The Produce Marketing Association (PMA) and United Fresh Produce Association (United Fresh) boards of directors have reached an agreement in principle to create a new global trade association combining their resources and expertise to enhance member services, increase advocacy before government and the public, help members grow their businesses, and drive consumption of fresh produce and demand for floral products as a vital cornerstone of public health.

The two associations will continue to operate as independent organizations through 2021, with the new association set to launch Jan. 1, 2022.

“This agreement reflects the ongoing commitment of both associations to deliver the highest level of value to members,” said Board Chairs Michael Muzyk of United Fresh and Dwight Ferguson of PMA. “Looking ahead, we believe we can accomplish that goal better together building on the synergies and experience of our expert staffs, complementary education programs and member services, and a stronger voice in advocating for our industries.”

Over the past several months, PMA CEO Cathy Burns and United Fresh CEO Tom Stenzel have worked with a group of board leaders from each association to develop the strategic commitments for the new association that serves as the core of the agreement in principle.

• Commitment to serve all sectors of the global fresh produce and floral supply chains, growing its global membership and participation.
• Commitment to government advocacy and leadership to build and maintain a positive business climate in the United States and the North American market so critical to members’ success.
• Commitment to global engagement with international bodies and allied organizations to promote free and fair trade, international harmonization of standards, and worldwide growth in consumption.
• Commitment to providing expertise and business solutions in food safety, new technology, supply chain management, sustainability, leadership and talent development, business operations, marketing and more.
• Commitment to bringing all sectors of its diverse supply chain together to better understand our interconnections and support efficiency and profitability throughout the chain.
• Commitment to enhance business-to-business sales and marketing connections across the produce and floral supply chains.
• Commitment to demand creation to inspire consumers to embrace produce and floral products as essential parts of their lives, while increasing profitable sales of members’ products.

The new association will be led jointly by Burns and Stenzel as co-CEOs throughout 2022. After that time, Burns will become the sole CEO.

“Through my 28 years of service to our industry, I have long recognized the potential synergies of our groups building something powerful together,” Stenzel said. “It is gratifying to me several years before my retirement to find a strong and committed partner in Cathy who also believes in this shared vision.  I’m looking forward to launching this new organization together, setting the stage to enhance member value while driving greater produce consumption in the years ahead.”

“By joining forces, we will continue to support our members with the services, insights, and connections they seek to grow their businesses while ensuring our role and voice as an industry has an even greater impact,” Burns said. “Tom has been a great partner, and I truly appreciate his deep history, knowledge, and care for our industry. We, along with our talented teams, look forward to leveraging our strengths to serve our diverse and complex supply chain. I am so proud and honored to serve the produce and floral community at such a pivotal time in our history.”

Over the coming months, Burns and Stenzel will work with their staff teams and board leaders to build out the new organization. Concurrently, the two associations will begin sharing their expertise and promoting participation in each other’s events and programs. It is anticipated the volunteer leadership, governance and membership structure, and 2022 business plan for the new association will be in place and shared with the membership in Fall 2021.

In the review, researchers at Arizona State University and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, focused on studies that linked excessive fructose intake to children with NAFLD, interventions that restricted fructose and identification of related metabolic biomarkers. The authors suggested restricting excessive consumption of added sugars in youth may represent an early and important opportunity to mitigate or prevent NAFLD in high‐risk children and adolescents.

“The prevalence of fatty-liver disease is escalating not only in adults, but also in children,” said Johanna DiStefano, a professor and head of TGen’s Diabetes and Fibrotic Disease Unit, and the review’s senior author. “Like Type 2 diabetes, NAFLD used to be considered a disease that developed only in adulthood, but that is no longer true.”

NAFLD affects more than 1 in 10 children in the U.S. and now is the nation’s most common chronic liver disease within this population. The disease can lead to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a chronic condition that can lead to serious illness, liver transplants and death. Risk factors include obesity and family history. NAFLD is associated with both a lack of exercise and excessive consumption of sucrose, which is comprised of both fructose and glucose. While both are found naturally in fruits, vegetables, dairy products and grains, they are often an additive to many processed foods.

