Beanstalk Global

Running a campaign that involves more than 200 organisations brings valuable lessons on building and maintaining relationships.

Veg Power is a not-for-profit organisation focused on encouraging the UK to eat more vegetables. Since their inception around three years ago their successes include the award-winning 'Eat Them to Defeat Them' campaign in partnership with ITV, which included a TV ad supported by over £10m of advertising from ITV, Channel 4 and Sky Media. 

This year the campaign’s accompanying schools programme reached 500,000 primary school kids from 1,900 schools. They were able to demonstrate behaviour change with an additional 517 million children’s vegetable portions sold from the campaign’s launch in February 2019 to July 2020. 

The fundamental difference with other healthy eating or public health campaigns is that the Veg Power operating model includes a strong, diverse and vocal alliance that has nationwide reach and impact – all on a very low budget. The alliance consists of individuals, groups and organisations that are passionate about the cause. It includes large and small businesses, national and local government, NGOs, community groups and schools, celebrities and influencers.  This enables them to reach a greater range of individuals and adds credibility and interest to their campaigns. 

On this months broadcast they will be discussing the role of role of veg in climate change and how British and Irish growers are adapting their businesses.  

Joining Dan Parker from Veg Power and Max will be David Simmons CEO, Riviera Produce.

The committee of the Marden Fruit Show Society (MFSS) where delighted to bring back the 88th National Fruit Show back as a live event at the Kent Event Centre in Detling on the 20th & 21st October 2021. Beanstalk was there to speak to some of the key players.

The Produce Marketing Association is a key International trade organisation representing companies from every segment of the global fresh produce and floral supply chain. The PMA helps members grow by providing connections that expand business opportunities and increase sales and consumption. Their mission is to connect, inform and deliver industry solutions to enhance their members’ prosperity.

Each month, we will be focusing on a major area of South African fresh produce and discussing that all with the country’s key industry experts so we can learn and appreciate fantastic South African Fresh Produce. This month it's Kiwifruit!

The SA Kiwifruit industry is small (about 200ha under cultivation), though production dates back more than 40 years. The fruit is grown in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and there has been resurgence recently in the Western Cape. While the local industry has operated in the shadows of major fruits for many years, interest is growing. This is driven in part by changing global consumer preferences and the focus on a healthy diet. SA believe it is possible that the kiwifruit industry could experience impressive expansion — as was the case with blueberries, which were stagnant for a long time expanded greatly as global demand spurred SA farmers to increase their production. Compounded by the fact SA has a distinct advantage over New Zealand, the world's leading exporter of the fruit, thanks to its relative proximity to the EU.

On the panel we will be speaking to several leading experts on the South African Kiwifruit Industry.

Their mission is to change the status quo and leverage the talent of Women in Produce to close the industry’s gender divide by inspiring, connecting and empowering women around the world. And their mission matters more than ever.

Today, women account for 80% of purchasing decisions, but only 20% of the voices guiding decisions in the boardroom. What’s more, is that by 2030 we’ll need the equivalent of two planets to feed a growing world population of 10 billion people – half of them female.

Our industry is being called upon to feed the world more humanely, sustainably and efficiently – and more female leadership is a critical part of the answer.

Beanstalk Global has partnered up with Global Women Fresh to create a unique monthly Broadcast interview series. This to further promote the great work they do, to gain them more members ongoing and additional corporate sponsorship as well as to assist them to make a long-term difference in the Global Fresh Produce sectors.

In the very successful “Coffee and Tea with Global Women Fresh” series, for September we are majoring on the Topic of Women and Venture Capital in the Ag Tech World with a number of key global experts. Our goal is to share some of the challenges that still women face in the VC world and the lack of investment around Women startups. Also, this is an opportunity to inspire and empower women around the world who may have a great business idea, but they are not quite sure how to get their business to the next level. 

