Major brewery shares recipe for success at Food and Drink iNet visit

Molson Coors Brewery threw open its doors to fellow regional businesses as part of a series of factory visits organised by the Food and Drink iNet.

Representatives from around 15 different food and drink companies from across the East Midlands took part in the event at the Burton-on-Trent brewery – the first of three being organised across the region to highlight best practice ways of working.

Aimed at food and drink manufacturers and academics linked to the food and drink industry, the visits are designed to illustrate how firms can keep ahead of their competition. Organisers hope it will help to encourage more efficient and effective production across the East Midlands food sector.

Those attending the Molson Coors visit included representatives of a wide range of businesses, from multi-million pound international organisations to single-operated enterprises.

“This was a great way of learning lessons from a company that is embarking on a journey to implement ‘world class’ practices into an older operational factory,” said Peter Maycock, Food and Drink iNet director.

“I am sure that everyone who attended the visit benefited from seeing at first hand the tools and techniques used by the business.”

The Molson Coors visit began with a networking opportunity and was followed by an introductory talk and presentation about the brewery, and a tour of the production facilities.

It gave companies the opportunity to see how the firm stays at the top through automated process control, remote monitoring, and having operators developed to technician level, added Peter.

Molson Coors (UK) has more than 2,000 employees in the UK and breweries at Burton-on-Trent, Alton and Tadcastle. It is the UK arm of Molson Coors and has a market share of over 20% of the UK beer market. Brands include, Carling, the UK’s best selling lager for three decades, as well as Coors Light, Grolsch, Worthington’s, Caffrey’s, Sol and Cobra.

David Wallace, Innovation Director of East Midlands Development Agency (emda) which funds the Food and Drink iNet, said: “These factory visits aim to promote best practice to managers of other regional food and drink businesses who want to develop their own companies. We recognise the importance of people coming together to share expertise and knowledge, it is one of the reasons why the iNets were established, and I am sure that the people who go on these visits will all learn something new that they can apply in their own businesses.”

Two further factory visits have been arranged by the Food and Drink iNet to British Sugar plc, Newark, on January 28th 2010, and to Rolls-Royce, Derby, on February 4th 2010.

The Food and Drink iNet aims to foster innovation in the region’s food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn new ideas into new business through the development of new technologies and products. It also hopes to stimulate new processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help boost the sector.

Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by The Food and Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, The University of Lincoln, and The University of Nottingham.

For more information about the visits or to reserve a place, contact 01664 420066 or david.walklate@fpfaraday.com

For more information about the Food and Drink iNet visit www.foodanddrink-inet.org.uk

Food and Drink iNet Innovation Awards shortlist announced

Organisers of the 2009 Food and Drink iNet Innovation Awards have revealed the shortlist of East Midlands firms and organisations in the running to receive an accolade.


The awards celebrate the uptake and implementation of innovation in the East Midlands food and drink industry, and are being held for a second year.

The winners will be announced by entertaining writer, presenter and foodie Hardeep Singh Kohli at a gala dinner at Athena, Leicester, on November 17th.

Now organisers have announced the shortlist of firms and organisations that are through to the finals.

• University of Lincoln National Centre for Food Manufacturing Award for Most Innovative SME Food and Drink Manufacturer

This award will recognise small to medium-sized food and drink manufacturers within the East Midlands that have championed innovation projects in order to improve their business.


Shortlist

- Cupcake Corner, Ashbourne, Derbyshire - producer of luxury, handmade cupcakes and specialising in gluten-free products, launched by coeliac sufferer Charlotte Marsh.

- The Pickled Village, Bulwick, Northamptonshire – producer of quirky, spirited preserves using innovative flavours and combinations, founded by Camille Ortega McLean.

- Thornbridge Brewery, Ashford in the Water, Derbyshire – producer of high quality craft beers launched in 2005 in a ten barrel brewery, which has just opened a new 30 barrel brewery and bottling line after demand outstripped supply.

• Campden BRI Award for Most Innovative Business across the Food and Drink Supply Chain

This award will recognise businesses working in the food and drink supply chain within the East Midlands that have undertaken an innovation project that has benefited the food and drink manufacturing sector.


