This week in business news, Barry Callebaut completed the acquisition of GKC Foods in Australia and Ingredion completed its buyout of PureCircle. Meanwhile, shareholders unanimously voted for Danone to become the first listed “Entreprise à Mission” and Chr. Hansen gained international recognition for its safety transformation. Finally, the Syngenta Group revealed its recovery plans from the economic and social effects of the COVID-19 restrictions.

In brief: Acquisitions
Barry Callebaut has successfully closed the acquisition of Australia-based GKC Foods, a producer of chocolate, coatings and fillings, that serves many consumer chocolate brands in Australia and New Zealand. The integration starts immediately. This strategic acquisition establishes Barry Callebaut’s direct presence and manufacturing capacity in the growing Australian market. The purchase of GKC Foods empowers the Group to expand its position in the industrial chocolate market and to leverage its Gourmet & Specialties business in Australia and New Zealand. The parties have agreed not to disclose any financial details of the transaction.

Ingredion has completed its acquisition of PureCircle, a producer and innovator of plant-based stevia sweeteners and flavors for the F&B industry. PureCircle brings its innovation and manufacturing expertise, enabling Ingredion to leverage its global go-to-market model, formulation capabilities and stevia ingredient portfolio. “This is a significant step forward as we advance our Driving Growth Roadmap and further align our sugar reduction and specialty sweetener platform to the megatrends in the food and beverage industry,” says Jim Zallie, Ingredion’s President and CEO. 

In brief: Recognition & awards
Danone has become the first listed company to adopt the “Entreprise à Mission.” The sustainability model incorporates a purpose and social, societal and environmental objectives. Progress towards these objectives will be overseen by an independent Mission Committee of ten members, whose names were announced at the Annual General Meeting. It is comprised of eight experts, mainly from international organizations.

Chr. Hansen has been granted this year’s Safety Transformation Award by The British Safety Council. This international award acknowledges health and safety initiatives and results for the calendar year 2019. Last year, Chr. Hansen had its lowest ever number of incidents. Over the past five to seven years, the company has managed to reduce work accidents by 90 percent, while it has added close to 100 percent new capacity to its production network.

In brief: Sustainability
A global survey of large scale farmers in the US, France, China, Brazil, India and Africa for Syngenta Group found that 72 percent of this demographic are worried about the impact climate change will have on crop yields, animal health and their ability to do business over the next five years. Farmers everywher have also had to deal with unparalleled upheaval because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A separate survey of European farmers found 46 percent said that the coronavirus pandemic had significantly impacted their businesses. However, 53 percent said climate change was still the immediate priority and 63 percent agreed climate change would have a more significant impact on their business than COVID-19 over the next five years. The Syngenta Group has launched its new Good Growth Plan, placing the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss at the core of agriculture’s recovery from the economic and social effects of the pandemic’s restrictions. The new Good Growth Plan includes new commitments to reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint and to help farmers deal with the extreme weather patterns caused by climate change.

Global beverage giant Diageo has revealed that its new Kentucky whiskey distillery, which will distill Bulleit, is expected to be carbon neutral – one of the largest in North America, and a first for Diageo. Reinforcing Diageo’s global commitment to reducing its carbon emissions and addressing climate change, the site will be powered by 100 percent renewable electricity, with a capacity to produce up to 10 million proof gallons per year. The new distillery currently under construction in Kentucky, reflects Diageo’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions and moves the company closer to its goal of sourcing 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The site will utilize a mix of renewable electricity sources to power a 72,000 square-foot distillery, dry house and warehousing facilities. 

Carlsberg has celebrated a topping-out ceremony on the location of its water recycling plant which is intended to reduce the average water consumption at the brewery from its “already low” current level of 2.9 hl of water/hl of beer to 1.4 hl of water/hl of beer. The new plant is also estimated to reduce the brewery’s energy consumption by 10 percent through its biogas production and hot water recycling. This will further contribute to the realization of Carlsberg’s sustainability program, Together Towards ZERO, which consists of four ambitions: “ZERO carbon footprint, ZERO water waste, ZERO irresponsible drinking and a ZERO accidents culture.” Each of these is underpinned by individual measurable targets to be achieved by 2022/30.

Smithfield Foods has partnered with Granular, a farm management software platform, to help growers in its grain supply chain boost farm sustainability and efficiency while improving crop yields. The offer will be available to grain farmers in North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia who sell their grain to Smithfield. The company is working to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25 percent by 2025 throughout its entire supply chain. Granular Insights with Directed Scouting uses high-frequency, high-resolution satellite imagery to monitor fields, allowing farmers to mitigate in-field pests and resolve other yield-diminishing problems before spreading and require additional resources.

It is that time of year when California Prune growers and handlers look to the end of summer in preparation for harvest of premium quality California Prunes. The industry is currently estimating this year’s crop to be no larger than 68,000 metric tons with the potential to be slightly lower in volume. California’s prune harvest typically begins in August and concludes by mid-September. With the ideal growing conditions of lush valleys and endless sun, California provides approximately 40 percent of the world’s supply and over 90 percent of the US supply. 

In brief: Other highlights
Tate & Lyle and Solevo, a blender, packer and distributor of agricultural and industrial inputs in Africa, have announced a new distribution partnership. Solevo has become the exclusive distributor of Tate & Lyle’s ingredients in West African countries including Ivory Coast, Senegal and Cameroon. This agreement comes from the companies’ shared ambition to offer innovative solutions in the African continent and provide local customers with access to food and beverage ingredients including low-calorie sweeteners, health and wellness ingredients such as soluble fiber, texturants, stabilizers and acidulants.

Farmmi, an agriculture products supplier in China, has revealed that its subsidiary Zhejiang Forest Food has received multiple additional repeat orders for distribution of its dried Shiitake mushrooms, dried whole mushrooms and mushroom slices, and dried black fungus in the US and Israel, as the company continues to benefit from growth in the plant-based food segment. Eating mushrooms, which are fat-free, low-sodium and cholesterol-free, promote a healthy, nutritional diet. Mushrooms are rich with fiber, vitamins and minerals, with the flexibility to be consumed dried as a snack or used in soups, stews, appetizers and other healthy dishes. 

EnWave Corporation has signed an Equipment Purchase Agreement with Calbee, a global snack manufacturing company, to commission an additional two 10kW Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) dehydration machines in Japan. The addition of the two 10kW REV machines will significantly expand Calbee’s commercial manufacturing capacity to launch its new line of REV-based snack products. Calbee has developed several “better-for-you” snack products internally using REV technology and intends to intensify its commercial efforts throughout 2020, focusing on premium, healthy fruit and vegetable snack products.