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Award, Company News, India, Supply Chain

The CII Food Safety Award is a respected industry platform benchmarking food safety best practices in manufacturing across the supply chain

Cargill, a leading global food and agriculture company, has been conferred with two recognitions for ‘Significant Achievement in Food Safety’ at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Food Safety Awards 2023, for its commitment towards best-in-class food safety practices in India.

The 14th edition of the CII Food Safety Award ceremony took place on 31 January 2024, where Cargill’s food safety initiatives were recognised in two award categories: 

Large Manufacturing Food Businesses: Fats and Oils – Kurkumbh plant, Maharashtra

Large Manufacturing Food Business: Sweeteners – Davangere plant, Karnataka

The CII Food Safety Award is a respected industry platform benchmarking food safety best practices in manufacturing across the supply chain. The evaluation criteria for the award cover company performance on stringent domestic food safety standards, and leadership initiatives, besides social and statutory compliances. Winners are selected following a rigorous assessment process that also includes onsite evaluation of food safety practices by a team of experts. 

Simon George, president of Cargill India, and managing director, of Food Solutions South Asia, said, “At Cargill, we are committed to providing safe and quality products. We invest in advanced manufacturing and refining equipment and processes, to ensure compliance with the highest standards of food safety regulations in the country. Our customers and consumers count on us to ensure the safety and quality of our products. This award is a great validation of the progress we have made in our food safety performance over recent years. As we move ahead, we continue to set a higher benchmark for ourselves in this important area.” 

The CII Food Safety Award is a

R&D, Sustainability, World

The data shows the urgent need for improvement, as well as the potential for shared learning

“The state of food systems worldwide in the countdown to 2030”, published today by The Food Systems Countdown to 2030 Initiative (FSCI), provides the first science-based monitoring to guide decision-makers as they seek the wholesale transformation of the global agriculture and food systems. This transformation is needed urgently both to reduce the environmental impact of these systems and to mitigate the impact of climate change on them. The overarching objective is that all people – especially the most vulnerable – have equitable access to healthy diets through sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems.

The UN Food Systems Summit catalysed agriculture and food system action, though policymakers often lack the data required to drive critical decisions. The FSCI is filling that gap, having identified an indicator framework composed of 50 indicators that monitor agriculture and food systems at a global level, using existing data to enable immediate action. Repurposing existing data, rather than carrying out time-consuming new research, means policymakers have quick access to relevant information.

Following this first global baseline, the FSCI will track agriculture and food systems annually until 2030, updating the framework as needed where new indicators or better data emerge.

Agriculture and food systems play a vital role in meeting all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet the SDGs are insufficient to monitor these systems. The FSCI fills this gap.

Agriculture and food systems transformation is essential if countries are going to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions. Yet this is still an emerging conversation: agriculture and food systems only played a small part in climate negotiations at COP27. They featured more strongly at the recent COP28 where over 150 countries signed the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action and committed to incorporate agriculture and food systems into their climate plans by 2025 – very encouraging progress.

The data shows the urgent need for

Company News, Environment, Sustainability

First-of-its-kind agreement on sustainability data for farmers, processors, food manufacturers and retail brand owners

dsm-firmenich, the leading innovator in health, nutrition, and beauty and Sustained, a SaaS sustainability company announced the partnership to enable customers to report the farm-to-fork environmental footprint of food products containing animal proteins including eggs, meat, milk and fish.

This agreement, the first of its kind, allows farmers, processors, food manufacturers and retail brand owners to manage and communicate the sustainability of food production by leveraging dsm-firmenich’s Suste service for capturing farm-level specific emissions data and Sustained’s platform to deliver product-level environmental life cycle assessments of consumer food products at scale.

One-third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from food production. Companies along the food value chain are increasingly called upon to measure, report and reduce their environmental footprints because of their sustainability commitments, regulatory requirements and consumer preferences.

Over 70 per cent of consumers now consider sustainability as a primary driver in purchasing decisions creating a pressing need for transparent and reliable data on sustainability across the entire value chain.

First-of-its-kind agreement on sustainability data for farmers,

Company News, Oilseeds, World

The completed expansion will give local farmers greater market access and a better user experience including faster and more efficient unloading times

Cargill has completed an expansion and modernisation project at its integrated soybean crush and refined oils facility in Sidney, Ohio. The upgraded facility, which came online in September, will help Cargill better serve farmers and meet the growing demand for soy products across food, feed and renewable fuel markets.

