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Atlas de La Comida EN PDF
Atlas de La Comida EN PDF
Facts and figures about the corporations that control what we eat 2017
IMPRINT
The AGRIFOOD ATLAS is jointly published by
Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin, Germany
Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Berlin, Germany
Friends of the Earth Europe, Brussels, Belgium
This material is licensed under Creative Commons “Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported“ (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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Cover-Copyright:
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2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS
02 IMPRINT 18 FERTILIZERS
CHEMICALS FOR THE SOIL
06 INTRODUCTION Synthetic fertilizers increase agriculture’s
productivity, but do not improve soil quality.
Manufacturers want to sell more – despite the
high energy and environmental costs.
T
he contrast could hardly be greater.
The list of the world’s largest 500
companies by turnover contains a
„ The fight for market share
is achieved at the expense
of the weakest links in the chain:
huge number of firms engaged in farmers, and workers.
agriculture and food: firms that have
carved up big chunks of the sector among
themselves. At the same time, the sector protection does not necessarily depend on
is the basis of the livelihoods for many the size of a company. But in many
millions of farmers and farm workers who parts of the agrifood sector, individual
are among the poorest people in the world. corporations have gained so much market
sway that they have the ability to shape
The trend continues towards a further markets and policies. Conflicts usually
concentration of power. In the developing involve unequal power relations: between
world, the growth of the middle class agricultural, food and trade corporations
is changing tastes and diets. Demand for on the one hand, and farmers and farm
processed foods is sure to rise. The workers on the other. The gap between
declared aim of agriculture, chemicals their shares of revenues yawns ever wider.
and food corporations is to grab as Across the globe, inequality is increasing.
big a slice of the cake as possible, but
A
they have now been joined by banks, grifood corporations are driving
insurance companies and the information industrialization along the entire
technology industry. global value chain, from farm to
plate. Their purchasing and sales policies
Takeovers and mergers like Monsanto promote a form of agriculture that
by Bayer, Kraft with Heinz and Dow with revolves around productivity. The fight
DuPont are just the tip of the iceberg. for market share is achieved at the expense
A spate of corporate marriages is of the weakest links in the chain: farmers,
concentrating control at each link in the and workers. The price pressure exerted
value chain, from field to fork. The by supermarkets and food firms is a
biggest players are growing the fastest major cause of poor working conditions
and are pushing through their own and poverty further back in the chain.
interests and approaches. It also promotes the onward march of
industrial agriculture and its associated
When does big become too big? That is effects on the environment and climate.
not an easy question to answer. The loss of soil fertility and biodiversity,
Attention to ecological and social values marine pollution and the emission of
such as human rights, labour rights, greenhouse gases: all these are partly due
as well as climate and environmental to the spread of industrial farming.
C A
itizens must be able to influence growing number of people are
food politics. But around the world, organizing themselves and
we see democratic freedoms being are changing their buying habits
restricted. In many of the countries in to recreate diversity in the value chain.
which our organizations are active, civil But that is not enough to end hunger
society is increasingly being discouraged, and poverty or to protect the environment.
censored and intimidated. Two trends The withdrawal of government from
coincide in the agrifood sector: ever-fewer economic intervention is a major cause of
corporations are taking control of an the colossal environmental and climate
ever-bigger market share and are gaining damage and the global injustice that
influence in many parts of the world. we see today. It is high time for a socially
At the same time, the opportunities for and politically oriented regulation
civil society and social movements of the agrifood industry. We hope that
to oppose such developments are being this atlas will stimulate a broad-based
restricted. social debate on this vital topic.
SUPERSIZE ME
Whether protectionism or deregulation opment of new food preservation and transformation tech-
– the agrifood industry keeps growing. nologies to produce food and drink for urban consumption.
Mergers are making firms bigger all the In the 1930s, the development of hybridization made cross-
ing crop varieties or breeding lines possible. This led to the
way along the value chain.
emergence of companies that produced seeds and animal
breeding stock. Each of these industries had its own technol-
T
he global agrifood system can trace its origins back to ogies or marketing characteristics that created barriers to
the last quarter of the 19th century in Britain, which entry for new firms. Food retailing remained local and fami-
was then the world’s dominant commercial power. ly-based until the 1950s in the USA and the 1960s in Europe,
The first large agricultural corporations with a global reach when self-service supermarket chains emerged.
emerged for a range of reasons, both technological and With the rise in protectionism and the decline of trade in
institutional. Farm work was mechanized; agrochemicals the first half of the 20th century, big firms in the USA and Eu-
were invented and marketed; trains, ships and ports revo- rope turned themselves into transnational corporations by
lutionized transport; and new technologies improved the investing in other countries, rather than just exporting their
preservation and storage of food. Free trade removed tariff products there. Oligopolies, in which a few actors determine
barriers, and futures markets overcame capital shortages what happens, emerged at various stages along the value
by selling crops even before the seed had been put in the chain.
