Design

Procter & Gamble, which recently tied up a deal for one of USA's biggest food groups to use its packaging services, is looking to follow suit in the UK.

The firm said it was keen for more deals like the one in the US, enabling ConAgra to use P&G's packaging technology for wrappers and non-splatter valves.

Al Bolles, an executive vice president for ConAgra, said: "P&G has a wealth of food technologies we can use to deliver new and improved products.

"We gain access to P&G's packaging capabilities, which will enable us to reduce costs and improve our sustainability efforts."

Jeff LeRoy, external relations manager for P&G in the USA, said his firm wanted to strike similar deals for UK firms to tap into its packaging technology.

"We are very receptive to the idea of following suit in the UK. We just have to find the right partner. We have business-development managers in the UK, but we do not speculate on potential deals.

"Suffice to say if a UK-based company was interested in our packaging capabilities we would be happy to talk with them."

He said P&G's "open-innovation strategy", which aimed to drum up new ideas for future projects, was "not bound by geography or business unit".