ADM said this week that, contrary to rumours, it was not selling its grain handling business. On the other hand, it is planning on scrapping some roles as part of a restructure to focus on being a nutrition company. The group opened a new high-tech livestock feed facility in Illinois – another addition in a long list of recent investments in animal nutrition. The CEO said that “animal nutrition is one of our key growth platforms.” ADM also invested in food-tech fund Cultivian Sandbox which just raised USD 135 million. A director at Cultivian Sandbox said they were witnessing a “democratization of technology in food” which is helping smaller groups disrupt the establishment.
Cargill too, which just announced new leadership for its Animal Nutrition segment and agricultural supply chain, is building a premix and animal nutrition plant in China. Separately, the group said it will be the first to use Rainforest Alliance Certified coconut oil to use in ice cream and confectionaries. Under the program, farmers in the Philippines and Indonesia will be trained in the sustainability standards which will also help them increase their income. A company official involved in the project said that “ethical brand positioning is an increasingly important driver.”
Cargill is expected to be one of the parties interested in buying Nestle’s Herta meat business, according to a source, which the former is looking to sell as part of its strategy to focus on healthy products. In the same vein, Nestle bought shares of Swiss-based start up Amazentis which is working on using a substance from pomegranates to create anti-ageing nutrients and dietary supplements.
In Hong Kong, Nestle has come under fire for continuing to use vanilla flavourings in baby milk powders even though it advertised as otherwise and had earlier committed to phasing out vanillin in baby products. A spokesperson for UNICEF argued that better regulations were needed, even though the WHO already bans marketing that suggests baby formula is as good as breast milk.
Nestle announced it was buying a small stake in Europe’s largest veterinary services Independent Vetcare Group International to gather more information about pets and their owners’ needs. This comes at the same time as Nestle said it stopped procuring dairy from Martins Farms in Pennsylvania after an undercover investigation by Compassion Over Killing (COK) revealed severe animal abuse and cruelty. COK complained, however, that this was not enough to address the abuse issues.
Animal welfare activists are concerned the situation will only get worse. The US government announced it would cut the work force of federal hog plant inspectors by 40% and scrap time limits on the slaughter line. The plants themselves will be made responsible for identifying diseases and contamination, while beef plants are expected to soon follow suit. The USDA’s head vet criticised the plan, saying that the same safety de-regulations in the aircraft industry are now being blamed for the Boeing crashes.
Tesco supermarkets in the UK will follow in the footsteps of competitor Sainsbury’s and start selling vegan and vegetarian options in the meat aisle. Tesco said that changing consumer habits, including a 21% drop in UK families’ meat consumption, is forcing retailers to adapt. Another study, however, found that meat demand in the UK only dropped by a marginal 0.2% in 2018. Part of the problem is that consumers are used to cheap food, spending less than 10% of their household expenditure on food, down from 20% in the 1960s and compared to 60% in Nigeria. An organic beef farmer suggested taxing industrial meat to make it more expensive.
Another retailer adapting to consumer pressure is IKEA. The furniture king announced a plan to make all of its franchises self-sufficient in salad and herbs. It already started growing salad in a hydroponic soil-free container in Sweden, a system that uses 90% less water and half as much area as traditional farming.
Finally, a group of Georgians have responded to a NASA challenge and are working on finding ways to grow grapes – and therefore make wine – on Mars.
This summary was produced by ECRUU
