Organisations referenced in this week’s Field Notes...

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Organisations referenced in this week’s Field Notes include: AFFCO Ministry for Primary Industries Alliance Mississippi Department of Agriculture and

Commerce Ambronite Ngāi Tahu Farming AquaMoaf Nectar BeeOdiversity Nestle Beyond Meat Northland Regional Council Biosecurity NZ NZ Pork Bragato Research Institute OpenSC Carfields Livestock Organics Aotearoa Cargills Plant Based Foods Association Clean Waters to the Sea Charitable Trust Post Cereal Costco United Nations DairyNZ Upton’s Naturals Co. Egg Producers Federation US Department of Agriculture Fisheries New Zealand ReFed Fonterra rePlant Capital Food and Agriculture Organisation Seaweed & Co Foodspring Silver Fern Farms Forest Stewardship Council Tesco Geo40 The RealGrass Group Gilmores Univar Givaudan University of Cambridge Good Food Institute University of Canterbury Harrisons Waikato Hauraki Coromandel Rural Support

Trust HoneyLab Waikato Milking Platforms Impossible Foods Walmart John Young Farming Ltd Wireless Internet Services Provider

Association Kellogg World Trade Organisation Mars

This week’s headlines:

Forestry Log price collapse could impact jobs in New Zealand [9 July/The Country]

Agribusiness Education

22-year-old youngest ever to claim Young Farmer title (7July/Rural Life)

Future of Food Government will discuss GE use (4 July/Farmers Weekly) Environment and Emissions

Research shows why some stock create more methane (8 July/The Country)

Apiculture Kiwi healthcare company HoneyLab on the cusp of going global (7 July/Stuff

https://home.kpmg/nz/en/home/insights/2019/06/agribusiness-agenda-2019.html

https://home.kpmg/nz/en/home/insights/2019/03/global-agri-food-news-bites.html

https://home.kpmg.com/nz/en/home/insights/2017/06/field-notes-app.html

Field Notes Weekly news update from the KPMG Agribusiness Network – 11 July 2019


Biosecurity M. bovis fears: Ngāi Tahu Farming to pay $211k after walking away from calves deal (5 July/The Country) Ngāi Tahu Farming has been ordered to pay just over $211,000 to Southland farming company, John Young Farming Ltd for the cancellation of a contract. The contract was for 1000 calves over Mycoplasma bovis concerns. The contract, which had been entered into in August 2017, stated Ngāi Tahu Farming had agreed to purchase Friesian rising one-year old bulls. John Young Farming Ltd claimed that Ngāi Tahu Farming had breached the contract by not being prepared to take on the cattle at the agreed upon time. Evidence showed that Ngāi Tahu Farming had a protocol change on the sale and purchase of animals after the contract had been created and did not make John Young Farming Ltd aware of it. When contacted about the case, Ngāi Tahu Farming chief executive Andrew Priest said they would not appeal the court’s decision. The company stated that they do not regret what they did as their highest priority was ensuring no further spread of M.bovis, either to its own properties or local farms. Vehicle import rules getting even tougher ahead of stink bug season (10 July/Stuff) As the brown marmorated stink bug season approaches this September, biosecurity rules are becoming tighter in the hope of preventing the bug from entering our country. The rules are with regards to the imports of vehicles, machinery and parts from 33 countries. Imports will have to be fumigated upon arrival. All 33 countries have been identified to have stink bug problems, which is up from 17 in previous years. It is thought that if the bug enters our country, it would cost the horticulture and arable industries an estimated $4 billion. Biosecurity NZ also plans to station officers in Europe to monitor and educate exporters over the danger of the bug and the new rules that are in place in New Zealand. The new rules will be provisional until July 15 and during that time, the rules can be contested. Ports

