Farmers, processors and industry bodies have been consulted on proposals that could see Ireland’s dairy herd reduced by as many as 65,000 cows per year to help the EU country meet its ag emissions obligations.
What’s a ‘good’ carbon credit and how do businesses use them without fear of criticism from consumers? New guidance on carbon credits has been issued as attitudes shift among food and beverage companies towards using offsets to meet their climate targets.
This week, it was announced that revenue for plant-based meat brand Beyond Meat had fallen by more than 30%. Does this say more about Beyond Meat or the plant-based sector in general? Why are some consumers rejecting plant-based meat?
Faced with a global market slowdown, plant-based meat players are looking is renew demand and encourage repeat purchases of their vegan beef, pork, and seafood alternatives. Pulling levers from taste to texture and nutrition, how can plant-based meat...
Efforts to reduce methane emissions are urgently needed if we are to meet global climate change goals. Could innovation, informed by study findings, help move the needle? We look at the latest research promising emission reductions from agri-food production.
It is important not to mislead consumers with sustainability claims. However, fears of inadvertently misleading consumers can, according to findings from a recent roundtable, contribute to ‘greenhushing’, when companies fail to share progress in sustainability...
Academics claim that a newly-developed starter culture could help ripen cheeses such as cheddar and gouda almost twice as fast, paving the way for more efficient and sustainable cheese production. “There are practically no downsides,” the lead researcher...
Nanotechnology – when matter is manipulated at the microscopic level – has the potential to be transformative in many fields. One of these fields is agriculture.
With signs some plant-based makers are struggling, we ask innovators whether the meat alternative category is experiencing a slowdown, a ‘shakedown’, or other?
Nestle has voiced support for the continued use of palm oil in the food and beverage sector amid intense debate surrounding the recently-enacted EU Deforestation Regulation, while also striving to guarantee its supply chain sustainability using advance...
Alternative dairy products, by their very nature, are more sustainable in one crucial aspect compared to dairy: they cut out the animal from the production process. However, there are other ways to maximise sustainability. How central should sustainability...
In what is considered a landmark study, a team of international researchers has identified cancer risk – and other human health findings – associated with the production, use, and disposal of plastic.
The palm oil industry in Malaysia is calling for the European Union (EU) to provide more clarity over how it will define ‘high-risk’ countries under its recently-approved Deforestation Regulation, stressing that current scientific data has already demonstrated...
The food processing and packaging company is inviting dairy industry stakeholders to examine how the sector could drive down emissions from dairy production and processing.
At peak production, Nomad Foods-owned Birds Eye UK can produce 48 tonnes of frozen peas per hour. FoodNavigator visits its Yorkshire operation to see how ‘sweet and tender’ peas are produced for the masses within just 150 minutes, from field to freezer.
As plant-based foods become more ubiquitous in many key European markets and experts warn against eating too much meat, animal agriculture is considered by many as a problem. Can it be produced more sustainably for the future?
Israel's Brevel is claiming a world first in combining the sugar-based fermentation of microalgae with the high concentration of light at industrial scales.
Vertical farming, and controlled environment agriculture more generally, holds the promise of environmental sustainability. But rising energy costs and challenging economic conditions are straining the sector. Can technology help overcome obstacles to...
A new study with a sample size of 55,504 has found that the more meat a diet consists of, the worse it is for the environment. While vegans had the least environmental impact, followed by vegetarians, it was those with a high meat consumption whose diet...
Meeting climate targets starts at the ingredient level, so the Digiorno pizza maker has joined a growing group of food giants - including PepsiCo, Kellogg’s and General Mills - using their industry might to effect positive change throughout their supply...
According to the World Food Programme, one third of food produced for humans is wasted. A new study shows that reducing this could improve global food security. However, due to the ‘rebound effect,’ reducing food waste does not have correspondingly high...
This week, we have a range of products aiming for sustainable packaging: from wine and spirits, to coffee, to ketchup. We also have kombucha made from watermelons grown in Italy, honey from the UAE, and bread from Danish bakery Ole and Steen.
Gipsy Hill Brewery claims a world first in creating carbon negative beers without the use of offsets. And the concept, based on regenerative farming, could go well beyond its pints served in London. “By truly embedding sustainability into our brewing...