Shortlist

- Eistechnik, Loughborough, Leicestershire – for the development and advancement of eutectic refrigeration units for trucks, which are more environmentally friendly and less noisy than traditional transport refrigeration methods.

- EnvirUP.com Limited, Nottingham – for the development and delivery of one of the world’s first environmental reviews of the UK’s top 100 consumer brands known as the EnvirUP Green Index.

- QADEX Limited , Sileby, Leicestershire - for providing web-based solutions for food businesses to gather, assess and manage supply chain and product specification information. Since launching in 2006, QADEX Supply Chain Assurance has grown to manage more than 7,000 sites on behalf of more than 100 food businesses.


• CenFRA Award for Most Innovative Research Project

This award will recognise the most successful research projects undertaken by universities and any other organisations conducting research within the East Midlands that have made a significant beneficial impact on the food and drink sector.


Shortlist

- eminate Ltd, BioCity, Nottingham – for the research project to develop an innovative coating for the increased life of food processing blades, which it undertook in collaboration with The University of Nottingham. It is now being used in the manufacture of salads.

- Nottingham Trent University, School of Science and Technology – for adapting existing technology to create an innovative solution to solve leaching problems in bottles, and for taking the technology a step further by adding antimicrobial properties which kill or lessen micro-organisms.

- University of Nottingham, Division of Food Sciences – for the development of Cold Atmospheric Plasma or CAP, which is a plume of gas in a beam designed to kill both pathogenic and spoilage bacteria on surfaces and products which leaves no residue on foodstuffs or equipment. This technology demonstrates potential not only in reducing microbial load and inactivating spoilage microbes, but also in extending the shelf life of foods including soft fruits and raw meat.


• Food Processing Faraday Award for Most Innovative Large Food and Drink Manufacturer

This award will recognise large food and drink manufacturers within the East Midlands that have championed innovation projects in order to improve their business.


Shortlist

- Marshalls (part of the Produce World Group), Butterwick, Boston, Lincolnshire – for the development of a sweeter tasting broccoli, known as bellaverde® and launched in July 2009, created in conjunction with Seminis, the largest developer, grower and marketer of fruit and vegetable seeds.

- Marshalls (part of the Produce World Group), Butterwick, Boston – for creating the From My Farm range of regional fresh products with provenance, and setting up a supply chain to make it simple for retail buyers to source products from all regions via a single point of contact.

- QV Foods, Holbeach, Lincolnshire – for the development of its Inspire brand, now fronted by MasterChef presenter and judge Gregg Wallace, which offers quick and convenient fresh prepared potato lines.


• Nottingham Trent University Award for Most Innovative Business in the Wider Food Sector

This award will recognise innovation in a food or drink business that is not a manufacturer. Examples of businesses eligible to enter this award include primary producers, restaurants, caterers, delicatessens and local food retailers.


Shortlist

- Biondi Bistro Caffe Bar, Gunthorpe, Nottinghamshire – for the way in which the business has developed and evolved from a tea rooms into an enterprise that’s offering more to customers, including special events.

- Gourmet Raj, Leicester – for the way in which the business developed a high quality Indian food takeaway and created an image and packaging to ensure they stood out from the crowd.

- Mem Saab, for the establishment of their own tandoori and Indian cuisine skills centre to train chefs for their five tandoori restaurants in the Midlands, including the latest addition to the group, High Cross Restaurant in Leicester. The group has Mem Saab restaurants in Leicester, Northampton, Leamington Spa and Banbury, and trades under the name of City Buffet in Friar Lane, Nottingham.


• The Food and Drink Forum Innovation Champion Award 2009

The Innovation Champion 2009 will be selected from the winners of each of the above categories.

“We had a very good response to this year’s awards, and the standard of entries was very high, which is a measure of the innovation that is going on across the East Midlands in the food and drink sector,” said Peter Maycock, Project Director for the Food and Drink iNet. “The shortlisted firms and organisations can feel justifiably proud of being selected to go through to the finals.”

