Weekly Roundup: Tesco and WWF launch sustainable food joint venture, Nespresso eyes growth in coffee system production

23 Nov 2018 --- WWF has highlighted the relationship between food production and environmental issues in its recent Living Planet Report 2018. In line with this report, Tesco and WWF launched a partnership aimed at offering more food to consumers that is sourced ethically and sustainably. Meanwhile, the Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture awarded its 2018 Collaboration of the Year Award to ADM, General Mills and Agrible for their work on the Southern Plains Wheat Fieldprint Project which helps farmers in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri (US). Finally, Nespresso has invested US$43.2 million in the creation of two new production lines in its factory in Romont, Switzerland to satisfy the growing demand for the company’s coffee system Vertuo.

In brief: Sustainability

Tesco and WTesco and WWF have announced a long-term partnership with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of the average UK shopping basket by 50 percent.  WF have announced a long-term partnership with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of the average UK shopping basket by 50 percent. The partnership comes as new research by the two organizations reveals that demand for sustainable food is high, with nearly 80 percent of shoppers wanting supermarkets to do more to offer food that is sourced responsibly and sustainably. Dave Lewis, Tesco Group CEO, says: “Partnering with WWF will help us make our customers’ shopping baskets more sustainable. Our shared ambition is to reduce the environmental impact of the average shopping basket by half. By working with farmers, suppliers, colleagues and other experts, we hope to develop innovative solutions so shoppers can put affordable, tasty food on their plates today, confident they are not compromising the future of food for generations to come.”

Meanwhile, the Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture has awarded its 2018 Collaboration of the Year Award to Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), General Mills and Agrible for their work on the Southern Plains Wheat Fieldprint Project, which helps farmers in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri to measure and improve natural resource management efficiency for winter wheat production. “We’re honored to receive this recognition for our work to help farmers enhance the efficiency and sustainability of their businesses,” says ADM Chief Sustainability Officer Alison Taylor. “The Southern Plains Wheat Fieldprint Project is a great fit for us, helping advance all four of our sustainability pillars: mitigating climate change, protecting natural resources, creating business alliances and enhancing employee and community well-being.”

Chemical distribution company Brenntag has again been awarded the Gold medal for its sustainability management in the sustainability/CSR assessment of the independent rating agency EcoVadis. The agency evaluates their performance regarding four categories: environment, labor and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement. Since its first EcoVadis assessment in 2014, Brenntag has improved its scoring and achieved the Gold recognition status in 2016. With its current score, Brenntag is among the top 1 percent of all the companies rated in the industrial sector in which EcoVadis categorizes the company.

In brief: Acquisitions and transactions

Ajinomoto Co., Inc. has agreed to transfer 100 percent of the shares of Amoy Food Ltd., which is wholly owned by Ajinomoto Group, to CITIC Capital Asian Foods Holdings Limited. Also, the company will subscribe 15 percent shares of CITIC Capital Asian Foods Holdings Limited to start a joint venture. Ajinomoto will seek to continue to enhance the value of the Ajinomoto brand further, develop products which are locally suitable and promote proactive cooperation with external parties to provide new value to its customers. The impact on consolidated business results during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, will be “immaterial,” reports the company. 

As communicated by Goldman Sachs on November 16, 2018, Renata Jacobs, Nathalie Albin-Jacobs and Nicolas Jacobs have sold shares in Barry Callebaut through an accelerated bookbuild offering. In aggregate, 150,000 shares or 2.7 percent of the share capital of the company was sold in the transaction. Barry Callebaut was not involved in this transaction, reports the company. Within the accelerated bookbuild offering, Renata Jacobs, Nathalie Albin-Jacobs and Nicolas Jacobs have each agreed to a lock-up on the shares that each one of them holds in the company as of the end of the transaction for a period of 120 days until March 15, 2019. 

In brief: Appointments and retirements

Tate & Lyle has announced that Warren Tucker has been appointed as a non-executive director and a member of the Audit, Remuneration and Nominations Committees with immediate effect. Tucker is a non-executive director of Reckitt Benckiser Group and of Thomas Cook Group where he is also Chair of the Remuneration Committee. Tucker served as CFO on the Board of Cobham for ten years until 2013, where he co-led the company’s organic and strategic growth.

Also this week, Colin Hall has been appointed to the Supervisory Board of GEA Group by order of the Düsseldorf local court. Hall, a US national, is Head of Investments at Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), simultaneously holding the position of CEO at Sienna Capital, a 100 percent subsidiary of GBL. He succeeds Prof. Dr. Ing. Werner J. Bauer, who resigned from the Supervisory Board for personal reasons earlier this month.

In brief: Other highlightsNespresso has announced a CHF43 million (US$43.2 million) investment in the creation of two new production lines in its factory in Romont, Switzerland to satisfy the growing demand for the versatile coffee system Vertuo.    

Finally, Nespresso has announced a CHF43 million (US$43.2 million) investment in the creation of two new production lines in its factory in Romont, Switzerland to satisfy the growing demand for the versatile coffee system Vertuo. Nestlé has identified coffee as a strong growth driver and the coffee business has seen positive organic growth over the past years. According to the company, this will create 33 additional jobs in the next two years. It has also inaugurated a state-of-the-art innovation center consisting of a Product Development Center and Coffee Campus to drive global innovation and coffee expertise. The Product Development Center is dedicated to developing new Nespresso machines and Grand Cru coffees, including unique coffees from rare origins. 

By Elizabeth Green