Pictured above: Luciano Vendone, from Deli Conti
Business support organisation The Food and Drink Forum has
successfully guided Nottingham-based firm Deli Conti towards
gaining a key food safety accreditation.
The Forum's technical manager Richard Wigley helped the food
service supplier to achieve STS accreditation, which is a
requirement to supply for some of the major UK food service
organisations.
Now the firm hopes it will open new doors and create additional
business for Deli Conti, which supplies freshly cooked authentic
pasta sauces and meals, marinated olives and a range of other foods
and ingredients to caterers, restaurants, delis, pubs and other
outlets.
The company, which is based at Victoria Business Park,
Netherfield, has taken on three additional staff over the past six
months and now employs eight people.
"Richard's support and guidance has been invaluable in helping
Deli Conti to achieve the STS accreditation, and we couldn't have
done it without him," said Sue Vendone, operations manager at Deli
Conti. "We knew that we were doing all the correct things in terms
of quality assurance and food safety, but it was documenting it in
the correct format that we needed help with, and Richard's
experience in accreditation proved to be extremely useful.
"Now that we have STS accreditation we will be promoting our
products and it will increase customer confidence."
The Food and Drink Forum, which operates across the East
Midlands, supports food and drink manufacturers and others working
in the sector in a number of ways, including providing help with
food safety accreditations such as BRC (British Retail Consortium),
STS and SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval).
"Many retailers and food service operators demand accreditations
from their suppliers so it makes excellent business sense for
manufacturers to invest in gaining the standards," said Richard
Wigley.
"Having the correct accreditations can open doors with potential
customers and lead to new business contracts, so I am delighted to
learn that Deli Conti has achieved STS accreditation with support
from The Food and Drink Forum."
Among Deli Conti's recent customers are a small chain of
restaurants in the south and a large national chain of Italian
restaurants.
The Food and Drink Forum is based at the Business Centre,
Southglade Food Park, Nottingham.