Category Archives: Food & drink industry

Covid-19: UK economy plunges into deepest recession since records began

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GDP falls 20.4% – the worst of any G7 nation in the three months to June

Britain has entered the deepest recession since records began as official figures on Wednesday showed the economy shrank by more than any other major nation during the coronavirus outbreak in the three months to June.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic prosperity, fell in the second quarter by 20.4% compared with the previous three months – the biggest quarterly decline since comparable records began in 1955.

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Brexit backers Tate & Lyle set to gain £73m from end of EU trade tariffs

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Greenpeace investigators say the firm, which also donated to the Conservatives, will be sole beneficiary of rule changes on importing raw cane sugar

A company that backed Brexit and has donated to the Conservatives is in line to save £73m as the only direct beneficiary of a post-Brexit trade reform.

Under plans that will come into force at the end of the year, the government has confirmed that companies will be able to import 260,000 tonnes of raw sugar cane from anywhere in the world, tariff-free.

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Investors drop Brazil meat giant JBS

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Top investment house delists world biggest meat producer over lack of commitment to sustainability issues

The investment arm of northern Europe’s largest financial services group has dropped JBS, the world’s biggest meat processer, from its portfolio. The Brazilian company is now excluded from assets sold by Nordea Asset Management, which controls a €230bn (£210bn) fund, according to Eric Pedersen, its head of responsible investments.

The decision was taken about a month ago, over the meat giant’s links to farms involved in Amazon deforestation, its response to the Covid-19 outbreak, past corruption scandals, and frustrations over engagement with the company on such issues. “The exclusion of JBS is quite dramatic for us because it is from all of our funds, not just the ones labelled ESG,” Pedersen said.

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England yet to embrace reopened restaurants and pubs, data suggests

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Tracker finds sales about 40% down on same period last year among venues that reopened

People have not embraced an easing of lockdown restrictions in England’s pubs, bars and restaurants, according to figures that showed a drop in sales of about 40% among venues that opened their doors at the beginning of the month.

Pubs that were open in the week beginning 6 July posted a 39% decline in sales compared with the same period last year, while bars were down 43% and restaurants down 40%.

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Have a heart, KitKat, don’t break with Fairtrade

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Nestlé is big in York, but the city is fighting the brand’s decision to make life harder for African cocoa farmers

Here’s a quiz question: how many KitKats are produced in the Nestlé factory in York each year? A hundred million? Keep going. The plant makes a billion of the UK’s bestselling chocolate bars annually. That volume is one reason that the company’s shameful decision to end the brand’s Fairtrade certification will have such a devastating effect on cocoa farmers.

I visited some of the Fairtrade-certified cocoa farms in Ivory Coast last year. Seeing the difference that a measure of financial security can make to some of the poorest villages on earth is a lasting lesson in the mechanics of hope.

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Women picking fruit for UK supermarkets ‘facing new forms of exploitation’

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As Covid-19 causes workforce shortages, UN urged to urgently investigate worsening conditions in Spain’s strawberry industry

Women picking strawberries in Spain for UK supermarkets are facing new forms of exploitation, unions and lawyers warn, as the industry is hit by labour shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

This week a coalition of rights groups and lawyers have appealed to the United Nations to urgently investigate allegations of deteriorating working conditions and a lack of protection for workers against Covid-19 infection.

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More than 30,000 pubs and restaurants ‘may not reopen after lockdown’

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Coronavirus crisis could prove final straw for some businesses in hospitality sector, poll finds

More than 30,000 pubs, bars and restaurants may remain permanently closed because the coronavirus shutdown has sent a wrecking ball through the UK’s hospitality trade.

The grim prediction follows a week in which the Casual Dining Group, which owns the Bella Italia and Café Rouge restaurant chains, warned it was headed into administration – casting doubt over the future of its 250 restaurants.

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McDonald’s accused over ‘systemic sexual harassment’ of employees worldwide

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Complaint filed by international coalition of labor unions lists numerous incidents of harassment, including attempted rape

An international coalition of labor unions has filed a complaint against McDonald’s, alleging systemic sexual harassment of its employees around the world.

The complaint, filed at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s offices in the Netherlands, lists numerous incidents of harassment, including attempted rape and indecent exposure in the United States, a promotion in exchange for sexual acts in Brazil, and a hidden cellphone camera installed in the women’s changing room in France.

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How will we ever make people feel at home again, ask Italy’s fearful trattorias

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Owners say plexiglass panels and social distancing mean they will struggle to survive in a post-lockdown age

Armando al Pantheon, a lively, family-run trattoria in the heart of Rome, counts the architect Renzo Piano among its illustrious customers. And there is no way that owner and chef Claudio Gargioli, is going to offend his sensibilities – and those of other regulars – with plexiglass.

His father, who opened the restaurant a stone’s throw away from the majestic Pantheon in 1961, would turn in his grave at such a notion, he said. “It could work as a barrier at the till, but on the table it’s not only ugly, but an insult,” Gargioli told the Observer.