Joining them for the October broadcast will be:

Allison Kopf is the Founder and CEO of Artemis, the market-leading Cultivation Management Platform serving the fruit, vegetable, floriculture, cannabis, and hemp industries. She is an internationally recognized expert on modern agriculture and has spoken at leading conferences including TEDx, TechCrunch Disrupt, and various Forbes summits.

Artemis won the highly coveted Disrupt Cup at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. Kopf was named one of Forbes 2019 30 Under 30, the 2021 "Woman of Impact" award from Global Women Fresh, as well as one of New York Business Journal's 2019 "Women of Influence." Allison is an Investment Partner at XFactor Ventures and serves on the boards of Cargill EDGE, Santa Clara University's College of Arts and Sciences, and Santa Clara University's Center for Entrepreneurship. She holds a BS in Physics from Santa Clara University.

Martha Montoya has over 28 years of worldwide IT, telecommunications, food and agricultural and supply chain experience. From setting up production lines across the world for telecommunications to sourcing ingredients from the Americas to New Zealand, Australia and Thailand. Traveling while delivering projects beneficial for the supplier and customers in over 4 continents, Martha dealt with both small and and industrial size stakeholders or suppliers, government entities and sophisticated buyers. appointed to the  Board of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, served on the Worldwide Advisory Board of Women for Walmart, Executive Board of United States Hispanic Chambers of Commerce and several additional boards.  

Martha founded and is the CEO of Agtools Inc.  The company delivers a technology solution at www.ag.tools that allows farmers and food supply chain stakeholders to make better decisions, increase profits, avoid waste and impact climate change.  Her day to day contribution to the company includes strategic decision making, Sales, marketing and management of team members and forging relationships with collaborative companies for growth.

We know how important it is to be inspired by both big businesses and individuals, which is why we are excited to present Talking Leaders, a bi-monthly initiative from the AHDB which will see a series of inspirational speakers share their life experiences and deliver impactful stories to the AgriLeader community.

At our next event we are delighted to be joined by 4 times Olympic skier; Chemmy Alcott.

Chemmy is an English former World Cup Alpine race ski racer and a fiercely determined and courageous sportswoman.  As the only British female skier to ever win a run in a World Cup, she is widely regarded as one of Britain's greatest ever skiers.

Having broken 49 bones, Chemmy is no stranger to adversity and remains committed to inspiring the next generation and educating people from all over the world through sport.

In our ever-increasing and highly regarded interview series, 20on20 – “20 minutes with inspirational people from the international fresh food sectors” we are delighted to be joined by Eddy Badrina, CEO of Eden Green Technology based in the USA.

Over the past 20 years, Eddy’s career has encompassed entrepreneurial, corporate, and government roles. In 2019, Eddy took over as CEO of Eden Green Technology, which, through its vertical farming technology stack, is changing the way we farm our produce, and feed our communities. Since then, retailers, researchers, cities and governments have discovered how Eden Green Technology’s turnkey solutions can help them establish food safety, food independence, and sustainable farming unlike any previous AgTech solution.

Outside of his leadership position at Eden Green, he is a board member at Seed Effect, a micro-lending non-profit focused on fostering economic stability. Eddy is incredibly passionate about food security and from a US perspective, we are going to dive into a conversation about:

• 4 Ways Local Vertical Farming and Hydroponics Can Save Our Broken Food System
• How Vertical Greenhouses Reduce Energy Costs
• The Rise of AgTech: How It’s Transforming the American Farming Landscape
• How 1.5 Acres Can Change An Entire Community

Beanstalk Global is proud to be hosting a series of monthly Broadcasts for Healthy and Sustainable Food. In our October Broadcast, we discuss Eco Labelling - What it Means for Consumers & Businesses.

A new Eco score is being piloted by major brands in the UK and Europe.  Currently, consumers don't have the information they need to make more sustainable buying choices.  Clear labelling on carbon and environmental credentials will help them support the brands and products doing the right thing by our planet.

