News & Analysis on Food & Beverage Development & Technology
Company news
Latin American food conglomerate Grupo Nutresa has launched a new sustainability programme to continue strengthening Colombia’s cocoa chain after posting revenues of $18.9 billion in 2023, representing a growth of 11% compared to the previous year.
Special report: Dominican Republic organic cocoa
Swiss subsidiary with a long history of sourcing its premium organic cocoa from Dominican Republic sees demand skyrocket as suppliers look to other regions for sustainable beans.
Amsterdam Cocoa Week
Along with the World Cocoa Foundation Partnership Meeting, Chocoa’s Cocoa Sustainability Conference, Amsterdam Cocoa Week was also the setting for the Cacao of Excellence awards, which recognize excellence in cacao cultivation while supporting and...
Sustainability
Luker Chocolate is celebrating the completion of The Cacao Effect, a five-year initiative that the company said positively impacted over 6,000 rural families in Colombia. The closing event was held on 24 November 2023 in Bogotá, Colombia, and showcased...
Eight South American countries have agreed for the first time to form an alliance aimed at reducing deforestation in the Amazon.
Sustainability
A conference involving The Platform for Sustainable Cocoa, the Soy and Palm Oil Network and the Coffee Interest Group was recently held in Bern Switzerland to develop new tougher measures for the conservation of tropical forests.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidential election win in Brazil will make it easier for food and beverage companies to comply with their zero-deforestation commitments, it has been claimed.
Sustainability has rapidly evolved from a check box exercise for many food companies to something that impacts decision making throughout the supply chain. But how are firms measuring sustainability, how reliable is industry data in this respect, and if...
Will a large percentage of flavors, colors and sweeteners be made in bioreactors by 2050 or are the costs and challenges associated with precision fermentation technology such that it only makes sense to produce a handful of high-value ingredients in...
ECA Forum 2022
The European Cocoa Forum, held recently in Rome, Italy, was marked by frank and open discussions on how best to safeguard and direct the future of the hugely important global of the cocoa sector, said Paul Davis, European Cocoa Association (ECA) president.
The country is fighting back to improve its tarnished reputation in Europe.
Sustainability
Oat m!lk chocolate brand, HAPPi, is teaming up with Luker Chocolate to create Kids for Nature, an exciting new project that aims to protect the remarkable wildlife of Colombia by educating the next generation to become guardians of their ecosystem.
The Mexican bakery giant reported a doubled second-quarter net profit and raised its sales and operating earnings outlook, citing strong demand from regions including the US and Europe.
Palm oil acceptance in the European Union (EU) is not impossible if the industry engages in proper marketing based on scientific facts, with changes already being seen in some countries, according to a panel of experts.
JBS has set targets to stamp out deforestation in its supply chain and move to net zero emissions by 2040. Former World Wildlife Fund (WWF) sustainability expert Maurício S. Bauer tells us why he has decided to transition from the NGO sector and join the...
Six of the world’s largest food and agribusiness companies have developed a new method to tackle deforestation and grassland conversion for soy crops in Brazil’s biodiversity-rich Cerrado region, which neighbours the Amazon.
Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU) has released its 2021 Diversity, Equity & Belonging report, highlighting its successes over the past 10 years, and laying out goals for the next three.
JBS is often accused of indirectly sourcing cattle from unscrupulous Brazilian farmers who have illegally started fires in order to clear large areas of land.
Processing
Brazil’s cocoa beans production continues its upward curve with the latest figures released this month showing grindings have already increased up to 5% in 2022.
Bananas are not doomed, say experts. But their survival depends largely on retailers and consumers being prepared to pay more for their bananas, and the sector exploring different varieties.
AmBev’s first large brewery and first malting facility have become carbon neutral: with four more breweries set to follow by the end of the year.
How is Unilever ensuring sustainability in sourcing regions? Hanneke Faber, President Foods & Refreshment at Unilever, weighs in.
ADM connects crops to market, processing agricultural commodities for human and animal health. We caught up with Alison Taylor, the company’s Chief Sustainability Officer, to learn how this unique position in the supply chain, coupled with ADM’s global...
The alarming UN climate change report was put out over a week ago, but UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ “code red for humanity” message still haunts many as humans continue to cause much of the extreme weather by emitting greenhouse gases.
McCormick & Company is advancing its third-party verified sustainability standard, 'Grown for Good', for suppliers in the herbs and spices industry.
