< PreviousWaitrose removes plastic and foil sleeves from wine bottle necks Waitrose has become the first UK supermarket to test selling wine bottles without the familiar plastic and foil sleeves around the neck of wine bottles. The change will put an end to the need to cut and tear off this packaging, an act which wine drinkers are used to performing as part of the ritual of opening a bottle of wine. The removal of sleeves, which form no functional purpose, is being trialled on Waitrose’s own brand Loved & Found wine range of lesser known grape varieties and wine regions. Initially four bottles will be sold without neck sleeves, which are officially known as ‘capsules’, and by the end of the year the packaging will be removed from the full range of ten Loved & Found wines as part of Waitrose’s plans to reduce unnecessary packaging. Waitrose estimates that removing the capsules on its range of ten Loved & Found wines alone will save half a tonne of unnecessary packaging per year. 10 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net news Good Food Wines sold to Kiril Mischeff UK-based specialist ingredient business, Good Food Wines Limited (GFW), has been sold to Kiril Mischeff Limited, a UK food and ingredient importer and supplier to the food and beverage industry. GFW is a supplier of alcohol, vinegars, and condiments to the food and beverage manufacturing industries in the UK. Its customer base comprises numerous ‘blue-chip’ manufacturers and reputable names in the food and beverage industry. The acquisition of GFW will enable Kiril Mischeff to capitalise on significant revenue synergies, thanks to the complementary product portfolio of GFW. The current management team comprising Mike Yates and Stuart Medcalf will continue to lead the business and all current staff will remain at the firm following the acquisition. The business will continue to trade as Good Food Wines Limited. © stock.adobe.com/pressmaster Maersk and Barry Callebaut enter into long-term partnership with new cocoa bean warehouse in Malaysia Maersk and Barry Callebaut Group, the manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products, have entered into a long-term partnership to build and operate a new Built-To-Suit cocoa bean warehousing and dispatching facility in Malaysia. This warehouse supports Barry Callebaut’s strategic growth to continuously provide high quality cocoa and chocolate products and services to their customers in Malaysia and Asia Pacific region. It is also a testament of Maersk’s ambition to expand current ocean and landside logistics services into an integrated end-to-end logistics solution for its customer. Located in the Johor Bahru district, the main industrial zone in the city of Pasir Gudang close to the Johor port, this new multi-storey facility is one of the largest cocoa bean warehouses in Southeast Asia. It spans across more than half a million square feet and has a fit-for-purpose design with operational efficiency as a priority. It is also at a 1-kilometre distance from Barry Callebaut’s cocoa processing factory in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia. Elie Fouché, Vice-President Cocoa for Region Asia Pacific at Barry Callebaut, said: “Barry Callebaut has operated in Asia Pacific since 1997 and we continue to invest in this region. We are excited to evolve our long-term partnership with Maersk to enhance the resilience of our supply chain. The new warehouse allows us to have better control over our cocoa bean qualities and this ultimately supports our ambitious growth plans in the region.” Walkers makes healthy progress in sales milestone Walkers has made “significant progress” towards achieving its 2025 health ambition, with 30% of sales now from healthier snacks. In April 2022, the crisp giant set out an ambition to make 50% of Walkers snack sales come from healthier alternatives by 2025, targeting 30% to come from products that do not classify as high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) and 20% from snacks sold in portions of 100 calories or less per packet. The company is over halfway to reaching this goal, after only a year into an initial three-year investment of £35 million to drive product innovation and reformulation. Non-HFSS snacks now account for 15% of Walkers’ overall sales, and portions of 100 calories or less account for a further 15% of sales. Two-thirds of all new products launched last year were not classified as HFSS. © stock.adobe.com/Andrew Gardner © stock.adobe.com/ hiddenhallowwww.fdiforum.net Plan your campaign with Food & Drink International… ...your competitors are! As marketing is the vital ingredient for the success and growth of any business, we can offer advice and packages to suit all budgets. Speak to one of our experienced account executives. CAN YOU AFFORD NOT TO? • Print • Online • E-Newsletters • Regular News • Topical Features The perfect medium to give your brand the best chance of being seen! Contact us below for our 2023 editorial schedule Call today on +44 [0] 1472 310310 or email: v.hunt@blmgroup.co.uk INTERNATIONAL INTERN NATION AL ahe Sta d aying d i eals ng spotlight ahead a eadyR y mea ack Pa kaaging s Microbiol og testing gy INTERN NATION AL ma r Cha nging r ket angi s g y trry y and ma r kets m s Meat, poul p d ff ltt seaf foood v Sieev vees and separ raat ors spotlight separ raat ors e