Innovations & developments within some of the world’s finest companies

Oerlemans Foods 20

The strategic vision of Oerlemans Foods is to strengthen its European footprint, while continuing with launching exciting products

The Seafood Pub Company 24

The Seafood Pub Company delivers high quality food at good value, in a relaxed yet premium atmosphere

The Glacio Group 30

Following the acquisition of the Belgian Icecream Group, Glacio Group has continued on a path of innovation and development

Blackdown Hills West Country Eggs 34

A strong commitment to both the local area and consumer demands is driving the success of Blackdown Hills West Country Eggs

Tradin Organic 36

Tradin Organic is a pioneer in the organic ingredients sector and now develops its own sourcing initiatives

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Dairy tales Developing dairy plant infrastructure – understanding and appropriately managing risk. By Matthew Hardwick 4

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s with the other process sectors, the dairy industry relies on the construction and operation of high-value and complex processing/manufacturing plant. It is only with detailed planning in the development and implementation of contract structures used for the delivery and operation of plant infrastructure that developers and investors may appropriately and effectively mitigate

their exposure to time and cost overrun risk. A lack of attention in this regard can often mean the difference between delivery of plant infrastructure on time, on budget and to a required technical specification and an expensive project failure.

Contamination control Matthew Hardwick

Setting aside for one minute the ‘human’ loss that can be caused by illness or

Risk Management

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Investors need to appreciate the technical challenges involved in constructing and operating a dairy process plant

cleanroom is an area of plant in which the concentration of airborne particles is process-controlled to specific limits, often driven by regulatory standards and other best practice standards voluntarily undertaken by dairy producers.

The only way to control contamination is to control the entire environment.

The relevant specifications must be clearly defined at the start of any project to avoid quality failure, developer disappointment and disputes between the developer and its supply chain.

They must also be captured properly in the relevant testing and commissioning requirements for the plant.

Contract structures At the conceptual design stage, it is usually the developer and its in-house engineering team that establish the developer’s requirements and consider the appropriate construction delivery structure. Planning at this stage is key to achieving specification requirements and mitigating, from a developer perspective, the risk of time and cost overrun.

Whilst we have highlighted two common structures below, variants from these structures may, of course, be considered.

Interface risk death arising from contaminated dairy products, the cost to a dairy producer of a contamination claim or a recall on product may be significant. This is certainly a ‘hot topic’ in the dairy sector internationally.

Cleanroom technology Increasingly, the dairy sector has embraced the use of cleanroom processing and contamination control. A

A key issue for the dairy sector is what is seen as the ‘interface risk’ arising between the: • Different stages of processing (often being procured from different suppliers); • Process plant and cleanroom technology in areas housing the process plant; and • Cleanroom technologies at each stage of the process.

Examples of interface risk could include: • The design or technology being delivered by different parties failing to be compatible such that the combined results fail to meet the developer requirements; • The acts or omissions of one contractor delaying other contractors and/or causing additional costs to other contractors giving rise to claims against the developer; and • Unintended gaps in responsibility and, accordingly, liability cover as between the different contracts.

The identification of these risks and the development of a strategy to manage them is key.

Turnkey solution To mitigate interface risk, developers and third-party investors may look to one financially robust contractor to assume full responsibility for delivery of the plant on time, on budget and on specification for a fixed price.

Often referred to as a ‘turnkey’ or EPC (engineer, procure and construct) contract solution, this approach to contracting will see the contractor essentially ‘wrapping’ the interface type risks identified above.

The robustness of the terms of the EPC contract will be an important consideration for the developer and its investors. Care should be taken to ensure that there is a full and complete risk transfer to the contractor. Any developer retained risks should be identified, and appropriate measures and management strategies adopted; and further, any limits on the contractor’s liability should be properly sized, with appropriate exclusions, and finally, liability must be backed by a reliable and robust security package

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Risk Management (guarantees and bonds etc.).

Experience shows that careful consideration of the terms used is necessary to ensure that risk is allocated in a manner contemplated by the developer.

There are common pitfalls in this regard that are often missed or are identified too late, which can stress the developer and undermine project delivery.

EPC contractors will often charge a premium for project delivery on an EPC contract basis, since contingencies will be included in their price to account for the management of project delivery and all associated risks (including third-party contractor risk that the EPC contractor cannot pass through to its supply chain and the interface type risks identified previously.)

Multi-contracting Where the developer has experience in terms of in-house capability and project delivery, it may undertake the co-ordination and management function itself under a multi contracting structure.

This approach will typically give the developer greater autonomy over design development and procurement, and can generate cost savings in the absence of EPC contractor price contingencies.

Under a multi-contracting solution, the developer will assume a far greater proportion of project delivery risk. This is because:

• No single party will assume the entire project delivery risk; • The multiple interface structure will make it more difficult to allocate liability; and • The aggregate liability of the supply chain will probably not match that usually accepted by a contractor delivering the project on an EPC contract basis.

Experience shows that the management of this additional risk under a multicontracting solution may be best achieved through the use of an EPCM (engineering, procurement and construction management) contractor working alongside the developer’s own in-house team.

Unlike an EPC contract, an EPCM contractor will not perform construction works. Instead, the EPCM contract will provide for the contractor undertaking certain design, procurement and construction management services.

Whilst the EPCM contractor will procure and manage the works and supply contractors, it will typically be the developer that will enter into the contractual arrangements with these parties.

Whilst these contractors will not provide a liability backstop for ultimate project delivery risk, they will assist in the management of project delivery on behalf of the developer and the

achievement of the key project targets.

More sophisticated players in the EPCM market however may accept incentive regimes under which they will assume a certain degree of financial risk if the key cost and time targets are not met.

For EPCM contracting to be successful, key risks need to be identified and properly managed either through the works and supply contracts or by the developer team and the EPCM contractor. As the buck essentially stops with the developer, other options such as insurance or cash contingencies may also be considered as part of a wider risk management package.

Conclusion Potential investors should enter the dairy market with their eyes open.

Investors need to appreciate the technical challenges involved in constructing and operating a dairy process plant, and plan appropriately to mitigate exposure, on one hand, to construction cost overrun and, on the other, to contamination claims or liabilities arising from product recall resulting from defects or poor plant performance.

All these risks can be managed by taking the appropriate care when formulating the contract delivery structure to identify and manage risk. D Matthew Hardwick is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright in London.

Norton Rose Fulbright is a global legal practice, which provides the world’s pre-eminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. It has more than 3800 lawyers and other legal staff based in more than 50 cities across Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. www.nortonrosefulbright.com

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IndustryNews Get the skinny Not only has Metcalfe’s skinny launched a brand new flavour, Honey Bee, but has also fully rebranded its impulse range to cohesive retro pack designs.

Metcalfe’s skinny Honey Bee’s sweet and savoury flavour profile is being described as similar to that of ‘honey on toast’, is made with 100 per cent natural ingredients and real honey.

The result of the new range artwork is a more cohesive and unified brand look and feel. The designs are inspired by abstract vintage prints and giving the packs a lighter shelf presence. The colour profiles have been streamlined so that they are more in line with the product flavour; helping to simplify and improve the shopper purchasing experience.

As well as a new artwork, Metcalfe’s skinny has moved to a new elegant bag size on the impulse (single serve) range. This change takes place firstly to differentiate the brand from crisps on

shelf. With these amendments Metcalfe’s skinny is proud to have reduced their packaging by over 17 per cent while keeping the same content of 25g per bag (for four out of five of the SKUs). www.metcalfesskinny.com

The happiest brand ever?

Smiley was founded by Franklin Loufrani in 1971 through a newspaper promotion to make people happy and highlight good news. Over four decades, Smiley has become the most recognisable icon in the world and remains so to this day.

Smiley’s registered 3D trademark has been popularised by McCain since 1994 with the kid’s smile potatoes.

Giraudi Group is continuing this great tradition and has formed a partnership with Smiley for a new range of frozen products including omelettes, chicken nuggets, beef and veal burgers. This worldwide exclusive range offers a delicious selection of products made with 100 per cent certified European meat, to control the quality from production to customer’s plate. www.giraudi.com

Leading at Leeds Levy Restaurants UK has recently launched the Maze Café at Leeds Castle, as part of the renewed partnership between the sports, leisure and hospitality sector of Compass Group UK & Ireland and one of the most visited historic buildings in Britain.