Proposed upgrade of Port Tarakohe in Golden Bay could cost up to $35m (5 July/Stuff) Figures contained in a draft business case for the proposed development and upgrade of Golden Bay’s Port Tarakohe show that it is expected to cost somewhere in the range of $28 million - $35 million. In the Tasman District Council’s long term plan for 2018-28, the council has capital funding of just under $6 million set aside for the port. The rest of the funding for the development is expected to come from the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund. The expected growth of the mussel industry is the focus of the draft business case. Deputy Mayor Tim King said that there had been a lot of focus of marine farming and other key users of the port such as those shipping dolomite and rock had been overlooked in the case. The proposed plan also looked to accommodate for the public by increasing the length of the waka ama ramp and providing penguin boxes along the arm of the entrance. Tasman district councillors on Thursday approved the draft business case for public consultation which will run from July 30 until August 7. Agri-business Education Women to the fore in young farmer of year competition (4 July/Stuff) For the first time in the history of the annual FMG Young Farmer of the Year competition, two of the seven finalists are female. Emma Dangen, 24, and Georgie Lindsay, 24, both won their respective regional competitions which allowed them to progress through to the grand final. Both have come from strong agriculture backgrounds and entered the competition looking to test their skills against their male counterparts. Dangen commented she was hoping to use this experience as a platform to show that women can get into agriculture and be successful. The final consisted of three parts; technical events, a practical day and an evening show and quiz. 22-year-old youngest ever to claim Young Farmer title (7 July/Rural Life) 22-year-old Auckland based James Robertson has been named the 51st Younger Farmer of the Year, making him the youngest in the competition’s history. James grew up on a 200-cow dairy farm in the Waikato but is now employed by Fonterra in its trade strategy team. Not only did Robertson take home a prize package worth $75,000 which includes a trip to Ireland, but he also won the FMG People’s Choice award to which he was awarded $1,000 to his Auckland Young Farmers club. Runner-up was awarded to 28-year-old Central Hawke's Bay technical field representative Joseph Watts, and 24-year-old Waikato vet Emma Dangen awarded third. Tapanui team wins AgriKids final (10 July/Rural Life) A team from Blue Mountain College, Hogget Haggis, recently took out the AgriKids NZ grand final. The team who consisted of Shamus Young, Archie Chittock and Flynn Hill bet 60 other students over three modules which tested them on a range of agriculture related activities and questions. The three boys had qualified for the national final after coming third in the Otago/Southland regional final in February. The team met three lunchtimes a week to build their skill set and knowledge to tackle the final with their coach Kristen McIntyre. McIntyre commented they had been on trips to local farms, the local mechanic and spoken with experts to help prepare them for competing. Dairy People are drinking less milk in the US, so dairy industry turns to coffee in schools (3 July/Stuff) The dairy industry in the US is looking to get all the help it can get as milk consumption is down 40% since 1975. Coffee bars selling iced-lattes are now appearing in US high schools in an attempt by diary groups to get people to increase milk consumption. Not all schools are receiving grants from dairy groups and even if they do, only a small percentage of the running costs are covered. Coffee is one solution the dairy industry has come up with since facing declining milk consumption by the United States as new foods and drinks are changing the American diet. The dairy industry blames rules that limit the fat content of milk for the decrease in consumption as kids are growing up disliking the watery taste of skim milk. The US department of Agriculture has set rules for schools participating in its meal plan, which follow nutrition plans making them much healthier than the equivalent students would get outside of school. New Zealand tech helping cows in Germany enjoy the outdoors life (8 July/The Country) A 60-bail, Centrus Composite Rotary Platform made by Waikato Milking Platforms is helping a dairy operation in Netzen, Germany become the only full-time, pasture based dairy farm in the country. The company running the farm, The RealGrass Group says that the rotary has made milking, breeding, handling and sorting the animals much easier than previous methods. RealGrass’ Vicky Lynch said that their farming operation is the only one in Germany where the cows are outside 365 days of the year, unlike other operations where the cows are only outside roughly 120 days of the year so that the milk qualifies as pasture milk. Lynch also commented that the rotary shed has helped take the difficulty and stress out of milking and has boosted overall team moral.



Animal health

Quarter of dairy herd dies near Cambridge after rapid grass growth pushes up nitrate levels (2 July/Stuff) Approximately one quarter of a dairy herd near Cambridge are believed to have died of nitrate poisoning. Surviving cows were also affected, leading to abortions of calves. Waikato Hauraki Coromandel Rural Support Trust has been supporting the sharemilkers impacted and reported there had been numerous other cases around the country this year. Nitrogen build up is common with new grass, which is taking nitrate up at a faster rate than it is converting the proteins as it is growing. Farmers can test grasses on a daily basis to check nitrogen levels but it is recommended not to move cows onto new pasture before grazing them on older grass so they do not feel the urge to overindulge. Wilma Foster, DairyNZ’s regional leader for the Waikato says the best solution is to no feed stock on nitrate pasture at all.