David Wallace, Innovation Director of East Midlands Development Agency (emda) which funds the Food and Drink iNet, added: “It is great to see the Food and Drink iNet leading the development of the innovation culture in the East Midlands’ food and drink sector. Innovation is difficult and daunting, but essential if businesses are to adapt to the unsettling changes in both the economic and natural environments. The Food and Drink iNet Innovation Awards are especially welcome. Those businesses that innovate successfully deserve to be celebrated.”

Tickets are now on sale for the Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner on November 17th, which is expected to be attended by representatives of scores of food and drink firms from around the region. Individual tickets are £65 plus vat, while table sponsorship, which includes ten free tickets, and the opportunity to feature company logos on admission tickets, table signage, rolling presentation, event programme, and winners’ directory, costs £650 plus vat.

The Food and Drink iNet is aiming to foster innovation in the region’s food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn new ideas into new business through the development of new technologies and products. It’s also hoping to stimulate new processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help boost the sector.

Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by the Food & Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham.

Contact Jo Stevenson on 0115 975 8810 or enquiries@foodanddrinkforum.co.uk for ticket and sponsorship information.

Students discover the ingredients for a career in the food and drink sector at Food and Drink iNet events

Students will be discovering the recipe for a career in the food and drink industry at a series of free workshops run by the Food and Drink iNet at universities across the East Midlands.

Experts from leading food and drink companies will be on hand to give advice about careers in the sector. The workshops will also demonstrate the breadth of career opportunities available in the UK’s food and drink industry.

The series kicks off with a workshop at the National Centre for Food Manufacturing at the University of Lincoln on November 3rd. Workshops are also being held at The University of Loughborough on November 11th, The University of Leicester on November 18th and at The University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington Campus on December 2nd. They are also scheduled to take place at The University of Derby and The University of Northampton before the end of this academic term, with dates to be confirmed.

Up to 200 undergraduates and postgraduates are expected to attend the events, which aim to give accurate information and dispel any myths about careers in the food and drink sector.

The idea is to introduce students to the variety of different jobs available in the industry and to encourage them to explore the sector when making career choices.

“The continued success of the food and drink sector in the East Midlands and beyond depends upon talented individuals joining the industry,” said Peter Maycock, Food and Drink iNet project director. “The food and drink sector is a very varied and dynamic sector in which to work, and we hope that these workshops will encourage undergraduates and postgraduates to look at taking careers in the food and drink sector when they leave university.”

The Food and Drink iNet aims to foster innovation in the region’s food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn new ideas into new business through the development of new technologies and products. It also hopes to stimulate new processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help boost the sector.

Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by The Food and Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, The University of Lincoln, and The University of Nottingham.

For more information about the Food and Drink iNet visit www.foodanddrink-inet.org.uk

Pumpkin-carving competition at Croots Farm Shop for Halloween

Children are being invited to enter a Halloween pumpkin-carving competition at Derbyshire farm shop Croots.

Entries will form a scary display at the shop in Wirksworth Road, Duffield, on Saturday October 31st.

Entry forms and pumpkins are now available at Croots Farm Shop and Kitchen for anyone aged 16 or under who wants to enter, and who should then return their carved pumpkins to Croots by October 31st when judging takes place at 4pm.

A £10 Toy R Us voucher will be presented to the winner.

Croots Farm Shop welcomes its 100,000th customer

Derbyshire farm shop Croots has welcomed its 100,000th customer with a bottle of bubbly.


Owner Steve Croot presented Rosemary Hare with a bottle of Champagne to mark the occasion at the shop in Wirksworth Road, Duffield.

“I am delighted that we’ve had 100,000 customers at Croots Farm Shop & Kitchen in less than 16 months since opening in June 2008, particularly as the economy has been through such difficult times,” said Steve. “We’ve built up a really loyal band of customers from across Derbyshire and further afield, and we are very grateful for their support.

“They are not only supporting Croots, and the 18 jobs that have been created here, but they are also helping to support around 35 producers within a 50-mile radius of the shop, which is good for the regional economy and good for regional food and drink production.

“I am very pleased to present Rosemary with a bottle of bubbly to celebrate this happy milestone.”

