Food and Drink Innovation Network : Next seminar

Ethics is proving to be a useful umbrella to cover our many conflicting food industry challenges such as carbon vs fairtrade v organics vs a growing number of other corporate and social issues.

Ultimately this has an impact on the type of products we develop and how and where we source and manufacture them.

So we've teamed up with the Food Ethics Council to put together a together a briefing day on food ethics, and we think the agenda will appeal to experienced ethics specialists as well as those just embarking on the journey.

Helen Browning OBE, Chair Of The Food Ethics Council, is chairing the day and she and her team have assembled a star-studded cast.

Ed Garner from TNS Worldpanel will set the scene with the latest analysis of market potential and trends. Dragon Brands will tell us what they found from specially commissioned consumer research. The Food Ethics Council will present a primer on ethics and a toolkit for better business decisions. Julia Hailes MBE – author of The New Green Consumer Guide – will guide us through key issues like water scarcity. Geoff Tansey, who has just published The Future Control of Food, will give us the big picture – ethical challenges to the food sector’s licence to operate. Then we’ll zoom in on case studies – PepsiCo, M&S and others will think aloud about the ethics of business decisions they made.

COMPANIES ATTENDING SO FAR INCLUDE:
Asda, Avenance, Bakehouse, Bakkavor / English Village Salads, Bernard Matthews, Boots, Bord Bia, Bottle Green Drinks, Brakes, Buckingham Foods, CCFRA, City University, Co-Operative Group, Costa, Dragon Brands, Ethical Trade Initiative, Exposure, Finlays, First Milk Cheese Company, Food & Drink Innovation Network, Food Ethics Council, Greencore Grocery, GSK, Harper Adams University College, jones knowles ritchie, Kate Baumber Marketing, Kerry Foods, London & Scottish International, Marks & Spencer, McDonald's, MSN, Nature's Way Foods, Omsco, PepsiCo, Premier Foods, Produceworld, Ryvita, Samworth Bros Ltd, Sensational Organic, SSP, Taste Matters Ltd, Tate & Lyle, The New Green Consumer Guide, The Rowntree Trust, The Silver Spoon Company, The Tetley Group, Thorntons, TNS, Tyrrells Potato Chips, Unilever, University College Birmingham, William Reed

CHAIR'S INTRODUCTION
Helen Browning OBE, Chair, Food Ethics Council.
· What is ethics?
· Why is it on the agenda? Why now?
· Overview of the day.

ETHICAL CONSUMPTION - MARKET TRENDS
Ed Garner, Communications Director TNS.
· How big are UK markets for ethical food products?
· What’s the story internationally?
· Who buys them – how segmented is the market?
· How are different UK retailers positioning themselves on ethics?
· The future – if the economy slows will ethics take a hit?

WHAT MAKES AN ETHICAL BRAND
Luke Vincent / Dorothy Mackenzie, Dragon Brands.
· Debrief from exclusively commissioned research.
· What are the main ethical brands?
· What do consumers understand by ethics?
· How to get ethical messages across
· Can you afford not to be ethical?

ETHICS AS STRATEGY - HOW CAN ETHICS HELP YOUR BUSINESS
Tom MacMillan, Executive Director, Food Ethics Council.
· Defining ethics.
· Is it just for CSR or niche brands?
· Ethics and sustainability – overlaps and differences.
· A toolkit for making better decisions.

AIRFREIGHT, POVERTY AND THE PLANET
Carmel McQuaid, Climate Change Manager, Marks and Spencer.
· Airfreight in context of our overall carbon footprint.
· The impact of airfreight on climate change.
· How much does airfreight matter to suppliers in poor countries?
· Marks and Spencer’s approach to airfreight.
· The pros and cons of labelling.

KEY ISSUES FOR THE FOOD & DRINK INDUSTRY
Julia Hailes MBE, sustainability consultant and author of The New Green Consumer Guide.
· Priority issues for the food business.
· Examples of good practice - and bad.
· Should some foods be off the menu?
· Views on 'food miles', climate change, water scarcity and other key issues.
· Where are the easy wins and tough trade-offs?

SECTOR WIDE CHALLENGES
Geoff Tansey, Joseph Rowntree Visionary and author of The Future Control of Food.
· Global rules and negotiations that will shape the food sector.
· Regulatory and reputational risks.
· Beyond the business case – long-term viability.
· How can the food sector keep its licence to operate?

PRODUCT PORTFOLIO, HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Andrew Smith, Head of Corporate Responsibility, PepsiCo.
· Health and environmental issues facing food and drink manufacture.
· Unpacking risks, opportunities and win-wins.
· How have these issues influenced PepsiCo’s brand and product portfolio?
· Where do policy gaps limit action by business?

ETHICAL TRADING CASE STUDIES
Man-Kwun Chan, Head of Communications and Research, Ethical Trading Initiative.
· Working conditions in global food manufacture.
· Troubleshooting and dilemmas in ethical trade.
· What does best practice look like?
· Watch points for product developers.

OBESITY, NUTRITION AND CHOICE
Anne Heughan, European External Affairs Director (Foods), Unilever.
· What ethical challenges does obesity pose Unilever?
· Does better health mean less choice for consumers?
· Ethical issues in health labelling and reformulation
· How has the company balanced competing priorities?

NOTE : We may have to make adjustments to the agenda based on the availability of speakers.

Date & Time:
Doors open for early birds: 8:00 am. (Tea, coffee, cheese butties and egg butties for all.)
Seminar begins: 9:10 am.
Coffee/Buffet Lunch/Tea: TBC
Conference finishes: 4:45 pm latest.

Price:
Price: £375 + VAT. Don't let the low price deceive you. We're a non-commercial trade association and you won't find better value than this anywhere.

Venue:
Hilton Metropole - NEC Birmingham. Click here to see a map.