FoodChain Issue 105 September 2015

FoodChain Issue 105

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sept 2015

The business of food and drink

A refreshing approach Fruit juice manufacturer CO-RO is driven by a strong commitment to high quality and taste-leading products, a targeted and compelling brand strategy, and continuous product development

Industry News Authentic Mexican dips and sauces launched l NSK bearing solution provides major savings to manufacturer l New ready meals that cater for diverse tastes l

Eggs-cellent service A new planning solution is helping Noble Foods streamline its distribution operation

Get fresh How a pallet live storage system can help to alleviate logistics headaches

FoodChain SUMMER

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2015

THE BUSINESS OF FOOD AND DRINK

Editor’s Welcome

A refreshing approach Fruit juice manufacturer CO-RO is driven by a strong commitment to high quality and taste-leading products, a targeted and compelling brand strategy, and continuous product development

Industry News Eggs-cellent service A new planning solution is helping Noble Foods streamline its distribution operation

L Authentic

Mexican dips and sauces launched bearing solution provides major savings to manufacturer L New ready meals that cater for diverse tastes

L NSK

Get fresh How a pallet live storage system can help to alleviate logistics headaches

Chairman Andrew Schofield Editor Libbie Hammond Art Editor Advertising Design Fleur Daniels

Take a break

Staff Writers Jo Cooper Andrew Dann Ben Clark Profiles Manager Emma Crane Business Development Director David Garner Sales Manager Joe Woolsgrove Sales Rob Wagner Emma Kerton Head of Research Philip Monument Editorial Researcher David Brogan Office Manager Advertising Administrator Tracy Chynoweth Studio Assistant Barnaby Schofield

W

hat a lucky team we’ve been at FoodChain this issue. Not only did we get to try some of the best products we’ve ever sampled for the Taste Test pages, we also got to feature some really interesting companies

in our Profiles section.

While we were involved in a tasting session, it occurred to me how food does bring people together. Within minutes, the office was buzzing with conversation between all departments – the simple process of sharing a small meal quickly united everyone. Crackers were shared, jokes told – it was a really enjoyable

Follow us at:

time!

If your office feels like it needs a bit of a lift, I definitely recommend trying a

@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

little buffet to brighten the day.

libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

www.foodchain-magazine.com www.schofieldpublishing.co.uk © 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

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12 8 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

Logistics Get fresh

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

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17 / 23 / 27

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

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Special Feature - Food Waste 18 Watching waste lines There is no longer an excuse for the food retail industry to accept the current levels of wastage

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Special Feature - Packaging 20 Less is more Non-compliance to global packaging regulations is not a sensible business option

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

Special Feature - ERP A technological soufflé?

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

Taste Test

Food producers, manufacturers and processors need to keep lead times as short as possible – pallet live storage systems can help

IT The smart choice

News

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Special Feature - Technology 24 Look to the cloud Cloud based systems could revolutionise the systems that monitor food industry chains

30 56

34

40 Foreword

Profiles

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

Origin Green

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InterContinental Prague Hotel

Bord Bia launched Origin Green to position Ireland as a world

The goal of the InterContinental Prague Hotel is be the hotel

leader in sustainable food and drink production

of choice for guests both in leisure and business

CO-RO

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Project Pie

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Established as a leader in many of its markets around the world,

Project Pie opened its first artisan pizza restaurant in the UK in

soft-drink manufacturer CO-RO maintains an ambitious outlook

Dundee and it has proven extremely popular

EWOS (Group)

Oerlemans Foods

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52

58

EWOS continues its committed approach to driving innovation

The strategic vision of Oerlemans Foods is to strengthen its European

forward in the production of food for the aquaculture industry

footprint, while continuing with launching exciting products

Tradin Organic

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The Seafood Pub Company

Tradin Organic is a pioneer in the organic ingredients sector

The Seafood Pub Company delivers high quality food at good

and now develops its own sourcing initiatives

value, in a relaxed yet premium atmosphere

Warsteiner

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The Glacio Group

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68

Warsteiner, one of Germany’s most respected breweries,

Following the acquisition of the Belgian Icecream Group, Glacio

is dedicated to sustainability

Group has continued on a path of innovation and development

AS Pals

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Blackdown Hills West Country Eggs

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Through continually expanding its product range, AS Pals has

A strong commitment to both the local area and consumer demands

built a strong reputation as a trustworthy partner

is driving the success of Blackdown Hills West Country Eggs

SH Pratt & Co

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Cradoc’s Savoury Biscuits

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One of Europe’s leading banana suppliers, SH Pratt keeps a

Cradoc’s biscuits are marketed as ‘culinary alchemy’ denoting the

promise of both service and quality at the core of its business

amount of experimentation that goes into creating each of the products

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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

Catering for diverse tastes As the diversity of cultures in the UK continues to grow, so too of course, does the range of eastern influenced foods available on the supermarket shelf. The question though; is the UK food industry missing the point when it comes to catering for the Asian market?

What has been scarce up until now at least, is the availability of Halal ranges that offer consumers the convenience of ready meals, whilst acknowledging that all UK residents, regardless of their ethnicity, have diverse tastes and are hungry for choice.

One company that’s working hard to address this shortfall, is Southall-based Bombay Halwa, which recently strengthened its ‘Royal’ range with the introduction of a new selection of ready meals and convenience foods that provide classic

Authentic Mexican western dishes, primarily for the Asian Market.

Bombay Halwa Director, Zeenat Harnal said: “We have created a wonderful range of gourmet meals for connoisseurs of fine cuisine. A fantastic fusion of eastern and western flavours that are the ultimate in convenience and which will delight your taste buds. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into developing a range that fills a clear gap in the market and once again we’ve asked our design agency, Brand Britain, to develop packaging for the new range to maximise its shelf presence.”

The range, which includes Beef Lasagne, Spaghetti Bolognese, Cottage Pie and Chicken & Mushroom Fusilli launched earlier in 2015 was initially rolled out in specialist convenience retailers. www.bombayhalwa.com

Dreamy desserts Get transported to Italy, the land of indulgent, luxury cuisine with erlenbacher’s latest Tiramisu.

Based on the traditional Italian recipe including soft sponge, delicious mascarpone cream and a smooth mocha flavour, erlenbacher’s Tiramisu slices are a light, layered sweet treat – the perfect way to round off any meal or as the Italians would call it, the ultimate ‘pick me up’.

Each layer of erlenbacher’s delightful Tiramisu provides an array of flavours, from the lightly dusted cocoa powder topping through three layers of sponge, and thick silky mascarpone cream. erlenbacher’s Tiramisu has a distinctive wavy design and is pre-cut into 12 slices per packet. This ready-to-serve dessert contains

amaretto-liqueur with its delightful almond tones, perfectly unites the meticulously crafted layers of this Mediterranean delight. www.erlenbacher.de/en

Combining a passion for Mexican cuisine and a great love for their countryside, Mexican entrepreneur Carlos Sanchez Mejorada and chef Ada Valencia have created Laterra Artisan Harvest a range of sauces, marinades & dips, the authentic flavours of Mexico.

In 2008 Carlos Sanchez Mejorada had the vision to create a brand that used all natural ingredients and no artificial preservatives so future generations could enjoy the real flavours of Mexico that his mother and grandmothers prepared in their kitchens.

Carlos, already a food producer, knew exactly where to source the best ingredients from local farmers that were fresh and free from chemicals.

Carlos later met chef Ada Valencia, head of the Slow Food movement in central Mexico. Carlos invited Ada to work on recipes for Laterra Artisan Harvest where she was able to create recipes that were both traditional and others that were innovative using ingredients all native to Mexico and sourced locally.

The products are all made using fresh ingredients, many of which are native to different regions in Mexico.

This inspired them to name each sauce according its provenance.

‘Chihuahua Sauce’ spicy tomato & peanut sauce, owns its name to the peanuts that are native to this northern state in Mexico. ‘Michoacán Sauce’ is a Salsa Verde or Green Sauce made from tomatillos, native to this state. This Green Sauce is the most common culinary sauce in México. www.laterraartisan.com

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Get

fresh 8

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Logistics Edward Hutchison discusses the implementation of a pallet live storage system

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onsumer demand for fresh, quality products to be available anytime means that food producers, manufacturers and processors should keep lead times as short as possible, respond to seasonal peaks and provide deliveries on time. PROflow, BITO’s pallet live storage system, provides the ideal solution for meeting these requirements. It ensures that the FIFO principle (First In, First Out) - a key ingredient for success in the food industry - is maintained. The Greenery is a leading distributor of fruit and vegetables, which has opted for this racking solution and its success has proved it made the right decision.

The name PROflow refers to BITO’s PRO pallet racking - a modular system that can be adapted to individual requirements. The second part of the name, ‘flow’, conveys motion. Put that together and you have the PROflow system, for live storage and push-back racking, which both provide special features to give an advantage over conventional pallet racking.

In contrast to static pallet racking, pallet live storage allows products to be stored in FIFO sequence. The lanes of each pallet live block are replenished with stock from the loading aisle.

Products are picked at the opposite side so those fed in first are taken out first. This sequence offers numerous advantages such as easy control of sell-by dates, production batches and product lines. Moreover, it gives direct access to all items at the picking face and each pallet moves forward by gravity when the empty one in front is removed. Sufficient replenishment quantities guarantee constant product availability. Given that products are always in direct access at the picking face, order picking is both fast and easy. The clear layout, which allows immediate product access, helps to reduce process times and improve process predictability.

Pallet live storage installations are

Edward Hutchison

far more compact than pallet racking and provide a better overview of the reference lines on stock. This reduces travel routes for order pickers as well as the time required for order collation at the loading dock. In addition to increasing picking performance this storage solution can be used within a much smaller floor surface, a fact that will save energy costs - particularly in cold stores.

Load separator eliminates lane pressure The FlowStop load separator is an innovative feature of BITO pallet live storage. Mounted to the picking side, the load separator reliably separates the first pallet from the other pallets in the lane, allowing forklift trucks to retrieve a pallet safely without lane pressure and without damaging the component. Truck forks can pass under the full length of the pallet - there is no

need to pull the pallet halfway out and then reposition the forks. This makes product handling a lot easier and reduces the risk of fruit or vegetables crates toppling over.

Hygiene is of course a major food industry requirement, whether in ambient warehouses, in chill stores or in cold stores - and strict regulations apply. For this reason, BITO pallet live storage can be provided with tiltable roller conveyor lanes, which allow convenient cleaning of the floor beneath. Even when products are handled with care, there is a risk that truck forks can cause damage to packaging units – leading to spilt contents and soiled warehouse floors.

With tiltable roller conveyor lanes it is easy for warehouse operators to keep these areas perfectly clean.

Picture below: The Greenery opted for BITO pallet live storage.

Orders are picked in picking tunnels.

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Logistics

‘

The clear layout, which allows immediate product access, helps to reduce process times and improve process predictability

Picture left: Edward Hutchison and The BITO team

BITO’s focus on fresh foods for The Greenery The Greenery is a leading fruit and vegetable distributor, which has opted for BITO pallet live storage to handle its broad range of produce, which spans organic home-grown as well as exotic fresh fruit, vegetables and mushrooms.