The new look Maze Café provides visitors with a fun and modern menu to complement the updated look and feel of the café. Food concepts have been designed with the whole family in mind and examples from the menu include special children’s meal deal, fish burgers and beetroot and feta cheese sliders.

The focus of the re-launched eatery is homemade, fast fresh food in a family friendly environment.

This is part of the developments that Levy Restaurants UK is implementing at Leeds Castle after securing a contract extension. The continued partnership will see the 60-strong Levy Restaurants UK team provide public, conference

and event catering at this extraordinary venue to help deliver a memorable guest experience to the Castle’s variety of visitors.

As well as The Maze Café, Leeds Castle offers The Fairfax Restaurant, along with a number of food and drink kiosks located throughout the grounds of this stunning Castle. In addition Levy’s team will continue providing an event banqueting service as well as catering for accommodation guests and even ‘glampers’. The retention of this contract will also see Levy Restaurants UK further

enhance the culinary experience for visitors with a series of innovations, such as a quintessentially English afternoon tea in the Fairfax restaurant and a focus on events such as weddings, with 2015 set to be the busiest year yet for weddings at the Castle.

Jonathan Davidson, Business Director, leisure, Levy Restaurants UK said: “Our partnership with Leeds Castle is a great example of our guest first ethos and our absolute focus on delivering legendary guest experiences.” www.levyrestaurants.co.uk

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smart choice The

Duncan Everett takes a look at optimising energy monitoring in the manufacturing process

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or food manufacturers in the UK today, energy efficiency and energy savings are a hot topic, particularly given price uncertainties and volatile market places.

Energy consumption in the UK’s food chain is estimated at 18 per cent of the UK’s total primary energy use. A rise in food manufacturing, dependant on the demands of a growing population, results in growing industry energy use and high overhead costs. The utility spend on gas and electricity in the production process alone can be vast. Plus with ever-stringent quality controls, high demand for food production can produce up to 40 per cent more waste (Bond et al). To face these challenges and meet corporate

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social responsibilities, manufacturing companies are starting to monitor energy usage in more detail, recognising that the potential for saving opportunities are significant through greater understanding of usage and efficiency.

However, even those companies who have taken the step and invested in automated monitoring software may not be extracting the information they need or using it in the correct way to enable optimal results. Without operating good practice in time management, anomalies and exceptions, these occurrences will only be uncovered on receipt of energy bills when the cost is unrecoverable.

Hence, the value of a monitoring solution can easily be missed.

Historically, the responsibility for

energy efficiency targets and savings has often been placed with an unwilling company volunteer – a role often perceived as a thankless and time consuming task. Areas of inefficiency may be visible - the boilers highlighted as erratic in energy usage/peak time operations linked with higher costs but solutions for optimising processes to reduce energy intensity may not be obvious. Collecting and collating information about data consumption and site energy requirements is a good first step to improved energy management– but findings need to be analysed within the correct time specifications and by the right people throughout the production process and manufacturing plant.

IT Ideally, energy-conscious manufacturing businesses should involve a generic roadmap of company stakeholders to address issues. A cross-disciplined energy team should be formed, with the in-house skills to identify areas for improved process control, the knowledge to suggest potential changes to key parameters and the experience to recognise the impact of modifications on production.

Utility data extracted in a usable format and presented to appropriate employees, in the right way, and in timely fashion is the key to successful monitoring and managing of energy usage. With automated, real time delivery of energy data comes knowledge of relative efficiency, from machine to machine, site to site – vital information which today’s manufacturers need in reducing cost and waste. Stakeholders with access to this information can view utilities as a material cost, rather than an overhead - imperative if a successful energy team is to encourage the business as a whole to recognise the benefits of utility efficiency, alongside procurement.

Efficiency can be optimised in every part of the manufacturing and production process. It can be complex but once implemented, worthwhile. A motor running for less time uses less energy, needs less maintenance and therefore lasts longer. Manufacturers who successfully tackle their energy efficiency deliberately involve stakeholders from all areas of the business (maintenance, operations, quality control and sales and finance etc.) because these employees have in depth knowledge of their departments and understand daily process operations. Ultimately, each of these people, their departments and equipment, as well as the production process they are individually involved in, has an energy cost attached – a price per unit. By knowing the energy cost of individual items, a strategy soon becomes recognisable.

Trends start to emerge as to how well machinery is working in comparison to its counterparts, the life expectancy of equipment becomes recognisable and a business can begin to predict

when to replace with higher efficiency models. Energy by unit can inform when equipment is about to fail – so that it can be fixed when convenient, not just in a crisis.

A skilled energy team is therefore vital in receiving and recognising energy information and sanctioning improvements accordingly. Business, energy and their implications have to be tied together rather than treated as separate entities. A good manufacturing business employing these practices becomes an energy-wise company with improved operations and effective equipment. Key information on wellplaced dashboards, allows managers and employees to understand efficiencies within their reach, the associated costs as well as improving morale. As The Carbon Trust reports: “The organisational culture of an organisation can either support or hinder energy efficiency.

People are more likely to change their habits if they understand how their actions affect energy consumption and costs.” Ultimately, better process then leads to financial savings. However, manufacturers must realise they cannot fix everything at once. The key is to implement easy changes first, and the resulting proven savings will provide capability for more complex and expensive investment strategies to be addressed long term. The important point is to keep the process running.

Regular reviews and continued monitoring of machinery are vital in ensuring future anomalies are not overlooked.

At a minimum, continuous automated monitoring allows savings opportunities to be visible. Used well however (and crucially by the right people, at the right time) a monitoring and reporting software solution is the backbone for optimal energy strategies required for growing or changing businesses. Energy efficiency in 2015 should be as important as health and safety with the provision of regular information regarded as vital in creating awareness. Whether looking at investment in a new plant, improving predictive maintenance or just reassessing process, using energy data correctly ultimately makes for smarter business choices. D Duncan Everett is managing director at Optimal Monitoring, an expert in delivering energy monitoring, analytics and reporting software.

Intelligently reporting on a diverse set of environmental data, including waste disposal, utility usage, and operational throughput with the corresponding emissions of carbon. Optimal’s software is cost effective and competitively priced. It stands out in its field by ensuring transparent reporting of data is delivered in a bespoke and userfriendly format. www.optimalmonitoring.com

Factory dashboard display of ‘Now vs This Time Last Week by Unit Produced’

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TasteTest

Hot or iced?

Hua He and Sophia Nadur have launched Tg Green Teas, a brand offering refreshingly delicious hot and chilled green tea brews. The hot tea varieties feature organically grown green teas that are sold in resealable non-transparent pouches, while the ready to drink (RTD) iced tea variants are made from real tea leaves and come in 330ml PET bottles, with three different flavours. www.drinktg.com

“The RTD green tea mandarin variety is really refreshing,” said one reviewer. “It has a very subtle mandarin taste and while haven’t felt the uplifting effects yet, I remain hopeful!” The hot teas were reported as having a good intense flavour that developed quickly in their pyramid bags, and the packaging was visually very appealing.

Real food Whilst the paleo diet might be based on the eating habits of cavemen, the aspirations of The Primal Pantry, who produce the UK’s leading paleo snack bar, are far from primitive following a sixfigure investment in 2015.

The Primal Pantry bars were launched in early 2014, following their creation by nutritionist Suzie Walker. Suzie initially wanted to create some health snack bars using raw, natural ingredients, and sticking to the principals of the paleo diet, for her young daughter and her clients, but she soon realised there was scope for a commercial venture. Following incredible feedback from her clients Suzie released her bars to the general public and they were quickly snapped up by Tesco, Superdrug, Ocado and Wholefoods amongst others.

