Imports Spike as Economy Continues Recovery and Retailers Stock Up for Holidays

Imports surged to unexpected high levels this summer and may have hit a new record as the U.S. economy continues to reopen and retailers stock up for the holiday season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

“It’s important to be careful how much to read into these numbers after all we’ve seen this year, but retailers are importing far more merchandise for the holidays than we expected even a month ago,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “Some of these imports are helping replenish inventories that started to run low after...

Rabobank Beef Quaterly Q3 2020: New Faces Shaping Future UK Beef Imports 

Once outside the European bloc, the UK is expected to become the fifth or sixth largest beef-importing country. Consumer acceptance and non-tariff barriers will play significant roles in determining which countries ultimately supply the UK beef market in the future.

Brexit trade talks between the UK and EU continue to progress. “While pure economic reasoning and geopolitics normally play strong roles in trade negotiations, we believe that, in the case of the UK, consumer acceptance and non-tariff barriers will be equally significant in determining...

Pilgrim's Pride Reports Financial Results for Q2

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation reports second quarter 2020 financial results.

Second Quarter Highlights

• Net Sales of $2.82 billion.
• Net GAAP loss of $(6.0) million.
• Operating Income margins of 2.2% in U.S., -13.3% in Mexico and 3.1% in Europe operations, respectively.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $112.2 million, or a 4.0% margin.
• Faced with the global Covid-19 pandemic, we remain guided by our principles of an uncompromising commitment to the safety of our team members, our duty to provide quality food globally, and our responsibility to provide continued...

Rabobank Pork Quarterly Q3: More Uncertainties Ahead 

Covid-19 brings many uncertainties to the global pork market. With various disruptions to the supply chain, Rabobank has revised down pork production for 2020 in major producing countries.

“Labor shortages, operational suspensions, soft demand, and channel shifting will force industry players to increase automation, adopt digitalization, improve plant working conditions, streamline processing, and integrate along the supply chain in order to...

COVID-19 Overshadows African Swine Fever, but ASF’s Influence Prevails

African swine fever remains the dominant issue in global animal protein – as it has been since 2018. But COVID-19 further distorts the outlook, constraining production, consumption, and trade.

ASF is still the major influence on global pork markets, and it continues to impact pig herds and restrict pork production in China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and parts of eastern Europe. As Rabobank does not anticipate an effective vaccine against ASF to be commercially available in 2020, biosecurity measures remain the most effective defense.

Herd recovery is underway in China, and has been proceeding faster than expected, but a further significant drop in...

Hard Rock Cafe to Reopen Restaurant Locations Under New Health and Safety Plan 

Hard Rock International announced plans to reopen company-owned Hard Rock Cafe locations in the United States and Europe, in compliance with recommendations from national and local health officials. To help keep guests and team members safe and healthy, Hard Rock Cafes have implemented "SAFE + SOUND," a new program featuring stringent guidelines developed in collaboration with leading worldwide health and sanitization partners like ECOSURE and the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF).

The "SAFE + SOUND" program implements the highest of level of safety, sanitation, food handling and employee training. As part of the new protocol, all guests and team members will be required to...

Beyond Meat Expands Local Production Capabilities in Europe

Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND), a leader in plant-based meat, today announced the company’s first co-manufacturing capabilities in Europe with the official opening of the Zandbergen co-manufacturing facility in Zoeterwoude, the Netherlands. The new state-of-the-art facility owned and operated by Zandbergen will produce the Beyond Burger^® and Beyond Sausage^® and is intended to allow for more efficient distribution of Beyond Meat’s products across EMEA.

Production at the new Zandbergen co-manufacturing facility will also include the upcoming debut of new packaging for...

Pilgrim’s Pride Reports Q1 2020 Results 

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation reports first quarter 2020 financial results.

First Quarter Highlights

• Net Sales of $3.07 billion.
• Net GAAP Income of $67.3 million, including one-time $0.09 per share gain on case settlement.
• Operating Income margins of 4.4% in U.S., -7.3% in Mexico and 2.8% in Europe operations, respectively.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $165.5 million, or a 5.4% margin.
• Strong focus in execution and dedication by our team members, combined with portfolio strategy of differentiated products, strong Key Customer relationships, and diversified global footprint reducing volatility of specific market conditions, especially under unprecedented Covid-19 impact at end of first quarter...

Rabobank Pork Quarterly Q2 2020: COVID-19 Crisis Disrupts Global Pork Industry

Rabobank expects continued volatility in pork prices in 2020, as disruption in local markets is balanced with product shortfalls in Asia.

“The combined effect of near-term demand destruction and processing interruptions due to labor constraints has weakened producer returns and will slow production growth. Weaker GDP growth could further pressure pork demand, compounding an already challenging operating environment,” according to Christine McCracken, Senior Animal Protein Analyst.

