The concerns over the Amazon fires continued to grow this week as some fear the environmental reputation of Brazilian food producers will be jeopardised for years to come. Norway’s Mowi, the largest salmon producer in the world, said it would source soy outside of Brazil unless the government addressed the fires, and the biggest meatpacker in the world, JBS, said it was closely monitoring its suppliers in the area using satellites. Although it admitted that monitoring indirect suppliers was challenging. Many other Brazilian agribusinesses, including from the paper and pulp sectors, argued that the President’s environmental stance has been ‘disastrous’ in terms of what was being communicated to the outside world.
In contrast, the sugar union, UNICA, said the current government could not be blamed for the fires, adding that the environment minister was committed to protecting the forest. The CEO of Summit Agricultural Group, which owns a corn ethanol plant in Brazil’s Mato Grosso, argued that the media was not covering the Brazilian President’s response fairly and that sending in the army had been the right thing to do.
The US President is also potentially facing a growing backlash from farmers for undermining the ethanol standard, a key political topic in Iowa where it involves at least 40,000 jobs. Most Democratic Presidential candidates for 2020 have come out in strong support of the ethanol industry, but environmental activists note that their stances often contradict earlier pledges. They also argue that supporting ethanol goes against the goal of completely phasing out fuel-based engines, as proposed in the Green New Deal.
The wavering support for the ethanol mandate, along with the damage caused by the trade war, pushed some to believe the President is losing farmer support. But this poll conducted at the end of July suggests the opposite, as 66.6% of farmers said they would vote to reelect the President, up from 59.6% at the same stage last year. Analysts suggested this could be thanks to the generous cash payouts he offered farmers.
In Indonesia, the government is taking action to protect its palm oil industry by banning the use of “palm oil-free” or “no palm oil” messages on food products. The government highlighted that the messages pushed consumers to think the product is not healthy, a claim that has not been proven. A similar move was implemented in Malaysia, the home of FGV Holding, the world’s largest producer of crude palm oil. FGV reported poor results for its second quarter, which it mostly attributed to the sharp drop in palm oil prices. The group is also looking to restructure its struggling sugar business, with Wilmar reportedly one of the investors interested in buying a stake.
Still in Malaysia, Nestle reported a good growth momentum in the second quarter, as product innovations and portfolio enhancements sustained strong consumer demand. The same cannot be said about its tinned milk product in Australia – Nestle announced plans to close its tinned milk factory in northern Victoria. Consumers are less interested in the products and it cannot compete with cheap imports, the group said. In Europe, Nestle expanded its plant-based meat offer by launching Incredible Mince and renewing the recipe of its Incredible Burger.
Meanwhile, a recent survey in the US found that the proportion of people who identify as vegetarian or vegan has remained steady over the past 20 years and only represent a small portion of the population, at 5% and 3% respectively. But experts note that this hides the growing popularity of semi-vegetarian diets. Regardless, in Argentina, beef consumption is not dropping even after a 15-20% hike in prices. The depreciating currency has led to a recent surge in prices but consumers are reportedly willing to lower their budget elsewhere before cutting down on beef purchases.
Japan’s second-largest beer company, Kirin, announced a plan to spend USD 1 billion to buy a 30% stake in Fancl, a maker of health foods and cosmetics, in order to deal with a shrinking local beer demand. In contrast, Coca-Cola will launch its first alcoholic drink ever in the country, a lemon-flavoured fizzy drink mixed with a grain-based alcohol called shochu. In India, Coca-Cola will launch a non-alcoholic malt-drink through its Barbican brand. Both products are seen as new alternatives amid a global shift away from soft drinks.
The most exciting Coca-Cola innovation, however, comes from the UK, where the group will be testing the use of robots to deliver drinks in Alton Towers, a theme park resort. The self-driving robots will use AI technology to manoeuvre and deliver drinks to outlets across the park.
