Employers

4 reasons you need a food & nutrition labelling consultant

Maybe you are puzzled at why companies might hire consultants instead of solving their own problems themselves? As much as I hate to hear it, that question does make sense however, there are many reasons why a company might need to use a consultant to help with their nutrition and labelling obligations (and also why I am able to keep working with some of the coolest foodies in the industry!).

 

You might not want the responsibility of verifying all the information on your own

Labelling rules are strictly regulated and can get complicated when trying to establish if you have included all the mandatory information correctly, taken account of the minimum type sizes for the text on your label in addition to any specific declarations that may apply to your product type.

A labelling consultant is there to support you in producing compliant labels.  They are the experts who know what can or cannot be printed on the label and they are aware of which sets of regulations will apply to your product type no matter how complex that may be.

You are just starting out in the food industry

No doubt you have done tons of research looking at competitor products so that you can make your label the best and the most eye catching.  However, if your competitor makes certain claims on their packs, this doesn’t mean that you should too.

Consultants will advise you what is compliant rather than what sells best in the market place.  Brands who break the law do so at their own risk and are likely to be challenged by the authorities eventually.

You don’t have the time to learn about labelling laws

Perhaps you are launching several products at once or have just won a new retail contract with a very tight launch timeline.  Maybe you just don’t have the energy or desire to check your label designs are compliant amongst all the other important tasks required in the running of your expanding business?

By nature, consultants will provide advice that clearly keeps their client within the law, so do exactly what a labelling consultant tells you!!  Obvious I know, but there are so many regulations under constant change, it would be almost impossible for small businesses to keep up. Once you have established your product portfolio and had your labels reviewed, it should become a routine task to add more SKUs in the future if they are of similar ingredients.

You want to hire an experienced and knowledgeable labelling expert

In an ideal world, you would have a team of experts in-house, but the reality is, the number of hours and frequency you would need them means employing these experts full-time is not an option.

This is where the flexibility of using a consultant really comes into its own. You only pay for the services/time the consultant provides.  You also benefit from projects being completed speedily because your consultant (unlike in-house employees) isn’t distracted by other business tasks.  This means good value for money!

It may seem like a big investment or effort to employ a food and nutrition labelling consultant, though you may find that you are eligible for funding or grants that will cover some or all of the fees.  AB Food Nutrition specialises in working closely with organisations of all sizes and has years of experience supporting new and small food businesses not just in the North West, but across the UK. Contact Anne to discuss your requirements for a cost-effective food & nutrition labelling quote.

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BNF Healthy Eating Week in the Workplace 2016

The British Nutrition Foundation is running another Healthy Eating Week between 13 – 17 June. The purpose is to provide a dedicated week in the year where UK workers and school children can simultaneously focus on healthy eating and drinking, and physical activity, in order to encourage healthy living.

Promoting health in the workplace is not only beneficial to employees but also to employers.

Healthy Eating Week Logo Welsh

You can sign your workplace up for free and download the guide to help you plan and organise your Week and provide ideas to meet the Week’s five challenges (Have breakfast; Have 5 A DAY; Drink plenty; Get active; Try something new).

If you are interested in hosting Healthy Eating Week in your workplace and need some consultancy advice or assistance with your planning, contact Anne at AB Food Nutrition (anne@abfoodnutrition.co.uk). Here are just a few ideas we could help you with:

  • which foods & drinks to include in a healthy breakfast for a morning meeting
  • provide recipes for healthy breakfast ideas that you can email to employees
  • 5-a-day portion guides and tips to include more veggies in meals
  • work with your staff canteen to offer healthier meals and snacks
  • recipe analysis to provide calories for menus

 

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