The grain-free bars don’t use dried fruit that contains vegetable oils, sugar or sulphites as commonly found in other snack products, and each bar is made from four or five real food ingredients. They are hand made and cold pressed, and all the bars are gluten, grain, refined sugar, soya, dairy, GMO and vegetable oil free. www.primalpantry.com

The Primal Pantry Bars were very popular with the team, with all flavours found to be moist, chewy and delicious. The nuts gave them a good crunch as well. “Any fears I had about the bars being free of grains, dairy, refined sugars and vegetable oils were immediately dismissed after a bite,” said one reviewer.

“These were really good, I would definitely buy them instead of sugar filled cereal bars!”

Slushie for adults Cocktail lovers can now easily enjoy barquality cocktails at home with the launch of KÖLD Cocktails, which in the words of company founder Nick Sotiropoulos were created ‘for adults who enjoy wellmade cocktails and want to be able to recreate the taste and experience of a ‘bar-served’ cocktail at home but without any of the hassle’.

KÖLD Cocktails use high-quality ingredients and premium spirits to create an authentic cocktail experience with added convenience. Each cocktail is packaged in a single-serve pouch and can be served straight from the freezer into the glass.

Ideal for parties, nights in with the girls or guys, before a big night out or even to impress someone special, KÖLD Cocktails are made using only superpremium ingredients such as triple-

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distilled grain vodka and oak-barrel aged rum, and are mixed to classic recipes used in the Capital’s high-end cocktail bars for a truly authentic taste.

KÖLD Cocktails are available in three classic combinations; Frozen Cosmopolitan, Frozen Mojito and Frozen Lychee Martini. www.koldcocktails.com

They might be frozen but these cocktails still pack a punch with flavour! “You can definitely taste these are high quality,” said one

reviewer. “This product’s consistency was perfect,” added another. “I took it out of the freezer and it didn’t long to become a lovely slushie frozen cocktail. It was just like one straight from the blender, only with no hassle or washing up!”

“These are so easy to take to BBQs and parties,” added another. “Plus they taste totally authentic – it was a lovely little indulgence to be able to sip a frozen Cosmopolitan in my own garden!”

TasteTest We need beads

Ginger winner

When it comes to hot chocolate, Hans Sloane knows what’s what. Four centuries after Sir Hans Sloane himself brought his recipe for hot chocolate back to England from Jamaica, his name continues to be synonymous with innovation.

For those looking for a true chocolate taste from hot chocolate, Hans Sloane Drinking Chocolate is the answer. It is the only hot chocolate product to be made from pure chocolate beads, which melt perfectly in hot milk or water to create a richer chocolate drink.

Available in 270g packs, Hans Sloane Drinking Chocolate comes in five varieties, including the Great Taste Award-winning Smooth Milk, Rich Dark, Madagascar 67% and Ecuador 70%, as well as its unique Natural Honey. Onekilo barista packs for hotels and cafes are also available in Smooth Milk and Rich Dark. www.sirhanssloane.com

All the way from Australia, Bundaberg Ginger Beer is now reaching out to the UK with its craft brewed, premium soft drink. A fivestep, time honoured brewing process, using ginger and cane sugar sourced from the Bundaberg region, creates the natural flavours of Bundaberg Ginger Beer.

And to make sure the flavour really reaches your tastebuds, Bundaberg recommends inverting the bottle before drinking, so that the real pieces of ginger are released and evenly disperse through the drink.

Bundaberg Brewed Drinks is a proud family owned business, based in the small Australian town that shares the same name. Commenting on a new brand campaign targeted at young Londoners, John McLean CEO said: “Authentic brands, made with real ingredients, are being discovered and growing the market. Discerning young Londoners want a brand that not only tastes great but also has a genuine history and story to tell. With a splash of the laidback Australian lifestyle, Bundaberg Ginger Beer will deliver a fresh new taste for Summer 2015.” www.bundaberg.com

“The Ecuador 70% chocolate beads created a hot chocolate different to anything I’ve tried before,” said the tester. “It was super chocolately and intense but not too sweet, and had a lovely consistency as well, as the beads melted into the milk and thickened it slightly.”

She continued: “The beads are of such good quality I did find myself eating rather a lot of them before they actually made it into the milk!

I would like to try baking with them too, as I am sure they would melt wonderfully as well as make a very luxurious alternative to the humble chocolate chip.”

Refined refreshment Harnessing the ethos of the citron presse, Great Uncle Cornelius’ Lemon Refresher is the answer to those looking for a zingy, refreshing lemon drink that isn’t too sweet. Blended with water and fruit juices, the product is a traditional still lemonade made with freshly pressed lemon juice but one that uses freshly pressed apple juice rather than sugar to sweeten it.

Great Uncle Cornelius drinks are made by James White Drinks, which means that the brand can benefit from James White’s years of experience in the production of freshly pressed apple juice, and also use the juice across its entire range instead of sugar. www.jameswhite. co.uk/75cl_lemon_ refresher

“This is something I will be taking to dinner parties,”

said FoodChain’s first tester. “It’s sophisticated, plus it’s not something you guzzle like a normal lemonade, the fact it’s more tart means that you savour and sip it, making it a more long lasting drink.”

“This is definitely lemonade for a more grown-up audience,” agreed another. “I think this would make a lovely addition to a picnic, it’s so refreshing, plus I can see myself drinking this in the garden in a nice cold glass with ice.”

The team also adored the packaging and Great Uncle Cornelius’ splendid whiskers. “I do think that this would make my moustache tingle, if I had one,” one reviewer laughed. “And while Great Uncle Cornelius might recommend this for lunch, I would be happy to drink it anytime!”

The Tester who tried the ginger beer was very enthusiastic about it. “It had a really nice, good strong flavour, and I liked it simple – cold and straight from the bottle,” he said.

Another tester added: “I would definitely like to try it in a cocktail as I think that would really be a refreshing drink and also great for summer parties, it would make a great change from the same old Pimms!”

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l a c i g o l o n A tech soufflĂŠ?

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ERP

Cloud and ERP for food manufacturing.

By Mike Edgett

S

avoury soufflés are notoriously difficult recipes.

The whisking, folding and blending of the ingredients and the ever-present threat of the soufflé sinking as it comes out of the oven are enough to give the most hardened of chefs a cold sweat. However, cooked correctly, such soufflés are the star of a menu, guaranteed to increase the reputation (and business) of the chef and restaurant.

It is the same with cloud-based ERP systems for food manufacturing. If there are two ideas guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of IT managers, one is an ERP overhaul and the other is migrating business critical applications to the cloud. Combining the two - a scenario many food manufacturers are now considering - is enough to give those managers nightmares.

However, the potential benefits are huge; from faster, more agile business processes to mobility and gamechanging business analytics to lower total cost of ownership. Likewise the threats from both outdated ERP and legacy on-premise systems continue to grow as manufacturers risk a lack of productivity, innovation and service improvements.

So the question becomes how to handle such a project. The good news is that with some strategic planning, the nightmares soon fade. This planning can be split into two key phases - the first focusing on the ERP element and the second examining the cloud component.

The ERP element

Mike Edgett

Nobody really wants to undergo the disruption of changing ERP systems, but business cannot achieve state-of-the-art results without state-of-the-art tools for process improvement. Whilst a given ERP solution may have seemed nearly perfect when it was first implemented, time passes and needs change. When what you have can’t effectively deliver what you need, it’s time to make a move. Experts suggest that the time to make a change is when a business needs more than a system can offer. A business shouldn’t wait until the system fails.

As a checklist of red flags, it is likely the business can no longer expand or enhance the software and there may be current industry requirements that are handled ‘off line’ because the ERP can’t interact with other systems.

There may also be concerns that the system won’t be adequately supported in the near future.

The costs of the new ERP must be weighed against these threats and of course, the benefits the new software will bring. These benefits will be far greater if the software is industry specific, with the functionality to address food and beverage industries.

This is often a lot easier to assess than it may seem at first. Businesses routinely evaluate existing ERP solutions via both informal and formal cost/ benefit calculations. Most companies focus on cost savings because they’re easy to identify and can directly impact the bottom line. This forms the cornerstone of the upgrade or change being financially prudent. It is vital that a business looks at the total cost of ownership (TCO) over one, three and five years – both on-premise and in the cloud.