The body and sugar

Glucose, absorbed in the intestines, is the body’s preferred carbohydrate-based energy source. Fructose must first be converted by the liver into glucose before the body can use it for energy. An earlier study led by DiStefano showed fructose increased gene expression, altered proper cell function and often led to liver disease.

Detecting NAFLD in youths

Diagnosing NAFLD is difficult due to the lack of overt symptoms and the poor accuracy of current biomarkers. NAFLD is most suspected in obese youth with abnormal liver enzymes in blood samples, but these must be confirmed with additional testing. Even with advanced imaging, current approaches do not adequately differentiate the spectrum of NAFLD, and diagnosing NASH still requires a biopsy.

“We hope to develop better tools to help clinicians decide which kids need a sophisticated work-up and which ones don’t,” said Gabriel Shaibi, a professor and director of ASU’s Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, and another author of the review. “By getting a better handle on diagnosis and disease severity, we will have a more individualized approach to management where some kids will respond well to diet and exercise while others may need a more aggressive intervention.”

Shaibi, whose research is focused on understanding and preventing obesity-related diseases in youth, said his work with DiStefano ultimately could result in identifying genomic biomarkers that track changes in liver health and potentially shed light on the molecular mechanisms underpinning NAFLD risk in high-risk children.

The reviewers indicate additional studies are needed to understand both the short- and long-term effects of high fructose consumption and the development of NAFLD among children, but suggest that, “efforts to reduce global consumption of added sugars in the diet would most certainly yield a positive impact on overall health in youth due to its relative simplicity and focus on a single behavior.”

For many consumers, one of the defining characteristics of their staple pantry snacks is shelf life. Consumers generally appreciate that the chips, cereals, bars and snacks they purchase can be kept in their pantries, unrefrigerated, often for many months before the threat of spoilage. The shelf life of these products helps reduce not only wasteful spending, but the wasting of excess spoiled food as well.

However, a recent study conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) indicated common preservatives in many popular snacks could have unintended negative consequences for the human immune system (Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2021;18[7]:3332).

The study authors sought to examine “the most common chemicals added to food as well as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) shown to migrate to food from packaging materials or processing equipment,” to determine any unintended health consequences those chemicals may pose. In addition to PFAS, the antioxidant preservative tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) was also analyzed. Using screening data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ToxCast program, the researchers determined TBHQ “showed activity both in ToxCast assays and in classical immunological assays, suggesting that it may affect the immune response in people.” The study concluded, in part, “Joint consideration of toxicological and high-throughput screening data suggests that chemicals directly or indirectly added to food for decades—such as PFAS and TBHQ—may show previously unanticipated effects on the immune system.”

The authors noted PFAS was discovered in the wrappers, bags and boxes used by many popular fast-food chains during a 2017 nationwide testing survey. A December 2020 study performed by researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health indicated “People who had elevated blood levels of a toxic chemical called perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) [a subclass of PFAS] had an increased risk of a more severe course of COVID-19 than those who did not have elevated levels” (PLoS One. 2020; 0244815).

Even without being aware of the specific risks associated with TBHQ and PFAS, cleaner preservatives and more sustainable packaging have been on consumer wish lists for quite some time. Ingredients like rosemary extract and other polyphenol-rich botanical antioxidants continue to grow in popularity as formulators work to preserve their products in more sustainable, safer, cleaner ways. In August 2020, FDA announced a voluntary phase-out of a certain type PFAS that contain 6:2 fluorotelomer alcohol (6:2 FTOH), which may be found in certain food contact substances used as grease-proofing agents on paper and paperboard food packaging. Informa Markets also unveiled its Sustainable Packaging Toolkit in June 2020 to assist brands looking to switch to cleaner packaging.

“The pandemic has focused public and scientific attention on environmental factors that can impact the immune system,” said Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., lead study author, in a release. “Before the pandemic, chemicals that may harm the immune system’s defense against infection … did not receive sufficient attention from public health agencies. To protect public health, this must change.”

 

Two consumer groups have asked FDA to formally prohibit nutrient content claims on alcoholic drinks in a letter that alleged Molson Coors Beverage Company is misleading consumers with an advertising campaign for its Vizzy Hard Seltzer.

