Argentine authorities have quarantined a dry bulk vessel in the Parana River over a suspected case of mpox onboard.
The ship was near the port of Rosario when it alerted authorities that “one of its crew members of Indian nationality showed cyst-like skin lesions predominantly on the chest and face,” the health ministry said in a statement.
The crewmember has been isolated from the rest of the crew. The vessel, which had been bound for San Lorenzo port, dropped anchor in the river.
The unnamed Liberian-flagged ship was sailing from Santos in Brazil to pick up a cargo of soy.
The entire crew will be quarantined until results of studies carried out by health officials are available.
The World Health Organization (WHO) last week declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years as a new variant of the virus spread rapidly in Africa. A day later, a case of the clade 1b variant was confirmed in Sweden, the first sign of its spread outside Africa.
Mpox, a viral infection that causes pus-filled lesions and flu-like symptoms, is usually mild but can kill. The clade 1b variety of mpox has triggered global concern because it seems to spread more easily through routine close contact.
AEGIC’s noodle and Asian products technical functions have moved to the Food Innovation Precinct of WA. Photo: FIPWA
THE Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre is in the midst of an unexpected move in Western Australia.
It has come about following the detection in June of concerning levels of asbestos at the WA Government’s Department of Primary Industries and Resources Development site in South Perth.
While AEGIC’s WA non-technical staff were quickly relocated to leased premises in Subiaco in Perth’s inner west, a new home for the unit’s technical staff has taken longer to find.
This week, AEGIC has announced its technical functions related to noodles and Asian products will temporarily relocate to the Sustainable Innovative Food Technology (SIFT) facility within the Food Innovation Precinct of WA, east of Mandurah, and around 50km south of the city.
“As WA’s leading food innovation and technology facility, SIFT is the ideal home for our Asian products and flour-quality labs in the medium term as we work towards more permanent arrangements,” AEGIC executive general manager Courtney Draper said in a statement.
Move expected, but not so soon
AEGIC is an independent not-for-profit company funded by the WA Government and Grains Australia, an initiative of the grower levy and Federal Government-funded Grains Research and Development Corporation.
Following the end of the single-desk marketing era which saw entities such as the Australian Wheat Board promoting Australian grain in offshore markets, AEGIC was founded in 2012 to increase value in the Australian grains industry.
In WA, AEGIC’s home from the start has been at DPIRD South Perth.
The WA Government had earlier announced plans to include AEGIC in a move to Murdoch University as part of a new complex which would enable DPIRD to move out of the aged South Perth site.
Announced in December 2022, the new facility was also to be home to InterGrain, DPIRD’s and GRDC’s joint-venture seed company.
AEGIC technician Kishor Sharma Regmi at AEGIC’s previous site in South Perth with udon noodles made from flour milled on the premises.
The asbestos issue has necessitated a faster move.
“Our technical experts have been hard at work moving equipment and setting up the new noodle labs at SIFT, which I’m pleased to say are already operating,” Ms Draper said in a statement.
SIFT is an investment of DPIRD and is operated by the Future Food Systems Co-operative Research Centre and Murdoch University.
AEGIC said it was working closely with DPIRD, Grains Australia and other industry stakeholders to identify medium-term alternative arrangements for all its WA-based technical functions.
This indicates baking is yet to find a new home.
New home for biosecurity prioritised
DPIRD’s South Perth site was also home to its Diagnostics and Laboratory Services.
On August 8, the WA Government announced a new State Biosecurity Response Centre was to be built for emergency management of priority pest and disease threats such as the critical polyphagous shot-hole borer response.
It is expected to accommodate more than 200 staff, and the location is yet to be announced.
“The Response Centre will also accommodate the department’s Diagnostics and Laboratory Services which were disrupted due to asbestos management and restricted access at DPIRD’s South Perth site,” the WA Government said in a statement.
“Suitable metropolitan locations have been identified for the new centre which is expected to be operational within months.”
The government said it has fast-tracked $83 million to urgently procure and fit out diagnostic laboratories and biosecurity response operations at the new centre, and that work on a new fit-for-purpose facility for DPIRD at Murdoch University will not proceed as planned.