‘Sunk cost’ should never be a reason to continue down a path that doesn’t fit the business needs. If the current solution does not provide a foundation for growth, offer speed, accuracy, reliability, scalability and interoperability then it needs either a substantial upgrade or replacement. At this point the question then becomes is the business better off hosting on-premise, or should it consider moving to the cloud?

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ERP

‘

Like a soufflĂŠ, the rewards of getting this recipe and process right, far outweigh the effort needed to make it happen

The cloud component While cloud deployments are gaining momentum throughout manufacturing, many food and beverage manufacturers are still taking a wait-and-see attitude, treating the cloud as something to consider in the next refresh cycle. This is equivalent to the R&D department not considering a new formula until they were no longer able to purchase a current ingredient. At that point in time, the market will have already passed them by.

To address many of the issues around this reluctance, selecting the proper partner to help evaluate both a cloud as well as on-premise solution is critical for comparing the options and ensuring optimum return on investment. Whether evaluating a new solution or transitioning a current application to the cloud, manufacturers should consider the following:

functionality as customisations kill much of the benefit of a cloud deployment.

This includes tools to solve challenges such as short shelf life, attributes, yield and catch-weight. A solution that enables some personalisation for a specific business is important but not if it results in the need for customised source code.

Is it unified?

Does the solution provide industryspecific functionality?

Food manufacturers cannot maximise the benefits of cloud if they have to implement numerous siloed applications. Companies should select an option that provides all the functionality that is critical to their specific businesses (e.g., forecasting, demand planning, tracking and traceability, recipe management, etc.) within a unified suite. A single solution in the cloud will create enterprisewide visibility and help to streamline operations for greater efficiency.

Companies should search for a system that delivers flexible, industry-specific

Is it secure?

Manufacturers should confirm that the solution follows industry best practices and protocol to protect data from compromise. A dedicated business unit, tasked with the implementation and deployment of cloud technology is often a reliable way to confirm that security is a priority for a vendor.

Is it scalable and flexible?

Beyond the obvious need to add additional users as a business grows, the solution needs to be capable of

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supporting additional functionality as well. For example, can it support multiple currencies? A cloud solution needs to be something that a food company can embrace now as well as ten years from now.

The food and beverage industry remains highly competitive and fastpaced. Manufacturers must continue to invest in updated technology or they will fall behind. Deploying critical business applications, such as ERP, via the cloud is a substantial undertaking.

But that does not change the fact that the cloud is the most viable solution for manufacturers to increase profitability and maintain growth, while still being cautious of underlying costs. Like a soufflĂŠ, the rewards of getting this recipe and process right, far outweigh the effort needed to make it happen. D Mike Edgett is solution strategy director, Process Manufacturing at Infor. Infor is fundamentally changing the way information is published and consumed in the enterprise, helping 73,000 customers in more than 200 countries and territories improve operations, drive growth, and quickly adapt to changes in business demands. Infor offers deep industry-specific applications and suites, engineered for speed, and with an innovative user experience design that is simple, transparent, and elegant. www.infor.com

IndustryNews Marvellous for marbling RPC Superfos has developed a customised pack for a premium ice cream, Inspira, from leading Norwegian producer Hennig Olsen Is. The unique design, with a wave-effect on the rim of the lid, is injection moulded in polypropylene and features in-mould labelling on all four sides and on the base, with attractive artwork that reflects the quality positioning of the brand. The label also incorporates a transparent section on the base to enable the marbled-effect ice cream to be visible. In addition, the pack is tamper-proof.

While Hennig Olsen Is already offers many types of quality ice cream for various segments, the company wanted to launch a new series that had to be different. Inspira is ideal for those extraspecial indulgent moments, as purchase director Carl-Christian Langfeldt explains: “Inspira ice cream caters to the premium segment and here we need an exclusive look – a new and exciting packaging. We are absolutely happy with the result, not least because of the waves on the rim

Festival food salvage

and the transparent base that makes it possible to see our marbled ice cream.”

Hennig Olsen Is has worked with RPC Superfos for over 20 years, using standard containers as well as bespoke packs for certain products. “RPC Superfos excels in design development and we know where to go when we need skilled people who can give us a creative packaging result,” concludes CarlChristian. “They know how to combine tradition with renewal. We have had a brilliant co-operation on this project which was difficult due to a lot of time pressure.” www.rpc-superfos.com

Launched at Glastonbury this year, three businesses are aiming to reduce the amount of edible food that is unnecessarily discarded at the end of festivals. FareShare South West has joined forces with The Nationwide Caterers Association (NCASS) and A Greener Festival to donate unsold food to a range of charities. The organisations will work closely with festival traders to ensure that perfectly edible food does not end up in landfill sites.

The project called EighthPlate, intends to salvage 60 tonnes of unsold food, to provide 143,000 meals for the most vulnerable, distributing the produce amongst food banks and soup kitchens throughout the South West. Beginning at Glastonbury, the project will target festivals throughout the summer. A trial run was conducted in 2014 with outstanding results; FareShare South West engaged with over 100 traders to collect and redistribute more than ten tonnes of edible food. www.eighthplate.org.uk

Embrace the digital At a time when a number of food manufacturing firms are moving away from the big four supermarkets in the UK and considering other routes to market for their products, international consultancy Columbus has asserted that food manufacturers can gain greater control over their supply chains and no longer be so reliant on supermarkets for profit if they embrace the eCommerce world and optimise their back office and front-of-house business solutions.

But Columbus insists that retailers are still an integral part of the food supply chain, and many food manufacturers need to be supplementing the work they already do with major retailers, with a fully encompassing Omnichannel strategy. Mary Hunter, Managing Director of Columbus explained: “If you look at some of the more successful

food manufacturing businesses, many of these supply goods to major retail stores and wholesalers as well as direct to consumers through eCommerce, webstores and distributors. During an age where consumerism is changing at a rapid pace and customers are demanding instant access to products, food manufacturers are missing a market channel and extra revenue if they are not embracing digital opportunities.”

Mary added: ““Omnichannel strategies that do encompass digital have no limitations on shelf space, reduced barriers to listing and delisting products, and very low capital expenditure requirements. Those businesses that fail to embrace digital channels in their Omnichannel

strategy risk being pushed to the back of the e-shelf. It’s not about whether you should work with major retailers or not, but more about bringing multiple channels together for real supply chain independence.” www.columbusglobal.com

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Less is more

Packaging compliance on an international scale is challenging. Graham Margetson outlines global packaging legislation and highlights its impact on multi-national businesses 16 www.foodchain-magazine.com

I

n global markets, there is much more involved in FMCG packaging than just protecting the product for its journey from manufacture to supermarket shelf and having an eye-catching design to entice customers. International packaging waste regulations are robustly enforced and non-compliance can be a costly and unbudgeted-for mistake.

Although the global regulations are implemented differently in every country, they all have two factors in common: they are based on product sales and require an analysis of the

Graham Margetson

weight of specified packaging materials.

This means multi-national brands must fully understand each of their market’s specific requirements, be prepared to analyse their sales data and product packaging components and correlate the two to identify their fee-paying obligations under that country’s laws.

Packaging waste regulations are mature; they’ve been around for over 20 years and are strongly imposed.

Compliance is clearly a serious task and one that businesses ignore at their peril.

If food and drinks brands don’t meet their compliance obligations, they run

Packaging the risk of hefty fines and reputational damage. There are examples of companies being fined significant sums, up to £250,000 in one case; so packaging compliance shouldn’t be ignored. Furthermore, it may not be just the brand manufacturers that are obligated; the regulations also place reporting requirements on the wider supply chain, including distributors and retailers.

A lot more than meets the eye

‘

It’s vitally important that food and drinks businesses have robust processes in place to ensure compliance with the European and global packaging regulations

The most important piece of packaging legislation for brands operating in Europe is the EU’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations. The principle goals of these regulations are to reduce the total amount of packaging going to waste and to increase the use of recyclable materials. Importantly, they make manufacturers responsible for their products’ packaging across the entire lifecycle – from creation until disposal. These obligations require companies to pay fees based on the amount of packaging placed on the market. The payments not only take the responsibility of funding the collection, recovery and recycling of the waste packaging off local or central governments and place it onto the manufacturer but also give a powerful financial incentive to reduce the amount of packaging going to landfill.

