Sidlesham Primary joins Safer Roads Campaign

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Sidlesham Primary School had joined forces with Natures Way Foods Safer Roads campaign to raise awareness of road safety issues and help their pupils when traveling to and from school - especially during the Autumn and Winter months.

Children at Sidlesham have been given free High Visibility florescent jackets to wear on their journeys to and from school. The jackets are sponsored by NWF as part of the company's on-going Safer Roads campaign in the local area. This is the second year NWF is running the scheme and Sidlesham Primary is one of four local schools to participate in the scheme.

Head Teacher Mr Rackstraw comments, "We are delighted to be working with NWF. This is a great initiative and will help to keep our children safer on our roads. Many of our children are very local and walk to school but have to cross or walk alongside very busy roads. We are very aware of how dangerous the roads can be during this time of year and want to support families travelling in the dark. These High Visibility jackets are a great idea and will help to better alert drivers to the children, their parents and carers."

Sarah Baldock, Head of Sales and Marketing at NWF, adds “This is the second Winter we have been running our Safer Roads campaign and it has proved very popular with local schools. Keeping children safe during the Autumn and Winter months can be problematic and by working with local schools we can help to ensure the children and their parents are given maximum visibility on our roads.”

Schools interested in participating in the NWF Safer Roads campaign and obtaining High Visibility waistcoats should contact Nicky Upton on 01243 603111. Waistcoats are available on a First Come First Served basis.

All in a days work!

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

All Natures Way Foods employees are given the chance to take one paid days leave a year to participate in a voluntary activity in their local community. On this occasion a team of five ladies spent the day putting their decorating skills to the test; cleaning down and re-painting a room for the Crossroads Charity, Bognor Regis. The main office, kitchenette and restroom needed a new lick of paint and in some places wallpaper, which fell down to two highly skilled individuals, who proved their papering skills to be invaluable. It was a full day’s work, with a couple of breaks to give their arms a rest; but the end was result was worth it and just in time for the start of the charity's new marketing manager.

“The decision of Natures Way to provide time for their employees to have paid time to volunteer to help local charities is invaluable to charities like Crossroads. Working with Nicky Upton we were able to put a decorating project together that, from initial contact to completion, was done very quickly. We thought the project would take at least 3 days but the team proved to be so efficient that they completed it successfully in one day. The standard of work has been of a very high calibre. Without the teams efforts we would not be in a position to use the room effectively for at least a further year.” Eric Geddes, Chief Executive Crossroads Charity

Local salad producer wins national Food Manufacturing Excellence Award

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Selsey-based salads company, Natures Way Foods (NWF), has been named the UK’s best manufacturer of fresh produce in the food industry’s equivalent of the Oscars - the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards.

NWF, which supplies bagged salads and prepared fruits to Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons and other major retailers and food service companies, scooped the prestigious award in recognition of its strong credentials as a modern, innovative and highly successful business. NWF is a big employer in West Sussex, employing 450 permanent staff, and has grown by 41% in the last two years - achieving a turnover of £95 million in 2009.

Sarah Baldock, Head of Marketing, and Clare Roberts HR and Health and Safety Director, received the award on behalf of the company at a gala ceremony held at the Savoy Hotel, London. The Award was presented by BBC Breakfast’s Chris Hollins and by Andy Hodgkins, Business Director of the Award sponsor Gist. In making their decision, the judges found that NWF rapid growth was largely down to its innovation and new product development. This includes this year’s launch of the unique Lasting Leaf brand of bagged salads. Currently available exclusively at Waitrose, this new salad range offers an extra 48 hour shelf life, once the bag has been opened, in comparison to traditional bags.

Sarah Baldock comments, “We are absolutely delighted to have won such a prestigious award and to have been recognized by our peers. The annual Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards are organized by Food Manufacture magazine and prizes are awarded across nine manufacturing categories. This recognizes that NWF is truly a world-class business which will continue to innovate and grow for many years to come.”

Rick Pendrous, Editor of Food Manufacture, says, “The Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards distinguish and reward the UK’s very best food and drink manufacturing companies. We congratulate Natures Way Foods on achieving the very highest standards in this competitive and fast moving industry.”

New high visibility road safety campaign helps children walk safely to school

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

With winter drawing in, many children now find themselves walking to and from school in the dark.
According to Highway Agency statistics,* this is one of the most dangerous times of year, with accidents at their peak during the hours children travel to and from school. In fact, road deaths account for about two thirds of all accidental deaths amongst children aged 5-14 - with boys at greater risk than girls – and 42% of all road deaths happen in darkness.

