Protein News covers the production, processing, and distribution of protein-rich foods derived from animals, including meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy. This section explores the entire supply chain, from farming practices and animal nutrition to processing methods and market trends. It also delves into sustainability, animal welfare, and innovations in protein sources, including alternative options like plant-based, insect, and lab-grown proteins. The Protein category is essential for understanding the role of all protein types in global nutrition, economic impacts, and evolving consumer preferences.
German machinery manufacturer SCHULE Mühlenbau announces the completion of a state-of-the-art plant in Latvia for processing peas and fava beans as commissioned by Golden Fields Alternative Protein, an international producer and supplier of agricultural products.
The new facility is to create 50 jobs in the Baltic region and have production capabilities of around 50,000 tonnes of pea and beans annually, as international demand for proteins from pulses continues to surge, as per our report from just yesterday. According to reports, Golden Fields is considering opening additional processing plants in the area.
Golden Fields Alternative Protein says that it co-operates closely with farmers for the production of plant-based proteins as raw materials for end products like meatless burgers, sausages and nuggets, stating, “We are at the forefront of this trend, creating innovative and sustainable protein and starch products from peas and fava beans.”
Thorsten Lucht, Area Sales Manager at SCHULE Mühlenbau, comments in a press release: “Extracting proteins from legumes requires many different processing steps and a great depth of expertise. In addition to cleaning and sorting, this includes dehulling, separating, fine grinding and separating into protein-rich and starch-rich fractions.”
Mahmoud Ahmed, CEO at Golden Fields Alternative Protein, adds, “Due to global population growth and the increasing demand for sustainably produced food, the need for high-quality proteins has been rising for years.
“With our new plant in Liepaja, which SCHULE Mühlenbau planned, built and commissioned just in time, we are ideally prepared for this future market in Northern Europe.”
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.”
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.
The Butterball brand has released its Butterball Togetherness Report: Capitalizing on Consumer Appetite for Shared Meals, uncovering how consumer shopping behavior is impacted when preparing for shared meals beyond the holidays and opportunities for grocery retailers to capitalize on these behaviors.
The report examines shared meals — planned meals prepared and eaten in a home with other people, whether family or friends — to highlight the dynamics of human connection. Shared meals can include immediate family meals, casual meals with family or friends, and special occasion meals.
Conducted among a sample of more than 2,000 grocery shoppers aged 24 and up in the contiguous United States, the report sheds light on key trends shaping modern dining experiences that can help retailers curate their shopping experience to consumer preferences.
The new Butterball Togetherness Report uncovers the role of shared meals throughout the year as well as the barriers Americans face when planning them. It also illuminates opportunities for grocery retailers to help consumers overcome these obstacles and bring people together through food more frequently.
“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 VP 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.”
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. However, shoppers aren’t willing to compromise on their shared meal — they are keen to shop in store for shared meals, rather than using time-saving options such as ordering online for pickup or delivery. Additional barriers cited include limited hosting space, insufficient time to plan and prepare meals, limited cooking abilities and lack of new recipe ideas. One item that is not a major consumer concern when shopping for a shared meal: expense. The report found that shoppers typically spend more on groceries for shared meals, with younger generations — Gen Z and Millennials — spending significantly more on meals shared in their home than older generations.
For large grocery retailers, the report highlights opportunities to help consumers solve some of these obstacles to save time planning and shopping for shared meals. Grocery retailers can help time-crunched, shared-meal shoppers by providing digital options such as publishing recipes online and in-app ingredient lists. Grocery retailers can adapt to other shopper preferences by making recipe bundle kits or updating store organization to create an easy, in-store shopping experience, where shoppers have a sense of safety, inclusivity and enjoyment.
Additional key takeaways and trends from the report:
How grocery retailers can attract share-meal shoppers and boost loyalty
Help consumers shop for more frequent shared meals and make them more satisfying.
Reduce time and energy spent planning meals through store organization, recipe bundles and friendly customer service.
Provide inspiration, instill confidence, and create a fun shopping experience to attract younger consumers.
Desire for shared meals
80% of those who have increased shared meals over the last two years say their lives are very rewarding, compared to 60% of those who have shared meals less often.
Younger consumers are willing to spend more money on hosting shared meals compared to Boomers, with younger Millennials and older Gen Z spending 55% more, and older Millennials spending 51% more.
69% of all respondents express a desire for increased shared meals, despite busy schedules as the primary barrier.
Unveiling the shopper’s palate
87% of shoppers favor physical grocery stores over online or delivery options when shopping for shared meals.
88% of participants agree that some grocery stores are more preferable than others when shopping for shared meals, citing factors such as ease, convenience and product offerings over price and value.
Local specialty stores (3.25x increase) and wholesale stores (2.5x increase) draw disproportionately more consumers who are shopping for shared meals, compared to regular grocery runs.
