Innovative Food Ingredients (IFI)

Innovative Food Ingredients: bespoke seasonings for butchers and food producers

Innovative Food Ingredients, trading as IFI, is a family-run supplier and developer of food ingredients based in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. The company describes itself as a specialist in the development and supply of high-quality ingredients aimed at butchers, farm shops, regional grocers, delis and food processors. Its team combines food specialists with qualified butchers, a mix the firm presents as central to how it formulates products for the trade.

What the company makes and supplies

The core of the offer is bespoke development of dry and liquid seasonings tailored to each customer. Alongside these, IFI lists oil-based marinades, sauces, crumbs and fillings as added-value products, together with traditional sausage and burger mixes and savoury bakery ingredients. The catalogue is organised into butchers' ingredients, bakery ingredients and retail products, with sections for offers and clearance.

The company frames its purpose as helping clients create dishes that are easy to prepare and cost-effective, and as a bridge between the retail food sector and butchery, adding value to their produce.

Taste Creation: product development for manufacturers

Taste Creation is the division aimed at food manufacturers. Through it, IFI offers fully customised food product development, drawing on consumer insight, creativity and technical knowledge, and gives access to the commodities needed for manufacturing. The service also covers supply, distribution and resource support, including holding stock of bespoke ingredients for a just-in-time arrangement.

Online ordering and delivery terms

A dedicated e-commerce platform carries a core range of stocked ingredients together with recipe inspiration. The site states that orders over £80 qualify for free next-day delivery, excluding rusk, and that next-day delivery requires ordering before 11am from Monday to Thursday, for UK mainland addresses only. The platform also supports fulfilment of Natasha's Law labelling requirements.

The Butchers' Collective

IFI runs a free members' portal called The Butchers' Collective, aimed at food businesses, butcher shop owners, craft butchers and their apprentices across the UK. Membership gives access to trade information, sharing of food and flavour trends, education, industry insights and resources, along with webinars, marketing tools and a community of experts.

Partnerships and trading history

The business traces its origins to 1945, when Tom Brennand began as an apprentice butcher at R. Lomas in Blackpool. Between 1956 and 1972 he worked at Lucas & Co, rising to National Account Manager for the North of England, and in 1973 he founded Fylde Butchers Supplies Limited, supplying ingredients to the trade. His sons David and Mike joined between 1976 and 1990 and expanded the business into sundries. After a period in other food-related ventures between 1990 and 2013, Innovative Food Ingredients was established in 2013, focusing purely on ingredients and securing partnerships with Newly Weds Foods (NWF) and AVO, described as a European specialist in spices, liquid marinades and sauces. Chantelle Brennand joined as the third generation in 2022, and in 2025 the business rebranded as IFI, introducing Butchers Collective and Taste Creation.

The site notes that AVO, Lafiness and MariTop are registered trademarks of AVO-Werke August Beisse GmbH, Germany.

Editorial content and customer profiles

The company publishes news and insights, including articles on counter ideas for independent butchers, barbecue marinades and seasonings, and turning new flavours into commercial growth. A mailing list invites subscribers to identify themselves as retail butcher, farm shop, distributor, processor, consumer or other, which indicates the customer groups the business addresses.