The Grocer – 20 July 2019

buying & supplying fresh

38 | The Grocer | 20 July 2019 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

Morrisons has launched

a £2m apprenticeship

fund to tackle farming’s

“recruitment challenge”.

The money will

be made available

to employers within

Morrisons’ supply chain,

and would help ensure

the industry had enough

people in training to meet

the UK’s food needs, the

supermarket giant said.

Would-be apprentices

will be put through a pro-

gramme of agricultural

skills training, mentoring

and time in-store to learn

how supermarkets work.

Apprentices get in-store

training and mentoring

Morrisons

funds farming

apprentices

Mackerel Sizzle: lineup

comes in three variants

Princes has launched

two new product ranges

as part of its drive to

bring “a new audience”

to the brand after a £5m

relaunch earlier this year.

Both were aimed at

shoppers who are look-

ing for “health, taste

and convenience”, the

canned food giant said.

Its ‘infused tuna fillets’

range (rsp: £2/can) con-

sists of “hand-packed”

pieces of tuna infused in

either olive oil or chilli-

infused oil. The new

cans carry high-protein

and sustainable fishing

claims.

Princes targets new audiences

with launch of two fish ranges

The brand’s Mackerel

Sizzle range (rsp: £1.90/

can) is made up of skin-

less and boneless fillets

in a flavoured marinade

in three variants: zesty

lime & chilli, rich tomato

& herbs and smokey

chilli & tomato. It was

targeted at consumers

seeking “easy to make”

meals.

Both pieces of NPD

started rolling out into

stores this week.

“These unique innova-

tions are a result of our

response to the changes

we are seeing among our

consumers, by provid-

ing products that meet

the needs of modern fam-

ily life,” said commercial

director for fish products,

Mat Lowery.

The launch will be sup-

ported by a large-scale

media campaign later

this year.

JN Meat’s steak also won
two individual prizes

Danish firm JN Meat
International has
retained its World Steak
Challenge title for the
best steak in the world
with a rib eye from a
grass-fed Ayrshire reared
in Finland.
The steak also picked

Danish firm retains

world steak crown

up individual gongs in

the Best Rib Eye and Best

Grass Fed categories at

the ceremony in Dublin

last week, organised by

The Grocer’s sister web-

site Global Meat News.

“This year’s winning

steak was as close to per-

fection as you can get

and I hope the winner

returns next year in an

effort to actually achieve

perfection,” said chair of

judges Richie Wilson.

This year’s awards

were “the most fiercely

contested yet”, added

Global Meat News editor

Aidan Fortune.

Switch to sustainable

food system ‘urgent’

The report is proposing a shift to organic farming systems

Kevin White
The UK faces further cli-
mate breakdown and
diet-related ill health
unless it completely tran-
sitions to a ‘sustainable
and healthy food system’
by 2030, a new study has
warned.
Further ‘deforesta-
tion, loss of wildlife,
soil degradation, pol-
lution and rocketing ill
health’ were serious risks
without urgent action,
warned the RSA Food,
Farming & Countryside
Commission’s report, Our
Future in the Land, pub-
lished this week.
Instead of being the
sector that ‘nourished
people and the land’,
the current food sys-
tem and its emphasis on
cheap, mass-produced
food had ‘damaged and

depleted precious and

finite resources’, said the

report, which has been

backed by environment

secretary Michael Gove

and a cross-party group

of MPs.

Echoing warnings

from the Eat-Lancet

Commission in January

and the recent bout of

Extinction Rebellion

protests, it called for a

drastic change in global

diets and proposed a

10-year transition plan

to a sustainable agro-

ecological farming sys-

tem by 2030.

This could be achieved

by a shift away from

intensive to organic sys-

tems alongside a greater

focus on pasture-fed

livestock, and growing

more fruit & veg, nuts

and pulses.

Brexit offered a “once-

in-50-years opportunity

to change our food and

farming system”, said

commission chair Ian

Cheshire. However, the

government must act to

‘stop delays on policy

and trade decisions’, and

commit to the essential

elements of a transition

plan by January 2020, the

report warned.

It comes as the Eating

Better alliance this week

launched a roadmap to

achieve a 50% drop in

meat and dairy consump-

tion in the UK by 2030.

It identified 24 actions

targeted at government

and industry, including

more emphasis on plant-

based diets.

ACT NOW

Whatever happens next, the climate emergency makes

urgent, radical action on the environment essential –

Ian Cheshire, RSA Commission chair