• USAEDC annual meeting with FAS attachés

• Vietnam protein seminar Aug. 16

• Gardner touts science-based rulemaking at IFT Codex session

• Market Summary: EU May milk production down 1.6%

• ALIC sets SMP tender
• Coalition letter urges McKalip confirmation

• Comments on U.S.-Taiwan Initiative

• Company news: Health and wellness new product rollouts

 

USDEC preps FAS attachés as global advocates for U.S. dairy
USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and its attachés around the world have long been key USDEC partners in the effort to build U.S. dairy export markets. This week, USDEC used the U.S. Agricultural Export Development Council (USAEDC) Annual Attaché Seminar as a platform to deepen the relationships with those representatives and build their knowledge of U.S. dairy so they can be even better advocates for the industry.

USDEC staff from across departments spoke to about 60 attachés at three sessions during the meetings held in McLean, Virginia, highlighting the industry (U.S. dairy farmers, processors and products), U.S. dairy sustainability, export challenges and successes, U.S. dairy industry priorities and how USDEC helps to accelerate export volume and value growth.

On Wednesday, USDEC led a 1.5-hour attaché training session. Featuring product tastings, a live experiment on methane digestion (to highlight U.S. dairy sustainability) and a trivia contest, it wasn’t an ordinary lecture. USDEC staff sought creative ways to engage with the attachés to heighten the messaging impact.

Biodigester
Nick Gardner, senior vice president, Sustainability and Multilateral Affairs, demonstrated one way the U.S. dairy industry is working toward its 2050 environmental stewardship goals with a live experiment. Gardner asked two volunteer attachés to participate in the demonstration by creating a mini version of a biodigester representative of the larger-scale systems used on U.S. dairy farms.

With biodigesters, “We are literally turning manure into energy,” Gardner said. “That’s a huge solution for U.S. dairy farmers.”

Gardner asked all the attaches to help spread the word that “U.S. dairy farmers are serious about environmental stewardship.”

Left to right: USDEC’s Nick Gardner guides volunteers Victoria Dokken, FAS-Foreign Affairs, and Susan Karimiha, attaché-Mexico, to create a mini version of a biodigester used on U.S. dairy farms.

Dairy knowledge quiz
The centerpiece of the training session was a “Who Wants to Be a Moo-llionaire” trivia quiz aimed at building attachés’ U.S. dairy industry knowledge. The multiple-choice questions covered U.S. dairy ingredients, cheese, sustainability, farming, trade policy and regulatory matters, highlighting both the importance of trade to the U.S. dairy industry and how U.S. dairy products and production methods fit the tastes, nutritional needs and lifestyles of consumers around the world.

USDEC Senior Vice President, Global Cheese Marketing Angélique Hollister emceed the event and USDEC subject matter experts from across the organization explained the takeaway messages for each of the answers.

The winning table of FAS attachés from the USDEC “Who Wants to Be a Moo-llionaire” U.S. dairy trivia contest.

The educational contest (winners received U.S. cheese sample packs and other prizes) was followed by a U.S. cheese tasting. USDEC highlighted several at-risk common cheese names in both the tasting and the prize packs.

“Our cheese is as good as what you can find anywhere,” Hollister said after the sampling. “Now you can say you have experienced it.”

FAS attachés sample a protein mango pudding made with U.S. NFDM and WPC as Kristi Saitama, USDEC vice president, Global Ingredients Marketing, explains the creative and educational process that goes into sparking local-friendly U.S. dairy ingredient usage.

Individual meetings
Separately, USDEC’s Market Access and Regulatory Affairs (MARA) and Trade Policy teams held a series of 25-minute “speed dating” sessions with the attachés from six different nations: Algeria, Brazil, Egypt, France, Germany and Indonesia. The meetings sought to build relationships and delve into current and brewing MARA and trade policy issues.

Sustainability roundtable
On Thursday, Nick Gardner moderated a session titled, “Finding a Common Language to Define and Measure Sustainability.” One of the challenges of improving and communicating sustainability initiatives across the ag sector is establishing common definitions and measurements that quantify and attest to progress.