Launched in the U.S. in April 2020, the alcoholic drink is fortified with antioxidant vitamin C from acerola superfruit. One advertisement for Vizzy states the drink is the “first” hard seltzer to be produced with vitamin C, while another ad proclaims, “Yeah, we’ve got the antioxidant vitamin C,” the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and Consumer Federation of America said in a news release announcing the letter to FDA.

Molson Coors’ vitamin C claims violate an FDA fortification policy that says it’s inappropriate to add vitamins and minerals to alcoholic drinks, according to the consumer groups.

“The claims are also misleading in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) because they suggest that Vizzy is a healthful source of nutrients, obscuring the fact that alcoholic beverages provide empty calories, are associated with serious health conditions and can impair the body’s metabolism of nutrients,” CSPI and the Consumer Federation of America alleged in a March 15 letter to Susan Mayne, Ph.D., director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).

Twelve-ounce cans of Vizzy contain 100 calories and 5% alcohol by volume. On the Vizzy website, the labels of the various flavors suggests the product contains 19 milligrams of vitamin C, or 21% of the recommended daily value.

But a representative of CSPI recommended consumers obtain vitamins from foods first, then turn to a multivitamin or supplement if necessary.

“Alcoholic beverages are the absolute last place where you should go looking for or expect to find vitamins,” said Eva Greenthal, CSPI senior science policy associate, in the news release.

In its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Molson Coors said the 2020 launches of Vizzy and Coors Seltzer in the U.S. diversified its portfolio and position the company well in the market for hard seltzers. And Molson Coors divulged its plans to expand the brands into Canada.

Martin Maloney, a spokesman for Molson Coors, responded to the consumer groups’ allegations in a brief email. “While antioxidant Vitamin C is part of what makes Vizzy stand out, we have always been committed to communicating this product attribute responsibly,” he said.

In the letter to Mayne, the consumer groups requested FDA take enforcement action against Molson Coors and other manufacturers of alcoholic beverages making claims based on fortification. They also encouraged FDA “to move expeditiously to issue regulations formally prohibiting nutrient content claims on FDA-regulated alcoholic beverages, regardless of whether these claims are based on nutrients added through fortification.”

Marianna Naum, an FDA spokeswoman, said her agency is reviewing the letter from the consumer groups and will respond directly to them.

 

Mondelēz acquires performance nutrition company Grenade

Mondelēz International is acquiring a significant majority interest in Grenade, a leading U.K. performance nutrition pioneer in the fast-growing high-protein bar segment. The transaction expands Mondelēz’ snack portfolio into the wellness sector and provides a strong platform within the high-protein and performance nutrition segments.

Grenade is one of the category leaders in high-protein bars, and its Carb Killa has been the best-selling product in the segment since 2016 with a growing presence in the U.K. and availability across other regions including North America and Asia-Pacific. Over the years, Grenade has broadened its consumer base and launched new products including high-protein, low-sugar bars and has innovated into new adjacencies including shakes, spreads and cookies.

Mondelēz International plans to operate Grenade separately to nurture its entrepreneurial spirit and maintain the authenticity of the brand, while providing resources, support and international scale to help accelerate growth. The current senior leadership, including founder Alan Barratt, will continue to run the business from its headquarters in the U.K. and will retain a minority equity interest in the company. The deal is expected to close by the end of March. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Lactalis enters talks to buy Leerdammer from Bel

Lactalis Group has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire Bel Group’s Royal Bel Leerdammer NL, Bel Italia, Bel Deutschland, the Leerdammer brand and all related rights plus Bel Shostka Ukraine.

Sicopa, a wholly-owned Bel subsidiary, will transfer assets to Lactalis in return for 1,591,472 Bel shares (23.16% equity stake) held by Lactalis. Following the transaction, Lactalis will hold a 0.90% stake in Bel.

Lactalis Group Chairman Emmanuel Besnier said: “This deal gives us an opening into the Dutch cheese market and production in Holland via three manufacturing plants. The transfer to us of Bel’s Italian, German and Ukrainian sales subsidiaries will boost our facilities in these countries benefiting both Leerdammer and other Bel product sales on these markets.”