It went on to say it “remains fully committed” to providing a scientific base for DPIRD with the previously allocated $320-million budget.
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More than 80% of consumers perceive that food prices have increased a little or a lot over the last 12 months, according to the May 2024 Consumer Food Insights Report (CFI).
The survey-based report out of Purdue University’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability assesses food spending, consumer satisfaction and values, support of agricultural and food policies and trust in information sources. Purdue experts conducted and evaluated the survey, which included 1,200 consumers across the U.S.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index measure of food inflation shows a 12-month increase in food prices of 2.2%, down from 4.4% a year ago. “While food inflation has slowed in 2024, consumers are feeling the cumulative effect of the high inflation we’ve experienced,” said the report’s lead author, Joseph Balagtas, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue and director of CFDAS.
The May CFI survey asked consumers to report their experiences and responses to rising food prices over the last 12 months. The survey included a question asked previously in February and July 2022, seeing how consumers have adapted their grocery shopping in response to food price inflation.
The researchers found that the most common shopping adaptations to food inflation are seeking out sales and discounts, switching to cheaper and generic brands, and buying fewer nonessential foods like ice cream.
“We also wanted to understand how perceived changes in food prices compare with perceived price changes for other common household expenses,” Balagtas said. “Consumers were more likely to report price increases for food than for any other good or service in the economy.”
Similarly, when asked which goods and services saw the largest year-over-year price increase, 56% of consumers selected “food,” despite official inflation data that show prices of insurance, housing and child care have risen faster than prices for food in the past year. “It’s possible the high frequency with which we shop for food could make higher food prices more salient to consumers. Media attention to food could also play a role,” Balagtas said.
The May survey revisited generational differences analyzed in past reports by categorizing consumers into Gen Z (born after 1996), millennials (born 1981-1996), Gen X (born 1965-1980), and boomer-plus (born before 1965).
“One area where we see bigger generational differences when asking about recent consumer experiences is the source of funding that consumers reported relying on to purchase food,” Balagtas said. “Around 37% of Gen Z and millennial consumers report drawing on savings or going into debt to finance their food purchases over the past year compared to 28% of Gen X and only 13% of boomer-plus consumers. It is concerning to see over a third of young adults needing to stretch their finances to afford food.”
Food insecurity is highest among Gen Z adults, with around one-third of consumers from this group also reporting having trouble accessing quality food. This is much higher than the rate of food insecurity among older Gen X (13%), and boomer-plus (5%) consumers.
“More research is needed, but these results are likely driven in part by a stage-of-life effect, as income and wealth increase are drivers of food security and tend to increase with age,” Balagtas said.
The April consumer price index measure of food price inflation — the most recent available — remained unchanged from March at 2.2%. The inflation rate seems to have stabilized, having stayed around 2.2% for the last three months, noted Elijah Bryant, a survey research analyst at CFDAS and co-author of the report.
“According to the center’s data, consumer estimates of food inflation over the past year of 6.2% and expectations for the coming year of 3.6% continue to remain higher than the CPI estimate,” Bryant said. This suggests that consumer experiences with food prices have been different than the official measurement.
“Consumers’ inflation estimates continue to hover around 6%, showing that the dramatic increase in food inflation in previous years may still be affecting consumer food price sentiment. However, consumers have been consistently more optimistic about future food prices relative to their inflation estimates over the past 12 months,” Bryant said.
Consumers are asked to allocate 100 points among the six attributes — taste, affordability, nutrition, availability, environmental impact and social responsibility — based on the importance of each in their grocery purchasing decisions. Though CFDAS began measuring food values on a quarterly basis in January 2024, the researchers have yet to observe significant changes in the importance level of these attributes.
“Taste, affordability and nutrition continue to be heavily considered by consumers when making a purchasing decision at the grocery store, whereas environmental impact and social responsibility are of lower importance,” Bryant said. “Americans’ values have proven to be fairly consistent despite changes to the economic landscape over the past couple of years.”
The survey results show generational differences in food values, too, between the younger Gen Z and millennial groups and the oldest boomer-plus group. Younger generations place more value on the environmental and social responsibility of their food when choosing what to buy. Older consumers are more concerned about taste.