The project nearly doubles the previous crush capacity at the facility, providing greater market opportunities for area farmers and feed customers by creating demand for soybeans and offering greater access to soybean meal and hulls. Additionally, customers will have an improved on-site experience, as they will be able to more quickly and efficiently receive soybeans and load out products.

“We’re proud to make this investment at our Sidney facility. We’ve been in business for 45 years here, and we appreciate the long-standing relationships with local farmers, food and feed customers, and the local community,” said Justin Rismiller, U.S. Crush Soy Commercial Leader for Cargill. “This has been a complex project, as we continued to run the existing plant during construction. Thanks to our dedicated team, we can provide a state-of-the-art facility to better serve our customers and the community for generations to come.”

The Cargill crush facility originally opened in 1978, with the refinery added a decade later. Today it serves as a vital link between soybean farmers in the region and customers both nearby and around the globe. The upgraded facility is among several of Cargill’s efforts to modernise and increase capacity across its North American oilseeds network.

The completed expansion will give local farmers

AgroPolicy, Foodgrains, India, Sustainability

16th Agricultural Science Congress gets underway in Kochi

Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said that in view of the increasing food demand, environmental degradation and the challenges posed by climate change, there is an urgent need to transform agri-food systems into sustainable enterprises through scientific innovations. He was speaking after inaugurating the 16th Agricultural Science Congress (ASC) in Kochi.

Rupala added that agricultural scientists should strive to infuse greater mechanisation in the agriculture production process and develop and popularise specialised farm implements for women in agriculture.

Union Minister shared his observation during the Sagar Parikrama drive that marine and inland water pollution has seriously affected aquatic life and coastal ecology. He exhorted the scientists to find lasting and sustainable solutions to address this perilous threat.

Sharing his enthusiasm, Rupala highlighted that traditional farm products such as pokkali rice need to be promoted and measures are to be taken to ensure profitability for the pokkali farmers. He suggested that minimising post-harvest losses is equivalent to boosting production and this can be achieved by focusing attention on advanced technological interventions.

Union Minister further added that the future of India’s agriculture depends a lot on how the accumulated scientific knowledge can be translated to commercial success.

Rupala also inaugurated the Agri Expo being held on the side-line of the event which showcases innovative agricultural technologies of public and private sector research institutes, universities, agro-industries, extension agencies and NGOs. The Union Minister gave away the Dr. B.P. Pal Award for Excellence in Agricultural Sciences, Dr. A.B. Joshi Memorial Lecture Award and several other NAAS awards to the recipients.

16th Agricultural Science Congress gets underway in

Company News, World

The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) assesses the 2,000 most influential companies across industries on their performance and contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

FMC Corporation has been recognised as a leader in the World Benchmarking Alliance’s 2023 Nature Benchmark. The company ranked 23rd out of 350 companies in the food and agriculture sector and 6th in the agricultural inputs segment.

The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) assesses the 2,000 most influential companies across industries on their performance and contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The 2023 Nature Benchmark ranked companies’ efforts to protect the environment and its biodiversity, including the protection and restoration of vital ecosystems.

“At FMC, we see our efforts to protect biodiversity and the environment as mission critical,” said Julie DiNatale, vice president and chief sustainability officer. “We are excited that our ranking by WBA reflects our hard work in this space and we will continue to partner with farmers and across the food and agriculture value chain to drive improvements that benefit generations to come.”

FMC continues to make strong progress on its net-zero and waste-to-beneficial reuse goals. Material circularity is a key priority for the company’s operating sites around the globe, which has collectively increased the company’s waste-to-waste-to-beneficial by nearly 70 per cent in 2023. FMC was also recognised for its strong governance around sustainability, notably its inclusion of key sustainability targets in executive compensation.

The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) assesses the 2,000

Agrotech, Company News, India, Machinery – Post-harvesting

Bühler India will begin producing a wider variety of core product portfolios for the grain milling, food, feed, and advanced materials industries

Swiss technology group Bühler celebrates the 30th anniversary of establishing its business in India and announces the expansion of its manufacturing capabilities in the country. In the coming months, Bühler India will begin producing a wider variety of core product portfolios for the grain milling, food, feed, and advanced materials industries, addressing the demands of a flourishing domestic market and customers abroad.

