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Anyone who develops new products for a living must be aware of a multitude of influences. Acknowledging this, we cover

scientific discoveries

consumer trends

product design and formulation

engineering technology

process engineering

manufacturing

filling and packaging

logistics and distribution

retail merchandising

end of life disposal

Then there are the legal and regulatory issues, such as safety and labelling, as well as intellectual property rights, brand management, competition and international trade that we have to take into account.

But it all means nothing without the creativity and insights of men and women who can put things together in new ways to create new products that improve our lives.

We celebrate those people.

Ian Grant

Publisher

UK skills policy out of line with demand
US gets first Fair Trade bottled tea
Hain Celestial acquires Grains Noirs
2020 vision for food, health issues
Britain develops vegetarian tooth

Innovation

UK skills policy out of line with demand

Britain’s skills base is falling behind its global competitors because current government skills and innovation policies are out of touch with the workplace, says a new research paper from the UK’s Economic and Social Research Centre (ESRC) due out tomorrow. Only a new and radical approach will restore its labour productivity, it adds.

The research reveals little effort to relate skills and innovation to modern company and job structure. "The language of the government and industry may be inspirational but the gap between perceptions and reality remains very wide," says Robert Taylor, media fellow on the ESRC Future of Work Programme.

He says policymaking has focused almost exclusively on ways to improve individuals’ performance. But it would be better to modernise the institutions that train and employ them.

Key findings include:

• Too many cooks spoil the training broth. A “bewildering” range of public training bodies is hindering government efforts to improve the quality of the supply of labour.

• Management focus is on low cost/low value product, and there is little or no incentive to change.

These findings corroborate research by Harvard’s Michael Porter on Britain’s competitiveness released last week. The report, UK Competitiveness: moving to the next stage, was commissioned by the UK’s Department of Industry.

NPD

US gets first Fair Trade bottled tea

US-based organic bottled tea maker Honest claims its newest tea, Peach Oo-la-long, is the first bottled tea in the US to carry the Fair Trade logo.

Fair Trade certification ensures that workers on estates receive a fair share of profits and that the employer uses decent employment practices.

The leaf oolong tea used to brew the newest Honest Tea comes from Makaibari tea plantation in Darjeeling, India, the first tea garden in that region to be Fair Trade-certified.

M&A

Hain Celestial acquires Grains Noirs

US-based whole foods supplier Hain Celestial says its Belgian subsidiary has bought Grains Noirs, a Belgian producer of fresh prepared foods, including sandwiches and appetisers sold mainly to the retail and foodservice channels in Europe. The acquisition adds to its Biomarche business, which provides fresh organic fruits and vegetables, prepared salads, and prepared sandwich spreads and dips to retail stores and other channels. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Market research

2020 vision for food, health issues

With diet-related health, food safety and genetically-modified organisms enjoying top of the mind awareness among consumers and politicians, two Belgian research firms plan to explore scenarios as to the development of related regulations and markets over the next 15 to 20 years.

They aim to provide a comprehensive planning context for strategic decision making by actors in the food, food ingredient, pharmaceutical, insurance, diagnostic applications industries, by public authorities and civil society.

Bio-Sense and WS are inviting interested parties to join the eight-month project, which kicks off in September this year, at a cost of 12,800 euros plus travel and living costs.

Among the scenarios they will look at are

• New competitive arenas

• Emerging consumer needs and drivers

• Boundary blurring between industries

• Novel partnerships in mining value creation opportunities

• Dynamics of scientific and product innovation

• Evolving roles of key stakeholders

• Emerging governance issues for economic actors

• Societal reactions with respect to ageing and disease

• Approaches in dealing with rising health care costs

• Key role of information flows 

More details from their website at Nutrition & Health 2020.

Britain develops vegetarian tooth

Meat eaters are driving the vegetarian processed food sector, now worth £582 million, up 8% in the last year, says the UK’s Food and Drink Federation in a new survey due out tomorrow.

The FDF's Vegetarian (Meat-Free) Liaison Group survey reveals that two-thirds of Britons ate a meat-free meal in 2003. Of those, 7% were vegetarians but over half (58%) were adding variety to their diet.

• One in three (34%) bought meat-substitute products such as veggie sausages, kebabs or burgers for their main evening meal

• 84% enjoyed pasta dishes

• two-thirds (65%) opted for meat-free pizza

• 55% tucked into ready meals

• 15% cited health as the main reason for choosing a meat-free meal

• meat free meals are most popular with the 65+ age group, with seven out of 10 eating them in 2003

• 69% of 16-24 year olds have eaten a meat free meal in 2003

• meat substitute products were most popular with 16-24 year olds, with over half (52%) buying them in 2003. One in four (26%) over 65s also enjoyed them

• nearly half (43%) said they would consider a meat substitute product at a barbeque

The UK market for meat free foods grew by 165% between 1996-2001, 16% in 2001/2 and 8% last year.