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20.07.2010 15:38:10
Rachel Pennington’s training and experience means she has a mix of food technology and marketing skills – which are giving the RFA’s clients significant benefits.
Rachel graduated from Harper Adams University College in 2007 with a degree in Agrifood Production with Marketing and Business Management.
She then became a Trade Development Executive for Heart of England Fine Foods, helping small businesses market their products to retail chains, wholesalers and restaurants before joining the RFA last year.
Rachel said: “I see my role as matching the technical requirements of food production with the client’s ambitions to market the product. The two have to be considered together for a product to succeed.”
Rachel is also the lead technologist for baked produce. Other expertise includes:
New product development
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Route (HACCP) planning
Sensory analysis
Marketing planning
She is also a dab hand with school visits and has organised an Indian cookery course, with more on the way. But it’s helping clients to realise their dreams that Rachel enjoys best, adding: “It’s about taking a great idea and making it work.”
Contact Rachel on:
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20.07.2010 15:22:11
The West Midlands Regional Food Academy has become the home of the first ever branch of the Shropshire Women’s Food & Farming Union – and the RFA’s Director, Ralph Early is its first secretary.
In its 30 year history, the Women’s Food & Farming Union (WFU) has never had a Shropshire branch – until now. The new branch has been set up by Gail Thorneycroft-Holmes, Chairman of the union’s Staffordshire branch.
She said: “The Women’s Food and Farming Union has always been the voice of women involved in businesses related to food and farming. Now, more than ever, it is attracting interest from women of all backgrounds and lifestyles.
“This is because we all share a passion for food at its tastiest. We are delighted that we can use West Midlands Regional Food Academy as the home of the new Shropshire branch of the WFU. It is fitting that we will meet each month on the campus at Harper Adams University College because it is the UK’s University of the Food Chain.”
Ralph Early said: "The Women's Food and Farming Union is an organisation with a long and illustrious track record when it comes to raising the profile of British agriculture and food products. Many of the WFU's objectives fit well with those of the Regional Food Academy, so this partnership makes a great deal of sense.
“The WFU has shown in other areas that it can make a real contribution to the rural economy which means more successful businesses, more jobs and more vibrant communities. Working together we aim to achieve the same here in Shropshire.”
The Shropshire branch of the WFU held its first meeting at the RFA on June 21. To join the branch of get more information about its activities, email Gail on
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or text/telephone 07968 803755.
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20.07.2010 15:18:10
The West Midlands Regional Food Academy is offering a range food safety courses accredited by the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health (CIEH) – combining the highest standards of training expertise with the very latest facilities and equipment.
The first to be offered is a three-day CIEH Level 3 Award in Food Safety for Manufacturing, designed for managers and supervisors.
Dates for 2010/11 are:
- July 22, 23 and 26, 2010
- December 6, 13 and 20, 2010
- June 6, 13 and 20, 2011
Topics covered are:
- Legislation
- Applying and monitoring good hygiene practice
- Temperature control
- Workpklace and equipment design
- Waste disposal, cleaning and disinfection
- Personal hygiene of staff
- Contribution to staff training
- Implementation of food safety procedures
Food safety auditing Venue: West Midlands Regional Food Academy, Harper Adams University College, Edgmont, Shropshire, TF10 8NB – or a venue of your choice.
Group numbers: minimum 6, maximum 15 Prices: £300 per person – possible 10% discount for RFA members or a 15% discount for full group bookings.
To book, contact Lisa Chapman, Business Services Manager Telephone: 01952 815324 Fax: 01952 812125
Email:
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Web: http://www.harper-adams.ac/uk/shortcourses/apply.cfm
Other courses being planned include:
- Level 2 Award in Food Safety for Retail
- Level 2 Award in Food Safety for Manufacturing
- Level 2 Award in Food Safety for Catering
- Level 3 Award in Food Safety Supervision for manufacturing
- Level 4 Award in Food Safety
- Level 2 Award in Health and Safety in the Workplace
- Level 3 Award in Health and Safety in the Workplace
- Level 2 Award in the Principles of COSHH
- Level 2 Award in Risk Assessment
- Level 3 Award in Risk Assessment
- Level 2 Award in HACCP for Food Manufacturing
- Level 3 Award in HACCP for Food Manufacturing
- Level 2 Award in Environmental Principles and Best Practice
- Environmental Management Professional Trainers Certificate
- Intermediate Cert in Meat & Poultry Management
- Introductory Diploma in Meat & Poultry
- Diploma in Meat & Poultry
- Intermediate Certificate in Food and Drink Management
- Introductory Diploma in Food and Drink
- Diploma in Food and Drink Knife Skills
- Nutrition & Labelling
- Labelling Legislation
- Animal Welfare
- Microbiology for Non Microbiologists
- Food Ethics
- Preparing for SALSA & BRC
- Preparing for Organic Certification
- Practical Brewing
- Identifying Primal Cuts of Meat
- Business Improvement Technique
- Indian Cuisine
- Practical Cheese Making
- Practical Bakery
- Determining Shelf Life
- Finance for Non Finance People
- Using Basic Materials Science to help NPD & Quality Control
- New Product Development
- Food Preservation
- Food Engineering
There is also opportunity to have bespoke courses designed and delivered to fit your business needs.