The decision to expand investments in the country is another milestone in Bühler Group’s long and fruitful relationship with India. It is a journey that started 30 years ago when Bühler India was founded in Bengaluru in the presence of the then-Swiss Ambassador to India and Bühler’s then-CFO, Philipp Müller. Over this time, Bühler India has become one of Bühler Group’s leading global technology centres with manufacturing infrastructure, research and development teams, application centres and training facilities. Bühler India, which employs 600 people today, manufactures high-quality grain and food processing equipment for customers across the country and abroad. In future, it will further expand its core product portfolio for the feed and advanced materials industries. Bühler India’s business has been growing by more than 10 per cent over the past three years.

In August 2022, Bühler India took a major step in expanding its local production by manufacturing Sortex colour sorters. This move enables the grains and food industries in the country to have easy access to this key technology, which contributes to food quality and safety. The company also provides retrofitting and refurbishing services for existing Sortex machines.

Bühler is taking its business in India to the next level by expanding the range of products it manufactures to include equipment for the country’s growing milling industry. The company has already started the production of its Square Plansifter Areniter MPAV, a key component in the flour production process that sifts and sorts grist and flour in wheat, rye, maize, and durum mills. Other core machines such as purifiers and roller mills are also in the pipeline and scheduled to be available to customers in 2024. Bühler India will continue to expand its core product portfolios going forward to include the feed and advanced materials industries.

With this plan, Bühler India aims to strengthen its position as a leading provider of state-of-the-art solutions for the grain milling industry. Currently, Bühler India’s 32,000 square meter premises in Bengaluru comprise the company’s headquarters, a manufacturing hub, and an Application & Training Center (ATC) which covers multiple industrial applications. The ATC provides a platform for customers to conduct product and equipment trials, optimise processes, and conduct training across all operational levels – for mill proprietors, managers, and operators.

“With these new solutions produced in India, customers will benefit in multiple ways: shorter delivery times, increased supply chain efficiency, and an improved CO2e footprint for their equipment,” says Johannes Wick, CEO of Grains & Food at Bühler Group.

Prashant Gokhale, Managing Director, Bühler India, says: “We are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Bühler India with a strong business case. We plan to invest about CHF 21 million (INR 200 crores) over the next 2 to 3 years to support the success of our customers in the region and overseas. It will accelerate new business opportunities and create new jobs, while contributing solutions to address global challenges such as food security and food safety. This investment is not only about growth; it is about combining Bühler’s state-of-the-art technologies with local expertise to offer the most sustainable processes and solutions to our customers.”

Bühler India will begin producing a wider

AgroPolicy, India

The agriculture, food, and dairy sectors will be present at the trade show, including Patanjali, Haldiram, Priya Gold, Bikanerwala, Vaidyanath, Ritual Foods, Fresh Foods, Augustia Foods, Indian Beekeeper Girija, Paras, Amul, Prime Foods, Gyan Dairy, Creamy Food Fair Export

The Uttar Pradesh government, led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is preparing to showcase the state’s food, dairy, and agro sectors on the global stage at the upcoming International Trade Show in Greater Noida. The trade show will take place from September 21 to 25 at the India Expo Centre and Mart, providing a significant platform for state companies to showcase their products. While companies from various sectors worldwide will participate, those from Uttar Pradesh in the food, dairy, and agriculture domains will receive priority, enhancing their branding and increasing their global reach.

Many prominent companies in the agriculture, food, and dairy sectors will be present at the trade show, including Patanjali, Haldiram, Priya Gold, Bikanerwala, Vaidyanath, Ritual Foods, Fresh Foods, Augustia Foods, Indian Beekeeper Girija, Paras, Amul, Prime Foods, Gyan Dairy, Creamy Food Fair Export, and others. Rural, small-scale, and cottage industries associated with food, agriculture, and dairy products will also receive priority at the event, as well as stalls related to food processing departments, logistics warehousing, animal husbandry, pisciculture, and other major sectors.

