Food

In this highly competitive, constantly evolving industry, a legal team that understands your business is a powerful asset. At Roythornes, we have been serving the food community for over 60 years, advising fresh and chilled food businesses and helping them achieve profitable relationships with their supermarket clients.

Our field-to-fork understanding has given us an exceptional reputation across the industry. We understand the pressures our clients face, so we go beyond pure legal advice, sharing our expertise and drawing on our contacts to help you go from strength to strength.

From crisis management and contract disputes to negotiating corporate transactions, our food team focuses on the key issues to help clients achieve their objectives.

Our experienced team brings together corporate, litigation, tax and property lawyers with extensive food experience, meaning that clients always receive advice from someone who knows the sector and the key issues.

Some of the work we have been involved in:

• Working with our clients on a multi-million pound hop dispute with one of the world’s largest brewers.
• Helping a group of producers develop and licence a brand for their products so they can approach the multiples with a complete added value package.
• Investment into a food business by a third party.
• Working with suppliers to some of the UK’s largest on-line businesses on detailed contract agreements.
• Helping clients meet ethical standards and dealing with issues arising from supermarket audits.
• Handling a dispute over the value of in-field crops by multiples.
• Formation of the majority of the UK’s Producer Organisations.
• Retention of title claim on a product being mixed with others.
• Advising a UK company on a dispute involving crops grown overseas for sale in a third country.

How we can help:

• Health, safety and hygiene regulations
• Regulatory advice
• Organic criteria and claims
• Workforce issues, working time, foreign and agency labour
• Producer groups and cooperatives
• Breeder agreements
• Managing customer and supplier relations
• Traceability issues and COSSH
• Supermarket protocols and grocery supply codes
• Competition issues
• Intellectual property
• CIF/FOB Insurance claims for good in transit
• Retention of title claims
• Development agreements for new food products including fruits
• Import licenses for the importation of produce varieties into the UK
• Jurisprudence in cross border issues

Our memberships

To find out more

If you would like to find out more, speak to Peter Bennett, head of our food team on 01775 842567