Day: August 9, 2023

The University of Saskatchewan and Formo, a pioneer in European precision fermentation, have collaborated on an important study that reveals the promising connections between dairy industry efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the cheese market.

According to the latest study, which was published in the International Food and Agribusiness Management Review Journal, a significant percentage of consumers will choose animal-free cheese, making up an initial 22 percent market share, even with a 25 percent price premium.

The results

The researchers predicted that animal-free cheese will take a 33 percent market share when pricing for cheese like Formo’s, which uses precise fermentation to produce milk from microorganisms, becomes comparable to regular cheese. These numbers are anticipated to rise as user adoption, industry relationships, and technology advancement accelerate.

“The question whether or not society is going to embrace the coming generations of food has loomed over the cell-ag space for quite some time,” Associate Professor Peter Slade of the University of Saskatchewan said in a statement. “Precision-fermentation dairy is poised to revolutionize markets as long as it can achieve competitive prices.”

The findings suggest that increased cheese costs may not always result in a reduction in consumer cheese consumption, according to Oscar Zollman Thomas, chief researcher at Formo. Instead, he said, “consumers look for alternative options.” “The introduction of animal-free dairy made by fermentation ushers in a totally different market paradigm. Consumers generally accept the move when offered options that honor their relationship with cheese while resolving their current concerns.

The study’s findings are persuasive; they suggest that even if there is an increase in demand for dairy products around the world, a significant amount of traditional dairy consumption of cheese will be replaced by animal-free dairy cheese, greatly reducing the environmental impact caused by increased dairy demand.

The study also discovered that a whopping 79 percent of consumers looking for dairy cheese free of animal products had previously chosen traditional dairy cheese. This discovery points to the possibility of a sizeable new market, worth more than $1 billion, inside the global dairy business.

Precision fermentation will succeed in capturing mass markets.

“The findings indicate a growing public’s understanding of the costs related to industrialized dairy and an appetite for products that offer enjoyable experiences with no the social repercussions,” Formo’s founder and CEO, Raffael Wohlgensinger, said of the study.

The huge demand from cheese eaters in general supports our prediction that precision fermentation will succeed in mass markets rather than focusing only on the vegan market. We predict a paradigm shift in the availability and consumption of dairy and dairy-like products now that Formo is on track to attain cost parity with conventional dairy. Nothing less than a dairy revolution is taking place right now, he declared.

The study compared the efficacy of precision fermentation to measures like animal emission fees for reducing dairy consumption. The results show that precise fermentation is more effective than carbon taxes at reducing cattle emissions.

According to these data, precision fermentation dairy is 10 times more effective than carbon taxes at the current rate at reducing animal-dairy use, Wohlgensinger stated. This demonstrates the superior effectiveness of precision fermentation in reducing dairy consumption and ought to serve as a wake-up call for governments to support this ground-breaking technology.

According to a recent announcement from Amazon, all 500+ Whole Foods locations will have access to Amazon One, the company’s palm-scanning payment system, by the end of 2023. The contactless Amazon One payment system was first deployed by Amazon in 2020, but its growth by the end of 2023 will be the largest to date.

In other words, Amazon One is a different type of contactless biometric authentication like Apple’s Face ID that operates by the user screening their palm above a reader. However, Amazon One scans your palm’s ridges, lines, and distinctive vein patterns rather than your face. Someone can’t just take a photo of your palm and start stocking up on pricey cheeses at Whole Foods at your expense, thanks to this interpretation of deeper subcutaneous traits.

You may shop and make purchases without even having to bring your phone or wallet with you thanks to your palm signature, which is connected to your Amazon Prime account or just a credit card. Currently, 200 Whole Foods locations in the US as well as 200 other retail locations provide Amazon One. By the end of the year, Amazon’s rollout will increase the number of Amazon One payment outlets to over 700. Amazon One is also currently available at some Panera Bread restaurants and Coors Field in Colorado.

