Autumnal feeling

It’s the last week of August and already it is starting to feel like fall is in the air, despite the warmer weather. The season seems two weeks forward. I have already picked a couple of pumpkins (see above). There is also good news on the artisanal cheese front, with several people arrested over the 22 tonne cheese scam committed on Neal’s Yard Dairy here in the UK last year. It has taken since October to get the case together about the 950 truckles. Hopefully their arrest and prosecution will remind others that cheese is a valuable product and theft affects the smaller producers disproportionately. In any event, it gave the Times writers something to make puns about. Credit again goes to Neal’s Yard for covering the money to the original producers. Top class behaviour but that’s Neal’s Yard Dairy for you.

In other news, we are getting ready for our Dairy Industries Expo at the end of October here at the NAEC Stoneleigh. I for one can’t wait to have the two-day exhibition and seminars, plus the Society of Dairy Technology’s autumn symposium being held the day before at the same site on 28 October. It looks to be a good programme: Challenges in Food Safety and Quality in Dairy Product Manufacture is the theme, for anyone working in a quality, production, development and engineering role in the dairy processing sector. The event aims provide the industry with information and guidelines to support with food safety and quality challenges faced during dairy product manufacture, covering product and process design, HACCP approaches, allergen management and labelling. It will focus on the challenges with suggested approaches and solutions from experts within the field.

All good and will fit in perfectly with our event the next day, which will feature speakers from The Carbon Trust, Tetra Pak and the University of Strathclyde, to name just a few. Our focus is on sustainability in the dairy chain and there will be a lot to talk about. One will be Tiphaine Aries, associate director – food systems at The Carbon Trust, speaking on, “Driving Dairy Toward Net Zero: Strategies and Success Stories.” As she explains, “The dairy industry faces growing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint while maintaining productivity and profitability. We will explore practical approaches to decarbonisation across the supply chain – from feed and farming practices to processing and transport.”

Truly a lot to look forward to.

• Suzanne Christiansen, editor, Dairy Industries International.
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