Strange times continue into 2021 but this is perhaps unsurprising following our departure from the European Union, coupled with the ongoing effects of Coronavirus which have totally reshaped the UK food market.

• The foodservice sector decimated
• Grocery retail enjoying good growth
• An unprecedented boost for the online grocery market
• More home cooking
• An increase in direct-to-consumer (D2C)

So, what does the immediate future hold for UK food producers? There will definitely be a major post lockdown boost but how many of the behavioural changes we experienced last year are going to become the new normal?

One is online shopping where led by the older demographics, the numbers may drift down slightly post lockdown but will stay way ahead of those pre-Covid.

Suppliers to the OOH (Out-of-Home) sector facing their third lockdown have already had to change, hence the growth in D2C, but when will normality return and will it ever be as before? With the changing attitudes about working-from-home by employers, will the huge increase in demand for online recipes mean the growth in home cooking is here to stay?

The core suppliers to the big retail grocery chains will need to be as innovative as ever plus very cost-effective to retain their supplier status. SKU’s are being reduced as the supermarkets look to cut costs ahead of an expected recession, smaller in-store footfall, and a tailing off of the demand uplift as OOH eating returns.

Opportunities will arise for challenger brands who offer local produce and those who see an opportunity to replace suppliers from Europe.

In summary, the first quarter of this year presents both challenges and opportunities, but while a pandemic may be new in modern times these are part of daily life in the UK food sector and its simply about how your business responds. The ability to be fast and flexible in uncertain times with margins under pressure and limited investment available on traditionally older sites is what sets you apart from competitors.

It’s the perfect scenario for a game-changing solution; portable modular complexes. Modular complexes give you the space you need, with the latest technology, in a facility with adaptability at its core whilst retaining ‘the feel and characteristics of a permanent build’. This solution also erases any significant upfront cost, extended build time and disruption associated with a traditional build.

No one could have predicted the events of 2020, but having experienced and seen the consequential behavioural changes would you really invest in a permanent facility?

The time is right and ‘The Future is Modular’ plus unlike a traditional design and build project there are no fees during the consultancy phase, or at any stage of the process whether you progress or not, irrespective of how many site visits or CAD drawings are required. Our sole objective is that we work together with you to find the best bespoke solution your business needs. For our team of professional consultants, it’s key that we future proof every design so longer-term plans can be achieved with minimal disruption – whether you would like to add ‘pop-up’ dock loading pods or increase storage space in the future.

What our customers get is the skills, knowledge, and experience of our team working on solutions in the food sector over the last 30 years. An often understated benefit of rental is that we the supplier know that if our solution does not achieve what we promised, or what the customer expected, then it would be returned so why would we do anything but find the optimum solution?

Most solutions are bespoke, because invariably they are site-dependent to maximise the space you have and what you are trying to achieve. This can be as big or little as you require. Efficient process flow improves margins so we ask ‘where does it need to go?’ and ‘what are you trying to achieve?’. This can be simple, but effective such as the time we incorporated a weighting machine into the floor of a raw materials intake facility beyond the loading dock entrance, or a full production facility housing production lines, blast freezing chambers, a packing room and finished goods store with a loading dock.

We believe ‘to stand still is to go backwards’ so be bold without risk and contact Dawsongroup Temperature Control Solutions about how they can help you.

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