News review: FAIRTRADE TOURS, falling fish stocks, Brazil best for beef and foodwaste startup funding

Cafedirect branch into holidays

Foodservice Footprint Teresa-Kurgat-Kenyan-tea-farmer-landscape-300x200 News review: FAIRTRADE TOURS, falling fish stocks, Brazil best for beef and foodwaste startup funding Grocery sector news updates Out of Home sector news

If you fancy holidaying with the farmer that grows your coffee or chocolate, then you’re in luck. Cafédirect Producers’ Foundation (CPF), the charity arm of the fairtrade coffee brand, has partnered with Sumak Travel, a UK based social enterprise that specialises in ecotourism, to launch a range of fairtrade tours in Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru.

Fish stocks falling three times faster

Overfishing is causing fish stocks to fall three times faster than UN figures estimate, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications. Its assessment concluded that UN figures had underestimated actual catch figures, in part because they do not include small scale, sport and illegal fishing, as well as fish caught and discarded, often because it is over quota or the wrong species.

Keep Brazilian Cerrado for beef?

Whilst eating less meat usually equals a lower carbon footprint, a study in the journal Nature Climate Change argues that reducing beef production in the Brazilian Cerrado could actually increase global greenhouse gas emissions. This is because beef production can encourage farmers to invest in their grasslands to increase typically low beef yields, which increases the grasslands capacity as a carbon store.

 Food-waste start up gets $3.3m in funding

Winnow, the technology company behind the Winnow smart meter, which helps chefs cut food waste by automatically measuring what gets thrown away, is announcing the completion of its A round funding of $3.3m. Winnow claims its smart meter cuts food waste in half and has already saved its customers $3m per annum.