Speaking to at the BFFF’s annual lunch at London’s Hilton Park Lane earlier on Tuesday November 21, Broadhurst highlighted the huge potential of the £8.3bn UK frozen food industry as innovation and investment continued to drive the sector forward.
“Our producers are delivering some of the best innovation in food production in the market,” said Iceland md Broadhurst. “Our supply chain has never been more efficient or controlled, and investment into our industry has never been greater.
However, he stressed that more needed to be done to get over the message about the benefits of frozen food.
‘Grasp the nettle’
“We need to grasp the nettle and take action, now, working together to get our message across to every consumer, restaurant owner or operator, catering establishment and foodservice provider,” he added.
The speech follows the news that the frozen food retail sector had achieved sales of £6bn over the past year, up to September 17 2017, with foodservice contributing a further £2.3bn, and with current growth in excess of 5%.
Broadhurst was elected to the post of chairman at the BFFF’s annual general meeting on November 21. He will hold the position for two years.
The BFFF will hold its business conference on February 22 2018 at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole, by the National Exhibition Centre. The event will include a pre-event dinner, conference and exhibition and will be followed by its inaugural People Awards dinner in the evening.
£10bn UK frozen growth opportunity
The conference is titled: ‘The £10bn UK frozen food growth opportunity’ and will include keynote speaker and double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes among a range of speakers. For full details visit the event website.