Facilit8 and Flourish Ltd

✨UPF AWARENESS CONTINUES TO GROW✨ So... we continue to see growth in the campaign bringing ultra-processed food (UPF) to light in the general public! Another thought provoking documentary released on the BBC on Tuesday evening, with Chris van Tulleken discussing the effects that UPF is having on society. (https://lnkd.in/eKBq2hKa) What I'm hopeful for, is that the documentary was illuminating to the general consumer. Increasing the understanding of just how damaging cheap foods can be for health, and the "addiction" issues that UPF can cause. The more that the general consumer learns, the stronger the trends towards clean label and health focussed products grow. Trends in health focussed eating are already growing, of which Bidfood UK, Lycored, Food Manufacture have already reported on (see below). On top of this, the slow shift in regulation begins to occur, with Colombia being one of the first countries to offer "warning" labels on products with high sugars, fats (etc.), making it easier for the consumer to identify. (Lycored - https://lnkd.in/ewJwCgm4) (Bidfood - https://lnkd.in/eaJpgnBy) (Food Manufacture - https://lnkd.in/e2hZin-t) Of course, ultra-processing, food prices, and feeding an ever growing population are a constantly evolving situation. With continually soaring food prices, political instability, and environmental uncertainty, it is still clear that UPF is not going away. It is now about how the food and drinks industry can adapt to the changes which are coming for the industry as research continues to show the growing impacts of UPF on the industry. I personally expect that those who can focus purely on clean label as new brands (BOL Foods are a great example) will be in a fantastic position if they can hold on through the high food costs set to continue. Would be interested to hear your thoughts about where things may develop over the coming years!

✨CAN YOU HEAR JINGLING BELLS? ✨ It might be early to start thinking about... but Christmas is just around the corner! Productions runs for Christmas are often one of the more critical times to ensure your processes run smoothly, and that includes ensuring you have enough stock now for the increased demand! We're aware that the more prepared will have already begun production runs, but if you're looking at your stocks for the upcoming rush, and you're in need of solutions to shortages, please get in touch. 📧 E-mail: [email protected] 📱WhatsApp: +44 7713 073883 💻Website: https://lnkd.in/eDkxsQnQ

✨MARKET UPDATE - Q3/Q4 2024✨ Following on from our posts about our new stock, we thought it would also be a good time to update on the market for Organic ingredients going into Q4 this year. It's been a difficult year for a wide range of ingredients, with unpredictable weather and poor climates for growing evident across the globe. Based on conversations with our suppliers and the trends in raw material pricing, we're expecting the following: 🌿 MORINGA POWDER 🌿 Continued shortages with ongoing raw material issues. Moringa powder is expected to continue being hard to source for a period of time yet, with flooding, poor weather and unpredictable growing seasons contributing to shortages in stock. In addition to the ongoing challenges of Organic Certification of products from India, Moringa Powder stocks in the UK are likely to be hard to come by. 🥥COCONUT PRODUCTS🥥 2024 has not been a good year for coconut growing across the major producers of coconut products. Poor weather, unpredictable temperatures and ever increasing demand means that reduced raw material (coconuts) is being spread further across more producers of coconut products. Coconut prices have already increased over the last couple of months, but we expect to see this continuing into 2025, with there likely to be gaps in supplies of milk/cream/dessicated/oil from many smaller scale suppliers as stock becomes harder to get. 🍮AGAVE SYRUP🍮 Agave is looking to be in a better spot than many other products in 2024. With demand dropping slightly as Tequila growth levels out slowly, and increased availability of mature plants for syrup/fibre production, means that stocks are expected to be good (barring any unexpected changes) into the start of 2025. Pricing is expected to improve slightly with time, which is a small piece of good news in amongst the issues with other products! As usual, we're working hard to ensure our supply chain remains strong and our stocks in the UK remain good for our products. If you think we can help with your supply chain and ingredient portfolio, please do not hesitate to get in contact. 📧 E-mail: [email protected] 📱WhatsApp: +44 7713 073883 💻Website: https://lnkd.in/eDkxsQnQ

✨NEW PRODUCT - DESICCATED COCONUT ✨ In addition to the coconut milk we talked about last week, we're also happy to announce we're also stocking dessicated coconut in fine and medium grade. Available in fine and medium grades, our dessicated coconut is all organic, and based around our standard 3-day lead time. With coconut prices set to increase in the coming months, we have good stocks and would love to hear from you if you're interested in changing your supplier, so please do get in touch. 📧 E-mail: [email protected] 📱WhatsApp: +44 7713 073883 💻Website: https://lnkd.in/eDkxsQnQ

✨NEW PRODUCT - COCONUT MILK✨ Another product for our portfolio, we're now stocking coconut milk and coconut cream in varying fat contents, on our usual 3-day lead time. Coconut products are set to rise in price in the coming months, with failures in raw materials due to weather patterns in the growing countries. (https://lnkd.in/erz5PiXq.) Our products are produced in Sri Lanka, Organic and competitively priced, if you're in need of stock, now is the perfect time to stock up before prices increase. If you're interested in our current stocks, please get in touch. 📧 E-mail: [email protected] 📱WhatsApp: +44 7713 073883 💻Website: https://lnkd.in/eDkxsQnQ

