News

An interesting read from the Washington Post:

Usually, when AnaMaria Friede goes to the Fancy Food Show — the trade show for makers of specialty foods and the stores that sell them — the first thing she does is flip over her badge so her name can’t be seen. It’s better for her to slip under the radar as she walks the 363,000 square feet of booths at New York’s Javits Center, sampling gluten-free brownies and fair-trade coconut water and vegetable chips, so many vegetable chips.

That’s because Friede is a buyer for the Mid-Atlantic region of Whole Foods Market, responsible for deciding which packaged cookies or frozen mac-and-cheese or jarred olives, among other things, you’ll pluck from the shelves of your local store.

Whole Foods, which has more than 435 stores and sold $15.4 billion worth of goods in the 2015 fiscal year, is “the barometer for if you’ve made it in your business,” said exhibitor Benjamin Frohlichstein, co-founder ofCappello’s, a sleekly designed line of gluten-free pizzas and doughs sold in some Whole Foods regions. “If we were coming to the show and we weren’t in Whole Foods yet, we would be desperate.”

In the grocery world, Friede is the equivalent of the scout who finds a kid with a good arm and sends him to the major leagues, or the agent who notices a pretty girl on the street and puts her on a runway for Paris fashion week. And because the many, many smart businesspeople at the Fancy Food Show know that about Friede, she tends to get ambushed unless she turns her tag around.

Read whole article here 

Source: The Washington Post

Twenty businesses have been selected from 245 entries and announced as recipients of the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards 2016, Scotland’s most prestigious food and drink awards.

Jim Walker of Walkers was awarded for his outstanding contribution to the food and drink industry. The award recognised his work developing the family business from a village bakery operating only in Speyside to an international brand, marketed in more than 80 widely spread overseas markets.

Our congratulations go to Jim Walker on his well deserved accolade.

Read more on the Scotland food and drink website

in the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world, the holy month of Ramadan has just begun.  Ramadan in the UAE is a unique experience, in some ways similar to the pre-Christmas period in the Western world. 

Retail sales are greatly boosted during this period in almost all categories, but especially food & drink, clothing & apparel, giftware and homeware. 

Throughout the month of Ramadan there is a lot of emphasis on gift giving. Typical gifts will range from food & drink hampers to accessories for the home. While a lot of people will entertain at home, many will also take advantage of the many suhoor and iftaar buffets on offer at hotels and restaurants.

While the days are quiet and the food & beverage outlets are either closed or operate behind curtains, the city comes alive in the evenings. Almost all the malls have extended hours of operation well into midnight. These hours are extended even further in the lead up and during the three days of Eid.

In the last few years, Dubai has been operating the ‘Ramadan in Dubai’ festival which sees a lot of visitors, especially from the neighbouring GCC countries visiting the Emirate which also boosts sales for retailers. There are special discounts and offers and also cultural and educational activities organised at public places, typically shopping centres, for residents and visitors.

Read more at http://www.bcbuae.com/ramadan-and-retail-a-uae-perspective/

Source - British Centres for Business.

Food companies will get a unique chance to meet some of the biggest buyers in the huge £12.3bn British food and drink export market in Liverpool.

The International Food and Drink Summit, organised by the Food and Drink Exporters Association (FDEA) on the theme of “Has Niche Become Mainstream: Converting Global Trends into Export Sales” takes place on June 15.

It includes a full Meet the Buyer and workshop programme and, crucially, offers the opportunity for exporters and potential exporters to meet one-on-one with influential buyers.

They include UAE’s Lootah Premium Foods, Germany’s Dancake, Turkish buyers Demak, Indian firms Tree of Life and Big Basket as well as Ireland’s Flanagan’s Food and Scandinavian companies, Mathem and Galleberg.

Nicola Thomas from the FDEA, said: “British companies are ideally placed to take advantage of growing global niches in food and drink.

“Areas like organic, natural, free-from, indulgence, halal and kosher are growing rapidly and this summit will provide exporters and potential exporters with the insight and contacts they need to build sales in these channels.

“This is a key event in the UK food and drink export calendar and a golden opportunity for manufacturers to have pre-arranged meetings with key buyers from both traditional and emerging overseas markets.”

The event is part of the 2016 International Festival of Business.

Tree of Life India - one of the premier importers, marketers and distributors of organic, gourmet, halal and other speciality foods in India. – will be speaking at the event and there will also be expert case studies from Quorn Foods and Nairn’s and workshops entitled:

• ·         “Unlocking the German market”
• ·         “Sugar- The Global Challenge”
• ·         “India – reaching your niche”
• ·         “Logistics solutions for food and drink exporters”
• ·         “Understanding Halal & Kosher”
• ·         “Say it Right – Product labelling claims”

There will also be an opportunity to network and gain further insight into issues like, labelling and compliance, communications and credit risk.