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20.07.2010 15:06:47
The West Midlands Regional Food Academy has been named Project of the Year at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ West Midlands Awards 2010.
The sensitive redevelopment of former farm buildings into the high-tech academy also secured the Regeneration title at the West Midlands Awards and the project will now go forward to the national awards ceremony in October. Judges’ comments included “a well executed project” and “good value for money”, as well commending the development for being completed both on time and on budget.
Ralph Early, Director of the West Midlands Regional Food Academy, said: “We have been honoured by the RICS. We wanted to demonstrate that a food technology centre could be incorporated cost effectively and sensitively into an old building, avoiding an overpriced new-build on a greenfield site.
“We also wanted to create a highly functional building that would allow us to fulfil the RFA’s mission to serve the region’s food industry and also to engage with schools, colleges, universities and the community. The RICS awards have endorsed our achievement and we are pleased that the judging process truly understood the common-good nature of the RFA project.”
Agency Advantage West Midlands awarded Harper Adams University College more than £3 million to develop and operate the academy to provide a variety of services and activities in support of the food industry in the West Midlands – particularly for small and medium sized businesses.
Harper Adams Estates Manager Paul Moran MRICS said: “We could have chosen to demolish the old buildings, but they are at the heart of the campus and are a key part of our history. We saw an opportunity to regenerate the area and provide a facility to meet current and future needs in food education.
“We have achieved so much through this project, and I am really delighted that not only is the RFA aesthetically pleasing, but it meets its functional needs well. It wasn’t easy, but everyone in the design and construction team pulled together to overcome the inevitable difficulties a project of this type encounters.”
Mark Pearce, Corporate Director for Economic Regeneration at Advantage West Midlands, said: “This award is fantastic news and reflects the excellence with which the development of the new academy as a whole was pursued by all partners. We are delighted to be able to support the Region’s food industry, working with Harper Adams University College in Shropshire.
“I believe the new academy will be an excellent asset for the Region, making a real difference to the economy of the West Midlands, as well as drawing national and international attention to the key role that the West Midlands plays in the production and processing of food in the UK."
The building converted into the RFA was originally a milking parlour and then an animal feed mill. More recently it housed dairy cattle, before conversion work began in September 2008. The completed building now has BREEAM “very good” rating for sustainability. It has a range of modern food technology facilities, as well as a high quality lecture theatre and conference facilities, an exhibition hall and offices for the RFA’s staff and Harper Adams’s food science lecturers.
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20.07.2010 14:39:13
The West Midlands Regional Food Academy created 12 new jobs since opening its October to April 2010, an analysis of the outputs from its activity has revealed.
Also, private sector investment totalling £320,000 has been attracted to support the food and drink industry in the region, the figures show.
The RFA has included the information as part of its formal submission on activity to Advantage West Midlands, the regeneration agency, one of its funders.
Other notable successes during the 2009/10 financial year include:
- 43 businesses assisted and one new business created in the region
- 7 graduates attracted into the food and drink industry
- 33 individuals achieving level 4 or 5 qualifications
- Public sector investment of £350,000 in supporting the food and drink industry
- 93 people helped with skills development
- 6 people given recruitment support
RFA Manager Martin Anderson said: “It is thrilling to have had this amount of success with expected outcomes from the Regional Food Academy. When starting a project like this you always wonder whether businesses will get the message and take advantage of a public sector project. I am glad to say that they definitely have and I hope that many more use our services as the project progresses.”
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20.07.2010 14:27:38
Martin Moyden was not impressed with his first attempt to make cheese. “The rind was like shoe leather and it tasted very sour,” says Martin.
That was when he realised he needed some help. So he called in Ralph Early, now the Director of the West Midlands Regional Food Academy. That was in 2004. Now Martin is fast becoming one of the Midlands’ most celebrated cheese makers.
In May 2010 he won the Heart of England Fine Foods Diamond Award for Dairy Produce. The RFA is now providing business planning and quality control expertise aimed at helping Martin double production from the current 5,000 kg every year for the next three years.
Martin says: “The support provided by Ralph Early and the food academy has been crucial to my business. It’s one thing knowing how to make cheese – it’s another thing completely to do it as a viable business. “I would definitely urge other small businesses to take the help that’s there for them. It could make all the difference.”
