Future of Food #32

Future of Food #32
Agtech sector blooms China anxious over supplies Plant-based meat price war Big Food enjoys sales growth

Published every Tuesday

Crunchbase

Agtech Sector Blooms As More Dollars and Startups Rush In

Farming has been around for thousands of years, but investments and startup activity in agricultural technology, commonly known as “agtech” or “agritech,” have only exploded over the past five years.

Bloomberg

Xi’s Crusade on Food Waste Triggers Rare Anxiety Over Supplies

Country’s food supply chain in spotlight after a volatile year.

Food Navigator USA

‘Big Food’ enjoying sustained sales uplifts as consumers stay home

US retail sales of leading packaged food brands tracked by Bernstein* rose +12.1% year-on-year in measured channels in the four weeks ending August 8, with big brands reaping continued benefits from the shift to eating at home, though sales growth slowed vs the previous four weeks, according to a new Bernstein report.

The Globe and Mail

With weigh scales and fines, Chinese restaurants race to follow Xi Jinping’s food waste instructions

Restaurants are weighing leftovers – and, in one case, even customers – and penalizing people with too much left uneaten. One eatery is punishing servers if customers haven’t sufficiently cleaned their plates, while others reduce portion sizes. A university is threatening to revoke scholarships for students deemed to have left too much uneaten. Social-media sites are censoring search terms and urging users to “eat smart” if they look for popular videos of people consuming big portions.

Vox

The next challenge for plant-based meat: Winning the price war against animal meat

The last couple of years have been consequential ones for meatless meat, as we at Future Perfect have documented. For all meatless meat’s success, however, advocates shouldn’t feel complacent. After all, meatless meat still makes up less than 1 percent of the annual meat consumption in the US — hardly a dent in how we eat.

Reuters

Lockdown, leftovers and how food frugality is a climate boon

Clint Parry ransacked every kitchen cupboard and scoured all corners of his fridge during lockdown in Detroit, hunting for lost ingredients and leftovers to whip up meals.

Guardian

This man turns discarded coffee cups into roads

In a secret location in an industrial area in western Sydney, a test strip of asphalt is being laid.

The New Humanitarian

Conflict and Coronavirus Spark a Hunger Crisis in Burkina Faso

Kongoussi – ‘The situation is extremely alarming. It is pushing people to the limit of vulnerability.’

Financial Express

Eat Right India: Rockefeller Foundation’s recognition takes India’s programme to global stage

Eat Right India forges a collaboration between the agriculture, health, industry, and environment ministries over the respective food-related mandates.

Civil Eats

Kamala Harris Brings Food Justice to the Democratic Ticket

Just four days before Senator Kamala Harris became the first woman of color chosen as the running mate of a major U.S. political party’s (presumptive) presidential nominee, she co-authored an op-ed in CNN calling on grocery store chains to reinstate “hazard pay.”