Date of Release: 25 February 2000
For Immediate Use

Food and Health Business Club Launch

The Institute of Food Research, the University of East Anglia and local businesses are combining forces to form the Food and Health Business Club, to be launched with a 1-day conference, 'What's on the Menu', at the Institute on 16 March 2000.

The Club will give SMEs in the agri-food business sector access to recent developments in food safety and authenticity, nutrition, diet and health and consumer sciences. Activities will include conferences, seminars, and site visits (industrial and research). Members will be kept informed by newsletter, electronic bulletin boards and a website. There will be opportunities for pre-competitive liaison and the development of collaborative research proposals.

Welcoming the creation of the Club its Vice-Chairman, Dr Kevan Williams of Eurofins Scientific, explained "Food businesses in the UK operate in an exceedingly competitive environment, including a strong pound, significant and increasing regulation and the need to satisfy their customers on topical issues such as GMOs. The information available to Club Members will help them to innovate, improve procedures and technology, cut costs and compete effectively."

The Club's co-ordinator, Peter Gillatt, said "While much of the information may be available to multinational companies through their own in-house research facilities this is not necessarily the case for smaller businesses". The main focus will be SMEs in the Eastern region covering Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, but this will not be exclusive.

• The Club is part-funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
• It is run by an Advisory Group composed primarily of businesses including: Birds Eye Wall's, Bowes of Norfolk, British Sugar Technical Centre, Eurofins Scientific, Geest Prepared Foods, Kettle Foods.
• The launch conference is part-funded by EU FLAIR-FLOW.
• ISDN Audio available.

-ENDS-

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