To raise awareness and help keep children safe when travelling to school, especially during the Autumn and Winter months, Natures Way Foods (NWF) is launching a new Safer Roads campaign. The campaign considers all modes of transport under one umbrella and through education and action aims to highlight the importance of driving safely on our roads. For local schools NWF will offer real practical support by providing free high visibility florescent jackets, which can be worn by children who walk or cycle to school. Adult jackets will also be available for parents who make the journey with their children.

Sarah Baldock, Head of Marketing at NWF explains the scheme, “Increasingly, children and their parents are being encouraged to walk, scooter or cycle to and from school. However, keeping children safe – particularly in the autumn and winter months – can be problematic and so we are working with local schools, and supporting West Sussex County Council’s range of existing road safety education initiatives, to ensure children and their parents are kept as safe as possible on our roads.”

“As well as providing a number of local primary schools with free high visibility florescent jackets for the children to wear as they travel to and from school, we are also promoting good driving practices within our company and our distribution partners. We hope this campaign will create more awareness of the issues around travelling safely and driving with care within the local area.”

To communicate the campaign, NWF has produced car stickers for all NWF personnel, alongside a Safer Roads information leaflet for staff, schools and visitors. It has also produced a separate leaflet aimed specifically at large vehicle drivers – whether they are delivery drivers or the company’s haulage partners**. This special leaflet features a map of the area directing the vehicles to the NWF factories at Selsey and Runcton, and highlights areas of caution along the main routes, along with residential speed limits. Both leaflets stress the importance of driving safely and aim to encourage careful driving at all times.

Seal Primary school has been activity involved with NWF from the outset of the campaign and has already requested 420 florescent jackets to be distributed within the school community. Eileen Ockwell, at Seal says, “We are delighted to be part of this initiative and very grateful to NWF for their support. Many of our children come to school by ‘walking bus’ and visibility is a big issue on local roads. We know that the florescent jackets make a huge difference and hope that this campaign will raise awareness amongst drivers in the area.”

Chichester High goes Natures Way

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A group of Year 11 students from Chichester High School for Girls has been invited by Natures Way Foods (NWF) to learn about Health & Safety in food production as part of their GCSE Applied Science course work. The visit on 14th October represents a new departure for NWF as until now the company’s hugely popular Field to Fork Tour initiative has been aimed mainly at primary school children.

NWF has devised the tour in consultation with teachers from the West Sussex area to ensure it has direct relevance to the National Curriculum and Unit 1 Applied Science (local work-place study). The visit includes a presentation from the Business Compliance Manager as well as a factory tour showing them how fresh produce is processed and packed. Throughout the tour they will learn about the importance of Health & Safety in all aspects of food production, through hands on involvement in NWF systems and processes. As part of their course, they will need to compare the Health & Safety in the factory with the Health & Safety in their school.

“We look forward to welcoming Chichester High School for Girls to Selsey and giving them first-hand experience of food manufacturing”, says Sarah Baldock, Head of Marketing. “NWF is a world class business with Health & Safety at its heart. We have made significant investments to ensure our systems and processes are state-of-the-art, and as a result this year we have been awarded the internationally recognised BS OHSAS 18001 standard. We hope this tour will interest the students and perhaps inspire them to consider a career in food production.”

The company’s Field to Fork educational initiative helps local students to learn about salad growing and harvesting and has been running for primary school children for over three years. This summer, NWF welcomed another 150 children from four local primary schools who wanted to learn how fresh produce is grown, harvested, washed and packed. Demand for primary school visits is high and there is already a waiting list for Summer 2011. However, NWF hopes that by broadening the scope of the Field to Fork tour the company will be supporting the National Curriculum more widely and extending the tour’s appeal to secondary schools.

Children go Natures Way with new education resouce

Mon, 24 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Local salad and fruit manufacturer, Natures Way Foods (NWF), is helping primary school children learn about salad growing and harvesting with a new Field to Fork micro-site and on-line educational resource that is interactive and fun.

www.field2fork.co.uk is a free to use website for primary school children learning about food, farming and the environment. Through colourful visuals and fun vegetable characters, children are shown how lettuce is grown, harvested, washed and packaged ready to eat.

The site has been inspired by the hugely popular Field to Fork tours run by NWF over the past few years, in partnership with their sister company Langmead Farms. Demand is so great that there is now a waiting list, so NWF has created the site to reach more children and ensure they can learn about fresh salads when in the classroom.

