Report by our sister title Food Manufacturer
Hovis in plans to raise the Red Tractor logo
AFS crops sector chairman Matthew Read said Rank Hovis’s announcement last year that it was switching to100 per cent British flour was a good start:“They need to get through 12 months of that, but we will be talking to them to get our foot in the door,” said Read. “We haven’t got a loaf of bread [with the logo], but I am hopeful we will crack that problem in the near future.”
He added: “We’re talking to the National Association of British and Irish Millers’ members and, out of that, opportunities will arise.”
Cereal processors – including breakfast cereal manufacturers – had shown more interest in the Red Tractor logo in the past 6–12 months, and they would be a focus in the coming year, he said.
Processors using grain as an essential ingredient were obvious candidates for developing the use of the mark, said AFS chief executive David Clarke.
Greene King was the first brewer to adopt it in February 2009, followed by Wells and Young’s.
However, Clarke said complex processed foods presented more of an obstacle. “What if AFS chicken is a minor ingredient in a ready meal? There’s been some controversy there.”