Softw waa re sp Sti INTERN bl NATION bus Sus bus Sus siness staina i ti s able bl business s End of f line pack kaaging Int INTERN NATION AL g ro Hea h althy o wth alth chain edients g ro wth g uncF ct tional ingr re edients y upplS lyy chai spotlight Caps and cl spotlight osur Caps and cl re es MINIMUM COST…MAXIMUM IMPACT! www.fdiforum.net PepsiCo makes € 127 million investment at Little Island facility PepsiCo is nearing completion on a € 127 million investment at its Little Island manufacturing facility, which will see the opening of additional manufacturing capacity and further investment in its R&D campus. Using state-of-the-art manufacturing technology, PepsiCo’s Little Island operation supports its portfolio of global brands including Pepsi Max, Gatorade, 7Up, Mountain Dew and Doritos. The new facility will expand PepsiCo’s Little Island manufacturing capacity across its range of beverage ingredients, support increased demand for existing PepsiCo products and play a key role in bringing PepsiCo’s innovation pipeline to its global customer base. PepsiCo’s R&D campus in Little Island provides regional and global leadership in the areas of beverage development, product research, testing and commercialisation, quality assurance, regulatory management and, most recently, facilitated the establishment of a global R&D Digital Engineering team, which is leading significant and transformational digital initiatives for PepsiCo. “This latest investment in our R&D campus delivers state of the art laboratories for several quality and research teams and a new contemporary digital solutions suite,” said Breda Kennedy, R&D senior director, PepsiCo. The Coca-Cola Company to build new fairlife production facility in New York The Coca-Cola Company has selected New York as its preferred location for a new fairlife production facility as part of the brand’s continued expansion in the Northeast market. The new 100-acre facility will be located in the Town of Webster, just outside of Rochester, New York, and is expected to source from local milk co-operatives to produce fairlife’s dairy-based beverages before distributing them to retailers across the region. fairlife CEO Tim Doelman said: “Consumer demand for fairlife products is at an all-time high, and a new production facility will allow us to significantly increase capacity and deliver fairlife to even more households across the country. “As we continue to grow in the Northeast, Webster’s proximity and access to best-in-class dairy farmers make it an excellent location to support our next phase of growth in the region and beyond. We are sincerely grateful for the collaboration from Governor Hochul and her administration throughout this process.” 12 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net on line Key Technology Introduces Integrated Hyperspectral Sorting System for Bacon Bits Key Technology, a member of the Duravant family of operating companies, introduces their new integrated hyperspectral sorting system for chilled bacon bits. As the world’s only sorter that can combine near infrared (NIR) hyperspectral detection with color cameras, Key’s VERYX® BioPrint® analyzes a richer set of data about the materials it is sorting to remove the smallest bone fragments and other difficult-to-detect foreign material (FM) and product defects. When integrated with Key’s vibratory conveyors, this new bacon bit sorting line improves food safety and product quality while maximizing efficiencies, improving yield and reducing labor. “Bacon bit processors have extremely high product quality standards. Ninety-nine percent removal simply isn’t good enough – they want zero FM and defects,” said Jack Lee, President of Key Technology – Americas. “In the past, bacon bit processors relied heavily on laser sorters without hyperspectral. This required multiple passes through a sorter followed by manual inspection to get anywhere near their quality goals. Now, with our hyperspectral sorting system, processors can run a single pass with virtually no manual inspection to achieve a sort accuracy that was previously unheard of.” For more information visit www.key.net Sigma reaches agreement to acquire majority stake in Los Altos Foods Sigma Alimentos, a company dedicated to the production, marketing, and distribution of quality branded foods, has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Los Altos Foods, a Hispanic Cheese and Cream producer in the United States. Financial terms were not disclosed. Los Altos Foods is a producer of authentic Mexican cheese products positioned for the multicultural North American consumer market. The company has a solid track record of 24+ years of operations, during which it has built the successful Los Altos brand. The company operates one plant near Los Angeles, California, providing jobs for more than 260 employees. The transaction involves an 85% stake in the company; the founding family would retain the remaining portion. Los Altos generates approximately US $100 million in annual revenue. Rodrigo Fernandez, Sigma’s CEO, said: “I’m confident that the sum of Los Altos and Sigma will allow us to better satisfy the needs of our customers and consumers. This transaction also enhances our existing network with production capacity on the west coast.” © stock.adobe.com/New Africa IW Capital invests in premium cold-pressed