One in three only buy free-range when they can afford to

Nov 11, 2010 – New research conducted into the attitudes of consumers towards free-range food has revealed that although over half, 54%, of consumers admit to purchasing free-range produce; one in three, 33%, of Britons explain that they only do so ‘when they can afford to.’

Conducted by http://www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, the UK’s leading discount website; the study aimed to discover more about the attitudes and buying habits of consumers when it comes to free-range food produce, with 1,356 men and women aged 18 and over taking part.

Respondents to the study were initially asked, “Do you ever buy free-range food produce?” with just over half, 54%, answering “yes.” These consumers were then asked to stipulate from multiple answers what free-range produce they are most likely to purchase, with the top five results as follows:

1)      Eggs 76%

2)      Chicken 57%

3)      Beef 46%

4)      Pork- 37%

5)      Turkey- 31%

The 54% of respondents who claimed to buy free-range produce were further asked to state how regularly they do so. Whilst the majority, 46%, admitted to buy free-range produce ‘every time they shop;’ one in three, 33%, admitted to only doing so ‘when they can afford to financially.’

Of the respondents who only purchased free-range produce “when they can afford to;” the majority, 65%, explained that, on average, they could only afford to ‘once a month or less.’ 91% of these respondents also explained that they would buy free-range produce every time they shopped, if cost was not an issue.

Respondents to the study were also asked, “How do you feel about buying non-free-range food produce, if free-range options are available?” Just under half of respondents, 46%, admitted that they feel “guilty;” whilst one in three, 34%, explained that they ‘did not mind.”

Mark Pearson, Chairman of http://www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, commented on the findings:

“There has been a lot of press surrounding the welfare of non-free-range animals over recent years; and given that we regularly feature grocery discounts on our website, we wanted to look into how consumers feel towards free-range food. The majority of people we polled seemed very much in favour of purchasing free-range produce when possible; and it appears that cost, rather than personal choice, was the only thing preventing this for many.”

He continued:

“Free-range produce is, inevitably, more expensive; but this is part and parcel of the cost of producing such items. Although little can be done to reduce such cost without impacting on the welfare of the animals at hand; perhaps supermarkets could do more to ease the purchasing of free-range produce financially by levying some of the cost in terms of deals and special offers. So long as this doesn’t impact too negatively on the finances of the supermarkets themselves; this would be a great way of ensuring both farmers and consumers benefit.”

LINK: http://www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk

For more information please contact Emma Kent of 10 Yetis Public Relations on 01452348211 or emmak@10yetis.co.uk

Editor’s Notes

Mark Pearson, Chairman of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk is a regular media contributor regarding online shopping and the credit crunch. At 29, his personal worth is more than £30 million. Mark was previously a trainee chef working for Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, London.

MyVoucherCodes has had sales exceeding £481m in the last year

Consumer savings on online shopping via MyVoucherCodes.co.uk up from £28m in 2008 to £52m in 2009.

MyVoucherCodes is the UK’s most popular discount site.

Cytoguard La Antimicrobials Designed For Rte Meats

Nov 11, 2010 – The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) estimate that more than 76 million incidents of foodborne illness occur in the United States each year.   As a result, the FDA’s Safety Alerts and Recalls website has seen an ever-growing following of concerned consumers.  One area of deep concern to consumers is the spread of pathogens such as listeria, salmonella and E. Coli in prepared foods.

“For the most part, foodborne illnesses are the direct result of eating foods or drinking

beverages that are contaminated with bacteria, parasites, or viruses. However, harmful chemicals can also cause foodborne illnesses.  In most instances, contamination occurs in food processing,” says Gil Bakal, A&B Ingredients’ Managing Director.

Bakal notes that A&B Ingredients, a leading developer, marketer and distributor of food ingredients, has developed CytoGuard LATM, a powerful antimicrobial to combat pathogens.  Based on Lauric Arginate, a derivate of Lauric Acid, L-Arginine and Ethanol — all naturally occurring substances — CytoGuard LA is specifically designed for use in ready to eat (RTE) processed meat and poultry products.  

“CytoGuard LA is effective at significantly reducing bacterial levels in a wide range of food products by altering the cell membranes of the microbes, thus preventing their growth,” says Bakal.

