big interview
A keen observation of the bakery market
Kennedy’s Bakery Production speaks with Andrew Pyne, the new Chief Executive for Federation of Bakers for this issue’s big interview
Tell us about your background in the food industry and how you feel this has set you up for your new role at FoB. Before coming to the FoB, I spent over twenty years in the breakfast cereal industry with Nestlé Cereals, part of Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW). I held a range of UK and international communication roles and gained a deep understanding of food manufacturers’ reputation issues, the health and nutrition arena and government policy, as well as European public affairs, and I draw on this experience in my new role at FoB. While with CPW I was also actively involved in the breakfast cereal category’s UK and EU trade associations, forging influential links with policy makers, and was Chair of Communications in both. After that I worked for the FDF on assignments including communications as Interim Head of Corporate Affairs and acting director of FDF Cymru. There’s a real synergy between the breakfast cereal and bread bakery industry and the issues they face. I draw on the insights from these experiences in my new role, which centres on understanding the issues FoB members face and leading the Federation day-to-day. This includes working with individual members and our other stakeholders to navigate these issues successfully and achieve the optimum outcome for the industry.
The FoB represents the largest bakeries in the UK, who produce sliced and wrapped bread, morning goods and other bakery products.
The UK bakery sector is a £4.4 billion industry at retail sales value, employing around 75,000 people and supplying over 80% of the nation’s bread. In this time of unprecedented challenge, it is of paramount importance
to maintain effective communication with
our members to help them thrive, and with the outside world to promote industry concerns and appreciate what we do. All with a view to keep bread on the shelves in the shops, and I’m excited to be leading that communication.
Since starting your post, what have you noted about the bakery industry?
The most striking observation is how our members set an inspiring example to other businesses with their resilience. The bakery sector, like many food and drink manufacturers, faces a combination of pressures we have not previously had to deal with, namely the aftermath of Brexit and COVID’s sustained effect, and now the steep rises we are experiencing
in commodity prices and other costs. This is further intensified by the Ukraine war affecting food and energy supplies, creating uncertainty and linked inflation. That said, the British bakery sector is well known for its resilience over the decades, rising to the challenge and continuing to ensure that sliced and wrapped bread, baked morning goods and the other bakery products British people love are available to feed the nation.
I’ve also noted the high levels of expertise and knowledge within the bakery industry, the skill that goes in to making consistently high-quality bread, and the leading bakers’ desire to be involved with, and part of, the solution on areas including health. To help our members maintain these standards of excellence, my role at FoB includes leading the process of keeping them fully informed about the insights
6 Kennedy’s Bakery Production October/November 2022
bakeryproduction.co.uk
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