ground. This process accelerated with the US-led reconstruction
From the point of view of farm production, these corpo- programmes in Europe after the Second World War, and
rations could be roughly divided into upstream and down- was reinforced by the emergence of new types of products:
stream firms. Upstream firms supplied farm machinery and fast food, snacks and drinks. The upstream machinery and
chemicals to large estates in Europe and big commercial agrochemicals firms, along with the newly created seed in-
family farms in the Americas. Downstream firms focused dustry, paved the way for the industrialization of agriculture
either on trading and primary processing, or on the devel- in Europe. Food aid and the Green Revolution, with its reli-
ance on seed, fertilizers, pesticides and machinery, enabled
these firms to spread in Asia and Latin America.
Post-war economic growth and rising incomes led to a
WHERE CORPORATIONS WORK
shift in diets. Food options expanded. According to Engel’s
Major areas of activity in the agrifood industry,
schematic diagram law, as income rises the proportion of income spent on food
falls. Companies responded to this potential loss of turnover
Finance Investment Insurance Information
by launching new, more expensive, products and by inten-
sifying their marketing. The family grocer gave way to su-
permarkets, and giant retailers exerted their influence both
Machinery Land Water backwards along the agrifood chain to processors and farm-
Seed Pesticides Fertilizer ers, and forwards with consumers. Health and fitness con-
cerns created demand for fresh products such as vegetables,
Breeding lines Veterinary Feed fruit and fish, which came to be organized under the direct
control of the retailers.
In the 1980s, the transnational crop companies increas-
Agricultural
ingly became global players with interests around the
production
world. In developing countries, liberalization dismantled
Energy state controls over commodity markets and tariff barriers,
production Commodity trading leading to a rapid expansion of global trade in foodstuffs.
and transport
Chemicals Big retailers began organizing new supply chains to source
fresh produce from developing countries. They also expand-
Food production ed in the larger countries in the developing world to serve
and processing the needs of the new middle classes there.
A handful of global corporations now organizes the
world’s agriculture and food-consumption patterns. They
Wholesale, retail Gastronomy are remarkably long-lived: many of today’s leaders were
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017
Consumption
It’s a long way from field to plate.
Information: weather, markets, farm management Farmers are the most
vulnerable link in the chain
3 JBS
L
arge-scale takeovers in the food and beverage indus- In 2013, 3G Capital joined forces with Warren Buffett’s
try are nothing new. Mirroring trends in other sectors, Berkshire Hathaway and bought the food giant Heinz. Two
in the late 1980s and the 1990s corporations such as years later, in 2015, Heinz acquired Kraft Foods Group for
Nestlé and Kraft diversified their control over brands by US$62 billion to form Kraft Heinz, the world’s fifth-largest
making acquisitions in various markets. Since the end of food and beverage company, with revenues of US$6.6 billion
the 1990s, financial investors began exerting a strong influ- in 2016. The motives for this merger are symptomatic for the
ence on mergers and acquisitions in the food and beverage whole wave of mergers in recent years: while Heinz had a
sector. Firms were urged to focus on their core brands and strong global foothold with 61 percent of its sales outside
industries, and to make vertical and horizontal acquisitions North America, Kraft Foods generated 98 percent of its sales
within the same subsector. in North America. At the time of the merger, Kraft had a very
Profit maximization, rather than expansion, became the good credit rating, which made it easy for 3G and Berkshire
key objective. Instead of accumulating capital to expand to refinance its debt. The management announced cost sav-
a firm’s operations, financial investors demanded that it ings arising from synergies and rationalisation of logistic
channel its cash flow into dividend payouts and share buy- structures, which amounted to US$1.5 billion per year for
backs, giving financial investors (and not the firm itself) the the first three years. This rationalization resulted in the loss
flexibility to diversify their investments. Both institutional of around 5,000 jobs. In the USA and Canada, one-fifth of 41
investors and leading market analysts now wanted acquisi- processing plants were closed.
tions to be “leveraged” – to be based on debt. Since the early Two years later, in February 2017, 3G attempted, through
2000s, all major acquisitions in the food and beverage sec- Kraft Heinz, a takeover of its much larger rival Unilever for
tor have been justified using the pretext of increasing short- US$143 billion. The offer was rejected. In 2016, Mondelez, a
term shareholder value. snack-and-confectionery maker spun off from Kraft in 2012,
One of the most prominent private equity firms that has failed to take over Hershey, a US chocolate maker. These fail-
fundamentally restructured a number of corporations is 3G ures have increased the likelihood of Mondelez being reab-
Capital. Founded in 2004 by Jorge Paulo Lemann and part- sorbed into Kraft Heinz.