He notes that the efficacy of CytoGuard LA is not affected by pH and has a wide spectrum of activity and functions on nearly all bacteria.  ”It is particularly effective against listeria, salmonella, E. Coli, campylobacter, yeast, molds and lactobacillus, just to name a few,” states Bakal.

CytoGuard LA is also effective for improving food safety and reducing bacteria levels of refrigerated food products, all types of prepared salads, as well as ready-to-eat fresh cuts of meat and poultry.  Because it is used at low levels, it typically does not impact flavor, color, texture or pH of the product.

Among the benefits of CytoGuard LA are:

*   Stable up to one year

*   Stable in pH ranges 3-9

*   Stable to heating and freezing

*   Concentrates in the water phase of products

*   At typical usage levels it does not impart any off flavors to most food products

*   It is a clear liquid and will not affect the appearance of food products

The preferred method of application of CytoGuard LA is through A&B Ingredients’ SLIC

FRIMA’s VarioCooking Center Cuts Down on Cooking Equipment in New Kitchen at Alsop High School

Nov 11, 2010 – When Alsop High School, Liverpool got the go-ahead for a new kitchen Angela Morrison, Catering Manager, set about planning what equipment she needed. New builds like this are an ideal opportunity to get the kitchen up and running exactly as required, but they also need to be able to respond to any changing demands in the future without further capital investment.

The new kitchen equipment was all specified but Angela, always keen to keep the kitchen right up to date, saw a demo of the FRIMA VarioCooking Center at Combined Catering Services, Liverpool.

“I could immediately see that the VarioCooking Center would be perfect for our new kitchen,” she said. “I was so impressed with what it could do and what equipment it could replace that I approached the architects of the new kitchen and asked for a FRIMA VarioCooking Center instead of the planned two brat pans and a pasta boiler.”

The VarioCooking Center is an extremely energy efficient cooking appliance for the professional kitchen that can boil, fry and deep fry in one unit.  It is up to three times faster than traditional equipment. It is also excellent for long, slow overnight cooking as well as accurate trouble-free pressure cooking.

In April 2010 the VarioCooking Center was installed into the new kitchen. By replacing three pieces of equipment with one the VarioCooking Center actually saves space in the kitchen.

FRIMA sent over a chef to work with staff and show them how to operate the unit and get the best out of it. Before the end of the summer term the new kitchen and the VarioCooking Center went into operation.

“It’s great,” says Angela. “We all love the VarioCooking Center. You can’t burn anything on it or boil anything over. It has a built in intelligence that supervises the whole cooking process for you. Once the settings have been punched in you can walk away, answer the phone and get on with something else. The soups need a little stir occasionally but we don’t have to watch them all the time now.”

Time and planning are extremely important in the school kitchen at Alsop High. Everything has to be geared up for the intensive serving period between 11.30am and 1.30pm, when 1800 pupils pass through.

First thing in the morning the staff cook up about 20kg pasta in the VarioCooking Center, then refresh it nearer serving time. Rice and vegetables are prepared in the same way so everything is hot and has that ‘just cooked’ taste.

“It’s so much easier than before when we had to cook pasta in big pans on the stove,” says Angela. “We were forever emptying them out and boiling up water again. With the VarioCooking Center we don’t need to do this, we can batch cook the pasta without draining. This saves a lot of time and has really cut our water and energy consumption.”

Other staple dishes that are being cooking in the VarioCooking Center are curries and stews and they are just about to start making stir-fries in it as well.

“All our staff find it really easy to use,” says Angela. “Now we’ve mastered the basics we plan to start making puddings, custard and sauces. I’m going to get some more advice from the FRIMA chefs and see what else we can add to the menu.”

Another aspect of the VarioCooking Center that appeals to the staff is that it is so easy to clean.

“All we have to do is swish round the pans with the water jet, tilt the pan and the dirt drains away, saving us time, effort, water and cleaning products,” says Angela. “It means we can finish on time at the end of a very busy day and that is certainly another plus with the staff.”

FRIMA is currently expanding its distributor network in the UK.  For information and brochures, or to come to a free Cooking Live demonstration, call FRIMA UK on 0208 996 5102,

email info@frima-uk.co.uk or visit http://www.frima-uk.co.uk

For more news about FRIMA please visit the online press office at The Publicity Works website http://www.publicityworks.biz/wptpw/category/press-offic …


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