Where is funding to build a “circular economy” for plastics going? How are recycling and recycled content trends evolving?
Multiple nonprofits and business groups addressed these and related questions in new reports this summer, including from The Circulate Initiative, World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, WRAP, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the Bank of America Institute and the PET Recycling Coalition. These are some of the statistics they highlighted:
$32 billion was the recent yearly average investment in plastics circularity
Over the six-year period from 2018 through 2023, global investments in plastics circularity totaled $190 billion and averaged $32 billion per year, with more than half invested in North America. That’s according to the Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker, reported on by the nonprofit Circulate Initiative and supported by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.
Report authors said those totals are still “significantly below” the $1 trillion they project would be needed per year to reduce “mismanaged plastics” globally by 2040. Still, they see extended producer responsibility, recycled content mandates and other policies spurring investments.
Banks financed the most deals, followed by corporate investments, private equity, venture capital, initial public offerings and then other smaller sources.
Plastics circularity investments decreased last year
Global plastics circularity investments, 2018-2023
Meanwhile, “emerging” economies in geographies impacted the worst by plastic pollution are receiving a small fraction — 6% — of investments.
Separately, a 2023 progress reportreleased July 30by the nonprofit Alliance to End Plastic Waste — whose membership includes Amcor, Berry, Dow, Pregis, Procter & Gamble and dozens of others — shows that since its inception in 2019, the group reported $289 million of catalyzed funding commitments toward mission-related activities. The organization is dedicated to “enhancing waste management capacity and capability by improving collection, sorting, processing, and recycling systems, especially in underserved regions.”
82% of global plastics circularity investments are going to recovery and recycling
Investments were still heavily skewing toward plastics recovery and recycling between 2018 and 2023, according to the Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker. Just 4% were tracked to refill and reuse, one example being PepsiCo’s more than $3 billion acquisition of SodaStream International in 2018.
Recovery and recycling have gotten the lion’s share of investment
Percentage of global plastics circularity investments by archetypes, 2018-2023
The global economy is 7.2% ‘circular’
That’s down from 9.1% in 2018, “meaning more than 90% of materials extracted are either wasted, lost, or remain unavailable,” according to a July 2024 analysis from the Bank of America Institute. BofA Global Research projects that “plastic consumption, waste, emissions and leakage” could rise by 50% to 70% by 2040 as global use of the material grows.
The US residential recycling rate for PET bottles is now 28%
The statistic was featured in an August report from the PET Recycling Coalition, a brands-backed initiative of The Recycling Partnership. Since 2022, the coalition has worked to increase the capture of PET bottles; widen acceptance of trays, cups and clamshells in community recycling collection programs; unlock new supplies of recycled material for packaging manufacturers; and strengthen recycling systems of pigmented and opaque material. To date, its work has involved about $5 million in grant funding.
Plastics Pacts globally have increased recycled content by 44%
That’s according to a six-years-in impact report on the Plastics Pact Network from WRAP (the U.K.’s Waste and Resources Action Programme) and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The groups, like the U.S. Plastics Pact, work in part to recycle more plastic packaging and replace virgin plastic use with postconsumer recycled content or biobased materials.
They also report that design for reuse, recyclability and compostability “in practice and at scale” has risen by 23%. According to the report, the first such pact launched in the U.K. in 2018, and pacts now cover 19 countries, where members collectively account for one-third of the plastic packaging placed on the market in those nations.
Who’s involved in Plastics Pacts today?
Membership breakdown by type of organization
Meanwhile, growth appears to be slowing for new sustainable packaging commitments and initiatives among some of the largest CPGs, according to Food Packaging Forum data covering companies including Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo, P&G, The Coca-Cola Co. and Unilever that was analyzed by Rabobank. Still, Rabobank tracked new commitments or initiatives at all but P&G so far this year when it released its latest report on trends in plastic packaging in the U.S. and EU in late July.
Access to an adequate workforce is a decades-old challenge facing meat and poultry processors that has intensified with rising production costs. Forecasts from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the US Department of Labor don’t show an end to this negative trend.
There were 905 plants slaughtering under federal inspection on Jan. 1, 2022, compared with 858 in the same period of 2021, the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the US Department of Agriculture said in its “Livestock Slaughter 2021 Summary (April 2022).”
The US meat industry directly employs more than 500,000 people — not counting the additional 2 million jobs created along the value chain, according to the Meat Institute.
The latest available federal data showed that in 2021, meat and poultry plants employed nearly 31% of US food and beverage manufacturing workers, the Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture said.
And in 2021, the meat and poultry industry produced 27.95 billion lbs of beef — a record volume; 27.67 billion lbs of pork; 53.2 million lbs of veal; 138.4 million lbs of lamb and mutton; and 50.4 billion lbs of poultry.
Lagging labor pool
In its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) report, the BLS projected little or no change (-1%) in the growth rate of jobs in the meat processing industry from 2022 to 2023. The OEWS program produces employment and wage estimates annually for approximately 830 occupations.
