The Voice
The Voice is FDF's quarterly newsletter for Government Ministers, shadow spokespeople and backbench
MPs.
The Voice is published quarterly by the communications team here at FDF as a way
of
raising awareness of our approach to key issues. The latest edition along with
back issues can be found in this area.
For more information on this newsletter or to request a hard copy of the latest
edition please contact Andy Williams on 020 7420 7127 or Andrew.Williams@fdf.org.uk
The Latest Issue of The Voice - March 2013
In this issue:
Minister applauds food industry action to address skills shortage
The UK's first accredited engineering degree dedicated entirely to food and
drink
manufacturing was launched by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food,
David Heath MP in Sheffield on 7 February 2013.
Students will be able to study for their MEng
Food Engineering at Sheffield Hallam
University from September 2014. A number
of Food and Drink Federation members
will offer guaranteed work placements so
that students can gain valuable on the job
experience of working in the industry. Food
and drink businesses are also working with
the university to develop the curriculum and
provide guest lecturers which will ensure
that successful graduates have excellent
employment prospects at one of the 6000
companies in the sector.
The Minister congratulated the UK's largest
manufacturing sector for taking collective
action to address skills shortages as part of
its joint vision with government to grow the
sector 20% by 2020. He said:
“The UK's food and drink industry is a hugely
important part of our economy, worth around
£89 billion each year. I want to see this sector
grow and become more competitive on the
world stage, creating more job opportunities
for our young people. That's why it's vitally
important that the industry is able to attract
new talent with the right skills so we can
continue to lead the way in developing innovative food sciences and technology.
"
The
new Graduate Excellence Programme in food
and drink manufacturing will help make this
happen by providing students with access to
state of the art facilities, on the job training and
the latest developments in engineering. I will
continue to do all I can to ensure Government
works alongside the food industry to encourage
more superb training initiatives like this in the
future.”
Nestlé UK & Ireland CEO, Fiona Kendrick
also brought to life the challenges the
sector faces in recruiting engineers with
knowledge and understanding of the
specialist requirements of food and drink
manufacturing. The Chair of the FDF's
Competitiveness Steering Group also
emphasised the impact that the skills
shortage can have on the industry's
competitiveness and ability to innovate.
The MEng Food Engineering is being
developed by FDF, in partnership with the
National Skills Academy for Food and Drink
to produce world class employment-ready
engineers equipped with the necessary
technical expertise to lead the industry's
future success.
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Parlimentarians join SMEs to discuss barriers to growth
Small and medium sized food and drink
manufacturers met MPs and Peers at the end
of November at a dinner held jointly between
the FDF and the All Party Parliamentary
Group for Food and Drink Manufacturing.
With the Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill
progressing well through Parliament, Shadow
BIS Minister, Ian Murray set out his hopes for
the Bill and wanted to understand the barriers
to growth that the businesses present face.
The discussion that followed covered barriers
to export, the availability of finance, the
practicalities of accessing R&D tax credits
and the problem of finding employees with
the right basic skills for training by companies.
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Appointment of the Groceries Code Adjudicator
FDF has congratulated Christine Tacon on
her appointment as the first Groceries Code
Adjudicator following the announcement by
the Department of Business, Innovation and
Skills in January.
Responding, FDF Director of
Communications, Terry Jones said
“Christine's experience and understanding
of the whole supply chain means that she
is well placed to take on this important role.
We are looking forward to working with her
to raise awareness with suppliers of the
Adjudicator's role, developing guidance and
ultimately supporting investigations.”
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New report showcases success of voluntary industry action on public health
UK food and drink manufacturers are putting health at the heart of
sustainable growth. That was the headline message when FDF launched
its new report, Delivering Healthy Growth in January. The report showcases
the ways in which food and drink manufacturers are empowering consumers
to make appropriate diet and lifestyle choices.
The report is packed full of examples of
companies using cutting edge processes
that enable recipes to be changed to reduce
salt, saturated fat and energy density, new
product development and workplace wellbeing
schemes that work to improve the health of
thousands of industry employees.
Hosting the event, FDF's Health and Wellbeing
Steering Group Chair and President of
PepsiCo UK, Ireland and South Africa, Richard
Evans, was able to point to the successes
of the voluntary actions of food and drink
companies announcing a 10% reduction in the
salt content of FDF
member products in
the last five years.
Health Minister
Anna Soubry MP
also announced
an additional eight signatories to the Public
Health Responsibility
Deal's calorie reduction
pledge to help consumers
reduce their calorie intake.
These companies join the
existing 23 signatories, with
manufacturers accounting
for the largest group of industry participants.
Commenting on the calorie reduction pledge
Melanie Leech, Director General at FDF, said:
“The announcement of a further wave of calorie
reduction pledge signatories demonstrates the
on-going voluntary commitment by the industry
to improving public health. Our members
were in the vanguard of calorie reduction
signatories last year and I am delighted to see
manufacturers again at the heart of today's
announcement.”
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Food and Drink triple apprenticeships
FDF is delighted to confirm that
the food and drink manufacturing
industry has more than trebled
the number of available
apprenticeships across England
and Scotland, beating an original
target to double the number of
apprenticeships across the sector.
The announcement made by
FDF President, Jim Moseley at
FDF's Christmas Reception was
welcomed by Secretary of State
for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs, Owen Paterson in in his
key note speech
“As our largest manufacturing
sector, the food and drink industry
has a key role to play in helping
Defra realise its twin ambitions
of growing the economy and
improving the environment. That's
why we are committed to working
with FDF to realise its vision of
growth of 20% for the sector by
2020.
"Increasing skills and getting
new people into the industry is
vital, not just to this ambition but
for the future of the sector as a
whole. The tripling of the number
of new apprenticeships in food and
drink over the past year is a huge
achievement and one of which the
industry should be proud.”
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Latest issue:
The Voice - (March 2013) - pdf | 190kb
Past Issues of The Voice
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Last reviewed: 28 Mar 2013