Peter Russell, chief technology officer at Russell Partnership, offered delegates an overview of the increasingly important phenomenon of artificial intelligence (AI).
He said that it offered genuine productivity gains in areas such as data collection, professional development and staff safety, but still had significant shortcomings.
It might be able to offer an allergen management plan, for example, but could not be relied upon and any such document would have to be double-checked by a human expert.
“My advice is think about how you want to use it, assess the potential benefits and start with ‘small steps’,” he said.
Bethan Cowell, the foodservice and procurement adviser at the National Farmers Union (NFU), emphasised the importance to Britain’s farming community of working with the foodservice industry.
She identified food security and food system resilience as significant issues to growers and caterers alike and promised that the NFU stood ready to support the public sector in any actions in these areas.
Helping the medical profession better understand the role of good nutrition in promoting health and healing is the aim of the group Culinary Medicine UK (CMUK).
Dr Sumi Baruah, the group’s chief executive, and Vince Kelly, its culinary lead and sustainability director, joined forces to explain the work being done to help make good the shortfall in nutrition training for doctors.
They also addressed the wider issue of educating catering college students about sustainability, which was highlighted by the recent ‘Healthy Plate, Healthy Planet’ event at Westminster Kingsway College in London.
Jill Whittaker, co-founder and executive chair of HIT Training, addressed the issue of accessing the Apprenticeship Levy. She pointed out that many companies that contributed to the levy did not use all of it and this surplus was available for other employers to access.
And in other ‘good news’ for employers she said that they did not have to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions for apprentices if they were under 25, on an approved scheme and earning less than £50,000 a year.
Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse provided an update on the work of the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, which is currently undertaking clinical trials with young people up to the age of 23, using immunotherapy to help them build up a tolerance for the common allergens cow’s milk and peanuts.
Nadim said that the trial ends in 2027, when a full report on the results will be delivered to Government, but he said preliminary results were hugely promising.
Tanya announced the launch of a dedicated online learning programme for schools that aimed to ‘take the fear’ out of allergen management.
And Karen Beech, the commercial lead for food and drink at Crown Commercial Services, outlined the new Buying Better Food & Drink Framework that was starting in January, to be delivered by Entegra.