Rosemary, from Chellaston, Derby, is a regular at Croots, and was delighted to receive her prize after learning that her basket of shopping marked the 100,000th through the till.

“I am thrilled,” she said.

Croots Farm Shop & Kitchen is based at Farnah House Farm.

For more information visit http://www.croots.co.uk/

Congratulations again to Perfect 10 PR client BSP Consulting

Congratulations again today to Perfect 10 PR client BSP Consulting.

A BSP-engineered scheme for 12 homes scooped the Environmental Sustainability Award at the East Midlands Regional Construction Awards last night.

Organised by the East Midlands Centre for Constructing the Built Environment, the awards aim to recognise and reward innovation, skills and training, and sustainability in construction across the region.

The sustainability award went to Varsity Rise, Manby, Lincolnshire – a £3.5 million Lincolnshire Rural Housing Association project where BSP designed and detailed the civil engineering elements of the scheme, including highways, drainage and external works.

Nottinghamshire-based Woodhead was the contractor for the project, which achieved a code 4 under the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Organic Meltdown chocolate lovers save more than 155,000 trees

More than 155,000 trees have now been saved by Organic Meltdown chocolate lovers.

For every bar of Organic Meltdown that’s eaten, a tree in a tropical rainforest is preserved…helping to conserve valuable habitats and the creatures that live there.

During National Chocolate Week, it’s been announced that just over 155,000 trees have now been saved by Organic Meltdown in conjunction with the World Land Trust.

The target is 5 million trees by 2012.

Each wrapper of each bar of Organic Meltdown carries a unique number which corresponds to its very own tree, and chocolate-lovers are encouraged to log onto www.organicmeltdown.com and register their number to find out where ‘their’ tree is situated.

Matt Hunt, director at Brand Stand Ltd who created Organic Meltdown, said: “We’re delighted that we have saved more than 155,000 trees in Ecuador so far, and hope that our recently launched new flavours and new look will prove even more popular with chocolate lovers and help us save even more trees.”

Available in four mouth-watering flavours, Organic Meltdown chocolate is made using carefully selected Fairtrade ingredients from Ecuador, Madagascar and Peru, and is a premium organic range.

Choose from Swiss dark chocolate with candied orange (58% cocoa), Swiss milk chocolate with hazelnuts and currants (33% cocoa), Swiss dark chocolate (71% cocoa) and Swiss milk chocolate (33% cocoa).

Organic Meltdown chocolate is available in Waitrose and independent stores, delis and other outlets across the UK, priced from £1.99.

Visit www.organicmeltdown.com for details.

BSP Consulting named Consultant of the Year

Structural and civil engineering firm BSP Consulting has been crowned Consultant of the Year 2009 at the East Midlands Property Dinner.

The firm, which has offices in Nottingham, Derby and Leicester, was presented with the award at the annual event held at the East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham.

The judges said: “BSP may be a young firm, but it has contributed so much to the market in such a short space of time. It just pipped the others in a category that was very keenly fought this year.”

The accolade comes as BSP Consulting celebrates its tenth anniversary, having been launched in Nottingham in 1999.

“We were delighted and proud to be awarded the prestigious title of Consultant of the Year 2009 at the East Midlands Property Dinner,” said BSP Consulting managing director David Sumner.

“This is a terrific achievement for the BSP team. I would like to pay tribute to everyone at the company, and thank our valued clients and partners, who have supported BSP as the firm has developed. It was an absolute honour to receive this award in front of our industry peers.”

BSP Consulting provides a comprehensive range of consultancy services to all sectors of the construction community, from architects, project managers and contractors to developers and estate agents. Based in the East Midlands, the firm has contracts across the UK, and is currently working on a wide variety of projects from regeneration schemes to retirement projects.

The company has framework agreements with three different development groups working in the social and affordable housing sector.

BSP employs almost 40 people across its three offices in the East Midlands – at Oxford Street, Nottingham, Pride Park, Derby, and De Montfort Street, Leicester.

The Consultant of the Year 2009 award was presented at the East Midlands Property Dinner in front of a crowd of 500 property professionals. Gyles Brandreth was the compere. The event was run by Insider Media.

