IFE, International Food & Drink Event, returns to ExCeL London on 20-22 March packed with thousands of quality food & drink products, over 100 insightful discussions, presentations and demos, and a host of exciting new features.
With more than 1,500 suppliers from over 90 countries taking part in the event, IFE is the UK’s most comprehensive showcase of British and international food & drink.
Pavilions representing countries including Australia, the United States, Italy, Romania and many more will be on hand to showcase a wide range of quality international products, while international buyers will have the opportunity to visit the Exporters Hub, powered by Institute of Export & International Trade, sponsored by K International, to quickly and efficiently source export-ready food & drink brands with infrastructure in place for international sales.
IFE is packed with new features for 2023, including the Startup Market, an area of the event dedicated to new and exciting food & drink brands, and the New Products Tasting Theatre, where visitors will have the opportunity to sample new products and delicious dishes from key distributors.
Insights to elevate your offering
This year sees the addition of the Sustainability Stage, sponsored by Elopak, reflecting the importance and complexity of ESG as a topic within food & drink. Across the three days of the show, including a day of content curated by the Food & Drink Federation (FDF), leading industry experts and speakers will delve deep into a range of topics within sustainability, from decarbonising food systems to creating a circular economy for food & drink packaging to the evolution of sustainability in the world of frozen food, and a whole lot more.
“The FDF is delighted to be partnering with IFE for the inaugural Sustainability Stage at this world class event," said FDF Head of Climate Change & Energy Policy Emma Piercy.
“Global food systems make up around one quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Bringing all stakeholders together and collaborating at IFE is essential to building the resilient and sustainable food systems we need.”
One must-attend session on the Sustainability Stage is "Reasons to invest in wholesale: A sustainable channel", moderated by James Bielby, CEO of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors, and featuring panellists Steve Marks, Associate Director Wholesale at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Lauren Bryce, Senior National Account Manager at Dash Water and Mert Ucar, Managing Director at Holland Bazaar.
The session will cover the great strides the wholesale sector is making within ESG: examining supply chains, reassessing company values and adapting business plans to meet ambitious environmental goals.
Meanwhile, the Trends & Innovation Platform will be packed with valuable insights into the trends and topics set to define the future of the food & drink sector. Visitors to the show will have the opportunity to hear from agencies including Kantar, thefoodpeople, FMCG Gurus, IGD, The Food Marketing Experts and Stylus.
In "Where to begin with a brand extension? Unlocking the profitability of powerful partnerships", Business coach and food mentor Karen Green will be joined by an all-star panel of industry experts to discuss what it takes to build successful partnership with complementary brands, and how both retailers and food & drink brands can look to take advantage of opportunities in the market.
She comments: “IFE 2023 is going to be THE food expo with amazing exhibitors, the right business visitors and a seminar programme packed with interesting insights on the subjects that matter. I am proud to be part of the seminar programme and wish I had a clone so I could attend everything on offer!”
IFE takes place alongside IFE Manufacturing, Hotel. Restaurant & Catering (HRC), The Pub Show @ HRC and historic chef competition International Salon Culinaire. To find out more and to register for your complimentary trade ticket, visit ife.co.uk.
Dino Labbate has been announced as the new Chief Commercial Officer at A.G. BARR plc, the branded multi-beverage business with a portfolio of market-leading UK brands, including IRN-BRU, Rubicon, FUNKIN and Boost.
Dino takes up the role from today, 20 January 2025, having spent seven years at Britvic plc, most recently as GB Commercial Director for Hospitality. With previous experience at Kraft Heinz, Burton’s Biscuits and Northern Foods, Dino brings a wealth of FMCG insight and experience across all channels of the food and drink industry.
“This is a new role for the business and reflects our growth ambitions,” said Euan Sutherland, CEO of the AG Barr Group. “Dino’s FMCG experience, enthusiasm and commitment has made an instant impact on the business. He understands soft drinks and has considerable knowledge across grocery, wholesale, out of home and on-premise, which will play a pivotal role in developing all brands in the business.”