ners, 3G is headquartered in New York and has offices in Rio
de Janeiro and São Paulo. Before founding 3G, Lemann and
his partners laid the foundation of their wealth through in- Snack producers – high-growth companies
vestments and acquisitions that resulted in the formation of in 2016 – became expensive buys
the Brazilian beer giant, Ambev. while slow-growth retailers were cheaper
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / IMAP
Mergers and acquisitions activity Deals by financial and Public food and beverages companies by earnings multiples,
in the United States, number of transactions strategic buyers, 2016, selected product groups
in the food & beverages sector in percent
Earnings multiples*
20x snacks
financial
305
potentially
overrvalued
10x distributors
strategic
investors 8x
2016
* Earnings (before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) multiples define the
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 assumed value of a company by financial investors in relation to annual income
18,024
retail chemicals
food and beverages restaurants
543
Restaurant Brands Int. 3.6 %
320*
Costco 1.0 %
The Pampered Chef 100 %
720
410*
25,400
4,100* 110
Wal-Mart 0.05 %
MODERN-DAY LANDOWNERS
New corporations have emerged that buy or more profitable downstream activities. The traditional ap-
lease vast areas of farmland in developing proach of producing on plantations seemed less lucrative.
countries. They grow monocultures to feed Since the end of the 20th century, there has been a dra-
matic increase in the area used to cultivate oil palm, maize,
the industrialized agriculture.
sugarcane and soybeans. These four crops are used not only
as food, but also as animal feed, biofuel and industrial feed-
F
rom the start of the colonial era in the 16th century, stock, earning them the moniker “flex crops”.
globalization was driven by European powers in their The production of oil palm is closely linked to rapid de-
search for cheap labour and slaves. Trading compa- velopment in Southeast Asia. Agricultural concerns from
nies established plantations to produce food and industrial Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia dominate the market.
raw materials for the rapidly growing cities of Europe. This They both supply raw materials to Western industries and
changed in the second half of the 20th century. As Asian and cater to the enormous demand in their home countries.
African countries gained their independence in the 1950s The Malaysian state-owned company Sime Darby was
and 1960s, Western corporations reduced their activities created through the nationalization of British colonial com-
there. Many pulled out of direct primary production in the panies. It first expanded to Indonesia and Papua New Guin-
1980s, but maintained control of the sector through con- ea and is now also active in Liberia and Cameroon. Sime Dar-
tract farming, as in the case of banana cultivation in Central by controls nearly a million hectares around the world. The
America or tea growing in India. They focused instead on Singaporean firm Wilmar is the world’s leading producer
of cooking oil. Robert Kuok, billionaire and majority share-
holder, is often called the “King of Cooking Oil”. His com-
pany cultivates over 200,000 hectares worldwide, mostly in
BEFORE AND AFTER
Malaysia and Indonesia, and controls parts of the processing
Land use changes as a result of international investment
1,004 deals made between 2000 and 2016 in the Land Matrix Register, industry. Another major player is the Widjaja family. It con-
Figures in percent trols the Indonesian company Sinar Mas, which owns over
100,000 hectares.
Land use before acquisition The sugarcane sector is structured in a similar way. In
Brazil, seven joint ventures between Brazilian capital and
10 Western commodity corporations control 50 percent of the
5
arable
sugar mills. The Brazilian side belongs mostly to associations
forests of family enterprises whose wealth is based on the owner-
27 shrubs, pasture ship of vast tracts of land.
58 marginal land The Copersucar corporation, which in 2014 created a
joint venture with the US agricultural giant Cargill, owns
47 sugar mills and controls another 50 through contracts.
Raízen is another joint venture formed by the Cosan cor-
Production target at acquisition
poration with the mineral-oil company Shell; Biosev is a
partnership between Santelisa with Louis Dreyfus Compa-
23 21 agrofuels ny, one of Cargill’s competitors. Sugarcane plantations are
food expanding worldwide, but nowhere as fast as in Brazil. The
livestock cultivated area doubled between 2005 and 2013 from five to
9 other agricultural ten million hectares.
products (non-food)
9 In contrast to oil palm and sugarcane, large soybean
38 not specified
producers focus mainly on production, not processing. The
Argentinean grain-and-meat producer El Tejar controls
700,000 hectares in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia
Land use after acquisition
and Uruguay through leases and contract farming. Amaggi
oilseeds owns 200,000 hectares of land on which soy is grown. Blairo
17
cereals Maggi, the head of the company, is the former governor of
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / LAND MATRIX
3 sugarcane the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso and the current Minister
3 44 trees
3 of Agriculture of Brazil.