Saudi Arabia’s flagship line Bahri has snapped up nine very large crude carriers from Evangelos Marinakis-controlled Capital Maritime & Trading.
The company said in a Tadawul filing it would be paying about $1bn in total for the scrubber-fitted ships delivering by the end of the first quarter of 2025. The deal will be financed by bank borrowings and cash on hand.
Bahri has been actively renewing its VLCC fleet since late last year by taking a number of modern ships on the secondhand market, including four VLCCs from Korea Line Corporation in May.
The latest move is expected to modernise the company’s oil shipping fleet, which currently stands at 40 VLCCs, and enable phasing out older vessels. The majority of the nine unnamed vessels were built in South Korea and average 5.9 years and about 311,500 dwt.
“The transaction will significantly advance Bahri’s fleet modernisation plans, reinforcing its position among leading VLCC owners globally,” the company said, adding that it would also bolster Bahri’s overall fleet competitiveness and lead to higher earnings and reduced operating expenses.
The sale for the Greek owner follows orders for six LNG dual-fuel VLCCs in China earlier this year at $140m each with deliveries set for 2026 and 2027.
QUESTION: What is the most valuable item that can be harvested from beef cattle in Australia? If your answer was eye fillet steak, foetal blood used in the diagnostic and pathology industries or heart valves used in human transplants, you’d be wrong.
Gallstones, found (occasionally) in the gall bladders of cattle during processing for beef, are currently worth up to an eye-watering A$330,000/kg. Compare that with 24K gold, worth a record $131,000/kg in Australia this morning.
Back then, best quality gallstones were worth around $20,000/kg – still a considerable amount of money, but representing a 1550 percent increase since then. Two years ago, good gallstones were making $100,000/kg, but the market has simply exploded since 2023.
In fact our original gallstone article, unintentionally, has ‘morphed’ into something of a global marketplace for gallstones, with hundreds of people around the world posting reader comments as potential buyers or sellers. We suspect some of those, at least, may be dodgy, so buyers beware.
So how scarce, or abundant are cattle gallstones, and are processors making a ‘killing’ at producers’ expense?
The Australian cattle industry’s entire production of gallstones each year amounts to only about 200kg, one of the country’s largest brokers in the commodity told Beef Central. The broker asked not to be identified in this report, but was happy to share knowledge and opinion about what’s driving the latest market trend.
The world leader in gallstone production is Brazil, which still only manages to produce 2000kg of stones a year.
An important point is that while the stones (like those pictured above) look like gravel or small rocks, they are surprisingly light in weight. Stones are 75 percent water when first retrieved, and lose much of that weight when they dry out, before sale. Sometimes they grow mould, and become devalued during that process.
Gallstones can form in the gall bladder of cattle, and are retrieved at the abattoir during the bile extraction process on the eviscera table. Their presence, frequency and quality can be influenced by a wide range of factors, such as grazing country type and access to bore water.
Additionally, the supply of gallstones has a lot to do with age at slaughter. A cow slaughter plant targeting manufacturing meat is likely to produce more, and larger stones per head of animals processed than a plant processing yearling MSA grassfed or grainfed.
Are stones lucrative?
So how much are beef processors in Australia making out of harvesting gallstones?
A broker contact who has dealt in gallstones for 40 years made an assessment some years ago based on sales that one processor supplier was taking on average 30,000 head of cattle to generate 1kg of stones. If that figure is accurate, and if it is assumed that every stone is of Grade A quality (which they aren’t), it suggests a return on a per head slaughtered basis of around $10. However, many stones are of inferior quality, so reality may be considerably lower than that – perhaps $5 a head, at best, the broker said.
Another large Queensland plant killing around 200,000 cattle a year (but few if any older cows) told Beef Central it was lucky to produce 1kg of sellable gallstone a year. Even processing plants specialising in cow slaughter for manufacturing beef say the presence of gallstones is ‘very, very low’ relative to the number of cattle killed.
Compare those figures with another co-product item harvested from beef cattle, like Swiss Cut Tongue, for example – popular in Japan and currently worth around $25/kg FOB (as much as $40/kg in Wagyu). At an average sale weight of 1.5kg, that suggests some processors are making anywhere from $37 to $60 a head from tongue offal – suggesting that gallstones are nowhere near as lucrative to processors as they may first seem.
Processors, of course, would argue that any revenue generated from the occasional gallstone is accounted for in the overall price they are prepared to pay for slaughter cattle.
So has the volume of gallstones produced by the Australian processing industry changed much, as the industry has transitioned into younger, heavier cattle – on average at least 12 months younger than a few decades ago?
Surprisingly not, a well known broker said, suggesting volumes had remained reasonably stable over the past 20 or 30 years.