The dairy co-operative says swapping plastic with fiber-based caps could reduce the plastic used in its milk cartons whilst improving recyclability at the same time.
The collaboration could help popularize the concept of regenerative farming among consumers whilst enabling farmers to earn a premium for carrying out nature-positive farming practices.
The European Commission has adopted a Soil Monitoring Law to improve food security and limit global warming. Its adoption has been well received, but doubts cast over the proposal’s level of ambition.
Rice is one of the world’s most popular staple crops, feeding more than 3.5 billion people around the globe. It is also a significant greenhouse gas emitter, contributing 10% of the world’s methane emissions. To make rice sustainable, emissions need to...
With the details of the new rules on packaging and packaging waste currently being refined, in this article ESSNA provides an overview of this new legislation and its impact to the sports foods sector.
Ireland’s dairy cows are famous for their grass-fed diet. But this diet isn’t just about giving the cows a tasty meal – it affects their health, has strong benefits for sustainability compared to other feeds, and creates better quality milk as an end...
Ireland’s Origin Green programme is the world’s only (so far) government-led sustainability programme for the food and drink sector. Encompassing the government and the private sector, it stretches across the supply chain to make the food and drink industry...
Microalgae cultivation as a topic may be more apt for the biofuel industry, but scientific research has shown that these microscopic organisms can also be utilized as a sustainable food source.
Dairy milk provides a unique collection of nutrients and the impact of its production on the environment represents a ‘compromise’, the study suggests.
Startup ansā is releasing a countertop coffee roaster that allows consumers to roast their coffee themselves. The company, whose name means ‘the answer’ in Japanese, aims to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the supply chain of the coffee...
Plastic packaging does an enormous amount of harm to the environment, taking up land in landfill sites and maiming wildlife on both land and sea. However, it also contributes to climate change, emitting high levels of greenhouses gasses into the atmosphere....
As alternative protein develops, brewer’s yeast is emerging as a strong driver of the market. Start-up ProteinDistillery has created a protein, developed from brewer’s yeast, that can not only be used for meat and dairy alternatives, but also to replace...
Under a new CEO and with peak-pandemic receding farther into the background, the Consumer Brands Association is “going back to the future” to focus on core values that, while still priorities in recent years, took a backseat during the chaos of COVID...
In a period remembered for its supply chain challenges, energy cost surges, and raw material price hikes, Ferrero says it made ‘strong’ sustainability progress during the 2021/2022 financial year and is ‘on track’ to meet key targets.
A group of First Milk farmers that follow ‘nature-positive’ farming principles will supply Yeo Valley Production as part of a 'forward-thinking' partnership.
Meat-packing giant JBS begrudgingly agreed to discontinue “aspirational” claims about its goal to reach ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 after failing to convince an advertising watchdog that consumers would not interpret the commitment as...
Most countries are yet to realise the full potential of including food systems in their climate action plans, according to a new report calling for food and agriculture to be at the heart of discussions.
Soy is one of the main drivers of deforestation around the world. Forests are cut down every day to make way for the growth of soy crops. However, most of this soy, in fact almost 80%, is grown to feed not humans, but animals.
WNWN Food Labs is rethinking chocolate, without cocoa. FoodNavigator visits the start-up’s R&D lab to see how its dark and ‘milk’ chocolate alternatives are made.
Leatherhead Food Research has warned that food companies must act now to ensure their sustainability claims can stand up to the scrutiny of EU regulators if a draft directive came into force in 2024.
Nestlé has announced that it will partner with Yield Lab Latam, a Latin American venture capital fund, to work on sustainable packaging and regenerative farming. Yield Lab Latam provides funding to agri-food companies across Latin America, connecting...
From its origins in Ethiopia to its cultivation in the Ottoman Empire, coffee has always been international. But the popularity of single-origin coffee, demarcated by its origin from a single nation, is growing. What is the appeal of this kind of coffee,...
Sustainability and future-proofing the food system
Improving the sustainability of the food system is no longer optional from an optics and long-term business perspective, but short-term challenges – including consumer engagement – threaten immediate and mid-range returns and margins, complicating the...
Consumers are seeking more natural, fresh and less processed foods and believe that science and technology, like precision fermentation, may be more suitable to effectively address these environmental issues than traditional food manufacturing methods,...