beverage and
10 spice crops
roots and tubers
20
other Shifting land use to livestock and
industrial crops increases the risk of
regional and national food insecurity
Russia
Ukraine
2.4
2.4
1.3
0.6 1.8
Netherlands
Canada United Kingdom 0.5
0.5 0.4 Kazakhstan 1.0
3.3 0.6 0.5
Jersey Cambodia
0.5 China
USA France South Korea
Cyprus 0.7
Morocco Luxembourg 1.4 Laos Papua
0.7 New Guinea
Saudi-
0.7 1.1
Sudan Arabia 1.3 0.4 2.3
British Sierra Leone Hong Kong
0.5 Ethiopia India
Virgin Islands 0.6
South Sudan 1.0
Liberia
0.3 Ghana 0.7 3.7 Indonesia
0.6
Brazil 0.8 Rep. Congo Malaysia 3.0
1.6
Madagascar
2.0 0.7 Singapore
0.6
Paraguay
Zambia Mozambique
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.8 0.4 South Africa
Argentina 1.1
DIGITAL MANOEUVRES –
WHEN TRACTORS GO ONLINE
Precision farming promises to revolutionize have bought up smaller competitors and maintained their
farm management. But it will only benefit brands. The global market is dominated by three players.
large landholdings and capital-intensive The US corporation Deere & Company is the market leader;
it is known for its biggest brand, John Deere. CNH Industri-
agro enterprises.
al belongs to the Fiat group; its twelve brands include Case,
New Holland, Steyr, Magirus and Iveco. The third-largest
T
he market for agricultural machinery and technology player is the US company AGCO, with Gleaner, Deutz-Fahr,
is huge. With a worldwide turnover of $US 137 bil- Fendt and Massey Ferguson. These three corporations share
lion, 2013 was the best year ever for the sector. Since more than 50 percent of the global market. Deere alone had
then, the sales of tractors, balers, milking machines, feed- a turnover of $US 29 billion in 2015: higher than the com-
ing equipment and other technical gear have been falling. bined seed and pesticide sales of Monsanto and Bayer.
In 2015 the turnover dropped to $US 112 billion. A further Market consolidation is not the only trend in the farm
decline is expected in 2016. An immediate recovery is un- equipment sector. The digitalization of agricultural pro-
certain. duction is still at an early stage, but is developing quickly.
There are several reasons for the recession. Low prices for Sensors measure milk production, livestock movements
agricultural products around the world depress investment. and feed rations. Quality assessments are performed online
The European and North American markets are saturated. during milking instead of afterwards in a laboratory. In crop
The number of farms is decreasing, especially in animal pro- farming, digitalization (known as “precision farming”) op-
duction. The area used for farming is shrinking and fewer timizes operations, saving money and resources and maxi-
subsidies are being paid out. mizing yields.
China and India remain the most attractive markets. Chi- Tractors are steered by GPS; apps provide data about soil
nese agriculture is regulated by the government. State poli- quality to planters via wireless networks, and calculate op-
cies have boosted the percentage of work done by machines timal sowing patterns and planting distances. Drones could
in the past 15 years from 34 percent in 2005 to 61 percent take over the spraying of pesticides. Information technology
in 2014. India’s market is not yet as advanced. The industry enables digital “farm management systems” to access data-
hopes that the government will modify its agricultural poli- bases and combine soil-quality data with weather forecasts.
cies to encourage equipment sales. Producers plan to sell half Control over this technology is concentrated in the hands of
of all tractors worldwide in these two countries by 2020. Asia a few corporations.
will then account for over 40 percent of the global market. Digitalization is opening up new markets for agrotech
A few large corporations share the equipment market companies. New joint ventures and acquisitions already
amongst themselves. Instead of growing organically, they point towards this trend. AGCO and the pesticide producer
DuPont announced in 2014 that they would work together
on data transmission. In the same year, CNH and Monsan-
to’s “Climate Corporation” division signed a contract to
TOP 6 AGROTECH CORPORATIONS
develop precision planting technologies. Deere and the
Headquarters of the leading enterprises in 2016
Climate Corporation have agreed to give Deere’s farm man-
publicly traded private or family enterprise agement system permission to access the large datasets of
