Currently browsing posts about: Food-industry

I am reprinting this with no comments (beyond really, healthier marshmallows?) from the industry newsletter FoodNavigator.  Here is its

Special Edition: Sweeteners and sugar reduction

Sugar continues to be in the spotlight, singled out as the nutrient responsible for alarming global rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Artificial sweeteners are also facing fire from consumers who want to adopt ‘clean’ diets. And while natural sweeteners are a preferred option, ingredients like stevia are notorious for their off notes. So what is the answer? We take a look at the latest thinking around sugar reduction, from the nutritional science underpinning the trend through to tech developments like so-called structured sugars.

• Better for you marshmallow: a healthy twist: To help children avoid excessive sugar intake, it is wise to teach healthy life styles and prevent overweight. Occasionally you can take a sweet treat. With a healthier marshmallow you are still able to control your calorie and sugar intake…   Click Here
• Sugar reformulation: How are big brands innovating to cut the sweet stuff?  With mounting pressure – both via voluntary targets and mandatory taxes – to reduce sugar in food and beverage, FMCGs are getting creative. Some are substituting sugar with coconut water, others with maize flour or tiger nuts. Scroll through the gallery to see who is doing what to cut the sweet stuff… Display
• Kerry talks sugar reduction in beverages: ‘It impacts the three most important sensory dimensions’:  The push to reduce sugar in products, supported by regulatory levers such as sugar taxes, has focused largely on the beverage sector. Kerry Taste & Nutrition weighs in on the challenges facing beverage formulators… Read
• The FoodNavigator Podcast: Sugar reformulation part 1: Why reducing by stealth is key:  The food industry is under massive pressure to reformulate products with less sugar. And in light of the voluntary target in the UK for manufacturers to meet a 20% cut in sugar by 2020 unlikely to be met, campaigners are increasingly demanding that mandatory sugar reformulation targets are set… Listen now
• Could SDIL’s sweet success expand beyond soft drink? ‘The lack of taxation for sugary milk drinks definitely needs more thought’: The UK’s soft drink tax has probably been of greatest benefit to the Childhood Obesity Plan, says Association for the Study of Obesity Chair Dr Maria Bryant, and similar principles should ‘absolutely’ be applied to sugary milk drinks… Read
• Tate & Lyle aims to cut carbon emissions 30% by 2025 as reformulation lifts profits:  Tate & Lyle has announced a set of ambitious environmental targets including a commitment to cut Scope 1 and 2 CO2e emissions 20% by 2025 and 30% by 2030. Scope 1 and 2 are defined as direct emissions from owned or controlled sources, and indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy, respectively… Read
• Beyond sugar and salt reformulation: The case for ‘positive nutrition’ targets to help curb obesity:  Implementing ‘positive nutrition’ policies – to increase the amount of whole grains, fruit, nuts and seeds, and vegetables in our diet – could help the UK combat childhood obesity, argue experts… Read
• Making sweet food taste sweeter: Could coffee hold the key to sugar reformulation?  Fresh research out of Denmark reveals that drinking coffee changes our sense of taste, making sweet foods even sweeter. Could these findings help inform sugar reformulation strategies?.. Read
• Was the failure of Nestlé’s Milkybar Wowsomes down to poor demand or poor marketing?  Nestlé has pulled its reduced sugar Milkybar Wowsomes product after poor demand. But others believe big brands are scared to push their lower sugar products for fear of failure… Read
• Healy leverages cocoa shells for natural sugar reduction:  Healy Group, the Ireland-based ingredient supplier, has developed a process to turn cocoa shells – an otherwise under-utilised by-product of cocoa production – into a micronised cocoa fibre that can help with sugar reduction in chocolate… Read
• Do low-calorie sweeteners make you fat? Controversy and confusion over the role of high-intensity sweeteners in weight management:  The war on sugar continues to gather steam as increasingly health-conscious consumers seek to limit their intake by opting for products that are perceived as healthier. But controversy continues to swirl over the impact of high intensity sweeteners – a popular reformulation option – on health… Read
• Sugar reduction through smell: ‘Aromas can be used to produce long-lasting sweetness-enhancing effects’:  One of the easiest ways to reduce sugar is to replace it with sweeteners – but research from Netherlands-based research group NIZO suggests aromas can be leveraged as an alternative path to sugar reduction… Read
• EY on the future of food: Tech innovation to deliver healthy, sustainable and personalised products:  What does the future have in store for the food industry? We spoke to Ernst and Young’s Rob Holston, global consumer industries advisory lead, to hear his thoughts on the top trends and technologies at play… Read

If Covid-19 does anything useful, it will be to expose how badly treated are low-wage farm, slaughterhouse, and grocery workers, suddenly deemed essential.  It also exposes the bad treatment of restaurant workers, now unemployed, and many paid so poorly that they do not even qualify for unemployment insurance.

