The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland has launched its latest funding initiative to help Scottish businesses, including bakeries, create healthier food products, this time focussing on out-of-home consumption.
The new Healthier Food Service Fund sees the trade body once again provided £50k in total funding by Food Standards Scotland (FSS), which repeats its support of last year’s predecessor, the Healthier Bakery Fund.
Scotland-based SMEs supplying foodservice operators such as cafés, restaurants, hospitals, and caterers can apply for grants up to £5,000 to part-fund projects that reduce the fat, sugar, calories or salt content or that increase fibre, wholegrain, or fruit and vegetable content in recipes. Companies need to provide at least 50% of the total project costs.
Examples of recipe reformulations include swapping in high fibre flour or low sodium salt in morning goods and breads, using lower fat pastry or added vegetables in savoury pastries, or replacing ingredients in sweet bakery with functional fibres like chicory root.
Funding can be used to pay for activities such as accessing nutritional testing and technical support and working with ingredient suppliers to source and trial new innovative solutions that can improve the health claims of products.
Interested candidates have until 13 September to submit their applications via this online form.
“I am delighted to launch the Healthier Food Service Fund – thank you to Food Standards Scotland for providing the funding that has made this possible,” expressed Joanne Burns, FDF Scotland’s reformulation for health manager. “Food service providers play such an integral part in supporting the health of Scotland’s people, with many people in education and the workplace consuming one or two meals a day out with the home.
“This funding will support food and drink businesses to make changes to their recipes that will help improve dietary health in communities across the country,” she added.
FDF Scotland noted there was great scope for sweet and savoury baked goods to be reformulated into healthier versions as there were so many categories listed in the UK government’s Salt reduction targets for 2024 as well as in non-HFSS categories. Among the specific items that Burns said she hoped to see reformulated were Empire biscuits, caramel shortcake, and Scotch pies.
FSS public health nutrition advisor, Lesley Curtis, highlighted that on-the-go purchases are estimated to make up 25% of all calories eaten by consumers. “These foods tend to be higher in calories, fat, sugar and salt than those we buy from supermarkets,” she commented. “Engaging with the food service sector to reformulate their products is vital to ensure people can access healthier food when away from home.”
The Healthier Food Service Fund is also assisting the framework of the ‘Eating Out, Eating Well’ initiative run by the FSS and Public Health Scotland.
Five separate rounds of funding from the FDF Scotland have seen a total of £239k provided to 63 manufacturers across the country to date. This includes four editions of the Reformul8 Challenge Fund, first launched in 2019 and most recently rolled out in January this year, as well as one each of the Healthier Product Innovation Fund and Healthier Bakery Fund (HBF). FDF Scotland confirmed it was expecting its Reformul8 Challenge Fund to return for a fifth round in early 2025.
One example of an HBF recipient was The Hame Bakery in Peterhead, which produced a new multiseed version of its buttery rolls that contained 73% less saturated fat and 91% less salt than the original recipe.
Aulds Delicious Desserts is another case study among the 13 successful HBF applicants from last year, using the funds to reformulate its core cheesecake recipe with a different cheese said to have 36% less fat whilst maintaining a luxurious mouthfeel and flavour. The Renfrew-based foodservice supplier reported that the desserts market in 2023 was running approximately 10% lower than pre-Covid years, potentially due to mandatory calorie labelling and non-HFSS regulations.
No comments yet