Beyond The Headlines: Vertical farming tech boost, Heineken and Siemens collaborate on net zero

19 Jan 2024 --- In industry news this week, Indian whiskey is bracing to disrupt the dominance of Scottish brands, Olam Agri gets a nod for being a top employer and Intelligent Growth Solutions raises capital to support significant global expansion as the business deploys its vertical farming technology to customers worldwide.

Business news and appointments
Indian whiskey, long considered a rum-variant for being made with spirits fermented from molasses, is now witnessing a transformation on the world stage, ready to end the dominance of global Scotch brands, including Talisker and Glenlivet. A largely spirits-consuming nation unlike other beer-dominated Asian countries, India is fast becoming a significant producer of single malt whiskies competing with major international brands, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Heineken has selected Siemens as a partner for its global Net Zero Production roadmap to reach net zero in Scopes 1 and 2 across all production sites by 2030. Siemens and Heinenken will work together on a long-term decarbonization program, which will see Siemens implementing solutions and services from its Siemens Xcelerator portfolio to reduce energy usage at more than 15 beer and malt production sites, spanning facilities across Asia-Pacific, the Americas, and Europe. Additional sites will be added in a second phase.  

Americans currently prioritize price over taste, says the International Sustainable Food Barometer study.Sodexo has introduced the inaugural edition of the International Sustainable Food Barometer, a study developed in collaboration with Harris Interactive, conducted last year among more than 5,000 people in Brazil, France, the UK and the US. It offers insights into consumer perceptions, intentions, and behaviors related to sustainable food practices, which include consuming sustainable products, reducing food waste, avoiding plastic packaging, and buying local products. Reported attitudes and perceptions of sustainable eating by over 1,700 US citizens who participated in the study showed most Americans describe the need for a more sustainable way of eating as urgent (72%), and most also had a positive perception of sustainable food (66%). When it comes to buying food, Americans currently prioritize price first, then taste. Environmental impact and local origin are less crucial attributes. In the US, dairy products, fresh vegetables, meat and bread are consumed most regularly. Americans eat more meat, processed foods and oilseeds than people in other countries.

The Top Employers Institute has recognized Olam Agri as a top employer in eight countries: Australia, Cameroon, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, and South Africa. Olam Agri is also recognized as a top employer in Africa for the fourth consecutive year. This recognition reflects Olam Agri’s position as a global employer of choice as it strives to give its 9,600 employees the freedom to flourish personally and professionally in a purpose-driven organization that supports diversity, inclusion, and collaboration.

The Crespel & Deiters Group has spread the responsibility for its management across several key staff members to cope with the dynamic growth of the group and establish sustainable core processes. The restructuring process and the associated generational change have now been completed, with shareholders appointing Philipp Deiters (CSO Food), Dr. Inge Hohrath (CFO), and Steffen von Glahn (COO) to the Executive Board, in addition to the previous managing partner Gustav Deiters (CEO/CSO Non-Food).

Nescafe’s easy-to-use offering for Vietnamese consumers will be a game changer, says GlobalData. In a country where coffee is a cultural phenomenon, Nescafe’s new ready-to-serve format will appeal to 69% of Vietnamese consumers for whom how well a product aligns with their time and money constraints is always/often the most significant influencer when making a purchase decision, according to the data and analytics company.

Nescafe’s new ready-to-serve format will appeal to 69% of Vietnamese consumers, says GlobalData.Intelligent Growth Solutions announced £22.5 million (US$ 28.5 million) in a Series C fundraise to support significant global expansion as the business deploys its vertical farming technology to customers worldwide. The investment comes after IGS announced at COP28 that it would be joining Dubai-based partner ReFarm to build a 900,000-square-foot GigaFarm in the United Arab Emirates, capable of replacing 1% of food imports to the country. The innovative waste-to-value farm will be able to recycle more than 50,000 tons of food waste and grow two billion plants each year.

Innovation highlights
Dsm-firmenich launched a marine fish module for Sustell, allowing aquaculture producers of sea bass and sea bream to map the full environmental footprint of their operations. In 2022, dsm-firmenich launched SustellTM for salmon, with salmon producer Bakkafrost as a development cooperation partner. Backed by robust methodology, ISO certification and data connectivity, Sustell is the leading life cycle assessment (LCA) solution for animal protein. It provides the food value chain with a science-based approach to collecting farm data, measuring the environmental footprint, and mapping a course for further development of the animal protein industry.  

The Global Alliance for Youth, founded a decade ago by Nestlé, has announced a new partnership with the Global Shapers, an initiative by the World Economic Forum and Accenture to support youth innovation further. Each year, innovators from the Global Shapers community will be invited to apply for support to accelerate their breakthrough ideas. The Global Alliance for Youth has extended its outreach and impact and provided more than 40 million opportunities for young people worldwide in the past decade.

By Gaynor Selby