Pictured from left to right, BSP Consulting director Clive Roddick, Shelagh Coates from award sponsor Invest Lincolnshire, and Carl Hilton, associate director at BSP.

Chance to win a month's supply of Organic Meltdown chocolate to celebrate Chocolate Week

Organic Meltdown chocolate is running a competition today in conjunction with thislittleladywenttolondon.com.... with the prize being a mouth-watering month's supply of chocolate!

Not only that, the winner will be saving 31 trees by munching through their prize. What better excuse do you need?

Organic Meltdown, which is the only chocolate bar that saves trees and which is available in Waitrose and via Ocado, is staging the competition to mark Chocolate Week (October 12th to 18th).

For more about Organic Meltdown visit http://www.organicmeltdown.com/

To enter the competition, visit http://www.thislittleladywenttolondon.com/2009/10/13/win-a-month-of-organic-meltdown/

Good luck!

Sheep and cow-inspired beers join the farmyard of ales at Croots Farm Shop

A farmyard of beers is now on sale at Croots Farm Shop & Kitchen after the addition of Ewe Drink and Cow Juice.


The Derbyshire farm shop introduced two of its own branded ales earlier this year after teaming up with Nutbrook Brewery.

Pig in a Bottle and Croots Shire Ale have become best sellers at the farm shop in Duffield, which offers a selection of regional beers.

Now owner Steve Croot has designed and commissioned two more farmyard-related ales to add to the collection, which have just gone on sale.

“I’m a real ale fan myself and it was great to create these beers especially for the farm shop,” said Steve. “Customers are really keen on the Pig in a Bottle and Croots Shire Ale, so I decided to add to the collection and create two more beers that are named after farmyard characters.”

The Ewe Drink (3.6%) is a full and surprisingly sweet beer with a rich golden colour. Its crisp taste and slightly floral aroma makes it a different, refreshing beer. Cow Juice (6%) is brewed in a traditional way using sugars also found in milk, which gives a full-bodied, thicker taste. With familiar roasted stout flavours, it has a warm soothing flavour.

The farmyard beers brewed by West Hallam-based Nutbrook Brewery cost £2.45 per bottle.

Croots is a supporter of local producers and sells items from more than 30 suppliers across the region, including regional breweries.

For more information about Croots visit http://www.croots.co.uk/

New stalls return to Nottingham's Regional and Speciality Food and Drink Market

Two new stalls who joined Nottingham’s Regional and Speciality Food and Drink Market last month are returning for the October market.


Newark-based cupcake producer Pure Indulgence and specialist baker and East Midlands Fine Foods member Taste of the Moorlands, based on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border, will be joining other regional producers at this month’s market, which will be held on Friday October 16th and Saturday October 17th from 9am to 4.30pm.

Between 25 and 30 stalls are expected at the event in the Old Market Square, Nottingham, run by East Midlands Fine Foods in conjunction with Nottingham City Council.

“The Regional and Speciality Food and Drink Market is a great place to buy quality regional produce, and a perfect way to support local producers,” said Jo Murphy, of East Midlands Fine Foods.

The market was launched in 2007 and has been held every month since. This month it will be back to its usual spot in front of The Council House having held various temporary positions in the Old Market Square to accommodate special events.

Food and drink firms discover ways to make products healthier, thanks to the Food and Drink iNet

East Midlands’ food and drink firms are being invited to discover how to tap into the healthier foods market, worth more than £7 billion in the UK each year.


The Food and Drink iNet is running a free session for firms who work in the sector in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland.

The Safe Food and Healthy Eating working party has previously turned the spotlight on alternative ingredients available to help manufacturers create healthier products.

Now the working party will focus on how to go about reformulating a product and the impact that recipe changes can have on processing and a product’s characteristics.

The session takes place at Government Office for the East Midlands, The Belgrave Centre, Talbot Street, Nottingham, on October 29th from 3pm to 5pm.

Speakers include Marcia Nightingale, from the Food Standards Agency, who will update businesses on initiatives and support available in the East Midlands, including the Healthier Food, Healthier Business programme, and food technical specialist Richard Wigley, from The Food and Drink Forum, who will showcase examples of products from the region that have already undergone changes to their recipes to make them healthier.