This range is supplied to supermarket chains, wholesalers, gastronomy establishments and the processing industry. To cater for each market segment, The Greenery has subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, UK, Poland, Italy, Russia, Romania, Brazil and the US. Each subsidiary specialises in a product group or a particular market segment, which allows The Greenery to adapt at any given time to customer demands globally.

For example, Dutch grown produce is

complemented by imported produce from all continents such as citrus fruits, banana and other exotic fruit, as well as produce that does not grow in the Netherlands all year round - such as cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes or cauliflowers.

In the Netherlands, some 276 supermarkets are supplied with up to 4000 pallet loads of fresh produce each day, which creates demanding storage requirements for The Greenery.

Its pallet live storage installations have been equipped with picking tunnels to link buffer areas with picking areas.

Pick pallets are supplied in live storage lanes, with pallet buffer stock located on top. Buffer stock is also kept in live storage lanes as well as products that do not grow in the Netherlands during some months of the year. Relocating

The FlowStop load separator operates without activator. Although permanent product in-feeding into the roller conveyor lanes is possible, there is no lane pressure.

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fully loaded pallets from the buffer area on top to the live storage lanes at floor level guarantees continuous supply to the order pickers. This, in turn, ensures an uninterrupted supply chain to retailers. Moreover, BITO’s solution makes optimum use of the warehouse capacity, which would be much lower with static pallet racking. D Edward Hutchison is managing director at BITO Storage Systems, an internationally operating manufacturer of storage and order picking systems.

The company’s product range includes shelving and racking; storage and order picking systems; bins and containers and warehouse equipment and accessories. www.bito.co.uk

IndustryNews Bearing up

Smooth operator

For one large producer of fish products, repeated bearing failures on a heat exchanger unit demanded attention, which led to NSK delivering a huge annual saving through the installation of improved bearing technology.

In this particular case, the manufacturer of fish products had five heat exchanger units and was experiencing 12 bearing failures every year. Aside from the maintenance costs to repair the heat exchanger each time, it was the five hours of lost production time that focused the attention of the production manager sufficiently to call-in NSK. Engineers from NSK investigated the issue and conducted a failed bearing analysis, which determined that both water and hard particles were contaminating the bearing and causing a breakdown of the lubricant.

Considering the nature of the application and the demands of the process, NSK proposed a trial using its Molded-Oil deep groove ball bearings.

The trial period eventually ran to more than three years without the bearing showing any signs of requiring replacement. The performance of the trial bearing was more than sufficient evidence for the production manager to request the NSK solution to be installed across all five heat exchangers.

The annual savings made as a result of the decision to use NSK Molded-Oil bearings were significant. By avoiding any major loss of production, the company’s total savings were in excess of €96,000. www.nsk.com

Faced with a failing progressive cavity pump when trying to transfer peanut butter from the grinder to a holding tank, a reputable food plant in Pretoria, South Africa, has found a far more reliable and cost effective solution in a MasoSine SPS200 process pump from WatsonMarlow Fluid Technology Group.

The peanut butter manufacturer was advised to consider MasoSine technology by the grinder manufacturer, and a SPS200 was duly installed in April 2014. The pump was immediately set to work pumping 250,000 cP viscosity peanut butter at a rate of 1000 l/hr (85C, against ±9 bar).

Selected, among numerous other factors, for its viscous pumping ability, the MasoSine SPS200 features a unique sinusoidal rotor that delivers a lower shear, gentle pumping action that safely transfers delicate products without risk of degradation. This is in contrast to the PC pump deployed previously, which battled to pump the high viscosity of peanut butter. Furthermore, dry running due to inconsistent feed between the grinder and the hopper would lead to reduced suction.

MasoSine SPS pumps are suitable for a multitude of applications up to 15 bar pressure and 99,000 l/hr flow rate.

Importantly, products with viscosities up to eight million cP can be transferred with powerful suction.

With this in mind, SPS pumps are able to deliver a constant feed of whole foods, meats, confectionary, dairy products and concentrates. Capable of handling soft solids up to 60mm, MasoSine pumps achieve high product quality and improved yield rates for food processing customers.

To date, the Pretoria peanut butter plant reports that the MasoSine SPS200 has been pumping successfully with minimum downtime. In fact, the pump has offered considerable savings over the maintenance costs encountered previously with the progressive cavity pump. This is due to the pump’s simple design, with one shaft, one rotor, one seal and no timing gears.

The SPS200 now runs intermittently to pump circa five tons of peanut butter to the holding tank every day. www.watson-marlow.com

Eggs-cellent service Noble Foods, supplier of fresh eggs to the UK’s major retailers, has selected Paragon Software Systems’ Integrated Fleets planning solution as its strategic modelling tool of choice. The Paragon software will be used to help Noble Foods streamline its distribution operation, which sees 72 million eggs being delivered every week.

The system enables Noble Foods to feed information into the Paragon routing and scheduling solution and make informed decisions about where each vehicle will be based, which vehicles will collect from which locations, and which will distribute to which outlets. It creates

schedules for each region and it also allows the company to run theoretical models, taking into account its planned move to a new depot in Oxfordshire.

“Paragon Integrated Fleets allows us to model a complete change in our operations. The move to a new depot means new transport operations, and the Paragon solution enables us to see the bigger picture, look at different scenarios and optimise the

planning around that,” said Michael Tucker, Transport Controller at Noble Foods. “As a strategic planning tool, it was quick to implement and easy to use.” www.paragonrouting.com

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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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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

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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

TasteTest Developed in partnership

Perfect pâté Now that summer is here, the prospect of al fresco dining becomes ever-more appealing, and picnics can be taken to a new level with Castle MacLellan’s pâtés.

Castle MacLellan’s artisanal pâtés are a delicious accompaniment to crudités such as celery, carrot and red pepper.

Chopped vegetable strips and Castle MacLellan’s locally produced products are an appetising and perfect instant picnic dish.

Castle MacLellan’s range comprises a selection of five finest Scottish pâtés.

The range includes: Chicken Liver Pâté with Scottish heather honey, Oven Roasted Mushroom Pâté with garlic and thyme, Rannoch Smoked Duck Pâté with Bramley apple jelly, Luxury Orkney Crab Terrine with lemon juice and Galloway mustard and Scottish Smoked Salmon Pâté with lemon juice and horseradish. www.castlemaclellan.co.uk

The Taste Test for the Castle MacLellan’s pâté did turn into rather an event! The team invited some colleagues to participate, and the feedback from them was incredibly positive. The crackers that were used as a vehicle for the products soon ran out – more were magically produced in order to continue sampling, such was the pâtés popularity. Every flavour tub was emptied within minutes and each was variously described as ‘delicious’, ‘so good’ and ‘amazing’. I think it’s fair to say that these products were some of the best received we have ever had at FoodChain – good work Castle MacLellan!

Beyond fabulous Dell’Ugo has launched the first Italian Focaccia breads on to the UK chilled market….and they are beyond fabulous!

Artisan made in Italy from the finest ingredients such as extra virgin olive oil and premium grade type ‘O’ flour, with different and really interesting toppings, not just the standard garlic butter, these light and airy breads even have the traditional baker’s thumb impression on the top.

These breads are like nothing currently on the market, definitely not dense or stodgy, they aren’t greasy either, and bring a whole new dimension to the Italian bread offering available at your supermarket.

In response to the growing trend in pumpkin consumption, Dell’Ugo has also introduced a third product in its hugely popular gnocchi range, which like spinach flavoured gnocchi will be first of its kind in the market …Fresh Pumpkin Gnocchi.

Fresh Pumpkin Gnocchi is made with fresh potatoes rather than dried potato flakes and the only other ingredients in these delicious little pillows of yummyness

are fresh pumpkin and free range egg from Dell’Ugo’s own flock of hens. www.dellugo.co.uk

Ed - The goat’s cheese and red onion bread was SO GOOD. Usually I start a review with a nice introduction but I can’t waste words here, I have to get down the nitty gritty, and that is the fact that this bread was light and fluffy at the same time as creamy and tangy and savoury. I would definitely buy it!

PS: The gnocchi was also very enjoyable, even though I served it quite plain, the little pillows were tender and light, and quite moreish.

Shetland’s Lerwick Brewery has teamed up with the University of the Highlands and Islands to develop a new beer. Kjøl, pronounced ‘chill’, was created to celebrate the annual Bergen to Shetland yacht race, which took place from 24 to 29 June.

Academics from the university’s Centre for Nordic Studies worked with brewery staff to investigate the feasibility of the new product and used their expertise to help develop its branding.

Lerwick Brewery Manager, Rhanna Turberville, said: “Lerwick Brewery has always been passionate about its Shetland heritage which, of course, is very closely linked with Norway and this beer is designed to exemplify that closeness. Made with Cluster hops and Shetlandic water, Kjøl is a bright golden lager with floral and fruit notes.” www.lerwickbrewery.co.uk

Our tester was very enthusiastic about this beer – he liked it enough to track it down and recommended it to his dad! “It’s less like lager as we’re used to it in the UK and more like an ale or artisan beer,” he said. “It’s like a pale ale, so it isn’t really heavy and dark like some ruby ales and stouts that can be too rich for some. Kjol has a deeper taste that is less watery than some lagers and when served chilled it has a distinctive taste that lingers for a short while and seems to release further taste on the palate. It could work as either a summer or winter drink, because it is refreshing when served chilled, while its slightly deeper taste is warming enough to see you through cooler nights.”

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Watching waste lines

At its most fundamental, the fact that 30 to 50 per cent of all food is wasted, and that half of this wastage is down to inefficiencies within the food industry, is – quite frankly – imprudent and unnecessary argues Mikko Kärkkäinen 18 www.foodchain-magazine.com

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he challenge retailers have lies in connecting all the data throughout a supply chain – from farm to transportation; warehouse and store understanding where to look for these inefficiencies, and then to standardise processes to allow for efficiencies to be achieved consistently.

By utilising the latest supply chain management technology and improved processes around data gathering, control and transparency, the industry can start to address some of these points.

One of the biggest supply chain challenges that retailers face is

Mikko Kärkkäinen

forecasting, according to recent research by Martec International and RELEX.* The majority of supply chain managers are struggling with forecasting demand for new products, the changes in the rate of sale and forecasting effectively for promotions and promotional lift.

However, better forecasting and stock planning is the key to better economics, better ecology and ultimately improved customer service: • Less spoiled or wasted food is better for the environment • Less spoilage through better planning invariably means fresher goods for the consumer

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There is no longer an excuse for the food retail industry to accept the current levels of wastage; the technology and processes are readily available

• Savings will help both retailers’ and manufacturers’ bottom lines and can help to reduce prices later to further help the consumer.

