FDBusiness.com

450 delegates from food and drink businesses across the UK and Ireland attended the inaugural Sustainable Food & Beverage Manufacturing Conference & Exhibition, which was held at the Motor Cycle Museum, Birmingham on Thursday, 23rd of October 2014.

In line with the event’s theme of ‘sustainable growth for sustainable profits’, the speakers at the Conference were carefully selected from senior management within the food and drink industry, both at home and abroad, who had a successful track record of delivering quantifiable eco results in sustainable manufacturing and throughout the supply chain.

For example, Michael Dickstein, Global Manager Sustainable Development at Heineken International, travelled from the Netherlands to enlighten the Conference on how Heineken is meeting its 2020 Global Sustainability Goals.

Simon Thompson, Environmental Packaging Lead at Mondelez Europe, outlined how the global snacking giant is optimized packaging to reduce food waste.

Inder Poonaji, Head of Sustainability at Nestlé UK, provided an interesting insight into how the world’s largest food manufacturer is prioritising sustainability.

The importance of sustainability to successful business activity was also explored by Gavin Milligan, Group Sustainability Director at William Jackson Food Group.

Pete Robertson, Managing Director of Dailycer UK, a leading manufacturer of breakfast cereals and cereal bars for many of the leading European food retailers, explained his company’s proactive approach to sustainability.

A retailer’s perspective was presented by Mark Little, Head of Food Waste Reduction at Tesco, who examined the area of reducing food waste, while Laura Babbs, Sustainability Manager at Asda, outlined the grocery chain’s sustainability research and customers’ insights.

55 Exhibitors

The event also featured 55 exhibitors offering tried and tested solutions alongside the latest technology in business sustainability in areas such as factory optimisation, carbon reduction, water conservation, waste management, energy efficiency, renewable energy, packaging reduction, recycling, and supply chain optimisation.

Martin Chilcott, CEO of 2degrees, who chaired the Conference.

An innovative aspect of the Conference was that each exhibitor was allowed a one minute ‘elevator pitch’ to introduce themselves and their business to the audience of delegates. Of course, delegates also took the opportunity to browse the exhibition stands.

The various workshops and seminars also provided insights into the latest regulations in energy, packaging & labelling, emissions and water usage. The event provided an excellent forum for networking and discussing the latest industry and market trends.

Bigger and Better

Colin Murphy, CEO of event organiser Premier Publishing & Events, comments: “The Sustainable Food & Beverage Manufacturing Conference & Exhibition was our inaugural event in this sector of the industry. The event was well attended, and we are very pleased with the response from exhibitors, sponsors and delegates. We are confident of producing an even better and bigger event next year.”