Modern Slavery 
Statement

Indigo Food Group Limited - Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement 2024

This statement has been published in accordance with section 54 (1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It relates to actions and activities during the company financial year for 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023. The following statement sets out the steps that the Company has taken and is continuing to take to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain. The Company has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery.

About Us

Indigo Food Group Limited is the holding company of BM Foods Limited, Winning Blend Limited T/A The Welsh Pantry and Edgmond Foods Limited. Whilst there are other companies within the group these currently do not have any employees or supply goods.

BM Foods Limited was established in 2002 and remains 100% privately owned. The business specialises in processing, marinading, and packing of ready to eat chicken and cooked meats. It has two sites based in Avonmouth, Bristol.

The business currently operates over twenty-four hours a day five days a week, dispatching goods to customers throughout the UK with our own transport fleet seven days a week. The number of staff currently employed in the business is approximately 225, with minimal use of temporary agency workers.

Winning Blend Limited was established in 1988 and was purchased by the Indigo Food Group in 2010. The business has a strong heritage in manufacturing high quality Pies, Savoury Pastries (Sausage Rolls, Pasties, Slices), Ready Meals and Quiche.

The business currently operates from a 100,000 sq. ft. unit in LLantrisant, R.C.T and currently employees approximately 225 people. The use of temporary agency workers is approximately 1000 hours per week.

Edgmond Foods Limited was established in 1990 and was purchased by the Indigo Food Group in 2022. The business is the UK’s leading manufacturer of Quiche, Frittatas, Tartlets and Open Top Pies.

The business currently operates from a 56,000 square feet manufacturing facility in Telford and currently employees approximately 140 people. The use of temporary agency workers is approximately 2500 hours per week.

Our Supply Chains

At the end of the last financial year (31/12/2023) IFG had approximately 550 suppliers who we purchased products from. Incoming products range from meats to packaging. Purchases are made from within and outside of the UK.

As part of our 2018 objectives the teams at BM Foods and Winning Blend started to obtain our suppliers modern slavery statements. By 2019 less than 25% of these were still outstanding. These have now been collected for all suppliers for both BM Foods and Winning Blend and since then any new suppliers are required to provide this information during the account set up process.

Further to the above we use a number of agencies for temporary workers. It was our 2018 aim to ensure that we had copies of their slavery and human trafficking statements which was completed and updated copies of these are obtained each year.

Policies/Procedures

IFG has various company policies and procedures in place to further our commitment to tackling modern day slavery to ensure we are conducting our business in an ethical and transparent manner.

These include.

• Equal opportunities Policy which sets out guidance on how to treat all employees fairly and equally, regardless of their sex, trans-gender status, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marital status, civil partnership status, age or perceived age, race, colour, nationality, national origins, ethnic origins, disabilities or memberships of third-party organisations i.e., trade unions.
• Recruitment Policy which includes eligibility to work in the UK checks for all employees to safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will.
• Company Grievance policy which allows employees to report incidences of perceived unfair treatment.
• Company Whistleblowing policy that allows all employees to raise concerns about internal issues without fear of reprisals.

As part of our 2019 objectives, we created and implemented an Anti-slavery Policy which was intended to set out our stance on modern slavery and human trafficking, it explains how employees can identify any instances of this and where they can go for help.

Due Diligence Process

We continue to put in place a number new and improved systems to identify and mitigate risk in regard to slavery and human trafficking. The below were our original objectives for BM Foods and Winning Blend and these have now become the objectives for Edgmond Foods to bring this business in line with the standards within the group:

• Map our supply chain to identify and assess potential risk areas.
• Creation and issue of supplier approval questionnaire which contains ethical trading questions. This will allow us to gain further information on our suppliers both current and new.
• Carry out audits of temporary worker providers to assess their ethical and legal compliance.
• Promote the company whistleblowing policy and the HR confidential contact details for employees to report any ethical concerns including modern slavery or human trafficking.

Training and Communication

A member of the HR team attended a Stronger Together workshop in tacking modern slavery in supply chains in 2018. Information from this workshop was brought back to the business and we completed the Employer Implementation checklist for BM Foods and Winning Blend and worked through the areas in which we had actions to implement.

Throughout 2023 we intended to complete the employer implementation checklist for Edgmond Foods and then train our management team there in the following areas –

• How to identify the signs of slavery and human trafficking
• What steps to take if slavery and human trafficking is suspected
• How to escalate potential slavery or human trafficking issues to the relevant parties within the business
• What external help is available and how to contact the Modern slavery helpline, Gangmasters Licensing Authority and Stronger Together.

This objective was completed, and we still have a ‘Raising Awareness Programme’ which was launched in 2019 at BM Foods and Winning Blend and then in 2023 at Edgmond Foods. We do this by displaying posters around our sites and including a section on Modern Slavery in our inductions for new employees to be aware of how to spot the signs and report and issues.

Endorsement of this Statement

This statement has been approved by the Group Directors who are committed to communicating openly and transparently with all stakeholders that the Indigo Food Group does not tolerate slavery, forced or trafficked labour to ensure that our zero-tolerance approach is shared by everyone we work with.