All articles by Sam Fortescue – Page 3
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News
monitor - milk
Recent declines in UK milk production have been taken by some in the industry as a threat to the liquid milk supplies. If milk output continues to decline - likely following the wet summer, which made silage and hay production difficult - the...
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the great dane
The man in charge of Britain's biggest supplier of own-label dairy products to retailers has a lot to learn about UK supermarkets. Arla Foods chief executive Peter Lauritzen says he is still coming to terms with the idea of grocery shopping at...
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Prices crash as market opens
Liveweight lamb prices have crashed following the reopening of English and Welsh livestock markets last week. The markets were closed as a precaution when foot and mouth was confirmed on a Surrey farm last month, but they have been...
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Milk Link forced to ration Country Life
Milk Link has had to scale back production of Country Life butters and spreads at its Lockerbie factory because of cream shortages. Though throughput is beginning to return to normal, the dairy co-operative has been forced to ration its...
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South west close to meat trademark
Meat industry bosses in south west England have come closer to securing a 'trademark' for beef and lamb in the region this week. They have submitted a formal application for Protected Geographical Indication status to Defra. They expect...
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Pig farmers in last call for higher pork prices
British pig farmers have said they will spend £500,000 next month in a "last ditch effort" to publicise the need for a major price rise on pork. BPEX launched the campaign this week by publishing an open letter in the major broadsheets...
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Sainsbury's works to boost UK organic crop
Sainsbury's has set up an organic orchard in a bid to slash its reliance on imported apples. The four-hectare orchard, which has been developed with Sainsbury's apple supplier Orchard World and grower Peter Hall, in Marden, Kent, has been...
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White sweetcorn arrives in UK chain
Sainsbury’s has become the first supermarket to sell home-grown white sweetcorn, introducing it into its Taste the Difference range.
The corn, which is usually only grown in the US, is being cultivated on 50 acres in Enfield, north… -
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Ham kept fresh for up to 39 days
The life of cooked ham from factory to plate could soon be extended from between 21 and 28 days to 39 days thanks to a common bacterium. Scientists at a meeting of the Society for General Microbiology said the life of both cooked and...
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News
In the can - salmon, tuna and fruit juice
Red and pink salmon UK importers are hoping to pay similar prices to last year for red salmon following a record final catch of 28.5 million for Bristol Bay. But the packers are adamant that their returns must rise to mitigate a 5% rise in cannery...
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Pesticide plan 'would wipe out EU farming'
A proposed crackdown on pesticide use could wipe out commercial crop production in Europe and boost imports, British growers are warning. The NFU has slammed proposals from the European Parliament's environment committee to halve the volume of...
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Salvesen sells pea division to Pinguin
Pea specialist Christian Salvesen Foods has sold its own label vegetable freezing business to Belgian-owned Pinguin Foods UK for £17.2m. The stock, machinery and contracts relating to Salvesen's three freezing plants in Lincolnshire will pass over...
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In Brief: GM plum trialled; Mixed pack success; Herb drive on net
GM plum trialled HoneySweet, a disease-resistant GM plum, is undergoing field trials in the US after officials ruled it didn't threaten the environment. The NFU welcomed the trial because the variety resists Plum Pox Virus. Mixed pack success...
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Processors lift prices to appease farmers
Dairy companies have announced a raft of huge liquid milk price hikes for farmers, in an effort to quell frustration about low returns in the industry. Major processors Dairy Crest and Arla Foods have broken the 25ppl barrier with the price rises...
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Tesco signals end to £2 chicken with price rise
Tesco has responded to widespread criticism of cheap chicken by raising the amount it pays its chicken farmers. It has agreed to pay chicken producers an extra 2p/kg - equivalent to a 4% increase - to help counter rising production costs. The move...
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Talking shop
Another round of flooding looks set to knock pea growers again. Let's hope, for the sake of British consumers, the supermarkets show some understanding of the problems facing the supply chain, says Martin Riggall, chief executive of the...
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A 'new era dawns' for meat hygiene regime
The Meat Hygiene Service has survived intact from an FSA review of how best to deliver safe, hygienic meat in abattoirs and processors. The government-run service will be streamlined to cut total costs, but it will not be disbanded, the...
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Waitrose ditches farrowing crates
Waitrose has become the first major UK retailer to stop using farrowing crates in the production of all its own-label pork products. It has moved all the Danish pig farmers supplying its bacon and lardons onto an outdoor farrowing system....
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insight - pork consumers
People consumed 962 million pork meals last year Men consume 43% of all pork cuts More than a quarter of pork cuts are eaten on a Sunday Pork is most commonly roasted (45% of meals) Fresh pork sales grew 3.9% to £665m last year A healthy but...
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Floods raise risk of Christmas shortages
Torrential rain across much of England has added to growers' woes and threatened availability levels in supermarkets in the run-up to Christmas. Up to half of the UK's Brussels sprout crop has been lost, raising the chance of a Christmas...