The financial impact for food retailers and wholesalers is also massive: for a food retailer or wholesaler who throws away goods worth two to five per cent of its turnover each year, the possibility of cutting down this wastage by 15 to 40 per cent is significant as the saving is directly visible in the company’s P&L. And, on a wider scale, the estimated spoilage reduction that can be achieved through the application of better data and technology, in the EU would mean an estimated annual reduction of 11 million to 30 million tonnes of spoiled food, which equals to the annual food consumption of Canada. This spoilage reduction would reduce CO2 emissions by 22 million to 60 million tonnes, which is over ten per cent of EU’s 20-20-20 target.

Companies differ so supply chain solutions must differ Of course, these numbers indicate the scope and scale of the challenge. So how can retailers take practical steps to effect change in their own supply chains? Eliminating all waste is generally good advice in any business setting.

However, in practice zero spoilage is rarely the best goal on perishables inventory management – and the optimum level depends on a store’s concept.

The basic fundamentals of good inventory management are always the same - accurate day level demand forecasting, day level safety stock management and advanced promotion, season, and weather based forecasting.

However, there are peculiar differences in each case. A good example is the inventory management of perishable products such as fresh meat, fish, bread and vegetables.

Food Waste With the food retail business consisting of high-end food markets as well as discounter formats for price conscious customers, there are significant changes in some approaches of control. Those focusing on high-end offering tend to press the importance of high availability and well-presented shelves. They generally command good sales margin, which enables them to build appealing shelf appearance even with the expense of increased spoilage.

With perishable goods, retailers are generally maximising availability by taking forecast spoilage into account in ordering in addition to the spoilage recognised by scanning out-of-date products. To ensure that shelves are not left empty or half empty after the removal of a spoiled batch, retailers should look at how technology can help keep track of the simulated spoilage of each order batch in the shelf, and automatically order a fresh batch to replace the old one going to be picked out. The functionality can ensure impeccable shelf presentation at all times.

However, stores with concepts relying on lower prices and with lower sales margin do not want to fill shelves with new fresh batches to ensure that older ones are left in shelves to perish, as it definitely increases waste. In these circumstances, automatic alerts could be placed on products where they are deemed unprofitable for example due to forecast case-pack sales duration related to shelf life.

It is actually possible to find out the best potential spoilage and availability level by factoring in estimated lost sales in out of stocks and sales margin of the product. The result is highly dependent on substitution probability in the product group as well as sales margin.

However, many food retailers also want to consider the effect of availability on customer satisfaction, and in the high end chains it is the most important goal.

Let the system take the strain Undoubtedly, fresh food forecasting and replenishment and the short shelf life of items makes accuracy essential.

As sales fluctuate significantly day-today, precision is only possible through

day-level forecasting and replenishment parameter calculation.

Technology also allows for the potential for a food retailer or grocer to be notified when a cold product is about to go out-of-date or if they are approaching the last possible date for sales, enabling store managers to remove the items from storage and put them on a reduced offering.

Furthermore, when stores are equipped to optimise and calculate shelf availability against expected or forecasted demand, they can remove risk of wastage at the point of sale.

Retailers and grocers have at their fingertips a huge volume of data that should be being used to minimise wastage, increase efficiencies and reduce emissions. Even with the most complex supply chain, the latest technology is now enabling the industry to harvest this data and apply it intelligently to not only achieve these objectives, but also increase the control and visibility all stakeholders have in the process.

There is no longer an excuse for the food retail industry to accept the current levels of wastage; the technology and processes are readily available, and the ROI too compelling, on too many fronts, to ignore. D Mikko Kärkkäinen is Group CEO, RELEX. RELEX Solutions is the first supply chain solution provider to offer retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers the power of In-Memory Computing. Customers in 15 countries use RELEX demand forecasting, inventory optimisation, replenishment automation solutions to cut spoilage by 40 per cent, inventory by 30 per cent, boost on-shelf availability to 98 per cent plus, and become more profitable in the process.

www.relexsolutions.com *Martec conducted detailed research with senior supply chain executives from a cross section of British retailers accounting, between those surveyed, for 23 per cent of the UK retail market by sales. Source BRC 2013 **A downloadable copy of the full ‘State of the Retail Supply Chain 2015’ research is available from the RELEX website.

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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 20 www.foodchain-magazine.com

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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

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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

TasteTest From bush to cup

Sweets for grown-ups Founded by old friends Imran Merza and Taz Basunia, Imran was inspired to create these delectable delights when looking for vegetarian sweets as a gift, finding only uninspiring health foods and gummies packed with artificial flavourings and gelatine.

Jealous understands that naughty doesn’t have to mean nasty, so all of its sweets are full of natural fruit juices, free from artificial colours and flavours, and they’re 100 per cent vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free. With flavours like Grapefruit & Orange, Morello Cherry & Pineapple and Pomegranate, Jealous Sweets are loved by gourmands worldwide and are a firm favourite of chefs such as Tom Aiken and Jamie Oliver, as well as the world’s most luxurious hotels. www.thejealouslife.com

something special. Their boxes are beautifully designed and would definitely make an ideal gift, or even a wedding favour. The Team tried three of the varieties – Fizzy Friends, Tangy Worms and Sour Beans. All were fruity, with the fizz, tang and sourness well balanced with sweetness. “These are just the sort of thing I pop into a birthday present,” said one reviewer. “And finding an edible present for a vegan that actually looks glamorous and a proper ‘treat’ is really amazing, as I’ve struggled in the past.”

The packaging of these sweets instantly sets them apart as

Wings of fire Newman’s Own Fiery Bourbon BBQ is a must have sauce to ensure your BBQ goes off with a bang! Now included in the Newman’s Own selection of sauces, rubs, marinades and dressings, the Fiery Bourbon BBQ sauce can be used on its own as a condiment, or as a marinade for delicious dishes such as Fiery Bourbon chicken wings. Guests can also be impressed with other recipes, all of which are available on the company’s website. The kebabs, brisket and potato skins all sound particularly tasty options.

Consumers also benefit from the feel good factor of the knowledge that the post-tax profits from Newman’s Own products go to the Newman’s Own Foundation, with over £1 million

already being donated to a wide range of charities in the UK alone and over £250 million donated worldwide. www.newmansown.co.uk

This isn’t your average sweet and sickly BBQ sauce! It’s much more sophisticated with a lovely deep smoky flavour. The ‘fiery’ label may strike fear into some, but we found it had a good amount of heat without being overpowering or painful – enough to really accentuate what it’s covering, but not so much it renders the taste buds unable to function. It works very well as both marinade and straight sauce and the tester who loves Buffalo Wings can’t wait to try Newman’s Own recipe for them.

Low in tannin and high in antioxidants, rooibos (redbush) is a full-flavoured herbal tea only grown in South Africa and cultivated in its remote Cederberg Mountains. Gently hydrating, it has long been valued for its natural goodness and is thought to help with nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems.

Kromland Farm’s organic Earl Grey Rooibos combines the finest grade rooibos with the refreshing citrus taste of pure bergamot oil for that authentic Earl Grey taste. Better still, it’s the only naturally caffeine free herbal tea that can be enjoyed with milk, making it the ideal health swap.

Furthermore, Kromland Farm also offers an Organic Raspberry Rooibos Tea. The blend of mild organic rooibos with tart raspberry makes this the perfect brew for those who love the health benefits of the original Kromland Farm tea but fancy something with a fruity and complex kick. www.kromlandfarm.co.uk

While the Earl Grey variety was considered a bit weak in flavour, the Raspberry Rooibos was a different story – very widely appreciated by its testers, with a nice fruity hit blended well with the organic rooibos.

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Look to the cloud Reduce costs - but don’t settle for less.

Tim Waterman discusses data logging as a service

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areful monitoring of the supply chain only works when it is holistic and comprehensive in its scope. It needs to start where food begins its life on the farm; through to the warehouses it is stored in, the logistics trucks used for deliveries, and the supermarket chillers it is retailed from. To simplify this process, new, hightech solutions like remote data loggers have arrived on the market, providing new opportunities for greatly simplifying the process - ensuring the produce arrives at its destination in perfect condition.

The benefits of these new solutions are numerous. Primarily, the use of data loggers helps mitigate health risks, principally the growth of dangerous bacteria on food. But more generally, failure to comprehensively and accurately monitor the supply chain can lead to reduced revenues through loss and damage to produce. Therefore, the use of modern automated data loggers helps reduce these risks by ensuring continual monitoring across all stages of the supply chain.

To guarantee continual monitoring, existing systems need extra equipment,

Technology to protect insuring against potential downtime. Some companies do this through the installation of a backup power supply, which takes over in the event that the primary supply fails.

However, it’s not viable for a small business to invest in the purchase and maintenance of a continuous back-up power source, simply for insurance against a rare instance of power outage.

Nor should they be expected to - in 2015 there are now a number of far more practical solutions.

The most interesting of these, and the one I want to explore in more detail, are new cloud-based solutions. By abstracting monitoring and logging away from the site, to externally managed and hosted servers, a number of benefits are available to the data logger user.

Anytime, anywhere As control and logging is handled remotely, cloud-based data loggers can now be entirely battery powered. As a result, power outages and surges no longer impact negatively upon the logger – and the use of external logging servers, managed by expert technical teams, means there’s no risk of an onsite power outage disabling the system used for monitoring and data storage.

Many businesses already have a mains powered logging system in place, and are not in a hurry to simply throw out the resource they’ve invested in the installation of this. Thankfully, battery powered loggers can work alongside these systems, serving as an incredibly low cost backup system that can pick up where the other system failed in the event of an outage – resulting in no loss of data.

For those that are installing a new system, or are looking to upgrade away from mains-power, there are other attractive features to cloud-based loggers. As data is continually logged to a centralised, remote location, monitoring can also be performed remotely.

A good cloud system is accessible from anywhere, by anyone (anyone who is authorised, that is) and from any device. Typically management is performed via a standard internet browser. Should a problem occur, it is

possible for any member of the team to be notified – without needing to be onsite – and take the necessary steps to rectify the situation.

More importantly, given many businesses deploy several sensors across several sites, it gives a greater insight in to where the problem is, not just the problem itself. As cloud-sensors tend to be low-cost, multiple sensors can be easily deployed in unison, tagged through the cloud interface with their location or role, and monitored from a single point. Then, in the event of a temperature alarm, email alerts can be set up to immediately notify the relevant members of staff in the supply chain to what situation has occurred and where, reducing the time spent by staff in rectifying these issues.

Finally, cloud-based sensor systems are scalable. Should a business’s need for monitoring expand or contract, sensors can simply be registered or disabled from the remote management interface.

Protecting your company and your customers We’re already seeing the benefits of cloud-based loggers in real world supply chains. Fuchs Cereal, a leader in the processing and production of cerealbased produce, distributes to over twodozen countries globally. As such, it is

of paramount importance that it ensures the quality and integrity of its products from the beginning of the process until the very end.

Previously, Fuchs monitored all of its environmental data manually, with physical checks performed by quality control operatives. Not only was this approach time-consuming, relatively expensive and prone to human error, there was no data backup in the event of a power failure. As a result, the business investigated alternative solutions that could simplify their existing setup, and enhance the data logging process. The business invested in cloud-based sensors for round the clock monitoring, and found it gave them the freedom to no longer rely upon a separate, dedicated IT team to verify data records.

