I often fear that for the vast majority of people in grocery the whole food and health issue must seem far removed from the realities of their daily working lives. For them, the fight to grow sales, or the effort needed to get a clever bit of NPD to market, is far more important than worrying about some remote political debate about obesity.
But nothing could be further from the truth. The food and health debate has been hotting up for the past year or so, but is now reaching melting point. The debate is increasingly being driven by a vocal minority with a particular axe to grind. And everywhere you look, it seems, there is somebody else lining up to take a pop at the industry. Worse still, you can't help feeling that the government now feels something anything must be done to bring our nasty industry into order.
All of which really should worry everybody. Whether you are working in retail or in manufacturing, in sales or marketing, the debate now raging really will affect your business and, ultimately, your jobs.
The reason? Simple: if the food fascists get their way, consumer choice will be restricted and so will the ability of grocery companies to go about their business.
If you think I am exaggerating, think again. There are those arguing, with very good reason, that unless the industry is careful, it could find itself burdened with regulations covering everything from what ingredients should be in products, how they should be marketed and the sort of health warnings they should carry. To prevent the worse predictions becoming a reality, it is vital that the voice of the food and drink industry is not ignored in all this hullabaloo. And that's why this week's decision of the four main trade bodies to present a united front on this issue should be applauded (see page four). It is only by having a sensible dialogue between government, the industry and the industry's critics that pragmatic solutions will be found to what we all agree is a huge issue for society.
But that means everybody working in food and drink needs to wake up to the fact that they too have a responsibility for ensuring the industry is in future seen as part of the solution rather than the problem.
{{COMMENT & LETTERS }}
But nothing could be further from the truth. The food and health debate has been hotting up for the past year or so, but is now reaching melting point. The debate is increasingly being driven by a vocal minority with a particular axe to grind. And everywhere you look, it seems, there is somebody else lining up to take a pop at the industry. Worse still, you can't help feeling that the government now feels something anything must be done to bring our nasty industry into order.
All of which really should worry everybody. Whether you are working in retail or in manufacturing, in sales or marketing, the debate now raging really will affect your business and, ultimately, your jobs.
The reason? Simple: if the food fascists get their way, consumer choice will be restricted and so will the ability of grocery companies to go about their business.
If you think I am exaggerating, think again. There are those arguing, with very good reason, that unless the industry is careful, it could find itself burdened with regulations covering everything from what ingredients should be in products, how they should be marketed and the sort of health warnings they should carry. To prevent the worse predictions becoming a reality, it is vital that the voice of the food and drink industry is not ignored in all this hullabaloo. And that's why this week's decision of the four main trade bodies to present a united front on this issue should be applauded (see page four). It is only by having a sensible dialogue between government, the industry and the industry's critics that pragmatic solutions will be found to what we all agree is a huge issue for society.
But that means everybody working in food and drink needs to wake up to the fact that they too have a responsibility for ensuring the industry is in future seen as part of the solution rather than the problem.
{{COMMENT & LETTERS }}
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