sofht focus

As is now customary in this issue we will focus on our recent Summer Lecture and AGM. This has now become a ‘fixture’ at the stunning National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, along with the sunshine and BBQ! We’ve included lots of great photos of the fabulous BBQ in that sunshine, our sponsors and exhibitors and the AGM events. It was great to see so many members there. Also, this year, to try something different, we held a topical expert panel discussion, which I felt was a resounding success offering insights outside of our members usual technical areas.

In that respect, this year, saw a departure from our individual lecture to a confluence of experts – all together to discuss ‘The Influence of Social Media on Food, Nutrition and Health’. This was ably hosted by Felicity Wingrove, of Inspirational Group, with two special guests at the forefront of content creation as well as Nick James from the Industry (Nick is European Marketing Director, Tate & Lyle Sugars). Read more about this in this issue.

As you would expect, our AGM included the formal business of appointing new Directors as well as serving Directors having contributed to the ongoing success of the Society being reelected per our rules of Governance. We report on that in this edition too – welcoming in the new as well as thanking those who are already well-known for their continued service. A warm welcome then to Zara Thomson from Holland & Barrett and Sarah Whiting of 2 Sisters Food Group and thank you to Alan Lacey and Dawn Welham for their on-going support. Keeping on the theme of Directors, our “FOCUS on a SOFHT Director” is our Vice Chair Ellis Northover, who I’m sure you will enjoy getting to know a little better. We also report on our Supporting Company Members summer meeting which was hosted by the ASR Group at their HQ in London. I hope you enjoy this issue and once again thanks to the team (especially Karen Best and the office team, the team at Maple Rock and all the authors, contributors and advertisers) for producing another great edition. On the subject of authors, we are always keen to encourage articles of interest to members. In hope of this, this edition also includes a piece from me on thoughts regarding better regulation in the supplements sector – the first of a short series on Better Regulation as ‘Food for Thought’ – let me know what you think and let’s get a conversation started!

The next edition will be the autumn special following our ‘Back to Basics –Fundamentals of Food Safety’ Conference and Exhibition at Nottingham’s Belfry hotel, kindly sponsored by Sterilex. I also hope that it’s not too early to remind readers to secure their place at our Annual Lecture, Lunch & Awards 2025 and to diarise this for the 20th November 2025 at The Brewery– places are limited, so grab yours early!

Enjoy your summer!