Dino said: “AG Barr has a rich history of success, which alongside the company’s bold growth ambitions, make this a brilliant opportunity for me to help steer our teams on the next chapter of AG Barr’s story. There’s so much potential in our portfolio which is already packed with incredible brands. I’m looking forward to supporting the business as we set ourselves up to win with current and future consumers.”
AG Barr will be announcing a trading update in respect of the financial year ended 25 January 2025 on Tuesday, 28 January 2025.
Brits are increasingly leaning towards cooking from scratch and are ditching ultra processed food, thus embracing a much simpler approach to their diet, a recent report has stated.
According to a recent report from John Lewis Partnership released on Friday (17), supermarket Waitrose has reported that it’s back to basics for many in 2025 due to a growing awareness around ultra processed foods, with many turning away from low-fat, highly processed products in favour of less-processed, whole food ingredients.
Whole milk and full-fat Greek yogurt sales are up 11 per cent and 21 per cent compared to skimmed milk and Greek style yoghurt a year ago.
Block butter sales are up by +20 per cent as compared to dairy spreads while brown rice is seeing +7 per cent more sales as compared to white rice.
The report adds that sourdough bread sales are up by +20 per cent as compared to white bread while full fat Greek yoghurt recorded +21 per cent more sales than Greek style yoghurt.
Over the past 30 days, searches on Waitrose website whole food searches soared with ‘full fat milk’ and ‘full fat yoghurt’ skyrocketing 417 per cent and 233 per cent.
The shfit reflects the wider growing awareness of effects of ultra-processed foods, thanks in no small part to Dr Chris van Tulleken’s bestselling book Ultra-Processed People and its continued momentum in 2024 and into 2025.
His eye-opening, rigorously researched account of ultra-processed foods and their effect on our health turned many people towards cooking from scratch, with unprocessed or minimally processed ingredients.
Maddy Wilson, Director of Waitrose Own Brand comments, “There’s been a lot of bad press around so-called ‘healthy’ products which aren’t nutritious and don’t taste great, however the growing awareness of ultra processed food in our diets has seen many customers seeking the basics and embracing a much simpler approach to their diet.”
Waitrose Food & Drink report released last year highlighted that 54 per cent of those surveyed proactively avoid processed foods.
A convenience store in Hinckley, which sold illegal cigarettes to undercover Trading Standards officers on eight occasions and had more than 1,800 packets of illegal tobacco seized during four enforcement visits, has been closed down for three months.
As informed by Leicestershire County Council, Easy Shop in Regent Street has been ordered to remain closed until April 15 by Leicester Magistrates Court, following a joint operation by Leicestershire County Council’s Trading Standards service and Leicestershire Police. The orders were issues last week.
The closure application was made after Trading Standards officers and police seized illegal tobacco from the business on four separate occasions between June 2022 and October 2024, which resulted in a total of 1,860 packets of tobacco being confiscated.
Trading Standards officers conducted a first test purchase at the shop in June 2022, following reports of illegal tobacco being sold from the premises. On that occasion, the officer was sold a packet of counterfeit Richmond cigarettes. Another test purchase in the following month also led to the sale of an illegal packet of cigarettes.
An enforcement visit carried out by Trading Standards officers, police and a tobacco detection dog in July 2022 discovered four packets of tobacco hidden in the shop.
Further repeated test purchases resulted in sales of illegal tobacco, while three further enforcement visits by Trading Standards officers supported by police and a tobacco detection dog yielded seizures of more than 1,800 tobacco products.
The tobacco was hidden in various locations, including a stairwell at the back of the shop, in the roof space of a stock room and in a car belonging to an employee.
The illegal sales continued, despite a change in ownership and several notices from Trading Standards reminding the owners of their legal responsibilities relating to tobacco sales. The final test purchase was carried out on 8 January 2025, when two packets of illegal tobacco were sold.
Magistrates granted the closure order under Section 80 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which prevents anyone from entering the address. Anyone who breaches it is liable to be prosecuted.
Large posters explaining that the business has been closed down due to illegal activity on the premises have been posted on the shop’s windows by Trading Standards officers.
Gary Connors, head of Leicestershire Trading Standards, said, "Our Trading Standards officers are actively tackling the trade in illegal cigarettes, which help to fund criminality.