As of right now, Amazon One has “more than 3 million uses,” which is likely to indicate “transactions.” Despite sounding like a lot, three million is just roughly one million Amazon One transactions every year since its debut.

CardRates reports that there were 39.6 billion transactions made with credit cards in the United States alone in 2019 to further contextualize it.

However, it takes time for new technology to become widely used, and Amazon has made it clear that it believes the palm-scanning payment method has greater potential by expanding Amazon One to all Whole Foods stores.

The expansion was disclosed in a statement by Whole Foods Market’s chief technology officer, Leandro Balbinot. We’re thrilled to offer Amazon One to each and every one of our customers in the United States, he said. “We’ve seen consumers love the convenience it provides since we created Amazon One at Whole Foods Market stores over the past two years.”

According to the champagne trade association Comité Champagne, 325.5 million bottles of champagne were transported from Champagne in 2022, with 6.3 billion euros ($6.9 billion) in sales.
As to the S&P Global Sustainable1 report, the Champagne region’s susceptibility to physical risk brought on by drought is expected to almost triple by the 2050s, which will present significant issues for vineyards.
Critics claim that some champagnes actually taste drastically different from the champagne that people used to drink.

For generations, champagne has been a symbol of festivals and opulence. However, rising temperatures and more unpredictable weather in Europe are raising concerns that the Champagne area of France may no longer be appropriate for its production.

According to the champagne trade association Comité Champagne, more than 325 million bottles of champagne were delivered from Champagne in 2022, topping 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in sales for the first time. The United States, Great Britain, and Japan are the three largest markets.

The committee offered a “prudent outlook” for 2023, but it also stated that Champagne growers and houses “remain confident in the essential health of their business.”

However, the state of the climate casts doubt on the beverage’s future; champagne houses will need to adapt in order to survive, and the taste of champagne may change along the way.

grapes with sun damage and ruined taste
According to the S&P Global Sustainable1 report, the Champagne region’s susceptibility to physical risk brought on by drought is expected to almost triple by the 2050s, which will present significant issues for vineyards.

A score of 100 denotes the highest level of risk exposure. The report rates regions on a scale of 1 to 100. If current climate policies are left unchanged, it was predicted that the danger of drought in Champagne will increase from its current level of 16 to 43 by the 2050s and double to 88 by the 2090s.

There are other factors besides drought that can affect productivity. The weather has been more unpredictable in recent years, with an increase in the frequency of fires, floods, and frosts.
Although grapes can still thrive in a changing climate, the environment can affect the fruit’s growth and harm it.

According to Matt Hodgson, CEO of English wine shop Grape Britannia, “[If the grapes] get exposed to too extreme UV rays, they will get an equivalent of our sunburn and that will basically… damage the flavor.”
The grapes’ acidity, that provides champagne its freshness and “intangible zip and zing,” can also be altered by the additional heat, according to Hodgson.

International companies are conscious of the profound effects that climate change may have on their operations.

Champagne technique
The most well-known champagne rule is that it must be made in the Champagne region of France, but there are many other appellation requirements that must be followed, such as particular vineyard practices, sourcing grapes from particular regions, specific grape-pressing procedures, and the use of only particular grape varieties.

All phases of the production process for Champagne must take place there, right up before the labeling of the bottle. Pesticide use and further acidification are prohibited. However, champagne companies are making adjustments to their procedures to keep production inside the rigorous bounds of the laws.

The temperature variations also cause champagne’s inherent sweetness to increase.

You no longer need to add sugar because we have so much sun and so much sugar in the juice, according to Sarazin. Although it hasn’t been a problem so far, we still need to take care of it.

Taste change that is “definite”
Critics claim that some champagnes already taste significantly different from champagne that was consumed in the past.

According to champagne writer Tom Hewson, “in terms of flavor, what you’re noticing a lot of are much riper characteristics,” adding that this puts sparkling wine closer to other white wines and renders it “a more transparent wine.”

Susy Atkins, a wine judge and reviewer, has also observed recent changes in champagne’s flavor.