juice company IW Capital, an investment house, has invested in the premium cold-pressed juice and functional drinks business, Daily Dose. IW Capital has invested £5 million for the growth and further development of the company. With a farm-to-fridge ethos, Daily Dose partners directly with British farmers taking waste produce that would otherwise be thrown away and turning it into high-quality cold pressed juice sold under its own brand ‘Daily Dose’ and through private label contracts with high-profile retailers. All production is at the company’s own site in Cambridgeshire, where it utilises high- pressure processing to increase the shelf life of the cold-pressed juice whilst maintaining taste and nutritional value. Since launching in 2016, the company has grown its revenue to nearly £5 million and has been EBITDA positive for the last two years. The investment from IW Capital will help in expanding production facilities and supporting the procurement of required machinery to increase capacity and drive efficiency improvements. © stock.adobe.com/ TOimages © stock.adobe.com/ Marcos © stock.adobe.com/ VGV MEDIAEco-distillery Wildjac launches innovative paper bottle rum range Eco-distillery, Wildjac, has launched a paper bottle format for its range of nature-inspired rums, using Frugalpac’s Frugal Bottle. The new format is 5x lighter than a glass bottle, with a carbon footprint that’s 6x lower and a cardboard sleeve that’s 94% recyclable. This marks a significant step forward for the sustainably-minded distillery. The result is a carbon footprint of 91.9kg/CO2e per bottle compared to 558.2kg/CO2e for a traditional glass bottle — a reduction of up to 84%. The new paper bottle is also fully recyclable, with the outer paper casing and cap recycled curbside and the soft plastic liner at major supermarkets and recycling centres. The range includes a smooth Jamaican-aged apple spiced rum, a spiced cherry, a spiced honey, and rhubarb rum. on the shelf Franco Manca updates ‘cook at home’ pizza range Franco Manca, the sourdough pizza restaurant brand, has added two new pizzas to its Cook at Home range. The new pizzas include Reverse Margherita with pesto & yellow marinated tomatoes – an innovative take on the most classic of pizzas. A Franco Manca signature sourdough base is topped with bechamel sauce, mozzarella, yellow marinated semi-dried tomatoes and basil pesto, with an Italian tomato sauce to drizzle over just before cooking. Halloumi, chargrilled peppers & chilli-infused honey is the second new pizza – an at-home version of the popular halloumi pizza No.3, which is a mainstay on the restaurant’s menu, created in collaboration with chef Nikos Karathanos. Nabil Mankarious, Managing Director of Franco Manca, says: “We’re very proud of how our supermarket range has been received so far, selling thousands of pizzas since launch in October last year. It felt like the natural next step to expand the range and to give consumers even more choice when they’re browsing the chilled aisle.” Tapp’d Cocktails launches new canned cocktail range for summer Tapp’d Cocktails, creators of mixologist quality ready to drink cocktails, are launching a brand new range of canned cocktails - ready for the summer. After taking customer feedback on board, the brand are launching a range of five new canned cocktails in their best-selling flavours: Strawberry Daiquiri (6% ABV), Pina Colada (6% ABV), Sex on the Beach (6% ABV), Mojito (6% ABV) and Espresso Martini (10% ABV). Having originally launched bottled ready to drink cocktails as a more premium offering, the new canned range is not only 100% sustainable, but is perfectly portable for outdoor summer occasions such as festivals. Each cocktail has carefully selected the finest ingredients including real fruit, ethically sourced coffee, and award-winning spirits to create ready to serve cocktails that taste exceptional and pour perfectly, every time. Food & Drink International 13 www.fdiforum.net Pringles turns up the heat with Sizzl’N Mexican Chilli & Lime Flavour Pringles has added Mexican Chilli & Lime flavour to its fiery Sizzl’N range. The new spicy flavour joins medium Kickin’ Sour Cream, Sweet Chilli, hot Spicy Chorizo and extra hot Cheese & Chilli. The combination of juicy limes mixed with a kick of chilli heat is set to bring Pringles fans on a sensorial journey to Mexico. Aiming to push snacking fans’ taste buds to the limit, the new flavour delivers a yin and yang taste sensation with its citrus zing and fiery chilli. The new flavour taps into the demand for spice and heat, with chilli and lime being one of the top growing flavours in the category. The Pringles Sizzl’N range contains varying levels of heat, each building to satisfy all preferences. The range contains no artificial colours or flavours to deliver the ultimate taste sensation. When launched in 2021, the range quickly became the best UK sub-brand NPD. The success reflects the growing demand for spicy foods and interesting flavours. Crispy Mo: NOMO launch new allergy friendly chocolate for kids There is a new hero in town who has come to the aid of the one in 13 children who suffer from food allergies in the UK. NOMO’s newest chocolate, Crispy Mo, is free from dairy, gluten, eggs, and nuts, and ensures that every child can enjoy chocolate that is free from their allergy nemesis. With half of allergy sufferers in the UK regularly missing out on social situations because of their food allergy, and two in five parents of children living with allergies reporting that their child had experienced bullying as a result — Crispy Mo is more than just a snack, but part of a movement towards inclusivity. It is made with delicious creamy chocolate and rice crispy pieces, and is the perfect inclusive addition for packed lunches, picnics, party bags and after-school treats. The chocolate snack can be found in Sainsbury’s and Morrisons with an MRRP of £0.55. 