The frequency of certain shopping and eating habits also differs across age groups. For instance, younger consumers are more likely to choose nonconventional foods compared to older consumers.
“We see this with organic foods, grass-fed beef, cage-free eggs and plant-based proteins,” Bryant said. However, all consumers regardless of age report checking food date labels often.
“We also observe older consumers report eating unwashed produce, raw dough and rare meat less frequently than younger consumers,” he said. This aligns with differences seen in risk attitudes among consumers of different ages. “Young adults are more willing to take risks with their food than older adults,” Bryant said.
TORONTO — Lactalis Canada’s yogurt brands, including iÖGO, iÖGO nanö, Astro, Olympic and siggi’s, have once again teamed up in support of Kids Help Phone with its annual Snack, Give & Win campaign.
In market nationally until Sept. 29, 2024, the campaign will see the company’s yogurt brands donate $40,000 to Kids Help Phone in support of children and youth mental health. New to this year’s campaign, consumers will also have the chance to win $5,000 by purchasing a Lactalis Canada yogurt and uploading their receipt to snackandgive.ca.
“With this latest iteration of Snack, Give & Win, we’re not only going beyond on-shelf deals to generate value for our consumers — particularly during the busy back-to-school period — but supporting the critical work of Kids Help Phone focused on youth mental health and wellbeing,” says Adrienne Pagot-Gérault, general manager, Yogurt & Cultured Division at Lactalis Canada.
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In its short life, Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce carved out a reputation for offering low shipping rates that helped it grow volume even when its future was highly uncertain.
“Over the last 12 to 24 months, the larger customers that have come over to Pitney Bowes, a lot of them migrated because of price,” parcel shipping consultant Mark Waverek said in an interview with Supply Chain Dive.
But offering low prices didn’t help Pitney Bowes in its failed effort to make Global Ecommerce, or GEC, a profitable venture. After years of losses, earlier this month, Pitney Bowes sold its majority interest in the unit to Hilco Global, which will liquidate and wind down the business.
The liquidation process is expected to conclude early next year, but GEC delivery services like Domestic Forward Standard Delivery and Domestic Cross-Border U.S. Outbound have already shut down.
Customers will have to shift GEC-destined volume to other shipping providers, if they haven’t done so already. Experts told Supply Chain Dive that shippers must consider short-term and long-term factors as they adjust their carrier mixes, ranging from peak season performance to changes within the Postal Service’s network.
As Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce winds down operations, shippers with a diverse carrier mix should face minimal disruption, experts told Supply Chain Dive.
Courtesy of Pitney Bowes
Multi-carrier strategies will help shippers
The shippers best positioned to avoid any disruptions from GEC’s shuttering are those who already have a flexible multi-carrier strategy in place, experts said. Considering the turmoil that has surrounded GEC in Pitney Bowes’ recent quarters, customers should have already been prepping contingency plans prior to the unit’s announced closure.
“The shippers that had two or more options set up for every ZIP code where their customers are located, they’re feeling good right now,” said Timur Eligulashvili, president of Logistics Remix, a parcel delivery carrier representative.
Shippers should evaluate their existing carrier mix first and see which options offer comparable pricing and delivery speeds to GEC before jumping to new providers, experts said. After all, implementing a new carrier can take time, and the clock is ticking as the holiday volume surge approaches.
“You got peak season coming up, you’ve got a hard shutdown over at Pitney Bowes [GEC], so you’ve lost a lot of leverage,” said Waverek, who is managing partner at PlaidMark Management and Consulting Services. “Unless you have a multi-carrier strategy already in place and Pitney Bowes was just a percentage of your allocated volume, you’re in a really bad position.”
While the timing of GEC’s shutdown isn’t ideal, carriers currently have plenty of space in their networks, especially compared to the capacity-strained stretch between 2020 and 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic fueled a spike in home delivery. The softer market has led carriers to offer aggressive rate discounts and for pricing power to swing back into shippers’ favor.
“The good news is we’re still in the shippers’ market,” Eligulashvili said. “There’s slack capacity for delivery, and packages will find their way.”
