In his first speech as president, Nick Shaw, commercial director of Westbridge Foods, commented on the hardship being felt by the country, and said: “The much-vaunted push for nutritionally based school meals will have to succeed while continuing to live off shoestring budgets.
“In these times of austerity, higher personal taxation, both direct and indirect, consumers will be searching for ever better value.
“Traditionally, the frozen food market thrives when times are tough, and while nobody wants to see high unemployment, higher taxes and rampant inflation, it’s nevertheless true that under those circumstances, consumers will turn to and appreciate ever more keenly the quality and value that frozen food has to offer.”
Elaborating on the quality and value of frozen food, Shaw referenced the recently launched British Frozen Food Industry – A Food Vision report, which reviews more than 120 academic papers. The findings of the dossier quash any claims that frozen food is inferior to ‘fresh’. The report also details how modern freezing technology enables the industry to produce the highest quality foods that are nutrient-rich, sustainable and cost-effective.
Shaw also stated that while it isn’t the job of BFFF to comment on government economic policy, one of the consequences of the coalition government is the unclear role of the Food Standards Agency and confusion over food labelling.
Shaw said: “The Food Standards Agency continues to have responsibility for food safety labelling, while the Department of Health has responsibility for nutrition labelling and Defra has responsibility for country of origin labelling.”
In a call for common sense on such matters, he added, “joined-up thinking could deliver a real benefit to industry and the government”.
Source: British Frozen Food Federation
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