was appointed as the new
industry chair of the Food and Drink Sector Council today
(Tuesday 30 August).
He will take up the role immediately and will share the chair
with the Government chair, Food Minister .
The Food and Drink Sector Council is a formal industry
partnership with the Government which works to address challenges
faced by the sector and build a more productive and sustainable
food and drink system. The Council will also take the on
the role of delivering some of the measures outlined in the
recent Food Strategy for industry and the Government. The
co-chair’s role is primarily to lead and challenge the Council in
order to inspire and create change from within the sector, as
well as looking for opportunities for cooperation in the wider
Government agenda.
Mr Smith takes on the role from outgoing co-chairs Terry Jones
and Ian Wright and will be joined by the Food Minister.
Food Minister said:
Tim brings an unrivalled experience of the food and drink sector
from his time across a number of different organisations and a
fantastic enthusiasm to drive forward the council’s agenda of
meeting the challenges currently faced by the industry at large.
I want to thank out-going co-chairs Ian Wright and Terry Jones
for their expert direction – taking the council through the
difficulties of the Covid pandemic and our ongoing recovery.
said:
The food and drink sector is facing challenges which are
unprecedented in my time. It is imperative that industry and the
Government continue to work in partnership to ensure we have a
food system fit for the future.
The Food and Drink Sector Council must help provide the strategic
oversight to create that system and I’m delighted to take on the
role of industry co-chair. I look forward to working with the
Ministerial co-chair to identify the key issues facing the sector
and to find practical actions to address them.
Biography
Tim is the Chairman of Cranswick plc. For over three decades Tim
had leading roles as CEO with manufacturers in the food sector
including Northern Foods, Sara Lee, Express Dairies and latterly
Arla Foods where he was plc CEO. In 2008 Tim became Chief
Executive of the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
From 2012 until 2017, Tim was Group Quality Director at Tesco. He
then acted as a senior adviser to retailers and manufacturers
until joining Cranswick.
He has served as a Non-Executive Director at Cranswick plc for
three years and since May 2019 has been a Non-Executive Director
at Pret A Manager. He sits on the Boards of the University of
Leeds, Farm Africa and other charities. Recently he has been the
Chairman of the Government’s Trade and Agriculture Commission. He
was awarded the CBE in January 2022 for services to food and
agriculture.
The tenure of the chair is two years and follows an open
recruitment process.
