Danone jettisons Faber as Chairman and CEO: Will his legacy of sustainable business survive? Danone’s board of directors bowed to pressure from activist investors and announced that Emmanuel Faber – Chairman and former CEO – will leave the company with immediate effect.
“The Board has decided that Emmanuel Faber will step down as Chairman and CEO,” the company said in a statement following a board meeting yesterday.
International CEO Véronique Penchienati-Bosetta and Shane Grant, currently Chief Executive Officer North America, will jointly lead the business while the search for a new CEO is underway. Gilles Schnepp, who joined the Danone board in December, has been appointed Chairman.
Cargill has made new hires to its executive leadership team, effective April 1, to position the company for accelerated growth in sustainable food and agriculture solutions.
Researchers propose standardised testing methods to crack sensory challenge of plant-based milk Despite rapidly growing consumer demand, the quality of plant-based milk products very often underwhelms. The solution? More consistent testing at R&D stage.
There has been a surge of interest recently on the development of plant‐based milk alternatives due to increasing consumer concerns about the ethics, sustainability, and healthiness of animal‐based milks.
Consequently, producers are having to quickly develop and test new formulations to meet rising consumer demand using a range of protein sources such as soy, oat, pea, almond, coconut and flaxseed.
But a lack of standardized analytical methods and protocols is stifling successful innovation in the area, and the more widespread adoption of plant milks is being held back by products lacking the sensory attributes, stability, and functional performance of real cow’s milk.
USDA extends free school meals through the summer, but who ultimately will pay? USDA’s announcement this week to extend free school meals through the summer – and possibly the end of the next school year – ensures students are fed even if pandemic-related safety measures keep them at home, but it doesn’t alleviate increased financial pressures schools face providing the expanded services.
US Department of Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack told school nutrition professionals gathered virtually at the School Nutrition Association’s Legislative Action Conference March 9 that the department would extend through Sept. 30, 2021, key COVID-19 Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option waivers that allow schools to serve free meals to students outside of required group settings and meal times and allow guardians to pick up meals for their children, including in bulk to cover multiple days to reduce exposure to the coronavirus through less frequ
Oishii closes $50m Series A funding, sees itself as the ‘Tesla’ of strawberry vertical farming Oishii, a vertical farm growing Japanese omakase strawberries with 2-3x the sweetness of conventional US-grown strawberries, has closed $50m in Series A funding led by SPARX Group to scale its business for mass market consumption.
The $50m investment from SPARX Group’s Mirai Creation Fund II – a fund established by Toyota Motor Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and SPARX – will be put towards expanding Oishii’s proprietary vertical farming technology which can grow strawberries indoors at a commercial scale.
The company will also use the capital to grow and produce other fruits and vegetables.