The OEWS report stated the May 2022 median annual wage was $35,240 for slaughterers and meat packers (defined as workers that “Perform nonroutine or precision functions involving the preparation of large portions of meat. Work may include specialized slaughtering tasks, cutting standard or premium cuts of meat for marketing, making sausage, or wrapping meats. Work typically occurs in slaughtering, meat packing, or wholesale establishments”).
H2-A to education
Industry stakeholders are addressing worker recruitment and retention on multiple fronts. But the primary hurdle to accessing available workers is the US immigration system and work visa programs like H-2A, which allows US employers who meet specific regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals into the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs.
Previous efforts to reform the H-2A program have stalled, but the Agricultural Labor Working Group (ALWG) comprised of US House Agriculture Committee members, worked to identify root causes driving the lack of available domestic workers and develop potential solutions. Among the policies recommended by the ALWG:
A single Internet portal for all aspects of the H2-A application process.
Allow employers to apply for staggered worker entry by completing one application for all the workers the employer needs for a particular year or growing season.
Permanently waiving the in-person interview requirement for returning H-2A workers.
Granting year-round industries access to the H2-A program
“The ALWG recommends that the committee of jurisdiction reform the H-2A visa program to include agricultural labor or services (including cooperatively owned employers) that involve the initial preparation, processing, or manufacturing of agricultural commodities, such as livestock, poultry, dairy, peanuts, sugar beets and sugarcane,” the ALWG said in its report.
After the lockdowns imposed during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading processors began to focus on employee amenities aimed at retention.
In 2023, Tyson Foods opened a child care center near its Humboldt, Tenn., poultry processing plant with an investment of nearly $5 million. The Tyson Learning Center (TLC) will support 100 children, five years old and younger. The company also extended access to child care to its workers at its Amarillo, Texas, beef processing plant.
Ruiz Food Products Inc., a manufacturer of prepared frozen foods, has opened three on-site health centers for its insured employees and covered family members in Dennison, Texas, Dinuba, Calif., and Florence, SC.
In 2021, Tyson announced a partnership with Marathon Health to pilot seven “Bright Blue” health centers near the company’s production facilities giving Tyson employees and their family members access to the free health clinics.
Other strategies proposed to attract and retain workers include sign-on bonuses, making benefits available sooner and providing strong job training opportunities.
Tyson Foods partnered with Marathon Health to pilot seven “Bright Blue” health centers near the company’s production facilities giving employees and their dependents access to the free health clinics. (Source: Tyson Foods Inc.)
Training up
Recognizing that retention is an issue in the industry, Kansas City, Mo.-based WorkForge, a manufacturing training and development company, has decided, rather than fight the problem, to accept it and work with it.
“The nature of the protein industry workforce is high turnover,” said Chris Clarke, senior marketing manager at WorkForge. “It’s been like that forever and ever. So it’s not really how do you stop that; it’s how do you adapt to it.”
WorkForge focuses on creating organized career pathways for frontline workers within manufacturing. Its online training modules help employers gauge where onboarded employees’ skill levels lie and quickly train them up to advance to higher levels.
With strong diversity in both the maintenance and operations departments of meat and poultry processing companies, the training modules are available in a variety of languages to be accessible in employees’ native language. All modules are translated in English, with select courses available in Spanish, Bulgarian, Czech, German, Indonesian, Italian, Hungarian, Burmese and Karen.
Not all employees are literate in their native language, so the modules are developed to allow for auditory learning as well.
Employees can access the training exercises on their own time through devices like a laptop or tablet. Within 15 to 20 minutes, they will be able to complete a module. After a set time of approximately six months employees have the opportunity to level up, which can include a pay raise to compensate them for adding skills and knowledge.
Nate Walts, DBA, chief executive officer at WorkForge, estimated that employees consume between 10 and 20 hours of content before advancing to the next level.
Walts reported that since using WorkForge’s trainings, manufacturing onboarding programs have seen a time-to-productivity improvement of 63%.
“What we’ve been able to see through what we deploy is a shortening of that time frame for what it takes to get somebody productive who’s new to that job, new to those concepts, new to those skills, and condensing it by 63%. That’s pretty meaningful,” Walts said.
He explained how the metric to focus on is not so much the money saved from cutting the training timeline rather the increased productivity.
“If you were thinking about productivity per employee, which should be a metric every manufacturer is tracking, then all you have to do is count up the days from point A to point B within your current training plan,” Walts said. “And if you could improve productivity during that timeline by 63% and take it times your revenue per employee or production per employee, that number is going to be amplified into hundreds of thousands of dollars — in some cases millions of dollars depending on the industry.”
Clarke added that, with one client, turnover decreased slightly after implementing WorkForge’s courses.
Drawing on his previous experience working at Triumph Foods, Clarke suspected that the positive results were in part due to the quick, interactive training available through WorkForge.
“I’ve sat through many, many orientations at my old plants — four or five day orientations, people falling asleep. By day two, half the classroom’s empty. So being able to get people out of the classroom that want to work with their hands, they want to get on the floor, they want to do the job, actually doing it.”
WorkForge looks to reach the next generation by integrating digitalization with the food processing industry. Custom content offers workers a way to learn the specific machines and processes at their plant at their fingertips and at their convenience.
“E-learning will play an integral part in tackling the labor and training we’re facing in the protein industry right now,” Clarke said.
