Best practices in the food and drinks industry

In June 1996, Leatherhead Food Research Association launched the “Food and Drinks Industry Benchmarking and Self‐Assessment Initiative” with the support of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. As part of this initiative, nine food companies that excel in terms of the European Business Excellence Model were selected for visits. This paper reports on the best practices used by these companies in terms of the results they have achieved (in people satisfaction, customer satisfaction, impact on society and business results) and the way in which they have achieved them (through effective leadership, people management, policy and strategy, process management and resource management). For the food industry to move forward, it needs to take on board the best practices shown in this report. In particular, more food companies should consider using self‐assessment as a method for identifying improvement opportunities and assessing their progress towards business excellence.