Monthly Archives: January 2019

Sainsbury’s and Asda call for more time from regulator

Sainsbury’s and Asda have lodged an application with the Competition Appeal Tribunal for a Judicial Review of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Phase Two investigation into their proposed merger.

The application seeks to review the timetable for the CMA’s investigation after the regulator refused the two supermarkets longer to respond to evidence about their proposed £7.3 billion merger.

In a statement J Sainsbury plc said, ‘The current timetable does not give the Parties or the CMA sufficient time to provide and consider all the evidence given the unprecedented scale and complexity of the case. Both Parties have engaged constructively with the CMA to date and have made repeated requests for additional time. Specifically, we have asked the CMA for an additional 11 working days over the Christmas period to respond to a large amount of material recently provided to us.’

Sainsbury’s shares fell by up to 5.5 per cent on the news according to Reuters.

In response to the original request for an additional 11 days to respond over the Christmas period, the CMA granting an extension would put its ability to complete the investigation by the required deadline “at very serious risk”. It added, “As with all of our merger reviews, we construct our timetable to ensure that everyone has the chance to have their say, including customers, the companies involved and suppliers.”

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

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Assisting product development with new mini aseptic solution

In today’s fast moving food and drink industry innovation is king. Everyone is looking for the next product to give their business the edge and food fashions and trends come and go with increasing speed. Food manufacturers often need to use seasonal ingredients, potentially offering limited edition flavours or varieties of key products: from herbal ice creams and summer berry drinks, to fruity condiments and vegetable smoothies.

As a result, the life of innovative products is often shorter than has been seen previously and it can be hard for new product developers and marketers to pick which will survive in the market and which will fall away. All of these factors create challenges for operational factories and production lines. No business wants to invest in a fully-scaled line for a product that may have limited (albeit still successful) sales.

The new HRS Asepticblock Mini Series allows manufacturers to produce new trial products with the minimum amount of product in a short time, reducing the unnecessary expense or wastage that can accompany full scale trials, and alleviating the need to suspend or interfere with the routine production of regular products. It allows the reproduction of a full scale final pack, but from as little as 20 to 50 kg of product.

Matt Hale, International Sales & Marketing Director at HRS, explains the driver behind this concept: “The Aseptic Mini Block Series was born from the need of many of our small- and medium-sized customers to produce relatively small quantities of aseptic products, but who are prevented from doing so by high upfront capital costs and low return on investment.

Traditional aseptic processing lines consist of two sections; one section is the steriliser or pasteuriser (based on a suitable heat exchanger according to the product type), and the other is the aseptic filler.”

The HRS  Asepticblock Mini Series is designed for such producers working with a range of high value products including fruit and vegetable purees, fruit based products, condiments, sauces, soups, prepared foods and many others. The design combines both the steriliser/pasteuriser and aseptic filler in one package, mounted on a single frame with a single control panel. As well as resulting in a compact and flexible unit which requires less space, the material and manufacturing costs are significantly reduced, meaning that prices for the Asepticblock Mini are up to half of those associated with conventional units.

One of the first customers is a multi-national food and beverage company, specialising in the production of own-label fruit products, juices, smoothies, drinks and ice cream. “With just 20 to 50kg of product, the company can replicate their full industrial process, producing the end product in the same aseptic format as they would with the full industrial scale system,” explains HRS Heat Exchangers’ Technical Manager Francisco Hernández Ortiz.

“The Asepticblock Mini was installed in their Spanish production plant and linked to other equipment, such as blending tanks and homogenisers, so that they are now able to process a wide range of different products on-site without the need for any external processes. This has greatly increased the agility of their R&D process and facilitated new product development.”

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Digital weed zapper to launch next year

Case New Holland group has signed a deal with German weed technology company Zasso to bring a new XPower digital weeding technology to market.

The new system enables non-selective burn-down applications such as field preparation, potato haulm desiccation, and special treatments for wine grapes and trees. It has been awarded with a Bronze Medal ahead of the SIMA 2019 machinery show in Paris next year.

XPower will be marketed as part of a suite of new Case IH precision farming technologies under the brand name AGXTEND. According to the manufacturers, digital herbicide technology is at least as efficient as chemical herbicides in terms of controlling weeds, and is more efficient, economic, practical and crop-safe than mechanical weeding, in addition to which it does not disturb the soil nor encourage further weed growth.

The system is said to be as effective on larger weeds as smaller ones, and more practical, safer and cheaper than existing scorching or burning systems used for total weed control.

“The partnership with Zasso and its XPower solution is the next logical step after the Europe-wide RTK network and the GNSS Guidance and Machine Control options. Zasso and CNHi have both developed their environmental protection focus over the past year and this partnership is just the beginning for more,” said Maximilian Birle, Head of Product Management at CNHi.

Zasso’s CEO Dirk Vandenhirtz added, “It is a much welcomed and natural step for Zasso to partner with an equipment manufacturer. CNHi provides us with an unparalleled depth of distribution across Europe, to expand our solution. We are particularly excited to have been selected as one of the innovative technologies available through CNHi.”

