Eggs and Big Business

Hey there Food Junglers! Earnings season is heating up with companies trying to justify unusually low returns. And elsewhere, the global supply chain seems to be weakening. Let’s dig in.

This week:

🍫 Sourcing cocoa from the Ivory Coast affects trees in Liberia.

🛒 Walmart will be competing with Whole Foods and Trader Joes.

🔫 A year of fighting in Sudan worsens famine conditions.

🍳 US farmers are moving away from raising chickens.

🌾 Even small farms can grow rice sustainably in Vietnam…

CLIMATE
CHOCOLATE MIXING IN LIBERIA

A new investigation during a World Cocoa Conference in Belgium has revealed that companies, which source cocoa from the Ivory Coast, are contributing to deforestation in Liberia.

The investigation showed that Ivorian cocoa farmers, migrating to Liberia to find more fertile land for their cocoa trees, ended up illegally mixing Liberian cocoa beans with Ivorian beans.

On top of that, chocolate companies that buy cocoa beans are still improperly tracing their origins, in spite of attaining supernormal profits, making the situation harder to assess.

ZOOMING OUT: In December 2024, The European Union will make it illegal to import and sell cocoa beans sourced from land deforested after 2020. But, whether this will inspire a change in this “cocoa mixing” practice remains to be seen.

BUSINESS
WALMART ENTERS THE CHAT

In an effort to keep attracting consumers with higher incomes to its stores, Walmart is introducing its own line of premium food, called “Bettergoods”.

By introducing products, such as gluten free muffin mix or oat milk ice cream, the food store giant is making it increasingly clear that it wants to compete with Amazon’s Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s that both offer their own private label goods.

Walmart’s products will have their own distinct packaging and, best of all, will not have to compete with other brands - like Coca Cola or Heinz Ketchup - for shelf space as Walmart owns that real estate.

ZOOMING OUT: For Walmart and consumers, this couldn’t have come at a better time. With inflation still an unwelcome presence and many being turned off by the ultra-processed products of classic brands, this seems like Walmart’s time to strike.

POLICY
SUDAN CONTINUES TO SUFFER

It has officially been a year since the start of the civil war in Sudan as the warring parties - the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (“RSF”) - continue to fight amidst one of the worst hunger crises in history.

Nearly five million Sudanese people are close to famine - 18 million are facing “high levels of acute food insecurity” - with military forces even looting aid convoys.

Agriculture has all but stopped, while the remaining crops have been stolen by the RSF. And, despite 60 aid workers having been killed, the crisis is still being given little attention.

ZOOMING OUT: Given the issues in the Middle East and Ukraine are still raging on, it is unlikely that attention will be shifted to the African nation. But, as long as stories such as these spread, hope should still exist.

SUPPLY CHAIN
“EGG-CELLENT” BUSINESS

American chicken farmers are increasingly turning to egg production after some of the biggest meat packers in the country - Tyson Foods and Cal-Maine Foods - allegedly “misjudged” the demand for chicken meat.

Tyson Foods, for example, recently made the decision to shut down six chicken meat plants in an effort to return to profitability, a move that many other meat packers have also had to make due to a period of economic uncertainty within the United States.

Chicken farmers themselves, on the other hand, are not so pleased as egg production is incredibly capital intensive and requires a number of costly renovations, such as replacing dirt floors with concrete.

ZOOMING OUT: Amidst all of this commotion is looming sense of dread that the situation will get worse. The avian flu has flared up for a third year this spring and, so far, has killed nearly 10 million hens. It’s not looking good.

THE BRIGHT SIDE
SUSTAINABLE RICE IN VIETNAM

While reading the news last week, I came upon a super interesting and inspiring story about rice farming in Vietnam that I wanted to share with you all.

Today’s rice farming contributes to 8% of all human-made methane in the atmosphere, a gas which traps more than 80-times more heat in the atmosphere in the short term than carbon dioxide. On top of that, rice production requires a lot of fertiliser, water, and hard labour to keep the rice submerged.

However, a local Vietnamese farmer, called Vo Vo Van, has managed to rethink the rice growing process so that he uses 40% less rice seed, 30% less water, and much less fertiliser!

By using alternate wetting and drying (“AWD”) - a process through which the rice isn’t always submerged in water - and fertiliser drones - that add just the right amount of fertiliser to keep the soil healthy - he’s able to cut down on his emissions, labour, and overall costs.

Although this was not a specific example of a company product, I thought this was a lovely example of someone making an active effort to affect positive climate change. Food Jungle approved ✅ 

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BEFORE YOU GO…

• Oatly announces its first quarter results for 2024, highlighting a 3% volume increase and significant gross margin expansion.

• Lidl plans to invest £500 million into the British pork sector to bolster the nation’s pork industry.

• Food delivery service - Getir - will be exiting its markets in the UK, Germany, and the US to focus on Turkey.

• The U.S. government takes responsibility for jet fuel that leaked into a Navy water system in Hawaii in 2021.

• A California restaurant faces backlash after deciding not to pursue a vegan menu and switching back to meat.

TAKE A BREAK

Hi there everyone! It’s our pleasure to introduce another newsletter in the food space - BETTER BIOECONOMY - from a food technology enthusiast, Eshan Samaranayake.  

Like the team at Food Jungle, Eshan is doing his absolute best to advertise those who are making food healthier, cleaner, more sustainable, more animal-friendly AND accessible to all.

So, if you are interested in reading more on food tech, go check it out! Food Jungle approved ✅