FFB springs into action for British food and drink

New business for British food

• Six flavours of Kettle Chips are now sold at Albert Heijn, as Dutch customers find their way to Kettle Chips shelves across the Netherlands.
• Goodfella's Solos’ Main Meal pizza has been listed at AH XL and Jumbo. The exact dates for the launch still to be confirmed.
• FFB France has assisted Indulgence Patisserie in achieving a 6 month trial launch for two of their products (cheesecake and tiramisu) in Auchan stores in the north of France. This trial is due to begin before the summer and will continue to the end of 2008.

Promoting British companies

• FFB Belgium are organising a press trip to Wales to promote Welsh lamb to key trade journalists. The journalists will see Saltmarsh Lamb and Mountain Lamb and have lunch.
• FFB Belgium is taking part in a Welsh food/ tourism project to produce a 26 minute film about the country and its food to be shown on Belgian French TV.
• FFB Belgium will be producing an English Lamb recipe book for the Belgian market. They are carrying out PR activity to alert journalists to the fact that the book will be launched in September.
• The launch of Kettle Chips’ new seasonal flavour, Honey Barbeque, is being promoted by sending journalists a press release with a sample bag and a bowl in which to serve them.
• FFB The Netherlands organised a press event for EBLEX, called The Perfect Steak of Yorkshire, which is currently only available through one supplier in the Netherlands. The event pitted teams of chefs and journalists from consumer and trade publications against one another attempting to create a recipe using British beef.
• At the beginning of April, FFB The Netherlands organised sampling promotions at Albert Heijn at 200 stores.
• Positive coverage was secured for Kettle Chips in Elle Eten and Santé in the Netherlands.
• In the week before Easter, FFB Germany managed a three-day tasting of Farne salmon in the Wertheim department store in Berlin – a request which set a new precedent, because the store actually requested Farne carry out the tastings following a highly successful tasting at Christmas.
• Quorn was featured in the Danish ‘Training’ health magazine. The Danish and Norwegian markets appear to be developing an appetite for Quorn since its launch in 2007.
• FFB Spain has won an LMC tender for an inward and outward buyer visit. This will be a three-day visit in mid-May, incorporating visits to cutting plants, processing plants, a dinner and meetings with buyers.
• FFB Italy ran a major press event to promote Scotch meat on Wednesday 2 April, at Il Cucchiaio di Legno, a top-quality cookery school/ bar/ restaurant. Ten journalists from trade magazines and newspapers took part in tastings and demonstrations of Scotch meat.
• FFB Italy are carrying out follow-up to journalists to sell in a Kettle Chips press release.

Building buyer relationships

• FFB Nordic brought 9 head buyers from a leading Swedish retailer to London in late March. The group visited Whole Foods Market, Tesco and Sainsbury’s. The aim was to look at different areas of interest to the buyers, in order to identify British suppliers that could supply the firm. The buyers were particularly interested in organic, Fair Trade, premium own-label and premium products.
• FFB Nordic presented British cheese to two large Danish retailers, as part of a campaign to increase understanding of British cheese in a market where cheese is very popular.
• FFB Spain’s Meat and Cheese Roadshow took place on Tuesday 8 April. A number of Spanish trade buyers met the exhibitors to discuss opportunities in the market.
• FFB Spain will bring two buyers from Biogran, Spain to Natural & Organic Products Europe. Biogran is the distribution arm of El Granero Integral, one of Spain’s leading organic food brands.
• FFB Germany is offering its clients the opportunity to attend the ‘Inter’ events – InterCool, InterMopro, InterMeat – in Duesseldorf on 28 September – 1 October.
• FFB Italy continue to present selected UK companies to regional retailers across Italy as part of its project to build a network of regional partners for local sales, merchandising and logistics services.
• FFB Germany brought a buyer from Top Food, one of Germany’s best known distributors, to Food & Drink Expo. Top Food specialises in confectionery and ambient, for example Walkers Shortbread and Duchy Originals. They will be also taken on a store check in Birmingham.
• The second wholesaler tour organised by FFB Germany for Randall Parker and the MLC at the end of April is now being followed by another one in the Swiss market for the HCC.

Trends

• There is a good opportunity in the Nordic market for value added cereals, particularly those containing ‘superfood’ ingredients.
• French retailers are increasingly interested in developing private label ranges.
  

18 April 2008