Pork imports from countries hit by swine fever 'must be stopped'’ (8 July/Stuff) The Ministry for Primary Industries has no plans to stop imports of pork from countries affected by African Swine Fever (ASF) despite warnings from The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. So far the incurable disease has seen more than 1.1 million animals culled in attempt to stop the spread. Kiwi farmers have expressed concern to the Government as they are worried that the disease could enter our country and destroy the local pork industry worth $750 million. NZ Pork chairman, Eric Roy, commented the disease could be spread through infected meat, clothing, boots and soil. Almost 60 percent of pork consumed in New Zealand is imported. NZ Pork has since asked the MPI to investigate imports from China to see what risk they posed and reassess the import of pork coming from the European Union. Pork imports into Australia are currently banned from countries that have cases of ASF. Group aims to help farmers improve ‘M.bovis’ response (8 July/Rural Life) The first meeting of the Waimate/Waitaki Mycoplasma Bovis Advisory Group was held last Wednesday. The group has been formed to support the Ministry for Primary Industries M.bovis eradication plan. The group includes two mayors, farmers, ministry representatives, Federated Farmers, the Rural Support Trust, and an independent veterinarian. A spokesperson for the group said that they aim to help increase clarity of the communication that has been occurring between the ministry and farmers as they know the process so far has been a frustrating one. The group is expected to meet monthly and will also help with regional decision making to benefit farmers. Future of Food

Government will discuss GE use (4 July/Farmers Weekly) At the recent Primary Industries Summit in Wellington, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor reported that overseas consumers will ultimately determine whether New Zealand adopts Genetic Engineering (GE). New Zealand has had a long history of debating whether GE food should available in our country even though it has strong scientific backing that it is safe to eat conventionally. In New Zealand, currently no fresh GE fruit, vegetables and meat can be sold and any processed food contained genetically modified ingredients must be labelled. Parts of the farming community said that they should have a choice while other such as National Party agriculture spokesperson Nathan Guy say that the discussion around Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) needs to progress at a faster rate. Guy stated that since the last review of biotechnology, which is now 20 years old, technology has improved and become more precise. He also noted that the risks are less and the whole process is better understood. Minister O’Connor reported that the Primary Sector Council will raise the issue when it creates its vision later this year. Forget facts and figures (5 July/Farmers Weekly) At the recent Primary Industries Summit, Nestle’s corporate head of agriculture Hans Johr commented that the future isn’t about facts and figures and farmers must collaborate if they are to survive. Johr stated that social media has the ability to bring consumer and farmer closing together and the farmers need to be the influencers otherwise they will be influenced. He also reported that China spends US$8.5 billion a year on alternative milk products and global demand for alternative proteins was already at 202 million tonnes in 2017. He expressed the concern for farmers to look to diversify with crops from animal proteins, with 200 readily edible crops available already for farmers to grow. He added that there is a need to diversify agricultural production systems and invest in new proteins crops to help cope with the changing diet of the global market. Environment and emissions

Trees replace top cattle (5 July/Farmers Weekly) Broadwell selling centre in Northland hosted one of the country’s more notable capital stock clearing sales last week as their grazing land was destined for pine trees. The sale exceeded expectations but it was the reason for the sale that caused the concern; the owners of the stock, Mark and Michelle Hammond’s 640 hectare farm is to be planted out with pine. The conversion is a part of the Government’s One Billion Trees programme and it is not the first farm in the region to undergo this change, with upwards of 2000ha of previous grazing pasture also being converted in pine plantation. Carrfields Livestock agent Reuben Wright said that although we will not see the immediate effects of the programme on the sheep and beef industry, in a few years, livestock numbers will be too low for New Zealand’s export demand. Checks on Compliance (9 July/Rural Life) Flight monitoring will commence this week in Southland as Environment Southland checks if stock is being kept away from waterways during winter. Farmers are required to keep stock away from waterways during winter, Environment Southland compliance manager Simon Mapp reported. Follow ups would be conducted in response to any non-compliance of the matter from education to enforcement. Research shows why some stock create more methane (8 July/The Country) Breakthrough research that was recently published in scientific journal International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal has shed light into how microbes can control methane levels in animals. The research was performed on two different types of sheep – one producing more amounts of methane than the other, and has suggested ways to help reduce the greenhouse gas. The findings suggested that methane emissions could be reduced by controlling the hydrogen supply. One strategy to solve this, is to introduce feed supplements that encourage non-methane producers to out compete micro-organisms that produced methane. Professor Greg Cook of the Otago microbiology and immunology department commented the discovery is important because methane produced by sheep and cattle account for around a third of New Zealand’s greenhouse gases and a solution to bring this down was long overdue.



