26 March 2025

On Friday, Defra announced its new Food Strategy Advisory Board (FSAB) – here’s a round-up of what’s happened and who’s who.

Defra’s new Food Strategy Advisory Board

What’s happened?

On Friday, Defra announced its new Food Strategy Advisory Board (FSAB) to advise the government on its food strategy. It will have monthly meetings as part of a ‘multi-stage stakeholder engagement cycle up to the summer’.  Defra says the FSAB is the first step in a wider stakeholder engagement strategy.

Defra has also had a first meeting of its new Ministerial Food Strategy Group, which brings together different government departments in recognition of the need for a joined-up approach (see more at the bottom of this page).

More information on the opportunities for stakeholder engagement are due to come shortly.

Who’s on the board?

🍟🍲🥓🥪​​​​​​​🍦​​​​​​​🐖 6 x food manufacturers / processors / suppliers:

1. Jillian Moffatt, McCain Foods, a chips and crisps brand.
2. Andrew Selley, Bidcorp UK & Bidfood UK, supplying hospitality, institutional, catering and retail with ingredients, fresh food and meals. It’s a division of Bidcorp Group, which supplies the food service industry in five continents. Andrew is also a FFCC commissioner.
3. Ash Amirahmadi, Sofina Foods Europe, manufacturer of pork and seafood products across Europe, employing 7,000 people, whose parent company is Sofina Foods Inc, a privately owned Canadian food company.
4. Dalton Philips, Greencore, which supplies 779m food-to-go items a year in the UK and has 35 manufacturing and distribution sites around the country.
5. Flor Healy – Defra has him down as Kerry Foods, but from what I can find he retired from that role many years ago before joining Samworth Brothers (sandwiches, pork pies, pasties), then left that to take up a role at an ice cream brand.
6. Tim Smith, Cranswick, one of the UK’s leading pork and poultry producers, processors and manufacturers. Tim was previously at Tesco and chief exec of the Food Standards Agency.

🥦🥦 2 x organisations dedicated to progressing health, access & sustainability:

1. Anna Taylor, The Food Foundation, a charity  working to create a healthy, sustainable, just food system for all.
2. Ravi Gurumurthy, NESTA, an ‘innovation agency for social good’ aiming to improve sustainability, health and life chances for all.

2 x health/medical experts:

1. Prof Susan Jebb, University of Oxford, specialising in healthy and sustainable diets and population health. She was science advisor for the Foresight report on obesity.
2. Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer.

🚜🚜 2 x Defra: 

1. Daniel Zeichner, Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs
2. Emily Miles, Director General

🛒 1 x retailer:

1. Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s, previously spent around 13 years at Boots (the pharmacy/cosmetics retailers).

👨‍🌾 1 x farmer: 

1. Sam Godfrey, a Lincolnshire arable grower, previously a pig producer and director of the National Pig Association and NFU sugar board member. He told Farmers Guardian he would bring “experience of commercial agriculture, which is representative of mainstream agricultural production.”

The board will be jointly chaired by Defra and the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD).

What does Defra say?

“The FSAB is the first step in a wider engagement strategy which will continue to ensure and demonstrate the joined-up and system-wide approach for the food system, including roundtables with key academics, and planned citizen engagement sessions,” said a Defra press release.

The Food and Drink Sector Council, and trade bodies such as the National Farmers Union, Food and Drink Federation, UK Hospitality, and British Retail Consortium are also expected to feed into the food strategy.

In recognition of the “importance of a more joined-up approach to food policy across Government”, Defra has also convened a first meeting of new Ministerial Food Strategy Group, chaired by Defra Secretary of State and including Ministers from Department for Business and Trade, Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Education and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

“This new Ministerial group will provide clear political leadership to drive forward the food strategy agenda and will complement structures at official level to ensure a joined-up approach”, said Defra.

If you’d like to read more, see my LinkedIn post.