About Us
Our Businesses
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About Us
Our Businesses
Investors
Responsibility
Media
Our businesses are united by our purpose to provide safe, nutritious and affordable food. Providing safe food and enabling customers to make healthier choices have both been central to our approach for a long time.
Quality assurance inspection, Allied Mills, Manchester, UK
Our food and drink businesses operate quality management systems based on the WHO Codex Alimentarius Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles and the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) range of standards, with most retailer-facing businesses required to seek formal GFSI certification, typically via unannounced audit schemes. Additionally, each division, as a minimum, sets and monitors a range of KPIs for each of its sites, including in relation to recalls and withdrawals, incidents and complaints.
These KPIs are reported to the Board on an annual basis, and any themes identified are relayed to the ABF Product Risk Reduction Group for review and resolution. To help navigate the ever-changing legal landscape pertinent to food law, all divisions have access to a food law specialist within the Group legal team.
Each division employs staff at divisional and site level to assure the safety, quality, legality, integrity and authenticity (Vulnerability Assessment and Critical Control Points – VACCP) of both raw materials and finished products. Raw material approval format is dependent on the risk posed but will typically comprise vendor assessment by audit or questionnaire, supplier certification review and product testing.
At site level, HACCP outcomes and Good Manufacturing Practice determine the scope of quality assurance and quality control regimes. To continually improve site practices, structured Food Safety and Quality Culture programmes are in place. Threat Assessment and Critical Control Points (TACCP) protocols covering supply chains and site activities to counter malicious intent are also in place. All of the above regimes are subject to ongoing verification and validation activities.
Relevant businesses take nutritional factors into account across their product portfolio. Many of our food products already support healthier choices, from high-fibre breakfast cereals, wholemeal bread and crispbreads to specialist sports nutrition products. Product reformulation can also help to gradually shift consumer tastes towards foods that support better long-term nutrition, and our food businesses actively review their portfolios with this in mind.
Making Sense of Sugar is ABF Sugar’s global platform for providing access to information based on robust science and helping to find collaborative solutions to health challenges as part of its commitment to thriving and healthy communities. In the UK, it partners with the British Nutrition Foundation and draws from the UK Government’s Eatwell Guide to aid consumer understanding. Guidance includes practical suggestions for estimating portion sizes that are easy to follow at home and examples of alternative healthy options to reduce consumption. Consumers are encouraged to engage with and remember these learnings across a number of channels.
The majority of the food products we sell to consumers in Europe, Australia and New Zealand do not contain Genetically Modified (GM) ingredients. We have a Group policy laying out our approach to GM ingredients, including compliance with local regulations on their use and labelling of GM ingredients.
AB Mauri employees carrying out a quality check on dough at our Global Technology Centre, Etten-Leur, Netherlands
Seven separate ABF brands, including Ryvita, Jordans Cereals and Kingsmill, are among 24 signatories to the UK Food and Drink Federation’s Action on Fibre pledge, to increase fibre consumption in the UK. The UK businesses of our Grocery Group, and British Sugar are also members of the British Nutrition Foundation.
In Australia and New Zealand, GWF businesses Tip Top and Yumi’s actively participate in the governments’ Health Star Rating system, a voluntary front-of-pack labelling system that empowers consumers to make informed choices about the healthiness of their products. The Yumi’s brand is committed to displaying the Health Star Rating on its entire range, making it easier for consumers to understand their nutritional value. Tip Top Bakeries was the first bakery brand to adopt the Health Star Rating system in Australia. Today, 100% of Tip Top products display a Health Star Rating, with 95% of its portfolio achieving a Health Star Rating of 3.5 or higher.