Martin moved into making cheese because his dairy farm – 50 dairy cows on 65 acres at Grove Farm in Church Aston near Newport in Shropshire – is not big enough to be viable just to sell milk to processors. He had to do something very different or lose the farm, he says.
His plan was to make dairy produce himself and keep the added value for himself. Martin began his journey by going on a cheese making course at Reaseheath College, one of the academy’s partners. Then the hard work really started.
After his first, failed attempt to make a soft cheese in a jam kettle, Ralph Early’s expertise set Martin on the right technical path – and he has barely looked back. His popular Wrekin White cheese went on sale in 2005.
And now, after four years of trial, error and growing expertise, there is the Wrekin Blue, a soft cheese that won Martin his Diamond Award. Find out more about Mr Moyden’s Handmade Cheese, including the shops that stock it and the restaurants that serve it: www.mrmoyden.com Find out how the West Midlands Regional Food Academy could help your business.
See the the way the RFA is helping Martin Moyden build his business on BBC Midlands Today.
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20.07.2010 13:50:44
The RFA sponsored the INNOVATE Special Diamond Award at the Heart of England Fine Foods Awards in June – and the winner was burger company Muddy Boots Real Foods.
The INNOVATE award recognises excellence in product development and new business practices. Muddy Boots Real Foods is based at Church Farm in Shrawley in Worcestershire – and is run by Roland and Miranda Ballard.
They have redefined the humble burger by only using prime cuts of grass-fed Aberdeen Angus beef under the slogan “Free the Burger.”
RFA manager Martin Anderson, who presented them with the award at the HEFF Diamond Awards Ceremony held at Villa Park in Birmingham, said: “It was an absolute privilege to present this award to Muddy Boots.
"They really deserve this award for the amount of hard work, creativity and innovation they have put in to development of their products. I know they will have continued success with this approach and I extend the offer of technical assistance through the RFA whenever they or any other business needs it”
Four other companies had been shortlisted along with Muddy Boots Real Foods. They were: Alternative Meats; Farmers Fayre; Sadler’s Ales with Harvest of Arden; and Tyrrells Potato Chips.
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20.07.2010 12:53:44
The RFA has hosted a highly successful national seminar on the increasingly significant role played by bioplastics in food and drink packaging.
The event on June 23 was held in partnership with the Materials Knowledge Transfer Network. More than 60 delegates from across the UK and the Continent attended the one-day event to hear talks by leading UK experts.
The conclusion was that bioplastics will play a greater role in food and drink packaging – but waste management systems need to be systematically updated to realise their benefits and consumers must be convinced they are worth paying for.
RFA Director Ralph Early, who chaired the seminar, said: “It is clear that there has been significant progress in the development of bio-plastics for food and drink. This is an exciting are of innovation.
“What must happen is that its use must be made meaningful to the consumer and the legislative and commercial systems need to be right for it to be taken up as a major element of the packaging mix.”
Bio-plastics are generated by biological systems, such as plants and animals and chemically synthesised from natural materials, for example sugars, starch or fats.
They are seen as a sustainable alternative to fossil carbon-based plastics and can be designed to be biodegradable, compostable with foodstuffs or recyclable.
John Horwood, Food Contact Materials Chairman of the Food and Drink Federation, told delegates that bio-plastic food packaging had enormous potential. But it was being held back by the lack of a national, systematic strategy on managing waste.
He said: “Waste management in the UK is a dog’s breakfast. It is seriously undermining recycling and reusing potential. There needs to be a radical rethink about how we use biodegradable packaging. Sustainability needs to be integrated within business strategies not just bolted on as an afterthought.”
Mr Horwood said a lack of a systematic approach to waste management increased the risk of food and drink companies being accused of “green washing” – making environmental claims for products which were not justifiable.
Steve Kelsey, one of the UK’s leading packaging designers and a founding partner of PI Consulting, said food and drink companies needed to convince consumers of the benefits of bio-plastic packaging.
He said: “It is an attractive proposition to buy food that is grown in a container that is also grown. However, consumers do not like too much change. They are naturally conservative and are not interested in technical issues. If they are given confused messages they will switch off.”
Malcolm Harold, Relationships Manager at the Materials Knowledge Transfer Network, said food and drink companies have a major task in communicating the benefits of bio-plastic packaging to consumers. He urged them to follow the ISO 14021 green claims guide to avoid green-washing.
He added: “There is a huge array of new bio-plastics coming on stream. The EU bio-plastics market is expected to grow by 30 per cent annually. There are tax incentives for bio-plastics in Germany and more incentives on the way in France.”
He said the main sticking point for uptake was not performance but price – with the cost of conventional plastics ranging from 1 to 1.5 Euros per kilogram while bio-plastics are 3 to 8 Euros per kilogram. This translated into extra cost passed on to consumers.