14 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net IMPORT AND EXPORT While post-Brexit adjustments continue to impact the UK’s importers and exporters, looking ahead, novel trade deals and new commitments from the Government are welcome. T he UK may have reported record food and drink export figures for 2022, but the nation’s businesses continue to battle their way through myriad challenges, with seemingly never-ending adjustments post-Brexit, the constant incoming and postponing of red tape, rising costs and supply chain disruption, A brighter future and beleaguered present A brighter future and beleaguered present Food & Drink International 15 www.fdiforum.net IMPORT AND EXPORT controversial trade deals, and competition from other markets. Of course more positive steps are also being made, with for example the UK and EU finally reaching an agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol welcome. Last year saw “a resurgence in export sales in food and drink” for the UK, according to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), with many categories now exceeding pre-pandemic levels to reach a record £24.8bn. Exports to Europe rose 22% to £13.7bn in 2022 and developing markets did well also, with fast-growing economies like Vietnam nearly doubling. Meanwhile, for the first time, exports to non-EU markets have broken through the £10bn barrier, hitting £11.1bn. Though rising prices inflated the value of UK exports, strong volume growth in the country’s top products was promising. UK Food and Drink Exporters Association director Nicola Thomas said: “These cheering export growth figures are testament to the dogged determination of UK food and drink exporters, not only to exploit global commercial opportunities, but also to break down the myriad of barriers which hindered their international trade drive in 2022. We are encouraged to see the increasing demand for British products in emerging markets such as Vietnam and the MINT territories which are helping to up new sales avenues for our more established exporters; in addition, recent FDEA research among our network of overseas in-market partners highlights a wide range of product categories in almost universal demand including snacking, non-alcoholic drinks, health & wellness, dairy and private label. There is huge scope for UK companies to seize further opportunities in 2023.” Further new and improved opportunities are also on the horizon for the UK’s importers and exporters with entry to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), for which the UK Government reached an agreement in principle to join in March 2023. The trade bloc spans 11 countries in the Indo-Pacific region, with the agreement - which involves 30 chapters covering a variety of areas such as market access for goods, customs administration, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, labour, environment, SMEs and regulatory coherence - offering a number of potential benefits. UK manufacturers, for example, will gain novel chances to export to Malaysia and Brunei with the removal of tariffs that have previously blocked exports. The FDF highlights that this includes the complete removal on entry into force of 16 Á © stock.adobe.com/irishmaster16 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net IMPORT AND EXPORT Malaysian tariffs of up to 20% on products like soft drinks, confectionery and chocolate. Moreover, though the UK already has FTAs with members, CPTPP presents a range of new and improved opportunities in most of the markets, from access to a tariff-free cheese export quota in Canada, to additional access for dairy in Japan, and the removal of tariffs on confectionery to Mexico. There are also benefits in speeding up the release of goods on arrival to CPTPP member states, useful for short shelf life products, and for importers in the UK there is the potential for more competitive access to many ingredients and raw materials used in manufacturing not produced domestically or in sufficient quantities within the UK. Concerns however have been raised over the potential joining the CPTPP has in lowering food standards and impacting the country’s climate ambitions, though Government says the deal will uphold the UK’s high food safety and animal welfare standards and any imports will continue to comply with existing UK requirements. It is hoped to offer more fruitful trade for UK food and drink manufacturers in comparison to deals with New Zealand and Australia - set to enter into force on 31 May 2023 - that have been marred with criticism, primarily from the farming sector. The National Farmers’ Union has critiqued the outcomes of the two negotiations, stating that there appears to be little in the deals to Food & Drink International 17 www.fdiforum.net IMPORT AND EXPORT