Doughnuts and COP-Outs

A week has passed since the start of the global climate summit in the UAE, COP28, and, as expected, there’s been a lot of talking and very little walking. But at least Christmas is almost here! Let’s dig in.

This week:

🍖 Joe Biden delivers a huge blow to climate activists.

🍩 Krispy Kreme finally arrives in France.

🧪 Bayer pays up for causing cancer in Philadelphia.

🧀 Dairy companies make a series of pledges in the UAE.

☘️ Dubai invests in MEGA vertical farming…

POLICY
JOE’S STAB IN THE BACK

To kick things off, the Biden administration has announced a $196 million investment package for the US agriculture industry. And, of the 185 recipients, only 10 were classified as “sustainable”.

As reported by the USDA, the priority of the grant is “to increase revenue and opportunities for farmers” across the country.

The issue for many, though, is NONE of the recipients are actively seeking to limit CO2 or methane pollution - both of which comprise 11% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and about a third of GLOBAL greenhouse emissions.

For a presidency that prides itself in its climate action, this move does seem somewhat peculiar.

ZOOMING OUT: This move isn’t all that surprising. From 2014 to 2020, American livestock farmers received 800 times more funding than plant-based and cultivated meat. And 95% of all R&D spending was directed at improving meat production alone.

So, while agriculture DOES get sponsored, the bias towards incumbents is, and has always been, very obvious.

BUSINESS
KRISPY KREME COMES TO TOWN

“France” and “Fast Food” are words one rarely puts together. Yet, when Krispy Kreme opened their first shop in Paris earlier this week, people went CRAZY for it.

From adding fresh fruit to the apple doughnut to making the strawberry frosting less sweet, Krispy Kreme purposefully designed their menu with French palates in mind.

And ironically, the doughnut giant’s new location is taking over from a restaurant, previously owned by Alain Ducasse - one of the most ICONIC Michelin-decorated chefs in French history.

ZOOMING OUT: From the success of the McBaguette in 2012 to the Krispy Kreme mania today, young French people LOVE American fast food, preferring comfort and speed over Michelin and three-hour lunches.

As an example, McDonald’s registered €6 billion in sales in France in 2022, making the country its second largest market. So if you think the French hate American food, think again.

SUPPLY CHAIN
BAYER PAYS UP

The German chemical producer, Bayer, was ordered to pay $3.5 million to a Philadelphia resident after a jury discovered that one of the company’s weed-killers causes cancer.

The 160-year old German company heavily relied on a 2015 research paper, stating that the main chemical component of the weed-killer - glyphosate - was only “LIKELY capable of causing cancer”. It’s safe to say that the jury was unconvinced.  

ZOOMING OUT: It gets worse for Bayer. Recent evidence HAS proven the likely link between the agricultural product and cancer. And now the company has been advised to reserve an extra $6.5 billion to pay 50,000 more claimants.

And that’s ON TOP of the $9.6 billion they already paid, in 2020, to claimants for damages as a result of the same weedkiller.

CLIMATE
A DAIRY COP-OUT?

Turning our attention to COP28, SIX of the world’s largest dairy producers have officially agreed to disclose their methane emissions for the first time in their corporate histories.

The companies - Bel Group, Danone, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé and Lactalis USA - used the climate summit to show their awareness of both methane’s destructive power AND livestock farming's role in producing the stinky gas.

Yet, commentators remain suspicious. While pledges have been made, concrete plans to reduce emissions remain elusive. So far, only ONE of the 11 biggest dairy companies in the world - Danone - has set a firm emissions target for the next decade.

ZOOMING OUT: Really, instead of reducing the intensity of livestock farming itself, the only proposed solution has been to genetically modify cows not to fart or burp. That takes time.

But, with demand for animal products set to rise by 20% by 2050, REAL actions need to be taken quickly.

THE BRIGHT SIDE
DUBAI’S GIGA-FARM

In keeping with the theme of a climate summit taking over everyone’s three-second attention spans, we bring you GOOD NEWS from the UAE.

As part of a new climate friendly push, Dubai’s Food-Tech Valley will be opening its very own HUGE vertical farm. For those of you who may not know, vertical farming (as shown above) is a type of farming in which plants grow on TOP of each other.

Crucially, though, the conditions of a vertical farm are strictly monitored, from LED lighting to water intake. All this to ensure that plants are grown without wasting any water, space, or nutrients.

Named the “Giga-Farm”, Dubai is creating a vertical farm on steroids. Spanning 900,000 square feet, it aims to recycle 50,000 tonnes of food waste and grow 2 BILLION plants every year.

In fact, this ONE farm, alone, will be able to replace 1% of the WHOLE country’s fresh produce imports. We knew Dubai had some cash movin’ around, but this is another LEVEL. Food Jungle approved ✅ 

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BEFORE YOU GO…

• McDonald’s opens its first new restaurant concept – CosMc’s – in more than 60 years.

• Jeff Bezos’s Earth Fund will commit $57 million to transforming food systems and biodiversity loss.

• Impossible Foods releases a new plant-based hot dog.

• Starbucks loses $12 billion in value in the space of a month.

• Alt-chicken-nugget producer, Nuggs, is replacing its CEO amidst worries that the lab-grown meat industry is sinking.

• Kraft Heinz, Kellogg Company, General Mills and Nestlé have won $17.7 million in damages after accusing several large US egg suppliers of artificially increasing their egg prices.

• 68,000 gallons of illegally produced, “impure” olive oil were seized by Italian and Spanish officials.

• A restaurant manager in France has been charged with accidentally killing a guest after serving improperly preserved sardines.