Where are labor unions when we need them?  The union that organizes slaughterhouse workers explains why it is so weak.

Today, workers have lost power at the bargaining table. Giant meatpacking and food companies are more determined than ever to keep labor costs as low as possible and production as high as possible. This means hiring cheap labor, maintaining intolerably high line speeds, demanding cuts in wages and benefits from unionized facilities…Other companies actively exploit our broken immigration system, purposely recruiting and hiring undocumented immigrants to create a disposable workforce. These immigrants often don’t speak English and aren’t aware of labor laws or their rights on the job. It’s a vulnerable, easily-intimidated workforce too afraid to speak out…This has resulted in an industry where workers have less bargaining power, where it’s becoming harder and harder to earn enough to support families, and where it’s becoming less safe to work.

The good news: signs of a newly emergent worker movement in recent strikes.  These are listed here.

The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic is a good reason to support this movement.

Organize!

Addition: This article, just out, has a good summary of the history of meatpacking unions.  

For several decades after World War II, conditions in meatpacking plants steadily improved as a result of pressure from workers themselves.  Starting in 1943, the United Packinghouse Workers of America, a labor union, organized meatpacking employees in major cities. At the height of its influence, this union secured “master agreements” with the largest firms, such as Armour and Swift, ensuring standard wages and working conditions across the industry.  One source of the UPWA’s influence was its ability to build interracial alliances.

I am indebted to BakeryAndSnacks.com for this report on consumer [dis]trust of food products.

According to Morning Consult’s first annual State of Brand Trust report, more than half of Americans say they have little or no trust in corporate America and the country’s leadership.  In fact, Tom Hanks (34%) and Oprah (27%) are more trusted than either the US government (7%) or Wall Street (5%).  Fifty-four percent of consumers say they have little or no trust in corporations, while only 28% hold the same for the food and beverage industry.  But they do place conviction in brands like Cheerios, Oreos and Doritos.

The top five most trusted brands, according to this report, are the US Postal Service, Amazon, Google, Pay Pal and The Weather Channel.

As for foods:

The most trusted food brand was Chick-fil-A—ranking in sixth position—followed by Hershey in seventh spot, and Cheerios and M&Ms, No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.

However, despite the high level of trust placed in food and beverage brands, the industry does have its work cut out for it, as only 17% of Americans say they trust food labels.

The mind boggles.  We are doomed.

This is a collection of articles from BakeryAndSnacks.com, a food industry newsletter, about attempts of food companies to engage women in their businesses.

Is this empowerment, or is it exploitation or marketing?  You decide.

• PepsiCo’s push to empower Saudi female entrepreneurs:  The food and beverage giant’s philanthropic arm has partnered with INJAZ Al-Arab to launch a new entrepreneurship development program to empower Saudi female entrepreneurs. Read more
• The women behind the bakeries on a mission to end gender-based violence, unemployment and human trafficking:  Two all-female bakeries on either side of the Atlantic Ocean are championing social issues. Read more
• Empowering Indonesian women in palm oil earns Cargill IBIE sustainability award:  The global supplier built a fiscal and civic support program in South Sumatra, Indonesia, to nurture women in leadership roles – an important part of its 2020 palm oil transparency commitment. Read more
• Mars puts mums at the heart of a new snack to tackle nutritional deficiency in India:  Straight Forward Design was enlisted to create a brand identity that inspired trust in mothers. Read more
• Call for entries: PepsiCo supports gender equality with Stacy’s Pita Chips:  PepsiCo and Stacy’s, under the Frito-Lay umbrella, are calling for women-led startups to apply to the Stacy’s Rise Project incubator competition, a mentorship and grant program. Read more
•  BakeryandSnack Chat Podcast: PepsiCo partners with CARE to tackle the gender gap in farming:  The PepsiCo Foundation is collaborating with humanitarian organization CARE to tackle gender inequality in the agriculture sector with an $18.2m investment in She Feeds the World. Read more
• ‘Dream big’: Serena Williams aces 2019 slot on General Mills’ Wheaties athlete series:  General Mills has signed on the seven-times WTA Player Of The Year for its signature Wheaties box. Read more
• The power of eating breakfast together as a family: Kellogg’s celebrates working moms in Thailand:  The efforts of hard-working Thai mothers is just one of the stories highlighted by the Kellogg Company in its ninth annual Diversity & Inclusion Report, titled, Features. Read more
•  SNAC launches Women in Snacks network to embrace diversity and inclusion:  Only a handful of women lead with world’s largest companies. Fortune 500 lists 20 in the position of CEO – actually, now 18 following the departure of PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi and Campbell Soup’s Denise Morrison – down from 32 in 2017. Read more

I have a subscription to Politico’s Morning Agriculture daily newsletter, an invaluable source of information about doings in Washington DC that I would not otherwise know about.