In keeping with its strategic priorities, Lactalis will support Leerdammer’s growth by giving it the group’s global scale and facilities. Lactalis plans to ramp up its innovations catalogue, grow its branding and move into new high-growth world regions. This deal will bolster the group’s European roots, specifically in Italy and Germany, and offers good prospects for development in markets where Lactalis already has a significant presence. This includes Ukraine, where Lactalis has had a business for 25 years.

Organic Valley launches national clean energy fund for its farmers

Organic Valley is partnering with Clean Energy Credit Union to launch the Powering the Good Loan Fund to provide the best loan terms for farmers seeking to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels with renewable energy and efficiencies. The program is first of its kind for both cooperatives, pioneering a unique clean energy loan fund for more than 1,700 farmers across the country.

To accelerate energy improvements, Organic Valley and Clean Energy CU will roll out a $1 million fund with plans to expand. As the nation’s largest organic, farmer-owned cooperative, Organic Valley pulls carbon out of the air through regenerative practices like rotational grazing, while also working to reduce carbon emitted wherever possible.

“Organic Valley leads on renewable energy. We have been 100% renewable powered in our owned facilities since 2019, and now we are going a step further,” said Bob Kirchoff, CEO, Organic Valley. "We are focused on a whole systems approach to renewable energy, and I'm excited to debut this energy loan fund. From the farm to the shelf, I see renewable energy playing a bigger role in organic food. We are providing farmers a means to reduce their energy costs and become more self-sufficient and sustainable. Farmers who participate in this loan fund contribute to a healthy, regenerative future for the next generation.”

Loans supplied to Organic Valley farmers through Clean Energy CU will be used for:

• Solar electric systems to offset farm energy consumption.
• Farm energy efficiency improvements such as plate coolers, VFDs, LED lighting, insulation, ventilation and more.
• Geothermal systems and ground-source heat pumps for farm heating and cooling.

Barry Callebaut joins Seekewa’s agro revolution

Barry Callebaut is working with award-winning startup Seekewa on a pilot project to increase and diversify the incomes of farmers on the Cocoa Horizons program.

Developed by brothers Serge and Fred Zamblé, Seekewa is an innovative digital community platform that allows people and organizations to support small farming projects. Their unique farm-to-table model combines refundable e-vouchers and crowdfunding to improve the lives of small farmers in rural Africa. Connected by participation in MassChallenge—a worldwide accelerator for high-impact startups creating meaningful change—Barry Callebaut is collaborating with Seekewa to build a brighter future for Cocoa Horizons’ farmers.

Seekewa’s platform allows consumers to provide farmers with interest-free microloans. In return, they receive priority access and special discounts on the food produced. The Seekewa team facilitates and oversees the process to make sure everybody wins. Farmers’ incomes are improved, and consumers get healthy, fresh food straight from source at competitive prices.

For their joint pilot project, the Cocoa Horizons’ program is providing funding and a pool of beneficiary farmers along with business mentorship and advice. While Seekewa is using its technology and expertise to manage the projects from start to finish and secure a market for the crops produced by the Cocoa Horizons farmers in Côte d’Ivoire.

The aim of the pilot is to test the Seekewa model, with the potential to be scaled-up to as many Cocoa Horizons farmers as possible in different countries. It is hoped the positive outcomes will empower Cocoa Horizons’ farmers and their communities, assure better use of allocated funds as well as strengthen their loyalty and commitment to the program.

Meatable raises $47 million to expand, scale portfolio

Cultivated meat startup Meatable has secured US$47 million in its Series A funding round, bringing the Dutch company’s total funding to $60 million. Meatable will use the new funds to advance small-scale production at the Biotech Campus in Delft and diversify its product portfolio with beef.

The consortium consists of Rick Klausner, M.D., Section 32; Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D.; DSM Venturing; and existing investors such as BlueYard Capital, Agronomics, Humboldt and Taavet Hinrikus. The consortium believes the positive impact cultivated meat may have on climate change, see the trillion-dollar potential of the cultivated meat marketplace, and are betting on Meatable to solve the industry’s scalability and speed-to-market challenges with its patented opti-ox technology.