Through the site, the children go on a virtual Field to Fork Tour, beginning in the fields where the lettuce seeds are planted and grown. They learn why the farms location is important, how irrigation works and what happens after harvest. The children are shown how the lettuce is washed, chopped and bagged, and they can down-load a Bug ID Fact Sheet with facts and figures about bugs and mini beasts and how to identify them in the fields. There is also an on-line quiz to test their knowledge and they can win a packet of Field to Fork watercress seeds to grow at home.

“Our Field to Fork initiative is one of the corner stones of our Community Programme and we are very proud of its huge popularity and value amongst local schools” explains Sarah Baldock, Head of Marketing at NWF.

“However, as we can only accommodate a limited number of schools per season, we wanted to find a way to ensure that children can continue to learn about our salads and fresh produce - even if they don’t have the opportunity to visit us in person. The micro-site mirrors our Field to Fork Tour and has been created with the help of educational experts to ensure that it mirrors the topics covered in the National Curriculum. It can be accessed by children of all ages and we hope the schools will enjoy using it.”

Natures Way Foods awarded 2010 Britain's Top Employer Status

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Leading prepared salad and fruit producer Natures Way Foods (NWF) has been certified by the CRF Institute as one of Britain’s Top Employers for 2010.

The CRF Institute announced the leading organizations in its 2010 Top Employers survey at an awards ceremony last week, attended by the NWF HR team. The Institute aims to highlight best HR practice and describes NWF as “a growing business, presenting great opportunities to learn and grow with it.”

The Award is based on independent research commissioned by the CRF Institute that shows that Natures Way Foods has outstanding HR policies and that the company offers excellent working conditions. Fifty-six organizations were certified in this year’s Britain’s Top Employers project and companies were judged on the basis of their scores in a number of HR-related areas: Pay and Benefits, Training and Development, Career Development, Working Conditions and Company Culture.

More………

“Talented people lie at the heart of any successful organisation. This is never truer than it is today,” says Steven Veenendaal, CEO of the CRF Institute. “The year 2009 will be remembered as economically one of the most challenging in living memory. As the UK emerges from the Recession, Britain’s Top Employers recognise that in order to improve their resilience and performance, their main HR focus should be on engagement and retention of their people.”

Susan Barratt, CEO of Nature’s Way Foods concludes, “I am delighted that NWF has received this accolade and we are immensely proud that we scored very highly in Career Development. Natures Way Foods is a fast growing business with further growth potential, yet we strive to ensure that our culture remains personable and engaging. Our biggest challenge today is to listen to our customers and consumers and to focus on the long term rather than just today. We have a very strong team and I believe that together we can achieve our goals and grow our business further.”

For further details of the Award winners go to www.natureswayfoods.co.uk or log onto the CRF Institute’s website www.britainstopemployers.co.uk and the Daily Telegraph micro site www.telegraph.co.uk/britainstopemployers.

Natures Way Foods one of Britain's Top Employers 2010

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Natures Way Foods has been recognised as one of Britain's Top Employers 2010. The award identifies companies in Britain who demonstrate excellence in HR Management.

"Through the objective and independent Top Employers research methodology, the smartest, most forward-thinking employers in the country are determined" CRF International

To read more about how Natures Way Foods achieved the award click here.

The Chichester Triathlon and Aquathon are back - Bigger and Better than ever!

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The Chichester Triathlon is back, and this year it promises to be bigger and better than ever before!

The Triathlon, which is sponsored by Natures Way Foods, has attracted competitors from all over the world since we introduced it in 2007. This year, we have decided to split the event over two days, due to its popularity.

The Junior Aquathon, also sponsored by Natures Way Foods, is for competitors between eight and 16 and will take place on Saturday 17 July. The first wave of competitors will set off at 1pm. This will start with a swimming race at Chichester Westgate Leisure, followed by a race around Chichester College’s campus. There is room for around 250 entries.

The distance set for junior competitors will be dependent upon their age. Distances for the swim start from 66m (two lengths) for eight year olds, up to 400m (12 lengths) for 16 year olds. This is followed by a run of between 600m and 3km, depending on age.