Not such a big step It’s clear that cloud-based monitoring solutions could revolutionise the systems that monitor food industry chains, and many companies have already begun to migrate to the new technology.

Although moving to a Cloud based logging service can feel like a big step for some companies, it is deceptively simple to do. However it is absolutely essential that those undertaking their first venture, work alongside a trusted supplier to manage servers and guarantee the reliability of data. This is crucial as, whilst modern Wi-Fi sensors run in the background for long periods with little or no human supervision, the business must be able to place its faith in the accuracy of its records. D Tim Waterman is Technical Director at FilesThruTheAir. Corintech develops and manufactures environmental monitoring devices, offering PC or Cloud-based data logging systems incorporating its FilesThruTheAir WiFi sensors. They are used in commercial, research and industrial applications. The company also offers a complete contract electronics design and manufacturing service combining mechanical, electronic and software design with prototyping, and full product manufacture and test.

www.filesthrutheair.com

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TasteTest Easier on the tummy a2 Milk, now a Great Taste winner, is 100 per cent natural fresh cows’ milk which some may find easier to digest than regular cows’ milk. A recent human digestion trial revealed significant differences between A1 and A2 milk – A1 and A2 are different proteins found in milk.

A2 milk is gentler on stomachs, causing less inflammation associated with bloating and abdominal pain.

Professor Sebely Pal who conducted the study says the results are ‘very important to medical science’ and mark a major milestone in understanding milk digestion.

Interestingly, the study also suggested that those with self-reported intolerance to ordinary milk may benefit from an A1 beta-casein free diet too by experiencing less gastrointestinal effects. Hence, the value of this study for consumers could be even wider.

Scott Wotherspoon, CEO of The a2 Milk Company (UK) speaking about the new study, said: “We know that millions of people have diagnosed themselves

Chocolate stars with a milk intolerance. This study is great news as it proves that a2 Milk is easier to digest, so now many of them can enjoy the benefits of fresh dairy milk without having to resort to nondairy alternatives.” www.a2milk.co.uk

While the team at FoodChain are all OK with drinking normal milk, they were interested in the results of the study, especially given the fact that one in five people believe themselves to be lactose intolerant, when in fact they might be intolerant to the A1 protein in milk. Most of the team knew someone who they were going to tell about this product!

It also tasted just like normal milk, so changing products wouldn’t cause a problem within families having all to change their diets to accommodate one member.

The risotto experts Riso Gallo’s new 3 Grains is a unique blend of rice, spelt and barley – rich in protein and fibre, its’ hardy texture is perfect for risotto, salads, stuffings and soups.

A naturally healthy and tasty source of added fibre it is especially nutritious and cooks in just 20 minutes. Use it whenever you would use rice to create healthier, tastier and more filling dishes for all the family.

The Italian rice is specially selected from Pavese in the Po Valley. Riso Gallo uses a particularly large grained variety of risotto rice which readily absorbs the flavouring and seasonings of the recipe. The pearl barley is uniquely delicate in flavour and again larger in size to complement the spelt, which was introduced to Italy by the Romans from Greece. Spelt is rich in protein and fibre and is easily digestible. www.risogallo.co.uk

Our resident ‘foodie’ sampled the 3 Grains for us, preparing it as a side dish for poached salmon. “I kept my risotto simple, preparing it as instructed on the box, which was very easy to follow,” she said. “I added butter and parmesan to give it a creamy and oozy texture. The three grains within the product gave it a nice varied look, the risotto is a ‘fuller figure’ rice which I liked. I positioned my salmon on the top and served with light seasoning and a squeeze of lemon juice. Delicious!”

Doisy & Dam is an emerging natural food brand with a range of five handcrafted, ‘superdelicious’ varieties of organic dark chocolate; and recently the company was awarded two new Great Taste Awards stars for its Coconut & Lucuma and Ginger, Chilli Flakes & Hemp Seed bars in this year’s judging; bringing its total stars for its range of five to four, with its Maca, Vanilla & Cacao Nibs bar holding two Great Taste stars.

With innovative flavours packed with nature’s most delicious superfoods, including Goji & Orange; Ginger and Mulberries, Black Sesame & Spirulina, the rich dark chocolate can be enjoyed on-the-go in 40g bars or, for a longerlasting option, in 100g packs. Each bar is handcrafted in Norfolk, using the optimum organic ingredients, carefully sourced from all over the world. www.doisyanddam.com

It was the textures of these bars that stood out for our tester. She tried the Mulberries, Chia Seeds & Spirulina and Maca, Vanilla & Cacao Nibs varieties, and was really surprised by both. “The dark chocolate is obviously of the highest quality,” she said, “and the fruity mulberries and crunchy seeds added a new dimension to it. I also loved the Cacao Nibs version; again the texture was very appealing. I think what I really appreciated was the sophistication of these – they weren’t bars that you scoff down, it was something that was savoured and enjoyed. Plus the little bars were totally adorable as well!”

www.foodchain-magazine.com 27

Ireland – A world leader in sustainable food and drink

In a world-first, Origin Green is leading the way towards a more sustainable future on a global scale, Aidan Cotter, CEO of Bord Bia, The Irish Food Board, talks to Ben Clark about the initiative’s rapid success

28 www.foodchain-magazine.com

A

few key facts: Ireland is the largest net beef exporter in the Northern Hemisphere, exporting 90 per cent of its production, which equates to over half a million tonnes; it supplies ten per cent of the world’s infant formula demands, and over 80 per cent of its total food production is exported to over 175 global markets. In 2014, the value of Irish food and drink exports hit a record high of 10.5 billion euros, adding to a fifth consecutive year of positive growth.

Market conditions look set to increase this further, as the lifting of EU dairy quotas alongside Ireland being the first EU country given full access to the US beef market in 16 years, mean that export levels could dramatically increase over the coming years.

It is no wonder then that Ireland is at the centre of the global food and drink industry’s attention. As an international sustainability crisis emerges on the horizon, the island nation is taking the reins to tackle this issue head on and lead the world into a new era defined by sustainability and environmental consideration. Spearheaded by Bord Bia, The Irish Food Board, Origin Green

has been set up to position the country as a world leader in sustainable food and drink production and its CEO Aidan Cotter spoke to FoodChain magazine about how the programme is making a difference.

“Origin Green followed research we undertook amongst our customers around Europe in 2008,” he begins.

“In a nutshell, they told us that Ireland was perceived as being a green and natural producer, but that, it was no longer sufficient just to say this; we had to prove it as well.” Four facts contribute to this vision of Ireland: Firstly, 80 per cent of its land is grassland, creating a natural and clean environment for agriculture; secondly, it has some of the lowest carbon footprint levels in the EU across most of its food enterprises; thirdly, Ireland has no water stress, making it one of the best places in the world for rain-dependent agriculture; and lastly, its air quality is amongst the best in the world.

Aidan continues: “From 2009 to 2012 we did a lot of work with various organisations like the Carbon Trust to draw up models on how we could develop a sustainability programme that would

Origin Green

be built around the quality assurance programmes we were already running.”

What resulted was Origin Green, launching in 2012, which has been developed under four specific criteria: 1. To get every farm and food and drink business involved in the scheme by 2016 (some 85 per cent of food and drink exports are now coming from verified members) 2. To measure all the sustainability issues that matter, with a particular focus on the environment, from food safety to carbon footprinting, etc.

3. To measure everything through international accreditation and independent verification to be assured of global recognition 4. To not just achieve sustainability, but also continuous improvement by using cutting edge science and best practice.

One significant part of the initiative has been operating an extensive carbon footprinting programme. “The carbon footprinting programme is important because this is core to the sustainability of agriculture in a world environment that needs to reduce greenhouse gases over the next 35 years. We are the only ones in the world measuring it farm by farm, and if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it. We can then also give feedback to the farmer about their carbon footprint and using a specially developed carbon navigator tool, we can also tell them what they need to do in order to improve their footprint. This also coincides with improving efficiency and profitability as well, so it’s a win-win situation,” explains Aidan.

The scale of the initiative is immediately evident. Thus far, 45,000 beef farms, which account for 90 per cent of its beef exports, are certified under the programme. The dairy industry is set to increase output by 50 per cent with the abolition of EU quotas and it currently has 40 per cent of the 18,000 dairy farms involved, with all expected to be covered within a further 12 months. Work has already begun to roll the auditing programme across other enterprises such as pigs, poultry, sheep, eggs and horticultural producers.

Audits are carried out every 18 months at a current rate of 700 a week and the initiative has so far carried out over 75,000 carbon assessments, already making it a world leader. On top of this, 109 of the country’s 460 Origin Green registered food and drink companies, accounting for nearly 90 per cent of exports are involved, and Aidan hopes to have all on board within the next year. Bord Bia is also in the process of drafting a charter to apply Origin Green to the retail and foodservice level.

“This would enable us to complete the whole supply chain and create a real focus in the Irish market in terms of sustainability,” notes Aidan.

Aside from the internal focus on auditing and continuous improvement, there is a concerted outward facing effort to make Origin Green a globally

collaborative programme. In September 2013, Bord Bia launched the Origin Green Ambassador programme, which brought on board ten graduates to undertake a range of six month placements with leading global organisations such as Starbucks, Coca Cola, Tesco, McDonald’s, The World Bank, Unilever and Walmart.

“They have been working on sustainability projects to learn best practice within those organisations and sharing it so we can build it into our own journey. They have also been spreading the message of Origin Green around the world and the feedback is enormously positive about the programme,” expresses Aidan.

As a world-first, pioneering and hugely ambitious programme, the world’s eyes are firmly trained on Ireland as it faces the challenge of bringing a massive and diverse range of stakeholders on its journey. However, figures seem to show a strong degree of on-target success and, more importantly, the attitude of Bord Bia and Origin Green is exemplary. It is not purely for the benefit of Ireland’s commercial success, but for the good of the world’s environmentally positive future in food sustainability, therefore the programme’s outward focus has to be strong. Whilst the principle focus for the next 12 months remains on bringing everyone on board, Bord Bia will also be hosting a global sustainability forum in November 2015 in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform. “We expect to have about 250 professionals from the global food and drink industry come together and share ideas and best practices,” discusses Aidan.

“It will also be about working together as a global industry to see how we can move forward to a more sustainable future.

“Our strategic vision is to build on our knowledge and our current learnings to improve our sustainability even further, so that Ireland can show the world what can be achieved. It’s not just about leading though, but how we can change the way that things are done in agriculture and food production in an effort to take on the huge challenges around the world in terms of feeding growing populations and reducing greenhouse gases over the next 35 years.” D www.bordbia.ie www.origingreen.ie

www.foodchain-magazine.com 29

A refreshing approach

F With market opportunities presenting themselves around the world, Danish soft drink manufacturer CO-RO is looking to use its long-standing experience to fund its vision of further growth 30 www.foodchain-magazine.com

ounded in 1942 by brothers Flemming and Jep Petersen, fruit juice manufacturer CORO A/S has grown steadily to become a prominent player in close to 80 countries around the world. Driven by a strong commitment to high quality and taste-leading products, a targeted and compelling brand strategy, and continuous product development, CO-RO has carved particularly strong footholds in Northern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, China and South East Asia.