A company going public within a year is getting a $15 million Provincial Growth Fund loan (8 July/The Country) Geothermal company Geo40, who is expecting to list on the Australian Stock market, is set to receive a loan of $15 million from the Provincial Growth Fund. It is expected that $5 million of that loan will be converted to shares after the initial public offering. Geo40 plans to have its IPO in the next 12 months. Despite it considering even listing on the NZX as well as the ASX, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones still plans to allocate the $15 million to Geo40. The other $10 million of the loan will eventually have to be paid back. Geo40 extracts silica from underground fluids and uses these to generate geothermal electricity, exporting it to be used in products such as paint, concrete and paper. Red meat

Lamb contract rewards loyalty (5 July/Farmers Weekly) A $9/kg fixed-price lamb contract for August is a reward for customer loyalty, AFFCO national livestock manager Tom Young says. The contract has not been offered to every farmer, only those who have shown AFFCO consistent support and is only available for lamb packed at North island plants during August. Young commented he is not concerned if the market does not like the $9 offer and knows that it will raise farmer’s expectations for contract prices in future years. AFFCO has not disclosed how many farmers have received the offer, citing commercial confidentiality. Silver Fern Farms and Alliance have yet to say if they will match the deal. Sharper Blue Sky boosts earnings (9 July/Farmers Weekly) Blue Sky Meat’s has just reported that its revenue for the year ended 31 March was up 34% to $140 million and pre-tax profit was up 36% to $5 million. This result is the company’s best in the past eight years. The group benefited this year from the improved efficiencies which has led to more yield per kilogram of lamb. Chief executive Todd Grave says that this year the company will test value-add products on its way to selling branded, fast-moving, direct-to-consumer products. The company also achieved greater efficiency in its transport organisation, allowing it to source animals further away from the plant, ultimately increasing its kill tally and thus revenue figures. Last year the company processed 742,000 animals. Economics and trade

Indonesia misses meat deadline (4 July/Farmers Weekly) The Government is weighing up its options after Indonesia again failed to meet a deadline to comply with a ruling by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in its billion-dollar beef dispute with New Zealand. In 2016, New Zealand and the United States appealed the rules blocking beef and horticultural imports into Indonesia successfully. Upon the ruling, Indonesia was given until the 22nd of June to get rid of the enabling legislation but has failed to do so. New Zealand officials have the option to either go back to the WTO to see if Indonesian has done enough to comply or request to enter into negotiations for compensation. Meat Industry Association trade and economic manager Sirma Karapeeva urged the Government not to back down and to continue to push for full compliance with the WTO ruling. A spokesman for Trade Minister David Parker said NZ officials have since raised the matter with their Indonesian counterparts. Organic Kiwi organic farmers can take US by storm through Costco (7 July/Stuff) With Costco’s recent announcement that it will be opening a store in New Zealand it will provide a platform for organic food producers to break into the international market. Robyn O’Brien of rePlant Capital reported New Zealand organic producers have the opportunity to supply the U.S. market and that we should adopt organic standards, especially for export. With huge demand overseas in the U.S. for organic produce but little supply, there is a gap, with only one percent of U.S. farmland dedicated to growing organically. It is estimated that eighty percent of U.S. consumers are trying something organic every day. Food Safety Minister Damien O’Connor said that a bill containing national standards for organic produce was being developed and likely to be published later this year. Currently New Zealand is only one of two countries in the top 25 organic markets without national standards. According to Organics Aotearoa, New Zealand exports around 60 percent of or its organic produce.

Apiculture Kiwi healthcare company HoneyLab on the cusp of going global (7 July/Stuff) Healthcare company HoneyLab is close to taking its operations global reports co-founder Dr Shaun Holt. The company’s kānuka honey jell, Honevo, was recently proven in a study to be as effective as pharmaceuticals. The product, which has also been proven effective in treating rosacea, is now gaining international attention. Holt recently arrived back in the country from the United States having multiple meetings regarding interest in the product. The company’s success has been a long time coming as Hold expresses that it was never easy to sell a product containing honey. He also commented that not all his products have taken off like Honevo, and with drug development costing around US$1 billion, it has not been the easiest of times. It was also reported that cannabis could prove to be dominant medicine in the future when laws are created for its use.

Viticulture

'World leading' wine research centre to be based in Blenheim (10 July/Stuff) A new national wine research facility is to be built at the Blenheim campus of Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. Bragato Research Institute (BRI) has been operating on a temporary site at the campus but has decided to build a permanent facility in order to continue the relationship with the polytechnic. The facility is expected to have the capacity for more than 100 dual purpose research fermentation tanks, labs and an office space. In a statement, BRI said that the location will also allow them to continue to work alongside Plant and Food Research, New Zealand Winegrowers and Wine Marlborough. Construction is expected to commence within the next month, with the goal of having the winery operational for vintage 2020.