Meeting needs
The leader of one of the industry’s largest beef companies, Wichita, Kan.-based Cargill said he would attest to the labor shortage in the meat processing sector.
Hans Kabat, president of Cargill’s North American Protein business, said the company has hundreds of job openings across its 40-plus plants in its protein business sector in the United States. He said hiring and retention for the company is improved using multiple approaches and programs.
“We’re hiring to reduce the number of open positions, not only increasing wages and benefits for plant employees, but investing in attracting, retaining and creating a meaningful work experience for this critical group of team members,” he said.
One way the company is achieving that has been the development of its Powered by Plants initiative.
“Beginning with 135 pilots and focus groups across North America, we’re learning what our teams value most — from flexible work to leadership development. That enables us to improve the conditions for all of our teammates and serve our customers better.
“Another example is Cargill’s smart manufacturing initiative – Factory of the Future. We’re investing nearly $400 million in 100 technology and data analysis projects across our plants to make them safer and less physically demanding for our employees to work in.”
Cargill is also focused on how to address the unique needs of its workers across the communities where it operates plants, each with their own individual cultures that present many challenges and opportunities.
“For instance, in Fort Morgan, Colo., there are housing and child care shortages. To help address these gaps, we’re breaking ground on a 150-unit rental and ownership housing development for our plant employees there,” he said of the program that was expected to launch this month.
“And we’ve worked with the local United Way to help create additional affordable child care options in the community,” Kabat said.
Work culture
Garner, NC-based turkey producer, Butterball LLC, strives to be the best employer available in the communities in which it operates. The company strives to offer competitive wages, bonus and referral pay, and meaningful benefits, such as continuing education, career pathing and advancement opportunities, as well as family-friendly benefits in well-being, financial literacy and language learning.
Butterball markets open positions on a variety of digital recruitment platforms and has seen excitement and enthusiasm for open positions, as well as success in filling them. But ultimately, it truly believes its current employees are its best recruiting tool for filling open positions in the processing plants.
“Our people are truly our best advocates,” said Mishlee Fernandez, director of talent acquisitions at Butterball. “We have strong, deep-rooted relationships in our local communities and are proud to provide impactful career opportunities that our team members recommend with confidence to their friends and family.”
Butterball’s culture creates opportunities and gives line workers flexibility that is traditionally uncommon in the industry.
“Our people are at the core of who we are,” Fernandez said “We understand that their needs change depending on life changes; therefore, we ensure we provide shift flexibility, career advancement, leave opportunities, tuition reimbursement and perks, such as gym memberships and employee discounts.”
Team members can access a variety of training opportunities and online learning modules to drive their career development further, and frontline workers have a voice to guide management in the improvement and efficiencies to make processes, daily workflow and work environment better.
“Giving frontline team members a voice, and listening with intent, has been instrumental in retention, especially in hard-to-fill roles,” Fernandez said. “We repeatedly ask, ‘What would make this task easier and more efficient? What can we do to help this process run smoother?’ Their input guides us to provide a safer and more productive environment.”
Butterball believes in the automation of mundane tasks to help alleviate the burden of performing them manually. Because of this, team members remain engaged and learn to operate and troubleshoot any issues that arise with the machines.
The benefits are two-fold: they create less turnover and create a new skillset for frontline workers.
Fernandez added, team members at Butterball processing plants have the opportunity to advance regardless of where they started with the organization. The company listens to their needs and supports any and all aspirations they have to take their careers to higher levels.
“Everything we do is steeped in our purpose, which is to ‘help people pass love on,’” Fernandez said. “Butterball is more than just a turkey producer — the products we make bring people together around a warm meal. Instilling our purpose in our team members gives them a sense of ownership and pride in the products they make; enhancing their overall work experience.”
Employers are finding ways to improve the work culture at their companies through competitive wages, meaningful benefits and advancement opportunities as well as family-friendly benefits. (Source: Deli Star)
Recruitment tools
Seaboard Foods’ Guymon, Okla., pork plant uses many of the same online recruiting tools that most employers use. Platforms such as Indeed, Zip Recruiter and Facebook tend to reach the widest audiences. Also, the Guymon plant has hired many workers through referrals and has developed a strong network for recruitment. But the most unique technique has involved local media.
“Employee testimonials on local radio stations have served as an effective way to attract new talent,” said Jennie Watkins, the facility’s human resources director.
Once employed, hourly production employees become part of a bargaining unit. The Guymon plant works with the local union to create incentives to go with Seaboard’s competitive wages and benefits package to promote retention.
“We are proud that we foster a family atmosphere, which has contributed to having many employees working with us for many years,” Watkins said.
When it comes to the toughest positions on the line, Seaboard considers applicants’ shift preference, previous work history and department preference. Also, it will show videos of difficult jobs to ensure new hires are placed in an appropriate position. Employees who want to bid for specific positions will watch videos that explain the demands and tasks associated with that specific job.
“New employees receive comprehensive training, including videos showcasing challenging job roles, while the production trainers work closely with employees during their initial two to four weeks to ensure success,” Watkins added. “We also seek feedback from new employees to enhance processes and address challenges.”