“We are committed to joining Meatable in its mission to address the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Klausner, former director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute and former executive director of Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We see a smart startup that has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. They have a great team and game-changing technology that can address the challenges around the global food insecurity issues our planet is facing. They have all the right ingredients to become the leading choice for sustainably and efficiently produced meat.”

Meatable’s proprietary platform technology enables a fundamentally more cost effective and scalable production process. It replicates the natural process of fat and muscle growth, in proportions that emulate traditional cuts of meat. When fully developed, the entire process is expected to take only weeks to produce meat. Meatable’s mission to produce cultivated meat without animal slaughter will produce fewer GHG emissions and significantly land and water usage.
 

As states and municipalities enact policies and programs to try to recycle and divert food waste away from landfills and incineration with energy recovery, researchers at the University of Maine wanted to know what risks were associated with that effort. For example, do organic waste diversion mandates result in in higher levels of physical contaminants, such as glass, plastics and other noncompostable materials? Are there added levels of chemical and biological compounds from the mandates as well, including emerging contaminants (those compounds not yet regulated)?

The answers to these questions are important for several reasons. First, composting and anaerobic digestion facility operators believe they are seeing increased noncompostable contamination, which they say overburdens their operations and adds costs.

But another concern revolves around introducing contaminants harmful to humans, such as heavy metals and pathogens, back into the food system. For example, food and other organic wastes can be turned into soil amendments through composting and used on gardens and fields. But that means any contaminants still residing in the waste could be reintroduced back into the food chain through crop production.

Recycling is further challenged because both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) hope to divert 50% of food waste going to landfills by 2030.

With funding provided by the Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF), researchers at the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine set about finding answers to these questions by collecting and analyzing food waste from two mandated food separation states (Massachusetts and Vermont) and one unregulated state (Maine).

They also sampled waste from six different sources–groceries, hospitals, schools, restaurants, retirement communities and residential pick-up and drop-off locations. The food waste was processed in an industrial-grade food processor, stored at -20°C and then shipped to the Maine Soil Testing Lab at the University of Maine for analysis. Seventy-one samples were submitted.

In addition to sampling different food wastes, the researchers also wanted to know what perceptions food waste handlers had about the waste they were processing. For example, were their suspicions that mandated food separation was contributing to an increase in physical, biological and chemical contamination backed up by the science? And what were their perceptions about which kinds of chemical and biological contaminants were being collected along with the food waste?

The overall results surprised both the researchers and processors.

First, the researchers found that mandated food source separation had no appreciable effect on contamination rates. In fact, both mandated and nonmandated communities had similar levels of contamination, whether it was physical (such as plastics), biological (such as common foodborne pathogens, like Salmonella) or chemical (such as Per- and poly-fluorinated organics, otherwise known as PFAS). Researchers suggested the results could have been from effective communication and outreach strategies in the rollout of the food waste diversion efforts in Massachusetts and Vermont.

Second, the perceptions of the composting and anaerobic digestion facility operators were different than reality. The operators believed there was appreciably more contamination rates in the communities where food waste diversion was mandated.

As far as the different types of contaminated materials that were found in the samples, they broke down into several distinct groups: heavy metals, organohalogens, PFAS and antibiotic resistance genes.

Heavy metals

Eighty-two percent of the samples had some form of contamination, whether they came from a state with mandated separation or one that was unregulated. Furthermore, samples in both environments had similar non-compostable materials, such as plastics, gloves, and fruit stickers. There were some variations in terms of where the food waste originated. For instance, residential samples had significantly higher copper than retirement community and hospital samples, which were higher than restaurant or school samples.

As for what chemical or biological contaminants were found in the samples, researchers discovered a number of different compounds. They found a number of heavy metals in the samples, such as lead, chromium, cadmium, nickel, tin and titanium. However, the concentrations were all below the most stringent regulatory limits for soil used for comparison (75 and 25 mg/k), with the average concentrations being 21 and 4 mg/k and the maximum concentration being 71 and 14 mg/k respectively.

Pathogens

The samples were screened for three common foodborne pathogens as well, and while the pathogens were found in two of the samples researchers concluded that there was a relatively low incidence of pathogens in the food wastes they tested.