Aquaculture

Ban on pāua fishing considered near Dunedin (10 July/The Country) Fisheries New Zealand is considering putting a temporary ban on pāua fishing on beaches north of Dunedin. The ban will be lifted recreationally once the species has recovered, Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash said in a statement. The reason for the proposed change was due to the declining numbers in the area over the past years. The banning of set nets was also proposed because it cannot determine what is caught in them when set. Protein



Protein competition on the rise in China (8 July/Rural Life) In Rabobank’s latest Agribusiness report it has been highlighted that demand for protein in China is on the rise and will likely be reflected in increased beef demand. Animal protein and sustainability analyst Blake Holgate said that the China Meat Association would be expanding it’s source of protein to deal with the loss from the African Swine Fever that has destroyed most of the pork industry. It was stated that it may also look to source Indian buffalo and lift the ban on UK beef. Over the long term it is expected that competition will increase in China for New Zealand beef exporters. The news will sit well with farmers as the North Island and South Island bull price increased respectively by 3 percent from last month. Retailers warn of an egg shortage, hike in prices (8 July/The Country) In an email issued by Gilmores on Monday to its customers, there was a warning of an increase in egg prices as farmers try to meet changes in the law. It stated that the industry lacked investment to comply with the Animal Welfare Code of Practice for layer hens and that due to higher production-related costs, colony eggs would be sold at a higher price as cage eggs are phased out. Changes to the Animal Welfare Code of Practice were first announced in December 2012 which required farmers to move their hens farmed in cages to large colony enclosures. Egg Producers Federation (EPF) reported 40 percent of the country’s hen cages were required to be upgraded due to the age of the cages last year. EPF estimates that it will cost egg farmers between $660,000 and $8.5million to meet requirements. Irrigation The case for water-cleaning technology at Taipā (9 July/The Country) Clean Waters to the Sea (CWS) Charitable Trust chairman Wayne Parsonson, has reported it is time to get serious about clean water. Parsonson recently made a case to the Northland Regional Councils independent commissioners saying that an electro-coagulation unit is needed to reduce pollution of the sea from the wastewater plant at Taipā. He stated that the plant had been operating without consent for a decade which is the reason for his case. Mr Parsonson also helped back his case with a presentation from a local who used to work in the profession of water quality in Switzerland, reporting that electro-coagulation and an EC2 unit would achieve the best water quality. He proposed that a solution could be achieved for under $2 million, which was vastly different to the council’s $20 million solution. The trust had proved that electro-coagulation could remove 95 per cent of phosphorus, 99.9 per cent of E. coli bacteria and algae, 85 per cent of nitrates and 50-60 per cent of ammonia. So far, the commissioners reserved their decision. Research and Development Turning food waste into bioplastics (5 July/Phys.org) A new solution at the University of Canterbury aims to turn food waste into chemical components that can be used to make bioplastics. UC’s Chemical and Process Engineering Dr. Alex Yip is working alongside Hong Kong Polytechnic University to design and develop a catalyst to achieve this. As of now the team only has a proof-of-concept showing that it is feasible. Bioplastics produced from food waste would be 100% recyclable or fully biodegradable. Dr. Yip is confident that being able to convert food waste into bioplastics would decrease greenhouse gases and decrease the amount of non-biodegradable plastics going into landfill. Rural Communities Fears for rural technology users (9 July/Farmers Weekly) Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) is worried that when the Government sells off radio spectrum rights next year the major cell phone companies will purchase them and just sit on them. WISPA president, Mike Smith reported its 30 members need the spectrum to service rural communities and if bigger cellphone companies were to purchase the spectrum, they would focus on urban customers who are cheaper and easier to service. The spectrum being sold is going to be ideal for wireless, which covers a wider area than the current spectrum. The government made a statement saying that by auctioning off the spectrum that it will align with its Rural Broadband Initiative which aims to deliver more than 84,000 rural households and businesses with a faster wireless internet connection. A 5G network will be is expected to be rolled out nationwide in 2022, but the holder of the spectrum will have the right to roll it out quicker. Forestry Log price collapse could impact jobs in New Zealand [9 July/The Country] As many as 1000 people could be left out of work by a collapse in the price of logs sent to China. It has also been reported that there may be more indirectly affected as logging trucks sit idle on the wharves at ports in China, not being sent to construction projects inland. The resulting fall in export revenue for logs has brought prices down by 15 percent on a take it or leave it basis demanded by Chinese log importers. Forest Industry Contractors Association president Ross Davis commented the problem in China reverberated down to rural New Zealand, as while bigger companies might continue producing logs, smaller ones would be affected. NZ Forest Owners' Association chief executive officer David Rhodes blamed the problem on several factors, such as European growers cutting down their trees early to avoid an encroaching pest, the spruce beetle, and sending the logs en masse to China before they were infected. China's trade war with the United States has also been cited as an explanation for the problem, lowering the value of the Chinese currency, making imports more expensive and harming business confidence in China. International Post and Kellogg fight back against sugar content claims (3 July/Food Dive) Kellogg and Post cereal have recently come under fire in Californian federal courts for claims that they falsely advertise their cereals as healthy when they in fact contain high sugar levels. Post Cereal have defended themselves with a first amendment argument reporting the claims that are up for debate are in fact true and the government cannot ban truthful speech. The main issue they are facing is that they have adequate labelling of their whole grain and vitamin content yet do not display their sugar levels on the front of the packaging. Kellogg is also challenging the claims against them saying it was civil contempt to not explain the basis for filing the company’s legal counsel. Kellogg is be assessed on whether its labels state whether a product is low/no/reduced sugar is truthful, as a study has found that the company has increased these claims on its packaging by 45% in the last five years. Irrespective of the outcome of the cases, it is expected that the U.S. Food and Drug administration will have to implement some changes to the way food is packaged and labelled for consumers.