Kevin McKay, head of catering for Nottinghamshire County Council, will also explain about opportunities to supply healthier options to public sector organisations.

The Safe Food and Healthy Eating working party is one of four working parties set up by the Food and Drink iNet to explore the opportunities that becoming more innovative can provide for businesses.

“This is a golden opportunity for food and drink firms in the East Midlands to discover more about reformulating their products to make them healthier, and to give them ideas about ways that they could tap into the healthier options market,” said Food and Drink iNet director Peter Maycock.

The Food and Drink iNet is aiming to foster innovation in the region’s food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn new ideas into new business through the development of new technologies and products. It’s also hoping to stimulate new processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help boost the sector.

Funded by emda, the Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by the Food & Drink Forum and including the Food Processing Faraday Partnership, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham.

For more information about the working party event contact Jo Stevenson on 0115 975 8810 or enquiries@foodanddrinkforum.co.uk

Celebrate Chocolate Week with Organic Meltdown and Save Trees - October 12th to 18th

It's the perfect excuse to celebrate Chocolate Week, which kicks off on October 12th ...treat yourself to Organic Meltdown chocolate and do something worthy by saving a tree.


Organic Meltdown is the only bar of chocolate that promises to save a tree every time a bar is sold.

So if you ever need to justify the decision to reach for chocolate, you've got the ideal excuse!

Organic Meltdown has teamed up with the World Land Trust charity to preserve trees in Ecuadorian forests. Each wrapper of each bar carries a unique number which corresponds to its very own tree, and chocolate-lovers are encouraged to log onto www.organicmeltdown.com and register their number to find out where ‘their’ tree is situated.

Organic Meltdown hopes to save 5 million trees by 2012 – helping to preserve valuable habitats and caring for endangered species.

Available in four mouth-watering flavours, Organic Meltdown chocolate is made using carefully selected Fairtrade ingredients from Ecuador, Madagascar and Peru, and is a premium organic range.

Choose from Swiss dark chocolate with candied orange (58% cocoa), Swiss milk chocolate with hazelnuts and currants (33% cocoa), Swiss dark chocolate (71% cocoa) and Swiss milk chocolate (33% cocoa).

Organic Meltdown is available in more than 150 Waitrose stores priced £1.99, and from independent stores, delis and other outlets across the UK.

Visit www.organicmeltdown.com for details.

Anila's Sweet Lime Pickle gets a glowing review in Cook Vegetarian magazine

We're delighted to see a great review of Anila's Sweet Lime Pickle in the current edition of Cook Vegetarian magazine.

The reviewer "loved the chunky, thick texture of the pickle and the zingy flavour of the generously sliced limes."

She also described the condiment as "incredibly moreish".....which it is!

Sounds like Anila's popular product really hit the spot with Cook Vegetarian magazine's reviewer.

If you'd like to try Anila's award-winning products and find out more about the flavoursome condiments, as well as delicious curry sauces, visit http://www.anilassauces.com/

Top firms share recipe for success at Food and Drink iNet factory visits

Three East Midlands companies will be throwing open their doors to fellow regional businesses as part of a series of factory visits organised by the Food and Drink iNet.

The visits have been arranged to highlight best practice ways of working, and are designed to encourage more efficient and effective production across the East Midlands food sector.

Aimed at food and drink manufacturers and academics linked to the food industry, the visits have been designed to illustrate how firms can keep ahead of their competition.

The first event is hosted by Molson Coors Brewery, Burton-on-Trent, on October 27th from 9am. It will be followed by a visit to British Sugar plc, Newark, on January 28th 2010. The third visit takes place on February 4th 2010 at Rolls-Royce, Derby.

”Companies can learn a lot from each other, and we are delighted that three such well-known and respected businesses have offered to host these best practice factory visits,” said Peter Maycock, Food and Drink iNet director. “Those who attend will be able to see first hand the tools and techniques used by key companies in the sector.”