Apart from the Global Financial Crisis period around 1998 when gallstones became almost impossible to sell, prices had growing steadily, rather than exponentially, over many years, until the latest boom, the broker said.
While China remains the primary market for Australian gallstones, other countries like Japan, Korea and Taiwan are also customers.
Gallstones as currency
One theory that has emerged about the current extraordinary prices for stones is that their appeal has transcended their primary use in traditional Asian medicine.
Gallstones have become a form of currency in parts of Asia, it seems.
“The Chinese economy is in a bad state, and wealthy people in China have been buying gallstones and storing them like they would gold,” an Australian broker told Beef Central.
Another factor was that Chinese people are now limited by law to taking no more than $50,000 offshore, the trade contact claimed, so gallstones are being used as a means of cash transfer. Stones bought from Australia are being re-exported and sold out of China, and the resultant cash parked in overseas accounts, it was claimed.
“The risk is that when the market does turn – and bubbles often burst – it could happen with a vengeance,” the broker warned.
With that risk being presented, some Australian gallstone brokers had been forced to change their business models, to avoid being caught with expensive product in a collapsing market.
“The current price is not realistic, and I don’t think it will keep at this level. It’s ridiculous,” the broker said.
The continuous manufacturing of cultivated meat could address the associated scalability and cost challenges facing the industry, finds a new study published in the Nature journal conducted by Believer Meats founder Professor Yaakov Nahmias and a team at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The research used a technology called tangential flow filtration, with a new bioreactor assembly that permitted biomass expansion to 130 billion cells per liter. This provided yields of 43% weight per volume. A new animal-free culture medium costing just $0.63 per liter was also used.
The process involved cultivating chicken cells over a 20-day period, with daily biomass harvests. The researchers found that the method could significantly reduce the cost and complexity of cultivated meat production, potentially making cultivated products more accessible to consumers.
“This important study provides numerous data points that demonstrate the economic feasibility of cultivated meat”
The study is claimed to be the first demonstration of the cost-efficient manufacturing of cultivated meat, along with the first empirical economic analysis based on solid data. With the innovative solutions demonstrated, projections indicate that 2.14 million kg of cultivated chicken could be produced annually at cost parity with USDA organic chicken, even in a small 50,000-liter facility. However, the authors acknowledge that other factors could also affect the market price of cultivated meat.
“This important study provides numerous data points that demonstrate the economic feasibility of cultivated meat,” said Dr. Elliot Swartz, Principal Cultivated Meat Scientist at The Good Food Institute. “The study confirms early theoretical calculations that serum-free media can be produced at costs well below $1/L without forfeiting productivity, which is a key factor for cultivated meat achieving cost-competitiveness.”
Previously, analyses have raised concerns about the viability of cultivated meat production due to the high costs of facilities and raw materials. However, researchers and companies worldwide are working to develop solutions; for example, scientists at Tufts University have successfully made bovine muscle cells produce their own growth signals, eliminating the need for some costly ingredients.
Several companies are also developing animal-free alternatives to fetal bovine serum, a cell growth medium that is expensive and ethically problematic. Meanwhile, Ever After Foods claims to have developed a cutting-edge bioreactor platform that could provide “unmatched” cost-efficient scalability.
The new study has been published as Believer Meats continues to build what is claimed to be the world’s first large-scale industrial production facility for cultivated chicken.
“We were inspired by how Ford’s automated assembly line revolutionized the car industry 110 years ago,” said Professor Nahmias. “Our findings show that continuous manufacturing enables cultivated meat production at a fraction of current costs, without resorting to genetic modification or mega-factories. This technology brings us closer to making cultivated meat a viable and sustainable alternative to traditional animal farming.”
SÃO PAULO — BRF S.A. announced on Nov. 13 it has abandoned plans to sell its pet food business after exploring competitive sale opportunities earlier this year.
The company partnered with Banco Santander in February to advise on the sale of its pet food operations but has ultimately decided to maintain the business.
“As the third-ranked player in the pet food market in Brazil and leader in super premium natural pet feed, the company will continue to drive growth in this segment by increasing distribution through specialized channel, strengthening brands strategy by segment and channel, consolidating integration synergies, and advancing the export expansion strategy,” the company stated.
Stoppage would halt US spring wheat shipments to west coast
21 August 2024
4 minute read
A looming stoppage of freight railway operations across Canada would disrupt North America’s agricultural supply chain, snarling shipments of everything from wheat to fertiliser and meat, reported Reuters.
Unless last-minute labour agreements are reached, both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, an effective duopoly, will shut nearly all freight rail services in Canada for the first time at midnight on Thursday.
Canada is the world’s top exporter of canola, used in food and biofuel, and of potash fertilizer, as well as the No. 3 wheat exporter. While a lockout or strike would directly involve 10,000 Canadian employees of the railroads, not those in the US, it would have knock-on effects on the U.S. economy due to the countries’ criss-crossing rail lines.
