FDF Annual Review 2011
“We are an industry with great products,
leading edge processes and above all skilled,
talented and highly productive people. UK food
and drink manufacturers not only have the
ability, but the appetite to grow.” Jim Moseley, FDF President
Published: April 2012
Thank you - Melanie Leech, Director General, FDF
In November last year we showcased the food and drink industry
at the Department for Business, celebrating a Great British
Success Story.
Melanie Leech, Director General, Food and Drink Federation
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This highly successful event,
together with the
launch of our shared 20/20 vision for growth with Government
a month later, were highlights of another year of hard work and
achievement for FDF.
We derive real strength from
combining our staff's technical
and professional knowledge with
our members' first-hand practical
experience of the day to day realities
of food and drink manufacturing.
From roundtable gatherings
between CEOs and Ministers to
smaller technical meetings between
specialists and Government officials,
we advocate the values and views
of our sector and use them to make
a real difference in the key debates
impacting our members.
2011 was a challenging year for
food and drink manufacturers.
Despite this many members have
continued to give up their valuable
time to support FDF's work in our
committees and representative
meetings. I am immensely grateful
to all of them, and particularly to our
elected officers. Our President Jim
Moseley has been an energetic and
enthusiastic advocate for the sector.
Our steering group chairs Paul Grimwood,
Martin Douglas, Fiona Dawson and Nick
Bunker have steered our work across our
four work streams: competitiveness, food
safety and science, health and wellbeing and
sustainability with great skill and commitment.
You'll see from this review that yet again FDF
has been at the forefront of the big debates.
Whether it's improving skills, promoting
innovation, encouraging reformulation or
conserving water, these senior figures provide
us with a strategic and forward looking
view to ensure that we're also anticipating
the conditions ahead.
Our Treasurer Paul
Freeston has continued to help us manage
members' resources effectively and SME
Forum Chair Jonathan Bye has been both
a powerful advocate and a strong supporter
of the new services we have introduced
to connect more effectively with our SME
members.
I'd like to take this opportunity, on behalf
of the FDF staff, to thank all our members
for their continued support. I'd also like to
record my thanks to FDF's staff for all their
hard work in 2011. We're immensely proud
to work for Britain's largest manufacturing
sector, helping our members to deliver
sustainable growth. And I know that together
we can write the next exciting chapter for UK
food and drink.
Focusing on Delivery - Jim Moseley, FDF President
Throughout 2011 Ministers and an increasing number of our
stakeholders have joined me in championing the size, scale,
professionalism and innovation that abounds in the industry and
in promoting our important contribution to economic recovery.
Jim Moseley, FDF President
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This year's annual review paints a picture
of a diligent and effective executive
guided by responsible members. Our work
on science and safety continues to be
the bedrock of FDF's work reflecting its
paramount importance to the sector.
With
FDF leadership, the industry has responded
to societal concerns about public health
through the Responsibility Deal. Our groundbreaking
Five-fold Environmental Ambition
continues to deliver tangible progress in
reducing our environmental impacts, whilst
we have also helped shape a broader debate
about sustainable growth in food production.
Responding to the Government's growth
review and answering calls to rebalance the
economy, our competitiveness steering group
put in place a number of lighthouse projects
to transform our skills provision and improve
the image of the industry.
A year ago I questioned whether we were
sufficiently ambitious as an industry and
whether we might be able to accelerate
our growth despite the tough economic
conditions. Our work with Grant Thornton
found an industry with great products,
leading edge processes and above all skilled,
talented and highly productive people. More
than that it was clear that UK food and drink
manufacturers not only had the ability but the
appetite to grow.
As the year drew to a close, we used
that work to build a shared vision with
Government of 20% growth by 2020.
When I launched the 20/20 vision with
Defra Secretary of State Caroline Spelman
I was clear that this would not be growth at
any cost and FDF will continue
to encourage its members to
reduce their impacts on the
environment and to play their full
part in improving public health.
To
grow and for that growth to be
significant, shared and sustainable,
it's clear that we'll need to attract
the best people with the right
skills, to innovate to not only
meet consumer demand but also
society's demands and to be world
beating so that we can export our
products to the growing and ever
changing global population.
It is right for industry to ask those
who govern us to provide the right
policy framework to encourage
success or to lighten the regulatory
load. If we can effectively combine
this with an entrepreneurial
approach from industry then we'll
be well on the way to realising our
shared 20/20 vision and delivering
sustainable growth, our theme for
2012.
More information
Download the full PDF report: Annual review 2011 - pdf | 861kb