Organohalogens

They also screened for organohalogenated compounds, which are synthetic organic compounds that contain chlorine, bromine, and fluorine. Because of their persistence and bioaccumulative nature, these compounds lead to environmental contamination and human exposure through multiple pathways such as direct skin contact, inhalation, drinking water and primarily food. Most of the sample, however were below the detection limit of 5 mg/kg wet weight, but 10 samples had measurable values that ranged from 5 – 89.7 mg/kg (ww), with all but the highest (ME restaurant) less than 12 mg/kg.

PFAS

Also found in the samples were different versions of PFAS (per- and poly-fluorinated organics), a widely used industrial chemical compound. Fourteen of the samples had detectable perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) average 0.6; range 0.11-1 μg/kg); two contained perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) 0.11 and 0.15 μg/kg); and one contained perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) 0.28 μg/kg). The fact that a large number of the samples contained a PFAS compound was of concern to researchers because of the impacts these chemicals have on health and their potential to bioaccumulate.

Researchers also observed that food contact papers could be a source of contaminants, such as PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), particularly at facilities that accept and compost coated papers with their food waste. This is an important finding as regulations are being proposed in different states to manage PFAS exposure. For example, the state of New York recently enacted a law prohibiting the use of PFAS chemicals in food packaging.

Antibiotic resistance genes

Another area of concern for the researchers was antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from the effects of antimicrobials. When antibiotics are used in humans or animals, approximately 80% to 90% of the ingested antibiotics are not broken down, but pass through the body intact and enter the environment as waste. Thus, they retain their ability to affect bacteria and promote antibiotic resistance even after they enter the soil or water as a waste product.

Three ARGs were screened in the study because of the use of the corresponding antibiotics in livestock (penicillins and tetracylines). Sixty-eight (96%) samples were positive for tet(M), although 11 were below the researchers’ limit of quantification.

BlaTEM was also detected in 97% of samples, although six of these detections were below their limit of quantification. β-lactams and tetracycline antibiotics are among the oldest antibiotics, having been extensively used including in livestock rearing in the U.S., and resistance genes were detected and isolated in food for a number of years.  This could help explain the near ubiquitous detection of these antibiotic resistance genes in their food waste samples.

Food waste composting and anaerobic digestion

To better understand the perceptions of facilities that manage food waste related to contaminants, the researchers sent surveys to 118 composting and anaerobic digestion facilities in Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts, from which they received 33 responses (28% response rate). The majority of respondents accepted waste from food processors, followed by material from grocers, restaurants, institutions and residences.

What did the researchers learn?

Facilities that responded to the survey were primarily concerned about physical contamination, a problem confirmed with the results (82% of samples contained nonfood waste). However, some did mention potential trace chemical and biological contamination, but without much of a sense of the magnitude of the problem. Researchers also noted that much of their concern was about contamination of the carbon sources added to food waste during composting (wood chips, hay, bedding), which was not measured.

The food waste handlers also thought that the greatest risk of contamination came from institutions (e.g. colleges, schools, hospitals), followed by restaurants and residential sources.

This piece originally appeared on Waste360, a New Hope Network sister website. Visit the site for more waste and recycling news.

Even before a global pandemic gave cause for consumers to rethink their own personal health choices, plant-based and “flexitarian” eating were on the rise. According to a recent report from Innova Market Insights, the plant-based revolution is only gaining momentum, rising from a niche diet choice to the mainstream in just a matter of years.

Plant-based eating initially showed up as a “disruptor” in Innova’s 2017 Top Trends report, and according to the research firm has continued to grow ever since.

The reasons for consumers to switch to—or at least consider—a plant-based diet are many. Innova’s 2020 Consumer Survey identified four reasons that stand out among the rest: health, variety, sustainability and taste. Health reasons were the top consideration, with 53% of global respondents citing it as their top reason for adopting a plant-based diet.