We discuss the pros and cons of eco labelling and what it means for consumers and businesses. Joining the panel will be:

Tom Cumberlege, Director of The Carbon Trust. Tom leads the Carbon Trust's work on value chain analysis and strategy. He has extensive experience helping businesses to understand their climate change risks and opportunities, working across a diverse range of sectors including agriculture, food and drink processing, retail, FMCG, heavy industry, financial services, and luxury goods. His advice enables clients to realise low carbon investment opportunities across their value chains, optimise product design, set targets, engage suppliers, and evaluate financing solutions. Tom has supported a wide range of businesses and institutions, such as Coca-Cola, Bord Bia, the IFC, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Nationwide, Quorn Foods, Nynas and Thyssenkrupp. He has also developed guidance for the GHG Protocol’s Scope 3 Standard on behalf of the World Resources Institute.

Juliane Caillouette Noble, Managing Director, Sustainable Restaurant Association.

Juliane came to the Sustainable Restaurant Association as Development Director in 2016 after five years of running Jamie Oliver’s programmes for improving school food and food education across the UK. The SRA is a not for profit membership organisation committed to accelerating change toward an environmentally restorative and socially progressive hospitality sector in the UK. As Development Director, Juliane’s role included designing and developing strategic partnerships and campaigns, ensuring that the impact and influence of the SRA grows along with the size of the membership body. Juliane became the Managing Director of the SRA in January and looks forward to working with the industry to build back better and greener post Covid.

Johnathan Sutton, Group Safety & Environment Executive, Westfalia.

John is a leading food industry professional with high-level procurement, technical and commercial knowledge, gained over decades in the retail sector. In the newly-created role for Westfalia, he will be responsible for driving the company's sustainability efforts to greater heights.

He is in charge of implementing protocols and refining the system to ensure optimal levels of compliance in matters related to environmental impact, food safety, and the health and safety of employees.

As the UK leaves the EU and takes back control of its agricultural policy, new opportunities and new possibilities open up for UK horticulture. The future direction of travel for the sector is laid down in the Government’s new Agriculture Act. The main focus is a new approach where farmers and land managers are rewarded with public money for delivering public goods. The Act also contains provisions for improving productivity and monitoring the UK’s level of food security.

Historically, horticulture has fallen outside main support mechanisms within the CAP. Parts of the industry benefited from funding through the Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme, but in comparison with other sectors of agriculture, UK horticulture has survived on the returns generated from the marketplace, with minimal reliance on the system of CAP subsidies.  

Over the past 30 years, the area devoted to fruit and vegetable production in the UK has declined by 30%, but improvements in productivity have resulted in a 36% volume increase in the production of fruit and vegetables. Over the same period, there has been a substantial increase in imported fruit and vegetables. The growing interest in diet and health is focusing attention on eating fresh, unprocessed food and the vital role of fruit and vegetables in the diet. As a nation, the UK significantly under-consumes fruit and vegetables. The latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) data shows that 33% of children eat less than one portion of vegetables per day.

The UK has started to see an upturn in the consumption of fruit and vegetables and if the nation was to meet the daily Eatwell recommendations for fruit and vegetables, it would massively increase demand. With the UK’s excellent maritime climate, perfect for growing, it makes sense to produce as many fruit and vegetables for UK consumers. 

UK horticulture stands at the edge of a major opportunity to deliver not just a continuous supply of high-quality, high-provenance fruit and vegetables, but also play a major part in improving the overall health of the nation. The big challenge is how?

Part of the UK’s exit strategy from the EU is the negotiation of Free Trade Agreements and an FTA with New Zealand is seen as a priority for the UK government. The New Zealand horticultural industry has many parallels with the UK industry. It is broadly similar in size and turnover but services a large export market, in contrast to the UK industry, which is mainly focused on the domestic market.