"We will continue to work in partnership with Leicestershire Police to use all means at our disposal to disrupt those who seek to put our local community at a public health risk. The business will close for three months, and thereafter will be monitored if the premises reopen for business.
"Selling cheap or illicit cigarettes steals trade from our legitimate retailers who lose trade to rogue shopkeepers. All smoking is dangerous, but smoking illegal tobacco could potentially be even more harmful to health because the trade in counterfeit and illicit tobacco is unregulated, so there is no control over what is mixed with the tobacco.
"We will continue to clamp down on the sale of illicit cigarettes and vapes, as well as underage sales, to protect Leicestershire residents from traders who break the law.
"We really appreciate members of the public reporting suspicions of illicit or cheap vapes and tobacco sales."
A city centre convenience store in Cambridgeshire has been closed down after police found "illicit" items including Viagra tablets, illegal tobacco and more than £14,000 in cash from the premises.
About 683,400 cigarettes, 37.45kg of hand rolling tobacco, and 35 cigars were seized by the police from International Food Centre in Lincoln Road in Peterborough late last year. The closure order was served on the shop and flat above on Dec 31following an application to Huntingdon Magistrates' Court.
Officers carrying out the warrant in November also found £14,886 in cash, large sums of foreign currency and Viagra tablets.
A man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering and released on bail until February.
The following week, a man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply sildenafil and has also been released on bail until February.
It was found during the investigation that the shop's licence was transferred to several different holders in recent years.
In April 2022 the premises' licence and designated premises supervisor were transferred to the current licence holder.
PC James Rice, of Cambridgeshire Constabulary, said it applied for the closure order due to "persistent issues in the store around things such as the sale of age restricted products and other illicit items and non-duty paid products".
"Circumstances such as these are often a front for organised criminality and anti-social behaviour, which has detrimental effects in our communities.
"We hope this latest action shows the community that we are committed to tackling organised crime and will continue to police this robustly through regular compliance checks and enforcement of the order."
Elsewhere in Kent, four men has been arrested in connection with the sale of illegal tobacco and vape products have since been released on bail, pending further inquiries.
In total, officers seized 858 packets of cigarettes, more than six kilograms of rolling tobacco, 201 illegal vaping products and £2,560 in cash from shops in Lower Stone Street, Gabriel’s Hill, and the High Street in Kent.
Officers ask that anyone who becomes aware of stores selling cigarettes illegally to contact them, and they would also like to hear from genuine shop-owners who believe their businesses have suffered because of illegal cigarette sales nearby.
French champagne shipments fell by nearly 10 per cent last year as economic and political uncertainties hit consumers' appetite for the sparkling wine in key markets such as France and the US, the producers association said.
Producers had called in July for a cut in the number of grapes harvested this year after sales fell more than 15 per cent in the first half of 2024. Full year shipments were down 9.2 per cent from 2023 at 271.4 million bottles, the Comite Champagne (Champagne Committee) said.
"Champagne is a real barometer of the state of mind of consumers," Maxime Toubart, president of the Syndicat General des Vignerons and co-president of the committee, said in a statement late on Saturday.
"It is not time to celebrate given inflation, conflicts across the world, economic uncertainties and political wait-and-see in some of the largest Champagne markets, such as France and the United States."
The French market made up 118.2 million bottles, down 7.2 per cent compared to 2023, which the association put down to prevailing economic and political "gloom" in the country.
President Emmanuel Macron appointed Francois Bayrou, his fourth prime minister in a year in December, but his administration remains weak, and still faces an uphill battle to pass the 2025 budget that led to the ouster of his predecessor, Michel Barnier.
Champagne exports also fell, with just 153.2 million bottles shipped, down 10.8 per cent compared to 2023.
"It is in less favourable periods that we must prepare for the future, maintain our environmental (standards) trajectory, conquer new markets and new consumers," said David Chatillon, co-president of the Champagne Committee.
The committee said in July that the 2024 harvest in the Champagne region had suffered from poor weather since the start of the year, including frosts and wet weather which increased mildew fungus attacks in its vineyards.
As opposed to other wine production, most champagne bottles are a mix between several vintages, using stocks from previous years. These stocks are replenished during good years and can compensate for poor harvests.