The Molson Coors Brewery visit will give companies the opportunity to see how the firm stays at the top through automated process control, remote monitoring, and having operators developed to technician level, added Peter.

Grania Towle, of Molson Coors, said: “This is an ideal place to visit as, like many companies, they haven’t got the benefit of a newly built factory and are embarking on a journey to implement ‘world class’ practices into an old operational factory. Visitors can see the new alongside the old, and witness at first hand the lessons learnt.”

Molson Coors (UK) has more than 2,000 employees in the UK and breweries at Burton-on-Trent, Alton and Tadcastle. It is the UK arm of Molson Coors and has a market share of over 20% of the UK beer market. Brands include, Carling, the UK’s best selling lager for three decades, as well as Coors Light, Grolsch, Worthington’s, Caffrey’s, Sol and Cobra.

David Wallace, Innovation Director of East Midlands Development Agency (emda) which funds the Food and Drink iNet, said: “These factory visits aim to promote best practice to managers of other regional food and drink businesses who want to develop their own companies. We recognise the importance of people coming together to share expertise and knowledge, it is one of the reasons why the iNets were established, and I am sure that the people who go on these visits will all learn something new that they can apply in their own businesses.”

The Food and Drink iNet aims to foster innovation in the region’s food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn new ideas into new business through the development of new technologies and products. It also hopes to stimulate new processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help boost the sector.

Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by The Food and Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday Partnership, Nottingham Trent University, The University of Lincoln, and The University of Nottingham.

For more information about the visits or to reserve a place, contact 01664 420066 or david.walklate@fpfaraday.com

For more information about the Food and Drink iNet visit www.foodanddrink-inet.org.uk

ENDS

Notes to editors:

For more information about the Food and Drink iNet please contact Peter Maycock on 0845 521 2066. For information on the visits contact David Walklate on 01664 420066.

About emda

East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England, set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development.

Ten years on, independent evaluation shows emda has:

• Had a significant impact on the region’s economy

• Generated economic benefits that substantially outweigh its overall costs

• Put back over £9 of economic output (or GVA) into the regional economy for every £1 it spends

• Produced more than £1 billion in economic benefits per year

• A wider impact on people, places and businesses in the East Midlands that cannot be captured by figures alone.

emda is committed to supporting the region through the current downturn and has put in place a range of measures to provide real help during these challenging times.

Over the long term, emda’s aim is to deliver the 2006 Regional Economic Strategy (RES) by working in partnership with public, private and voluntary organisations. The RES highlights the themes of productivity, sustainability and equality and sets out key priorities until 2020 to ensure the vision for ‘a flourishing region’ can be achieved.

For more details visit www.emda.org.uk

About East Midlands Innovation

East Midlands Innovation is the Regional Science and Industry Council which was established in 2005 by emda.

East Midlands Innovation’s principal responsibility is to take the lead for emda in implementing the Innovation Strategy and Action Plan for the East Midlands with the aim to grow a long term, sustainable, innovation-led economy.

About iNets

In order to deliver the Regional Innovation Strategy and coordinate action under its four themes, emda and East Midlands Innovation have created four business led innovation networks (iNets) which are focused on the identified regional industry and research strengths across four priority sectors. These have been identified as:

• Healthcare and Bioscience

• Food and Drink

• Sustainable Construction

• Transport

The iNets are raising the level of innovation in their sectors, with the aim of stimulating the research and development of new products, services and processes.

For further information, visit www.eminnovation.org.uk

Congratulations to Perfect 10 PR client BSP Consulting for being named Consultant of the Year

More congratulations for clients are in order today …..BSP Consulting last night scooped the title of Consultant of the Year at the East Midlands Property Dinner held at East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham.

The judges said: “BSP may be a young firm, but it has contributed so much to the market in such a short space of time. It just pipped the others in a category that was very keenly fought this year.”

Well done to everyone at BSP Consulting, a structural and civil engineering firm with offices in Nottingham, Leicester and Derby.

Full coverage of the awards will be in November’s Insider magazine.

For more information about BSP visit http://www.bsp-consulting.co.uk/

Food and Drink iNet grant helps launch new salt product

A Food and Drink iNet grant helped prove that a revolutionary new salt product could be used successfully in the baking industry, potentially paving the way to improving the nation’s health.