the Climate Corporation. AGCO and the chemical company
5 Claas BASF have also formed a partnership to develop their own
1 Deere 4 Kubota farm management system.
Amsterdam
London
Harsewinkel
CNH introduced self-driving tractors in 2016. Sensors
Moline
Duluth Osaka guide the vehicle, making a driver’s cab unnecessary. They
2 CNH are among the first “agricultural robots”: machines that
Mumbai
plough, sow, spray, prune, milk, shear and harvest. The US
3 AGCO consulting firm Wintergreen Research estimates that the
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / AM ARCHIVES
5 225
-5 175
-10 150
-20 100
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
S
oil fertility is of central importance to farmers. They the prospect of making money with sequestration would
fertilize their fields to replenish the nutrients re- give farmers the wrong incentives. It might promote un-
moved through the harvest. The three main nutrients, sustainable cultivation methods and land speculation that
nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, are found in manure, would threaten fundamental goods: food security, soil fer-
chicken droppings, crop residues and other materials of tility and biological diversity.
animal or vegetable origin. Mineral fertilizers also contain The production of artificial fertilizers is extremely energy
them, but their sources are different: phosphorus and potas- intensive, which means that their prices are tied to gas and
sium are mined from rock. Synthetic nitrogen is produced oil prices. Synthetic nitrogen is produced mainly in North
through a chemical process. America, India, China, Russia, the Middle East, Australia and
The invention of mineral fertilizers made possible the Indonesia. Eighty percent of the potassium comes from Can-
industrialization of agriculture first in Europe and North ada, Israel, Russia, Belarus and Germany. Rock phosphate is
America, then in developing countries. The Green Revolu- extracted in opencast mines: more than 75 percent of the
tion introduced Western agricultural practices to other re- world’s reserves are located in Morocco and in the Moroc-
gions. A billion-dollar fertilizer business has emerged. The can-occupied Western Sahara.
industry proudly points to rising yields but ignores the nega- Since 1961, the consumption of artificial fertilizers has
tive impacts on soils, climate and environment. increased sixfold, and in 2013, world sales totalled US$ 175
Corporations are trying to turn the international de- billion. Manufacturers, especially of phosphate and potash,
bate surrounding “climate-smart agriculture” (CSA) to their dominate certain geographic markets or sectors and act as
advantage. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the monopolists. The biggest players are Agrium in Canada,
United Nations (FAO) introduced this concept in 2010. Its Yara in Norway and the Mosaic Company in the USA. They
idea was to link agriculture, food security and climate pro- operate their own mines and factories; together they ac-
tection. Selected practices adapted to local climate, and soil count for 21 percent of the global fertilizer market.
conditions were supposed to make smallholder farms more For the period 2015–20, FAO expects artificial fertilizer
productive and boost humus formation. The idea is to adapt deliveries to rise from 246 to 273 million tonnes. The latter
agriculture to climate change and promote carbon seques- includes 171 million tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer and about
tration in soils, especially in developing countries. 50 million each of phosphate and potash. The industry ex-
But the original idea changed quickly. In 2014, FAO, pects uneven growth in this period. Africa is expected to
the World Bank and several governments, as well as lobby have the strongest annual growth rate, at 3.6 percent, fol-
lowed by Latin America, South Asia, and the successor states
of the Soviet Union.
China’s demand for fertilizer is plateauing. In 2015, the
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / SOIL ATLAS
202
lizer company. Indonesia
In Germany, nitrogen usage has increased by two-and-
China
a-half times and the usage of agricultural lime by half since
1961. Germany is dependent on imports: 66 percent of its
140
nitrogen and 94 percent of its phosphate come from abroad.
Domestic potassium is abundant. K+S is one of the world‘s
largest manufacturers. Fertilizers account for half of this
firm’s turnover of € 3.8 billion. Good for K+S, bad for the en-
557 USA
S
even companies currently dominate the global pro- will support the introduction of genetically modified plants.
duction of pesticides and seeds, a key sector in agri- Whether Syngenta’s new owners will list parts of the compa-
culture. But this oligopoly will shrink if the EU and ny on the stock exchange is unclear.
US competition authorities give their green light. The two Bayer is financing the takeover of Monsanto with US$
US corporations DuPont and Dow Chemical have merged, 57 billion of loans. Its board argues that the enormous po-
ChemChina has bought the Swiss company Syngenta, and tential of global agricultural markets justifies the price, and
the German chemical giant Bayer is going to take over the taking on so much debt. It expects the global turnover of
US company Monsanto. Three newly-formed conglomerates seed and pesticides to increase from US$ 85 billion in 2015
would dominate more than 60 percent of the market for to US$ 120 billion in 2025. For comparison: in 2015 Bayer
commercial seed and agricultural chemicals. They would and Monsanto had a turnover of US$ 25.5 billion and a prof-
manage the supply of almost all the genetically modified it of US$ 5 billion.
plants on this market. They would also own the majority Bayer AG, the world’s tenth largest chemicals manu-
of patent applications for intellectual property rights for facturer, has expanded into seeds by acquiring other com-
plants at the European Patent Office. panies. It has joined the league of large multinational seed
The new Bayer-Monsanto would be the world’s largest corporations, following in the footsteps of other chemicals
agricultural corporation, holding one-third of the global companies. Five of the world‘s seven largest seed producers
market for commercial seed and a quarter of the market come originally from the chemical industry: Monsanto, Du-
for pesticides. Bayer has agreed to buy Monsanto for US$ Pont, Syngenta, Dow and Bayer.