Despite more favorable conditions for shippers, new carriers are unlikely to offer rates as generous to shippers as GEC did, Eligulashvili added.
“It’s probably not going to happen, but could they get close to them? And what combination of carriers will offer that? That’s the question,” he said.
The shutdown of Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce could help the U.S. Postal Service grow volume for its Ground Advantage offering, according to experts.
David McNew/Getty Images via Getty Images
Consolidators offer a straightforward alternative
The simplest option for shippers is to bring GEC volume to other shipping consolidators like DHL eCommerce and OSM Worldwide, according to experts. Like GEC, these companies send parcels to Postal Service facilities for final-mile delivery and offer economical shipping options for lightweight packages.
However, shippers looking at these companies as a long-term alternative should gather information about the impact ongoing changes at the Postal Service will have on service reliability and pricing, Waverek said. The agency recently hiked rates and nixed ounce-based pricing for its Parcel Select service, which consolidators rely on.
That uncertainty may lead shippers to look beyond consolidators for long-term GEC replacements. National parcel carriers such as FedEx and UPS, along with regional alternatives, could be viable options if their pricing is strong enough to sway former GEC shippers, experts told Supply Chain Dive.
Large-scale businesses may also be able to ink a direct contract with the Postal Service and leverage its Ground Advantage delivery offering as the agency looks to attract more direct customers into its network. The Postal Service’s mailing options also work for lightweight packages, Gordon Glazer, senior consultant and USPS specialist at Shipware, said in a LinkedIn video.
“There’s a 50-to-60% save there,” Glazer said. “These packages move just as fast as the ground service, but it does require different tracking symbology as well as specialized packaging in order to conform with the physical requirements of the Postal Service.”
Even after shippers shift volume to other providers, the GEC shutdown could present some lingering operational headaches, particularly for package returns.
GEC will pick up returns from the Postal Service until Sept. 5. But if a customer returns a package after that date, where will it end up? Oscar Gladman, senior director of parcel at Kenco Group, said these packages could be held up at a Postal Service facility until a shipper retrieves it themselves.
“It might create an issue for returns customers for a little while who were printing labels and putting them in outbound packages,” Gladman said
Editor’s note: This story was first published in our Logistics Weekly newsletter. Sign up here.
Pumpkin creep is starting to feel more like a sprint. On Wednesday, coffee giant Starbucks announced that it would bring back its fall menu items (including its coveted Pumpkin Spice Latte, a.k.a. the PSL) on August 22 — the earliest the company has ever done so. In addition to introducing a few new autumnal offerings, Starbucks has teamed up with drinkware company Stanley to launch a limited-edition coffee cup.
According to Starbucks, the fall 2024 menu will feature fan-favorites like the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai, and Apple Crisp Oatmilk Macchiato. Menu newcomers include an Iced Apple Crisp Nondairy Cream Chai as well as two Starbucks app-exclusives: the Iced Caramel Apple Cream Latte and the Iced Honey Apple Almondmilk Flat White. The seasonal food menu will feature the returning Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin, Baked Apple Croissant, and Pumpkin & Pepita Loaf in addition to a new Raccoon Cake Pop.
The same day the new menus drop, Starbucks will begin offering a line of fall merch in stores, including an olive-green mug in collaboration with Stanley. The line includes eight different reusable water bottles, mugs, tumblers, and cold cups in a range of autumnal colors. Prices range from $20 to $55.
This announcement comes after the coffee chain’s stock price plummeted by over 15 percent in May. Since the beginning of 2024, the company has cut its sales outlook for the year twice, citing long wait times in the morning coffee rush as a major deterrent for would-be customers. The coffee giant is likely banking on its fall lineup to help rebound from slowing sales, as in the past, ten percent of the company’s annual sales have been attributed to PSLs. According to a press release, Starbucks also recently appointed former Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol as its chairman and CEO. Niccol is expected to begin his new role in early September.
GARNER, NC. — Butterball LLC released its Togetherness Report: Capitalizing on Consumer Appetite for Shared Meals, which examines the impact of consumer shopping behavior on preparing shared meals beyond the holidays.