benefit British farmers. Promises have since been made to improve international trade for the UK’s farmers, however, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, for May’s Farm to Fork Summit, saying: “When you consider the scale of the opportunities within our grasp as we forge new trade deals around the world, British farming and British produce simply cannot be an afterthought. I know that is how some of you felt in the past.” The event saw the Prime Minister set out six principles to ensure British farming is at the heart of British trade: putting agriculture up front, with trade deals always considering the full impacts and opportunities of those trade agreements for the domestic agricultural sector; protecting sensitive sectors, including, where appropriate, through permanent quotas; prioritising new export opportunities for UK food and drink; protecting UK food standards, with no chlorine-washed chicken and no hormone-treated beef on the UK market; upholding UK production standards and seeking to advance international co-operation on animal welfare; and removing market access barriers, to build on recent successes such as the lifting of the long-standing US ban on British lamb. The Government has also said it will invest an additional £2m to strengthen the UK’s presence at major trade shows, especially in the transpacific region, and increase the number of UK agriculture attachés to help the country reach new markets. A £1m programme to support the dairy sector to export will be created too, mirroring the £1m Seafood Exports Package, which will continue for another three years with a further £1m funding. While the Government celebrates the forthcoming CPTPP deal and promises a brighter future for trade, in the present it remains bogged down with Brexit; its border checks and bureaucracy challenges, continual complaints over poor communication, such as being slow to share details on vital labelling requirements, and new red tape on EU imports coming into force this year, which could further increase food prices and see more shortages on supermarket shelves. The Government has announced plans to implement full border controls and customs checks for EU food imports from 31 October 2023, set to be applied in three stages, after being delayed several times. Changes, using a risk-based model, will include requirements for export health certificates for a plethora of products, followed by the introduction of documentary and risk-based identity and physical checks, and safety and security declarations for EU imports. It is reported final post-Brexit border checks will cost food importers hundreds of millions of pounds, based on the Government’s internal estimates. With much of the food imported into the UK from the EU currently flowing freely without border checks, this is set to be a major change. A trusted trader scheme has been outlined, though, allowing certain traders to go through the border with less checks. © stock.adobe.com/ brainwashed 4 you18 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net TEMPERATURE CONTROL SPOTLIGHT T he last decade has seen an upsurge in the number of logistics hubs worldwide, creating a more connected, around-the-clock food supply chain. As the food chain becomes ever more fragile and sensitive to a greater number of environmental factors (such as COVID in the past, and scares/shortages this year causing panic buying), the industry needs to forge links for the sector’s overall wellbeing. Combining specialist packers with a temperature-controlled fleet, for example, will help alleviate the stress of product contamination whilst also ensuring sensitive materials stay within the desired temperature parameters. The need for temperature-controlled logistics in the food sectors has caught the attention of mainstream transport The role of temperature control in the food supply chain is utilised right across the life cycle of almost any food and drink product. From manufacture to the delivery to an end user or wholesaler, many of the products and substances are temperature sensitive, requiring specific parameters to stay stable and fit for consumption. © stock.adobe.com/kokliang1981 StableFood & Drink International 19 www.fdiforum.net companies looking to diversify their offering or expand their capabilities. Many of these companies are integrating cold trucks into their fleets, while some of the biggest players, such as FedEx and UPS, have entire branches dedicated to food and drink. New technology is opening up new frontiers and opportunities for cold chain logistics, from driverless vehicles to greener fuel options, blockchain technology and other means of tracking and tracing. Being able to track a shipment in real time allows a company to follow a product through the supply chain, so should a problem arise, such as a fault in manufacturing, the shipment can be immediately located and stopped before delivery, thus preserving the company’s reputation. Preserving the cold chain is an art unto itself. The first part of the journey thermometer.co.uk THERMADATA ® WI-FI LOGGERS Temperature monitoring solutions for your HACCP plan Manufactured in the UK, we offer a wide range of specialist thermometers for the catering industry from daily hand-held monitoring to Bluetooth ® wireless technology & remote Wi-Fi logging © stock.adobe.com/Reid 20 ÁNext >