Meat Trade News
Pork Farms Group has been rebranded with there new name being, Addo Food Group
Meaning ‘to inspire’ in Latin, Addo will be the group’s new identity as it looks to grow following the acquisition of the chilled savoury pastry business of Kerry Foods in 2014.
The Kerry acquisition means the group has added the Poole Bakery in Dorset and Spalding Bakery in Lincolnshire.
Chris Peters, group managing director of Addo Food Group, said: “Addo is the new name for the former Pork Farms Group and means ‘to inspire’, representing how we think and the relationship we have with our people and our customers. At Addo we have a true passion for food and this is evident in the quality, taste and range of our products.
“With the recent addition of new sites and brands following our acquisition of Kerry’s chilled savoury pastry business, we wanted a new group name to represent our identity as a forward-thinking and innovative food company, and to allow us to demonstrate our new breadth of products and brands.
“With roots that stretch back more than 160 years, Addo has established a long-trusted tradition of providing delicious, high-quality food, produced to the highest standards, using the best-quality ingredients. And as a forward-thinking company, we are always looking to the future and using consumer insight, exciting new techniques, and pioneering research and development to change the boundaries of our category.
Addo sells 256 million products every year under both its own brands and the brands of its major retail partners and has sales revenues of £270m and a market share of 34%.
The new brand is being launched through new signage across the Addo estate and will also see its Queens Drive business unit (home of Pork Farms Pies) in Nottingham renamed as Tottle Bakery and its Shaftesbury site rebranded to Dorset Foods.
Karro Food Group has confirmed that it is cutting 141 jobs at its Scunthorpe site.
The pork processor had announced that about 150 jobs were at risk at the Billet Lane site at the beginning of the year. Redundancy talks and consultations have since taken place with staff, unions and local government, resulting in the loss of a sizeable proportion of the site’s 362-strong workforce.
The company released the following statement: “Karro Food Group can confirm that the consultation process in relation to potential redundancies has now been completed at our Scunthorpe site. Despite all efforts, it is with regret that 141 colleagues will be leaving the business.
“We have been in close liaison with both USDAW and North Lincolnshire County Council’s Taskforce team and together, we have put a real focus on providing a suite of training options, as well as job search support for those affected. We’ll continue to do all we can to support those leaving the business as they look for new opportunities.”
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has begun the process of making unannounced visits to slaughterhouses in Great Britain, following the recent video footage from Bowood Lamb and S Bagshaw and Sons abattoirs.
Food and farming minister George Eustice made the announcement during yesterday’s debate on non-stun slaughter at Westminster Hall, after an e-petition from the British Veterinary Association, calling for the practice to be banned, gained the required 100,000 signatures.
Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, raised the point that it may also be beneficial to improve standards in slaughterhouses, as “even things that are technically legal often involve high levels of animal cruelty”, and to look at alternative solutions such as making CCTV mandatory – something which proved popular in the Hall.
Philip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering, who led the debate said he believed that “having CCTV in slaughterhouses would seem to be a helpful weapon against such abuse”, as recently highlighted in the video footage from the aforementioned abattoirs.
In response to this, Eustice told MPs: “The Food Standards Agency has begun a series of unannounced inspections of GB slaughterhouses and, by the end of March, all approved slaughterhouses will have been subject to an unannounced inspection.”
The debate:
Alongside discussions about improving slaughterhouse standards, the topics of labeling and post-cut stunning were also raised during the debate.
Many MPs called for the labeling of meat products to enable consumers to make the choice as to whether to buy meat that was either stunned, halal – stunned or un-stunned, or kosher, however there was some disagreement about where the level of detail required.
The proposal for an outright ban on non-stun slaughter appeared to be widely dismissed, however post-cut stunning, a practice used in other EU countries, was an option that many MPs felt deserved greater investigation.
John Blackwell, president, British Veterinary Association, told Meat Trades Journal: “There are clearly very strongly held views on this important animal welfare issue. We are pleased that so much public and political attention is being given to such an important animal welfare issue that affects millions of animals every year.”
Commenting on the rival e-petition, set up earlier this month, in support of non-stun slaughter, Blackwell added: “Mohammed Amin’s e-petition talks of ‘minimising pain when slaughtering’ and the scientific evidence shows that stunning before slaughter does exactly that. That is why we are campaigning for all animals to be stunned before slaughter.
“We also agree that mis-stunning is unacceptable. We continue to campaign for, and work towards, improvements in animal welfare measures inside all abattoirs, and BVA is actively calling for the implementation of the delayed welfare at slaughter regulations Welfare of Animals at Time of Killing (England) Regulations (WATOK) in England, as they have been in the rest of the UK.”
Turkey giant Bernard Matthews has announced plans to create 90 new jobs at its Great Witchingham site in Norfolk.
The company revealed that with year-round business continuing to grow, it is looking to run its South Site operation on a permanent basis.
Rob Burnett, CEO of Bernard Matthews, said: “We are delighted to be announcing the creation of these 90 new roles, which is not only good for the business it’s also great news for the local economy.
“Over the last few years we have set ourselves the challenge of returning to profitability and a key part of this is growing the demand for our products all year round – not simply at Christmas. This strategy has begun to bear fruit and we will be effectively and profitably utilising the capacity at our Great Witchingham site.”
Bernard Matthews employs 1,850 people across Norfolk and Suffolk, producing both branded and own-label poultry products for UK retailers.
Food businesses are gearing up for the implementation of new labeling regulations which include the requirement to declare certain allergenic ingredients and to state the first date of freezing on products including meat.