Three core brands sit at the centre of CO-RO’s global offering: Suntop, a fruity non-carbonated, cartoned soft drink; Sunquick, a concentrated cordial available in over 20 flavours; and Sun Lolly, a home-freeze ice lolly,

which leads the market in Denmark.

Across its global spread, to which 90 per cent of the company’s products are exported, up to 3.4 billion servings of CO-RO’s brands are sold every year. With a worldwide reach, CO-RO has adopted a strategy to ensure that the final product is delivered to the end user as locally as possible. “We produce super-concentrate compounds of our products here in Denmark, which are then sent out to be mixed and bottled in 12 factories around the world,” explains Søren Holm Jensen, President at CO-RO. Establishing itself as a leader in many of its markets around the world is a vast achievement for CO-RO, and is one that has been accomplished through steady, controlled growth and

commitment to its product. “Our R&D department has developed some great products,” highlights Søren. “Therefore, all our products have outstanding taste, and when measured up against competitors’ products by the end user, our brands come out as winners on taste. Another big advantage we have in the market is that we entered it very early. We had far away export markets as early as the late 60s and early 70s, so being a first mover in places like the Arab Gulf and Malaysia with our brands has really cemented consumer awareness. The third key advantage we have is our ability to build brands.

As we cater a lot for kids and families we have focused on making sure we are relevant and attractive to these consumers.”

No compromise CO-RO’s mission statement reads: ‘To deliver outstanding taste, high quality products and compelling brand experiences to consumers through fruitbased soft drinks and concentrates.’

By harnessing the strengths that have defined its historic success the company has been able to perform to this mission through a tight and structured strategy.

“We don’t compromise on taste at all,” says Søren. “We have always carried out comprehensive testing and we produce a lot of our aromas and flavourings in-house. We maintain quality by not using artificial flavourings, colours or sweeteners so we have a very natural product, but still have a very robust product that maintains its quality in the markets we sell to that have harsh climates. Finally, in order to keep the brand experience right for the consumer we have worked closely with our global partners to fully understand the consumers’ needs and then deliver on them. For example, for Ramadan, which is a big occasion for Sunquick in the Middle East, we make sure we have programmes and packaging sizes in place that fit that exact need.”

Innovation is a particular area of interest for CO-RO at present and Søren expresses that there will soon be a major programme of innovation in the future, based on the company’s existing brand range. With a finger on the pulse

‘

CO-RO

The main vision going forward is to bring out our great value brands and products to more consumers in more locations

of its markets, recent developments in its product portfolio demonstrate CO-RO’s ability to deliver innovation into the market. “In April/May this year in Denmark we launched the first home-freeze, milk-based ice cream, called Sun Lolly Creamy. This has been developed so that it can be bought at ambient temperature and then frozen later, which is a first for milk-based products, and we hope to take that further in the near future,” outlines

Søren. “Another example is Sunquick GOLD, which we launched this year in Malaysia and Sri Lanka in response to demand for a slightly sweeter tasting variant of Sunquick. This is accompanied by a whole new brand universe and has done very well so far.”

Innovation at CO-RO is not just important in order to maintain brand freshness amongst its existing markets and consumers, but is also fundamental in the company’s continued success in a steadily growing market. “Over the last five years we have seen population and GDP growth in the Middle East and Asia, which has led to a natural growth in consumption,” explains Søren. “Because of this, we have experienced some good and steady revenue growth, at about six to eight per cent a year for the last five years.” With this in mind then it is no surprise that CO-RO has focused a lot of investment into developing its global distribution channels including a new warehouse in Malaysia and a new factory in Foshan, China.

Despite strong growth CO-RO remains keenly aware of the types of challenges

www.foodchain-magazine.com 31

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We move your shipments – in Europe and Globally around the world.

Jumbo Transport Group provides high levelled, personal and just in time services, related to road transport, forwarding, logistics, warehousing, distribution, parcel service, and special transport/over dimensional transports. Cross country logistics and transports all over Europe, Balkan and the Middle East as well as overseas shipping and airfreight.

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FoodChain THE BUSINESS OF FOOD AND DRINK

“K” Line (Denmark) represent Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (“K” Line) and “K” Line European Sea Highway Services (KESS) in Denmark.

“K” Line Short Sea Service offers a weekly container service to/from Aarhus and Iberia with short transit times – schedule is as follows: Aarhus – Rotterdam – Gijon – Lexioes – Lisbon – Felixstowe – Teesport - Gothenburg – Aarhus.

Door/Door Bs/L issued. The fast and reliable service also ensures a good and positive effect on environment compared to road transport, ”K” Line can further offer a wide number of special equipment such as Pallet Wide equipment, Reefer equipment.

To advertise in FoodChain magazine please contact:

“K” Line further offers 8 x weekly container services to/from Far East calling a range of main ports in China and Asia with connections to/from inland destinations throughout Far East. ‘‘K’’ Line also offer 1 x weekly service to/from the US East Coast Ports, New York - Norfolk – Charleston with connection to all main US inland locations via rail/truck service.

Sales Manager Joe Woolsgrove jwoolsgrove@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Rob Wagner rwagner@schofieldpublishing.co.uk T: +44 (0)1603 274130 | F: +44 (0)1603 274131 www.foodchain-magazine.com

32 www.foodchain-magazine.com

www.kline.dk Keuregsalden@uk.kline.com Aarhus/Copenhagen: +45 86 20 81 40 or +45 32 95 32 42

CO-RO that could face the company’s performance in many of its markets in the future. “Over all macroeconomic and geopolitical outlook is a concern in the long term,” notes Søren. “For example, China has devalued its currency three times this week and there is a lot of unrest in many parts of the world, including the Middle East, which is a big market for us.”

believe we have the products, brands and business partners to achieve it.

Therefore the main vision going forward is to bring out our great value brands and products to more consumers in more locations. Being owned by a trust fund, and before that being privatelyowned, means that we are able to think

long-term and we like to establish longstanding working relationships with both our customers and suppliers, and this has been crucial to us being able to survive long-term. So remaining independent and retaining this ability to think long-term will be a key driver to our growth agenda.” D www.co-ro.com

New opportunities However, taking this into consideration the company is still confident about the future of its brands around the world, and Søren sees a wealth of opportunity in geographical expansion and more focused innovation. “We definitely have a growth ambition,” he says. “We feel that we have grown well in our history and we think that with these opportunities we have the chance to further expand our business. We have the financial strength to do it, and we

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Scaling up As the global demand for farmed fish rises, EWOS continues its committed approach to driving innovation forward in order to improve fish health and sustainability in the seafood industry

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eginning life as a trading company of nutrients to the Swedish agricultural industry in 1931, EWOS (Group) has grown steadily through new market entry to become the leading global producer of feed to the aquaculture sector.

Predominantly serving the fledgling salmon farming industry, the company operates from seven sites in five countries and has established a reputation in the market for innovation. As global demand increases for aquaculture and fish feed, EWOS continues its driven commitment to delivering high quality and innovative solutions to help improve and bolster the health and growth of fish stocks.

34 www.foodchain-magazine.com

Based in Chile, Canada, Scotland, Norway and Vietnam, EWOS is well placed to serve the world’s biggest aquaculture markets, making the most of robust infrastructure networks already in place. “Fish feed is a volume product, which needs to have proximity to the customers and the market because distribution contributes a big proportion of the feed’s cost in all markets,” explains CEO, Einar Wathne. Across these sites the company has a total of 22 fish feed production lines, mostly for salmon but also for other white fish needs. Einar outlines the general process: “We use the same basic technology called ‘extrusion technology’ to make the feed, which

allows us to make very clean pellets with no dust. We can also regulate the sinking speed so that the fish can eat everything and we minimise wastage. The process gives us good flexibility with what ingredients and composition we would like to achieve in the feeds. For instance, we develop very targeted solutions for each individual fish species and for each stage in the fish life. We call this the life cycle approach to nutrition.”

This responsible approach to delivering high quality and sustainable solutions is inherent throughout EWOS’ operations, and its ‘Innovation’ division most aptly highlights this. “Our R&D division focuses on the continuous improvement of feed in terms of the main properties we are looking for,” highlights Einar. “These are to have the most efficient feed, to get the fish to grow as fast as possible and to provide a healthy and robust fish that can survive diseases and parasites. We also do a lot of testing with alternative ingredients from which we can make feed to sustain a long-term supply without suppressing natural resources.”

In February 2015 EWOS began construction of its new Fish Health Centre in Puerto Montt, Chile. Due to be completed at the start of 2016 the new innovation facility is the biggest investment into research and development made by a private operator in the aqua industry at NOK 80 million (USD 9.5 million). “What is special about this centre is that it will enable us to work with the health of the fish in a very systematic way,” says Einar.

“We know that good nutrition and certain functional components, which are all non-medicinal, can strengthen the health of the fish. We call these preventative and sustainable solutions.

They are completely natural solutions with no contamination from medication or chemical, it purely strengthens the natural defence of the fish.” Tested under controlled and contained conditions, EWOS hopes to deliver strong results to the industry from the site within two to three years of opening, with a major

EWOS (Group) focus on reducing sea lice effects and other marine diseases. Astonishingly the new facility not only increases the company’s research capacity by four to five times, but also increases the global research capacity by 30 per cent.

One particular area of investigation that will be expanded by the new site is the company’s research into reducing the harmful effects of sea lice in the salmon industry. “Sea lice is naturally present in the marine environment and thus on wild salmon. When you start farming, you have a higher concentration of fish and this increases the potential for parasites to attach,” explains Einar. “We have added some masking components to the feed that produce a different odour of the salmon so that we cheat the lice and it passes by the salmon. We call this the ‘anti-attachment solution’ and it has shown to be very effective reducing sea lice attachment by 30-50 per cent. In addition to this we have developed the

feed to improve the fishes own immune system to enable the fish to better fight the parasites with its own defence system.” Another important research area is into raw material availability and sustainability, by looking at novel feed ingredients like algae oil or ensure that no trimmings from the fillet industry are wasted, in order to sustain growth and minimise the environmental impact.

On the journey to achieving its vision of ‘seafood for generations’, EWOS leads the way in delivering a healthy and sustainable future for the seafood industry and currently has its sights set on applying its expertise to the shrimp-farming sector.

As for the next 12 months, Einar outlines a major strategic reshuffle to help direct the business towards this vision: “We have an extensive improvement programme in place for the way we execute our own business, which goes through the entire business including how and where we source our raw materials, how we manage logistics, how we run our factories, how we operate commercially and how we execute our R&D. We think it is extremely important with our knowledge we contribute to the wider understanding in the seafood industry. We have a lot of good messengers in place to convey that in order to provide for and support the growth in seafood consumption around the world.” D www.ewos.com

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Growing global

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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

Tradin Organic Cocoa pods

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 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

www.foodchain-magazine.com 37

The analyses of Food and Feed TLR provides an extensive range of analyses of finished goods and raw materials for the food & feed industry. Our modern lab is equipped with the latest technology and is located in the ARAG region (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp & Ghent), two factors which enable us to offer rapid processing times and help you save money.

