Our year ahead

Author: CIM FDA

John Giles, President, CIM Food, Drink and Agriculture Group

Our FDA group had a busy year in 2017, holding four events in London, six events across the regions and presented student awards at four colleges and universities. Richard Hodgson, the then CEO of Pizza Express was our Guest Speaker at our Presidents Dinner at the House of Lords in May. In November, Fraser McKevitt from KANTAR World Panel outlined the key trends in the UK food and drink sector over 2017 and gave us some insight as to what he thinks might happen in 2018. To be fair, I am not sure we could pack much more in to a 12-month period but in 2018, we will have a go. We already have some key events planned:

What's happening at The Groceries Code Adjudicator? 21 March 2018

Christine Tacon, the Groceries Code Adjudicator will address us at our London base of MINTEL on 21 March What's happening at The Groceries Code Adjudicator?  The GCA is clearly one of the most influential organisations in the UK agricultural and food sector as it looks to regulate the relationship between the leading supermarkets and their suppliers though the enforcement of the implementation of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice. Christine has held this role since 2013.  While great progress has been made there still appears a lot to do and this should be a really interesting insight in to the work of the GCA and the future challenges that the UK supply chain needs to address. Come and hear what Christine has to say – it should be a really interesting evening and we expect it to be well attended.

13th Annual President's Dinner (luncheon) and Excellence in Marketing Awards, 24 May 2018

Our 13th President’s Dinner or ‘Luncheon’ this year is on 24 May.Our Guest Speaker is Nigel Broadhurst, the Managing Director of Iceland Foods who will give us his views on the key trends in the UK food sector and what the future prospects for the UK food industry are.  We will also make our annual Excellence in Marketing Award. This event is very kindly hosted by Lord Lexden. We are also extremely grateful for the support we also receive from Kleffmann Research, the leading global agricultural market research organisation in holding this event. Please remember to apply for your tickets early to avoid disappointment, as this is always a popular, oversubscribed event.

British sugar - Evolution in a changing market, 6 June 2018

Paul Kenward, the Managing Director of British Sugar will talk to us at MINTEL on 6 June. British Sugar is an unsung British success story. With group revenue of over £700 million per annum, the business works with over 3,000 farmers to turn eight million tonnes of sugar beet into 60% of the UK’s demand for sugar as an ingredient; but also, enough electricity to power a city the size of Peterborough. They also produce a range of by products including pharmaceutical crops, bio ethanol, animal feeds and renewable energy. British Sugar has customers across the UK and the rest of the EU and as part of AB Sugar have other interests in South Africa, China and the US with 24 factories in 10 countries besides 4 in the UK. Paul will explain how they are evolving to meet the demands of the UK market & the regulatory and political challenges it faces in a post BREXIT environment.

Key trends in the UK food and drink sector over 2018, 28 November 2018

We welcome Fraser McKevitt from KANTAR World Panel for what has become his annual ‘state of the nation’ and review of the trends this year has yet to deliver. At this event, we will also hold our Annual Review when we summarise the key developments within the Group over the previous 12 months and announce any changes to the committee structure.

Our London based programme is all but organised for 2018, the regional events will be finalised over the next few months – so please keep an eye on the web site our LinkedIn group and our new Twitter account for further details.

Many thanks again to all those who support our Group - not least those who attend events, but also Kleffmann, MINTEL and Charrington Farms who support our events over the year. This is very much appreciated.

 John Giles

President, CIM Food, Drink and Agriculture Group