Report: Supply chains cause 40% of food waste in North America (3 July/Food Dive) According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, more developed countries tend to have their wood waste occur at consumer level and opposed to developing countries where it tends to occur at the production level. Poor infrastructure is to blame in developing countries. However, in North America 40% of food waste is caused by something other than the consumer. The issue mainly lies with labour shortages meaning not all the produce can be harvested in time. The food wastage crisis in the country has led to a secondary market for some of the produce such as unwanted tomatoes being turned into tomato sauce, but the issue is that not all produce is able to have this opportunity as there purely is no demand for it. In a report by ReFed, it is estimated that the U.S. spends approximately $218 billion to grow, process and transport and dispose of food that is never eaten. The report also said that retailers account for 8 billion tonnes of food waste in North America. Mars to buy majority stake in functional food business Foodspring (1 July/Food Dive) Mars is looking to boost its profile in personalised nutrition by acquiring a majority holding in German protein snack and supplement company Foodspring. Foodspring focuses on providing protein shakes, bars and snack type foods for the health and wellbeing conscious consumer. It also has a nutrition and fitness platform to personalise consumer experiences. Foodspring will continue as a standalone business and have its headquarters in Berlin. In a statement by Mars, the company says that it plans to build on Foodspring’s digital, branding and food innovation expertise. Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed. Ground-breaking work by Nestlé research produces first recyclable paper packaging on snack bar (2 July/Food Navigator) Nestle is claiming to have invented the world’s first recyclable packing for confectionery. The new wrapper is made of a coated paper that is recyclable with other paper. The paper itself comes from sustainable sources, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Lead for global confectionery R&D, Jas Scott de Martinville said that the packaging solution took only 10 months to solve and congratulated his team for what he hopes to be a revolutionary breakthrough for the industry. Creating the packaging has aligned with Nestle’s goal of having all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025. The packaging is expected to appear on Nestle’s ‘YES!’ fruit and nut bar range later this week in the UK with the bar set to be released into the rest of Europe in the coming months. Nestle to pilot new blockchain platform (2 July/Food Business News) Nestle is looking to team up with blockchain platform OpenSC, to help provide it’s consumers with transparency and track their food back to its source. Nestle will run a pilot program that will trace milk from farms and producers in New Zealand to its factories in the Middle East. In a statement by the executive vice-president, Magdi Batato, Nestle is hoping to provide consumers with the ability to make an informed decision about what they eat and where it comes from. Nestle has piloted blockchain technology since 2017, but this partnership with OpenSC will be the first time consumers are able to trace their food using a blockchain platform back to the farm. From hive AI to using bees as drones: Biodiversity loss drives innovation buzz (8 July/Food Navigator) 35-40% of honeybees are lost each year globally. In Europe, a number of initiatives and start-ups are trying to combat the issue. In Belgium, a start-up called BeeOdiversity aims to generate added value for its client’s products. The company has a tool called Beeomonitoring which monitors the bee’s environment by collect samples of pollen from hives. The samples can then tell the air and soil pollution from when the pollen came from and whether there is pollutants present in the area