Weekly Roundup: M&S tackles food waste, Heinz unveils chef-inspired line that embraces culinary trends

22 Jul 2022 --- This week in industry news, M&S targeted food waste by removing “best before” dates across 300 fruit and vegetable products and encouraging consumers to use their judgment before throwing food away. In a similar move, Danish company Too Good To Go launched a consumer education campaign called Ofta Bra Efter in Sweden. In NPD highlights, Heinz launched the chef-inspired sauces and spreads line, Heinz 57 Collection, which embraces modern cultures. Meanwhile, Nutella’s “Breakfast Across America” jars featuring16 landmark locations were rolled out across the US.

In brief: Food waste
Marks & Spencer (M&S) removed best before dates from a range of fresh produce to help reduce in-store and household food waste across the UK. Best before dates will be removed from the labeling of over 300 fruit and vegetable products – 85% of M&S’ produce offering – including commonly wasted apples, potatoes and broccoli. Dates will be replaced with a new code that M&S store colleagues will UK retailer M&S has committed to halving food waste by 2030 as part of Plan A sustainability roadmap.use to maintain freshness and quality. The change, which is being rolled out across all M&S stores this week, is designed to encourage customers to throw away less edible food at home by using their judgment.

Too Good to Go launched a consumer education campaign in Sweden called Ofta Bra Efter, meaning “Often Good After.” The campaign has run under different names in 11 European countries so far and was known as the Look, Smell, Taste, Don’t Waste campaign in the UK in 2020. Products carry a label next to their “best before” date, which informs consumers that the product is often good even after that date and that they should test by looking, smelling and tasting the product before throwing it away. Too Good to Go started with an app that allows consumers to buy leftover food from restaurants and retailers at a reduced price. That app is now the world’s biggest marketplace for leftover food, and the company is extending its impact with national campaigns like Ofta Bra Efter.

In brief: NPD
Heinz has unveiled a new chef-inspired line, Heinz 57 Collection, driven by food trends and modern cultures. Heinz – a Kraft Heinz Company brand – looked to the culinary expertise of award-winning chefs Lee Wolen and Joe Frillman for inspiration in developing the collection. The Heinz 57 Collection comprises two sauce lines of Infused Honeys (honey sauces in hot chili and black truffle varieties) and Crunch Sauces (oil-based sauce with crunchy texture in chili pepper, roasted garlic and mandarin orange miso flavors).

Verve Coffee Roasters, a Santa Cruz-based specialty coffee company, launched a line of ready-to-drink (RTD) Flash Brew Oatmilk Lattes. Available in three flavors, including The Original, Chocolate and Honey Lavender – a first-to-market flavor in the category – Verve’s Flash Brew Oatmilk Lattes average 40 to 50 fewer calories per serving and 2 to 3 g less sugar compared to similar products. Heinz launched the chef-inspired sauces and spreads line, Heinz 57 Collection, which embraces modern cultures.

Nutella introduced collectible “Breakfast Across America” jars to give consumers a taste of signature breakfasts enjoyed in different regions throughout the country. The collection features 16 landmark locations, such as Lake Tahoe, Napa Valley, and Niagara Falls, along with corresponding breakfast recipes to transport consumers with each bite. The limited-edition line is available nationwide in 13 oz and 26.5 oz jars.

In brief: Business moves
Post Holdings, a consumer packaged goods holding company, revealed plans for its Post Consumer Brands business to invest up to US$110 million to expand its cereal production capacity at its Sparks, Nevada facility. The proposed expansion will provide Post Consumer Brands with additional production volume, addressing capacity constraints to meet consumer demand better and reduce transportation costs to serve West Coast customers more efficiently.

PepsiCo closed a new US$1.25 billion ten-year Green Bond. The company will use an amount equivalent to the net proceeds from the offering to fund Eligible Green Projects, which will focus on its pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) agenda – the company’s end-to-end sustainability strategy. Investments under PepsiCo’s new Green Bond will focus on investments to deliver key environmental sustainability initiatives under two pillars of its pep+ agenda: Positive Agriculture and Positive Value Chain.

M&M’s, part of Mars Inc., established the M&M’s FUNd Advisory Council, a group of experts who will drive M&M’s brand programming of diversity, inclusivity and belonging worldwide. The M&M’s FUNd was announced this past January to track the brand’s action against the refreshed purpose to create a world where everyone feels they belong. The M&M’s FUNd offers resources, mentorship, opportunities and financial support in the arts and entertainment space to connect people and ensure they have access to experiences to increase a sense of belonging for 10 million people worldwide by 2025.

Nutella is introducing collectible “Breakfast Across America” jars.The Cosun Nutrition Center officially opened as a knowledge hub focused on nutritional science for plant-based food products, under the agro-food organization Royal Cosun. The Cosun Nutrition Center is dedicated to all plant-based products and ingredients within Cosun, focusing on nutrition, health and sustainability. The opening of the Cosun Nutrition Center aligns with Cosun’s new strategy Unlock 25, announced earlier this year.

In brief: Acquisitions
Arva Flour Mills has acquired the Red River Cereal Brand from Smucker Foods of Canada Corp., a subsidiary of The J.M. Smucker Company. Officially acquiring the historic cereal brand on June 1, 2022, Arva Flour Mills plans to launch the brand later this month at their onsite retail store and their website. Further plans to distribute the Red River Cereal Brand into other retail locations are projected later this year.

In brief: Awards and recognition
Dolcas Biotech’s desert-grown TruOliv organic olive leaf and fruit extract has been awarded Zero-Carbon certification. The new seal endorses the company’s commitment to environmental welfare as Dolcas unveils its olive extract’s new liquid beadlet encapsulation formulation. The new label asserts compliance with PAS-2060 – the only internationally recognized certification for organizational carbon neutrality. Formulated in a carbon-neutral facility in Morocco, TruOliv’s raw material is sourced from the Moroccan desert’s olive groves, located in the pristine foothills of the Atlas Mountains. 

In brief: Food production
Oxford-based start-up Deep Planet partnered with EIT Food and Bordeaux wine grower Bernard Magrez (BM) to demonstrate the benefits of VineSignal – a satellite and AI-based solution that reduces vineyard variability, monitors yield and improves crop quality. EIT Food is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the EU. VineSignal aims to help winegrowers in France and across the world adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change, improve grape and wine quality, and increase harvest efficiency. 

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group have approved US$73.5 million to finance a program that will boost Tanzania’s food production by a million metric tons in three years. It seeks to strengthen the country’s capacity to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat and edible oil production by 2030. The funds will help enhance the supply of improved wheat, sunflower and rice seeds that are climate-resilient, ensure fertilizer availability and affordability, and support policies that improve the regulatory environment for the rapid uptake of certified seeds and fertilizers.VineSignal aims to help winegrowers in France and across the world adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change, improve grape and wine quality, and increase harvest efficiency.

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group also approved a grant of US$8.1 million to South Sudan to fund its Emergency Food Production Programme. Allocated through the Transition Support Facility, the grant constitutes additional financing for the ongoing Agricultural Markets, Value Addition and Trade Development Project (AMVAT). AMVAT seeks to contribute to reduced food insecurity, poverty reduction and economic growth.

ICL, a global specialty minerals company and ag-biotech company PlantArcBio, are scaling a novel bio-stimulant technology platform aimed at improving crop yields while having a minimal environmental impact. The platform successfully uses RNAi technology to maximize a plant’s natural yield increase mechanisms without any genetic modification and was the result of a multi-year research collaboration between the two companies. 

By Elizabeth Green