NEWS8 ASIAN TRADER 13 OCTOBER 2017 http://www.asiantrader.biz
Follow us on: http://www.twitter.com/AsianTrader Like us on: http://www.facebook.com/AsianTraderProduction has been suspend-
ed at the UK’s biggest supplier of
supermarket chicken after poor
hygiene standards and altering
of food safety records were re-
vealed by undercover filming.
The temporary closure at 2
Sisters Food Group (2SFG), sup-
plier of a third of all poultry
products eaten in the UK, fol-
lows Tesco joining a boycott of
the poultry firm’s West Mid-
lands plant after a joint un-
dercover investigation by the
Guardian and ITV News.
A spokesman for 2SFG,
which will now put employees
at the plant through a retrain-
ing programme, said: “We are
shocked and distressed by the al-
legations and the footage which
we saw for the first time on
Thursday 28 September. Since
the allegations were put to us by
the Guardian/ITV, we have been
working around the clock to get
to the truth of the matter.The Guardian and ITV re-
leased undercover footage of
2 Sisters workers altering the
source and slaughter date of
poultry being processed in the
firm’s Site D plant. Altering “kill
dates” could artificially stretch
the commercial life of the meat
and fool consumers into buying
chicken past its use-by date, ex-
perts claim.
Placing incorrect use-by
dates on food, which are set for
safety reasons and differ from
“best before” dates, is illegal.
The footage also shows
chicken being picked off thefloor and thrown back on to the
production line, and older poul-
try being mixed with fresher
birds.
Neil Parish, the Chairman
of parliament’s Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs Com-
mittee, was preparing to call 2
Sisters founder, Ranjit Singh
Boparan, to Westminster to an-
swer questions about the scan-
dal.
The UK’s second largest food
company by turnover, 2 Sisters
Food Group claims to process
around six million chickens eve-
ry week.
Owned by Ranjit Singh
Boparan and his wife, Baljinder
Kaur Boparan, the 12 chicken
sites in the UK are part of a £3bn
food empire that includes turkey
producer Bernard Matthews, res-
taurant chains Harry Ramsden,
FishWorks and Giraffe and food
brands such as Fox’s Biscuits
and Goodfella’s pizza.Chicken production suspended
at 2 Sisters West Midlands plant
£82k raised by A.F.
Blakemore
A.F. Blakemore & Son Ltd has raised
more than £82,000 for good causes
by hosting a company-wide Charity
Birthday Party in celebration of its
100-year anniversary.
On September 1, colleagues
across England and Wales took
part in 300 celebratory events at
stores and depots across the
company’s trading area.
Employees across Blakemore
Retail Spar convenience stores
raised £76,000 for Blakemore
Retail’s charity partner, the NSPCC,
while colleagues across the rest of
A.F. Blakemore’s sites fundraised
for charities of their choice.‘Shun the sun’ sparks
debate
Following Flintshire council’s
proposal to ban sales of the Sun
throughout the county,
independent news retailers have
raised concerns.
The ‘shun the Sun’ motion also
includes banning councillors from
speaking to the tabloid’s
journalists.
NFRN Chief Executive Paul
Baxter said: “Flintshire council is
totally wrong to believe it can stop
retailers stocking the Sun and
prevent the public from reading
their paper of choice.”
“Freedom of the press –
however used – is of paramount
importance and hardworking
independent retailers cannot be
denied the profits they make from
selling the tabloid.”DRS deficits outlined at
Labour conference
At a fringe event hosted by the
British Soft Drinks Association at
the Labour conference, the ACS
detailed the issues that would be
faced by retailers if they were
forced to be part of the scheme.
ACS Chief Executive, James
Lowman, said: “Convenience
stores do not have the space in
store to install expensive reverse
vending machines, and for those
who would have to collect the
bottles manually, this would cause
significant queues and potential
flashpoints in store.”Ranjit Singh Boparan to answer questions about scandal in parliament
Costcutter Supermarkets
Group will help retailers
reduce their monthly costs
by offering preferred
suppliers for a selection of
essential business servic-
es.
As well as providing a
CPoS rental package,
Costcutter Supermarkets
Group has partnered with
leading national service
providers across, HR,
banking, E-Learning,
telecommunications,
Insurance, WetStock, utili-
ties, and financing.
This means Costcutter
Supermarkets Group now
offers its independent
retailers access to dis-
counted offers and ratesnegotiated by the
group, helping store
owners minimise the
costs of running their
business.
Sean Russell Direc-
tor at Costcutter
Supermarkets Group, said:
“Small business owners are
facing unprecedented
challenges currently, with
more legislation adding
further time and cost
pressures, from auto-en-
rolment pension schemes
and the national living
wage, to digital tax
accounts.
“For retailers, these
operational demands add
to the constant challenge
to drive footfall andincrease sales in a highly
competitive market.
That’s why, in addition to
our extensive sales,
marketing and communi-
cations support for
retailers, we’ve used our
group scale to give our
retailers access to prefer-
ential rates for essential
business services from
industry leading service
providers that aren’t
otherwise available to
small independent
businesses.”Costcutter launches new Business
Services programme