Deli Star Corp.’s leadership team have been dealt more than their share of business challenges in the past several years, not the least of which has been hiring and retaining employees. Compounding the labor shortage created by the pandemic in 2020, the family-owned meat processor was dealt another devastating blow in early 2021, when a fire at its Fayetteville, Ill., processing plant destroyed the 75,000-square-foot facility and brought the company’s production to a grinding halt.
In the months that followed, Deli Star stakeholders hatched a plan to rebuild a bigger and better plant located in St. Louis, a couple of miles from the company’s Food Discovery Center at City Foundry STL. While construction on the 104,000-square-foot space was underway, the leadership team was faced with accounting for about about 500 jobs, which would mean utilizing existing workers and hiring even more to be ready for starting up operations just over a year after the fire.
Lisa Whealon, vice president of people and culture at Deli Star, said staffing a new production facility in a bigger city where there was little or no brand recognition of the company proved to be an uphill battle.
“People didn’t know who we were or what kind of company we were to work for,” she said.
As recruitment efforts began, the hiring team quickly realized the importance of distinguishing jobs at Deli Star from other food companies that also were hiring workers in the area.
“There seemed to be a lack of candidates applying for production roles, and we needed to fill 100 positions,” Whealon said. “What worked for us was looking at ways we could stand out from other manufacturing sites that were pulling from the same talent pool.”
One way the company tried to stand out was raising its starting hourly rate from $15 to $17. The company also raised its referral rates paid to current workers to $400. The pay rate increase paid off immediately, Whealon said, resulting in significantly more applicants, practically overnight. Meanwhile, the higher referral rates generated 30% more applicants from internal employees. But knowing today’s workers are looking at more than just the hourly rate when job hunting, Deli Star realized it had to take more steps to draw quality applicants.
“We wanted to not just fill positions but ensure that those we filled were good hires,” Whealon said. “We looked next at our benefit package. We listened to what employees shared, were concerns and got to work to make it better.”
Perking up
Ensuring new employees are eligible for benefits at Deli Star beginning on their first day of work has been a positive and popular perk. However, more recent feedback revealed concerns around the cost of benefits.
“We worked closely with our benefit broker team and our finance department to ensure we could deliver,” Whealon said. “Our benefit broker team was able to find different solutions to deliver and we changed carriers. This change came with a savings to our plan of $140,000 which helped us reduce premiums, increase our well-being offerings, and gave us the ability to provide a ‘benefit holiday’ in December so employees could enjoy three paychecks where the company paid their premiums.”
Additionally, offering a benefits plan with a lower deductible option also addressed concerns among certain workers and was especially important to many frontline employees. A more recent perk offered to Deli Star’s frontline teams that has been well received is its four-day work schedule. Processing line employees work 10-hour days, Monday-Thursday and enjoy three-day weekends.
“This flexibility allows employees time to recharge and has been a selling point in our continued recruiting efforts since launching this in the summer of 2023,” Whealon said.
Time off work is valued, and the company offers a paid time off program in addition to 12 paid holidays per year.
Education edge
To further demonstrate its commitment to employees, Whealon said Deli Star has developed a program to allow workers to learn and grow. To that end, in the summer of 2023, Deli Star University was launched. The internal program offers classes to help employees develop personal growth plans; financial planning and product and process training.
For employees interested in formal education, Deli Star recently shifted from a tuition reimbursement plan to tuition advancement so employees don’t have to pay for education out of pocket. The advancement amount was increased to $5,200, and the program was expanded to include non-traditional educational pursuits — an employee recently used this program to obtain a Class C license through a truck driving school, for example.
“We have grown a lot in the past three years since the fire,” Whealon said. “Our ability to try new things, listen to our teams and adapt has been key to our hiring success.”
Starbucks and Grubhub announced a partnership on Thursday that would allow customers to order Starbucks delivery via the Grubhub app for the first time ever. The delivery partnership will roll out to select markets in Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Illinois in June, and expand to the rest of Grubhub’s markets across the 50 states by August.
According to Grubhub, Starbucks is the most searched merchant on its app that is not yet available. Overall, Starbucks has been slower to partner with third-party delivery companies than many other top chains in the foodservice industry. While the company began offering third-party delivery through Uber Eats in select markets in 2018, Uber Eats delivery was not available nationally until 2020. Starbucks did not begin offering delivery with DoorDash until last January, and the partnership was not expanded nationally until March 2023.
Grubhub is the final delivery company of the “big three” that Starbucks is now partnering with, though the company has the smallest delivery market share at 8% (as compared with DoorDash’s 67% and Uber Eats’ 23%), according to Bloomberg Second Measure.