For more information and to register for the event now, visit www.ukfdea.com and go to the events section.

FDEA Member Somerdale has been awarded the highly prestigious ‘Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade’

The Queen’s Award recognises outstanding achievement by a UK business in the growth and commercial success in international trade. Recipients are recommended for the Award by the Prime Minister and have today been approved by Her Majesty The Queen on the day of her 90th birthday.

The Award reflects the sustained growth Somerdale has achieved in the sale of high quality British cheeses and dairy products to an increasing number of customers in over 50 countries worldwide. The award recognises the quality of its products and its track record of building long term relationships with  customers and cheese suppliers based upon a commitment to providing service excellence.  

Stephen Jones is a member of the FDEA Management Committee and we are delighted to celebrate their success.

Chinese customers will now be able to enjoy Waitrose products following the a deal with Alibaba which allows it to export goods to China.

It will be the first time Waitrose has exported to a country via a website platform only and will give the world’s fastest growing ecommerce market access to its products and ranges. Waitrose predicts China could become its biggest international business in the next three to five years.

Waitrose products will be sold exclusively through the Royal Mail Store on Tmall Global, the online marketplace operated by Alibaba Group. Tmall is China’s largest third party online platform for brands and retailers to connect with hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers. Waitrose arranged the deal through Avenue51, which runs Royal Mail’s store on Tmall Global. 

The Royal Mail Store specialises in championing British companies and Waitrose will be one of its highest profile brands to date. There will be a dedicated Waitrose page within the Royal Mail’s online store with information about the brand for its new customers in China alongside the product listings.

An initial 30 products will be available from the Waitrose offer, including biscuits, tea, coffee, cereals and nuts as well as beauty, baby and organic ranges with more lines set to be added shortly after the launch. 

“The potential for Waitrose in China is huge and although it’s a relatively modest start it’s our ambition to see it become our biggest international business in the next three to five years," said Waitrose Commercial Director Mark Williamson. "We are proud that Waitrose is recognised around the world for quality and excited to be reaching new markets.”

“Chinese consumers seek out high quality British brands and Alibaba is happy to provide the platform for Waitrose to introduce its products to China’s homes and kitchens," added Amee Chande, MD, UK/Ireland & Nordics. "Alibaba Waitrose joins a number of leading British brands already available through the Royal Mail Store on Tmall Global and we hope that many others will follow given the potential that China offers to their business and the demand that exists for British products.”

New guidance rolled out to food and drink manufacturers today will help existing and would-be exporters to compete in the fiercely competitive global marketplace.

‘Exports – Five Steps to Food and Drink Exporting Success’ was developed by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and Food and Drink Exporters Association (FDEA) as part of an enhanced partnership to help more of Britain’s 6,500 producers to export. The guide provides useful information and tips on how food and drink manufacturers can begin exporting to foreign markets including details of necessary research, and how to create exporting opportunities and useful contacts.

FDF has set an ambition to grow value-added food and drink exports by a third to achieve a total value of £6 billion by 2020, with regular joint activity and promotions between FDF and FDEA a key strand of FDF’s efforts to achieve that ambition.

A host of food and drink manufacturers and industry experts joined FDF and FDEA for the guide’s launch on Tuesday 19 April 2016 at a UKTI event at Food & Drink Expo 2016.   Export champions attended the launch to provide practical advice to other would-be exporters, sharing experiences from their own export journey.

Angela Coleshill, Competitiveness Director at FDF, said:

“Our guide gives manufacturers the information they need to access new markets and begin their journey as successful exporters. FDF is committed to working with FDEA to help the UK’s food and drink manufacturers compete on an international level.

At present only a relatively small proportion of food and drink businesses export from the UK. We want to unlock our industry’s huge export potential by helping more of Britain’s finest manufacturers to seize the opportunity to sell their products overseas. By doing this, we believe we can grow exports of UK branded goods by a third by 2020 to more than £6bn.

John Whitehead OBE, Director of FDEA said:

“The FDEA is dedicated to working with UK food and drink companies which want to grow their business through export.  We are confident that this new guide demonstrates our knowledge and expertise in the food and drink export sector, by offering sound advice that can really help companies to develop their export potential.

Working in partnership with FDF we want to ensure that this message reaches the widest possible audience and encourages more companies to begin the journey into international markets.”

A spokesperson for UK Trade and Investment and the GREAT British Food Unit, said:

“Working collaboratively with industry will enable government to increase industry exports and deliver further opportunities for the food and drink sector.

This event is the perfect occasion to consolidate an already excellent relationship with these key industry stakeholders. We welcome the opportunity to work more closely together in the future.”

The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee is a group of MPs responsible for making recommendations to Government on business policy. The Committee are currently investigating how Government can help smaller businesses to export more and would like to hear from you.