Nearly three dozen North American agriculture groups, in a joint letter to the US and Canadian governments on Monday, urged action to avoid a stoppage.
“The impact of a strike would be particularly severe on bulk commodity exporters in both Canada and the United States as trucking is not a viable option for many agricultural shippers,” the letter said, citing large volumes and vast distances.
The rail operators have said lockouts will begin on Thursday. The Teamsters union, which is demanding better wages, benefits, and crew scheduling, has issued a Thursday strike notice to CPKC.
The stoppage will halt shipments of US spring wheat from Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota to the Pacific Northwest for export, said Max Fisher, chief economist at the National Grain and Feed Association.
CPKC ships grain from the Dakotas and Minnesota to west-coast export terminals via Canada, according to the US government.
US farmers still have nearly two-thirds of the spring-wheat crop to harvest, the US Department of Agriculture said on Monday. Soy, corn and canola harvests are still a few weeks away in North America.
Canada’s prairie elevator network would run out of storage capacity within 10 days of a stoppage, said Mark Hemmes, head of Quorum Corp, which monitors Canadian grain handling and transportation.
Shippers are also concerned about US corn products heading to Canada. In 2023, Canada was the top destination for US ethanol exports, and almost three-quarters traveled by rail, according to USDA.
“We just can’t have the railroads not operating,” Fisher said.
The US exported $28.2 billion of agricultural products last year to Canada, its third-largest destination for agricultural exports behind China and Mexico, USDA said.
The US imported $40.1 billion of Canadian agricultural products last year, making Canada the second-largest origin of US agricultural imports behind Mexico, the agency said.
About 85% of the 13 million metric tons of US potash imports last year came from Canada, nearly all of which crossed by rail, according to USDA.
‘No good time’
US corn farmers apply fertilisers in fall and spring, but potash imports from Canada are consistent throughout the year, said Krista Swanson, chief economist for the National Corn Growers Association.
“Given constant trade flows and the importance of the trade relationship between the two nations, there is no good time for this to occur,” Swanson said.
The railways move an average of 69,000 tons of fertilizer product per day, equivalent to four to five trains, said Fertilizer Canada spokesperson Kayla FitzPatrick. Disruptions will cost the industry C$55 million ($40.34 million) to C$63 million per day in lost revenue, not including logistical and operational costs, she said.
Canadian meat producers warned that a rail stoppage would result in millions of dollars in losses and waste.
The Canadian Meat Council and Canadian Pork Council said some processing plants expect to lose up to C$3 million a week, and noted these facilities would be forced to shut down within seven to 10 days of a rail stoppage. Once the railways resume service, it would take two to five weeks for plants to return to normal capacity.
There is concern that the movement of Ontario soybeans to export markets, primarily Japan, will completely stop just before the harvest, said Crosby Devitt, CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario.
With crop-shipment delays lasting beyond a week, companies must pay contract penalties and demurrage for ships waiting for grain to arrive, piling significant cost onto the industry, said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association.
“We’ll be playing catch-up for the rest of the harvest year, till next July,” he said.
Starting today through September 30, guests can wow their taste buds with the “swiciest” sensation of the season, the Nashville-Style Hot Honey Pizza. The exclusive and inspired creation delivers a mash-up of today’s popular food trends, including hot chicken and hot honey pizza, topped with Mike’s Hot Honey – Extra Hot for the perfect amount of sweet heat.
The Nashville-Style Hot Honey Pizza includes CPK’s signature hand-battered crispy chicken, ranchito sauce, and fresh Mozzarella cheese, baked in our hearth oven, then topped with cayenne seasoning and dill pickles, and drizzled with Mike’s Hot Honey – Extra Hot.
“We’re long time fans of Mike’s Hot Honey, which is why we set out to give our guests an unexpected pizza collaboration like no other,” says Chef Paul Pszybylski, VP of culinary innovation at CPK. “Since we love fusing flavors and cuisines together, we knew hot chicken and hot honey should come together to make the next great pizza!”
“California Pizza Kitchen is known for its innovative approach to pizza and pushing boundaries, and we’re thrilled to add a unique sweet heat kick to their latest creation,” says Mike Kurtz, founder, Mike’s Hot Honey. “We’re excited that our Extra Hot is the star of the pizza, marking the first time it’s been featured in a collaboration.”
Additionally this fall, CPK is bringing back seasonal favorites, such as the Pumpkin Cheesecake:
Pumpkin Cheesecake: A creamy pumpkin cheesecake over a layer of classic New York cheesecake, on a gingersnap crust.
CPK’s fall limited-time offerings are now available at all participating restaurants for dine-in, pick up, and delivery.
For more information, visit cpk.com and follow @cpk or @calpizzakitchen on social media.