A Nottingham company has discovered a way of modifying salt which allows food manufacturers to reduce the amount of salt in their products, without affecting taste.

eminate Limited has been able to adapt salt to provide more taste from smaller quantities. The product, called Soda-Lo 20, could help the food industry meet government guidelines for salt levels in manufactured foods, which are aimed at cutting cardiovascular disease rates in the country.

An Innovation Support Grant (ISG) from the Food and Drink iNet, of just over £4,000, helped the firm gather the proof that the technology worked in the bakery industry, and opened the door to discussions and trials with the major UK bakeries. The company now has strong interest in its product from the UK’s three leading bakery companies, which could be worth millions of new business, year on year in the future.

“The Innovation Support Grant provided eminate with the resource to access the facilities and technical expertise of Nottingham Trent University, at Brackenhurst, where the output provided explanations of the function of Soda-Lo 20 in baked bread. This now forms the basis of a technical explanation of its ability to reduce salt content in bread, by as much as 70%,” said eminate’s Sales and Marketing Manager, Andrew Stacey.

“If we were looking at a 2% level of salt in a loaf of bread, we have been able to take it down to 0.6%. This sort of salt reduction could improve the nation’s health, through a dramatic reduction in cardiovascular disease.”

The Soda-Lo particles are a fraction of the size of standard salt, about 1/100th the diameter, and provide more taste, through a massively increased surface area.

Based at BioCity, the largest bio-incubator in Western Europe, eminate Limited is a company set up under a joint initiative from the Technology Strategy Board and The University of Nottingham, the company’s owners. The goal was to address industrial needs and solve them. With Leatherhead Food International, eminate identified the need for a solution to meet the government-set guidelines to reduce salt in 2010 and subsequently in 2012.

Chief Technical Officer, Steve Minter, at eminate, said: “There are many solutions out there that are being looked at by the food industry. Ours provides a very acceptable solution, without replacements. The results we are seeing are looking very promising.”

David Wallace, Innovation Director at East Midlands Development Agency (emda) said: “In the current climate, it is more important than ever that companies think and work innovatively. The new Soda-Lo product which eminate has developed is a tremendous example of how, by thinking ‘outside the box’, companies can gain a competitive advantage and find new customers in new markets. That is why emda is committed to supporting innovation in the region.”

Food and Drink iNet business adviser for Nottinghamshire Paul Sheppard said: “Innovation Support Grants are designed to make a real difference to a company’s prospects, such as helping the development of a novel technology or process, or a new product, service or way of doing business. This project with eminate fitted the bill perfectly.”

The Food and Drink iNet is aiming to foster innovation in the region’s food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn new ideas into new business through the development of new technologies and products. It’s also hoping to stimulate new processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help boost the sector in 2009 and beyond.

Funded by emda, the Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by the Food & Drink Forum and including the Food Processing Faraday Partnership, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham.

Through the ISGs, support valued at up to £10,000 is available per business, providing that 50% match-funding is given by the company in ‘cash’ or in ‘kind’.

The money can be used to fund external expertise and knowledge to help manage innovation projects more effectively – giving businesses a route to some of the most up-to-date and comprehensive information available to help them kick-start their idea.

The Food and Drink iNet can work with small and medium sized businesses as well as larger companies in the sector across the East Midlands.

Firms wanting more information should contact the Food and Drink iNet on 0845 521 2066 or visit www.foodanddrink-inet.org.uk

For information about support for innovation that is available in the East Midlands, visit www.eminnovation.org.uk

Congratulations to Perfect 10 PR client Croots Farm Shop & Kitchen

Congratulations to Perfect 10 PR client Croots Farm Shop & Kitchen on reaching the finals of the prestigious Farm Retail Awards from the National Farmers’ Retail & Markets Association (FARMA).

Croots (http://www.croots.co.uk/) has been nominated for the prestigious title of the UK’s Best New Farm Shop.

The winners will be announced on 26 January 2010 at Farm & More, the sector’s national conference.

Well done Steve and team!