Grubhub and Kenyan Seaweed

Welcome back Food Junglers. As the world prepares for another Trump administration, the global climate conference - COP29 - is in full swing. Elsewhere, ice cream and food delivery are on people’s minds in the US. Let’s dig in.

This week:

🏭️ Methane has gotten people talking in Azerbaijan.

🍦 Ben & Jerry’s sues Unilever.

🛵 Just Eat is selling Grubhub for pennies.

🌴 Palm oil farming is thoroughly investigated in Indonesia.

🇰🇪 Seaweed is bringing life and money to Kenyan villages…

CLIMATE
NEW COP, NEW ME?

Global climate conference – COP29 - is underway and, while the food industry’s emissions haven’t been even remotely dissected, methane emissions are on everyone’s mind.

Methane concentrations are rising faster than any other major greenhouse gas, with human activities driving at least two-thirds of global emissions, according to the 2024 Global Methane Budget. Agriculture, including rice farming and livestock, plays a huge part.

What concerns many is that most of the methane mitigation efforts underway, including EU legislation, are too focused on the oil and gas sector, where the emissions are easier to tackle than in agriculture.

ZOOMING OUT: However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Despite methane being considered an “aggressive greenhouse gas” it is actually easier to reduce than carbon dioxide, as the gas has a shorter lifespan in the atmosphere. But getting to the root of the methane problem, agriculture, is still imperative.

POLICY
BEN & JERRY’S VS. UNILEVER…AGAIN

Ice cream company – Ben & Jerry’s – has sued Unilever again, accusing the consumer-goods giant of silencing its attempts to speak out in support of Palestinians and threatening to dismantle its independent board.

The complaint marks an escalation of long-simmering tensions between the two sides and comes as London-based Unilever pursues a spinoff of its broader ice-cream business.

Most famously, Ben & Jerry’s previously sued Unilever in 2022 after the parent company sold the brand’s Israel business to a licensee without its permission.

ZOOMING OUT: Social activism has been part of Ben & Jerry’s since its inception. From launching a special ice cream to advocate cuts to US military spending to having LGBTQ+ flavours, the brand makes its allegiances known. The question, though, is whether that will come to ruin the company later on.

BUSINESS
JUST EAT GIVES UP

European food delivery giant – Just Eat – has agreed to sell Grubhub for $650 million, a fraction of the $7.3 billion it spent to buy the US platform just three years ago.

The buyer – Wonder Group – is a New York-based food ordering platform that markets itself as “fast fine dining”.  Under the terms of the deal, Wonder will acquire Grubhub for $150 million in cash and $500 million in senior notes.

Just Eat said that selling Grubhub would increase growth, cash generation, and support investment in countries where it has the greatest competitive advantage.

ZOOMING OUT: It seems as though the initial purchase of Grubhub didn’t really work out, as it currently makes up just 8% of the meal delivery market in the US with DoorDash and Uber Eats commanding 67% and 23% of the market, respectively.

Perhaps relinquishing control of this third wheel will serve Just Eat better in the long run.

SUPPLY CHAIN
INVESTIGATING PALM OIL

Consumer brands including Nestlé and Procter & Gamble said they conducted investigations after an environmental group said palm oil sourced from an illegally cleared wildlife reserve in Indonesia may have found its way into their supply chains.

US-based Rainforest Action Network (“RAN”) showed satellite images that it says reveal stretches of cleared brown land cut into the lush green expanse of Indonesia’s Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve.

Home to endangered orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos, the wildlife reserve has lost 2,609 hectares of forest since 2016, with palm trees now growing on 645 hectares of the cleared area.

ZOOMING OUT: Deforestation in the region has surged fourfold from 2021 to 2023, despite laws banning the practice. And with global palm oil demand also increasing, I struggle to see an end to this unless more serious, enforceable protective measures are taken.

THE BRIGHT SIDE
SEAWEED IS THE MONEYMAKER

I have always been curious to see how the global food industry will adapt to climate change-related shifts. Little did I know that I would see the most change in a remote village in Kenya!

The people of Kenya’s coastal village of Mwazaro used to earn their living mainly growing cassava and maize, until drought, rising sea levels, and poor rains forced the inhabitants to grow something else: seaweed.

But Mwazaro isn’t the only place where seaweed farming is booming in Kenya. Since its introduction to the country in 2008, 20 villages have started to make a substantial income from it.

And according to the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (“KMFRI”), the industry produced almost 100 tons of seaweed, worth more than $30,000, in 2022, helping coastal villages develop their own infrastructure and electricity.

Although this may not seem like much, the global market for seaweed has tripled in size in the last two decades, which makes me suspect that more revenue is to come. More than that, this makes me hopeful that coastal villages and smaller farming operations will be able to adapt to the radical environmental changes that are already here. Food Jungle approved ✅ 

BEFORE YOU GO…

• Nestle's KitKat brand has signed a global sponsorship deal with Formula 1.

• Hershey has reported a 1.4% net sales drop in its third quarter on the back of high cocoa prices.

• Israeli start-up - SuperMeat - has announced groundbreaking innovations to make cultivated chicken affordable at $11.79 per pound.

• Beyond Meat returned to growth in the July-September period this year, boosting its profit margins and cutting losses from the third quarter in 2023.

• Meat processor - JBS SA - posted positive results for its fiscal third-quarter of 2024, including record-high revenue.

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! 🤩