Frozen food business conference moves online

A thought-provoking line up of speakers will review the last 12 months and discuss industry trends and share insights at The British Frozen Food Federation’s (BFFF) annual Business Conference on 19-23 April.

To ensure the safety of all delegates, The Business Conference will take place online and has been broken down into five 2-3 hour sessions, each covering a different theme. At the end of each presentation, BFFF chief executive Richard Harrow will announce category winners of the long-awaited 2020 British Frozen Food Awards.

The themes of the 2021 Frozen Food Business Conference are:

Monday - Retail - sponsored by Company Shop

Tuesday - Economy, Trends & Export - sponsored by XPO Logistics

Wednesday - Foodservice

Thursday - Sustainability

Friday - British Frozen Food Federation - Sponsored by Apetito

Mr Harrow, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming back conference favourites Roger Martin-Fagg and Simon Stenning, as well as a whole host of high-profile speakers from the industry.

“Despite the challenges of 2020, and in some cases because of them, the UK’s frozen food industry continues to be a real success story. Last year shoppers spent an extra £872m on everything from frozen avocado to ice cream: making frozen the fastest growing food category, second only to alcohol. The value of frozen food sold in the UK stores is now worth £7.21bn with a year-on-year growth of 13.8%, compared to total grocery, which grew at 11.3%, and fresh and chilled at 9.3%.

“The Conference provides the perfect opportunity for delegates to learn about the trends and hear insights that will help keep this momentum going. It seems fitting that the timing of the conference coincides with the lifting of some lockdown restrictions. For us it’s another promising sign of a return to normality.”

Tickets are available now and can be purchased for individual days or the full week at a discounted rate of five days for the price of four. Full week tickets come with a complimentary goodie box containing five frozen pastries to enjoy on each morning of the conference. Member discount will be applied to BFFF Full Member logins.

The full line-up for the week is as follows:

Monday 19th – Retail – sponsored by Company Shop

Chris Hayward, IGD

Duncan Cross, Asda

Carol Redman, Kantar

Myles Hopper, Mindful Chef

Tuesday 20th – Economy, Trends & Export – sponsored by XPO Logistics

Roger Martin-Fagg

Charles Banks, The Food People

Nicola Thomas, FDEA and Andrew Williams, Santander

Wednesday 21st – Foodservice

Simon Stenning

Hugh Mahoney, Brakes

Gavin Kelly, Lumina Intelligence

Andrew Selley, Bidfood

Thursday 22nd – Sustainability

Richard Pike and Andy Stephens, Cook

Dick Searle, Packaging Federation

Sally Wake, Company Shop

Carbon Intelligence and Annelie Selander, Nomad Foods

Friday 23rd – BFFF – sponsored by Apetito

Richard Harrow, Chief Executive, BFFF

Harry Hincks, Digital Membership and Marketing Manager, BFFF

Simon Brentnall, Head of Health and Safety, BFFF

Denise Rion, Head of Technical, BFFF