Gardner highlighted U.S. dairy’s approach and led a panel of ag industry experts and a USDA representative to explain their efforts to pinpoint metrics, benchmarks and indices and how they are using them to frame their overall sustainability messages. Panel speakers included Hannah Lindoff, senior director, Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Steve Sothmann, president, Leather & Hide Council of America, and Sean Babington, Senior Advisor for Climate in the Office of the Secretary at USDA.

Common names
Prior to the official start of the USAEDC meeting, the Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN) was invited by USDA to brief the attachés and many of FAS’s Washington, D.C., staff to highlight the threat from ongoing efforts by the EU to monopolize common food names under the guise of protecting geographical indications (GIs).

CCFN, which was founded and is staffed by USDEC, outlined the broad and serious implications of the EU’s extreme GI overreach on U.S. farmers, food and beverage processors, foodservice operators and retailers. Shawna Morris, USDEC senior vice president, Trade Policy, presented to the group, outlining a three-step process by which FAS could help preserve U.S. dairy and agricultural exports:

• Monitor what’s going on with GIs in each market and share those findings with FAS Washington.
  
  
• Proactively engage with relevant government officials to defend U.S. export market access.
  
  
• Maintain persistence in addressing the issue with foreign governments.

 

Engage with Vietnamese end-users at U.S. dairy protein seminar in August
USDEC is holding a U.S. dairy protein seminar on Aug. 16 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The seminar, “Health Lifestyles in Focus: Delivering on Vietnamese Consumer Demands with U.S. Dairy Protein,” will focus on strengthening Vietnamese end-users’ confidence in U.S. dairy ingredients by demonstrating their innovation potential and nutritional and functional advantages.

The seminar will feature recent consumer research on nutrition, attitudes and dietary habits of Vietnamese mothers and how food and beverage makers can leverage those insights to formulate products with U.S. dairy ingredients that meet their needs. Speakers will also highlight the innovation potential of U.S. dairy ingredients and how well they align with local taste and diet preferences. Product prototypes developed in partnership with local food innovation consulting firm BlueTech Ingredients, as well as a variety of commercial samples, will provide concrete examples of U.S. dairy ingredient application possibilities.

The seminar will also promote interaction between end-users and U.S. dairy protein suppliers to reinforce how they can help support customers’ usage and innovation success.

For more information or to confirm participation, please contact Keith Meyer at kmeyer@usdec.org.

With IFT panel, USDEC continues to lead defense of science-based approach to food safety at Codex
USDEC continues to demonstrate—and earn recognition for—its leadership role as a standard-bearer for science-based rulemaking at the Codex Alimentarius Commission. This week, USDEC Senior Vice President, Sustainability and Multilateral Affairs Nick Gardner spoke at the panel session, “Setting Global Food Standards for Safety, Nutrition, Health and Trade,” at the 2022 IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo in Chicago.

The meeting served as another opportunity to spotlight USDEC’s ongoing Codex leadership as well as highlight Codex issues that are critical to maintaining and growing U.S. dairy exports. That includes the importance of science as the core of the Codex decision-making process, the necessity of upholding Codex rules and the legitimate and vital role that industry plays in Codex by providing expertise, data and practical experience. Advocating these issues is core to keeping global trade rules fair for U.S. dairy exporters and maintaining that industry voice in the standard-setting process.

Gardner was the sole food manufacturing sector representative on the panel, participating alongside Mary Frances Lowe, manager for Codex Alimentarius at USDA-Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, and Markus Lipp, senior food safety officer at the UN Food and Agricultural Organization.

 

EU27+UK milk production, prices move down
With 20 of 28 countries reporting, including the top eight suppliers, EU27+UK milk production was down 1.6% year over year in May. Only two of the 20 countries—the Czech Republic (+0.5%) and Poland (no change)—stayed out of the red in May.

