News

Revised food safety standard

The updated international food safety standard: BS EN ISO 22000:2018 Food safety management systems. Requirements for any organization in the food chain has now been published by BSI in the UK to help producers make sure food is consistently safe to eat. Key revisions include an update to the structure so it’s compatible with that of other international standards. Changes have also been made to the planning cycle, the operating requirements structure and the approach to risk. Find out more at BSI’s webinar on 25 July, sign up for “ISO 22000:2018 - What’s new? And the benefits to your organization” here

Retailer brands keep gaining popularity across Europe. The latest Nielsen data shows that market share for private label increased last year in 12 of the 19 countries tracked for PLMA’s 2018 International Private Label Yearbook, and now stands at 30% or above in 17 countries.

Private label reached an all-time high in Europe’s largest retail market, Germany, with its market share there climbing to over 45% for the first time. Market share also increased to its highest levels ever in six other countries: The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Hungary and Turkey.

The gains came even in countries where private label already had very high penetration. Market share for retailer brands climbed in the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Portugal, where share was more than 40%.

In the UK, where supermarkets are investing in their private label programmes to meet competition from the discounters, market share climbed to more than 46%. Private label’s share has remained above 40% there ever since Nielsen began compiled data for PLMA in 1997.

Private label still accounts for half of the products sold in Spain and Switzerland. Market share in France remained above 30%, but declined as some retailers reduced their price entry brands and moved toward more premium products.

Read more at www.plmanternational.com

The first quarter (Q1) of 2018 saw exports of food and drink rise by 5.5% (year-on-year) from £5.0bn in Q1 2017 to £5.2bn.

The full exports report, including supporting information about Q1 2018 food and drink exports, can be found on the FDF website. Click here to view

Q1 2018 food and drink export growth to EU markets (+8.2%) rose quicker than to non-EU markets (+1.2%).

Positive growth was recorded amongst all of the top ten products (including whisky, chocolate, cheese, wine and beef), apart from salmon and beer.

The latest export statistics from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) reveal that Q1 2018 exports of food and drink have grown by 5.5% to £5.2bn, from £5.0bn in Q1 2017. Total exports to EU markets (+8.2%) grew faster than those to non-EU markets (+1.2%).

Each of the top ten product categories saw growth apart from salmon and beer, which were down £40.7m, and £16.1m respectively when compared to Q1 of 2017. Of the top ten product categories, breakfast cereals saw the fastest growth, up 30.3% to £111.2m..

Japan - UK exports of food and drink have grown over the past ten years, but at a rate below the average growth rate of exports from EU27 nations. In Q1 2018, exports to Japan rose by 5% on the previous year to £56.7m.

The Japanese market recorded significant growth in categories including sweet biscuits (119%), pork (88%), soft drinks (90%) and cheese (507%). It is hoped the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and the 2020 Olympics in Japan will present further opportunities to build on this growth and strengthen trading ties between the UK and Japan.

Elsa Fairbanks, Director, Food & Drink Exports Association (FDEA), said:

“We are greatly encouraged that 2018 has got off to such a strong start across a wide range of countries both established markets within the EU and emerging markets in Asia. Growth in our largest market, Ireland highlights the need for a frictionless border between North and South.

“It is a testament to the investment and effort that UK food and drink exporting companies are putting into international sales. Hopefully this will encourage more businesses to research new opportunities outside the UK.”

Read more at www.fdf.org.uk

March saw the announcement of the largest government restructure since China began its Open Door policy in the late 1970s. 

 A new State Administration for Market Supervision (SAMS) will be established combining the existing responsibilities of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA).

SAMS will be the key regulator in supervising market order, covering a wide number of business areas including business registration, market regulation, product safety, food safety, quality inspection, certification and accreditation.

A new State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) will be established under SAMS to formulate China’s IP protection system and the registration of trademarks, patents and geographic indicators. With SIPO being an affiliate to SAMS, it is hoped that the office will have greater resources to handle administrative cases relating to intellectual property and enforcing intellectual property rights.

The creation of SAMS is China’s latest effort to reform market regulators at the central government level. Historically, the regulation of market activities has involved different government bodies with scattered regulatory functions. This has proved inefficient and resulted in complicated compliance requirements for companies.  

Other reforms proposed are for:

• The General Administration of Customs to take over responsibility for entry-exit inspection and quarantine (previously part of the AQSIQ’s duties)
  
• The Ministry of Agriculture will be abolished and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will be formed to drive the development of agricultural sector and rural areas
  
• The reform may take up to 2 years to be fully completed and during this time companies are advised to keep an eye on the progress and spend some time understanding the changes that will affect their performance in the market as well as facilitate communication with the new government bodies. 
  

