Canadian Beef Thieves Steal $230,000 Worth Of Roasts And Steaks
Image Source: AlexRaths / iStock via Getty Images
Two rustlers in Alberta presented themselves as truck drivers for a fake company called "Transport Pascal Charland" and made off with nearly a quarter of a million dollars worth of beef from a JBS meatpacking plant. Alberta police are searching for the bandits and say that the same fake documentation was also used to steal seven hot tubs in a separate heist.
US To Import British Beef For First Time In 24 Years
Image Source: Tim Scrivener
This month, the US will receive its first shipment of beef from the UK in the past 24 years. The USDA has effectively lifted its 24-year ban on British beef that went in effect amid the mad cow disease scare in the mid 1990s. The first shipments will come from Northern Ireland and Wales, and lifting the ban opens the door to an estimated £66 million of export opportunities for UK farmers over the next five years.
Walmart Tests Drone Delivery Of Groceries
Walmart Inc has begun a pilot project for delivering groceries and household products via automated drones with delivery firm Flytrex. The company began testing the new grocery delivery program last week in Fayetteville, North Carolina using cloud-controlled drones to collect and drop off items. Walmart’s U.S. online sales have doubled in the second quarter of this year. To help meet increasing demand for grocery delivery and to compete directly with Amazon, the company has beefed up both its pick-up and delivery services. Walmart has also partnered with Ford Motor Co and the self-driving vehicle startups Gatik and Nuro to explore the viability of grocery delivery by autonomous vehicle.
Food Prices Continue To Rise Worldwide
Global food prices increased for the third consecutive month in August, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In July, the food price index averaged 94.3 points, while in August the average climbed to 96.1 points. FAO’s cereal price index grew 1.9% in August from the month before and 7% above its value a year earlier, with sorghum, barley and rice prices increasing the most. The vegetable oil price index rose 5.9%, while sugar prices increased 6.7% from July. The FAO cited China’s powerful import demand as a contributing factor in rising prices. Sugar production is also predicted to slow down due to poor weather conditions in the European Union and Thailand.
World’s Largest Fresh Tuna Market In Japan Takes A Nosedive
As restaurants remain fully or partially closed, demand for sushi has plummeted, and the world’s largest tuna market in Tokyo is feeling the pinch. Fresh fish prices decreased 1.5% in the past year, according to government data, but fresh tuna prices dropped even further by 8.4%. “Our sales are down by 60% compared to last August,” said Yasuyuki Shimahara, owner of a Tokyo izakaya bar that specializes in tuna dishes. Tuna imports also fell 18% in the first six months of 2020 compared to the year before, according to finance ministry data.
Food Supply Chains Tighten And World Hunger Worsens
Food banks are trying to keep up with increasing numbers of hungry families around the world, but food distribution during lockdown has created additional challenges. Since the pandemic began, the European Food Banks Federation (FEBA) saw an average 50% jump in food demand from charities. While a large fast-food chain offered the group leftover ingredients, FEBA had difficulty visiting the chain’s thousands of locations to gather the food. FEBA has also had a shortage of volunteers during lockdown.
In the U.S., food banks have struggled to keep up with demand from lines of cars hoping to feed their families. A food bank in Memphis served more than 18,000 people between March and August, 10 times more than it served at the same time last year. According to a government survey, during one week in late July, close to 30 million Americans reported they did not have enough to eat. Lauren Bauer, a food insecurity researcher at the Brookings Institution, says that one in three households with children reported insufficient food supplies for daily needs. Feeding America, which oversees the country’s largest supply chain of food banks and pantries, projects that as many as 54 million Americans could become food insecure before the year’s end, marking a 46% increase since the start of the pandemic. Feeding America has reported a 60% increase in people they serve, and says that four in 10 people are new recipients of food aid.
Starbucks Institutes Supply Chain Transparency For Coffee Farmers And Consumers
Bags of Starbucks coffee at its US stores now include a code allowing consumers to determine where the beans came from, where they were roasted, and advice on brewing, according to Michelle Burns, Starbucks senior vice president of global coffee, tea and cocoa. Coffee farmers also have access to a reverse code allowing them to track what happens to the coffee they grew. The code is part of tool by Microsoft Corp. that uses blockchain technology and allows Starbucks to share traceability data with its customers concerned about fair trade and sustainability issues in the coffee market. Starbucks isn’t the only company offering transparency in its supply chain. Coffee roasters such as J.M. Smucker Co. and Jacobs Douwe Egberts joined a blockchain initiative last year in a partnership with IBM and the startup Farmer Connect, which helps the firms track the origin and pricing of their beans along the supply chain. For Starbucks, bags with blended coffees will be traced to the country of origin, while single origin beans will be traced to the region where the beans were grown or to the farm itself. Farmers will have access to the same tool so they can trace what happens to their beans when they leave the farm.