The Committee is holding a free half-day workshop (including lunch) on Thursday 21 April in Derby examining these issues more closely and giving you the opportunity to have your say in person.

If you are interested in attending, please complete a short survey on your business and export experiences. Please submit your survey response by 30 March. The survey should take no more than five minutes.

·          Improve exporting support for SMEs survey

The Committee has set four key questions:

1. What policies are required to help meet the Government’s headline targets of £1 trillion exports and 100,000 more companies exporting by 2020? In particular, what further support should be provided to help SMEs meet their export potential?

2. Is UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) fit for purpose? Are the indicators used to measure its performance the right ones? How could UKTI be better held to account?

3. What UKTI activities are most effective at increasing exports? What more could it do?

4. What more can other bodies, such as the banks and UK Export Finance, do to provide financial assistance to companies seeking to export?

Your contribution will be essential in giving the Committee an understanding of the issues faced by small businesses.  The Committee will invite around 100 survey respondents to attend the workshop.

Deadline: Please submit your survey response by 30 March.

Exports of branded food and non-alcoholic drinks grew by 0.9% to £4.63bn in 2015, representing the 15th year of consecutive growth, against a backdrop of declining overall UK food and non-alcoholic drink exports, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said today.

Overall exports fell by £0.6bn to £12.3bn in 2015 as a result of a drop in oil prices and the strength of the pound against the depreciated Euro, which has made UK exports less competitive in key Eurozone markets.

Chocolate, salmon and cheese remain the top three export product categories, while exports of vegetables, both prepared and fresh, experienced the largest increase in overall growth, up £18m in 2015 to £36.3m.

Non-EU markets now buy 30.8% of the UK's total branded food and non-alcoholic drink exports. The value of exports to non-EU markets was up 6.4% on 2014 figures, with double-digit growth seen in Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia. Exports of branded food and non-alcoholic drinks to the EU fell by 1.3% in 2015.

Exports to China grew by 9%. This is the first time that the world's most populated nation entered the UK's list of top 10 overseas trade partners. In 2014, the UK was the EU's number one exporter of tea to China, while exports of processed milk to China rose by £19.3m (+202%) in 2015.

Elsewhere, UK breakfast cereal exports to UAE grew by £8.9m (+45%) in 2015 and exports of crisps to France rose by £1.2m (+23%).

In terms of the biggest market growth, the UK saw exports to Thailand increase by £59.3m (+122%), with cereals making up £21.5m of that growth. Exports to Spain grew by £46m (+9%), with high temperatures and a lack of rain in 2015 resulting in Spain becoming more reliant on imports of UK wheat and barley.

Angela Coleshill, Director of Competitiveness at FDF, said:

“Growing exports is a top priority for Britain's makers, bakers and bottlers, who have set an ambition to increase branded exports by a third by 2020. For our industry to meet this stretching target, we need to make sure small and medium-sized food companies in particular are helped to compete in the fiercely competitive global marketplace.”

Ian Wright, Director General, FDF, will be providing evidence on 1 March 2016 to the House of Commons Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) Committee as part of their current inquiry into Exports and the role of UKTI.

Elsa Fairbanks, Director at FDEA, said:

“The Food and Drink Exporters Association (FDEA) works with many of the UK's most active exporters of food and drink and we are delighted to report that our recent members' survey revealed that behind the export statistics there are numerous examples of optimism and business growth around the world. Buyers continue to be attracted by the quality and innovation of British products. Growth is particularly coming from products where the UK excels - iconic British brands combined with our expertise in health, wellbeing and free-from.”

Ben Clarke, Burton's Biscuits & Co-Chair of UK Food & Drink Export Forum, said:

“It is testament to Britain's 400,000 strong food and drink manufacturing workforce and the strength of Britain's reputation abroad, that branded food and drink exports continue to grow year-on-year. As these figures show, the global appetite for our produce, which enjoys an enviable reputation for quality, safety and innovation, remain high.”

Has Niche become Mainstream? Converting global food and drink trends into export sales… Meet The Buyer/Practical Workshops
15 June 2016 - Liverpool

Plus a Networking Dinner on 14 June.

As part of this year's International Festival for Business, FDEA is pleased to bring you this unique one day export development event incorporating a Meet the Buyer event plus an exclusive trade networking dinner.

Our event will provide insight and one-to-one meetings with international buyers from a wide range of markets to help you convert your expertise in rapidly growing global trends e.g. organic, free-from, halal and kosher into export sales. Industry experts and successful exporters will share their experiences and throughout the day we will be running practical workshops to guide you through important aspects of the export process.

Our special event is aimed at UK food and drink exporters of all sizes and levels of experience.


Full details of the event and how to sign up will be announced soon.