China: Hog price strength reflects slow herd recovery and demand recovery

Hog prices remain elevated on African swine fever (ASF) herd losses and a gradual recovery in the production sector. Producer interest in rebuilding remains...

Coronavirus Takes European Food Delivery on a Bumpy Ride

Food delivery platforms were expected to be one of the few winners of the ‘corona crisis.’ However, platforms seem to have had a rough start, due to both supply and demand developments. Although recovery is seen in some cases, it remains to be seen whether this bumpy ride will get smoother.

Food Delivery Platforms Swell With New Entrants

For foodservice companies, business has drastically changed these last few weeks. Restaurants and bars across Europe were told to shut down and resort to food delivery. Many restaurants have made this shift, from fast-food chains to Michelin-star restaurants.

Even though some restaurants decided to take on the task of delivery themselves, many see the added value of teaming up with delivery platforms such as...

JUST Expands Partnerships Globally, Raises Capital & Adds Former Coca-Cola Executive

JUST announced a host of partnerships to manufacture and distribute its JUST Egg across North America, Latin America, Europe, and East Asia. This global infrastructure, which includes millions of additional points of potential distribution and access to production facilities on multiple continents, will provide the scale needed to meet the increasing worldwide demand for the product.

Included in this partnership announcement are South Korea’s food company, SPC Samlip; one of Southeast Asia’s largest food companies, Betagro Group; bakery company, Grupo Bimbo; one of Latin America’s largest edible oil and fat producers, Alianza Team; and local delivery platform, Delivery Hero. This infrastructure builds on a previously announced manufacturing and distribution partnership with...

Rabobank: Impact of Coronavirus on European Foodservice

Coronavirus is rapidly spreading across Europe. The travel & tourism (T&T) industry, including domestic and international visitors and business travel, is one of the most affected by the situation. Since travelers represent a significant portion of foodservice demand, revenues for restaurants and bars will decline. The magnitude of this decline will depend on the duration of the crisis, the weight of travel-related demand on total foodservice revenue, and the impact of coronavirus on economic growth.

Travel-Related Demand Under Pressure

Although disruptions to daily life outside Italy (under quarantine) are limited, event cancellations, corporate policies banning business trips, and changes in consumer behavior are...

Moba-Pelbo Joins Forces with Innovo Solutions

Moba is proud to announce that Pelbo, one of its subsidiaries in Brugherio, Italy, has partnered up with Innovo Solutions, an Italian-based innovative company that develops, manufactures and installs pasteurization plants for food producers. Innovo's knowledge and experience will enable Moba-Pelbo to take egg processing to the next level.

Mr. Fabio Gualtieri, Pelbo's Sales Director, is very excited about what this new partnership will bring to Moba-Pelbo: "The new collaboration with Innovo will increase our expertise in handling big egg processing projects. Furthermore, we will expand...

Rabobank Pork Quarterly Q1 2020: Opportunities Are Emerging from Risks

Rising disease pressures continue to challenge the global market and will remain the major change driver in global animal protein in 2020, according to Rabobank’s latest Pork Quarterly titled ‘Opportunities Are Emerging from Risks.’

“Although the severity of African swine fever’s (ASF) impact is subdued in some regions, the scope of the disease has expanded over recent months,” according to Chenjun Pan, Senior Animal Protein Analyst. “The ramifications in 2020 will lead to continuous caution on production expansion in some regions and higher import demand on the global balance sheet.” Several ongoing, regional trade-deal discussions will...

ARYZTA Releases Q1 Financial Results

Q1 2020 Performance Overview

Group organic revenue declined by (2.5)% during the quarter. ARYZTA Europe organic revenue declined by (0.9)%, reflecting our focus on profitable revenue. ARYZTA North America organic revenue declined by (6.1)%, as previously indicated. ARYZTA Rest of World had another strong performance with organic revenue growth of 7.5%.

Group reported revenue declined by (2.1)% to €843.9m, reflecting the impact from disposals of (1.6)% and a positive currency impact of 2.0%.

Q1 2020 Performance Summary

ARYZTA AG Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Toland, commented...

Rabobank's Global Protein Outlook for 2020

In 2020, global animal protein faces an uncertain world, but opportunities can still be found. African swine fever dominates the outlook, having generated unprecedented change in 2019 – and we expect more in 2020. Trade disputes and sustainability are other notable challenges in the global animal protein complex. But there are also opportunities in global animal protein, such as recovery from ASF, winning on sustainability, and investing to secure ongoing trade flows.

Global Summary

African swine fever (ASF) overwhelms the outlook for 2020 – as it has done during 2019 – and will pull down overall growth, as well as bring uncertainty to...