✨STOCK UPDATE - OCTOBER✨ So another year seems to be flying by, and it's not long until we're staring down the barrel of more Christmas and "Festive" specials!🎄 We've been busy securing stock, and are pleased to say we've got good stocks of the below products: ➡ Organic Agave Syrup - Extra Light Colour in Stock, in 25kg Canisters and 1400kg IBC. ➡ Organic Agave Inulin - Good stocks available in 25kg bags. ➡ Organic Moringa Powder - Sri Lankan source, available in 25kg bags. ➡ Organic Coconut MCT C8 Oil - From Sri Lankan source, available in 25kg canisters. ➡ NEW PRODUCT: Organic Coconut Milk/Cream - Available from our new Sri Lankan supplier, we have varying fat content (17% and 24%) available in 5kg bag-in-box format. ➡ NEW PRODUCT: Organic Dessicated Coconut - Available in different grades (Fine and Medium) from the same Sri Lankan supplier as our coconut milk. In addition to the products listed above, we have a large range within our wider portfolio available on a longer lead time, including oleoresins, spices, 60/40 MCT Oil and more. If you are interested in learning more on our full range, please get in contact. 📧 E-mail: [email protected] 📱WhatsApp: +44 7713 073883 💻Website: https://lnkd.in/eDkxsQnQ

✨HOW DO YOU STAND OUT?✨ Was great to get out to lunch! - The definitive event for the café, coffee shop & food-to-go sector. last week to see some of our existing clients, but also seeing what's going on in retail and with new product releases! There were some excellent products on show with continued innovation in a number of sectors... but there was also a lot of repetition. Very notable dominance in the beverage section, with a HUGE number of "added fibre" or "health focussed" products on show. Unfortunately, there seems to be a huge focus on the fibre trend at the moment, with little thought to ingredient panel or the actual health focus of many drinks. Snacks and sweets also notably focussing on fibre, maybe a little too hard, sacrificing end product for on-label claims. It's all well and good using an upcoming trend to launch a product, and everyone thinks their product can change the market, but often, you can be lost amongst the sheer volume of SKUs in the market at all times. So how do you stand out? Here's a few ideas... 🍹 Focus on Ingredients - Many challenger brands are ahead of the curve when it comes to trends, and there's no doubts that plenty of the brands at the show are on it when it comes to mood boosting/health/diet focus, but their ingredients are letting them down. An on-label claim is great, but when your health focussed brand can be classified as UPF or has an ingredients panel longer than my arm, it's going to be difficult to sell as health focussed individuals look at the ingredients panel. Also note, REDUCING not removing sugar can allow for a better ingredients panel. Sugar is NOT a complete sin! ⭐ Find your point of difference! - With the absolute wealth of products which were on display in certain categories (snacks and beverages most notably), standing out is hard. Before launching a product, consider what makes you stand out from the crowd. Is it sourcing? Fantastic ingredients? Differing production over others? Whatever it is, make sure you are sending that message to consumers. We've worked with some great examples of this, such as Gusto Organic who work very hard on their ingredients and ethical message, while also producing great products, or BAR BUOY Ltd. who focus on the higher end RTD cocktail market, and produce cocktails which are a level above the others you see on shelf. 🤔 Have others review your products - When you develop your new products, it's almost impossible to avoid bias. It's common that new products are a combined effort from larger companies helping challenger brands get going by handling production, and while end products are great, impartial feedback is hard to find. Companies such as FDReviews.com offer a cost effective way to get feedback from industry experts, who review your product(s) via a video, and provide honest, great feedback. Would be great to hear your thoughts on the current trends, and which brands you thought stood out if you visited the show. 😄

✨ FAIR TRADE FORTNIGHT✨ We're coming towards the end of Fair Trade Fortnight which aims to showcase business doing their part and raising awareness for the need for fairer trade to support communities and farmers across the globe. We're proud to be Fair Trade suppliers of agave syrup, working with our suppliers to ensure that our products are produced following Fair Trade standards, ensuring workers receive fair wages, have safe working conditions, and sustainable livelihoods. By choosing Fair Trade, we’re doing a little bit towards contributing to a better, fairer supply chain while continuing to offer high quality organic product which is the centre to our business. With a wealth of Fair Trade products out there, it's great to see other certifications coming up alongside it, with an onus on supply chains getting better as time goes on. 🌱💛 #FairTrade #AgaveSyrup #Sustainable

✨IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR✨ There's only a few times a year that we really see huge shifts in flavours/trends, and Halloween/Autumn is one of them. We're about to see a barrage of pumpkin and spices which happens every year as companies try and innovate the renowned flavours into their products and "out-do" others trying to do the same. 🎃 There's something to be said for using limited availability as a marketing ploy, and in the case of Pumpkin Spice, it seems to have worked to the point that the flavour is set to be prominent for years to come. I'd love to hear your thoughts and what you think of Pumpkin Spice and the Fall flavour epidemic. Do you think we're past the peak? Or are we set for many more years of products with that iconic flavour? As always, get in touch if you need ingredients for NPD (because Christmas is the next big trend) or are struggling with your supply chain. - J [email protected] +44 (0) 7713 073883