The European Union has for a long time viewed agriculture and food systems as a monolith. However, as Europe has expanded to 28 member states, so the actual diversity of businesses has rendered the idea of a single model obsolete.
The multiplicity of markets has profoundly modified the relationships between agricultural producers, the processing industry, retailers and consumers.
The European Commission’s short-term outlook – Autumn 2022 edition – shows that production of meat and dairy products in the European Union is expected to decline this year, and the following one. Persistently high feed costs and African swine fever (ASF) continue to limit the growth of EU pigmeat production. Beef production is expected to […]
As the expectations around the Commission’s proposal about a EU-wide nutritional labelling systems are getting higher, many events are being organized around this topic. However, the Commission seems that it will postpone this legislative initiative at a later stage of 2023 considering the ‘complexity’ of the issue and the fact that more time is needed […]
Over the summer, the scientific committee in charge of NutriScore, the front-of-pack nutritional labelling systems in used in 6 EU countries agreed on changing the algorithm behind the scoring system. The changes concern the calculation of fats and oilseeds, and a specific rule for red meat. On the same front, Italy upgraded the national nutritional […]
The Russian-Ukrainian crisis continues to have a strong impact on agricultural markets. Trapped between soaring production costs and declining consumer purchasing power, European livestock farmers and animal feed producers face difficulties to plan ahead. Prolonged animal disease outbreaks and the increase in grain prices caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine are expected to reduce […]
Developments in the debate of lab-grown meat is happening around Brussels, with the first event on the topic hosted by MEPs in the EU Parliament: while the producers, NGOs, and, it seems, the Commission to some extent support this technology, farmers and consumers are sceptic about the benefits that this product could bring to the […]
Cultured meat is developing strategy to gain attention from business, consumers, and regulators. In the UK, the parliament was asked to adopt a more open legislative approach towards this technology, in Japan a company of the sector developed a method to reduce costs in feeding cells, whereas in the US a company is building the largest […]