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IN BRIEF

MEXICO: US confectionery and snacks giant Mondelēz International is set to acquire leading Mexican confectionery company Ricolino from baked products firm Grupo Bimbo.

Mondelēz International, the owner of Oreo cookies and Cadbury chocolate, said the US$1.3bn acquisition would double the size of its business in Mexico.

With four manufacturing facilities, Ricolino produces and distributes a range of lollipops, marshmallows, chocolates and other confectionery products under the Ricolino, Vero, La Corona and Coronado brands.

“This acquisition will more than triple our routes to market [in Mexico]," Mondelēz International chairman and CEO Dirk Van de Put said on 25 April.

The deal follows Mondelēz's completed acquisition of Chipita Global SA, a leading cake and pastries firm in Central and Eastern Europe, in January.

CANADA: A partnership between plant-based protein company Burcon NutraScience and cold-pressed virgin oil processor Pristine Gourmet is set to develop protein ingredients from sunflowerseed.

Sunflower’s neutral colour and taste, along with its lack of allergens, made it ideal for the development of new plant-based ingredients, co-investor Protein Industries Canada said on 26 April. Canadian sunflower protein was currently used mainly in livestock feed and pet food, it said.

Burcon and Pristine Gourmet would evaluate protein extraction techniques and processes; measure the protein differences between different sunflower meals; test protein samples in food applications; and scale up the preferred processing method into a pilot plant.

Argentine farmers shift to soya due to fertiliser prices

Farmers in Argentina are shifting from cereal crops to soyabeans amid rising fertiliser prices, World Grain reported from a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report on 29 April.

With soyabeans requiring less fertiliser than some other crops, Argentine farmers are expected to plant 17M ha to produce 51M tonnes of soyabeans in the marketing year 2022/23, according to the Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

The USDA projected soyabean planted area to increase by 650,000ha, or 4%, from its adjusted estimate for 2021/22, while total production was expected to increase by 24%. The 41M tonne crop in 2021/22 was heavily impacted by drought.

“While this forecast (for 2022/23) assumes a return to normal weather, some analysts are predicting a possible third year of La Niña, a weather pattern that traditionally leads to drier growing conditions in Argentina,” the USDA said. “The increase in planted area will largely come at the expense of corn acreage, which is expected to fall in response to high fertiliser costs and the need for crop rotation in some places.”

Crushing volumes in 2022/23 crush are expected to reach 41.5M tonnes, up 6.7% from the USDA’s revised 2021/22 forecast, due to a recovery in domestic production and soyabean imports.

Le Creuset warns against cooking with olive oil

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Leading French cookware maker Le Creuset has warned customers not to cook with olive oil, Olive Oil Times reported on 3 May.

The company answered a customer complaint by stating that its frying pans and woks should not be used to cook with olive oil as they could shorten their durability.

According to a report that first appeared in the Daily Mail and later in The Telegraph newspapers, Le Creuset warned its customers “to avoid using olive oil” while recommending oils with a higher smoke point like rapeseed oil, coconut oil and sunflower oil.

“Olive oil has a very low smoke point, and this can form a brownish film on the pan (burnt oil), creating a barrier between the food and the pan."

Mark Greenaway, a chef, told The Telegraph that olive oil should only ever be used in finishing a dish. "If you cook with it, the smoke point is so low it removes the Teflon [a brand name for the chemical, polytetrafluoroethylene] from non-stick pans or ‘burns’ traditional pans.”

Darling to acquire Brazil's FASA Group

US renderer and renewable diesel producer Darling Ingredients has announced it is set to acquire Brazil’s largest independent rendering company FASA Group.

The BRL2.8bn (US$560M) cash acquisition was due to close by the end of this year, subject to customary conditions, the company said.

With 14 rendering plants and two more under construction, FASA Group has a processing capacity of more than 1.3M tonnes/year.

“Brazil is a leader in global agricultural commodities growth and is expected to take on a bigger role in world meat production, making it a premier location for rendering growth,” Darling Ingredients chairman and CEO Randall C Stuewe said. “FASA will also supplement Darling Ingredient's global supply of waste fats.”

Darling Ingredients operates 250 plants in 17 countries and repurposes nearly 10% of the world's meat industry waste streams into value-added products, such as green energy, renewable diesel, collagen, fertiliser, animal proteins and meals, and pet food ingredients.