Fiin's 2024 round-up and future plans
As 2025 approaches, we reflect on fiin’s achievements in 2024 and look forward to our plans for the next year.
Membership and database growth
Fiin’s membership and database continue to grow. This year, we welcomed three new members, taking our membership of manufacturers, retailers and food service operators to 67. We received on average around 13,000 laboratory test results each quarter and our Dashboard now includes results from 369,013 authenticity tests, making it the largest global repository of food authenticity test data. The Technical Steering Group’s quarterly insights on fiin data have been expanded to include historical trend analysis, offering providing insights into both emerging and established risks, alongside the quarterly recommendations regarding specific regions and food groups.
Sharing best practice
One of the key benefits of a network like fiin is promoting collaboration in the food industry – enabling our members to share best practices and valuable insights with one another. In response to member requests, we’re establishing a library of case studies, documenting examples of authenticity testing and related initiatives within member organisations. The first few case studies will be available to members in the New Year and include instances of confirmed fraud, investigations where results were influenced by other factors, and initiatives to enhance transparency and upskill suppliers.
The fiin conference 2024
The annual fiin conference in June brought together 130 food industry professionals in London. Speakers included academics, regulators, and industry experts who opened discussions on topics such as authenticity testing and interpretation, the role of data and AI, food crime prevention and the importance of cross-sector collaboration.
Webinar series launch
In September, we launched a webinar series in collaboration with the Food Authenticity Network, starting with a trial session on Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis led by Alison Johnson of Food Forensics. Over 80 participants joined to learn about SIRA principles, sampling and testing considerations, and its role in a weight-of-evidence approach to detecting food fraud. This series will continue in 2025 to address member priorities around testing methodologies and data interpretation.
Fiin-funded coordinated testing
Building on the success of a fiin-funded coordinated testing project on edible oils, we initiated a new project focusing on varietal testing of Basmati rice, with another project on red spices planned for early 2025. Coordinated testing by fiin members allows for targeted analysis of pre-determined areas of interest and a comprehensive view of authenticity right across the supply chain.
Progress on honey authentication
The fiin honey subgroup has been busy this year, addressing the question of reliable methods for authenticating honey. A comprehensive methods table has been developed by the group to provide a summary of available methods, their applicability and limitations and links to external resources. This table is available to our members and has been shared with the regulators.
Regulatory engagement
Fiin continues to work closely with the regulators, holding quarterly multi-agency meetings with NFCU, FSS, and FSAI. In addition, this year, we presented fiin’s data-sharing framework at the Europol Opson stakeholder event and fiin joined the Food Industry Liaison Group.
Supporting SMEs
In 2025, we are extending our support to SMEs, who play a key role in upholding supply chain integrity. We’re currently developing an SME Hub, which will be freely accessible from the fiin public website. The hub will offer top-line insights from fiin and signpost relevant tools and resources to combat food fraud.
Leadership update
This month, fiin welcomed Debbie Barnes of Marks & Spencer to the Board and as Chair of the Technical Steering Group. With extensive experience in the food industry, she brings valuable expertise to fiin. We extended our sincere thanks to Paul Dobson of Premier Foods for his significant contributions as a founding member.
We look forward to continuing work in 2025, supporting our members and the wider food industry. Wishing everyone a lovely Christmas break and a Happy New Year!