The EPR concept underpins the EU’s Packaging & Packaging Waste Directive, which sets national targets for the amount of packaging materials that must be recycled or recovered across the EU. Through the fee payments, policy makers are able to fund and implement systems and processes to ensure the amount of material is collected and recycled to meet the Directive’s targets.

In addition, packaging is subject to the Essential Requirements regulations, which also fall under the umbrella of the Packaging & Packaging Waste Directive. Essential Requirements deal with reducing the amount of waste by encouraging sustainable design and material choice. They focus FMCG packaging technologists on asking themselves two important questions: is

the packaging essential for the product’s safe transportation and distribution, and does it use recycled or recyclable choices of materials?

Consumers are acutely sensitive to grocery product packaging and their pressure has helped counter any marketing tendency towards overpackage. However, it is still possible to find instances of packaging being excessive or deceptive in order to make consumers feel they are getting value, when instead all they’re really getting is air. By allowing such marketing tactics, brands are at odds with Essential Requirements and run the risk of being fined and having to remove items from sale.

Compliance involves choices Calculating the packaging waste fees to be paid to national recycling organisations can be complex. It requires understanding of how products are packaged and the specific types and amount of materials that are used as detailed within a packaging bill of materials. In addition, the brand owner must be able to analyse the quantities of products placed on the market country by country. Armed with this knowledge, the manufacturer must then work out its fee payment obligations.

Compliance with national packaging waste regulations is a critical part of business but it is complex, time consuming and easy to get wrong.

Businesses can manage their compliance in a number of ways, whether through an internal team, dedicated packaging compliance software systems or outsourcing the whole operation. The chosen solution is specific to the business, the scale and complexity of its operational structure and variety of product lines. If handling thousands, if not millions of product sales each week – which is the case for global brands – an internal team could find it a real challenge keeping on top of the sales data, not to mention global reporting calendars and changing legislative requirements.

Internal teams can be supported by dedicated packaging compliance software systems, which will fully

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Packaging automate the compliance processes and deliver immediate, up-to-date global information and notifications on upcoming regulatory changes. For global brands, a system that uses cloudbased technology means that data can be uploaded quickly and easily from different company divisions and global manufacturing facilities into one central database – whether it’s sales data or packaging detail.

With this knowledge of a company’s packaging impact, the compliance system should then automatically produce compliance reports and fee calculations. In addition to providing legislative updates and alerts on upcoming reporting deadlines, such systems offer invaluable support to ensure penalties for missed or late submissions are avoided.

The final option in managing compliance is to outsource. This is where a specialist compliance company undertakes all analysis of sales and packaging data to produce required reports and ensure compliance -

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effectively acting as the compliance ‘back-office’. The knowledge and experience such experts are able to bring is invaluable. Interpreting packaging data on a daily basis means they can spot anomalies. For instance, Lorax has recently helped a client to identify it was overstating its packaging across a number of products. This meant they were paying fees on hundreds of tonnes of packaging they didn’t actually produce. This example emphasises that accurate data is crucial: it costs businesses excess fees if they over state quantities but if they under state the amount placed on the market, they are then liable for fines.

It’s vitally important that food and drinks businesses have robust processes in place to ensure compliance with the European and global packaging regulations.

Companies are facing increasing scrutiny when it comes to legislative compliance and paying their dues in those countries where they have a presence. The cost of non-compliance

is not just financial – the long-term damage to a brand’s reputation can result in the loss of customers.

Regaining that trust is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Non-compliance is not a sensible business option. D Graham Margetson is CEO of Lorax Compliance, a leading provider of global product environmental compliance solutions comprising industry-leading software, data collection services and practical down-to-earth consulting.

By offering turnkey compliance solutions, Lorax Compliance automates regulatory systems and business processes by providing the best software tools and the most robust data allowing customers to reduce risk and meet growing worldwide environmental compliance requirements. www.loraxcompliance.com @LoraxCompliance

IndustryNews

Cool fuel Energy drink brand, Emerge, has unveiled a brand new range of fridge and value packs, expanding its offering for retailers in time for the peak summer trading period. Two new multipack formats across two flavours hit shelves in June and will be rolling out in stores throughout the season.

Moving beyond the original singleserve, on-the-go product, the new formats will enable retailers to offer a take-home, shareable portion size, suitable for a range of social occasions such as barbeques, summer parties and study sessions.

Both Original and Zero Sugar flavour Emerge will be available in a 10 x 250ml can fridge pack and a larger, value 18 x 250ml can pack format, both in a fully enclosed box made of waterproof board, with the ten-packs including a tear-off top for display and storage within the fridge. The

Yummy cookies packaging boasts an attractive new design and features embossed cans on the boxes, making the product extremely eye-catching to the shopper.

Calli O’Brien, Brand Manager for Emerge, said: “The new multipack formats are a great step forward for Emerge, creating new consumption occasions for energy and opportunities for retailers to benefit from bumper sales during the key summer period and beyond. Manufactured in Yorkshire by the Cott Beverages team, the multi-packs have been designed and developed to be portable and light weight for both trolley-shops and shoppers on foot, suiting a variety of retail situations, and we are confident they will prove to be popular with consumers looking for more of the great Emerge taste.” www.emergestimulation.com

Proving super foods are still super BodyMe has picked up Best New Drink Product at the Natural & Organic Europe Show, as well as seeing a boost in sales in the last six months and helping restore faith in the super food world through intelligent marketing campaigns.

The company started at first with the more ‘traditional’ super foods, such as acai, wheat grass, spirulina, but following its success has recently expanded its range to include some carefully selected natural products such as its own super food mixes and a range of green teas, including the Matcha Tea which picked up the award and proved that all the hard work is paying off and helped prove that super foods really are still super. www.bodyme.co.uk

European Independent Purchasing Company Ltd. (EIPC) has announced that production of the Subway brand’s cookies has moved to Europe, at the ARYZTA Bakery in Gerolzhofen in central Germany, which will produce over 100 million Subway cookies a year in a range of different varieties.

With all cookie production previously completed in the United States, EIPC has now successfully completed the move to Europe to reduce food miles, allow for a quicker response rate, and create a more flexible supply chain.

Wherever possible, the bakery will also use locally sourced ingredients from Germany, strengthening the efficiency and flexibility of the supply chain further. By moving production of the cookies to Germany, they will now be made using free range eggs, as is the case with all of the brand’s own label products in Europe. That has been a goal of the EIPC’s as part of the brand’s commitment to responsible sourcing and animal welfare standards.

Mike Attwood, Purchasing Director at EIPC, added: “The new bakery will be a huge asset to our supply chain, with faster response rates and reduced distribution times, enabling us to better serve the Franchisees. We completed a period of rigorous testing at the bakery, and production has now officially started.

We hope the bakery will prove a great success and asset to EIPC’s management of the Subway brand’s supply chain in Europe.” www.eipc.eu

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Freshness that lasts

With an unfaltering commitment to innovation Oerlemans Foods is focused on bringing awareness to the fresh-frozen food industry and driving the market forward

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Below: Andre Hendriks

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ounded in 1977 and based in the Netherlands, freshfrozen fruit, vegetable and potato producer Oerlemans Foods has grown to become a leading company in its industry. With a history defined by growth and acquisition, the company now serves both the domestic markets and the export markets across 50 countries world wide, from four separate production sites in the Netherlands and Poland, with 740 employees. Serving the retail and foodservice markets through a combination of own and private label brands, Oerlemans is moving towards becoming a much more market driven and innovation delivering company in a bid to attract attention to the often

undervalued frozen vegetable market.

The strength of Oerlemans can be found in its ability to work collaboratively with its customers to serve the ever changing demands within the consumer market. “We are a midsized company and I think one of the things that we have always been good at is our ability to be flexible,” highlights the CEO of Oerlemans, Andre Hendriks. “This means that we can customise our product offering to align fully with the needs of our key accounts, which are asking us for very specific solutions to ensure that they can differentiate themselves in the market. This flexibility of services is in the DNA of the company and really gives us a competitive edge.”

