Car Park Tomatoes

Welcome back Food Junglers. Given the start of the holidays, this will be the last issue until 6^th January. But fear not, as Food Jungle will be back with a bang in 2025. This week, however, the drama doesn’t stop. Let’s dig in.

This week:

🍫 Cocoa prices hit record highs yet again.

🛵 GrubHub gets smacked with another lawsuit.

☕️ Starbucks negotiations with unionised workers fall short.

😷 California declares a bird flu emergency.

🍅 Tomatoes are being grown in a car park in the UK…

CLIMATE
COCOA’S BREAKING WALLETS

Cocoa prices soared to yet another record high, topping the $12,000-a-ton mark as the crop outlook for West Africa worsens, fuelling concerns of supply shortfalls.

Prices have more than doubled since the start of the year, as severe droughts resulted in poor harvests in Ghana and Ivory Coast—the world’s biggest producers of cocoa beans—reducing global supplies.

Dry weather across West Africa could hurt harvest volumes in the coming months, and the Harmattan winds coming from the Sahara between December and March could pose a further threat.

ZOOMING OUT: In November, the International Cocoa Organisation forecast a production deficit of 478,000 tons for the 2023-24 season and said it expected total end-of-season stocks at 1.3 million tons. We can definitely expect further price volatility in the new year.

POLICY
GRUBHUB GETS SERVED

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Illinois’s attorney general said Grubhub would pay $25 million to settle charges regarding unlawful practices, including deceiving customers on delivery costs.

The FTC said Grubhub deceived customers about delivery costs and blocked access to their accounts and funds, deceived workers about how much money they would make delivering food, and unfairly listed restaurants on its platform without their permission.

The settlement includes a monetary judgment of $140 million against the online food-ordering company, which is partially suspended based on Grubhub’s inability to pay the full amount.

ZOOMING OUT: As part of the proposed settlement, Grubhub will be required to disclose the true cost of delivery, to notify customers if their accounts have been blocked, and to stop listing unaffiliated restaurants on its platform.

BUSINESS
STARBUCKS UNION RISES UP

Starbucks baristas launched protests at some union-represented locations in Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle on Friday after the union said contract talks with the coffee chain hit an impasse.

Seattle-based Starbucks said that workers in roughly a dozen U.S. stores called out of their shifts or picketed outside locations, leaving some of those stores unable to open.

Starbucks Workers United said it was set for a five-day walkout, with baristas leaving their posts through Christmas Eve if the company didn’t respond to the union’s demands for wage increases, reviewing staffing shortages, and better-functioning equipment.

ZOOMING OUT: Starbucks Workers United currently represents around 530 of the coffee company’s more than 10,000 U.S. stores.

And while Starbucks hoped to have concluded contract negotiations with the thousands of protesting workers by the end of the year, it seems as though that’s unlikely to happen. Starbucks Workers United won’t budge. 

SUPPLY CHAIN
CALIFORNIA’S BIRD FLU PROBLEM

California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued a state of emergency in response to a worsening bird flu outbreak that’s affected hundreds of dairy herds.

California, the nation’s largest milk-producing state, expanded testing efforts after two raw milk processors recalled their products this month following positive detection of the virus.

The action will ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need around staffing, contracting and other rules to support the state’s response to the outbreak.

ZOOMING OUT: Statewide, bird flu has spread to 641 dairies in nine counties since late August, when the first detections in cattle emerged. It has infected 34 people in California to date. The first severe case was reported in Louisiana this week. 

THE BRIGHT SIDE
TOMATOES IN A CAR PARK

As a student myself, I’m always keen to learn more about how today’s youth is trying to solve the problems associated with the problems of our overcomplicated food system.

A few students at Hadlow College in Kent, for example, have installed a hydroponic system which has allowed them to grow over two tonnes of tomatoes in just a few months. Simply, they have been able to grow tomatoes just by using a greenhouse, LED lighting, tiered growing and, most importantly, no soil.

The greenhouse is built for sustainability and the water which runs off the plants is collected and put through tanks where UV light purifies it, before it's used again.

In fact, one tonne of the food grown has already gone to food charities, the equivalent of 2,250 meals. Food Jungle approved ✅ 

BEFORE YOU GO…

• Starbucks has more than doubled paid leave for new parents working at 10,000-plus US stores.

• Tony's Chocolonely’s advent calendar has left a day blank to increase awareness of the inequality faced by cocoa farmers in the chocolate supply chain.

• Nestlé will be launching protein shots in the United States which it says help suppress appetite for people looking to shed pounds.

• Pubs up and down the U.K. say they are running low on Guinness after a surge in demand that caught the beer’s brewer off guard.

TAKE A BREAK

If you’re interested in some quality ORIGINAL journalism on what’s been going on in the food industry, look no further than Green Queen.

Founded in 2011, by Sonalie Figueiras, the team looks to analyse and discuss the latest news in food, from cultivated meat to food waste. Thoroughly recommend! 🤩