The main Triathlon event will be held the following day. This will be joined by a new event, ‘Try a Tri’, which is designed for competitors who were prefer a sprint distance. This is a shorter version of the Triathlon, removing the hilly part of the course, and will consist of:
o    a 400m pool swim at Westgate Leisure Chichester;
o    a 30km bike ride through Lavant, Compton, Funtington and back into Chichester Westgate Leisure;
o    finishing with a 5km (3 mile) out-and-back flat run along Centurions Way.

The main Triathlon event is the same as in previous years and there is room for up to 300 entries. The first wave of Triathlon competitors will start at 7am. The race consists of:
o    a 600m pool swim at Westgate Leisure Chichester;
o    a 42km (26 mile) bike ride through Lavant, up South Harting Hill, round through Compton, Funtington and back into Chichester Westgate Leisure;
o    finishing with a 10km (6 mile) out-and-back flat run along Centurions Way.

For those who don’t want to take part in all three events, there is the opportunity for teams to compete. This option allows each member of the team to take part in a different event within the Triathlon.
Chip timing will again be used this year. Competitors will be able to see their results and split times, as soon as they cross the finish line. They will also be able to book their race spot online, by completing a form on our website www.chichester.gov.uk. The website will also provide further competition details and a map of the courses. Forms will also be available from Westgate Leisure Chichester.
Once you have booked your place, we will send you a race number, transitions bands and bike/hat stickers near to race day.

Marshals and race referees will be located at a transition area on Chichester College’s front field, where bike racks will also be provided. All competitors will receive a t-shirt and goodie bag.
Councillor Nick Thomas, Portfolio Holder for Sport and Culture at Chichester District Council, says: “Each year the Triathlon attracts more and more competitors, with people coming from all over the world to take part. We are expecting record numbers this year for both the Triathlon and the increasingly popular Aquathon. With the ‘Try A Tri’ event now added to the weekend, we can promise that all three events will offer great all round entertainment for both competitors and spectators alike.”

Natures Way Foods said: “We are strongly committed to supporting community initiatives, particularly those that promote healthy eating and sport in the local area. We are a leading supplier of prepared salads and fruit and this is the fourth year that we are sponsoring this event.”

The cost to enter is:
o    £32 for British Triathlon Federation (BTF) Members;
o    £39 for Non BTF Members; and
o    £55 for a team entry.

The entry fee for the ‘Try a Tri’ is £21 for BTF Members and £25 for Non BTF Members.
Entry forms for the Aquathon are also available from our website and Chichester Westgate Leisure. The cost to enter the Junior Aquathon is £10 for BTF Members and £12 for Non BTF Members.

Natures Way Foods brings together customers and suppliers and celebrates success

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

To help build relationships, focus on future challenges and celebrate the company’s success, leading prepared salads and fruit supplier, Natures Way Foods (NWF), brought together key customers and suppliers last week at the company’s annual Suppliers’ Conference in Portsmouth.

Entitled ‘Winning Together in a Changing Landscape’ the one day Conference united buyers from Tesco, Morrison, Pret a Manger and McDonalds, alongside growers, packaging suppliers and other companies within the NWF supply chain. Delegates were invited to discuss ways in which they could work together more efficiently in a spirit of communication and shared values.

Alongside presentations by NWF personnel, Tesco, Morrisons, Pret a Manger and McDonalds outlined their challenges and objectives. In the afternoon, delegates worked in workshop groups, discussing varying issues and identifying ways of pooling their resources. Each group was allocated specific topics and areas of concern, and asked to develop and agree action-centered solutions.

“This is our second Suppliers Conference and we are absolutely delighted to bring together so many customers and suppliers under one roof,” explained NWF CEO Susan Barratt. Times are extremely tough and we have many challenges ahead, but we believe that the secret to our success is our people, our efficient processes and our communication. By working together towards a common goal, we can overcome obstacles and make our businesses strong. We hope that the Conference helped to consolidate existing ties and create new ones.”

Despite the challenging climate, NWF has had a very positive year of growth with increased sales of both bagged salads and prepared fruit. The company attributes much of this success to its excellent relationships with its customers and suppliers.

“We work extremely hard to ensure that we provide exactly what the customer wants and we are quick to respond to changing conditions and requirements,” continues Susan Barratt. “The bagged salads market has grown by nearly 1.5% over the past year, and the prepared fruit market is now worth approximately £200 million, so we need to continue to offer quality, freshness and value for money if we are going to succeed. It is our ability to provide all three relentlessly that makes us stand out from our competitors".

NWF provides fresh bagged salads to Tesco, and both fruits and salads to Morrisons and Pret. It is also a supplier of salad products to McDonalds.