Food Northwest Newsletter February 2009

Welcome to the latest Newsletter from Food Northwest.

NW Food Lovers Guide

This month see's the publication of the brand new NW Food Lovers Guide .

The 260-page publication, provides an easy-to-use guide to the wide variety of speciality foods that set our region apart, and celebrates the hard work and dedication of the people involved in their creation.

The Northwest is home to some of the country’s most famous foods from cheeses, cakes and chutneys to real ales, sausages and ice creams, all of which are produced within the boundaries of Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside.

The Guide is priced at £4.99 and is available now, either direct from Food Northwest or online from Amazon . Click here for further details .

If you are interested in selling the NW Food Lovers Guide, please contact Darren Hill; darren.hill@foodnw.co.uk / 01928 511011

IGD Category Management & Retail Analysis Training Event

11th March 2009

Food Northwest is running a one day training workshop on Category Management and Retail Analysis.

This course is aimed at brand / category managers, buyers, sales team members and marketing managers and is an excellent opportunity for Food professionals to gain a further understanding of retail category management, and also, to learn how to make the most out of the Retail Analysis information from the IGD website.

The full day Category Management & Retail Analysis course costs as follows;

Food NW Members: £100 – per person (+VAT) Non members: £200 – per person (+VAT)

Click here for further details or contact Steve O'Connor; steve.oconnor@foodnw.co.uk / 01928 511011

Watch this space for details of future business skills workshops including 'Introduction to Marketing' and 'Sales & Negotiation Techniques' Workshops.

Northwest Red Meat Strategy Action Plan

A vibrant Northwest Red Meat Industry is vital to our supply chain from farm to fork and, significantly, the Northwest is home to 17% of England’s cattle and has the second largest concentration of suckler cows, in addition to one of the largest abattoir and processing facilities in the UK.

Long recognising its importance, Food Northwest commissioned AHDB MS Industry Consulting and English Food and Farming Partnership to carry out a study resulting in a strategy and action plan for the region's Red Meat Sector. The work looked at a number of areas but most significantly provided;

an overview of the Red Meat Sector in the Northwest
the Challenges and opportunities facing the sector
a vision and action plan for the future

Challenges ranging from political to global to environmental to social and economic were identified. Opportunities however exist for the whole of the supply chain with export doors opening, supply of quality and regionalised meat products becoming a must for many supermarkets, and the opportunity and support available for farmers to collaborate to increase efficiencies and improve profits.

For further information please click here.

International ‘Meet the Buyer’ Success

An International Meet the Buyer Event held in Cheshire last year has been hailed as a great success after generating £153,000 in firm orders, with the potential of making £750,000 worth more.

The event was jointly hosted by Food Northwest and UK Trade and Investment Northwest and brought together product suppliers in the region and potential buyers from overseas.
Some 90 per cent of those in attendance said they would go to another similar event if one is hosted this year. Jayne Hunt of Food Northwest, said: "With so many unique, innovative and high-quality producers in the Northwest we are confident that the industry is fit to meet the continuing challenge of competing in global markets."

Strong Start to the Year in Grocery

While other sectors of retailing continue to bear the brunt of the down-turn in consumer spending, the latest figures from TNS, for the 12 weeks to 25th January 2009, show that the grocery sector is holding up well; underlining its reputation for resilience and the non-discretionary standing of food.

Overall the grocery market saw 6.4% growth in the period, which though boosted by inflation, especially on food, is still underpinned by some volume uplift. It is clear that consumers continue to manage their own inflation both by turning to more value-focused retailers, as well as trading down from premium products, to ensure their basket remains affordable without having to compromise on the full scope of assortment. Indeed it seems that while cutting back on other areas of spending, consumers may be treating themselves with smaller purchases, especially where they perceive good value.
(Source: IGD.com)

Food Incident Prevention and Management Workshop for Small and Medium Sized Food Businesses

The Food Standards Agency is hosting a free event on 3rd March 2009 which will cover all aspects of Food Incident Prevention. The workshop takes place at the JJB Stadium in Wigan and will start at 10am, lunch is included.

For further information please contact Solomon Okoruwa: Tel: 020 7276 8790

solomon.okoruwa@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

or click the link below;

/events/Industry_Events/CIEH/Food-Incident-Prevention-and-Management-Workshop/

Congratulations

Fraiche Restaurant based on the Wirral, was the only Northwest establishment to be awarded a new Michelin star in the latest guide. Huge congratulations to Marc Wilkinson and his team.

Paul Askew of the London Carriage Works in Liverpool scooped the coveted Best Chef Award at the 25th anniversary Hi-Life Dining Awards at The Hilton in Manchester. The award was voted for by the dining public, and presented by Coronation Street stars Kate Kelly and Jennie McAlpine.

Sam's Chop House in Manchester won the coveted Best Overall Restaurant.

Congratulations to all involved.

Food NW Member Profile

More? TheArtisan Bakery

Patrick Moore
9-11 Mill Yard, Staveley, Kendal LA8 9LR
Tel: 07929 085969 / Email morepud@btinternet.com / www.moreartisan.co.uk

More?The Artisan Bakery produces an award winning range of totally taste driven, premium quality bakery specialities including hand crafted desserts and patisserie, signature artisan breads, light and luxurious Christmas puddings,Oma’s stollen and of course the award winning More? Muddees (the ultimate brownie). - ‘Always leave room for some more’

Patrick's amazing bakery products are available from selected famers markets and food events throughout the region and his Muddees are on sale at Westmorland Farmshops at Tebay Services. The new bakery and shop is opening soon at Staveley Mill Yard.

Food NW Membership

The Food Northwest Membership scheme offers a variety of benefits which will enable companies to grow and develop during these challenging times. Membership benefits include:

up-to-the minute market intelligence, ranging from alerts from the Chilled Food Association and the Food and Drink Federation, to the very latest regional, national and European tenders.
‘Meet the Buyer’ events to help you find new market opportunities. These include training and development support, to ensure your business can meet the supplier criteria set by national retailers
For companies with up to £10 million turnover, we provide valuable access to market intelligence from IGD, including: unlimited access to retail analysis; specially selected research reports; and access to workshops and training.
We believe that effective networking can reap real rewards for food and drink businesses, so we help our members to create business relationships, share information and raise their profile. Our members can access a directory of regional food and drink companies, and service providers, and attend a wide range of events run by us and our partners, either free of charge or at discounted rates.
Specialist training, provided by us and our partners, and can signpost members to wider services, helping them save time sourcing quality support. We have a sound working relationship with Business Link, Train to Gain and others, helping businesses source both funding and training expertise.
Raising your profile - We include member news in our regular e-bulletins and publicise news and member profiles on our website. We also distribute a biannual glossy magazine ‘Blend’, which is sent out to 5,000 readers directly and via email. We work with the media on specialist features, and to publicise news on behalf of the industry. We provide support at trade shows and consumer events, and our members can use the Food Northwest logo in their marketing material.

For further information please visit www.fnwmembership.co.uk or call Alison on 01928 511011.