About Us
Our Businesses
Investors
Responsibility
Media
Careers
About Us
Our Businesses
Investors
Responsibility
Media
Careers
Our Grocery businesses are united by our Group purpose: to provide safe, nutritious and affordable food.
A colleague checks Westmill noodles for quality at our factory in Trafford, UK
In line with the Group approach, all Grocery businesses work to ensure the safety, legality, quality, integrity and authenticity of their raw materials and products. This is achieved by manufacturing sites maintaining a business management system, which is typically subject to unannounced audits by third parties, against a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standard. The standard requires the effective operation of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, Threat Assessment and Critical Control Points and Vulnerability Assessment and Critical Control Points protocols, alongside Good Manufacturing Practices and product assessment. Raw materials and products are monitored on a risk-assessed basis, either
in-house or by third-party accredited laboratories, and in many cases both.
Grocery Group businesses employ food safety specialists who are responsible for ensuring ongoing compliance to the required legislation, certification, in-house and customer standards, and the approval of third-party manufacturers and their products. Food Safety and Quality Culture programmes are in place across all businesses. Food safety related training is typically refreshed annually.
Processes and equipment used to measure food safety and quality parameters are subject to ongoing verification and at least annual validation. ABF commissions random food safety audits at manufacturing sites, which are conducted by RQA, an insurance-approved risk reduction company. ABF food businesses also participate in working groups to share learnings about food safety issues and, where appropriate, discuss corrective actions.
In 2025, Silver Spoon introduced a Food Safety Culture programme at its Bardney site as part of a continuous improvement plan, which included establishing food safety culture champions.
Twinings Poland is certified against the FSSC 22000, a GFSI standard, and is regularly audited. It employs food safety specialists responsible for ensuring ongoing compliance with the required certification, in-house and customer standards.
At George Weston Foods, food safety and quality are the most important topics for the business and its stakeholders. As one of the largest food manufacturers in Australia and New Zealand, it has a fundamental commitment to provide safe, nourishing food for the communities it serves. George Weston Foods is constantly seeking to enhance its food safety and quality programmes.
Our Grocery businesses have always taken nutritional factors into account when developing their product portfolios, which include staples such as bread, flour, rice, noodles, sugar, tea, cooking sauces and breakfast cereals.
To support this, and wherever relevant to the product category, they follow nutrition policies and a framework for communicating any health and environmental claims across their products and brands.
Grocery Group businesses in the UK have internal policies to ensure compliance with relevant regulations and industry codes of practice on responsible marketing. They also carefully consider the placement, content and execution of advertising for products considered high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS), ensuring children under 16 are not targeted.
Many products already support healthier choices, from high-fibre breakfast cereals, crispbreads and wholemeal bread to specialist sports nutrition ranges. In 2025, new product development focused on delivering non-HFSS and fibre-rich products. Silver Spoon extended its no-added-sugar Crusha milkshake range with two new recipes: Banana and Caramel Latte. Dorset Cereals launched Fruit & Nut Granola as a source of fibre. Kingsmill relaunched its Soft White Rolls with added fibre to meet consumer demand for products that taste great while also providing nutrition benefits. The rolls now carry a ‘source of fibre’ claim while retaining their signature soft texture and popular taste.
Protein Boost Granola developed by Jordans and launched in 2025
Consumer interest in products offering protein continues to influence Grocery product ranges. In 2025, Jordans launched Protein Boost Granola in Chocolate & Hazelnut and Red Berry flavours, while Westmill converted a long-established and popular food service high-protein noodle to consumer channels. Since their business to business launch in 2018, these noodles have become a successful part of Westmill’s portfolio of functional, health-conscious products. Developed in collaboration with AB Mauri, they combine pea and wheat proteins with a clean, neutral flavour, delivering 119% more protein than standard noodles and meeting the ‘high in protein’ claim criteria. Initially adopted by business customers for ready meals and fresh stir-fry formats, the noodles are now available year-round in retail packs at major UK retailers.
Grocery Group continues to work closely with the UK’s Food and Drink Federation (FDF), participating in industry-wide programmes designed to deliver meaningful health benefits to consumers. Ryvita, Jordans Cereals and Kingsmill remain signatories to the FDF’s Action on Fibre, an initiative to increase fibre consumption in the UK. Participating businesses pledge to bring more fibre to the national diet, through new products or reformulation. Since the programme began in 2021, members across the industry have launched nearly 400 new and reformulated products, delivering an additional 1.5 billion servings of fibre to the UK population1.
As part of its commitment to responsibly produce and market safe, nutritious and affordable food, our Grocery Group businesses in the UK report revenue based on the UK’s 2004/5 Nutrient Profiling Model and the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021. The Nutrient Profiling Model uses a formula to assess the nutritional content of foods, enabling them to be categorised as either HFSS (high in fat, sugar or salt) or non-HFSS.
In 2025, the fourth year of voluntary reporting, 96% of the revenue generated from the UK Grocery Group businesses’ branded portfolio came from non-HFSS products or HFSS products that are not subject to restrictions under the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021. For context, this includes everyday staples like bagged sugars, cooking oils, cooking sauces and condiments that are not within the scope of public health-related sales restrictions.
Foods designated as HFSS that are also subject to sales restrictions amounted to 4% of revenue from the Grocery Group businesses in the UK. They include a small number of baked breakfast cereals, some ice cream accompaniments and a selection of baked goods. Many of these product ranges will be considered for reformulation in the future, subject to feasibility and consumer acceptance. This group of products also includes some that are classified as HFSS based on 100g servings although they are typically eaten in much smaller quantities, like cooking pastes, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar, as well as some high-fibre mueslis with no-added-sugar that are classified as HFSS due to containing natural sugars and fats from fruits, nuts and seeds.
| Non-HFSS Branded Products | HFSS Branded Products | HFSS Branded Products and Subject to restrictions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 59% | 37% | 4% |
In the same period, some 59% of revenue from the branded portfolio of the Grocery Group businesses in the UK came from foods that are classified as non-HFSS. These include staples such as bread, crispbreads, tea, flour, rice and noodles, as well as some breakfast cereals (including muesli and some granola recipes), cooking sauces and condiments.
In Australia and New Zealand, George Weston Foods’ businesses Tip Top and Yumi’s support clear food labelling practices. The division actively participates in the Health Star Rating system, a voluntary front-of-pack labelling system that helps consumers to make informed choices about the healthiness of products. Yumi’s displays the Health Star Rating across its entire range, making it easier for consumers to understand its nutritional values.
Tip Top was the first bakery brand to adopt the Health Star Rating system in Australia. Since 2018, all Tip Top retail products in Australia have displayed a Health Star Rating, with 95% achieving a Health Star Rating of 3.5 or higher. Demonstrating a further commitment to nutritional improvement, Tip Top has also voluntarily committed to the Australian Government’s Healthy Food Partnership nutrition targets for the bread category, meeting the guideline target of 80% compliance, ahead of schedule.