Andre’s vision for the industry is to

Oerlemans Foods

‘

The strategic vision is to strengthen our footprint in Europe, whilst at the same time making sure that we bring excitement to the category across all markets with innovations that benefit all

bring a greater awareness to the benefits that come from the fresh-frozen sector.

“A lot of the time frozen products are undervalued,” he expresses. “Yet, in essence most vegetable products arrive at the production facility within four hours of harvest, which means that they are really fresh, having been harvested at their peak and then directly frozen at arrival. The products are really fresh with all the vitamins, fibres and minerals locked in because of this fast process.

In some cases it could be more so than the actual fresh products because of how long fresh could have been in the supply chain. The other point is the level of food waste at the consumer level.

You eliminate this with frozen products because you take what you need, and

you can use it all year round. We also increasingly see consumers appreciating the ease of preparation as they are having less time to do this in their hectic lifestyles.”

In order to achieve this vision and attract consumers to the fresh frozen sector of the market, Oerlemans is working closely with both its end consumers and its customers to listen to demands and develop new products to meet them. “We are putting more of a focus on innovation at the moment, because we are becoming more market driven and see that innovation and communication are vital parts of adding value for our customers,” Andre continues. “We work together with our customers to develop new recipes and packaging formats. For example, we have successfully launched a new range of fresh frozen spinach products with a twist. We have for instance a Mediterranean and Napolitano spinach in case the customer is looking for something special aside from normal spinach. We have also developed a special microwaveable packaging for a big retail customer in the UK, and a range of individual fruit portions

for the Polish market. It’s through this combination of packaging and recipes that we will get attention to the company and bring excitement to the market.”

To help achieve this, in May 2015, Oerlemans opened a customer experience centred dubbed ‘The Food Lab’. Here, the company invites its customers to collaboratively brainstorm, taste, present and inspire them with new ideas to bring to the market. The Foodlab is Oerlemans centre of innovation and mainly aimed at inspiring and co-developing together with its main customers.

Another area where Oerlemans has been particularly successful in responding to market trends is in the bioorganic sector. “We have been one of the pioneers in the bioorganic fresh-frozen market and it is still a very important part of the current business,” says Andre.

“The company has strong relationships with its farmer partners, and some of those relationships have stood since the beginning of the company.” Because of this, the company is able to have full control over the supply chain and can ensure that high quality products are delivered on time. This also means that Oerlemans is able to control and ensure

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that products are bio organically produced and processed. “We keep working on this because we see growth in the sector in general and we expect this to continue as consumer demand maintains its steady rise,” explains Andre.

With these strengths in mind, the future for Oerlemans looks positive,

and Andre is keen to point out that the company will be investing in its facilities in order to secure this and capitalise on emerging markets. “As a midsized company we have a lot of room for growth across all our markets,” he says.

“We can see some potential in Asia at the moment because of the large populations and that they are looking for

alternative solutions to run alongside more traditional food dishes. We have invested in our production location for potatoes, as we will be focusing on driving growth for this part of the business in the future – we aim to double our potato capacity. We will also be investing into our vegetable sites in the Netherlands to ensure that we have efficient high quality production and the

Evers Specials Evers Specials is a company that has a long tradition in growing fresh beansprouts.

Key features of the company are customer orientation and determination to meet challenges in a responsible and sustainable way. Oerlemans has recognised and valued this dedication resulting in a long lasting partnership for over 20 years now.

It’s this kind of partnerships that over the years helped to transform Evers Specials into the leading beansprout company of Europe.

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Oerlemans Foods flexibility to continue delivering tailor made solutions to the customer.”

Oerlemans is very much focused on continuing the hard work it has already put into to achieve its competitive position in the market. “The strategic vision is to strengthen our footprint in Europe, whilst at the same time making sure that we bring excitement

to the category across all markets with innovations that benefit all,” concludes Andre. “This is a key role we have to play. We will also ensure that we keep pace with the growth regions outside of Europe.” Oerlemans rightly sees itself as a key player in the fresh-frozen industry across the world and its commitment to helping drive the industry forward by

increasing consumer awareness and bringing innovation to the market place is clear. By remaining tuned into a consumer market, that is undoubtedly becoming increasingly health conscious - with rising consumer understanding of the importance of the needed daily vegetables and fruit intake - but at the same time demanding increased convenience, the company is well placed to continue its pioneering position in the market. As the market grows, so will Oerlemans, and in this respect the company looks set to achieve a future defined by further growth and success. D

Foodlab

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Savour the 24 www.foodchain-magazine.com

a e

The Seafood Pub Company

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Still in its infancy, the Seafood Pub Company is already taking on major competitors with its commitment to offering quality food at unrivalled value

ounder and managing director of the Seafood Pub Company, Joycelyn Neve’s vision is simple: “To put the produce that I’ve grown up with around me from my dad’s business in front of people, in a relaxed, informal environment.” Realising this vision in 2010, over the last five years Joycelyn has built the Seafood Pub Company up to an award-winning group currently spreading across seven sites around the northwest.

“Seafood and pubs are my two favourite things, so bringing them together was an easy concept to come up with,” she says. The Neve family’s fishing roots go back generations and Joycelyn’s father has established a strong reputation and level of experience in sourcing and supplying the best quality produce. Still in its infancy, the company has proven itself on the national stage and remains true to its core values of quality and value for money.

“Our supplier connections are a huge strength for the business,” explains Joycelyn. “My family’s background is all in fishing and seafood, and we’ve got a lot of family friends in the catering supply industry outside of seafood. Our competition can’t come close to us with what we offer – we’re able to give people good value for money and the wow-factor in terms of quality.” This focus on value for money is complemented by a robust and reactive attitude to the market conditions. “In the midweek and at lunch times people are going out more frequently but are spending less,” Joycelyn highlights. “At the weekend, however, it’s still very strong. So the versatility of our

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‘

To now be able to bolt the strong reputation we’ve built for food and drink with premium accommodation is changing the shape of the business

offers is really important so that people can choose to use us throughout the week and not spend too much money with ten pound lunch offers, or they can come at the weekend when we’ve got some high end specials and top end wines and champagnes. Having a good versatile range of offers means that we’re always busy.”

Aside from the solid public facing side of the business, is the internal team. “I know that internally it is the people that make a business, and the people here are very passionate about it,” continues Joycelyn. Completing the executive team alongside Joycelyn is Andrew McLean, executive chairman, and Antony Shirley, executive chef.

Founder of the Devonshire Pub Company, Andrew brings a wealth of acquisition experience, which stands the company in good stead as it continues its successful expansion strategy. Antony has amassed a bank of knowledge and

The Seafood Pub Company experience in developing menus and setting up restaurants across the country and is now responsible for the Seafood Pub Company’s star dishes.

With seven restaurants currently set up, the company has a view to open 12 new sites over the coming years. “We have a number of areas that we want to get into, and we have people looking constantly for sites,” outlines Joycelyn. “The area’s we’ve got highlighted are North Yorkshire, the Lake District, Cheshire and Merseyside.

Predominantly we are looking for pockets of either affluent residential or premium destination sites.” The premium sites are central to the Seafood Pub Company’s up-market offering.

One of the company’s highest profile sites, the Assheton Arms, is a grade-two listed building situated in the Lancashire village of Downham. “It’s an absolutely unspoilt village, and probably one of the most beautiful places in the UK,” says

Joycelyn. “The company’s ethos of offering an informal service with food that is quality and a bit different still remains, but making sure the sites have all got different personalities, and allowing them to do what’s right for that particular area and building is really important. Once those combinations are right, the sites really fly.”

This combination is the key to the business’s changing shape. Joycelyn demonstrates her awareness of the current market and how the company is reacting to it. “Food tourism is becoming a big thing as its becoming more and more peoples’ hobby to stay away. We’ve recently added bedrooms to three of our sites, and we’re revisiting another two sites to add bedrooms on, including The Fenwick near Lancaster. Food tourism is the side of the business that we’re really developing now, so rather than just marketing to a radius of an hour and half’s drive from each site, we are now marketing to the whole of the UK,

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The Seafood Pub Company and situating the pubs in premium destination sites is essential to this. To now be able to bolt the strong reputation we’ve built for food and drink with premium accommodation is changing the shape of the business.”

