In Food Sense: A long-term goal of the new agriculture-conservation alliance - The Lempert Report

The Lempert Report Food News: Marketing, analysis, issues & trends and the impact on food and retail environments, specifically for the B2B food world with reporting and commentary on consumer and retailing trends by Phil Lempert. Phil can predict the future —and then help businesses and consumers understand it. For more than 25 years, Lempert, an expert analyst on consumer behavior, marketing trends, new products and the changing retail landscape, has identified and explained impending trends to consumers and some of the most prestigious companies worldwide. Known as The Supermarket Guru®, http://www.supermarketguru.com, Lempert is a distinguished author and speaker who alerts customers and business leaders to impending corporate and consumer trends, and empowers them to make educated purchasing and marketing decisions. To see more of The Lempert Report visit: http://www.thelempertreport.com The Lempert Report for Thursday January 22, 2009. Tonite is the Product of the Year USA Award Ceremony. Held in 22 countries throughout the world, Product of the Year now comes to the US. 16 Products will win the coveted award which historically has increased sales, in some cases by 150%. Log in tomorrow to the B2B home page on supermarketguru.com to see a complete list of the winners. In Food Sense: A long-term goal of the new agriculture-conservation alliance The worlds food production will need to double to keep pace with population growth of 3 billion people between now and 2050, and this doubling must come without negative impact on the environment and society. So warn the founders of a novel group of experts who have come together to help make this happen under the auspices of Field to Market, the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. This group of farmers, agribusiness, food companies, retailers and conservation groups first Environmental Resource Indicators Report, just issued, shows that agriculture production has been increasing efficiency over the past two decades. The initial index shows that soil-loss efficiency has risen by 30% for corn, soybean, cotton and wheat. Energy use is down by nearly 40%. Irrigated water use has dropped 20%, while carbon emissions have dropped by about a third for these three crops. the report also notes that: • Agriculture is already the predominant user of all habitable land and 70% of fresh water. • By 2030, grain-producing land per capita will drop to just a third of what it was in 1950. • In just a decade, we will need 17% more water than is available to feed the world, a prediction by the World Water Council. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) It was in 2002 that the debate began over whether Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) should be implemented, and now following its inclusion in the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills, the mandatory labeling requirements have been announced and will go in effect on March 16th of this year. The rule covers muscle cuts and ground beef, lamb, chicken, goat and pork; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; perishable agricultural commodities (specifically fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables); macadamia nuts; pecans; ginseng and peanuts. Foods that fall under the rule must be labeled at retail, and for fish and shellfish, that means form of production wild or farm raised. Processed foods that have undergone a chemical change such as cooking, curing or smoking are excluded, and food service establishments such as restaurants, cafeterias, bars, lunchrooms do not have to comply. From a consumer perspective, SupermarketGuru conducted a poll back in 2005 to investigate how important COOL was to shoppers. An overwhelming, 93 percent of respondents said it should be labeled. And, as these respondents believe it is their right to have this information. In our latest NGA Consumer Panel Survey to be released on February 5th at the NGA Convention - the consumer response to the same question is even higher. Copies of the final rule and additional information are on display on line at ams.usda.gov/COOL. To reach me directly, please email me at Phil@SupermarketGuru.com For information on New Products, visit our weekly videocast: http://www.ratefoods.com/