Train reaction
The industry needs more skilled employees and it needs them quickly. But is there a coherent training and careers regime? Gary Scattergood investigates
Archives for September 29, 2013
Award for Weber Control System
The Weber Power Control system has been granted a ‘Red Dot’ award in recognition of its outstanding design and simple operation for high-performance slicing lines.
Mixed blessings as Hovis strike ends
Premier Foods’ senior management must have had mixed feelings following the agreement reached with the Bakers, Food and & Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) towards the end of last month.
Quick start freezing to suit the small lines
Based on customer research, Air Products has modified its Freshline QS tunnel to make it even more user-friendly for food firms wanting to try new frozen product lines or expand their freezing capacity. The entry-level Freshline QS tunnel is now 6m long,...
Ultrasonics is the clean way to cut Soreen
Soreen malt loaf’s soft and squidgy texture makes it hard to slice consistently on a production line. Traditional mechanical blade or knife cutting methods can deform this soft product during cutting and product build-up and retention can occur on the...
Timeline tracks trend for UK food brands sold overseas
GlaxoSmithKline’s sale of Lucozade and Ribena for £1.35bn earlier this month was the latest in a long line of iconic British brand sales topped by Cadbury.
Make the FIR fly
When it comes to the EU’s Food Information Regulation (FIR), little seems to be set in stone except the compliance deadlines, as Paul Gander reports
Product innovators play it safe in recession
Innovation is the lifeblood of Britain’s food and drink industry. But, as we all know, many new products fail for a variety of reasons.
Greencore supplier fined as worker dices fingertips
Greencore subsidiary Oldfields must pay an £18,000 fine for workplace safety failings that led to an employee losing four of his fingertips as he tried to unblock a dicing machine.
Irish food firm ‘could double workforce’ to launch UK ‘meal solutions’
Irish food manufacturer Ballymaguire Foods is taking on new staff to prepare for the launch of new ready meal ranges in the UK and Ireland.
Fudge hit from Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Fudge Kitchen md Sian Holt has gone from Blackpool Pleasure Beach to Selfridges, reports Gary Scattergood“Double quote”
Jamie Oliver backs Which? food waste campaign
Millionaire celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has endorsed Which?’s new research which revealed 14M cash-strapped consumers were cutting waste due to financial reasons.
Lighter-weight bottles offer hot-fill flexibility
An enhanced range of bottles for hot-fill food and beverages, which uses a technology for improved filling, greater design flexibility, lighter weight and smoother walls, has been introduced by polyethylene terephthalate packaging specialist APPE.
Former government advisor backs intensive farming, GM
The “sustainable intensification” of farming – including the use of genetic modification (GM) – is vital for feeding the developing world and enabling global manufacturers to secure enough raw materials to feed a growing population.
More UK food brands to be sold abroad: City analyst
Major UK food and drink brands will continue to be sold to foreign businesses, according to Julian Wild, partner at law firm Rollits.
Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards
Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards – vintage year
It was a vintage year for entries in the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards (FMEA), according to Paul Wilkinson, chairman of the judging panel.
2 Sisters’ £1M microbiology lab to grow food technologists
2 Sisters Food Group’s new £1M microbiology lab will help to develop the future supply of food technologists that the UK desperately needs, according to the firm’s technical director.
Packs are 'the peak of flexographic print'
The premium ‘Menu From’ Waitrose salad packs have been described as “the current peak of flexographic print” by the company that prints the packs.
The fast snack
Investing in a £9.6M factory is keeping Kolak Foods’ business on the right track, reports Gary Scattergood
The way to boost functionality of low-gluten flour
DeutscheBack’s TopBake Gluten Enhancer series contains enzymes, vegetable fibres, hydrocolloids and ascorbic acid to compensate for the weak gluten properties of some bakery ingredients or reduce the amount of gluten used.
European industry is reinventing the wheel
Just as the UK’s new Groceries Code Adjudicator Christine Tacon begins to make her presence felt in the UK, on September 16 European food industry associations launched ‘The Supply Chain Initiative - Together for good trading practices’, to address the...
The high-end of flavoured cheese
Dairy farmer Quickes has teamed up with distributor Cheese Cellar to make an elderflower cheese.
400 new jobs to be created by new food park
A new food park near Perth in Scotland could create up to 400 jobs over the next 10 years after local councillors gave planning permission for a £8.7M investment last week.
More flexibility, less downtime
Contract packer Thomas Hardy Brewing and Packaging, which packs beers, ciders and soft drinks, as well as offering brewing, blending and contract filling for many leading household brands, has upgraded its end-of-line facilities to provide customers with...
Müller buys Nom Dairy in bid to be 'biggest and best in UK'
Müller Dairy acquired Nom Dairy UK last month for an undisclosed sum in a deal that further consolidates the UK dairy sector.
Solution slice and dices aseptic strawberry in syrup
HRS Process Technology has supplied heat exchanger and pump solutions for an aseptic fruit processing plant in California. The system, which includes a DTA-series heat exchanger and a BP8 and BP10 pump, will process four tonnes of aseptic sliced and...
Clean-label carrageenan replacer ticks indulgence box
Ingredion is launching “the first clean-label ingredient to replace carrageenan in the formulation of dairy-based puddings”. The co-texturiser, Novation Indulge 2740 is said to be the only carrageenan substitute that can be simply labelled as ‘starch’....
Clean dream
Clean-label ingredients are not the Holy Grail, reports Andrew Williams
Way to convey M&S pie packaging
When Tamar Foods bakery - part of the Samworth Brothers group - won a contract to produce a range of Marks & Spencer (M&S) savoury pies it invested in a new conveyor system to handle M&S’s green totes
BRC audit not designed to pick up food fraud
Conventional third-party hygiene audits of suppliers are unlikely to pick up examples of food fraud – such as the horsemeat incidents exposed earlier this year – a leading audit scheme owner has said.