Coffee pulp – a waste product in coffee production – could be used to speed up recovery of tropical forests on post-agricultural land, according to researchers.
Corona is launching sustainable, renewable packaging made from surplus barley straw in South America this month, an innovation that it hopes to roll out globally in the future.
WCF Partnership Meeting 2020
WCF’s Partnership Meeting will be the only global conference dedicated to cocoa sustainability in 2020 when it convenes online on Wednesday 18 November.
Orbital Insight’s technology will combine satellite images of Indonesia and Brazil with geolocation data to provide specific information on ‘the first mile’ – the journey that palm oil fruit or soybeans travel from the plantation to a mill. “With a...
Inga alley cropping is a sustainable farming model that boosts food security, reduces rainforest destruction and provides organic crops such as cocoa and vanilla for the food industry.
Chile's Algramo sells branded goods in reusable packaging, saving money for manufacturers - such as Nestlé and Unilever - and reducing plastic waste. “We keep packaging in the economy and out of the environment,” it says.
Oleopalma is setting the standard for palm oil production in Mexico as the first company in the country to receive Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification.
We talk to Tetra Pak about its packaging made from “fully traceable” Brazilian sugarcane certified by Bonsucro. “The decision to source in Brazil is part of our sustainability commitment,” says the company’s director of sourcing and manufacturing.
Starting in Mexico and Brazil, Nestlé will plant three million trees, restore degraded ecosystems and help farmers switch to agroforestry methods in a bid to make its supply chain more resilient.
Brazilian brewery Ambev has introduced new microturbine technology in its factories to reduce CO2 emissions by 482 tons a year.
Brazilian plant-based startup Fazenda Futuro, recently valued at US$100 million, will launch vegan sausages made with a seaweed skin for crispiness next month. “We came to revolutionize this outdated, animal meat market," says its founder.
Since going public with its zero deforestation commitment last October, the Palm Grower Association of Guatemala (GREPALMA) has more than doubled the number of signatories to its sustainable development targets.
Ecuadorian milk producer El Ordeño teamed with IBM Food Trust to introduce blockchain technology for traceability in its TRÜ milk portfolio.
Using a patented technology, Brazil's Fibervita transforms co-streams from the cassava processing industry into a multi-functional ingredient that can clean up processed products' ingredient lists, it says.
CONACADO cocoa cooperative: 'This could destroy businesses like ours'
The European Union’s proposed organic regulation will break up organic, Fairtrade, and small-scale farmers’ cooperatives, meaning they will struggle to survive in the global market, says Fairtrade International.
Marfrig Global Foods finished 2019 with record returns, posting R$14.2 billion in fourth quarter revenue, a 23.5% increase year-on-year. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was R$1.6 billion, up 70.2% from the same period last year.
Sustainability
New data shows women could be struggling on just 23p (29c) a day, well below the extreme poverty line of £1.40 ($1.81) and organisation calls on government and chocolate companies to join the Alliance on Living Incomes in Cocoa, a new international...
A nonprofit dedicated to fighting poverty through private enterprise is changing the way that women farmers cultivate cacao in Peru.
Certified sustainable palm oil supplier Agropalma's investment in a specialty ingredients refinery has allowed Brazilian manufacturers to source key ingredients, such as cocoa butter substitute, domestically, it says.
Cell Farm Food Tech is developing stem cell lines to provide cultured meat companies with a high-quality starter material from “champion” Argentine Hereford and Angus beef.
For the sixth consecutive year, baked-goods company Grupo Bimbo topped the Merco ranking of companies with the best corporate responsibility and governance practices in Mexico.
Scientists are using Chilean quillaja extract to create nano-scale oleogels in plant-based proteins, mimicking the taste and texture of fat in meat and creating a 'juicy' product that, until now, has been "a real challenge", says the Good Food Istitute.
Tomorrow Foods says its turnkey protein isolates made from sustainably sourced pea, rice, mung and chickpea can help Latin American food manufacturers “join the plant-based revolution” without having to invest in R&D.
Operating in both Silicon Valley and Argentina, Michroma uses CRISPR-engineered filamentous fungi to create novel, natural food colors, and is already attracting interest from multinational food manufacturers.
Made from mango seeds and peel that normally go to waste, Manguifer is an insoluble fiber that can partly replace fat and sugar, making processed foods healthier and cheaper, says Genius Foods.