66 billion. Bayer-Monsanto and DuPont-Dow will remain No other company has swallowed more competitors in
on the stock market, and will continue to be accountable to the seed sector than Monsanto. This corporation began buy-
their shareholders. The management of DuPont-Dow plans ing up seed producers around the world in the 1990s and now
to split the new group into three listed companies, one of dominates a quarter of the world’s commercial seed market.
them an independently operating agrochemicals compa- It owns rights to most of the genetically modified plants, but
ny. ChemChina, a state-owned firm that is China’s biggest also sells many conventional seeds, in particular vegetables.
chemicals producer, has also agreed to pay an eleven-digit Monsanto’s presence is difficult to detect because the com-
panies it controls often keep their original name; Monsanto’s
logo rarely appears on a seed package in Europe.
The narrowing of the oligopoly from six or seven to
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / AGROPAGES
TOP 10 IN AGROCHEMICALS
three members will bring Bayer-Monsanto, DuPont-Dow
Headquarters of the firms with the biggest turnover, 2015
and ChemChina-Syngenta closer to their objective of dom-
publicly listed state-owned inating seed and pesticide markets and dictating products,
prices and quality standards. All three groups are pursuing
the strategy of ousting other suppliers and eliminating com-
4 Dow Chemical 2 Bayer
7 Adama (ChemChina) petitors, if necessary through acquisitions.
8 FMC
Philadelphia
Leverkusen Ludwigshafen Thirty national antitrust authorities worldwide are ana-
Midland Basel
St. Louis Wilmington Beijing lysing these mega mergers. The European Commission has
Tel Aviv ruled that DuPont must sell off some of its pesticides as well
Mumbai
6 DuPont 3 BASF as its research and development branch. To squeeze past the
1 Syngenta regulators Bayer is forced to sell off its South African busi-
ness in genetically modified cotton, as well as its Liberty Link
5 Monsanto 10 UPL
crops and chemicals.
Melbourne
seed Monsanto
20 Monsanto pesticides + Bayer
Syngenta
15 DuPont
Bayer Syngenta +
ChemChina
Dow
10
BASF BASF
DuPont
ChemChina + Dow
5
25
0
Total turnover of chemicals companies 2014 and share of agrochemicals, US$ billion Non-agrochemicals turnover
BOUNTEOUS HARVEST
become the world’s number one in the seed and pesticide
Number of patents on plants applied for and granted,
sector. The group is under pressure because of its high debt, by applicant, European Patent Office, end 2015
but is certain of the support of Germany, Europe’s economic
applied for of which granted
giant.
A risk is that the new German global player and its po-
litical allies could target the fundamental achievements of 777 756 600 465
EU legislation. These include the principle that the safety of
pesticides must be demonstrated before they can receive EU 211 227 221 219
approval: i.e., they do not cause cancer, affect reproduction,
damage embryos or the hormone system. Bayer is likely to BASF DuPont Monsanto Bayer
try to alter the licensing and labelling requirements of ge-
netically modified plants, portraying these rules as obstacles 376
160
of growth and trade. Big tasks lie ahead: Whoever secures 142
38
5,551
Syngenta Dow
Other*
Six market leaders share *Other firms, universities and
37 percent of the patents for research institutions 1,764
plants granted by the EU
M
ammals, not plants, were the first genetically modi- itec, which tries to market genetically engineered insects.
fied organisms. Successful experiments were carried With its salmon, Intrexon is the only company in the world
out with mice in 1974 and the first reports on sheep that is currently able to bring a genetically modified farm
and pigs were published in 1985. While masses of genetical- animal.
ly modified mice and rats are now to be found in laborato- The US firm Recombinetics is in second place. It has also
ries, most attempts to introduce this technology in animal applied for patents and will soon be in a position to apply for
production have so far failed. approvals to market genetically modified animals. The firm
The reasons are a lack of acceptance by consumers, ani- is located in Minnesota, a centre of the US meat industry. Re-
mal welfare concerns, and technical problems. The risks for combinetics is working on animals that produce more milk
humans, animals and the environment are considerable. and meat; hornless cattle that are easier to manage, and cat-
For example, genetic engineering of dairy cattle leads to un- tle that do not sexually mature. These “terminator animals”
desirable changes in the composition of milk. Attempts to are sterile and cannot be independently bred. They would
make African cattle resistant towards trypanosomiasis have only be fattened for slaughter. Gene editing is at the centre
resulted in other health risks for the animals. of this research. Strands of DNA are reassembled in the lab-
Only one genetically modified organism has been given oratory and inserted into the genome using DNA scissors.
