Technical & Quality

We nurture relationships with our long-term suppliers, many of whom have been involved with us for more than 30 years. Development of new sourcing areas is on-going in an unpredictable world and we ensure that alternatives are available as the global marketplace becomes increasingly competitive.

Our process includes every aspect of product development, production and provision including:

  • New Supplier Approval
  • Existing Supplier Monitoring and Assurance
  • Update and Review of Sedex and Ethical Audits
  • Management of Specifications
  • Packaging Review and Approval
  • Monitoring, Investigating and Trending Complaints
  • Product Quality Assurance
  • Management of New Product Development
  • Traceability of all stock distributed in the UK (via SAP)

All suppliers are regularly audited and approved to meet recognised industry standards and codes of practice, and can demonstrate their reliability to supply products that are safe, legal and of a consistent quality to meet our customers’ exacting specifications.

‘Quality’ covers both the intrinsic safety of products and the look, aroma and the taste. Our well-established procedures ensure that all products comply with the technical definition of quality, meeting the Food Safety Act (1990) and other relevant UK and EU legislation, as well as satisfying consumers’ demands for quality on their plate.

The experience and expertise of our Technical Managers supports our producers and distributors worldwide to deliver exactly what our customers want, when they want it:

  • Checking all products on arrival in the UK to continuously monitor and analyse quality indicators, providing feedback for improvements to meet customer needs and expectations.
  • Controlling every aspect of new product development (NPD) at every stage from initial concept to launch, including forward monitoring of production and distribution.
  • Attending first and subsequent production runs accompanied by or on behalf of customers, and supporting announced Audits as required.
  • Ensuring all packaging and product labelling meets the requirement of UK and EU food labelling and associated regulations.

We are certified to the BRC Agents and Brokers standard and Soil Association Organic standard.

Alliances & Memberships

NPD

At LDH we have an experienced and agile team who manage existing product development (EPD) and new product development (NPD). With a well-equipped development kitchen at our Sproughton Head Office, our NPD department works closely with the development teams within our supplying sites to develop wide range of products from commodities to bespoke recipe products.

We have a strong understanding of relevant legislation, raw material sustainability concerns, and health agenda. We are passionate about delivering health improvements while ensuring that taste is not compromised. Some examples of this include:

  • the removal of 400m kcals across a range of products
  • sugar and salt reductions (100mt sugar in recent years)

We constantly run surveillance of the market to identify and monitor food trends with the aim to deliver innovation across a wide range of our categories, from cooking aids and ingredients to plant based alternatives.