Golden Grail Beverages (OTC: GOGY), known for its commitment to quality and sustainability, is thrilled to announce the launch of its eco-friendly product, KOZ Water, in 16 oz cans. The introduction of the 16oz can is in response to the growing consumer demand for sustainable and health-conscious hydration options. The company intends to invest in several additional production runs to ensure KOZ Water will be widely available starting as early as May 2024 in select locations and nationwide on Amazon.com. KOZ Water, known for its unique purification process and the infusion of essential electrolytes and minerals, offers more than just hydration; it’s a step towards healthier living. Packaged in fully recyclable 16 oz aluminum cans, KOZ Water underscores Golden Grail Beverages’ dedication to reducing environmental impact and promoting sustainability. Emphasizing our commitment to not only personal health but also to the planet, it’s important to highlight the broader environmental impact of packaging choices. The global recycling rate for plastic bottles languishes below 50%, with a fraction being repurposed into new bottles. In stark contrast, aluminum stands as a beacon of recyclability, boasting recycling rates that exceed 60% globally, and reaching up to 90% in the most efficient regions.
ByteCater, a revolutionary catering management solution, empowers restaurants to unlock additional catering revenue without the burden of increased complexity or costs. Office lunch catering represents a fast-growing opportunity for restaurants to build revenue. Companies like ezCater, Fooda, Foodee, Forkable, Catercow (among many others) can deliver orders to your restaurant, but each has different communication standards leading to time-consuming administrative processes. ByteCater eliminates these hurdles, enabling restaurants to seamlessly operate multiple platforms without dedicating extra labor hours or managerial resources. Restaurants can focus on what they do best – creating delicious food – while reaching new customer segments and achieving ambitious revenue goals. ByteCater offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to streamline catering operations and free up valuable time for restaurant staff.
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In the region of Tuscany, between the two medieval cities of Florence and Siena, lie 100 square miles of rolling hills. Called the Clante by the Etruscans, what’s now known as Chianti was Italy’s first modern fine-wine region, and the vineyards here continue to produce some of the most famous wines in the world.
The Sangiovese grape thrives here, in well-draining clay soil called galestro. The resulting wine can achieve true Italian elegance: refined and balanced, with well-crafted rustic edges.
Chianti wines can be juicy and bright or dark and brooding, but they’re always lifted by buoyant natural acidity that make them wonderfully food-friendly. Chianti is typically paired with lean meats such as skirt steaks but can also be effortlessly sipped alongside pasta dishes covered in all sorts of sauces.
The categories can be dizzying with different names and various aging requirements, from Chianti DOCG to Chianti Classico DOCG delimitations to the Riserva and Gran Selezione categories, as well as multiple communes boasting individual terroir expressions. We tasted through the full range of wines to narrow it down to the very best. Here are the 14 top Chianti wines for 2024.
Best Chiantis Under $25
Castello di Gabbiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020
There are a lot of very affordable Chianti bottles out there and it can be difficult to find the one that hits. Look no further — this one hits and it’s under 20 bucks. It has tart cherries on the nose with a dollop of fresh earth. It has a bright, grippy, and tart palate with good medium fruit and blousy acidity that’s matched by the depth.
Average price: $14 Rating: 90
Best Chiantis Under $50
Gagliole ‘Rubiolo’ Chianti Classico DOCG 2022
Here’s another one for ya. Also delicious and affordable, but with a little more edge. Coming from two high-quality areas for production in Chianti, Castellina and Panzano, it has bright pops of cherry fruit on the nose and the palate, but is framed by a prominent tannin structure. This is weeknight steak dinner vibes.
Average price: $26 Rating: 90
Ricasoli 1141 ‘Brolio’ Chianti Classico DOCG 2021
The Ricasoli family is known to some as the first family of Chianti. The family’s role in the region was essential to what we enjoy from the hills between Florence and Siena today. Located in Gaiole in Chianti, this wine shows the brightness of Sangiovese while being grounded by a small dose of the local variety Colorino. It has dense yet bright sour cherry aromas on the nose. The palate is balanced, with tart fruit and good active acidity. This is a great Chianti for everyday enjoyment.
Average price: $26 Rating: 90
Felsina Berardenga Chianti Classico DOCG 2021
This wine comes from the southernmost Chianti Classico zone, where the vines receive ample sunshine. That comes through in this wine’s dense, fleshy fruit notes and weighty palate. It has a rich, earthy nose with sour cherry and cranberry aromas and hints of tobacco and leather. The palate has depth and balance with an elegant fruit core framed by a prominent yet supportive tannin structure. The beauty of Siena is in this bottle.
Average price: $28 Rating: 93
Arillo in Terrabianca ‘Sacello’ Chianti Classico DOCG 2021
This wine comes from the commune of Radda, which is known for having some of the highest-elevation vineyards in Chianti. All that air and sun makes for some elegant wines, especially when they’re 100 percent Sangiovese. This bottle offers bright pops of cherry and cola with some soil to boot. The palate is light yet concentrated with wonderful acidity lifting the wine from its slightly tannic edge.
Average price: $30 Rating: 93
San Felice ‘Il Grigio’ Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020
Here’s another example of delicious Chianti from the southern part of the Classico zone, Castelnuovo Berardenga. Here the tannins are more prominent, framing the depth of fruit. The nose is filled with deep cherry, tart cranberry, and earth. The palate is ripe and grippy with a good balance between fruit and acidity.