To cope with EU hygiene and safety standards, we fulfill the requirements of a variety of EU quality programs as well as HACCP concepts. TLR offers a wide range of analyses. Basic chemical testing is used to determine nutritional values such as protein and moisture. We also perform more complex analyses to test for contaminations such as residues of pesticides, mycotoxins, dioxins, heavy metals and PAH’s. Last but not least, we perform classic microbiological methods such as plate counts (yeasts and moulds) as well as modern PCR techniques for pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, E. Coli O157, Norovirus and Hepatitus A. All analyses are performed using state-of-the-art instruments and technology to ensure the lowest possible detection limits. TLR is your one stop shop for all services in food/ feed safety control.

If you have any requests do not hesitate to contact our experts for further information: www.tlr-international.com

38 www.foodchain-magazine.com

Tradin Organic 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, 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 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

www.foodchain-magazine.com 39

Premium

responsibility

I Warsteiner has established itself as a highly respected and successful beer manufacturer over its 260 years due to its strong marketing strategy and outstanding corporate responsibility 40 www.foodchain-magazine.com

n 1753, Antonius Cramer, who had brewed so much beer in this home, had to pay his first beer tax for his side business and the foundations were laid for what is now one of Germany’s largest privately owned and most respected breweries.

Over the next 260 years the company passed from generation to generation of the Cramer family and driven by its motto: tradition through innovation, the brewery’s production output grew.

After a series of acquisitions in the nineties and noughties, and now under its ninth generation of Cramer management Warsteiner employs over 2200 people across a number of brands and breweries across the world. With a presence in over 60 countries through either own sales offices or distribution partners, the group manages the

Warsteiner, Herforder, Frankenheim, König Ludwig Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg and Paderborner breweries.

Meanwhile, to accompany its expansion strategy, in 1998 Warsteiner founded the Welcome Hotel chain. Specialising in business travel and conference hosting, the company now operates 17 threeand four-star hotels across 14 locations throughout Germany.

The group’s portfolio of brands generally encompasses high end, premium pilsners that represent truly traditional and regional breweries across Germany. In particular, Warsteiner’s own Premium Verum pilsner is extensively distributed as a popular product across the world, as is its Premium Fresh non-alcoholic beer. The brand has also been successful in reacting to changing tastes and emerging trends in the

Warsteiner

market with the introduction of flavoured beverages into its product offering. The classic Radler style, a shandy-style beer and lemonade mix has been subject to Warsteiner’s innovation and it now offers alcoholic and non-alcoholic lemon and grapefruit flavoured drinks. Setting these products apart from the market is the use of 100 per cent natural fruit juices, as opposed to artificial aroma flavourings and citric acids providing the flavouring.

Contributing to Warsteiner’s international presence is a strong marketing campaign supporting sport, arts and music across the world. In particular, Warsteiner is a sponsor and official team partner of Audi ABT’s racing team in Formula E’s debut 2014/15 season. The company’s relationship with sport is not out of the ordinary for an alcoholic brand,

however, what is unique is the way it responsibly serves the sector.

Continuous development into the nonalcoholic recipe has resulted in a beer that has isotonic properties to ensure quick fluid absorption by the body, and is therefore popular amongst athletes.

The brand has also partnered with a number of music festivals in Europe (the Netherlands and the UK).

The company’s vision is to maintain its position and further expand by growing market share with high quality products and services, effective sales efforts and innovative marketing. To achieve these goals it places significant emphasis on continuously improving technical optimisation against a background of solid finances and longterm planning. Sustainability innovation plays a major role in achieving this

vision, as Martin Hötzel, Managing Director Sales and Marketing explains: “We are aware that we are just a little wheel within a complex global structure, whose future depends on the actions of all who participate in the system. Therefore, it is important to us to make our own contributions within our possibilities for a sustainable development. At the same time, we would also like to be a model with our sustainability policy and provide motivation for others to follow this thought that our own pro-active actions within the sum of the activities of many other companies, organisations and individuals can have a significant impact.”

As part of this drive to improve sustainability the company set up the Warsteiner Brew Academy for Research and Development in 2011, which represented a milestone for its

www.foodchain-magazine.com 41

FoodChain THE BUSINESS OF FOOD AND DRINK

To advertise in FoodChain magazine please contact: Sales Manager Joe Woolsgrove jwoolsgrove@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Rob Wagner rwagner@schofieldpublishing.co.uk T: +44 (0)1603 274130 | F: +44 (0)1603 274131 www.foodchain-magazine.com

42 www.foodchain-magazine.com

Warsteiner sustainability concept. As a result, through continuous improvement Warsteiner is now one of the top breweries in the world with the lowest energy and water consumption in its production, with only 3.46 hectolitres of water being consumed for every hectolitre of beer brewed. The energy consumption for the production of this amount is also down to 135 mega joules.

Warsteiner has also developed a number of technological innovations to improve general energy consumption across its operations. One part of this is a block heating power plant set up at the Warsteiner Waldpark Brewery in 2009. This process produces electricity from natural gas and uses generated exhaust heat directly in the brewing process, saving up to 5000 tonnes of CO2-equivalents each year. As a result of this, the Warsteiner brewery fulfilled the norm DIN EN ISO 50001 in 2012 to be the first brewery enterprise in Germany to have a certified energy management system. In 2011, it went even further by installing wind turbines at its Paderborner Brewery capable of supplying 40 per cent of the site’s annual energy requirements.

The company’s attention to sustainability extends beyond its production facilities as well. In 2005, it began operating a proprietary rail siding with its own container terminal to move truck traffic from the road to the rails. This logistical strategy has

OVERSEAS Logistic Services OVERSEAS Logistic Services GmbH has been active as an international forwarding and shipping agent since 1997 and has continued to grow with its services. Based in Mönchengladbach, Germany, on the periphery of one of the largest industrial areas of the world and in the intersection of inner European waterways and land links, OLS covers all aspects related to import/export in door-to-door transport.

As a member of the FMS-Group and with agencies on all continents, OLS offers intelligent logistics around the globe. As logistics does not allow any weaknesses as an integral link in the value-added chain, OLS tailors each part of the transport process perfectly to customers’ requirements and documents this individually.

helped to save 5500 truckloads, and up to 1700 tonnes of CO2 every year.

In a remarkable demonstration of sustainability, Warsteiner’s responsibility is not confined to environmentally friendly operation but extensively encompasses procurement, recipe development, production and the way it treats its employees and customers.

As it looks forward, Warsteiner is about to embark on a five-year expansion plan involving further acquisitions and the development of a new factory. Such a company doesn’t survive for 250 years without a popular product and strong strategy, and its commitment to effective and creative marketing has been successful in promoting the brand on an international scale over the past few years. Couple this to its exemplary programme of sustainability and

it’s clear to see why the brand is not only popular for its products, but also respected for its business operations.

With a current turnover of over 500 million euros and a growing portfolio, Warsteiner’s future success is supported by strong brand loyalty but it will only be secured by continued commitment to these values that have defined it throughout its long history. D www.warsteiner-gruppe.de

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A friendly service

O Through expanding its product range in recognition of market trends, AS Pals has built a strong reputation as a trustworthy partner in the delivery of high quality food products 44 www.foodchain-magazine.com

riginally a direct supplier of AS Day New Margarine Factory products, Norwegian firm AS Pals has grown since its inception in 1936 to become one of the leading suppliers of goods to bakeries and patisseries, with a customer base exceeding 1200.

Alongside its operations within these business segments, the company also established itself as a major supplier of coffee to the catering market after entering this increasingly popular product range.

“AS Pals was founded by my father in 1936 as a margarine manufacturer before eventually growing into production of almond paste and mixers and coffee. Our original product was a margarine that was low in fat, high in water, which was successful as

Norway was a poor country lacking in raw materials and with limited access to food stuffs after the war.

We then went onto become involved with some Scandinavian companies to manufacture sweetened fat for export to the UK, which was lacking in sugar at the time,” says Jens B Raanaas, Managing Director at AS Pals.

“As markets developed in Norway the country developed a high purchasing power due to oil in the North Sea, which led to a high purchasing power and lower unemployment rates. With the economy on the up we got involved in supplying semi finished product solutions to Norwegian bakeries, hotels and restaurants. Over the years we have developed close relationships with craftsmen bakers; we also saw opportunities with the coffee bar trend

AS Pals coming over from America and have been proud to provide bakeries with solutions to meet competition from multi-national coffee chains. To do this, we began to import French croissants and more sophisticated foreign food and drink products such as espresso coffees and machines to these outlets.�

Today the company sells a range of food products to bakeries, hotels and canteens in Norway; these include its own manufactured items such as coffee, margarine and marzipan as well as products from the wellknown French companies Lessafre, a manufacturer of yeasts, soudoughs and bread-making ingredients; Callebaut, a Belgian chocolate brand; Delifrance, a manufacturer of frozen breads, savouries and pastries, and Zeelandia, a Dutch bakery ingredients manufacturer.

Within its plant in Billingstad, Asker, the company has four different production facilities for coffee, margarine, powder mixes and marzipan; the former of which is where it roasts and produces special blends of coffee for office cafeterias, cafes, restaurants and institutions. In more detail, Coffee Pals is divided into two main groups, mixtures and pure types, with Pals Company Providers, Pals Teacher Coffee and Pals Prima Coffee the most popular blends. The company also sells a range of espressos, including its own manufactured product, espressokaffe, which is burned in a gentle manner and packed so oil secretion is kept to a minimum.

Created to deliver a rich, intense flavour that lingers in the mouth, AS Pals has also added a faint hint of chocolate to its creation.

Dedicated to delivering the best coffee to its customers, the company carefully tests all coffee before it is sent out; the test, known as cupping, involved six grams of coffee per cup of hot water, at an average temperature of 96 degrees.

Using a stopwatch, the company tastes the coffee and then makes a decision as to whether or not to buy a batch from the supplier. To maintain quality and ensure customers receive a stable mix all year round, the company re-tests whenever a new batch arrives.

Alongside the production and wholesale of coffee, AS Pals also provides customers with a range of coffee makers to ensure their bakeries deliver high quality, efficiently made coffee products; the available equipment includes fully automatic coffee machines, manual coffee makers and coffee grinders. “We are proud to have played an active role in keeping craftsman baker shops competitive against the American coffee bar trend, which has not penetrated Norway and the surrounding countries as much as it has in other areas. By working with other companies and countries we have created a level of quality in the interior and offerings that we provide,� highlights Jens.

Alongside its highly popular coffee range, AS Pals also produces a variety

of 100 per cent vegetable fats and margarine products for the bakery and catering market; these include table margarines for all types of cakes; roller margarines for pastries; 100 per cent pure fat products for baking, frying and creaming of butter related desserts; special grease designed bake fats for all types of yeast doughs, and lubricating/ parting agents for the greasing of shapes and plates. The company also creates raw materials, semi-finished and finished products for the manufacture of bakery and confectionary products, such as bread bases, cake mixes, marzipan, bake pulps, jelly products, cream products and aromas and spices.

