Food & Drink Manufacturers News, January 2018.
January 3, 2018
The UK’s food and drink manufacturers contribute to what is one of the UK’s (if you’ll forgive the pun) healthiest sectors, one which was worth over £100bn to the economy last year, supporting over 400,000 jobs across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the process.
Though developed and produced here, British food and drink are shipped around the world to ex-pats and enthusiasts alike, with UK brands making up some of the biggest worldwide. Indeed, today British made is seen not as a slur, but as a high watermark of quality.
At Dehum, we’re proud to support the industry both at home and abroad with our industry-leading range of food and drink dehumidification and drying solutions. Our models are currently in use across a significant number of British brands, alongside international brands like Kellog’s and Coca-Cola.
Keeping up to date with the industry can be something of a struggle though, which is why we regularly round up the latest food and drink manufacturer news on our blog. Here’s the latest, as of January 2018.
Nitrate-Free Bacon to Hit UK Shelves
Following a £14m investment by Northern Irish meat producer Finnebrogue, a bacon product free from nitrates (said to be a cause of cancer) is to launch in the UK. The product, said to the be first bacon product completely free of nitrates, preservatives, E numbers and allergens, is called Naked Bacon and will be available from the 10th of January.
Finnebrogue worked with a Spanish flavourings company, Prosur, to develop a new way of flavouring and preserving traditional British bacon without nitrates. The result is a bacon flavour produced from natural Mediterranean fruit and spice extracts. The news also reveals that Finnebrogue will be working with Marks & Spencer to launch an own-brand range of bacon free from nitrates.
Finnebrogue’s chair, Denis Lynn, said: “Bacon contains nitrites, nitrites produce nitrosamines in your gut and nitrosamines are carcinogenic. Nitrites should not be in food.
“I’ve been all over the world to figure out a way to make bacon without nitrites – and up to now we’d never made a single rasher of bacon because we couldn’t work out how to do it. For more than a decade I have insisted we not touch bacon until such time as we can make it better and safer – and now we have.
“Our Naked Bacon is not only safer than any other bacon on the market, it also tops the charts in blind taste tests. This really is the biggest revolution to the British breakfast for a generation.”
Co-Op to Heavily Discount ‘Out of Date’ Products
In a bid to crack down on food waste, the East of England Co-op will become the first major retailers to sell food after its ‘best before’ date. The change will begin in 125 of their stores, where all items past their suggested date will be for sale for just 10p, a nominal fee designed to keep the food from the bin.
The East of England Co-op believes this measure will save around two tonnes of food waste a year. It’s hoped that the initiative will help people distinguish between ‘use by’ labels which must be strictly adhered to, and ‘best before’ labels which refer to when food is at its best.
Poppets Owner Sells Confectionary Business
Finnish food group Raisio, who own the Poppets and Fox’s Glacier Munts brands, has sold off its confectionary business to the Irish firm Valeo Foods in a deal worth £88.6m, as part of Raisio’s plan to shift to a healthier food portfolio.
Rasio’s brands and confectionary operations in the UK and Czech Republic were transferred to Valeo Foods Ltd on the 29th of December, and include six factories.
Valeo Foods’ CEO Seamus Kearney says: “This transaction is consistent with Valeo Foods’ strategic focus, and we are very excited about the opportunities to expand and grow these businesses through a combination of significant new capital and brand investment.”