It is a shift in focus that is already having a positive impact on the company. The Assheton Arms, for instance, has gained its first rosette and was awarded five stars by the AA for its accommodation. Bearing in mind its accommodation was only opened in April 2015, this is a big achievement. “It’s really good to be on their radar,” notes Joycelyn, “and to have an inspection within a month of opening our rooms comes off the back of winning the awards that we do.” Of note the company has been the recipient of Restaurant Magazine’s ‘R200 Pub Company of the Year 2014’ and the Publican’s best food offer, amongst many others. “We are still the new kid on the block going up against some much larger companies that have been trading for ten to 15 years already,” she continues.

“Even to be nominated against some these prestigious companies is great, but to win as well is quite humbling. For the team it’s great because we all work very hard and it shows that we’re doing a good job, and it also puts us on a platform to get noticed by the public.”

Despite this success Joycelyn strays clear of complacency. “It’s easy to get distracted by the here and now,” she says. “So making sure we know what is next is really important, because if you’re passionate about what you do its easy to get totally engrossed in it. Now that we’ve got to the size that we are at, we have a really good central team with a strong skill set and we all enjoy working with each other. As we’ve grown we’ve been able to get staff to focus on

what they’re good at rather than just a couple of people trying to do everything.

This means that we now have the capacity to carry on growing at the speed that we are.” Looking ahead at this growth, over the next year the focus is very much on extending its accommodation offering as this is working in the current market, particularly in the locations it has chosen to situate itself.

Ultimately the strategy for the Seafood Pub Company is illustrative of what it has done to achieve the rapid success it has. “Our vision is to carry on doing what we’re doing,” concludes Joycelyn.

“That’s not just opening new sites – it’s not in my nature to just have everything doing well. I always look at things to see what more we can do to be better. It’s about continually looking at the sites to make sure that we can offer the best.”

The Seafood Pub Company is very much a success story born out of a passion for food and drink, and the desire to deliver this to the public. The drive comes from a team of experienced and focused people who don’t take their success for granted, but use it to see where they can take the company next. As such, the future looks positive for the company as it continues to deliver high quality food at good value, in a relaxed yet premium atmosphere. D

www.seafoodpubcompany. com

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Cream of the

crop

Since being acquired by the Glacio Group, the Belgian Icecream Group has strengthened its services and improved operations

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The Glacio Group

T

he Glacio Group is in a strong position for impressive growth, following the take over of the Belgian Icecream Group in 2013. The Glacio Group, as we know it today, is the result of the joined forces of Glacio on the one hand and the Belgian Icecream Group on the other.

Created from the merger of three Belgian ice cream brands, the Belgian Icecream Group’s history stems as far back as 1935, when 15 year-old Staf Janssens drove his wheelbarrow full of ice cream through the streets of Tielen and founded IJsboerke. Over the years, Staf and his small team of employees began using company-triporteurs, then motorcycles, to deliver the products before progressing into deliveries via orange trucks; these trucks, used for door-to-door sales, became synonymous with the company’s brand.

Today the IJsboerke-brand, celebrating it’s 80th Anniversary, is the second largest ice cream brand in Belgium and a leader in the production of sugar-free ice cream and soy ice cream. IJsboerke has built in the course

of recent years a strong position in retail and foodservice. Alongside IJsboerke are the brands Mio and Artic, whereby the Mio Brand is mainly focused on food service and export sales. Sales Manager Retail Belux & UK at Glacio Group Eric De Man begins: “The name of our group today is the Glacio Group as the Belgian Icecream Group was taken over by this icecream company in 2013. Historically Belgian Icecream Group was the result of a merger of three brands: IJsboerke, Mio and Artic. Mio and Artic had their own factories, however these have been

closed since 2011, with all production lines moved to the IJsboerke-site in Tielen, in the region of Antwerp.”

The Glacio organisation is of a more recent nature, being the result of a MBO in 2003, when five managers decided to buy this Belgian production site from Nestlé.

The Glacio Icecream brand is today primarily sold as a top of the range quality to foodservice customers and is particularly strong in the Far East.

“Since our acquisition by Glacio, we

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have benefited from having a more diverse range of products within our portfolio. For example, Belgian Ice Cream Group was and still is specialised in volume impulse products such as cones, sticks and waterice products, while the Glacio factory has always focused on ice cream specialities like individual desserts and scooping ice.

Once we got together the two companies were able to combine their strengths in order to ensure we can now offer a total range of products.”

As a generalist organisation, the group can take advantage of its many production lines to ensure flexibility in the delivery of a broad spectrum of products. To maintain this competitive edge, it has a dedicated new product development department that operates in close partnership with customers to realise their needs and act upon this.

Discussing the Glacio Group’s facilities, Eric highlights: “We have two production

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sites in the Antwerp province that are based approximately eight kilometres from one another; one is in Tielen, the other in Beerse. As mentioned earlier, both sites are complementary and have their own strong points.

“In 2014 we strengthened our services with an investment in a wholly new production line for ice cream pralines, which is totally automated and allows us to produce ice cream pralines in a high frequency. Although we regularly invest in updating our other lines, this is our most recent major investment in diversifying our product range.”

CSM Bakery Solutions CSM works closely with the Belgium Ice Cream Group (BIG) to create solutions that delight BIG’s customers. CSM connects technical needs and consumer insights to provide tailored ingredients, such as fruit- and chocolate based sauces, toppings and fat based coatings that find their perfect match in BIG’s delicious ice creams.

CSM also partners with its customers in co-creating new concepts that bring fun, adventure and exciting new opportunities into this category.

The Glacio Group

Naturally, the group’s broad product range has resulted in a wide customer base in Belgium, with clients including retail chains where the national brands are sold; the Glacio Group also delivers innovative private label products to stores and food service organisations.

Alongside this customer base, the company works with the out-of-home consumption market, where products are sold to restaurants and kiosks as well as schools and hospitals. The third and final customer segment is distribution abroad to locations such as the UK, Japan, Russia and Asia through wholesalers. This way the Glacio Group has developed over the years an important export business, with customers not only in neighbouring countries like France, Germany, the Netherlands and UK, but also in countries like Japan (where the group has its own sales office) and Russia.

To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the IJsboerke brand this year, the Glacio Group launched a metal truck in the colours of Ijsboerke in remembrance of the brand’s humble beginnings as a door-to-door provider of ice cream products. “The IJsboerke-brand is only sold in Belgium and Holland as it has a very Flemish sounding name.

The company was famous for home deliveries back in the day, before it became more industrial. These little

trucks are being sold in Belgian supermarkets and come with a range of products of cones and sticks and other assorted items,” says Eric. “On top of this, we have adapted our IJsboerke-logo temporarily on a number of products to highlight this milestone for the brand.”

The Glacio Group sees further opportunities to develop its foothold in export markets, as Eric notes: “The Belgian market has it’s limits, so we are really obliged to expand abroad; our current markets show promise for further growth, particularly the areas in and outside of Europe where we are already active.”

As the sales and production activities in Tielen and Beerse continue to merge strengths and implement changes to

create one united organisation under the Glacio umbrella, the future looks positive as the Glacio Group also looks to develop new products and maintain the strength of its national brands. “Core activities for us over the coming years include enhancing our geographical market in the Benelux region and also boosting our export level,” concludes Eric. D www.glacio.be

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Best of the

W Blackdown Hills West Country Eggs delivers fresh quality free-range eggs, with a strong commitment to the local area and consumer demands

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West

ith its brand very much centred around the West Country, family owned Blackdown Hills Eggs has been operating within the UK free-range market since 2003 after the Cottey family decided to exit the dairy and beef industry. Taking advantage of the increasing consumer popularity of free-range eggs, the company decided to open its own packing centre in 2012 and since then has established itself as a strong supplier of free-range eggs to the retail, wholesale and foodservice industries in southwest England.