Average price: $33 Rating: 92
Tenuta San Vito ‘Madiere’ Chianti Colli Fiorentini Riserva 2020
We’re jumping out of the Chianti Classico zone for a sec to enjoy a wine region in the hilly outskirts of Florence called Colli Fiorentini (Florentine hills). Chianti Classico makes some epic wine, but this Tenuta San Vito is like, “Hold my stemware.” This wine is lovely. It’s earthy and herby with some rhubarb and white pepper on the nose. The palate delivers slight woody notes along with a delicious fleshy mouthfeel balanced by lithe tannins and almost perfect acidity.
Average price: $35 Rating: 94
Melini Vigneti La Selvanella Riserva Chianti Classico DOCG 2019
We’re back in the elegant high-elevation site of Radda, with all of the fruit for this wine coming from one site, the La Selvanella vineyard. When a winemaker knows how special one place is they will often single it out. Here, all 123 acres of the vineyard have something to say. The nose brings notes of bright cherries and rhubarb with an underlying herbaceousness. It has an amazing palate with soft yet present tannins and beautifully balanced fruit depth. Right in line with the terroir-driven style of Radda.
Average price: $35 Rating: 94
Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019
Coming from an 11th-century abbey in Gaiole — the same commune as the prominent Ricasoli winery — this wine shows how a little bit of age softens those tannins and shows off the fruit. This bottle offers notes of tart cherries and cranberries on the nose with some earth. The palate is soft and round with blousy fruit lifted by generous acidity.
Average price: $40 Rating: 92
Carobbio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016
OK, let’s talk about age. The wines coming out of the Panzano hamlet tucked into the Greve in Chianti commune tend to be full-bodied. They’re always approachable, but after almost a decade in bottle things start to get magical. And Carobbio has harnessed that magic. This wine is almost, if not at, its peak. The nose is earthy with unctuous leathery cherry vibes. Palate is grippy but lithe from dissolving tannins.
Chianti Rufina, in the hills to the east of Florence, is not in the Classico zone but it might as well be. This is the most celebrated region of the Chianti DOCG designation and some say it has all the aspects of the Classico style. Here’s a single-vineyard wine with some age on it to show just how wonderful they can be. It has bright leathery fruit on the nose and the palate offers a fleshy, balanced mouthfeel.
Just because wines come from the same zone doesn’t mean they’re all the same. It’s amazing to see how each winemaker has an individual style even in the same commune. This is another wine from Radda, but its expression is unique while still showing a sense of place. The nose pops with bright cherry, rhubarb, and truffle aromas. The palate is dry around the edges with plenty of vibrant fruit at its core. The acidity does an amazing job holding all of these characteristics in place.
Average price: $65 Rating: 92
Best Chiantis Over $100
Riecine ‘Vigna Gittori’ Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2019
In 2010 Chianti Classico took it to the next level by creating the Gran Selezione category. To hold that title, wines need to be made from estate fruit and aged six months more than the previous highest tier, Chianti Classico Riserva (24 months). These wines are powerful, which comes through in this bottle. The nose has earthy cherry notes and a mineral channel running through. On the palate, fine tannins frame the core of fruit beautifully. We also love their more widely available Classico bottling.
Average price: $113 Rating: 95
Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT 2021
This Chianti shows the power of Sangiovese. It’s a wine that tells us something — and we’re listening. The winery eschewed any Classico designation on the label even though the estate is technically in the Chianti Classico zone, because it’s so dedicated to Sangiovese that it wants to celebrate the grape variety itself, rather than the region. Respect. The palate is classic to the region, with bright cherry fruit and a hint of leather and earth. It has the slightest grip around the edges framing the core of fruit. The acidity is just right, forming a lifted base not allowing any aspect of the wine to take center stage. Just wonderful.
Average price: $160 Rating: 96
FAQs
What grape variety is Chianti made from?
Chianti is mostly made from Sangiovese grapes. However, it is frequently blended with small percentages of either other native grapes or international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah.
What does Chianti taste like?
Chianti typically has fresh red fruit flavors and a touch of dried herbs. Earthy and savory notes come to the fore in wines that have been aged in barrel and bottle.
Is Chianti a light or heavy wine?
Chianti is a medium-bodied wine that is high in both tannins and acidity.
VinePair’s Tasting Methodology
Throughout the year, VinePair conducts numerous tastings for our popular Buy This Booze column, and wine and spirits reviews. Our mission is to provide a clear, reliable source of information for drinkers, providing an overview applicable to day-to-day buying and drinking.
Tastings are not typically conducted blind. In alignment with our reviews mission, we believe in purposefully tasting all products as our readers typically would, with full knowledge of the producer, the region, and — importantly — the price.
For Buy This Booze roundups, we typically include a maximum of one expression per brand, though we do allow multiple products from the same production facility (i.e., released under different labels).
The simultaneous shutdown of both rail services would be a historical first
20 August 2024
3 minute read
Canada’s labour minister will meet with the country’s two main railway companies and the Teamsters union in Montreal on Tuesday and Calgary on Wednesday to try to avert a crippling rail transport stoppage, reported Reuters.
Unless labour agreements are reached, both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City will shut all freight rail services in Canada at the same time early on Thursday for the first time in history.
Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon’s office said on Monday evening he will urge the companies and union “to fulfill their responsibility to Canadians, reach agreements at the bargaining table, and prevent a full work stoppage.”