the go-ahead: a salmon breed modified to grow faster was This new approach is cheaper and more targeted than pre-
approved for human consumption in the USA in 2015 and in vious scattergun methods, which do not allow to determine
Canada in 2016. According to reports, the salmon reached where a new gene is inserted.
the market in Canada in 2017. Critics fear that the modified Gene editing can have unwanted side-effects on the an-
genome might spread in natural salmon populations. The imals. Health problems in cattle are an example: many ge-
fish was developed by the Canadian firm AquaBounty Tech- netically modified animals die at birth or soon afterwards
nologies. The company applied for a patent in 1992, and it because of damaged organs and joints. No one can foresee
was granted in Europe in 2001. But the patent has now ex- all interactions that genetic medications cause.
pired and AquaBounty was on the verge of bankruptcy be-
fore it was bought by the US company Intrexon.
Based in the US state of Virginia, the company belongs It is not yet profitable for beef producers
to the billionaire Randal J. Kirk. Intrexon is making renewed to genetically test single animals: even the most
attempts to introduce genetically modified animals in ag- valuable selection does not cover the costs
behaviour changes
damage to inner organs
swollen ovaries
swollen abdomen
infertility
joint problems
loss of the tail
lameness
undesirable changes to the milk
JUGGLING GENES
In the coming years, seed companies plan speed. By 2025, we will have more data on genomics than on
to use genome editing to produce crops as-tronomy. The resulting exabytes of data are often housed
with new characteristics – and market in open, public databases that are only accessible to compa-
nies with the costly bioinformatics capacity needed to tap
them without having to state that they are
into their potential value. They use special algorithms and
“genetically modified”. artificial intelligence to pinpoint gene sequences that may
be of interest.
I
n the race to control agriculture from the roots up, who- The hosts of these genome databases naturally under-
ever wields economic, legal and technical control over stand the treasure trove they are amassing on the indus-
the genetics of living things will exert considerable pow- try’s behalf – succumbing to the temptation, one public
er. Early advantages in genetic engineering enabled com- database, Divseek, which collects data on the genomic di-
panies such as Monsanto to reshape seed and build a new versity in agricultural species, was recently caught trying to
business model around it. They succeeded in making the sell privileged access to data to Syngenta and DuPont. This
cultivation of millions of hectares dependent on their pro- would have given these agrochemical giants an inside track
prietary seeds and chemicals. to patenting modified genes that confer traits desired by
The techniques of that first “transgenic” generation now customers.
appear crude compared to a new set of tools that directly The biotech majors are actively seeking so-called “cli-
edit the DNA building-blocks of life. Agribusiness giants mate genes”: they want to digitize the DNA sequences
are positioning themselves to prosper from the new tech- thought to be responsible for a plant’s ability to handle
nologies. Control over tomorrow’s agricultural landscape environmental stresses such as flooding and drought. In a
starts with big data, using very large datasets to reveal pat- warming, changing world, owning the rights to a plant’s
terns, trends and associations. Over 1,000 research centres ability to adapt is a far-sighted strategy. If a crop must be
are generating data on genome sequences at a breakneck “climate-ready” to survive or to thrive, then those who
own the relevant traits also control the viability of indus-
trial agriculture. In 2010, there were 262 “patent families”
(over 1,600 patent documents) claiming rights to “climate
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / AM ARCHIVES
TACKLING DNA
genes”. Two-thirds of these were claimed by three compa-
Genome Editing with the CRISPR/Cas9-Method,
schematic diagram nies: Monsanto, BASF and DuPont.
The agribusiness giants hope one day to combine cli-
mate-targeted seeds with precision planting and sensing
Cas9-Proteins from bacteria have systems. Farmers would purchase seeds genetically mod-
certain characteristics ...
ified for their specific field conditions, and the machines
would sow and fertilize them accordingly. This vision is now
driving mega-mergers in the pesticide and seed sectors. An-
they seek out repeating strands in the genetic sequence (CRISPR) other wave of mergers between agri-input firms and farm
machinery manufacturers is on the horizon. The US tractor
maker John Deere has already signed deals with the agro-
chemicals giants Syngenta, Dow and Bayer to develop the
and cut the DNA strand at this point. equipment needed for digitized farming.