As more consumers consider a plant-based diet, brands are working harder than ever to offer options throughout the market, from beverages to snacks to plant-based burgers and frozen desserts. According to Innova data, the use of plant-based claims for global food and beverage launches had a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37% from 2016 to 2020. Interestingly, products specifically marketed as “vegan” saw only a 10% CAGR over the same period despite the two positionings’ clear overlap. Further Innova data from 2020 indicated 6 in 10 consumers prefer the “plant-based” designation over the “vegan” designation.

This increased focus in plant-based products has opened the door for new and interesting ingredients to enter the market and grow. Innova noted hemp and fava bean specifically saw sharp increases, saying the two ingredients were “by far the fastest -growing proteins tracked in meat and dairy alternative launches globally over the 2017 to 2019 period.” The research firm also noted more modest gains for rice, bean and potato proteins over the same timeframe.

Perhaps explaining the discrepancy between “plant-based” and “vegan” preferences, many consumers are showing a willingness for, if not outright demanding, flexitarian options—showcasing a desire, though not a mandate, to eat plant-based. For example, an Innova Consumer Survey indicated 36% of global consumers would prefer a mix of both animal and plant proteins, compared to just 25% indicating a desire for 100% plant-based. This opens the door for interesting blends of plant and animal proteins, such as whey-plus-plant-protein sports nutrition mixes or dairy-plus-plant-based-milk beverages.

“As consumers are powering up on plant protein” said Lu Ann Williams, director of innovation, Innova Market Insights, “opportunities and challenges are attracting even more attention in the industry, particularly with regard to regional preferences and sustainability expectations. Key challenges for plant-based tend to be similar to those for the food industry as a whole, including the provision of clean label and sustainable options, targeting ingredients simplicity, the use of minimal processing and optimization of taste and textural experiences.”

With snacking playing such an essential role in the game day experience, the grocery delivery service Shipt analyzed its data from the 2020 college basketball season to determine each state’s go-to gameday snack.

During the 2020 college basketball season fans used Shipt’s delivery service to order more than 231,000 bags of Doritos, 136,000 boxes of Cheez-Its, 133,000 bags of Goldfish and 107,000 bags of Tostitos.

“Knowing that many fans won't be traveling to stadiums, bars or restaurants to watch games this year, we wanted to offer up a solution to get them their favorite foods come tournament time,” said Rina Hurst, chief business officer, Shipt.

Data also showed that rivalries spanned beyond the hardwood as different fan bases have different preferences when it comes to snacking. While Illinois residents tend to go for Doritos, Missouri prefers Tostitos. Similarly, the Buckeye State did not see eye to eye with Michiganders, as Ohioans took down Little Debbie Nutty Bars, while the snack didn’t even crack Michigan’s top five most ordered.

Indiana was home of some of the top snack aficionados last season, as Shipt shoppers delivered more than 13,000 bags of Doritos last year. Texans were also a powerhouse in snacking, consuming more than 32,000 bags of Goldfish, while Oklahoma’s love for Fritos and West Virginia’s passion for Little Debbie’s products should not be overlooked come tournament time.

The delivery service has several retail partners including Meijer, H-E-B, Winn Dixie, Target, Dierbergs and Kroger, and offers same-day delivery in as soon as one hour through its network of personal shoppers.

Most popular snack by state

Alabama: Santitas White Corn Tortilla Chips

Arizona: Pringles Super Stack Original Potato Crisps

Arkansas: Sabra Classic Hummus

California: Pringles Sour Cream & Onion Potato Crisps

Colorado: Tostitos Hint Of Lime Tortilla Chips

Connecticut: Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn

Delaware: Tostitos Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips

Florida: Cape Cod Kettle Cooked Potato Chips Original

Georgia: Sabra Classic Hummus

Hawaii: Simply Cheetos White Cheddar Puffs

Idaho: Ruffles Oven Baked Cheddar & Sour Cream Flavored Potato Crisps

Illinois: Lay's Regular Potato Chips

Indiana: On The Border Tortilla Chips

Iowa: Pringles Super Stack Original Potato Crisps

Kansas: Doritos Nacho Cheese Chips

Kentucky: Lay's Regular Potato Chips

Louisiana: Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Maine: Simply Cheetos White Cheddar Puffs