that are of harm to humans and the environment. Another initiative in Canada, Nectar aims to monitor the health of bees from inside the hive. The start-up installs sensors within the hives which can capture different data points from the bees. This allows commercial-scale beekeepers to have transparency and optimisation of their pollination supply by making sure that the well-being of the bees in their hives are at the highest standard they can be. AquaMaof fishes new markets after $230 million investment (8 July/Food Navigator) Israel-based aquaculture firm AquaMoaf has just secured more than $230 million to build more than a dozen aquaculture facilities globally. The firm builds indoor aquaculture facilities that promote sustainable practices to grow fresh, natural and responsibly-farmed fish. Their system enables harvest all year round and the fish grow faster compared to other methods. They use a technology called a Recirculating Aquaculture System to achieve this, which means no fish escape when farming and mating with wild fish, and there are no anti-biotics or chemicals used in the farming process. This allows the fish to be fully traceable, healthy and fresh according to the company’s owner Yoac Dagan. The firm currently operates in Poland, Russia, Japan, Slovakia. With the help of the investment, AquaMoaf is looking to build a $70 million facility in Canada to farm salmon, which will make it the largest of its kind. Givaudan’s ‘breakthrough’ masking solutions for plant-protein formulations (8 July/Food Navigator) Flavour and fragrances company Givaudan said that is has developed the most comprehensive collection of plant protein and taste ingredients in the industry. An expert panel from the firm has conducted over 2,000 evaluations of data to develop seven maskers of off notes in alternative proteins: pea, soy, fava, rice, oats, algae and whey. The evaluations took place over the last year and half and the products have been created so that they are non-GM, do not contain common allergens and can be considered natural flavours. Global category director, Dr. Flavio Garofalo says that the new solutions offer improved taste as they can be tailored to the specific taste challenges of each protein combination. DuPont develops fermented stabiliser for plant-based drinks: ‘We are duplicating what nature does itself’ (8 July/Food Navigator) DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences have launched a new naturally sourced stabiliser, the Grindsted Gellan veg 200, to its portfolio of ingredients. According to DuPont, the product responds to the trend in millennials towards plant-based products. The product is produced by a natural bacteria during the fermentation of bio-based raw materials. The bio-based materials used in the fermentation process include sustainable sources of nitrogen and carbon. The product can be used with a range of plant-sourced raw materials to make oat and almond milk. The gum can also be used to make multi-protein plant-based beverages. It is reported that six in ten American consumers are increasing their consumption of plant-based food and beverages. Nestlé diabetes diet programme in major supermarket trial (5 July/Nutra Ingredients) A new weight management programme is being trialled by Nestle Health Science for people with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes across England. The program will appear in six Tesco stores around the country and will be built around a calorie intake of 800-850 per day. Participants will consume Optifast shakes, bars and soups for 8-12 weeks before gradually going back onto normal foods. The research behind the programme has seen a quarter of participants lose weight of more than 10kg and a third of participants achieve remission from type 2 diabetes after two years. The programme will have on going support through its app and Optijourney coaches as it is rolled out through in-store pharmacies. The cost of the total meal replacement food amounts to £2.20 per meal.



