Food News
Wendy’s joins sustainable beef effort
Meatingplace (registration required) | Posted on December 9, 2016Wendy’s International Inc. has announced a partnership with the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB) to help advance sustainability efforts throughout the U.S. beef value chain. Joining the USRSB is expected to offer Wendy’s an active role in discussions about the beef industry’s environmental, social and economic sustainability.
Radical Changes Are Coming to Grocery Business
Forbes | Posted on December 9, 2016Amazon is opening its first food store without checkouts! Walmart opens its first grocery pick-up and gas station concept!Lidl and Aldi are trading up and will each open 2,000 grocery stores!My previous predictions are quickly coming true—the food retail industry is rapidly changing due to new technology and new entries into the marketplace. With big plans to operate smaller stores featuring a convenience food assortment at very low prices in many parts of the U.S., the roll out of these small stores by these retail behemoths will profoundly impact the traditional grocery chains.
Tyson eager to meet antibiotic-free chicken demand
Watt Ag Net | Posted on December 9, 2016President of Tyson Foods says company can offer customers ‘exactly what they want,’ and they want chicken raised without antibiotics.Hayes, who was named Tyson’s president in June and will take over as its CEO at the conclusion of 2016, discussed Tyson’s venture into NAE chicken while participating in the Bernstein Consumer Summit on December 7.“The consumer’s looking for certainly more antibiotic-free (chicken) and we have a line that is no antibiotics ever. That line has been growing from a very small base, but it’s been growing aggressively,” Hayes said.“We feel like we are in a position where we can offer customers exactly what they want and when they want it. Customers have been moving toward more NAE and so we’re happy to do that. Our margin profile is strong on our NAE products, and so the growth that we see in that NAE space matches the supply chain.”Hayes acknowledged that Tyson Foods would be open to the idea of new acquisitions to help it better meet the NAE chicken demand.
Canada's food prices to rise in 2017
Meat + Poultry | Posted on December 8, 2016Food prices are expected to increase above the acceptable inflation rate, Dalhousie Univ. said in its 7th edition of Canada’s Food Price Report. The report forecasts food prices to rise between 3 percent and 5 percent. This translates to a potential increase of C$420 in Canadian family food expenses in 2017.“The biggest factor will be the falling Canadian dollar,” explained Sylvain Charlebois, Ph.D., lead author of the report and Dean of the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie Univ. “Given how many food products we import from abroad our food economy is vulnerable to currency fluctuations.
Meet The Man Building A Plant-Based Food Empire
Forbes | Posted on December 8, 2016Matthew Kenney is a pioneer of high-end plant-based cuisine. He won America’s Best New Chef Award from Food & Wine magazineand was twice nominated Rising Star Chef by the French Culinary Institute. He guides a fast-growing lifestyle brand that trains chefs to cook sustainably. And, he may be about to be very, very rich. Recently, he announced the exciting expansion of his culinary education programs to the international market, launching a series of pop-ups across Europe and Australia in 2017. Starting in New York City, it will move on to Sydney, Paris, Barcelona, and London. His culinary academy has graduated nearly four thousand students so far. Last month he inked a contract to open a restaurant at the Neiman Marcus flagship store in Beverly Hills; there are other deals in the works, including an international five-star hospitality company. According to his chief operating officer Adam Zucker, business is flat out booming.
Decline In Meat Protein Consumption Raises Concern For Public Health
Food Navigator | Posted on December 8, 2016The US Department of Agriculture has proposed revisions to the regulations on nutritional labels for meat and poultry that would bring the sector in line with changes already pushed through by the country's Food and Drug Administration. Earlier this year, the FDA updated its nutrition regulations to reflect current scientific thinking on dietary recommendations. The FDA does not, however, oversee the fresh meat and poultry sector and the USDA, the department responsible, has now proposed changes that would align its nutrition facts label requirements with the broader food sector. Specifically, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing to provide daily reference values (DRVs) and reference daily intake (RDI) values based on dietary recommendations on-pack. The format and appearance of the nutrition facts label will be amended and the size of a single-serve container will be redefined
Decline In Meat Protein Consumption Raises Concern For Public Health
Texas A&M | Posted on December 8, 2016A 14 percent decline in U.S. consumer meat consumption over the past decade has caused alarm with one Texas A&M AgriLife scientist who warns the effects could be dire for overall human health and child development. Dr. Guoyao Wu, distinguished professor in the department of animal science at Texas A&M University, said U.S. consumers have been overwhelmed with misinformation about protein and fats in meats, which in turn has led to many consuming less meat or no meat at all.“Obesity rates have gone up the last 20 years, while consumption of meat has declined,” Wu said. “So I don’t believe that we can blame obesity on eating meat. Rather I think excessive portion sizes and lack of exercise are more likely the causes of obesity.”
Tyson Foods venture fund to finance alternative proteins
Meatingplace (registration required) | Posted on December 8, 2016Tyson Foods announced it has launched a venture capital fund focused on investing, among other things, “commercializing delicious, safe and affordable alternative proteins.” Tyson will make available $150 million to the fund, which has been named Tyson New Ventures LLC. The fund will concentrate on three areas in the foods space: commercializing delicious, safe and affordable alternative proteins; tackling food insecurity and food loss through market making and other commercial models; and tapping the internet of food to promote more precise and productive resource application, safety and consumer empowerment in the food chain. Tyson New Ventures will invest in these entrepreneurial food businesses and leverage Tyson Foods’ expertise to boost their development. The first investment involves Tyson Foods’ previously-announced five percent ownership stake in plant-based protein producer Beyond Meat.
Consumer views of food may have broader fallout
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on December 8, 2016The way Americans view how food is created, prepared and consumed has the potential to affect the nation’s social, economic and political future, according to a new Pew Research Center report.With public tastes shifting and polarizing in the last 20 years, the research center noted that how consumers view organic and genetically modified (GM) foods are demonstrated in key behaviors and attitudes on food in general.The Pew survey found that 55 percent of Americans believe that organically grown product is healthier than conventionally grown produce, with 41 percent saying that there is no difference. The survey also found that 40 percent of American consumers say that most (6 percent) or some (34 percent) of the food they eat is organic.
House Ag releases SNAP report, eyes overhaul
New York TImes | Posted on December 8, 2016The GOP majority on the House Agriculture Committee released a two-year review of the program that stops short of making specific policy recommendations, but hints at areas where Republicans could focus: strengthening work requirements and perhaps issuing new ones, tightening some eligibility requirements or providing new incentives to encourage food stamp recipients to buy healthier foods. "There's nothing off the table when it comes to looking at solutions around these areas where we think improvements need to be made," the committee chairman, Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, said The report, based on 16 hearings by the committee, recommends better enforcement of some SNAP work programs in certain states, and finds that 42 states use broad eligibility standards that some Republicans have criticized as too loose. It encourages more incentives to get people to buy healthy food with their food stamp dollars, addressing criticism that recipients use public money for junk foods. The report cites Agriculture Department data showing that 10 percent of foods typically purchased by SNAP households are sweetened beverages.