Widely recognised is the importance for health of plenty of plant-derived ingredients – vegetables, fruit, grains, oilseeds and pulses – combined with more moderate amounts of animal-derived foods for the wealth of essential nutrients these provide.
Sustainable sourcing: food producers seeing the bigger picture in 2021 Sustainable sourcing of food packaging and ingredients has climbed its way to the top of the agenda for many companies in 2021, including some of the industry’s big players.
In February, for example, Greencore announced a range of measures, committing to 100% recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025 and the sustainable sourcing of all raw materials by 2030. Earlier in the month global bakery ingredients business Zeelandia made a pledge to make its use of palm oil 100% sustainable.
Initiatives such as these are well timed, according to Saskia Nuijten, head of public engagement at European innovation initiative EIT Food.
Emerging trends in the meat-free market will come under the spotlight at the Future of Plant-Based Proteins: Roots of Further Growth virtual conference on 31 March.
Mackie’s Crisps invests £750,000 in vegetable crisps factory Mackie s Crisps has invested £750,000 in a new facility in Errol, Perthshire, dedicated to the production of its Wholesums vegetable chip snacks.
Mackie’s has developed a slow-baking process for the snacks, which it says allows the product to incorporate up to 45% whole fresh vegetables.
The investment in the production facility on the company’s Taylor Farm includes the installation of new technology for the process, which Mackie’s has vowed to keep secret.
Breakthrough
James Taylor, managing director of Mackie’s Crisps, said:
“Being able to make Wholesums on a larger scale at the farm is a big breakthrough for us.