Last week in industry news, global meal kit delivery service HelloFresh announced the introduction of the Beyond Burger from Beyond Meat, a market leader in the plant-based meat category. Cargill’s program to empower women at its palm plantation in South Sumatra, Indonesia, won top honors in the Sustainability/Ingredients category of the 2019 BEST in Baking Program. Also, Fair Trade USA, a third-party certifier of fair trade products in North America, announced its participation in “My Planet Pass – 1% for the Planet,” a new program that helps consumers contribute to sustainability.

In brief: New product launches
Global meal kit delivery service HelloFresh has announced the introduction of the Beyond Burger from Beyond Meat, a market leader in the plant-based meat category. Offered as part of HelloFresh’s premium Craft Burger collection, HelloFresh customers can now order the meal “Goudalicious Beyond Burgers paired with Potato Wedges and Creamy Mustard Aioli,” which will begin shipping to customers across the US in September. The plant-based Beyond Burger patty is marketed as having less total and saturated fat than an 80/20 beef burger, designed to “look, cook, and satisfy like beef,” while being made without GMOs, soy or gluten. The Beyond Burger has 20g of plant protein derived from a blend of peas, mung beans and brown rice. HelloFresh’s Goudalicious Beyond Burgers are topped with a caramelized onion jam, creamy aioli, melted gouda and served with seasoned potato wedges.

In brief: Business investments
Norwegian conglomerate Orkla purchased 20 percent of family-owned chocolate and confection manufacturer Nói Siríus, known for chocolate brands such as Síríus, Nóa Konfekt, Nóa Kropp, Nóa Páskaegg and Konsum. Orkla operates in Iceland through the partly-owned company Dragsbæk, which is part of the Orkla Food Ingredients business area. Nói Siríus reported a turnover of ISK 3,436 million (US$27.5 million) in 2018. Over 70 percent of the Nói Siríus’ turnover is generated by domestic market sales. The business also distributes global brands of chocolate, snacks and breakfast products. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Under the agreement, Orkla has the possibility to purchase the remaining shares after 2020. The agreement is contingent on the approval of the Icelandic competition authorities.

In brief: Initiatives
Cargill’s program to empower women at its palm plantation in South Sumatra, Indonesia, has won top honors in the Sustainability/Ingredients category of the 2019 BEST in Baking Program. The program is sponsored by The International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE), in partnership with Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery, to recognize leading exhibitors and suppliers driving progress in the baking industry. “Palm oil is a key ingredient in bakery applications,” notes Cargill. “Palm production is traditionally a male-dominated industry and women have faced challenges to inclusion and equality.” Cargill is aiming to foster a transparent, traceable and sustainable palm oil supply chain and has put in place two key initiatives to help foster a healthy and safe work environment:

Comprehensive services, such as strict maternity protection policies including a minimum of three months of maternity leave, breastfeeding support, child care services, free primary school education and prevention of discrimination. The company’s policies are supported through healthcare services that are delivered through 28 clinics.

Creation and support of employee networks and committees to help ensure the rights of female colleagues are upheld. To provide employees with a physically and psychologically safe workplace, one such committee tracks and addresses harassment reports and serves as a forum for education through seminars and services on dealing with any compromise to women’s rights, and challenges unique to working mothers. 

Fair Trade USA, a third-party certifier of fair trade products in North America, has announced its participation in “My Planet Pass – 1% for the Planet,” a new program that helps consumers contribute to sustainability. With a My Planet Pass purchase, supporters become members of 1% for the Planet and its five nonprofit partners, allowing them to “bundle” their support of climate, land, food, pollution, water and wildlife work into a single transaction. By purchasing a My Planet Pass, members will be supporting worker livelihoods and environmental stewardship through the sustainable production of fair trade ingredients and products around the world. Fair Trade USA will use Pass proceeds to help achieve its mission – aiming to enable sustainable development and community empowerment by cultivating a more equitable and traceable global trade model. This includes certifying whole products and ingredients (produce, coffee, cocoa, sugar, snacks, flowers, grains, etc.), producers and facilities (farms, fisheries, and factories for apparel and home goods), as well as empowering workers to make choices for the good of their communities through Community Development Fund dollars.