Dr John Williams, from the National Non-Food Crop Centre in York, told delegates that bio-plastics clearly have a future. He said concerns that crops grown for plastics would undermine food production were misplaced. The earth produces 170 billion tonnes of biomass every year, of which 96% is untouched by humans.
He told delegates that eventually the environmental claims for bio-plastics would become irrelevant and that they would be judged merely on their functionality, as traditional polymers are now.
Despite some limiting issues, delegates were given plenty of examples of how bio-plastics are changing the face of food and drink packaging.
Dr Paul Fowler, of the Bio-composites Centre, at Bangor University, said they were trialling the use of waste farm straw to make pulp-moulded fruit trays. He also described how chitin from shellfish was being used to create new bio-plastics.
Tony Breton, from Novamont, the Italian polymer company, described how supermarket chain Coop Italia was rolling out the introduction of compostable shopping bags – where there was a food waste collection service.
Peter Kelly, of bio-plastics manufacturer Mirel, described a project in Holland where bio-plastic packaging, food and medical waste and sewage was being put through an anaerobic digester, with one by-product being clean water.
Peter Ettridge, of Amcor Packaging UK, said they were now making complex multi-layer packaging for products such as ground coffee which compostable, where previously it was only fit for landfill.
He also pointed out that supermarket chains are stepping up recycling opportunities. Sainsbury now accepts flexible plastic packaging along with returned shopping bags.
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19.05.2010 12:06:10
Bio-plastic Packaging Needs, Uncertainties and Opportunities.
June 23. Booking hotline: 01952 815324
The food and drink industry will be among the biggest beneficiaries from what is expected to be sig nificant EU investment in bio-plastic packaging development in the coming year, a conference on the technology will be told next month.
The conference, ‘Bio-plastics – Need, Uncertainties and Opportunities’, takes place on June 23 at the West Midlands Regional Food Academy (RFA) based at Harper Adams University College near Newport in Shropshire. It is being held in partnership with the Materials Knowledge Transfer Network.
In addition to leading speakers from the UK bio-packaging industry, there will be exhibitors showcasing innovative products and technologies and support for innovation.
One of them is Mark Gaddes, from Pera Innovation Ltd, which is seeking to support collaborate development projects. He said: “It is likely that the EU will want to support the development of the next generation of packaging with new functionality and, of course, new bio-plastics.
“Innovative projects addressing any technological area including bio-plastic food packaging, are high on the EU’s agenda and it is anticipated that around £8.5 million of new funding could be made available over the coming year. Bio-plastics are becoming a fast moving area for development.”
Ralph Early, Director of the West Midlands RFA, said: “Extra EU collaborative funding for bio-plastic packaging is good news for the food and drink industry. It is one of the most intensive users of plastics.
“Food companies are very aware of increasing consumer demand for the products they buy to be environmentally friendly. This conference aims to show how companies can benefit commercially from using bio-plastics.”
Bio-plastics are generated by biological systems, such as plants and animals and chemically synthesised from natural materials, for example sugars, starch or fats. They are seen as an alternative to oil-based plastics and can be designed to be biodegradable, compostable with foodstuffs or recyclable.
They can provide distinct advantages over conventional plastics. For example, a food retailer could dispose of certain bio-plastic packaging waste along with food waste, through a composting system, rather than having to separate them.
There is also significant potential in terms of enhanced brand identity for a company that wants to establish its green credentials with consumers.
One of the conference speakers, Dr Lucy Cowton, of Innovia Films, says: “Thanks, in part, to fast-moving innovations in bio-plastics, polymer packaging is a hugely dynamic market right now and food producers, packaging suppliers and retailers have to keep a close eye on trends to take advantage of significant benefits.”
Another speaker, John Williams, Polymer and Materials Manager, at the National Non-Food Crop Centre, in York, warns that companies need to think carefully about how bio-plastics are introduced.
He said: “Bio-plastics packaging is a key element of the new bio-economy. However, to operate in this new business environment, companies must have an end-to-end view of their product, its sustainability, ethical stance and commercial viability.”
John Horwood, the Chairman of the Food and Drink Federation’s Food Contact Materials Committee, will tell seminar delegates that companies need to be realistic about using bio-plastics.
Currently, he says, the technology can be more costly and it requires other recycling and waste management systems to be in place to work most effectively
Ralph Early said: “There are significant issues for companies to consider before switching to bio-plastic packaging. That is why we are holding this seminar. With extra funding on the way, now appears to be the right time to plan for the future and the benefits this technology offers.”
MORE INFORMATION HERE
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01.10.2009 14:22:39
We are busy creating a Google Earth based Virtual Reality tour of the RFA offices, you will be able to 'walk' around the site, both inside and out. In order to view this properly you will need to download the Google Earth Plugin for your browser from here: http://code.google.com/apis/earth.
Preview video is on the RFA homepage.
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Team Blog
