Malaysia is the latest territory to weigh into the debate today with Malaysian Palm Oil Council CEO Belvinder Kaur Sron urging the European Commission to “do the right thing”.

Her calls follow fresh warnings of disaster, should the EUDR be implemented as planned​ on 30 December.

“The EC should now do the right thing, and listen to the ever-growing calls for a delay to the EUDR,” said Kaur.

“A delay is now the only way to ensure small farmers are supported, to provide stability for businesses, EU Member States and governments around the world, and to avoid a chaotic implementation of EUDR.”

What’s the impact of EUDR?

The regulation is a non-tariff barrier that would add considerable cost and burden to the supply chain, while excluding smallholders from the EU market altogether, Kaur said.

Clear compliance guidelines had not been supplied, despite just four months until deadline, she continued.

Kaur also called for the EC to provide a genuine and wide-ranging exemption for smallholders to prevent supply chain exclusion.

There was a need for “specific” and “credible” criteria to ensure proven, sustainable commodities like Malaysian palm oil were identified as ‘low risk’ within the regulation.

Finally, it was requested the MSPO standard was recognised as a compliance tool for EUDR to ease market access for proven zero-deforestation palm oil.

Along with German chancellor Olaf Sholz this week calling for an EUDR delay​, ambassadors from 17 countries including Brazil, Ghana and Thailand, recently signed a letter to the EC in which they described the EUDR as “inherently discriminatory and punitive”.

Who is on the new European Commission council

In June, the Biden Administration called for the EU to delay the upcoming regulation in a letter that demanded the EC address ongoing concerns before enforcing the penalties and challenges the EUDR would cause.

Added to that in the spring, Agricultural Ministers from 20 of the 27 EU Member States requested EUDR changes and also appealed for a delay.

Charity Fairtrade has also stepped up its support for regulation changes and delays. It stated it strongly believed in the objectives of the regulation, but called for more financial support and clarification.

Meanwhile, EC president Ursula von der Leyen unveiled her council team this morning, which will sit for the next five years, subject to EU Parliament hearings.

Christopher Hansen has been appointed agriculture and food commissioner; Costas Kadis is fisheries and oceans minister; and Olivér Várhelyi is commissioner for health and animal welfare.

Making the announcement on social platform X, von der Leyen said: “Every member of my team will bring in their own experience and perspectives on Europe. Together, we will be one team, working towards one common goal. To make Europe stronger.” 

The EC would not issue a new statement on the rising calls for an EUDR delay and pointed FoodNavigator to a pre-recorded comment from EC spokesperson Tim McPhie, who said: “The legislation has been set by the co-legislators and the commissioner is doing everything it can to ensure that things are in place on time.”

AUSTIN, Texas — Fourth announces the release of Fourth iQ, the Artificial Intelligence for Restaurants. Fourth iQ is used by restaurant chains to optimize their entire workforce and inventory operations to maximize profitability, increase productivity and enhance the experience of employees and customers.

“AI is transforming the technology landscape across industries and the restaurant sector will be no different. Fourth iQ marks a new frontier in how restaurant operators can easily embrace the transformative power of AI to maximize the profit of every location and create a competitive advantage,” states Christian Berthelsen, Fourth’s Chief Technology Officer.

Many of Fourth’s customers are already benefiting from Fourth iQ, including national chains such as Pizza Hut, Noodles & Company, and Chili’s. As part of the expanded capabilities offered by Fourth iQ, customers can utilize AI forecasting for scheduling and inventory, plus a Real-Time KPI dashboard to track their key metrics across all locations. A further range of advanced Fourth iQ features will deliver new ways to increase profitability centrally across all locations and boost the productivity of general managers at each location.

Speaking ahead of the release, Fourth CEO Clinton Anderson explains the drivers behind developing Fourth iQ. “With 25 years in the restaurant game, we are acutely aware of the challenges our customers face—profit margins are tight, as labor and food costs continue to rise; and the responsibility for driving efficiency is dependent on the decisions made by overburdened general managers who are often reliant on incomplete information and legacy technologies. Fourth iQ can overcome these challenges by using AI to generate ‘the next best actions’ informed by multiple data sources and defined goals; providing managers with real-time recommendations of how best to efficiently deploy labor, grow sales, and reduce waste. It’s an incredibly exciting time for Fourth and our customers.”

In essence, Fourth iQ is a multi-faceted AI and Analytics capability that works across the entirety of restaurant chains’ operations, including recruitment, HR, scheduling, payroll and inventory management. Fourth iQ is embedded into Fourth’s established suite of market-leading solutions, including HotSchedules, PeopleMatter, and MacromatiX.

“A core aim of Fourth iQ is to create a ‘profit engine’ at the heart of our customers operations,” states Christian Berthelsen. He continues, “By creating a layer of intelligence across all locations in a restaurant chain, Fourth iQ produces what we call ‘above store insights that drive in-store action’, to ensure every opportunity to drive profitability and efficiency is identified and actioned, whether by managers or entirely automated.”

The tangible benefits of Fourth iQ are already being realized by Fourth’s customers; AI-driven forecasting has enabled Noodles & Company to increase their sales forecasting accuracy by 20%, leading to a $4 million reduction in labor costs. The same increase in forecast accuracy resulted in Chili’s saving 600 labor hours per week nationally.

Bar Louie, a 63 location Gastrobar concept, is another Fourth customer embarking on their AI journey with Fourth iQ. Roberta Frierson, Senior Vice President of Technology, shared their ambition to become AI-driven. “At Bar Louie, we see the promise of AI. Not just for front of house, but for our back of house processes like recruiting, hiring, scheduling, and paying team members. As we incorporate AI into our tech stack, we believe it will make managers more effective and streamline our operations.”

Enabling customers to easily bring AI into their tech stack is core to Fourth’s vision for the industry. “In creating Fourth iQ, we are providing every restaurant chain the simplest and most effective way to get started on their AI journey,” says Christian Berthelsen. He continues, “Our underlying AI platform provides the infrastructure to securely integrate data sources and train AI, then put it to work via our solutions and apps. Our experienced implementation teams do all the heavy lifting, including configuring the AI within Fourth iQ to what makes your business unique. There really is no barrier to getting started today.”

To learn more about Fourth iQ, visit the Fourth website. Additionally, the Fourth team will be at FSTEC in Grapevine, Texas from September 16-18, where Clinton Anderson, CEO, will be hosting an AI-themed customer panel.