Vegan ‘Meat’ Makers Sue Mississippi Over What to Call It (3 July/Bloomberg) Last Monday, vegan food producer Upton’s Naturals Co. and the Plant Based Foods Association sued Mississippi’s governor and commissioner of agriculture claiming a violation of the First amendment rights of free speech. In particular they are arguing the use of meat related words such as meatballs and chorizo. A law was brought into action last Monday in Mississippi stating that plant-based foods cannot be labelled as meat or a meat food product even if they label that it is 100% vegan. The lawsuit says that the legislation is a direct result of lobbying by meat groups. The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce said that it wanted to ensure that consumers have clear information on what is a meat and what is a non-meat product when they are purchasing food. A number of other states such as Arkansas, Louisiana and Wyoming have all recently passed laws on what is and what isn’t able to be labelled as meat. Plant-Based Meat Startups Have Cracked Beef, But What About Chicken? (4 July/Agfunder News) According to Good Food Institute food scientist MJ Kinney, the reason chicken has not been a product of interest as of yet for plant-based food companies such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat is they wanted a way to introduce plant-based meat to the market. The solution was using the American favourite, hamburger. As it is known plant-based meats have seen a rapid take-off in popularity shown with Beyond Meat’s successful IPO. With the popularity of plant-based beef, KFC and Chick-fil-A are both hoping that soon there will be a poultry plant-based substitute. Kinney says that the technology exists to create plant-based chicken, but creating muscle cuts like breast or thighs will prove to be more difficult. He says that we will see plant-based poultry products but only once the demand has come from consumers, which at the moment there is a lack of. Walmart is investing $1.2 billion in China (4 July/CNN Business) Walmart is planning to spend $1.2 billion on distribution centres in China over the next two decades as it faces growing competition from local rivals and online retailers. The company has already invested $102 million in a distribution centre for perishable products in the south of China. Walmart has also partnered with Chinese tech firm, JD.com and invested in delivery firm Dada-JD Daojia as it looks to make its case. Walmart, who has been in China since 1996, is also testing smaller smart supermarkets where customers can use their smartphones at checkout. As of January, Walmart had 443 stores operating in China which brought in $10.7 billion for the firm in sales last year, less than one-tenth of their global sales. Machine learning helps robot harvest lettuce for the first time (8 July/New Atlas) University of Cambridge scientists have developed a vegetable picking robot that can autonomously identify and harvest iceberg lettuce. Lettuce has proven to be a difficult vegetable to autonomously harvest due to growing close to the ground and needing to be cut at a certain angle. Vegebot, is still in the development stage but the scientists are confident that it will soon be able to be used commercially. The main issue they had when developing the robot what designing the software to be able to identify a healthy head of lettuce in a field and not disturb other plants growing. Because of this, the system is expected to decrease food waste in the industry as the system can also perform multiple sweeps of a field, while humans currently only perform one, leaving many heads behind that are not suitable for market. It is unknown when the robot will be available for commercial use. Beyond ‘smart food’: Start-up Ambronite serves up clean label meal replacement innovation (9 July/Food Navigator) Finland nutrition company Ambronite is launching a new range of meal replacement products. The company, which claims that it is the only plant-based meal replacement brand on the market, is releasing range in three forms: bars, shakes and juice. Ambronite uses only ingredients that are GMO free, staying away from artificial and synthetic ingredients. The company believes that this has allowed the company to take advantage of the trend of eating natural and minimally processed products. The company believes that this new range of products will fit with their good nutritional profile of products that it already offers due to its sourcing strategy. ‘A unique mix of health, nutrition, flavour and sustainability’: Univar seeks seaweed success with Seaweed & Co. tie-up (9 July/Food Navigator) Univar will now distribute the PureSea range of seaweed ingredient products by Seaweed & Co in Europe. A spokesperson for Univar reported that by introducing seaweed to their range of products this will allow the company to cope with the increasing demand that has occurred recently for seaweed products. The company is confident that it will be a success as it accommodates many trends that the food and beverage industry is experiencing, especially for plant-based products that enhance nutrition. Regional manager Sam Russell said that the partnership with Seaweed & Co. will allow the seaweed processor to access a wider market through their stores. The range of products will be able to be purchased in Northern Europe later this month, with roll-out expected for the rest of Europe later in the year. Tesco upcycles surplus bread to combat food waste: Who else is doing their part? (9 July/Food Navigator) With more than 10 million tonnes of food waste occurring in the UK each year, Tesco is looking to help improve this figure. The supermarket chain is looking to put old baguettes and batons into new products such as bread pudding and crostini. The company estimates the initiative could help reduce its in-store bread waste by 40%. Tesco is also introducing more informative packaging that tells consumers they can freeze bread and reusable packing instead of single-use. Tesco is not the only company to try combat the food waste issue in the UK with many other firms taking on other initiatives such as selling ‘wonky vegetables’ in discounted boxes. This has allowed some firms such as Harrisons to sell more produce and stock 100% British produce. Cargill invests in European wheat protein and specialised starch capacity (9 July/Food Navigator) Cargill has just invested US$200 million to start producing wheat-based ingredients. The firm currently produces corn starches and sweeteners but in a recent statement has said that it will make the switch to wheat. Cargill says the drive behind the change is the demand for industrial starches and protein-rich foods around the world. The new unit will be built on the current factory site in Krefeld, Germany with work expected to begin in early 2020 and aims to be completed by summer 2021. Wheat products will first be produced in autumn of 2021.

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Field Notes presents a summary of some of the media comment on the Agribusiness sector in the last week. The views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of KPMG but are summaries of the articles published.

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