The trade show will also feature GI tagging products related to food processing, including ODOP, showcased on a large scale. The dishes served to dignitaries and attendees will showcase the rich heritage and flavorful essence of Uttar Pradesh, with cuisine delights at the centre of the event. Furthermore, a session will be dedicated to the successful journey of Mumbai’s ‘Dabbawalas’, providing valuable insights into logistics supply management, supply chain, and time management principles for attendees.

The agriculture, food, and dairy sectors will

Japan, Sustainability, Water

The project will rehabilitate the existing Nurgal irrigation canal in Kunar province, improving both the quantity and reliability of irrigation water for agricultural production

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Government of Japan has launched a four–year project that aims to increase the amount of irrigated land, boost local food production and strengthen the food security and livelihood resilience of more than 12 600 vulnerable people in the Kunar province of eastern Afghanistan.

Facilitated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the $9.5 million project will also provide direct environmental benefits to local communities, helping to protect fragile rangelands and recharge vital groundwater resources, which are particularly important in the context of the increasing impacts of the climate change.

Access to water is critical in Afghanistan, a country where more than 70 per cent of food production depends on irrigation.

The project will rehabilitate the existing Nurgal irrigation canal in Kunar province, improving both the quantity and reliability of irrigation water for agricultural production and increasing the total command area – the agricultural land irrigated by the canal – by 70 hectares to a total of 643 hectares, leading to both increases in overall agricultural production and increases in productivity of at least 12 per cent.  Importantly, the project will enable poor food insecure rural households to plant two crops a year, rather than just a single wheat crop, boosting incomes, resilience and food security. 

The project will also deliver benefits to communities, helping to protect more than 2,000 hectares of fragile rangelands through improved and adapted plant varieties.  The project builds on and enhances the Green Ground Project initiated in 2003 by Tetsu Nakamura and Peace (Japan) Medical Services (PMS) to build irrigation systems in the Kunar River Basin. By 2023, the PMS project will have transformed 23,800 hectares of abandoned arid farmlands back into green fields. Over 650,000 people have benefitted from this project.  

The project will rehabilitate the existing Nurgal

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech, Company News, World

The column’s proprietary phase allows effective separation of anionic and cationic pesticides using a single column, fast conditioning, and delivers robust analysis.

Phenomenex Inc., a global leader in the research and manufacture of advanced technologies for the separation sciences, announced the launch of Luna Polar Pesticides HPLC column which features a proprietary phase that effectively separates cationic and anionic pesticides from un-derivatised food, feed, air, and water samples, fast conditioning, and delivers robust ionic pesticide analysis.

The Luna Polar Pesticides HPLC column is designed to help resolve the most common challenges food safety analysts encounter daily: robust determination of analytes due to matrices complexity and polarity, lengthy process due to the high number of injections needed for column conditioning, time-consuming sample preparation due to the need for derivatisation, and the need to use separate columns (and systems) to determine both anionic and cationic pesticides from a sample. 

The Luna Polar Pesticides HPLC column’s versatile selectivity allows the separation of cationic and anionic pesticides from underivatized samples on the same column. The fully porous particle morphology of the column allows for high sample loading. Its unique selectivity provides high retention of polar analytes, fast equilibration, can be used in positive and negative modes, and offers 100 per cent aqueous and organic stability. The particles’ pore size of 100 Å has proven to be optimal for pesticide analysis, and the 8 per cent carbon load delivers a great balance of polar and nonpolar retention. 

Collaborative studies done with renowned laboratories and experienced food analysts demonstrate the robustness and versatility of Luna Polar Pesticides. Dr. Giacomo Napolitano, Lab Manager at Lifeanalytics S.r.l., stated “The Luna Polar Pesticides significantly reduced analysis time thanks to its fast re-equilibration! This column has improved our polar pesticides analyses.” 

The new Luna Polar Pesticides HPLC column is available in different sizes to fully suit analysts’ needs: 30 x 2.1mm, 50 x 2.1mm, 100 x 2.1mm, 150 x 2.1mm, and 150 x 3.0mm. The column is compatible with the SecurityGuard ULTRA cartridge for column protection.

