mk2 Biotechnologies, Wacker and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) will participate in a joint project targeting the development, large-scale production and purification of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) for diverse applications. The project will run for two years. The aim is to take the final steps in rolling out industrially suitable AMPs as a sustainable alternative […]
Batory Foods, a distributor in the United States of food and ingredients, has acquired Sweetener Solutions, a Savannah, Georgia-based company specializing in custom sweetener formulation, precision blending, and specialty portion packaging. The acquisition is seen as a natural fit for Batory Foods, which is a distributor of natural, alternative sweeteners and sweetener blends, including its […]
The 39th World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress was held in May at the Madinat Jumeirah Resort in Dubai. More than 1,100 industry professionals from 64 countries came together to discuss and debate the most pressing topics for the sector such as market development, sustainability, nutrition research, and the opportunities and threats that the nut and dried fruit industry currently faces.
World tree nut production in the 2022/2023 season is anticipated to reach 5.4 million metric tons (kernel basis, except pistachios in-shell), up 6% from the previous season, as discussed by industry leaders at the Congress round tables.
Although it is still early in the season to predict the crops’ final outcomes, the most substantial increases are projected for:
According to early estimates, world peanut production in 2022/23 is foreseen to amount to 47.8 million metric tons (in-shell basis).
Global dried fruit production has been forecast at 3.2 million metric tons, up 4% from 2021/22, as world volumes are expected to increase for:
Throughout the round tables, a common theme was that the industry in general is facing an oversupply that in turn has led to lower prices. It was agreed upon by industry leaders that the sector has to come together to promote consumption of nuts and dried fruits in efforts to rebalance the supply and demand. Shipping delays and increased freight costs also have strained the industry, however there remain many opportunities to grow. A significant opportunity for the industry to increase consumption is focused on potential high growth opportunities in markets such as India and China, and through a focus on innovation and e-commerce.
Sunny Verghese, the Co-Founder and Group CEO of Olam International gave a stimulating keynote speech touching on ways the industry can successfully and sustainably improve the food and agricultural system. Verghese also highlighted the growing challenges that the agricultural sector faces such as inflation. Meanwhile, Saket Modi, the Co-Founder and CEO of Safe Security provided insights into the importance of cybersecurity for firms and how they can better mitigate any potential cyber threats through cyber risk quantification in real-time.
A new round table, Matching Supply Chain to Production and Consumption Trends: Looking Into the Future, was introduced this year, led by INC Chairman, Michael Waring. The session took a deep look into one of the industry’s biggest challenges, how to rebalance supply and demand, and how the sector can take advantage of new trends to grow consumption in the coming years. Some of the biggest opportunities for growth mentioned by the panelists were the Indian market and the rapidly growing Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) market.
The Sustainability Seminar was headlined by Marta Moren Abat, the International Relations Coordinator for the Directorate General for Maritime and Fisheries at the European Commission. In her presentation, she discussed various measures that can be taken to improve water conservation such as water transfers, reuse, repricing, alternative plant selection, desalination, and efficient irrigation. Moreover, her speech touched on several possible roles that the nut and dried fruit industry could play in protecting water resources.
Goretti Guasch, INC Executive Director, gave a presentation on how to empower minds and stimulate consumption, highlighting the need for the industry to come together to tackle oversupply. Guasch touched on the INC’s latest trend research, which was a main driver in the decision to roll out a multiyear country-specific campaign to six key global markets. The campaign will be directed at Gen Z, which is poised to drive markets for the next decade.
The 2023 INC Congress is scheduled to take place in London, UK, from 22-24 May 2023.
The INC Awards, handed out annually as part of the INC Congress, are aimed at recognizing outstanding leaders and visionaries who contribute to the excellence of the nut and dried fruit industry.
In Dubai, the ‘Corporate Golden Nut Award’ was presented to ofi, and the ‘Excellence in Research’ to Prof. Jordi Salas-Salvadó. Furthermore, Dr. Karen Lapsley was recognized for her Outstanding Service to Research in Almonds with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. Chef Akmar Anuar was awarded ‘Excellency in Gastronomy’, and the ‘Innovation Award’ was presented to ofi for their Cashew Nut Oil Dipping Sauces & Dressings.
The INC is the international umbrella organization for the nut and dried fruit industry. Its members include more than 850 nut and dried fruit sector companies from over 80 countries. INC membership represents over 85% of the world’s commercial “farm gate” value of trade in nuts and dried fruits. The INC’s mission is to stimulate and facilitate sustainable growth in the global nut and dried fruit industry. It is the leading international organization on health, nutrition, statistics, food safety, and international standards and regulations regarding nuts and dried fruits.
www.nutfruit.org
Applications to Nutreco’s 2022 Young Researchers Prize are now open to all PhD students and post doctorate researchers in their first- and second-year of study working in animal nutrition, livestock production, aquaculture, veterinary sciences and cellular agriculture.
The award challenges young academics from across the world to showcase their innovative solutions for sustainable and environmentally-conscious farming practices. First, second and third place winners will be awarded €12,000, €8,000 and €5,000 respectively to further their research.
Nutreco, an international leader in animal nutrition, launched the Prize in 2020 to recognise the most promising and pioneering research conducted by young researchers in the industry – an industry that faces the increasingly urgent challenge of combatting food scarcity and climate change throughout the food chain.
The world needs agricultural solutions that sustainably generate enough food for a growing population and this year’s prize-winning project will help deliver on this challenge to feed the future. The three winning projects will be tackling this challenge through sustainable and environmentally conscious farming practices.