Photo Credit: Zasso

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Greengrocers benefit from plastics backlash

Greengrocers and wholesalers say that they are benefitting as consumers shun plastics and packaging following the television series Blue Planet II.

According to reports, so-called millennials are looking for more sustainably produced produce and want more information about what they are buying. “We’ve definitely seen an increase in millennials coming to buy fruit and veg at the market,” said David Matchett, development manager at Borough Market in London. “They want to connect with their food and see where it comes from – greengrocers and markets can help with that. Millennials are interested in different sustainable diets so they come to ask our traders about it and can get informed. They really care about climate change and come here because we use minimal packaging.

“Food of a higher value is appreciated by this generation who are becoming more aware – you need personal contact with people who know about the food at the greengrocers or the market.”

Greengrocer Grant Fox, of Seasons of England, said, “We have loads of young customers. I would say (millennials) care about seasonal produce and their carbon footprint. 90 per cent of our plants aren’t wrapped in plastic – they’re all loose.”

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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New fund to tackle farm waste

Scottish Conservatives have said that, if elected, they would establish a new circular Food Producers Fund to support food producers and rural communities.

The money for the new fund would come from unspent money from Scotland’s existing Circular Economy Investment Fund to reduce costs for businesses, while increasing rates of recycling and energy recovery and maximising the value of waste streams. Projects eligible for funding would include on-farm anaerobic digestion, waste hubs, micro-plastic recycling facilities and infrastructure purchasing.

The Circular Economy Investment Fund has so far allocated approximately £5 million even though the total funding available to small and medium sized businesses is £18 million.

Maurice Golden, Scottish Conservative shadow environment secretary said, “Our Scottish Conservative food producers fund would give rural communities and farmers the ability to recycle as close to home as possible. The SNP ban on plastic incineration will leave farmers, particularly those in rural communities, with very few viable options for recycling. The Scottish Conservative plan would remove the barriers to recycling that many farmers and rural communities face.”

Photo caption: Maurice Golden MSP

Photo Credit: Scottish Parliament

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EU renews approval for maleic hydrazide

The European Union (EU) has renewed the approval of the plant growth regulator maleic hydrazide (MH), but industry experts warn that growers will have to take into account new regulatory requirements which will apply to all products containing MH.

According to new EU regulations, MH products are now required to contain lower levels of hydrazine to meet tightening restrictions on metabolites. Most significantly, under EU regulation (2017/1506) crops treated using MH products can no longer be fed to livestock. In the UK, the Chemicals Regulation Directorate (CRD) has confirmed that all crop protection products containing MH must now carry on the label the phrase ‘Do not feed to livestock’.

These restrictions apply to all MH products from the authorisation holders from 1 November 2018. However, MH products placed on the market before 1 November 2018 which do not comply with the new requirement (i.e. existing labelled stock) have been allowed a grace period of six months for sale, and a further 12 months for use.

CRD has also requested that authorization holders and industry partners develop and implement a stewardship program to ensure compliance with the restriction and the continued safe use of MH so that product registrations can be maintained.

Photo Credit: Pexels

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IPM Essen to focus on younger audience

International horticultural fair IPM Essen, which will be held in January, has announced that attracting younger consumers will be one of the key themes of the next event.

The organisers say that young, urban (and mostly also affluent) purchasers want healthy, sustainable and regional products, but also have different buying patterns to previous generations. “They no longer buy their plants in a customary nursery but instead order them and obtain information about them using the Internet and the social media channels,” said a statement. “The classic retail nurseries and garden centres are losing these customer groups. How can these consumers be won back? What must the horticultural production and the green retail trade do in order to be noticed?” To answer these questions a series of key presentations on specific days dedicated Fruit, Vegetables and Herbs Days will be held.

“[Speakers] will explain what specific characteristics exist and are worth changing over the production for. Moreover, they will illustrate what that means for the procedures and the marketing in the company; because this is often associated with a rethink for entrepreneurs and employees.”

The Fruit, Vegetable and Herbs Days will take place in the IPM Discovery Centre, the POS experience world at IPM ESSEN. A total of ten lectures are being organised by Haymarket Media and confirmed speakers include Carsten Markus, Brand Manager for Experience Green at Sagaflor and Markus Kobelt, Managing Director of the Lubera Fruit and Berry Tree Nursery.

Photo Credit: IPM Essen – Alex Muchnik/©MESSE ESSEN GmbH

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New name for soft fruit campaign

The Seasonal Berries campaign, which was launched twelve years ago by grower cooperative British Summer Fruits (BSF) to promote year-round berry consumption in the UK, irrespective of produce origin, has been given a new name, brand identity and website.

The campaign will now be called Love Fresh Berries as BSF chairman Nick Marston explained: “We felt that ‘seasonal’ had different permutations and connotations to people. Some people felt it meant British, others felt it didn’t mean winter berries, and given the availability of great-eating fruit from many places around the world through the winter months, we felt it was appropriate to rename the campaign.”

