Kudos Blends - Creativity in the Making

Continuing to Grow…..
As Kudos Blends nears its 10th Anniversary, Daniel Brown has joined the technical team as Customer Support Manager.

With a degree in Chemistry, and a PhD in Mechanistic Chemistry, Daniel will initially be overseeing improvements to the Company’s unique potassium bicarbonate products and installing new equipment and associated test methods in the site’s upgraded laboratory. Additionally he will assist the technical team with customer support.

Daniel’s knowledge of chemistry should prove advantageous to the site’s existing product improvement and potential new product development.

Quality Management System……
The site has just completed its recertification audit to the BRC standard. This involved upgrading to the new version 5 standard implemented earlier this year. The site received a provisional Grade A and is awaiting final confirmation from the certification body.

Health and Safety……
The site has successfully implemented a formal Health and Safety Management System at site involving both Kudos and Kalium Blending. Risk assessments identified a number of improvements which could be made, which have been successfully implemented especially in the area of manual handling.

And yet another new member of the team ……
Tasha Hunt joined the team of Kudos employees in August 2008. Tasha’s key role is to assist the MD with the day to day running of both Kalium and Kudos and to develop systems for analysing the business to improve productivity and efficiencies.

Database……
With assistance from an expert in Microsoft Access database programming, Kudos has a bespoke MRP system. For the food industry, the key aspect of any system is to record detailed traceability for incoming goods through to product delivery to the customer. The unique database successfully assisted Kudos through this part of the BRC audit.

Still growing……
We have recently welcomed two new members to the Kudos team, Karen Manning and Claire Bradley.

Karen has joined us as Quality, Safety and Environment Manager, bringing with her a wealth of experience in Quality Management Systems. She has taken on the task of implementing the changes needed for new BRC Global Standard 5 to our current system, ready for the audit in October. In addition to this, she is overseeing the development of the sites health, safety and environment systems.

Claire has joined as a part-time administration assistant, taking over the day to day accounts of both Kudos and Kalium, as well as helping with the QC testing and keeping everything running smoothly in the office!

Promotion for Donna!
Congratulations to Donna Roper, who’s been promoted to Customer Services Manager, taking over from Alan Nolan who has left us after 5 years with the company. Donna is responsible for all order processing and ensuring customer delivery requirements are met in full and on time.

Kudos achieves BRC grade’A’
Kudos Blends and it’s sister company Kalium Blending recently achieved ‘Grade A ‘certification to the BRC (British Retail Consortium) standard by SAI Global.

This certification and grading represents a considerable achievement for both both companies. Kalium Blending’s purpose built manufacturing facility has now been fully operational for just over twelve months and is dedicated to the highest standards of dry blending of powders.

Kudos takes the stage at the 2007 BSB Conference
The British Society of Bakers held their annual conference on 20th March 2007. Kudos Managing Director, Dinnie Jordan, was asked by the society to be a key note speaker for this event. Dinnie delivered an informative and lively presentation which payed attention to lowering the levels of sodium in cakes and biscuits. The presentation was well received with a number of large companies showing an interest in the development of low sodium products. Reducing the amount of sodium in cakes and biscuits is a key objective for processed food companies, with target levels of sodium set by the Foods Standards Agency, to be achieved by 2010.

New distributor appointed
Kudos Blends has recently appointed a UK distributor to reach a wider market for it's bakery ingredients. May Products is owned by Jon and Dawn Sermon, who have strong experience in the bakery sector www.mayproducts.co.uk

Kudos brings manufacturing capability in-house
July 2006 saw a major step forward in the development of Kudos Blends, with the commissioning of our own new blends plant adjacent to our commercial and laboratory facilities in Cleobory Mortimer. This operation is managed through Kalium Blending Co LLP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kudos Blends. Kalium Blending looks after all the manufacturing requirements for Kudos Blends and gives the company the independent platform to achieve its ambitious growth plans.

The plant became fully operational in August 2006 and enables us to offer a faster and more responsive service to our customers, particularly during the product development phase when large samples are often required to run plant trials. The flexibility that the new facility gives us ensures we can meet the increasing demands of the food industry in a very timely manner.

Kudos keeps growing
We have welcomed two new members of staff to the Kudos Team. Charlotte Bailey manages our valuable Quality System, keeping it continually updated in line with BRC Standard 4 and has successfully taken the company through its first audit against this standard. Kudos expects to achieve BRC accreditation by the summer of 2007

Donna Roper has joined the Kudos team as an office assistant, primarily to ensure the smooth running of Kalium Blending, and to manage its accounts and administration.