It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.
It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.
Here, Business Link catches up with Daniel Reid, Head of Marketing at Navitas Safety, the Coalville-based food safety firm.
Here at Navitas Safety, we look towards 2021 with positivity and excitement. 2020 has been a tough year for many, however we believe this will enable people to look at living a more safety conscious lifestyle, in both business and personal aspects.
The biggest thing for the industry will be Natasha’s Law, which will be coming into effect as of October 2021. Although this new law is specifically for pre-packaged products intended for direct sale, we predict that this will be the starting point of strict and clear allergen processes.
Natasha’s Law, combined with the effects of this year, will prompt businesses and the industry as a whole to become much more transparent with allergen information.
After the Covid-19 pandemic, we also predict that the industry will become more health and safety conscious than ever before, with closer attention being paid to food hygiene scores. And because of this, we are predicting that it will become mandatory for businesses in England to display their scores, as it currently is in Scotland and Wales.
We also expect to see a shift towards more digital food safety practices. Although we have already begun seeing this, we predict it will continue and ramp up. The food industry is incredibly busy, therefore it’s no longer practical to continue to manage food safety using traditional paper-based methods. By switching to digital food safety systems, this will improve productivity, safety and efficiency for the food industry.
This year has shown devastating impacts to a number of businesses, however in 2021, we are looking to take back control and see the beginning of many positive shifts.