Through its own production operations and close collaborations with other relevant manufacturers, AS Pals has become a leading wholesaler for a

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AS Pals range of major product groups, which includes sugar, sugar masser, sugar, syrup and salt; raisins, almonds, nuts, seeds and coconut masses. With a broad product portfolio in place, the company has also established five depots in strategic locations to ensure it remains in close proximity to clients in all areas of Norway.

In addition to its depots, AS Pals has a factory outlet in central Oslo, which allows customers to view its product range, special offers and get personal guidance from dedicated employees.

Tastings and demonstrations, in co-operation with suppliers, are also offered several times throughout the year, as well as theme days and special promotions. “It is important to provide good value, not only in the value from the cake or bread itself, but also to provide it via friendly personnel,” says Jens. “Another key way to deliver customer satisfaction is to pay attention to market trends. Norwegians travel a lot along the Mediterranean, so we try to provide these foods here; they are also willing to pay high prices for

a good quality, healthy loaf of bread, so wholemeal, whole grain and less salt are all important topics for our customers.”

As Norwegians continue to enjoy a high quality of life thanks to a strong economy, AS Pals sees opportunities to flourish as more people can afford to eat outside their home. “Traditional bakeries offer a friendly environment with healthy food that is suitable for both the young and old. In the present day, there is still great value in visiting a pleasant bakery store,” concludes Jens. D www.pals.no

Jens B Raanaas, Managing Director at AS Pals

‘

We are proud to have played an active role in keeping craftsman baker shops competitive against the American coffee bar trend, which has not penetrated Norway and the surrounding countries as much as it has in other areas

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Best of the

bunch

With the import, ripening and distribution of fruit, SH Pratt & Co Ltd represents one of Europe’s leading providers of fresh produce

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he roots of SH Pratt & Co (Pratt’s) date back to 1947, when its founder Robert ‘Bob’ Wells carved out a modest banana import and ripening enterprise from his family’s existing fruit and vegetable wholesale business at a premises in Kings Langley. The import business began solely with bananas, which remain Pratt’s primary produce although the company today also imports and ripens pineapples. As the company continued to expand, Pratt’s eventually outgrew its Kings Langley base and moved to larger premises in Hemel Hempstead during 1967. This expanded its banana ripening capacity by 40 tonnes per week. Pratt’s is today guided

by Bob Well’s son Robert Wells, who joined the company in 1982 and would go on to become managing director.

Under Robert’s leadership the business continued to expand and again relocated to a new location to accommodate its growing needs during 1997. The company’s new location was a 50,000 sq. ft. bespoke premises, built in Luton, Bedfordshire and remains its current base today. Within eight years of its completion the site was further expanded by an additional 80,000 sq. ft. and now totalling 145,000 sq ft. – making it the largest site in the UK for banana ripening.

Today Pratt’s operates at one of Europe’s largest players in the areas of fruit import, ripening and fruit distribution with more than 200 employees and a

‘

SH Pratt & Co

Pratt’s Bananas is unique in the realms of banana supply to the main UK retailers, in that; in the face of multinational competitors, it has managed to deliver scale and still remain truly independent and family run

ripening capacity of around 3900 pallets.

With 117 separate ripening rooms the company is able to ensure that fruit is ripened to the level that its customers require and with its own fleet of vehicles, Pratt’s is well placed to deliver produce to clients all over the UK. On average Pratt’s ripens 21.6 million bananas a week, which if placed end to end would be enough to circle the M25 motorway 25 times! Sourced from countries including Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador the fruit is available throughout the year and in varieties ranging from conventionally grown to organic and Fairtrade. Pratt’s fruit is handpicked from around the world for its exceptional quality and as an expert fruit importer and ripener, it works with trusted growers and checks the fruit at every stage to ensure that its clients receive fruit of the highest class.

“All fruit arrives at our premises in a ‘green’ condition and is ripened in our state-of-the-art ripening facilities whilst being monitored by our experienced fruit ripeners. The ripening process takes approximately six days at varying

temperatures with air containing ethylene gas (400 ppm),” explains Commercial Director Simon Trewin. “Once our fruit ripeners have finished their work, the fruit is packaged according to each client’s requirements and branding before being delivered directly to their regional distribution centres.”

The typical banana sold in the UK is of the Cavendish variety, as are Pratt’s bananas. Presently around 22 per cent of all bananas in the UK are from SH Pratt, which supplies some of the country’s leading retail including the Tesco, Costco, One Stop and Reynolds.

As well importing, ripening and distributing bananas, Pratt’s also imports and distributes pineapples throughout the UK. Pratt’s pineapples are harvested at a stage when they are fully ripened and once they have been picked, the pineapples are checked to determine their use. To achieve this, Pratt’s pineapples are transported to a packing facility where they are sorted according to colour, size and internal and external quality. Once divided into these groups, they are then allocated to one of three

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SH Pratt & Co main market types, processing, local market and export. Pineapples that are destined for the UK market are then prepared by being washed and treated with wax and post-harvest fungicide to protect them from containments, before being packed according to size and weight and refrigerated at 8oC to be

veg. With absolute focus on low prices and delivering value, margins can be tight. However, we have managed to fair reasonably well through the recession by focusing on efficiency and productivity,” Simon concludes. “With a drive for quality, reduced wastage

and lean process, Pratt’s Bananas is unique in the realms of banana supply to the main UK retailers, in that; in the face of multi-national competitors, it has managed to deliver scale and still remain truly independent and family run.” D www.shpratt.com

shipped to the UK. One arrival the fruit is sorted and inspected before being approved for dispatch.

In addition to the banana ripening business, Pratt’s is also developing its transport division. There are plans to double the fleet of 28 articulated trucks currently, with recent investment in the latest twin-evaporated (dual temperature) trailers. This allows for a wide range of products to be delivered UK wide.

At the core of Pratt’s business is its promise of both quality and service. In order to assure quality the company maintains close relationships with its growers through constant communication and regular visits. This allows Pratt’s to understand the needs and workings of its growers, while providing the finest produce. In terms of service, Pratt’s grants its clients the same close attention by treating its customers individually and providing ongoing support and assistance through it customer support team.

Over the past five years the company has invested over £2 million into the business to ensure that its high levels of service are maintained.

“The general UK market place is challenging for anyone who supplies food products, particularly fruit and

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Prime location E Located in the heart of the city, the InterContinental Prague Hotel attracts a global audience whilst operating an exemplary local supplier strategy 52 www.foodchain-magazine.com

stablished in 1974, the InterContinental Prague Hotel is steeped in historical and geographical significance to the city of Prague and the Czech Republic. At the time of opening the American owned InterContinental brand was the first western hotel to emerge in the communist city, representing an important time in the country’s history. Situated in the heart of upmarket Prague and with views out over a stunning old town, the five-star hotel occupies the city’s number one spot amongst designer outlets and iconic buildings like the Prague Castle. Revered for its Brutalism architecture, the building itself is protected by the city of Prague and is highly representative of the movement that took shape in the seventies. The

hotel attracts both leisure and business guests, is popular with blue chip company events and regularly hosts celebrities and high ranking politicians, most recently of note, Head of the UN Ban Ki Moon.

General Manager of the hotel, Robert Rudge, tells FoodChain that tourism in Prague is very much on the up at the moment. “The city is going through an exceptionally positive period of performance. This year it is one of the best performing cities in Europe in terms of year-on-year growth.” Despite having its own currency, the Czech Republic is very much connected to the performance of the euro and a weakening of this has attracted distant tourists from America and Asia who can get good value from visiting. “A lot of our customers are retired Americans

InterContinental Prague Hotel

who are exploring Europe with a lot of disposable income, and the Asian tourism market is growing as travellers there mature in the way they travel to Europe,” adds Robert. The Prague hotel occupies the upper-tier segment of the InterContinental brand, which is currently as a group experiencing around 15 per cent year-on-year revenue growth, so performance in a number of respects is positive for the Czech-based hotel.

With regards to catering, the hotel has two separate restaurants. A regular breakfast and lunch facility based on the ground floor, and the prestigious top floor Zlatá Praha restaurant. “This has been a key feature of the hotel since it opened,” notes Robert. “It has really wonderful views of the old town, which is really enchanting with the roofline of

all the old buildings and churches. In addition to the restaurant is the terrace, which offers a panoramic view over the city and Prague Castle over the river – it’s beautiful in the summertime. We serve mainly fine dining Czech cuisine with some European dishes as well so that the guests have a choice.”

Rooftop honey The hotel’s sourcing strategy is heavily focused on being as local and specialised as possible, and it can’t be any more local than on its own rooftops where the hotel houses eight beehives.

Now in its second year of maintaining the hives the hotel harvests three times a year to acquire 160kg of honey. “This supplements the 600kg of honey that we consume each year at the hotel in breakfasts, homemade pastry and also

given away in gifts,” says Robert who goes on to outline how the rest of the hotel’s needs are catered for locally: “At breakfast we derive benefit from products supplied by our partner farmers who deliver bio-quality smoked meat products, cheeses, yoghurts, fruit juices, eggs and bread products. These items represent a part of the buffet offer and are all organic.

At the Zlatá Praha restaurant, we focus on supporting local products as well, as we benefit from the supplies arriving from our farmers and we buy vegetables and fruit from the Kunratická stodola region.

Herbs and flowers are grown for us by a gardener, we have a certified professional mushroom-picker who delivers seasonal mushrooms and the same goes for raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and rhubarb.

“We take pride in purchasing the

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‘

We serve mainly fine dining Czech cuisine with some European dishes as well so that the guests have a choice

Sysco Guest Supply Sysco Guest Supply has enjoyed a long standing relationship with IHG and has platinum membership of the IHG Owners Association.

InterContinental Hotel Prague and Sysco Guest Supply have been working in close partnership providing their guests with the Agraria Amenity Collection for many years. This exclusive Amenity Collection is provided globally by Sysco Guest Supply for all InterContinental Hotels & Resorts.

The success of Sysco Guest Supply and InterContinental Hotel Prague is attributed to excellent service with a personal touch.

InterContinental Prague Hotel traditional Czech pork labelled Czech Prestik, as well as in preparing dishes based on red-spotted beef cattle bred on the Czech grasslands – these two meat varieties are supplied to us by Amaso CZ s.r.o. And of course, the menu cannot exclude the traditional Czech duck either, which we buy in chilled twice a week from a company called Jankri based in Vyzlovka.”

The hotel runs a constant programme of improvement to maintain a fresh and up-to-date environment for its guests, and the next project on the cards is a renovation of the Zlatá Praha restaurant. “It has a great location and view, but it does need refreshing,” explains Robert. “We are looking to do this in Q1 of next year.” As well as this, the hotel is also exploring the

idea of installing an external elevator from street level up to the restaurant, but this requires city approval due to the protected status of the building.