The change of name coincides with seasonal efforts to increase consumption over the winter months. Love Fresh Berries spokesperson and dietician Sophie Medlin said, “We often think of berries as being a summer fruit, but they are available all year round which means that we can still benefit from the nutrients that they contain. Berries are a great source of vitamin C which has been shown to shorten the length of a cold. They also contain important antioxidants and polyphenols which are excellent for our overall health.”

The new Love Fresh Berries campaign can be found online at lovefreshberries.co.uk.

Photo Credit: Nick Youngson, Alpha Stock Images

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Fruit and Vegetable Alliance calls for help for UK horticulture

The Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, the industry organisation established by The Food Foundation in July, has met with Defra minister George Eustice to urge for more government support for the sector.

The Edible Horticulture Roundtable urged the minister to develop a strategy to get British consumers eating seven portions of fresh produce a day, with as much as possible coming from UK sources.

The Fruit and Vegetable Alliance is a diverse group of producer groups and organisations including British Growers, British Summer Fruits, G’s Fresh, NFU, Organic Farmers and Growers, Produce World, the Soil Association and others. At the meeting it was chaired by Jack Ward of British Growers, who said, “The coming together of the industry, charity and Government bodies signals a positive new approach to domestic fruit and vegetable production. By focussing on working together to increase support to the UK fresh produce industry, we can help to ensure that horticulture gets the recognition and support it deserves.”

Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation, added, “We all need to eat more fruit and veg to optimise our health and prevent disease, and for that we need a thriving horticulture sector which stimulates consumer demand. Government policy has a critical role to play in ensuring a productive future for British fruit and veg growers and we hope this new engagement with Defra will help secure that future, in the interests of the nation’s health.”

Photo caption: Jack Ward

Photo Credit: Richard Crowhurst

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Reducing cross contamination in pharma applications

Cross contamination in the pharmaceutical industry is not just an issue for those working in it, but also for the wider public as a whole. Understandably, most of the attention on contamination in pharma manufacturing and processing is focused on either cross contamination between products or agents, or from the spread of agents, such as biological cultures, within a facility. In fact, the potential harm of biological and other agents escaping from production sites has recently been highlighted by environmental pollution from antibiotics in a number of countries, which is believed to be a contributing factor to rising levels of antibiotic resistance around the world1. Furthermore, viral contamination can also be a serious threat for any type of bioprocessing laboratory or manufacturing facility2.

Thanks to the increasing use of outsourced production, new technologies and continually evolving biological and microbiological techniques, ensuring safe pharma manufacturing has become increasingly complex3.

A healthy and hygienic workspace

Attention also needs to be given to the potential contamination of (and from) environmental factors used in the production and processing of pharmaceuticals, such as water and air used for process heating, cooling or sterilisation. Obviously, the best option is to prevent contamination in the first place and there are many regulations to enforce this. Consequently, many of today’s pharmaceutical manufacturers are reducing their contamination risk through the use of robust procedures and well-designed equipment.

Pharma-ready heat exchangers

One such example is the new and improved HRS S Series of corrugated multitube heat exchangers. The S Series is fitted with a double tubeplate to overcome the potential issue of contamination between the product side and service side materials which is a prerequisite for some pharmaceutical applications. This design prevents contamination and provides leak detection while offering all the usual benefits of HRS Heat Exchangers’ normal corrugated tube design, including reduced fouling, improved heat transfer and reduced pressure drop. All S Series models also feature an expansion bellows to absorb different expansion rates between the shell and inner tubes. Individual units are available with surface areas from 1.3 to 6.8 m2, and units can be combined in a frame for larger applications. Surface finishes range from 0.4 to 0.8μ for pharmaceutical and hygienic industries and descaled for all industrial applications.

The new S Series of multitube shell and tube heat exchangers builds on the strengths and reputation of the previously named HRS F Series of hygienic heat exchangers, but introduces three distinct models aimed at different industrial sectors where cross contamination and leak detection are important:

  • HRS SP Series – Specifically targeted at pharmaceutical use, this multitube heat exchanger is ideal for WFI and purified water production, as well as many other uses.
  • HRS SH Series – Multitube heat exchanger for hygienic uses such as cosmetics and personal care, food and beverage manufacture and potable water.
  • HRS SI Series – A multitube heat exchanger for industrial applications such as chemicals, oil and environmental water applications.

However, stringent the hygienic requirement of your process are, there is a new S Series heat exchanger to reduce the cross contamination risk during processing.

1 Environmental impact of antibiotics production sparks global concerns: http://www.globalcause.co.uk/antibiotic-resistance/environmental-impact-of-antibiotics-production-sparks-global-concerns
2 Controlling contamination in bioprocessing: https://www.pharmaceutical-networking.com/controlling-contamination-in-bioprocessing/
3 https://www.pharmafocusasia.com/strategy/risk-management

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