Nutreco CEO, Fulco van Lede, said: “To feed a world population of 10 billion people by 2050, we must produce more food in the next 30 years than we have done in the last 8,000. To do this, we need to go beyond hypothetical ideas. Nutreco’s Young Researchers Prize not only celebrates the industry’s rising stars but helps turn their ideas into reality. By encouraging innovative, sustainable and adaptable solutions to the challenges we now face will set us on the right path to transforming not only the way we farm but also the future of food.”
All submissions will be judged against how well they address at least one of the following challenges facing the industry:
As we work toward feeding a global population of almost 10 billion by 2050, the demand for high-quality protein is increasing. Innovative and sustainable ways to produce proteins are urgently needed – and novel ingredients will play a key role.
It is estimated that by 2050, resistance to antibiotics will cause more deaths than cancer does today. This is one of the biggest public health challenges facing the world. The agriculture industry can play an important role in reducing the reliance on antibiotics within animal husbandry, which will ultimately have a positive impact on human health.
As global temperatures continue to rise at an alarming rate, the industry’s brightest minds can help to reduce agriculture’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions through precision farming methods and digital solutions.
To be considered, entrants must submit a 60-second video explaining their project and why it is a prize-winning solution to at least one of the above challenges.
Entrants must also submit a presentation that summarises their research in no more than 10 slides, together with their CV and any other supporting publications.
To apply, applicants must be completing their PhD or in their first or second year of post doctorate research. Submissions that refer to research ideas without results or implementation will not be considered.
To apply and for full Terms & Conditions, please visit Nutreco’s online submissions page.
Final submissions are required by 11pm CET on Friday June 24, 2022.
The final shortlist of up to 10 candidates will then be decided by Nutreco’s judging panel of leading industry experts in the field of sustainable nutritional solutions. The shortlist will be announced on Monday August 29, 2022.
Winners will be announced at a ceremony in the Netherlands in early October 2022.
The next wave of technological progress to sustain the world’s fast-growing global population will capitalize on artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve the precision and sustainability of farming techniques.
AI, IoT, connected services and autonomous systems together enable farmers to make decisions at the level of a single square metre or individual plant or animal, rather than entire fields or all livestock. This precision allows well-informed interventions that ultimately improve agricultural sustainability by helping farmers produce more with less.
A new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Focus Group dedicated to ‘AI and IoT for digital agriculture’ [1] will examine emerging cyber-physical systems as groundwork for standardization to stimulate their deployment for agriculture worldwide.
“The projection that our planet will host 9.7 billion people by 2050 necessitates significant technological progress to sustain so many lives,” said Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General. “This new focus group is the beginning of a global drive to ensure equitable access to the new capabilities emerging in agriculture with advances in digital technology.”
Collaboration with FAO
The focus group will work in close collaboration with the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which mobilizes international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security.
Under the group’s purview will be new capabilities to discern complex patterns from a growing volume of agricultural and geospatial data; improve the acquisition, handling, and analysis of these data; enable effective decision-making; and guide interventions to optimize agricultural production processes.
Dejan Jakovljevic, Chief Information Officer and Director of FAO’s Digitalization and Informatics Division, said: “New digital capabilities offer us a unique and immediate opportunity to transform food systems and accelerate impact towards zero hunger. The new focus group will significantly contribute towards these efforts, bringing together AI and IoT as key enablers behind new capabilities for digital agriculture.”
The envisaged study aims to support global progress in areas such as precision farming, predictive analytics for smart farming, the optimization of cultivable acreage, remote cattle monitoring and management, agricultural robotics, and greenhouse automation.
The study will pay particular attention to the needs of developing countries where people’s livelihoods are most reliant on agriculture. Those are also the countries where digital solutions can provide the greatest gains in agricultural sustainability and resilience.
Focused on smart communities
The focus group will report to ITU’s standardization expert group for ‘IoT and smart cities and communities’, ITU-T Study Group 20 [2].
The new focus group is open to all interested parties.
It comes alongside the establishment of the new Correspondence Group for ‘Artificial Intelligence of Things’ (also under ITU-T Study Group 20), aimed at developing guidelines for future standardization work related to IoT and smart cities and communities.
ITU-T Study Group 20 has also reached first-stage approval (‘consent’) of the LoRaWAN specification as an ITU standard. This transposition of the low-power protocol for wide area networks into a new ITU standard intends to support the protocol’s adoption globally.
[1] https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/ai4a/Pages/default.aspx
[2] https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/about/groups/Pages/sg20.aspx
The Endocrine Society joined a coalition of physicians, scientists and public health and environmental organizations to send a formal petition [1] to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), calling on the agency to rescind its approvals for bisphenol A (BPA) in adhesives and coatings and set strict limits on its use in plastics that contact […]
A team of scientists from Nanyang Techno-logical University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed a plant-based emulsifier that is not only rich in protein and antioxidants, but has the necessary properties to replace eggs or dairy in food staples such as mayonnaise, salad dressings, and whipped cream.
Even though sales of non-alcoholic beer have risen substantially in Denmark and Europe in the last couple of years, there are still many people that won’t follow the healthy trend because they find the taste not to be quite as good as that of regular beers.
Future Meat Technologies, (Future Meat), an industry-leading company developing innovative technology to produce cultivated meat, has raised $347 million in a Series B round of financing.
A Telford-based business supplying cheese and dairy products to food manufacturers and the food service sector has had its best year yet, despite the triple challenge of Brexit, Covid and global supply chain disruption.
March 2024
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