Maryland: Pringles Super Stack Original Potato Crisps

Massachusetts: Tostitos Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips

Michigan: Cheez-It Original Baked Snack Crackers

Minnesota: Doritos Nacho Cheese Chips

Mississippi: Ritz Cracker Sandwiches With Peanut Butter

Missouri: Oreo Double Stuff Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Montana: Nabisco Ritz Crackers

Nebraska: Cheez-It Original Baked Snack Crackers

Nevada: Pringles Sour Cream & Onion Potato Crisps

New Hampshire: Cape Cod Kettle Cooked Potato Chips Original

New Jersey: Sensible Portions Sea Salt Garden Veggie Straws

New Mexico: Fritos Original Corn Chips

New York: Tostitos Scoops Tortilla Chips

North Carolina: Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

North Dakota: Tostitos Bite Size Rounds

Ohio: Little Debbie Nutty Bars

Oklahoma: Santitas White Corn Tortilla Chips

Oregon: Juanita's Food Tortilla Chips

Pennsylvania: Nabisco Ritz Crackers

Rhode Island: Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn

South Carolina: Cheez-It Original Baked Snack Crackers

South Dakota: Lay's Kettle Cooked Jalapeno Potato Chips

Tennessee: Tostitos Scoops Tortilla Chips

Texas: Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Cheddar Baked Snack Crackers

Utah: Doritos Nacho Cheese Chips

Vermont: Chex Mix Savory Bold Party Blend Snack Mix

Virginia: Pepperidge Farm® Goldfish® crackers

Washington: Juanita's Tortilla Chips

West Virginia: Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies

Wisconsin:Little Debbie Nutty Bars

Wyoming: Barnum's Animals Crackers Snak-Sak

More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the country and world at large are still facing more questions than answers. Even as case and fatality numbers fall and vaccinations rise, the full impact of COVID-19 on all facets of life will take years to truly understand.

Among the many questions arising in the wake of COVID-19 include, “How does one prevent something like this from happening again,” and “What could have been done better or differently?” In Minnesota, a recent executive order issued by Gov. Tim Walz sought to begin answering those questions in regard to the state’s agricultural and food processing workers—an industry hit especially hard in Minnesota and elsewhere, resulting in high-profile outbreaks in, and closures of, meat processing facilities. His order, signed March 19, established the “Governor’s Committee on the Safety, Health, and Wellbeing of Agricultural and Food Processing Workers.”

“Agriculture and food processing are foundational to Minnesota’s economy, and yet, workers in these industries face immense challenges, particularly regarding workplace safety, employment protections, and access to safe housing, health care, and transportation,” Walz began his March 19 statement. “We all share responsibility for addressing these challenges, and I am grateful to the leaders from across the state who stepped up to serve on this committee.”

The executive order lays out several policy goals to understand where failures occurred over the last year and how to fix potential blind spots in the future. The committee’s objectives include:

• Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by coordinating resources and outreach for the 2021 growing, harvesting and processing season.
• Designing a proactive strategy to deploy public, private and nonprofit compliance resources to protect and promote the safety, health and well-being of agricultural and food processing workers—focusing on housing, transportation and workplaces.
• Developing a system for effective communication between state agencies, community organizations, advocacy groups, and agricultural and food processing employers and workers, including the workers’ families and communities.
• Supporting and assisting the Minnesota Department of Health, local public health departments and community organizations with the coordination of the COVID-19 response, including testing, vaccination, access to health care, and necessary assistance for the quarantine and isolation of workers and their families if they test positive or become ill.
• Providing government agencies, community organizations, advocacy groups, employer and worker organizations, employers and workers a forum to engage, analyze data and information, coordinate resources and plan for future agricultural growing, food production and processing seasons.

“Those working in agriculture and food processing are essential to keeping our state and nation’s food supply strong, but for too long, their voices have gone unheard,” said Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. “The safety, health, and wellbeing of workers is vital not only to the workers themselves, but also to their families and communities, and to Minnesota’s agricultural production and processing industries.”

The committee will be co-chaired by Andrea Vaubel, deputy commissioner, Minnesota Department of Agriculture and Hamse Warfa, deputy commissioner, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Its members also include representatives from statewide food and agriculture organizations, including the Minnesota Farm Bureau, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union chapters and many others.