A Helping Hand: Consultancy in the Food Industry

The global proliferation of the internet has opened the information floodgates. Every year the virtual world exponentially grows, swelling on a minute-to-minute basis with data on every conceivable topic. But doesn’t the modern world, where even the most technical information is freely offered, threaten the value of professional advice? With access to huge banks of information a mere mouse click away, has the consultant become redundant?

Brian Smith, founding partner of consultancy firm Booth Smith Food Technology, recognises that the internet has changed the landscape for food industry advisers, but insists that professional help can still offer something that the virtual world cannot. “What we used to sell as know-how is now available to most people on the internet. So our value as consultants is not only knowing that information, but also being able to interpret it and apply it in the most economic and strategic way. We’re experienced enough and specialist enough to be able to say, ‘Yes, we know you understand where you can buy this equipment, but we are probably the best people to put it together as a complete investment’.”

Booth Smith Food Technology is a UK-based food technology firm with experts advising on projects around the world. The company has been particularly involved in new product development, working extensively in chilled foods, snacks, ready meals and long-life products. As well as developing new products, Booth Smith also works on procuring and implementing food processing equipment, from bakery and snacks processing machines to more high-risk environments such as sushi plants and poultry processing. “It’s really everything from concept to product launch,” says Smith.

Reducing risk in the food sector

To offer potential clients a more tempting value proposition than simply knowing the facts, a good consultancy should be able to offer a comprehensive range of in-house expertise so that the client can be given support on all aspects of a particular project.

This can involve having a wider range of non-food related resources than one might expect. Booth Smith can call on civil construction and factory kit-out experts to offer advice on plant construction and layout to meet international safety standards and maximise efficiency.

The company was responsible for designing the UK’s first sushi factory, which involved harnessing in-house knowledge to meet exacting specifications in one of the food industry’s most high-risk sectors, as Smith explains. “I pulled together a team of technologists who were used to working in a high-risk food environment and able to cope with the techniques of handling cooked rice and raw fish and producing a manufacturing method that enabled us to produce chilled food that was dispatched within eight hours of it being produced.”

Another complex minefield which necessitates a wide knowledge base is food safety regulation. Standards systems like ISO9000, and guidelines from the likes of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and the European Food Safety Inspection Service (EFSIS) create a labyrinthine web of expectations and legal requirements. The evidence that companies around the world still stumble (unintentionally or otherwise) on food hygiene and plant management regulations is all around us, from the recall of 550 million unsafe eggs in the US in August 2010 to Canadian pork processor Atrahan Transformation’s C$62,000 fine by the Court of Quebec for violating humane slaughter regulations.

For Smith, adhering to international-level standards is fundamental to every food producer, no matter the size or location.

“People say you don’t need BRC if you’re starting up a factory in India to supply the Indian market. You don’t, but you will do,” he says. “It’s happening already. You’ve got groups like Reliance Group in India, who are beginning to set up a supermarket chain; they’re looking to apply the standards they can see being operated in Europe and the US. We say it’s a false economy if you think you can avoid going down this route. It’s the difference between playing the premiere league and being stuck in the fourth division. So we apply all of the relevant standards and make sure that anything we design, develop, label or process for a client will meet those requirements.”

Common processing mistakes

Beyond operating in high-risk sectors and navigating international regulatory waters, a food consultancy could prove its worth to producers by simply being experienced enough to avoid gratuitous spending. Smith notes that one of the most common processing mistakes made in the industry is simply a matter of enthusiasm for high technology that might not be necessary. “Often an investor will say ‘I want the most automated, up-to-date, sophisticated, all-singing all-dancing process line, please.’ And we’ll say, ‘Hang on, you could have an automated case packing machine at the end, but it only takes two people to save you €10,000 on your capital costs and you’re providing employment for two people; so do you really mean that?'”

While high-end automated production lines might be the best option for well-established companies that need to consistently produce large quantities of one or two products, smaller companies need to be flexible enough to switch products around to suit demand. “The ready meals business is a very good example,” says Smith, “because it’s like a restaurant. It must change to take account of food trends and refresh its offering on the shelves. So we always say to ready meals producers, ‘Let’s build in the flexibility to make a variety of products and menus without too much further capital investment’.”

Developing markets

Smith notes that his company is highly active in developing countries, helping emerging production industries to increase efficiency and satisfy international standards and demand, both domestic and export. He describes the Middle East and India as having sophisticated emerging food production markets with plenty of demand for expert advice.

He highlights East Africa as a region that has been a particular focus for Booth Smith’s recent projects. “I’ve recently been working in Tanzania and Mozambique, and we can bring an enormous amount of benefit there, because there are small entrepreneurs that are starting up small ice cream businesses or bakeries that are emerging quite rapidly but are struggling because they don’t have the same access to support services that Europe and the US, or even India, possess. It’s quite competitive between the East African countries – Kenya is dominant, and we’re trying to help the countries not be swamped by one powerful East African country.

“We can make a contribution to enable these other countries to become self-sufficient and competitive in the face of competition from their neighbours.”

It’s true that food technologists and consultants are no longer the gatekeepers for information and advice. But if a company can find a reliable consultant to become an active partner on a product launch or plant design, it can potentially deliver cost-efficiency savings and risk management strategies through all stages of a project.