Post-Milk and Cactus Juice

Welcome back Food Junglers. The Christmas season is upon us and, unfortunately for me, so is exam season. Still, that hasn’t stopped my emails blowing up with food industry notifications. Let’s dig in.

This week:

☕️ Nestlé and Starbucks find use child labour in their Chinese operations.

🌾 An American agriculture giant is firing a bunch of people.

🍼 The definition of “milk” is debated in the UK.

🐔 The bird flu saga continues in the US.

🌵 Italians seem to have found a new use for the cactus…

HEADLINER
CHINESE CHILD LABOUR

According to nonprofit organisation, China Labour Watch, coffee farms in Nestlé’s and Starbucks’ Chinese supply chains are using child labour and employing workers who face excessive hours in conditions that fail to meet the companies’ own safety standards.

China Labour Watch further noted that the lack of direct contractual relationships between coffee firms, certified estates, and small farms is responsible for this miscalculation.

At least two instances of child labour were discovered in Yunnan province, along with workers who didn’t have a labour contract and were paid by the weight of coffee beans they picked, resulting in excessive work hours without paid leave or other rest-related compensation.

ZOOMING OUT: The report comes as large companies are having to grapple with the decision, made by the European Union, that would forbid the bloc’s 27 member states to sell goods made with forced labour.

Now it’s up to these global companies to decide how they need to reshuffle their supply chains.

BUSINESS
AGRI-BUST

Cargill – the world’s largest agricultural commodities trader – will cut about 5% of its 164,000-strong workforce as part of its 2030 strategy and in the wake of recently missed profit targets.

The squeeze has been compounded by the smallest US cattle herd in seven decades, with the company spending much of the past decade turning itself into the third-largest US beef processor.

Overall, Cargill’s profits fell to $2.48 billion in the year through to the end of May, the lowest since 2015-2016. That’s less than half the record net profit of about $6.7 billion it made in the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

ZOOMING OUT: Unfortunately, this isn’t a unique case among agriculture giants in the US. Cargill’s rivals, Bunge Global SA and Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. have all seen their earning shrink after prices for corn and soybean tumbled earlier this year.

So, while there doesn’t seem to be any relief in sight, restructuring operations may be the best way to go.

POLICY
POST-MILK MIX UP

The UK Court of Appeal has ruled that Oatly will no longer be able to use the marketing slogan “Post Milk Generation” when labelling its food and beverage products, overturning a decision made by the High Court last year permitting the brand to continue using the phrase.

The five-year legal case has been ongoing since 2019, when the Swedish oat milk giant registered the “Post Milk Generation” slogan to be used across its food and beverage products, as well as on T-shirts.

The dairy trade association – Dairy UK – contested that the trademark’s use of the word “milk” violated 2013 European Court regulations that prohibit the use of dairy-related terms in the marketing of non-dairy products.

ZOOMING OUT: Despite the loss, the plant-based milk community hasn’t lost hope, as recently published data has found that cow milk alternatives have a carbon footprint between 63% and 78% smaller than cow’s milk.

So, although the battle may have been lost for Oatly, the nutritional numbers seem to be on their side for the long run.

SUPPLY CHAIN
BIRD FLU TESTING EN MASSE

The US Agriculture Department (“USDA”) has declared it would launch national testing of cow’s milk for the presence of bird flu to help regulators monitor US dairy processors.  

The USDA said that its “National Milk Testing Strategy” is designed to quickly find the presence of the disease in cow’s milk or in the cows themselves, by compiling random samples from different processing plants and testing them for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza.

The order will require dairy farmers to share their raw milk samples from their operations upon request from the USDA. On top of that, cow owners whose animals test positive for bird flu, will have to produce more data for federal agencies upon request.

ZOOMING OUT: So far, the virus has been spotted in over 110 million poultry birds across the US, as well as more wild birds. The disease has spread to US cattle herds and, shockingly enough, to humans. 60 human cases of bird flu have been reported. The number is climbing.

THE BRIGHT SIDE
ITALIAN CACTUS SHAKES

As many of you know, I’m always excited to share the launch of innovative ingredients—especially in the context of a warming climate and the ever-evolving food industry.

Southern Italian farms have been hit hard by drought and disease in recent years. However, Andrea Ortenzi sees an opportunity amidst the challenges. In 2021, he founded Wakonda, a company dedicated to cultivating Opuntia ficus-indica, better known as the cactus pear.

Ortenzi first discovered the plant 20 years ago and quickly recognised its incredible potential. Packed with nutrients, it can be processed into everything from flour to animal feed.

Wakonda has been steadily acquiring land in Italy’s Puglia region, where olive groves have suffered extensive damage from Xylella, an insect-borne disease. The company then grows the cactus pears and presses their prickly pads to create a juice used in a nutritious, low-calorie energy drink. The dried pads are then turned into either light flour for the food industry or high-protein feed for animals.

Personally, I think this is a super cool idea. Food Jungle approved ✅ 

BEFORE YOU GO…

• Chipotle Mexican Grill Raises U.S. prices by 2% to offset inflation costs.

• Global food prices reach 19-month high, according to the latest report by the UN.

• Snacking giant Mondelez is reportedly eyeing a takeover bid for chocolate maker, Hershey.

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 ✅