The column's proprietary phase allows effective separation

Company News, India, People

Sharma will oversee the organisation’s strategy, outreach to various stakeholders and be an interface for public policy intervention

CropLife India, the leading association of domestic and multinational R&D driven crop science companies has announced the appointment of Durgesh C Sharma as the new Secretary General, of the association. Sharma will oversee the organisation’s strategy, outreach to various stakeholders and be an interface for public policy intervention.

Durgesh C Sharma has over 26 years of experience in the areas like Public policy and social sector advisory; managing large scale multi stakeholder participatory programs; innovative Public Private Partnership initiatives and judicial procedures and interventions. His expertise is focused around Agribusiness and Food.

In his last assignment, Durgesh was the Director General with an industry association. He has been instrumental in various interventions with various Ministries of Government of India, including Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.

Speaking on the appointment, Dr K C Ravi, Chairman, CropLife India said, “The board of directors is unanimous in its enthusiasm for having Durgesh lead CropLife India. Durgesh has consistently demonstrated professionalism, integrity and a commitment to doing what is best for Indian agriculture and is well respected by stakeholders across India and other countries. CropLife India would scale newer heights under the strong and focussed leadership.”

Sharma will oversee the organisation’s strategy, outreach

Foodgrains, India

The Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) has requested various States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana Rajasthan, Kerala to organise workshop/seminars on importance of consuming Fortified Rice in the sensitive areas of tribal belts and districts that have populations vulnerable to Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Anaemia.

This initiative has been carried out by organising workshops by the Government of Gujarat at Meril Academy.

Various people gave presentations which was followed by a Panel discussion by technical experts and officials from Food Corporation of India and Department of Food & Public Distribution. The programme is covered by several leading local newspapers in Gujarat. 

At the end of the workshop, there was general consensus regarding the positive impact of rice fortification in Government schemes and its significant contribution to the country’s nutritional security strategy.

The Department of Food and Public Distribution

Agrotech, India, Singapore, Start ups

Cargill has partnered with Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and launched its first digital business studio in Asia. The studio is designed to support local founders with investments that bring Cargill solutions to the market and accelerate innovation for the food and agriculture industry in Asia-Pacific.

Through this three-year partnership, Cargill plans to develop a portfolio of at least five new start-ups in Singapore. The start-ups will focus on pressing industry challenges—from increasing access to market data for smallholder farmers to creating more efficient, transparent and cost-effective food supply solutions.

This partnership builds on EDB’s efforts to grow Singapore’s corporate venturing movement, encouraging companies to build new businesses with start-up like agility. This includes investing in growth areas beyond their core businesses to keep ahead of the fast-changing pace of disruption.  

The digital business studio will be a space for Cargill to incubate and scale transformative start-ups, in close partnership with customers. It allows for expanded reach into digital innovation, bringing new solutions to meet the changing needs of the food and agriculture industries.

Cargill has four innovation centres across Asia: Singapore, Gurgaon, Beijing and Shanghai.

Cargill has partnered with Singapore Economic Development

Dairy

GRAS status indicates that Remilk protein is considered safe for consumption in food and beverages

Remilk, a global leader in the development and production of animal-free dairy, has obtained self-affirmed GRAS (generally recognised as safe) status, in accordance with US Food and Drug Administration requirements, paving the way for non-animal, real-dairy products in the US. 

“This is a key validation of the quality and safety of Remilk’s non-animal dairy protein and process,” said Aviv Wolff, CEO and co-founder of Remilk. “Regulatory approval in the US represents another major milestone for our team and great news for the dairy product manufacturers and consumers seeking non-animal real-dairy products. We are working diligently with regulators around the globe to be able to offer Remilk-made products to consumers in other countries. We strongly believe that the first regulators to adapt approval processes to alternative protein production systems will be those who benefit most from the availability of a stable, reliable supply of nutritious, affordable, sustainable foods in their countries.”

GRAS status indicates that Remilk protein is considered safe for consumption in food and beverages, which means it can be used by manufacturers to make non-animal varieties of popular consumer products such as ice cream, yogurt, and cream cheese. Unlike plant-based dairy alternatives, Remilk proteins are bio-equivalent to their traditional counterparts and dairy produced using them is indistinguishable in taste and function from traditional dairy.  With this regulatory clearance, the company can begin selling to US CPGs, with sales anticipated to begin in the coming quarters.

GRAS status indicates that Remilk protein is