Food & Drink Manufacturers News Roundup, August 21st.
August 21, 2017
The UK’s food and drink industries are, in 2017, an utterly vital part of the economy. Employing over 400,000 people directly and over 4 million people through the supply chain, the industry generates over £100 billion in value for the economy each and every year.
Those numbers might surprise you, but when you consider the sheer size and variety of the UKs food and drink output, it’s far from a surprise at all. From huge name global brands to smaller, artisanal companies, the UK’s food and drink industry represents a spectacular array of fantastic manufactures.
At Dehum, we’re proud suppliers of food industry humidity control systems for a great many of these companies, but even we struggle to keep up with the latest news from the industry. That’s why we’ve put together this roundup of all the latest news coming out of the industry, featuring some of the biggest names around. Let’s get started.
Sales of Organic Produce Rise Amid Growing Demand
Rising sales of organic products are creating new opportunities for food and drink manufacturers, claim the Soil Association, amid reports that organic produce sales rose 7.4% in the previous year.
The rise in sales was reported for the 52 weeks before July 1, as consumers increasingly took interest in nutritious, easily traceable foods. Organic fruit sales were up 12.6% across the year, whilst tomato and salad sales were up 13.1% and 7.9%, respectively. Those are extremely impressive numbers, but the biggest rise was noted for organic banana sales, which leapt 25.5% over the year.
It comes at a time when people are increasingly conscious of their food intake and where their ingredients have been sourced from.
Florette Buys New Processing Plant
Florette are bidding to become a major player in the UK’s fresh produce sector with the purchase of MyFresh Prepared Produce’s Wigan processing site for an undisclosed sum.
The salad company are owned by the French Agrial group and will invest in the site in a bid to make it a major hub for their UK operations.
Florette’s UK and Ireland managing director Doug Robertson said: “MyFresh is a successful business that complements our existing operations and will help us to grow in the convenience retail and food service markets – both of which are showing consistent levels of growth and allows us to meet consumers’ needs for healthy food options, whatever the channel.
“MyFresh shares similar business values to Florette and we are confident this new acquisition will be a great addition to the Florette portfolio. We would like to welcome MyFresh to the Florette family and look forward to growing together.”
Reckitt Benckiser Sells Food Business to McCormick for £3.2bn
Reckitt Benckiser are to sell their food business to McCormick, in a deal which values the business at £3.2bn. The sale means that McCormick will become the custodians of brands like French’s Mustard, Frank’s RedHot and Cattlemen’s.
Reckitt Benckiser CEO Rakesh Kapoor welcomes the move, saying “We are pleased to be selling to owners who can provide the necessary resources, market expertise and global platform”, whilst hailing the company as “a good home for our people”.
The deal will enable the American McCormick brand to become “a stop-one shop for condiment, spice and seasoning needs”.
