Weekly Roundup: Global leaders pledge to end deforestation, UK red meat exports to US top £19M

05 Nov 2021 --- With COP26 ongoing this week, over 100 world leaders made a landmark pledge to end deforestation. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) published the 2021 edition of its World Food and Agriculture Statistical Yearbook. Tate & Lyle and Nutriati partnered on a chickpea distribution deal. Meanwhile, UK red meat exports to the US were shown to have topped £19 million (US$25.7 million) in the first eight months of this year.

In brief: Sustainability
More than 100 leaders will commit to halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030. This pledge is backed by almost £14 billion (US$19.2 billion) in public and private funding. Countries spanning from the northern forests of Canada and Russia to the tropical rainforests of Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo will endorse the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use. Together, they contain 85% of the world’s forests, an area of over 13 million square miles. The commitment will be supported by a pledge to provide £8.75 billion (US$12 billion) of public finance from 12 countries, including the UK, from 2021 to 2025.

The FAO has published its annual Statistical Yearbook, which provides a comprehensive overview of the global food and agricultural landscape and a summary of food, nutrition and agriculture data. The 2021 edition, which is also available online, contains data on four thematic areas:

• The economic aspects of agriculture, forestry and fishing.
• Production, trade and price trends.
• Food security and nutrition.
• Environmental sustainability.

Tate & Lyle is planning to eliminate the use of coal-based energy in all its global operations. This commitment, targeted for delivery by 2025, has been met four years ahead of schedule. This marks the Tate & Lyle and Nutriati announce distribution partnership for chickpea protein and flour.completion of a multi-year capital investment program totaling more than US$150 million, to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase efficiency in Tate & Lyle’s plants. This has been achieved primarily by replacing coal systems with natural gas-fired combined heat and power systems, at four corn wet mills in the US in Loudon, Tennessee, Decatur, Illinois and both plants in Lafayette, Indiana. The Sagamore plant in Lafayette decommissioned its coal system in 2014, followed by Loudon in 2017, then the Lafayette South plant earlier this year.

In brief: Business moves
In the same week, Tate & Lyle and Nutriati, an ingredient technology company, signed an exclusive five-year partnership for Tate & Lyle to distribute high-quality, sustainable chickpea protein and flour. The partnership will make Nutriati’s chickpea-derived solutions, launched in 2018, more widely available in the F&B and nutrition spaces.

SnackFutures, the Mondelēz International innovation and venture hub, announced the opening of applications for its CoLab 2022 class. The second year of the start-up engagement program will specifically focus on mission-driven brands that can demonstrate their commitment to having a positive impact on social, environmental and human well-being. The 12-week program is customized based on the cohort’s business challenges and priorities with an emphasis on hands-on interaction, individual attention, mentorship and workshops. The curriculum will be a combination of virtual sessions and in-person activities. In addition to the in-depth experience, participants will also receive a US$20,000 grant.

In brief: UK highlights
One of the UK’s “Big Four” groceries Asda has partnered with RangeMe to ensure buying teams have access to thousands of the most relevant products demanded by customers. Through RangeMe’s global sourcing platform, Asda aims to increase the number of new and innovative products available in stores as it seeks emerging suppliers. Asda is the first of the four major grocers to join RangeMe, since the platform launched in the UK last month.The FAO published the 2021 edition of its World Food and Agriculture Statistical Yearbook.

The UK exported £19 million (US$25.7 million) worth of red meat to the US in the first eight months of this year – with beef making up over a quarter of the shipments. According to the latest data from HMRC, 1,211 metric tons of beef was exported to the US between January and August, worth over £5 million (US$6.7 million) to the sector – marking a successful first year since the two-decade ban on UK beef was lifted. During the same period, over 4,600 tons of pig meat was exported to the US – up nearly 10% on last year, worth £14 million (US$18.9 million) to the pork sector.

In brief: Other highlights
Genetic detective work has uncovered an obscure ancestor of modern bread wheat in a finding that is described as similar to discovering a long-lost human relative through DNA analysis. In a study in Nature Biotechnology, researchers sequenced the DNA from 242 unique accessions of Aegilops tauschii gathered over decades from across its native range – from Turkey to Central Asia. Population genome analysis led by Dr. Kumar Gaurav from the John Innes Centre revealed the existence of a distinct lineage of Aegilops tauschii restricted to present day Georgia, in the Caucasus region – some 500 km from the Fertile Crescent where wheat was first cultivated – an area stretching across modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

By Elizabeth Green

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