“Our goal is to be the hotel of choice for guests both in leisure and business, individual and groups, when they are looking for an upmarket city experience,” concludes Robert. Sitting atop the historical foundations of successful growth and a strong reputation at the heart of a busy tourist-rich city, the hotel won’t be going anywhere fast. A continued attention to offering a refined experience will ensure that the growth trend is maintained. Catering-wise, the hotel’s sourcing strategy is exemplary and meets the expectations set by being a top tier venue. D

www.icprague.com

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Topping the menu I

Offering diners the unique opportunity to design, build and of course eat their own artisan pizza, Project Pie represents a tasty opportunity for its entrepreneurial founders and hungry customers alike 56 www.foodchain-magazine.com

t was literally a case of ‘one bite and we’ve got you’,” says Director Susan Canavan on her first experience of Project Pie in San Diego that would lead Susan and her husband John Canavan to take the exciting step of introducing the concept of bespoke artisan pizza to the UK. Prior to arriving in the UK, the story of Project Pie begins in the US where the company’s founder James Markham set out to provide fantastic pizza without a prohibitive price tag. Soon after he pioneered the fast casual, custom pizza restaurant by opening MOD Pizza in Seattle and PieOlogy in California to popular acclaim.

Following this success James took the decision to move the project forward and the next generation in the company’s history, Project Pie was born.

The Project Pie concept offers diners the opportunity to build their own custom pizza from a broad range of quality, fresh ingredients at a set price. Customers may choose from the restaurant’s signature red sauce or olive oil white base, as many toppings as they like and American BBQ sauce, pesto and extra virgin olive oil after bakes. For a lighter meal, diners may also opt for a simple classic cheese pie or salads that can

be served as a side, on their own or Project Pie’s unique crust. Gluten free is available as well as parmesan and garlic strips and dessert options such as the ‘black and white’ and Nutella and banana pizzas, meaning Project Pie can provide an option to suit almost any taste. These can all be washed down with a cool glass of the classic American beverage Boylan’s soda, which is made using real sugarcane and served with free refills.

All of the ingredients and toppings used by Project Pie are delivered fresh and the vegetables and other produce used are cut daily rather than arriving pre cut and frozen. This ensures great tasting pizza that is also ‘guilt free’ and healthy, which is something Susan attributes to the company’s access to trusted suppliers: “I have to say that the UK and Scotland have incredible produce and I think that it actually tastes better than what is available in America.

We have a very unique country in that famers and suppliers are not allowed to put so many preservatives into the product and there is a very strict level of control. Of course the water available in Scotland is wonderful, so the dough tastes fantastic,” she elaborates.

Project Pie After living in California for 35 years Susan and John decided to introduce the Project Pie concept to the UK, basing their decision on the exceptional quality of their first experience of the restaurant’s pizza. “We actually went to Project Pie in Hillcrest, San Diego on the advice of a friend. The concept was so different to anything else and the pizza was absolutely the best that we had ever tasted in our lives. It was artisan pizza with a great crust that you could pick up with out all of the toppings falling off,” Susan reveals. “I mentioned to my husband that this was a concept that would really work in the UK. We then decided that we had to give it a try and this is how we got started. We soon negotiated a deal with Project Pie to obtain the master franchise in the UK and Ireland.”

Project Pie first opened its doors in Dundee, Scotland during February 2015 and has proven to be extremely popular.

The decision to open the first Project Pie restaurant within the UK in Dundee was taken to test the appetite for the concept and to ease establishment of the venture under the guidance of former Hakkasan CEO, Niall Howard. “We opened in Dundee to allow us to establish proof of concept,” Susan explains. “As former CEO of Hakkasan Niall is famous for taking Chinese food to China by opening a venue in Shanghai. With Niall living in Edinburgh it was decided that opening in Dundee would make is easier for Niall to keep a close eye on the running of the business.”

While clients can expect the same level of service and delicious food at every Project Pie within the US and UK, each restaurant has a different design and local flavour that makes each dining experience unique and helps to integrate the business with the local community.

“Project Pie is called project because it is ever evolving – we leave each unit free

to have some of its own personality and interior decoration,” Susan details. “For example presently we are established in a grade two-listed building in Dundee, which gives it the feel of neighbourhood pizza house that has existed for many years and this gives it a wonderful atmosphere. We also have the UK’s

largest pizza oven as the restaurant’s centrepiece.”

With the highly acclaimed and publicised success of Project Pie both in America and within Scotland, it is only matter of time before the franchise is established elsewhere in the UK to provide diners with a truly unique culinary experience. Concluding with some thoughts on the future of the business, Susan comments: “We are now looking aggressively to secure new sites, although we are a fledgling franchise within the UK we would like to expand very quickly. One thing that is so important to the company is the welcoming enthusiasm and energy of our staff as well as our Director of Operations, Chantal Nell, who has been in the pizza business for over 20 years.

We are not a five-minute wonder and we are dedicated to getting into the market and establishing our brand as a special business.” D www.projectpie.co.uk

Bentleys Bentleys are a bespoke joinery manufacturer and interior fit out specialist. Over the past 25 years Bentleys has focused on building loyal relationships with its clients. From first contact a firmly proactive stance is adopted, working alongside clients’ design and management teams, contributing experience and practical solutions through the project to achieve their design objectives.

By being flexible and innovative, and prepared to step outside the traditional confines, Bentleys has broadened its market place and portfolio of satisfied clients.

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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

www.oerlemans-foods.nl

Foodlab

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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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A culinary

delight

Passion is the driving force behind family biscuit producer Cradoc’s Savoury Biscuits as it establishes itself in the ever popular and trending fine food market 74 www.foodchain-magazine.com

F

ounded in 2010 after months of experimentation with flavours and textures, mother and daughter Allie and Ella Thomas are now experiencing extraordinary growth with Cradoc’s Savoury Biscuits. Producing savoury biscuits to be eaten with ‘deli counter deliciousness’, the company is bringing something new to the market and hitting trends. After three years of hard work from kitchen table to an approved converted garage in their back garden, the company partnered with established biscuit distributor Arden’s and is well on its way to a successful future.

Talking to FoodChain, Allie and Ella explain what makes Cradoc’s biscuits different: “The thing that sets us apart from anyone else is that we make our biscuits with a very high vegetable content. We’re not quite like other biscuits because we have developed the process to include/ mashed up vegetables, which no one else does,” says Allie.

“We’ve gone for quirky flavour combinations and we’re really pushing on the trends, really looking at what people like to eat now,” adds Ella. “We absolutely love food, so it’s important for us to create something delicious, and

‘

Cradoc’s Savoury Biscuits

We approach our ingredients not simply as cooks or bakers, but as people who love to experiment with food and who can’t help but do things differently

Allie and Ella Thomas

then try to get that out for our customers as well.”

The biscuits are marketed by Cradoc’s as ‘culinary alchemy’ denoting the amount of experimentation that goes into creating the biscuits. “We are very passionate about our food,” expresses Allie, “and that reflects in the product.

Although we’ve only got six lines out, we’ve got 36 recipes.” From this comes an attention to matching flavours with particular foods, in particular artisan cheeses. As Ella explains: “We really have tailored these crackers to suit particular cheeses. For instance, we make a cracker called Pear and Earl

Grey Tea, which is fantastic with goat’s cheese. We’ve put in a couple of bags of blitzed up pears, so there is about 30 per cent fresh ingredients per box, and then brewed a teapot of Earl Grey. The sweetness of the pear with the tea and the cheese is a perfect combination.”

However, as Allie continues, the biscuits will go with a range of things such as charcuterie, fruit and vegetables, and they actively encourage their customers to continue experimenting. Other flavours produced are a vegan, fat free celery and spinach cracker, which Allie informs goes really well with hummus and salsa; beetroot and garlic; leek and Caerphilly; walnut and Perl Las cheese and chilli, garlic and ginger. With a love of superfoods, ingredients such as turmeric, beetroot and spinach are prominent throughout the range.

The company’s main market is gourmet, high-end food halls and delis, and it is to these independent customers that it attributes its current success: “The independent delis have supported us from day one and we have a really good relationship with pretty much all of them,” highlights Ella. The company has also established strong relationships with British distributors such as Cotswold Fayre, Hider Foods and Castell Howell.

“These are brilliant people,” notes Allie.

“When you start a business with a good idea, the best thing in the world is to have the right wholesalers to take your product to market. The secret to life as a producer is listening to what the customer wants and responding in the best way.”

It is a secret that appears to have paid off as well, with the company now supplying biscuits to 177 Waitrose stores across the country. To cope with this increase in demand the duo set out to find a suitable partner to facilitate the company’s expansion plans, and in September last year it moved its production to Arden’s Fine Food’s stateof-the-art, part solar-powered bakery in Coventry. Allie notes: “We worked phenomenally hard to get through Christmas, but during that time not only did Arden’s produce the rush – which was massive – but also implemented systems to achieve BRC, which we were awarded in Grade A in April 2015. They recognised our passion and how much we had put into it, but also the quality of everything we do.”

In terms of the future, Allie and Ella are very enthusiastic but remain clear about what they need to do. “There are a lot of opportunities in exports, catching new trends across Europe, but also still in the UK,” highlights Ella. “It feels like we need

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Cradoc’s Savoury Biscuits

Allison Murray Design Allison Murray runs a successful solo brand design agency from the Cotswolds, creating and revitalising brands. She has unrivalled branding experience from running some of London’s foremost design agencies. Past clients include Cadbury’s, United Biscuits, Coca Cola, Marks & Spencer’s and Sainsbury’s.

Allison worked closely with Allie Thomas to invent the identity of Cradocs, which was inspired by Allie’s artistic nature, her creative flair for baking with natural ingredients and Welsh background. The magical nature of the brand runs through the identity and summarised in ‘The Alchemy of Cradocs’.

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to get more products out, we haven’t reached everybody in the UK. Hopefully Waitrose will give us a good boost in terms of this, but we also now have the time to really get behind the existing products and market the brand to get it out there.” The company would also like to improve its supply chain, something that it hasn’t had a chance to do up until now, moving from British wholesalers straight to British producers.

What is obvious is that the mother and daughter company will continue doing what they do with the same level of passion and enjoyment. “We approach our ingredients not simply

as cooks or bakers, but as people who love to experiment with food and who can’t help but do things differently,” concludes Allie. Whilst they have plans to take part in food shows across the country, including the BBC Good Food market, they remain loyal to their roots and still use the local Brecon farmer’s market to trial new products and engage with customers. With a unique product and a commitment to quality, the passion contained within the company looks set to continue and so does the success it has so far enjoyed. D

www.cradocssavoury biscuits.co.uk

Professional Pastry Chefs tell us they prefer Tate & Lyle Caster and Icing Sugar*

www.sugarandsyrup.com * Based on research carried out by MMR Research Worldwide for Tate & Lyle Sugars in April 2014, out of 202 UK-based Pastry Chefs interviewed, 30 used www.foodchain-magazine.com 68% Tate & Lyle’s Caster and Icing sugars for baking.

PURE

. CONSISTENT . QUALITY

FoodChain The business of food and drink

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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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