Butterball defines a shared meal as a planned meal prepared and eaten at home with other people. This could include immediate family meals, casual meals with family or friends, and special occasion meals.
“For 70 years, Butterball has helped new and seasoned hosts prepare the perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece to foster togetherness through food; however, there are numerous opportunities and a strong desire for people to gather over shared meals throughout the year,” said Kyle Lock, Butterball’s vice president of retail and international marketing. “We examined the changing dynamics in human connection, and by sharing these insights, Butterball hopes to shed light on opportunities for grocery retailers to create a tailored shopping experience for consumers. Butterball believes in the power of food to bring people together and anticipates this trend will continue to grow, bringing additional moments of impact for grocery retailers.”
In May, Butterball conducted a survey of among a sample of 2,127 US grocery shoppers aged 24 and up.
The survey found that, while Americans want to gather for meals, they find that busy schedules are the top barrier holding them back from doing so as frequently as they would like. Other barriers include limited hosting space, insufficient time to plan and prepare meals, limited cooking abilities and lack of new recipe ideas.
Nearly 70% of consumers expressed a desire to increase their frequency of shared meals despite their busy schedules. The report added that 80% of those who have increased shared meals over the past two years say their lives are very rewarding, compared to only 60% of those who have shared meals less often.
When having a shared meal, 87% of consumers prefer shopping in store for food items rather than using time-saving options like ordering online for pickup or delivery.
Expense is not a major concern for consumers when it comes to shared meals. Younger generations — Generation Z and Millennials — in particular are willing to spend significantly more on groceries for shared meals.
With consumers claiming some grocery stores to be more preferable than others when shopping for shared meals, Butterball highlighted opportunities for retailers to help attract more of these kinds of shoppers. As one piece of advice, Butterball suggested providing digital options like publishing recipes online and in-app ingredient lists. Retailers could adapt to other shopper preferences by making recipe bundle kits or updating store organization for an easy, in-store shopping experience, noted Butterball.
Lloyd’s Register (LR) and CORE POWER have initiated a joint regulatory assessment study to explore the safety and regulatory requirements for a next-generation nuclear-powered feeder container ship to operate in a European port.
This study focused on the feasibility and necessary frameworks for utilizing a fourth-generation reactor known for its high inherent safety. Following initial planning efforts, it was formalized through a joint development project agreement with A.P. Moller-Maersk.
“The initiation of this joint study marks the beginning of an exciting journey towards unlocking the potential of nuclear power in the maritime industry, paving the way for emissions-free operations, more agile service networks and greater efficiency through the supply chain. A multi-fuel pathway to decarbonising the maritime industry is crucial to ensuring we as an industry meet the IMO’s emission reduction targets and nuclear propulsion shows signs of playing a key role in this energy transition,” stated Nick Brown, CEO of Lloyd’s Register.
The study aims to identify the necessary updates to safety regulations and enhance operational and regulatory understanding for applying nuclear power in container shipping. It will also offer insights for maritime industry stakeholders considering nuclear power as part of their fleet strategy to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Bringing together LR’s maritime advisory expertise, CORE POWER’s advanced nuclear energy technology, the knowledge of a leading Port Authority, and Maersk’s extensive shipping and logistics experience, the study represents a comprehensive approach to assessing the future of nuclear propulsion in the maritime sector.
“There’s no net-zero without nuclear. A critical key to unlocking the vast potential for nuclear energy to transform how the maritime sector is powered, is the standards framework for commercial insurability of floating nuclear power plants and nuclear-powered ships that would operate in near shore environments, ports, and waterways. We’re immensely pleased to be working with some of Europe’s most respected industry participants to set out the conditions for how this can be achieved,” said Mikal Bøe, CEO of CORE POWER.
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Dive Brief:
Online grocery sales reached $7.9 billion in July, up more than 9% compared with the same month last year, according to data released Thursday by Brick Meets Click and Mercatus.
Pickup accounted for about 42% of grocery e-commerce sales last month and delivery claimed a share of just over 40%. The ship-to-home channel accounted for 19% of the market.