Outlining the current market conditions, general manager, Nigel Williams, explains: “Free-range eggs are very popular at the moment, and because of this the big retailers are dropping the prices to attract customers into stores. However, there is a lot of growth in the market with the retailers being very aggressive with the products, so it’s a very competitive market.” As a result of these market pressures, the company has to make sure its products exceed on quality and meet expectations to remain competitive.

One of the ways it does this, Nigel

continues, is to focus on the branding.

“The fact that we’re a local business and that all our eggs are West Country eggs is a particular strength for us. We very much base the business on that. They’re good quality, West Country eggs, which is very much supported by consumers wanting to know where their food comes from.”

Exemplifying this, the company is a regular recipient of the Taste of the West award, a locally recognised mark of excellence. “It’s a good stamp of quality for people in the West Country,” notes Nigel.

The site at Buckland St Mary in Somerset is well set up to support the growing demand for free-range eggs in the region. The packing centre is a bespoke, state-of-the-art facility with a modern MOBA grading machine, which ensures every egg meets the exacting standards demanded by both the company itself and the wider industry. With the ability to grade and pack up to a million eggs a day, the company prides itself from getting eggs from the farm, packed and delivered within a day making sure exceptional freshness is served to the consumer.

All eggs are also marked according to maintaining 100 per cent traceability right back to the individual hen shed.

Blackdown Hills West Country Eggs The farm itself is home to 30,000 of its own hens, and additional demand is filled by a number of contracts set up with other local producers. The farm works closely with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group to deliver the best living conditions to its birds giving them spacious roaming areas with tree shelter, a healthy diet and the greatest freedom. All of which lead the company to being RSPCA, Freedom Foods and BRC accredited. Enhancing the company’s commitment to responsibility is its approach to sustainability, running a number of initiatives to protect the surrounding environment. Planting over 6000 trees not only improves the hen’s living conditions, but also provides chipping to power the biomass boiler that generates power to the packing

across the farm in a range of ways.

Standing testament not only to the quality provided by Blackdown Hills but also its ability to supply demand is its relationship with supermarket, Aldi.

“We supply a large volume to Aldi in the southwest with their free-range eggs, so it’s an extremely important contract for us,” says Nigel, and it is this presence within the major retail market, which the company hopes to explore in the future.

“We want to increase our penetration

operations. All hen sheds have solar panels attached to roof generating power to the shed themselves, and rainwater harvesting supplies water to be used

into the retail sector,” he continues.

“We’re in the discount sector at the moment, but we’d also like to expand on that by entering into the multiple and

convenience markets. We also see a niche opportunity in golden yolk and organic eggs – there are things you can do with eggs to premiumise them. However, the core of the business will always be our quality freerange egg offering.”

To supplement this plan, the company’s long-term strategy is simple: “The strategic vision is to get more producers working with us, that’s always going to be where the growth comes from,” Nigel says. “You can only grow as fast as you’ve got eggs coming in, so one of our main aims is to encourage more producers to work with Blackdown Hills eggs.” With a brand centring around the local area and a strong commitment to quality and freshness the company is in a strong position to secure its future, Nigel concludes by expressing his ultimate aim for the company: “The brand is built around the West Country, and we would like to be known as the preferred ‘West Country Free Range egg packer’.” D www.blackdownhillseggs.co.uk

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Growing global

C Tradin Organic sources premium certified organic food ingredients, as well as offering its own sourcing initiatives and processing operations 36 www.foodchain-magazine.com

elebrating its 30th anniversary as an importer of organic ingredients in 2015, Amsterdam headquartered Tradin Organic Agriculture BV (Tradin Organic) is in a coveted position as a pioneer in a niche market that has witnessed incredible growth over recent years. Founded by Gerard Versteegh and Wim Rabbie in 1985, the firm was originally named The Organic Corporation BV (TOC) and Tradin Agricultural International before becoming Tradin Organic in 1994. Following the name change, the company expanded its services in the trade of globally sourced organic agricultural ingredients to Germany and China in 1999; Tradin Organics USA was established in Santa Cruz, the US, in 2001, with a sales office in France set up in 2002. Growth continued with Trabocca BV added to Tradin Organic’s

portfolio in 2004 and the establishment of a joint venture in Ethiopia in 2007; the latter resulted in the formation of Selet Hulling PLC, a specialised sesame hulling facility.

Part of SunOpta Inc.’s international sourcing and supply division since 2008, the company has further expanded with the initial establishment of SunOpta Foods Bulgaria, Tradin Organic’s organic sunflower project; this was completed in 2013 with the acquisition of a sunflower processing factory in Silistra, Bulgaria.

In the same year Tradin Organic also established its dedicated cocoa processing facility, Crown of Holland, which focuses on organic and specialty cocoa.

Today boasting an extensive worldwide network of suppliers, processors and partners, Tradin Organic is a well-reputed and reliable partner for those operating in the international organic food industry.

With Tradin Organic directly sourcing more than 150 products from organic farmers in over 60 locations, engaging over 5800 small holder famers in its global sourcing initiatives and moving an estimated 25 trucks filled with its ingredients worldwide every single day, commercial and sales director at Tradin Organic, Wouter Floot discusses the reasons behind the company’s success: “Being involved in origins gives us a strong sourcing network, while our location in The Netherlands provides us

Tradin Organic with an enviable logistical hub. Moreover, as a part of SunOpta we benefit from financial strength, which allows us to finance in origins and provide farmers with crop financing and also grant payment terms to the food industry; ultimately, we can offer a service to our customers with credit terms and minimise their risks.”

Not only a trader of premium certified organic food ingredients, the company also develops its own sourcing initiatives and processing operations worldwide and is involved in the entire supply chain for these projects, from cultivation to export. “A recent project for us is our Citrus project in Mexico, which has gone on for several years and has resulted in the production of approximately 50,000 tonnes per year of organic citrus juice for the European and the US market,” says Wouter. “Since moving the project to organic we eliminated the use of 1200 metric tonnes of synthetic chemical fertiliser and stopped using 9000 litres of poisonous pesticides; we also stopped using 25,000 litres of herbicide. The environmental impact of this organic project is clearly measurable on the input side; however proving the sustainability of organic production from the output side is not so easy to measure. This is something we will focus on in the future, particularly with our own projects as we are more involved and have more data available.”

In addition to researching ways to measure sustainability for organic production against more conventional farming, Wouter says Tradin Organic is also facing the challenge of meeting market demand: “The organic market has really started to boom again,

Cocoa pods

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Tradin Organic particularly in North America. We realise that for us this is a luxury position, as there is more demand than supply; however, because of this we have to work very hard to get our sources lined up, which can be difficult as we are usually dealing with less developed countries and transferring conventional farming to organic takes a three-year conversion period.”

Another issue for the company is chemical residue testing. Because customers expect organic products to be chemical residue free, this causes issues for organic farmers who operate in line with expectations may have products affected by drift via water or air from neighbouring conventional fields. “One hundred per cent residue free products are often an illusion and organic legislation currently isn’t clear on how much residue an organic product may contain. On top of this, laboratories are getting better at analysis methods and can detect the

38 www.foodchain-magazine.com

smallest trace of chemical residue, which poses a major challenge for us as our customers then don’t know if chemicals were used on purpose or if it is drift and will then refuse batches that have any trace of residue.” Keen to educate the public and consumers of this issue, the company is lobbying as much as possible through industrial groups of companies.

Moving forward, Tradin Organic will continue to expand with a number

of its own independently run sourcing projects while also maintaining close working relationships with its farmers and consumers across the globe, as Wouter concludes: “We want to have more control over food safety issues in origin as well as organic integrity; by maintaining risk management we can be sure what we supply is organic and keep up with demand.” D www.tradinorganic.com

Crown of Holland

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FoodChain The business of food and drink

Schofield Publishing Ltd

10 Cringleford Business Centre Intwood Road l Cringleford l Norwich l NR4 6AU T: +44 (0)1603 274130 | F: +44 (0)1603 274131 Editor Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Manager Joe Woolsgrove jwoolsgrove@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Rob Wagner rwagner@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

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