Politico’s business model usually blocks access to articles from non-subscribers, which makes it difficult to refer to articles that you will not be able to read for yourself.  Sometimes I can find other sources for the same information, but not always.

Nevertheless, I want to point you to two recent Politico articles about how food corporations are getting together to jointly try to improve their production and supply chain practices.

Chocolate companies

The first was about how three large chocolate firms— Mars Wrigley, Mondelēz and Barry Callebaut—have called on the European Union to promote sustainable cocoa production and to enact regulations that will stop environmental and human rights abuses in production.

According to Politico’s behind-a-paywall article,

The Commission declined to comment on the corporates’ move but officials are considering due diligence schemes, market controls and product labeling with a possibility of specific measures for commodities such as soy, palm oil and beef.

Cocoa is a major driver of deforestation and human rights abuses, including child labor, in countries such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast, which together account for around two-thirds of global production.

Effects of agriculture on climate change

Politico, happily, released this magazine-length article titled “How a closed-door meeting shows farmers are waking up on climate change,” for open access.  It ought to win prizes for its author, Helena Bottemiller Evich.

In it, she describes how Big Ag companies, high-level US agricultural officials, and CEOs of major food companies are not only talking about climate change, but recognizing that they have to act to prevent it.

But that’s not all:

In Nebraska, farmers are exploring ways to reorient their farms to focus on rebuilding soil and sequestering carbon — a buzzy concept known as regenerative agriculture. In Florida, where rising sea levels are not a hypothetical discussion, farmers and ranchers have recently launched a working group to discuss climate change and how agriculture can help. Similar groups have cropped up in North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri and more states are expected to follow. In Iowa, faith leaders have been engaging farmers on the topic, hosting discussion groups in churches and building a network of farmers who are comfortable speaking publicly about climate change, whether it’s telling their story to reporters or 2020 Democratic candidates.

This is happening despite the politics of climate change.

Rural communities tend to be overwhelmingly Republican, which is one reason why talking about climate change has been politically taboo. It’s seen as a Democrat thing. Dig a little further, though, and the resistance runs much deeper than party politics. In many ways, climate change denial has become a proxy for rural Americans to push back against out-of-touch urbanites, meddlesome environmentalists and alarmist liberals who are seen as trying to impose their will on small towns and farming communities they do not understand.

Recognition of a problem is a necessary first step to getting it fixed.

Many of these companies are increasingly recognizing they can’t meet their goals without significant changes to farming practices at the base of their supply chains.

Yes!

This article is worth reading in its entirety.  It offers glimmers of hope that Big Ag and Big Food will change their practices and embrace sustainability and regenerative agriculture.

Our job?  To push them to change and cheer them on when they do.

The industry newsletter, FoodNavigator-Asia did a special edition on the food business in the Arabian Middle East:

Special Edition: Middle East Spotlight

Ahead of the region’s biggest food and beverage processing industry event, Gulfood Manufacturing, we shine the spotlight on the latest packaging and consumer trends that are driving innovation, while also assessing some of the major developments among the Middle East’s major brands.

• QR and AR: How smarter packaging can appeal to Middle East’s younger consumers:  The Middle East’s growing younger population is driving consumption of packaged food and beverage products, with firms turning to new packaging innovations to entice this lucrative market… Read
• Convenience, cost and clean label key for Middle East success – Ingredion:  Consumers in Middle East are increasingly more willing to try out new trends, but demands for convenience at an affordable price can pose a challenge for manufacturers… Read
• Matcha move: Nestle launches limited edition KitKat in UAE, KSA, Kuwait:  Nestle has launched a limited edition green tea matcha KitKat in selected GCC markets including UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait… Read
• Disrupting the meat industry: Global Food Industries ready to launch plant-based burgers:  UAE food firm Global Food Industries (GFI) has announced plans to launch its plant-based ‘not-chicken and not-beef burgers’ in November… Read
• Renewable energy: Nestle’s Dubai factory now the UAE’s largest private solar plant:  Nestle Middle East’s Al Maha factory in Dubai has started generating renewable energy with its 20,000 photovoltaic (PV) panels, that will supply 85% of the factory’s annual electricity consumption… Read
• A tale of two desert dairies:  Abu Dhabi’s Al Ain Farms and Dubai’s Al Rawabi have evolved differently over the last four decades to become regional majors… Read

Comment: My personal knowledge of the region is restricted to Dubai where, 15 years ago, nearly all food was imported (except dates, eggs, and some dairy), nearly all water was distilled from seawater (and, therefore, expensive), land almost entirely desert, and temperatures well into the 100s on most days—not exactly conducive to farming.