Cargill Opens a Culinary Experience Hub in Belgium

Cargill has opened a Culinary Experience Hub in its research & development site (R&D) in Vilvoorde, Belgium. Customers from across the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region are invited to solve their food formulation challenges and co-create new ingredients and recipes alongside Cargill’s food experts. The facility features a bakery pilot plant, a regional frying center and a culinary tasting area with capabilities for dairy, beverage, bakery, convenience foods and culinary applications.

Vilvoorde is one of Cargill’s first culinary experience centers. The center is specialized in research and development into new food ingredients and recipes, as has a professional chef, who works with customers to either adapt existing products to evolving consumer demands, or to develop new products from...

Kerry Group Reports Financial Results for the Third Quarter 

Kerry, the global taste & nutrition and consumer foods group, issues the following Interim Management Statement for the nine months ended 30 September 2019.

Q3 YTD Key Highlights

• 3.1% growth in business volumes
— Taste & Nutrition +3.9%
— Consumer Foods -0.7% (excluding contract exit +0.6%)
• Pricing -0.1%
• Reported revenue +10.0%
• Group trading margin +20bps
— Taste & Nutrition +20bps...

Associated British Foods Reports Annual Financial Results 

Associated British Foods has announced financial results for fiscal year 2019.

Statutory operating profit down 5% to £1,282m mainly as a result of an exceptional charge of £79m included in this year’s income statement. This year includes a greater loss on closure of businesses, and so statutory profit before tax was down 8% to £1,173m and basic earnings per share were down 13% to 111.1p.

George Weston, Chief Executive of Associated British Foods, said...

Symrise Successfully Closes Acquisition of ADF/IDF

Symrise AG today announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of ADF/IDF, a leading U.S. meat and egg-based protein specialist and pioneer in all-natural nutrition ingredients. The acquisition has been cleared by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Symrise will now begin the process of integrating ADF/IDF. With its comprehensive portfolio of solutions for the food and pet food industries, ADF/IDF will complement the Nutrition portfolio with a highly diversified range of natural based solutions.

"We very much look forward to teaming up with ADF/IDF given our shared focus on innovation and meeting customer needs. Together, we will work to continue expanding our diverse solutions portfolio using the highest quality natural ingredients. Our combined reach will allow us to expand...

Vion Invests in a Dedicated Plant-Based Site in Leeuwarden

Vion CEO Ronald Lotgerink announced earlier this year to introduce meat alternatives as part of the company’s strategy of building food chains based on the market demand. Vion is now planning to open a dedicated plant-based site in Leeuwarden (NL).

The market for meat alternatives has been growing over the past few years and it is expected to continue to grow. Next to Vion’s home markets in the Netherlands and Germany, other parts of Europe like the UK, Italy and France are also growing markets for meat alternatives. This is mainly the result of eating habits of so-called flexitarians, who regularly buy these products.

The Vion site in Leeuwarden was built in 2017 and is currently operating as a beef facility. It was built according to the latest standards, which means...

Challenging Harvesting and Sowing Conditions in Europe, According to Latest Bulletin

Farmers in many parts of Europe had trouble harvesting summer crops and sowing the winter crops for next year’s season, either because it was too dry or because it was too wet, according to the European Commission’s JRC MARS Bulletin published October 28.

Overall, the bulletin said yield forecasts for summer crops had been revised slightly downward but no adjustments were made to the yield forecasts of winter crops.

In most parts of Europe, the review period, from 1 September to 20 October, was...

Kemin EMEA Relocates Production of Its Food Safety Production Lines 

Kemin Industries, a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80 percent of the world with its products and services, has centralized the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) supply chain for BactoCEASE NV, its clean-label, vinegar-based food safety solution, by establishing production in Europe. This expansion provides a more sustainable supply of the product with reduced delivery time, increased production speed and more flexibility for customers ordering Kemin ingredients in the EMEA region.

“This strategic investment is intended to help ensure continuity and security of our food safety product lines, resulting in a shorter supply chain and faster delivery time for...

Brexit: EU Agri-Food Chain Representatives Welcome the Deal and Call for a Swift Ratification

Strong Performance of EU Agri-Food Exports Continues in August 2019

The value of the EU’s agri-food exports in August 2019 reached €12.07 billion, marking a rise of 5.6% compared to August 2018. As the value of imports decreased by 0.2% to €9.14 billion, the agri-food trade surplus for August stood at €2.93 billion, a 29% increase in the positive trade balance compared to last year’s figures. These are some of the main findings of the monthly trade report for August 2019, published today by the European Commission.

Comparing the monthly export values of August 2019 with August 2018, the highest increases were recorded for China (up €283 million), the USA (a rise of €192 million), and Japan (an increase of €69 million). However, significant falls were recorded in...