Year-over-year Irish milk production fell 2.4% in May; France fell 1.9%; Germany declined 1.8%; and the UK dipped 1.4%. Even Italy, facing its worst drought in 70 years, recorded a 0.3% decline in deliveries. Until May, Italy posted 12 consecutive months of year-over-year gains, plowing ahead as other members of the bloc struggled.

Year-to-date EU27+UK milk deliveries through May were down 0.6%.

Despite accelerated milk production weakness, EU milk powder, whey and butter prices have been trending downward for the past few weeks, with anecdotal reports citing weakened demand. With EU summer holidays imminent and global economic uncertainty high, there is little expectation for a reversal in that price trend soon.

ALIC sets SMP tender for July 21
Japan’s Agriculture and Livestock Industries Corp. (ALIC) will hold an SBS tender July 21 for 750 MT of SMP. In June, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) affirmed that 750 MT of SMP was the full tariff rate quota volume for fiscal 2022 (April 2022-March 2023). MAFF confirmed the full butter volume for fiscal 2022 is 7,600 MT. ALIC has so far slated butter tenders monthly through September (see Global Dairy eBrief, 6/10/22). For more information, contact USDEC’s Japan office at usdecjapan@marketmakers.co.jp or (011) 81-3-3221-6410.

Ag coalition letter urges McKalip confirmation as Chief Agricultural Negotiator
A coalition of 96 U.S. agricultural associations sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance urging the committee to advance the nomination of Doug McKalip as Chief Agricultural Negotiator of the U.S. Trade Representative. The letter, coordinated by USDEC, NMPF and the Corn Refiners Association, emphasized McKalip’s deep familiarity with the food and agriculture industry through three decades of leadership roles in U.S. ag trade policy.

“Mr. McKalip has the experience and expertise to reduce foreign trade barriers, secure greater market access for U.S. products and ensure enforcement of clear and fair rules with our trade partners so U.S. food and agriculture workers and our industry sectors may fairly compete in the global economy,” the coalition stated.

The Senate Finance Committee has yet to schedule a confirmation hearing for McKalip.

Comments urge U.S. to secure tariff and nontariff barrier commitments in Taiwan trade talks
USDEC and NMPF submitted joint comments to the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office urging the Biden Administration to seek to eliminate tariff and nontariff barriers when it negotiates the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21^st-Century Trade. The submission was in response to the USTR’s request for comments on the proposed concept.

The comments echo input USDEC and NMPF submitted to USTR in April in reference to potential Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) negotiations (see Global Dairy eBrief, 4/15/22). While recognizing that the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative, like IPEF, will not be a comprehensive trade agreement, USDEC and NMPF pointed to ways the Administration could seek to reduce or eliminate barriers to U.S. dairy exports, including:

• Seeking Most Favored Nation tariff cuts to help level the playing field with dairy suppliers from other countries that have negotiated free trade agreements with Taiwan.
  
  
• Securing protections for common food names.
  
  
• Guarding against the introduction of unwarranted sanitary and phytosanitary barriers and technical barriers to trade, such as onerous facility-listing and certification requirements.
  
  
• Fostering alignment, coordination and cooperation on international standards and sustainability. The Taiwan Initiative could also serve as a platform to explore ways to create and advance a common vision on agricultural sustainability, sustainable food systems and food security.

The comment period ended July 8. The Biden Administration has not indicated when talks would begin. Deputy USTR Sarah Bianchi and Taiwan Minister-Without-Portfolio John Deng met at the end of June to discuss what the White House described as an “ambitious roadmap” for negotiations to reach agreements with “high-standard commitments and economically meaningful outcomes” in a range of areas, including agriculture and regulatory practices.

 

Health and wellness a clear global trend in new dairy product introductions
Based on a cross-section of new product rollouts in the first half of 2022, global dairy companies are squarely focused on health and wellness.

Fonterra is a prime example. In May, Fonterra announced it was sharpening its focus on the global health and wellness market with value-added ingredient solutions. The company said it plans to launch consumer products over the next few months that improve cognition and eyesight and reduce stress, with a major focus on brain health.