And they play rough over there:

• Heads of Qatar’s largest dairy firm named in lawsuit amid jihadist funding allegations: The Chairman and CEO of Qatar’s largest dairy firm Baladna have been named in papers filed in the British High Court, which alleges they helped fund the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front, a Syrian jihadist organisation…Read

I was fortunate to be able to attend the Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore on Saturday and worth the trip it was.

Here is where to see—and taste—what’s happening in health foods: ultra-processed (drinks, crackers, puffs) and not (nut butters, smoked fish).

Impressions

This is a huge market: the exhibits took up three full floors of two buildings in the convention center.  I think I only managed to wander through about half of them.

The big news is hemp.  An entire section of one of the floors was devoted to CBD oils, pills, and balms, but hemp booths were also scattered throughout.  I didn’t see many edibles—just a few gummy bears.

The buzz words are “all boxes checked.”  I heard this many times.  My favorite example: hemp water (“hydrate your body to the fullest”).  Here’s its list:

• All natural
• No artificial flavors
• No THC
• No preservatives
• Gluten free
• Dairy free
• Sugar free
• Sodium free
• Zero calories
• Non-GMO
• Vegan

Everyone wants to get into Whole Foods.  When I asked small producers where I could find their products, one after another said this.

Plant-based products are on the move.  I tried oat- and coconut-based ice creams (not bad, but still can’t compete with the 17% fat dairy versions, alas).

The Business Roundtable’s Statement (and see B Corporation Statement below)

The Business Roundtable, an organization of corporations, issued a statement last week—in a two-page advertisement with all the signatures in the Wall Street Journal, no less—that got this New York Times headline: Shareholder Value Is No Longer Everything, Top C.E.O.s Say.

What?  This is some kind of joke, right?

I’ve been arguing for years that the Shareholder Value Movement, which forced corporations to single-mindedly focus on maximizing profits at the expense of every other societal value—attention to the welfare of workers, farm animals, public health, environmental protection—is responsible for just about everything that is wrong with our food system.

Corporations are now saying that they are committing to change that?

The Business Roundtable’s press release says that it is redefining the purpose of corporations to promote an economy that serves all Americans—customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and shareholders.   Here is its website with all the commitment info.

Its statement, signed by nearly 200 corporations, commits them to [with my comments]:

• Delivering value to our customers [they aren’t already doing this?].
• Investing in our employees. This starts with compensating them fairly and providing important benefits [this would indeed be a groundbreaking improvement].
• Dealing fairly and ethically with our suppliers [they weren’t doing this either?].
• Supporting the communities in which we work [another excellent idea].
• Generating long-term value for shareholders [isn’t this what they’ve been doing to the detriment of everything else?]

This sounds good, but how do they plan to solve the central dilemma?  How do they intend to pay workers decent wages, improve the communities in which they operate, and stop damaging the environment—and still maximize benefits for shareholders?

No surprise, they don’t say.

Also, as the Times noted,

There was no mention at the Roundtable of curbing executive compensation, a lightning-rod topic when the highest-paid 100 chief executives make 254 times the salary of an employee receiving the median pay at their company. And hardly a week goes by without a major company getting drawn into a contentious political debate. As consumers and employees hold companies to higher ethical standards, big brands increasingly have to defend their positions on worker pay, guns, immigration, President Trump and more.

I looked for food corporations among the signers (sorry if I missed any):

• Aramark
• Bayer (it owns Monsanto)
• Coca-Cola
• Land O’Lakes
• PepsiCo
• Procter & Gamble
• Walmart

This is a small list.  Where, for example, are Mars, Nestlé, and Unilever?

I see this as flat out public relations, a response to increasing public distrust of corporate America and demands for corporate accountability.

If the signers mean business, let’s see them deal with workers’ wages right away.

Otherwise, I’m not holding my breath

The B Corporation Statement

And here’s more.  Sunday’s New York Times carried this advertisement from Certified B Corporations “meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.”

The ad is addressed to Business Rountable CEOs.

We are part of a community of Certified B Corporations who are walking the walk of stakeholder capitalism…We operate with a better model of corporate governance—benefit corporate governance—which gives us, and could give you, a way to combat short-termism and the freedom to make decisions to balance profit and purpose.

Among its food company signers are Ben & Jerry’s, Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Danone North America, King Arthur Flour, Sir Kensington’s, Stonyfield Organic, and Stumptown Coffee (there are others, as well).

I read this as a challenge: if the Business Rountable CEOs are serious about ensuring as B Corporations do, that “the purpose of capitalism is to work for everyone and for the long term,” why don’t they start by becoming B Corporations?

Until they do, the Business Roundtable statement is smoke and mirrors, to distract us from the damage the corporations are doing to our society and to our democratic institutions.