In March 2020, a delegation of UK industry representatives visited New Zealand to explore the New Zealand horticulture sector, to understand its challenges and opportunities, to examine what could be learnt, what new ideas could be adopted and to explore what new relationships might be possible between our two nations.

Each member of the delegation travelled with a different objective:

• Ali Capper, Grower, Chairman of the NFU National Horticulture & Potatoes Board, Wye Hops and British Apples & Pears Ltd, Director of the British Hop Association, Nuffield Scholar – how to grow the sector, export markets, opportunities, policy issues and solutions, catalysts for change
• Jack Ward, CEO of the British Growers Association, Trustee at PGRO, Nuffield Scholar – how to bring value and profitability back to growers’ businesses
• Chris Moncrieff, Head of Horticultural Relations at the Royal Horticultural Society – how to attract, educate, train, develop and retain key staff

An executive summary of the trip and associated findings has been compiled in collaboration between the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, British Growers Association, National Farmers’ Union and the Royal Horticulture Society and reports on findings from a Defra-led trade delegation to New Zealand in 2020. There are several similarities between the UK and New Zealand fresh produce...

“Women in Food and Farming” is a group of professional women in food, agriculture and the land-based industries at all stages of their careers, who get together to discuss business issues, support each other via mentorship and advice, and help generate networks of contacts that might be useful to themselves and their businesses.

Founded in 2011 by Christine Tacon CBE, the group started back in 2011 with just five women and has now grown to over 500 members. Christine is known to many as the first Grocery Code Adjudicator and head of the Co-op’s farming business, she has just been appointed Chair of Assured Food Standards which operates the Red Tractor Assurance scheme amongst other roles.

Beanstalk is proud to offer their extensive platforms to allow Women in Food and Farming to continue their conversation and debate and to encourage new members ongoing to join them, be that on a virtual Broadcast basis.

On this month's broadcast we are delighted to be joined by Judith Batchelar OBE.

Judith was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to farming and the food industry. She also sits on the government’s Food and Drink Sector Council, is a non-executive director of the Environment Agency and the Rugby Players Association and is a trustee of the Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project, as well as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

She has worked in the food and drink industry for more than 38 years and prior to joining Sainsbury’s she was a director at Safeway and also spent 12 years in the food division of Marks & Spencer. She currently is the Special Advisor on CR&S and Public Affairs for Sainsbury's.

Their mantra is clear: "WHAT WE DO - We fuel the future by transforming school food and food education, training kitchen teams to serve great school lunches."

Chefs in Schools is quite simply, inspirational.

While writing the School Food Plan for the UK Government, Henry Dimbleby posted a tweet asking whether any chefs would be interested in taking over the kitchen at his children’s state school. Nicole Pisani – then head chef at the acclaimed Soho restaurant NOPI – decided to take the gamble of a lifetime, applied and was offered the job by the school’s then head, Louise Nichols.

Nicole retrained the school cooks using the restaurant brigade system, teaching them to cook everything from scratch and to bake bread daily. She also encouraged them to cook their favourite recipes. Nicole took charge of the cooking curriculum, teaching the children to butcher whole chickens and cook over fire pits in the playground. This work became the model for Chefs in Schools and they now work to help other schools completely transform the standards of school food and food education.

They reach over 20,000 (and counting) kids every school day. Their work started in London but is slowly expanding across the country. They are always looking for people who share their vision and passion about fueling the future well. We want to use the Beanstalk platforms to shout about Chefs in Schools and for us all to learn from the brilliant Nicole Pisani.

She is the Co-founder and Executive Chef and described as their all-round whirlwind! Always coming up with ideas of what they can try next and (officially) terrible at saying no to everyone else’s hair-brained schemes – so the owner of the fullest diary and longest to-do list. But somehow squeezes it all in and is still always happy to take time out and cook for people. As a professional trained chef, she has worked at Yotam Ottolenghi’s NOPI and Anna Hansen’s The Modern Pantry.