Canada – the world’s second-largest country by territory – relies heavily on CN and CP to ship food grains, fertilizers and other commodities, along with manufactured goods such as chemicals and automobiles. The country’s main business lobby group said it estimates losses would hit C$1 billion ($733 million) a day in case the rail stoppages proceed.
Federal mediators are working with the companies and the union, but those involved in the discussion say little progress has been made. The union says CN Rail and CPKC want to dilute safety provisions, a charge the companies deny.
MacKinnon has the power to force the union and railway companies into binding arbitration, but has so far said he wants them to sort out their differences at the negotiating table.
In a statement on Monday, the left-leaning New Democratic Party called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to not intervene in the labour disputes. Trudeau’s government is being kept in power by the New Democratic Party, which has traditionally enjoyed strong union support.
Labour talks started early this year, but progress has been slow, with both the union and the companies accusing each other of bad faith.
CN Rail and CPKC have already stopped accepting shipments of hazardous goods and have begun phased shutdowns of operations in Canada.
Maersk said on Monday it would stop accepting some Canada-bound shipments.
Separately, US freight forwarder CH Robinson, said on Monday it was diverting some of its US customers’ ocean cargo away from Canadian ports as the threat of a rail strike looms.
“Both railroads simultaneously being out of commission would paralyze the ports and put instant pressure on trucking,” the company said.
Canada is a major agricultural producer, and farmers will start bringing in their harvests in August and September.
Quorum Corp, which monitors grain handling and transportation, said daily volumes in early September would increase to 138,000 metric tons with a value of around C$75 million.
“After a period of time, sales will be lost and the value of Canada’s grain will decrease … the largest concern is a further degradation of Canada’s reliability as a supplier, which is already suffering due to past labor disruptions,” Quorum President Mark Hemmes said in an emailed statement.
Refrigerated containers with meat and some highly perishable produce are of particular concern because delays would likely mean spoilage. Shippers of such items have already begun holding back containers, said Peter Friedmann, an executive director at the Agriculture Transportation Coalition.
In a statement, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade warned a full work stoppage would drive up prices and exacerbate an affordability crisis in the country.
“Every facet of daily life would be impacted as our national economy grinds to a halt,” it said.
MINNEAPOLIS — As part of C-suite executive changes, Target Corp. has named a new chief merchant to lead its food business.
Plans call for Lisa Roath, currently chief marketing officer, to become chief merchandising officer for food, essentials and beauty in early 2025, Target said. With her appointment to that role, Roath will take over from Rick Gomez, who is being promoted to chief commercial officer — overseeing all of Target’s merchandising — effective July 7. Also on that date, chief growth officer Christina Hennington is slated to begin an expanded role as chief strategy and growth officer.
Minneapolis-based Target said Roath will continue to serve “in full capacity” as chief marketing officer and report to Cara Sylvester, chief guest experience officer, until she starts in her new post early next year, at which time she will report to Gomez. In the meantime, Target said it will launch an external search for a new CMO.
Food and beverages accounted for 23%, or about $24.33 billion, of Target’s fiscal 2023 sales, up from 21%, or $22.59 billion, in fiscal 2022.
Roath has been executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Target since July 2023. She was elevated to the CMO post after three years as senior vice president of food and beverage merchandising, a role in which she oversaw all buying for the grocery business and led the mass retail chain’s rapid digital expansion in food, Target noted.
Prior to that, she was vice president of essentials merchandising, supervising the baby, health and household commodities divisions, and established a new capability for optimizing pricing and promotional strategies, according to the company. She also served as lead architect in the transformation of Target’s merchandising organization, blending physical and digital buying functions, the retailer said.
Joining Target in 2006, Roath also has held director roles in merchandising strategy, household commodities and own-brand food and served as senior buyer for the bakery and garden categories.
“As we execute our 2024 plans and look to the future, we’re putting key leaders and capabilities in place to sustain profitable growth over the long term,” said Brian Cornell, chairman and chief executive officer. “Today’s announcement builds on our January appointment of Michael Fiddelke to chief operating officer and will further accelerate progress on our growth initiatives.
“As Rick takes on full oversight of merchandising, Christina will be dedicated to keeping our strategy consumer-centric, differentiated and future-focused. Lisa will be an important addition to Rick’s leadership team when she moves into her new role in 2025, bringing her prior experience and accomplishments leading our food and essentials businesses. In the meantime, we’ll conduct a thorough search for a top brand marketer to succeed Lisa and build on our strong marketing foundation.”
Gomez has been executive vice president and chief food and beverage officer at Target since February 2021. As chief commercial officer, he will report to Cornell and lead merchandising for Target’s apparel and accessories, home, hardlines, food, essentials and beauty product categories, as well as private brand sourcing and design and merchandising planning and capabilities.
Coming to Target in April 2013, Gomez spent nearly four years as senior vice president of marketing before becoming senior vice president and chief marketing officer in February 2017 and then chief marketing, digital and strategy officer in January 2020. He joined the retailer after years of managing multibillion-dollar consumer packaged goods brands at MillerCoors, PepsiCo and Quaker Oats.