Delivery sales were up 22% in July even as pickup sales were flat, building on a pattern that gained steam during the previous month.
Dive Insight:
While pickup retained its position leading the online grocery e-commerce sector as measured by sales last month, delivery continued to march forward on multiple fronts as companies including Amazon, Walmart and Instacart cut fees to encourage people to sign up for membership programs.
The sharp discounts Walmart and Instacart offered on their membership programs helped generate growth in both the number of delivery users they saw and order frequency, Brick Meets Click and Mercatus said.
Almost a third of shoppers who bought groceries online from supermarkets or hard discounters in July also received an online grocery order from a mass merchant, the research showed.
“Intense competition in grocery delivery promotions is eroding regional grocers’ control over customer interactions,” Mark Fairhurst, Mercatus’ chief growth officer, said in a statement. “While third-party marketplaces may boost short-term order volume gains, they also make it harder for grocery retailers to achieve the economies of scale needed to reduce operating costs.”
The number of delivery orders recorded last month was almost 20% higher than the figure for July 2023, as both order frequency and the number of shoppers who opted for the fulfillment method increased, Brick Meets Click found. At the same time, pickup order volume was off by 3% as the channel’s monthly active user base and order frequency lost momentum.
The ship-to-home sector, which reflects online grocery orders fulfilled by third-party shippers like UPS and FedEx, notched a slight gain in order volume in July even as order frequency slipped.
Delivery’s base of monthly active users grew last month by more than 10% year over year, compared with a 2% drop for pickup. On the other hand, average order value for pickup slightly outpaced the comparable figure for delivery.
The data also showed that traditional supermarkets grew their base of monthly active users by 7% in July — twice the growth pace they recorded during the same period in 2023. Still, mass merchants managed to expand their monthly active user count at an even faster clip of nearly 8%.
The findings reflect a survey of 1,760 shoppers Brick Meet Click fielded July 30-31.
A scene from the last Ljubljana Coffee Festival. All images courtesy of Ljubljana Coffee Festival.
The upcoming Ljubljana Coffee Festival is bringing some prominent specialty coffee professionals from throughout Europe together this Sept. 21-22 in Slovenia.
Taking place at the City Museum of Ljubljana, in Slovenia’s capital and largest city, the festival promises to blend specialty coffee and haute cuisine in a program geared towards coffee pros and enthusiasts alike, according to the organizers.
Highlights will include a barista competition, a latte art competition, a sensory room with coffee tastings curated by importers, a lecture series exploring trends and innovations throughout the specialty coffee chain, a roaster village with equipment and brewing displays and a “Slovenian Roasters’ Place” highlighting the coffees and talents of Slovenian roasters.
One of the event’s big draws is likely to be a panel discussion on the evening of Sept. 21 called the Specialty Coffee & Haute Cuisine Panel Forum. The event will bring together world-renowned coffee pros and chefs from some of Slovenia’s finest restaurants to explore the intersection of specialty coffee and high-end cuisine.
The panel will feature coffee names such as James Hoffmann, Tim Wendelboe and Dale Harris, and Slovenian chefs Tomaž Bratovž, Igor Jagodic and Mojmir Šiftar. Journalist Vasileia Fanarioti will moderate.
According to the organizers, the panel will explore the challenges of integrating specialty coffee into established restaurants, as well as opportunities for coffee purveyors to enhance offerings and adapt to seasonality and freshness.
A special food and coffee tasing event taking place at Restaurant Strelec on the evening of Sept. 20 will lead into the festival.
Pioneering Slovenian specialty coffee company Stow Coffee Roasters created the first iteration of the volunteer-led festival in 2016, and it has since grown to find support from key sponsors such as La Marzocco, Mahlkönig, Brita, Alpro and more.
“The festival’s goal is to create one of the strongest professional programs, thereby helping to elevate the quality of Slovenia’s specialty coffee scene,” Peter Ševič, the festival director and AST Trainer at the Stow coffee academy, told DCN.
Tickets for the main festival start at €20 for single days, or €30 for both days, plus €20 for the haute cuisine panel. More information is available through the Ljubljana Coffee Festival website.
