Description
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is a membership organisation that represents and advises UK food and drink manufacturers.
Membership
The Food and Drink Federation members are companies of all sizes as well as trade associations and groups dealing with specific sectors of the industry.
The UK food and drink industry is the largest manufacturing sector in the country. It accounts for 19% of the total manufacturing sector by turnover and employ over 400,000 people in the UK across 7,000 businesses.
Functions
The Food and Drink Federation is responsible for communicating to and from a range of audiences including the UK government (particularly the Department of Health; the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), regulators, consumers and the media.
The FDF tackles a range of issues on behalf of its members under the three core areas of health and wellbeing; food safety and science; and sustainability and competitiveness; readiness and calorific contribution; it also aims to highlight the work industry conducts under these areas. For example, its Five-fold Environmental Ambition sets out where manufacturers are looking to make a difference to the environment through reducing CO2 emissions; sending zero food and packaging waste to landfill from 2015; reducing the level of packaging reaching households; improving water efficiency to reduce water use; and embedding environmental standards in their transport practices to achieve fewer and friendlier food miles.
Product reformulation has also been another major focus for the Federation, highlighting the industry’s ongoing work to reduce salt, trans fats, fat and sugar in food products. The industry’s efforts have been supported by the UK's Food Standards Agency, the UK Government and others.