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Dive Brief:
Home Run Dugout, an eatertainment concept featuring indoor, soft-toss baseball, secured $22.5 million in Series A funding led by Lagniappe Capital Partners with follow-on investment from BCS Capital and ongoing support from existing investors, the company said in an email to Restaurant Dive on Monday.
The company will use the funds to expand its Houston location, hire additional executives, pursue licensing and open new locations.
Eatertainment chains have recently secured funding from private investment firms, with Batbox, another baseball-focused eatertainment chain, and Five Iron Golf gaining millions in funding this year.
Dive Insight:
Eatertainment chains are expanding rapidly in the U.S. as consumer demand for experiential dining post-pandemic continues to rise. These concepts also generate high average unit volumes, with the likes of Pinstripes and Puttshack sustaining AUVs of over $8 million.
Home Run Dugout opened its first full-scale location in Katy, Texas, located outside of Houston in March 2023. This year, the company completed a $2.7 million expansion of its Katy location, adding 9,200 square feet to the 46,000 square foot venue. The renovation added 10 Batting Bays and a party pavilion for large events. That location now has 22 Batting Bays.
The batting technology includes soft-toss, ground up pitching machines and cageless batting and uses massive projection screens to simulate hitting home runs in major baseball stadiums.
The company plans to open new locations in San Antonio, Texas, and Scottsdale, Arizona, each spanning 65,000 square feet with 34 Batting Bays, the company’s Biergarten Baseball mini field, a full-service restaurant and three bars.
“Customers love our offering, and the Batting Bays continue to outperform, generating nearly three times the revenue of an average Topgolf bay,” Brian McGuire, lead investor and founder of Lagniappe Capital Partners, said in a statement.
Home Run Dugout is also licensing its Batting Bays and related technologies for use inside third-party venue operators like hotels, casinos, resorts, stadiums, sports complexes and entertainment centers.
The company will face some competition with Batbox, a Mexico-based concept, planning to have 25 locations in the U.S. by 2030. That chain plans to open its first U.S. venue in Addison, Texas, early next year. Batbox also uses simulators for its batting experience.
Brings three decades of operations and continuous improvement experience to the organization
Barry-Wehmiller is excited to announce a new role that will bring transformative change to the organization. Doug Neal has been appointed Vice President of Continuous Improvement and will lead the efforts to reboot the organization’s dedication to operational excellence. Neal brings over three decades of experience in operations and continuous improvement across diverse industries, spanning from healthcare to manufacturing, making him a pivotal addition to the leadership team.
Most recently, Neal worked at Revvity (formerly PerkinElmer), where he held important roles such as Senior Director, Global Lean; Senior Director, Planning and Logistics; and Senior Director, Service Operations. He holds a Bachelor of Science in industrial management from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration from Pennsylvania Western University Clarion.
Neal’s diverse skill set includes expertise in multisite operations and international business systems, along with extensive experience in manufacturing and transactional process improvement. His appointment marks a strategic move toward enhancing Barry-Wehmiller’s global commercial, operational and organizational strategies.
“Doug’s wealth of experience and passion for operational excellence will undoubtedly drive significant transformation at Barry-Wehmiller,” said Kyle Chapman, Barry-Wehmiller President. “His continuous improvement initiatives align with our vision of building a vibrant future and ensure that our customers continue to receive exceptional quality and service.”
“Barry-Wehmiller is a great organization with a great history and foundation,” said Neal. “I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities here. Our focus will be on the people, ensuring they are involved and engaged in driving the changes needed to deliver results for our customers, stakeholders and team members.”
Glasgow, Scotland: Star Refrigeration will use Cold Chain Live! to champion AI-enabled, data led monitoring. Star Refrigeration is set to participate as a gold sponsor, exhibitor, and speaker at the Cold Chain Live! on 4 to 5 September.
Star’s will advise on the latest technologies to minimise energy consumption and carbon emissions. This year, the company is particularly excited to unveil new advancements in AI-driven, data-led monitoring and performance optimisation technologies which are currently redefining industry standards.
Cold Chain Live! organised by the Cold Chain Federation, will see Star show how successful collaborations with key Cold Chain Federation members, including Tesco and Asda, have led to energy savings of over 10%.
Rob Lamb, group sales and marketing director, Star Refrigeration, will present a paper on How AI and Data Analysis Technology Can Reduce the Energy Consumption of Cooling Equipment in Cold Stores at the Innovation Zone on 4 September at 11:45am.
Rob Lamb, group sales and marketing director, Star Refrigeration
Lamb said, “We are delighted to participate in Cold Chain Live! 2024. This event is a fantastic opportunity to connect with industry peers and share the latest advancements in sustainable technology.
“Our focus will be on energy efficiency, highlighting how AI and data analytics technology transform real data into actionable insights to deliver significant energy and CO2 savings for cold chain members.”
“Imagine a technology that uses digital twin modelling and AI to drive itself, gain insights, learn, and adapt continuously, configuring millions of refrigeration system data points in seconds instead of months to locate hidden inefficiencies and protect against operational threats by predicting and fixing issues before they occur,” Lamb said.
“This is what we envision for the new era, a technology that evolves with the growing needs of the cold chain industry”.