China Britain Business Council can help! 

Today's publication of the 2017 export statistics offer good news for the sector.  Branded goods exports exceeded growth of all food and drink, up 12.1% and 9.7% respectively, as demand for quality UK products increased overseas. Each of the top 10 markets for branded exports saw growth in 2017. Eight out of these top ten markets are EU nations, and together these eight markets contributed over 50% of the branded exports value.

Sales to non-EU markets grew faster than sales to the EU, with the share of sales to EU markets falling from 67.6% in 2016 to 66.3% in 2017. The US was the largest non-EU market for branded UK food and non-alcoholic drink followed by Australia, spending £201.8m and £182.6m respectively.

Key non-EU markets show continued growth

The US and China are the largest non-EU markets for total food and drink exports, seeing growth of 5.2% and 29.0% in 2017, respectively

The US is the largest non-EU market for UK exports of branded goods, worth £201.8m in 2017. Within the top 10 products, UK sales of soft drinks to the US were the fastest growing product in 2017, increasing by 24.4%. Alcohol is another significant category, with the US spending £1.4bn on imports including whisky, gin, beer, wine, vodka and cider last year.

China was the fastest growing market in the UK's top 20 exports markets for branded goods, up 40.3% to £118.8m. Over the past 20 years, UK exports of branded goods to China has increased by 2823%

Read more at www.fdf.org.uk

Download the full 2017 snapshot here - (pdf)

See below for an extract from Secretary of State Michael Gove setting out his vision on the future of our farming industry at the Oxford Farming Conference 2018:

Food and Drink is the UK’s biggest manufacturing sector and one of its fastest growing with an increase of 8% in exports to the EU and 10% in exports outside the EU in the first three quarters of last year alone.

That success has been built on a reputation for quality and provenance, on the knowledge that we have among the highest environmental and animal welfare standards of any nation on earth. So people know when they’re buying British they’re buying food which is guaranteed to be high quality and more sustainable.

That’s why it would be foolish for us to lower animal welfare or environmental standards in trade deals, and in so doing undercut our own reputation for quality. We will succeed in the global market place because we are competing at the top of the value chain not trying to win a race to the bottom.

And Government can help in that process by under-writing that reputation for quality.

Which is why I want us, outside the EU, to develop new approaches to food labelling. Not just badging food properly as British, but also creating a new gold-standard metric for food and farming quality.

There are already a number of ways in which farmers can secure recognition for high animal welfare or environmental standards from the Red Tractor scheme to the Leaf mark. But while they’re all impressive and outstanding there’s still no single, scaled, measure of how a farmer or food producer performs against a sensible basket of indicators, taking into account such things as soil health, control of pollution, contribution to water quality as well as animal welfare. We’ve been in discussion with a number of farmers and food producers about how we might advance such a scheme and I think that, outside the EU, we could establish a measure of farm and food quality which would be world-leading.

Read full text at - www.gov.uk

The Food & Drink Exporters Association (FDEA) welcomes the news that transforming support for exports has been identified in the UK Government's announcement to establish a Food & Drink Sector Council as part of its Industrial Strategy.  

The opportunities and challenges for food and drink exports raised by exiting the EU are significant. 

FDEA and the Food & Drink Federation (FDF) are committed to working together to support existing food and drink exporters in growing their sales overseas, while helping and encouraging more companies to begin their export journey.

We look forward to working with stakeholders to drive forward the export remit of the new Council, which must be given the resource it needs to succeed.

See the full paper - click here

China is cutting import tariffs on 187 consumer goods including a number of food items.  The Finance Ministry said tariffs will drop from an average 17.3% to 7.7% and will take effect from the beginning of December.

Download list of food items - click here

Read more - click here

Auchan Italia has launched an awareness campaign, La Vita In Blu, which aims to help consumers make better food choices. The retailer says that the programme is based on consumer feedback and has been developed in collaboration with the medical and scientific community in Italy. Auchan says it evaluated more than 100,000 products, selecting items in each category that offer the best nutritional balance among proteins, fibres, vitamins and minerals, and contain a controlled amount of sugars, saturated fats and salt. The product selection will be updated at least every six months.

Auchan’s initiative has created some controversy in Italy, with Federalimentare, the group representing the Italian food industry, describing it as a “totally arbitrary food assessment system”. Meanwhile, the chairman of Italy’s Ministry of Health food safety committee, Giorgio Calabrese, said that “Auchan’s selection excludes many Mediterranean diet products”.


Source: Private Label Manufacturer's Association.