Child slavery claims against Nestle, Cargill dismissed by US court

Nestlé and Cargill have won the day in a court ruling over child slavery in west Africa.

 

The US Supreme Court has reportedly dismissed a lawsuit accusing the US division of Swiss food giant Nestlé and ingredients supplier Cargill of child slavery at Ivory Coast cocoa farms.

The majority ruling was delivered yesterday (17 June) by Justice Clarence Thomas, Reuters reported. That reversed a lower-court ruling that permitted a lawsuit to be filed in 2005 against the two companies by six former cocoa farm workers from Mali, who claim they were illegally trafficked when still children to the Ivory Coast.

According to the news agency, the court ruled the claim could not be brought under the Alien Tort Statute, which allows non-US citizens to seek damages in American courts in certain instances, because the plaintiffs did not show any of the relevant conduct took place within the US.

“Nearly all the conduct that they say aided and abetted forced labour – providing training, fertiliser tools, and cash to overseas farms – occurred in Ivory Coast,” Reuters reported Thomas as saying in his verdict.

A Nestlé spokesperson was reported as saying: “Nestlé never engaged in the egregious child labour alleged in this suit, and we remain unwavering in our dedication to combating child labour in the cocoa industry.”

Meanwhile, Cargill responded to Just Food’s request for comment with a statement, which read: “The Supreme Court’s ruling today affirms Cargill’s analysis of the law and confirms this suit has no basis to proceed.”

It continued: “Cargill’s work to keep child labour out of the cocoa supply chain is unwavering. We do not tolerate the use of child labour in our operations or supply chains and we are working every day to prevent it. We will continue to focus on the root causes, including poverty and lack of education access. Our mission is to drive long-lasting change in cocoa communities and to lift up the families that rely on cocoa for their income.”

Paul Hoffman, the lawyer representing the six plaintiffs, told Reuters he intends to refile the lawsuit with more ‘detailed allegations on conduct’ that he said took place in the US.

Kraft Heinz to buy Turkey sauces firm Assan Foods

The US giant has snapped up one of its co-manufacturers.

 

Kraft Heinz has acquired Assan Foods, a Turkey-based condiments supplier that has been one of the US giant’s co-manufacturers.

Assan Foods, set up in 1998, has worked with Kraft Heinz for two years. From two factories, the company manufactures products including ketchup and mayonnaise, as well as pasta and meat sauces.

The business, which was part of the Turkish conglomerate Kibar Holding, markets products under brands such as Colorado, Kingtom and Oba, as well as offering a private-label service.

Kraft Heinz believes the acquisition will help it build its retail and foodservice businesses “across Europe, the Middle East and Africa”. Assan Foods, it said, exports to around 50 markets.

Rafael Oliveira, president of Kraft Heinz’s international division, described Assan Foods as “a high-performance organisation that brings best-in-class local innovation and production”.

Oliveira said the Istanbul-based company also has a “significant distribution network” in the foodservice channel.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Assan Foods’ factories are in Balikesir in north-western Turkey and in Izmir, more than 120 miles further south. It employs 400 staff.

The deal, which Kraft Heinz expects to complete in the second half of the year, is the first full acquisition since Miguel Patricio was hired as CEO in 2019.

The ketchup, soup and baked-beans manufacturer has made minor investments in fledgling firms.

However, the accent of Kraft Heinz’s M&A activity in recent years has focused on disposals as Patricio sought to re-shape the business and pay down debts.

Earlier this year, the company sold its Planters snacks business to US peer Hormel Foods.

Last September, Kraft Heinz sold a clutch of cheese assets to French dairy group Lactalis.

Meat-free bacon start-up Hooray Foods secures additional seed funds

Hooray Foods' new financing takes the US start-up's funding to date to US$4m.

 

Meat-free bacon start-up Hooray Foods in San Francisco has secured additional seed financing to scale up production.

The US$2m investment was led by New York-based venture-capital fund Evolution VC Partners, whose founder and CEO Gregg Smith will join the Hooray Foods’ board of directors. It was joined in the round by Gaingels, an investor also located in New York, and Sand Hill Angels, a group of angel investors in Silicon Valley. The investment split was not disclosed.

Hooray Foods was founded by Sri Artham in 2019 and secured its first major retail listing last November, with its products now stocked in more than 300 Whole Foods Market stores in the US. The business won seed funding in 2020 from plant-based investor Stray Dog Capital, US venture fund that also contributed to the company’s pre-seed financing in 2019.

The Glasswall Syndicate, a group of venture capitalists, foundations, trusts, non-profit organisations and individual investors in Kansas City, also participated in that round. Glasswall is managed by Stray Dog Capital’s Macy Marriott.

Announcing the additional seed finance, Hooray Foods said it has now received about $4m in total funding.

It will use some of the latest cash round to “improve” its plant-based bacon, which is produced using “proprietary fat encapsulation techniques”. Ingredients include coconut oil, rice flour, tapioca starch, umami seasoning, maple syrup, salt and beet juice concentrate. The products are allergen-free and are free-from soy, nitrites and hormones.

Tyson Foods goes for net-zero under new sustainability agenda

US meat giant Tyson Foods has laid down a new greenhouse gas emissions target.

 

 

Tyson Foods has outlined plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in an update to its previous reduction target.

The meat-processing giant said today (9 June) the commitment underscores its efforts to “combat the urgency of the growing climate-change crisis”. It added the 2050 target includes emissions under scopes one to three.

“Achieving net-zero emissions is a large undertaking which will look at emissions tied to direct global operations, energy sources and throughout the company’s supply chain,” Tyson said in a statement.

The company said its previous commitment was to achieve a 30% reduction in emissions by 2030 to align with worldwide efforts to limit global temperature increases to 2℃.

However, Tyson is adjusting its sustainability strategy in accordance with the Paris Agreement to restrict the rise in temperature to 1.5℃ by the end of 2023.

John Tyson, the meat firm’s chief sustainability officer, said: “As the first US-based protein company in the food and beverage sector to have an emissions reduction target approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, we hope to continue to push the industry as a leader and remain committed to making a positive impact on our planet, with our team members, consumers and customers, and in the communities we serve.

“At Tyson Foods, we believe progress requires accountability and transparency and we are proud to exemplify that as we work to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”

Tyson, which last week revealed the departure of its CEO and president Dean Banks, is also “establishing a pathway” to use 50% renewable energy across its US operations by 2030.

Other initiatives within the climate-change agenda include working to increase Tyson’s current target of using five million acres of grazing pasture for sustainably produced beef and continuing to eradicate the deforestation risk across its global supply chain by 2030.

In terms of biodiversity related to land stewardship, Tyson aims to “complete” its initial target to improve environmental practises on two million acres of US farmland by 2025 after it missed the previous 2020 goal laid out three years ago. The land area currently stands at 408,000 acres. A new 100% target land mass has been introduced by 2030.

Donnie King, who supersedes Bank as president and CEO, said: “Our net-zero ambition is another important step in our work toward realising our aspiration to become the most transparent and sustainable food company in the world. Partnership and collaboration will be critical to our efforts, and we look forward to working with our customers, supply chain partners, and other stakeholders to achieve net-zero.”