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‘No food, water, masks or gloves’: migrant farm workers in Spain at crisis point

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Workers in lockdown trapped in dire conditions on fruit and salad farms that supply UK supermarkets, UN warns

Migrant workers on Spanish farms that provide fruit and vegetables for UK supermarkets are trapped in dire conditions under lockdown, living in cardboard and plastic shelters without food or running water.

Thousands of workers, many of them undocumented, live in settlements between huge greenhouses on farms in the southern Spanish provinces of Huelva and Almeria, key regions for European supply chains.

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Why Britain’s 2.5 billion paper coffee cups are an eco disaster

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With only one in 400 cups recycled, and even those barely ‘green’, the hunt is on for an alternative

Britain gets through 2.5 billion of them every year, and the number is set to increase. But despite a growing clamour for coffee chains to make their cups more environment-friendly, the vast majority are used only once, which critics say is a considerable waste of natural resources.

One company vying to produce a truly recyclable alternative claims that the UK’s caffeine addiction is responsible for the felling of a million trees a year. An independent study it commissioned suggests that almost 1.5 billion litres of water go into making the cups the UK uses annually.

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Coronavirus will cause ‘lasting changes’ to shopping habits, says Unilever boss

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Alan Jope predicts continued growth in online shopping and continued higher sales of cleaning products

The coronavirus pandemic will trigger “lasting changes” in shopping behaviour, according to one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of grocery brands.

Unilever’s chief executive, Alan Jope, said the health crisis would accelerate the growth of online food shopping. He also predicted a permanent increase in demand for soap and other cleaning supplies as improved hygiene became a priority for households.

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Coca-Cola and Pepsi falling short on pledges over plastic – report

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Tearfund NGO says drinks makers not doing enough to tackle their plastic pollution

Coca-Cola and Pepsi are not doing enough to reduce their plastic waste footprint globally, according to a report.

The charity Tearfund has compiled a league table of how the companies, and Unilever and Nestlé, are faring in their commitments set against a three-point plan.

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Suppliers ration stocks of tinned tomatoes after surge in demand

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Supermarkets told to ‘calm the fever’ as UK sales rise more than 30% during coronavirus crisis

Tinned tomato suppliers are rationing stocks to supermarkets after demand in the UK surged more than 30% and threatened to use up supplies ahead of this year’s harvest.

Supermarkets and convenience store groups are understood to be jockeying for supplies as families continue to buy more tinned foods than usual after the closure of schools and restaurants forced them to cook more meals at home.

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Milk floats ride to the rescue of locked-down British households

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The once ubiquitous electric float had seen its power wane. Then came the pandemic

The humble milkman – a regular sight on most British streets throughout the 20th century – was almost consigned to the history books by the rise of the supermarkets.

But now, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, these dairy deliverers on their electric floats are busier than ever as they try to keep up with newfound demand for their services.

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Insects likely to be approved for human consumption by EU

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Food safety agency’s decision could put mealworms, locusts and baby crickets on menus

It is being billed as the long-awaited breakthrough moment in European gastronomy for mealworm burgers, locust aperitifs and cricket granola.

In the next few weeks the EU’s European Food Safety Authority is expected by the insect industry to endorse mealworms, lesser mealworms, locusts, baby crickets and adult crickets as being safe for human consumption.

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Report reveals ‘massive plastic pollution footprint’ of drinks firms

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Report says plastic from Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever products could cover 83 football pitches every day

Four global drinks giants are responsible for more than half a million tonnes of plastic pollution in six developing countries each year, enough to cover 83 football pitches every day, according to a report.

The NGO Tearfund has calculated the greenhouse gas emissions from the open burning of plastic bottles, sachets and cartons produced by Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever in developing nations, where waste can be mismanaged because people do not have access to collections.

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Panic-buyers urged to ‘be responsible and think of others’ amid Covid-19 pandemic – video

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The environment secretary, George Eustice, has urged panic-buyers to only purchase what they need in order to not make shopping difficult for frontline workers, such as NHS staff. Standing in for Boris Johnson on Saturday at the government’s daily briefing, he said: 'Be responsible when you shop and think of others. Buying more than you need means others may be left without'

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Fate of US brewery in drought-hit Mexico goes to Amlo poll

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President continues direct democracy drive that critics say is skewed towards his desired outcome

The fate of a giant US brewery under construction in Mexico’s parched borderlands will be put to a vote this weekend in the latest attempt at direct democracy by the country’s populist president.

The brewery in Mexicali has provoked controversy in a region where the climate crisis has already caused droughts, and where farmers and residents have taken exception to a US company, Constellation Brands, extracting water to produce beer for export.

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Children as young as eight used to pick coffee beans for Starbucks

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Nespresso also named in TV exposé of labour scandal in Guatemala

High street coffee shop giant Starbucks has been caught up in a child labour row after an investigation revealed that children under 13 were working on farms in Guatemala that supply the chain with its beans.

Channel 4’s Dispatches filmed the children working 40-hour weeks in gruelling conditions, picking coffee for a daily wage little more than the price of a latte. The beans are also supplied to Nespresso, owned by Nestlé. Last week, actor George Clooney, the advertising face of Nespresso, praised the investigation and said he was saddened by its findings.

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