“We know that health and wellness, immunity and cognitive health are very much on the agenda for consumers,” said Judith Swales, who heads Fonterra’s new consolidated Asia Pacific and Africa, Middle East, Europe, North America business unit. “COVID has brought that into real focus for consumers.”

Fonterra trademarked three brand names for the new products:

• ThinkSharp, which includes the nutrient phosphatidylserine, said to support memory, focus, mental processing and creativity.
  
  
• Pro-Sight, which blends lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin A and riboflavin and reportedly supports eye health.
  
  
• Stres-Les, which contains vitamin C, riboflavin and vitamin B6 to help stabilize moods, improve sleep and encourage better focus.

The company is looking for a partner to help bring the products to market. In June, Fonterra created a new “Innovation and Brand” business unit to better capitalize on its product development resources. The company plans to increase its R&D budget by more than 50% to NZ$160 million per year (about US$100 million) by 2030.

Here are some other first-half releases from multi-national and local dairy companies.

• In Pakistan, Nestlé introduced Nestlé Bunyad Iron+ milk powder to address widespread childhood iron deficiency in the country. The product was developed in cooperation with the Nestlé Research Center Switzerland and New Zealand’s Massey University and is fortified with iron, vitamins A and C, and calcium. The company claims the proprietary iron used in the products is absorbed better by the body.
  
  
• In Eastern and Southern Africa, Nestlé rolled out Nestlé Everyday milk powder formulated to address micronutrient deficiencies in children and adults. Manufactured locally, Everyday features calcium, iron, vitamins and zinc “to help build and strengthen immunity for the whole family,” the company says.
  
  
• In Singapore, Fonterra launched Nurture probiotic cultured milk drinks in three flavors: Manuka honey, boysenberry and apple, and golden kiwi and strawberry. The company says the low-sugar drinks enhance digestive balance and support immunity.
  
  It also debuted its Anchor wellness range of milk powders, which includes Anchor Protein Plus (billed as having 25% more protein than regular milk), Anchor Immune Plus (with what Fonterra says contains immunity-boosting ingredients like iron, zinc, and vitamins A, D and C) and Anchor Digestive Plus (enriched with dietary fiber, prebiotics and zinc).
  
  
• Fonterra-backed German food startup Foodspring introduced Coco Whey in Thailand. The product is described as a cross between coconut water and a protein shake. It contains 20g of whey protein, natural sugar and zero fat and comes in mango and pineapple flavors.
  
  
• Danone Nutricia launched three nutritional drink powders under the Dare to Stride brand targeting consumers over 40 years old. Danone tailored the products to different dayparts: morning, afternoon and evening. The morning powder features probiotics, dietary fiber and vitamin C; the afternoon variety features whey protein, amino acids and collagen; and the evening product contains amino acid gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
  
  
• China’s Bright Dairy launched freeze-dried cheese curds under the Keep Cheese! The company is highlighting the snack’s calcium content and selling two varieties to start: plain and blackcurrant.
  
  
• China’s Yili Group said it was increasingly focusing on developing functional products designed to meet the needs of health-conscious consumers, with a special focus on kids and the middle-aged and elderly population. The company is exploring the potential health benefits of certain beneficial bacterial strains it believes can help in weight management, blood sugar control and digestive health.
  
  One of Yili’s latest rollouts is a lollipop-shaped cheese snack for children fortified with Bifidobacterium longum, vitamin D and probiotics. The company said it contains 9g of protein and 750mg of calcium per serving. (USDEC Southeast Asia and China offices; Company reports; FoodBev.com, 6/6/22; Stuff.co.nz, 5/20/22; BeverageDaily, 426/22)

 

• U.S. dairy export value surpassed $900 million in May as cheese volume soared
• Several factors facilitating the boom in U.S. cheese exports
• Ports momentum must continue, says USDEC’s and NMPF’s Tony Rice (retweet)
• USDEC, NMPF urge advancement of Doug McKalip’s nomination as USTR’s Chief Ag Negotiator (retweet)