The new EU Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (FIC), which comes into force on 13 December, requires that certain foods, including frozen meat and frozen meat preparations, state the day, month and year the product was ‘frozen on…’. However, according to a recent report by GS1 UK, many products are still missing these date requirements.
The 14 identified allergenic ingredients, including celery, eggs, mustard, soya and sulphur dioxide, which are used in non-prepacked or loose foods, must be declared either on a label, or on information such as a menu. As well as foodservice outlets, restaurants and delicatessens, catering establishments at schools, hospitals and prisons will also need to comply.
GS1 UK said that although the number of compliant businesses had increased since April this year, there were still a number that had not made the grade. The third in a series of quarterly reports evaluated a basket of 20 products, including prepared ready meals, and meat, with only 11 out of 20 complying at the time the research was collated – up from four out of 20 in April.
Gary Lynch, chief executive of GS1 UK, said: “This series of reports has shown encouraging signs that industry is moving toward compliance. This is a costly and complex exercise for many, but food and drink businesses have been taking it very seriously.”
From 1 April 2015, the requirement for the mandatory origin labeling of unprocessed fresh, chilled or frozen meat from pigs, sheep, goats and poultry, comes into effect.
Northern Irish meat firm Finnebrogue and chicken firm Benson Park have been listed as two of the fastest-growing companies in the UK.
The Investec Bank Mid-Market 100 is a countdown of the UK’s fastest-growing private companies, most notably manufacturers and food and drink. These sectors collectively account for almost two-fifths of the UK 100 companies, with 20% and 19% respectively.
Chicken processor Benson Park, which was recently acquired by Cranswick, reported strong profits of £41.1m for the year 2013/2014. Meanwhile, Finnebrogue, which is set to hit a turnover target of £45 million this year, now includes The Good Little Company focusing on sustainably developed pork sausages, burgers and bacon.
Investec’s head of growth and acquisition finance Ed Cottrell said: “It is great to see mid-market growth coming from all four corners of the UK and across a broad range of industry sectors.
“We know from our experience of working with mid-sized businesses that they are highly committed to investing for long-term growth and we look forward to seeing these companies go from strength to strength in the future.”
Kelly Turkeys, which has celebrated 30 years of business, has announced a new Christmas promotional campaign.
The ‘Slow to Grow, Quick to Cook’ branding intends to highlight how Kelly Turkeys are free-range, which Paul Kelly, turkey farmer and owner said was unique to the turkey sector.
The promotional activity will be centered around point-of-sale material, including four-page flyers, posters and brochures. Kelly Turkeys also reported new value-added lines, including joints and easy carve, are designed to tap further into the value-added route.
“The move to more completely wild woodland turkeys makes us really stand out from others, and taking poults from the first hatches of the season means we have the most mature turkeys possible.
“As far as we are aware, we are the only turkey company in the world to have control of pure line genetics through breeding, hatching, growing and processing in a fully licensed plant,” Kelly added.
Welsh Beef and Lamb will receive a €4.1 million boost to promote Welsh PGI meat across Europe, it was announced this morning (13 November 2014)
Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, Rebecca Evans, made the announcement during Hybu Cig Cymru’s (HCC) annual conference in Llanelli this morning. The European Commission has approved the funding, which will see HCC spend €4.1m – or just over £3.2m – on the promotion of Welsh Beef and Lamb in Germany and Italy and Welsh Lamb alone in Denmark and Sweden.
HCC’s market development manager Laura Pickup said these markets were chosen because distribution networks for Welsh red meat already exist there.
Similarly to Eblex’s latest European funding announcement, the European Commission will contribute half of the €4.1m with HCC making up the other
“This is excellent news for the Welsh red meat sector,” said HCC chief executive Gwyn Howells. “This €4.1m funding will provide a significant boost for our efforts to raise awareness of the high standards that Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef have to achieve in order to qualify for PGI status.
“It is particularly gratifying to know that our stewardship of the previous scheme has been judged to be a success by the European Commission – so much so that they have awarded us another €4m to continue our work.
“Raising awareness of the qualities that have earned Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef PGI status will have a beneficial effect on farmers and processors here in Wales. I hope it will lead to increased overseas orders as awareness of the PGI stamp grows, boosting sales and helping the Welsh economy,” Howells concluded.
HCC said the promotional activity will include print and digital advertising, posters and recipe booklets for retailers, as well as attendance at trade and consumer food shows.
Pork processors Cranswick will make its first move into poultry with the acquisition of a fellow Yorkshire firm Benson Park.
Cranswick said the acquisition was in line with its “growth strategy” to broaden its product range, which was highlighted in May this year.
Adam Couch, chief executive officer of Cranswick, commented: “A key component of the group’s long-term growth strategy is to develop new product channels in its core UK market both in pork and other proteins. Today’s announcement represents important progress in that objective. This strategic investment moves Cranswick firmly into a new protein category with a well-invested business that has a strong presence, supplying premium poultry products, in the fast-growing food-to-go sector.”
As Benson Park reported strong profits of £41.1m for the year 2013/2014, market analyst Investec said this was a “sensible acquisition” and would make no changes to the “positive prospects” of Cranwick’s pork operations.
The takeover will see the modern, purpose-built facility in Hull, East Yorkshire, which employs approximately 90 staff, come under the Cranswick name.
“David Park, Managing Director, will remain with Benson Park, and we welcome David and his team to Cranswick and look forward to working with them to further develop the business,” Couch concluded.