Identifying (and patenting) the key gene sequences
for the future of agriculture is one thing, incorporating se-
quences into living crops is another. The big news in genet-
ics is not so much reading genomes as the ability to write
and rewrite DNA. A growing list of genetic engineering
techniques based on fast, flexible “gene-editing” and syn-
thesis of DNA promise that the DNA codes of crops, animals
New DNA strands can be inserted, and existing strands
and microbes can now be easily reshaped using digital and
turned off or deleted, to alter the characteristics of the
genetic material – for example to confer disease resistance. laboratory tools. DNA synthesis, the ability to “print” new
strands of artificial DNA, is now going to become a bulk
business. In 2016, approximately one billion base pairs of
licensor
process
Dow DuPont Syngenta Bayer Monsanto
licensee
merger planned
ZFN = Zinc finger nuclease TALEN = Transcription Activator-like Effector Nuclease CRISPR = Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats
Sangamo BioSciences
have convinced some governments to approve the use of
AGRICULTURAL TRADERS’
SECOND HARVEST
Four Western corporations dominate Recently, the Chinese state-owned grain trader Cofco
the global trade of agricultural products. caught up with ABCB and replaced it as the main buyer of
Now a Chinese firm has joined them. Brazilian maize and soya. ABCD’s share in Brazil’s grain ex-
ports fell from 46 percent in 2014 to 37 percent in 2015; Cof-
co accounted for 45 percent. In Russia, the grain trader RIF
W
heat, corn and soybeans are the three most impor- took top spot as exporter in 2015, overtaking the previous
tant agricultural raw materials traded worldwide. three dominant traders: Glencore from Switzerland, Cargill
The market situation, quality and price determine (the only ABCD member) and Olam from Singapore. This re-
whether these commodities are sold as foodstuffs, biofuels shuffling reflects the emergence of Russia as an important
or animal feed. The next most important global commodi- grain exporter and China as a major importer.
ties of this type are sugar, palm oil and rice. The ABCD group is well informed about harvest levels,
Four companies dominate both the import and export of prices, currency fluctuations, weather data and political
agricultural commodities: Archer Daniels Midland, (ADM), developments in all parts of the world. Every day, data gath-
Bunge, Cargill and the Louis Dreyfus Company. Togeth- ered from growing areas is analysed by financial experts.
er they are known as the “ABCD group” or simply “ABCD”. All four companies have subsidiaries that hedge the trade
ADM, Bunge and Cargill are US firms; Louis Dreyfus has its of agricultural commodities against price-related risks and
headquarters in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam. All four were engage in speculative transactions on futures exchanges,
founded between 1818 and 1902. Apart from ADM, they are especially in Chicago.
controlled by their founding families. They trade, transport The software and media company Bloomberg calls Car-
and process many commodities. They own ocean-going gill the “Goldman Sachs of agricultural commodity trade”
ships, ports, railways, refineries, silos, oil mills and factories. in reference to the US bank’s reputation of being well-in-
Together they account for 70 percent of the world market of formed. In a 2001 corporate brochure Cargill described
agricultural commodities. itself as: “We are the flour in your bread, the wheat in your
Cargill is the biggest firm, followed by ADM, Dreyfus and noodles, the salt on your fries. We are the corn in your tor-
Bunge. Customers of ABCD include feed manufacturers, tillas, the chocolate in your dessert, the sweetener in your
meat producers, biofuel producers and food retailers. They soft drink. We are the oil in your salad dressing and the beef,
are often of prime importance for their customers because pork or chicken you eat for dinner. We are the cotton in your
they can ensure a steady supply of raw materials in large clothing, the backing on your carpet and the fertilizer in
quantities. Cargill is the only one directly involved in meat your field”.
production and marketing. It also holds 25 percent of the Extreme price fluctuations in global agricultural mar-
global trade in palm oil. kets do not threaten Cargill. On the contrary, the firm ben-
efits from them. Early on, the company’s experts recognized
the huge harvest shortfall of 2012. They speculated on in-
creased prices for soybeans, wheat and corn, and made fa-
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / AM ARCHIVES
67
227
56 147 64
soy meal
169
sugar
maize
136 soy, palm rapeseed oil
41 330 138
1,026 soybeans
174 482
rice
coarse grains*
wheat
172
1,300
745
Cofco
300 Bunge
350
Cargill Archer Cofco Louis Bunge
400
Daniels Dreyfus
* Estimated: Cargill is not covered by the Fortune
450 Midland
Global 500. Louis Dreyfus included since 2013
500 Turnover includes trade, production
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 and financial services
F
ewer, ever larger, global players compete to control Mountain. The family business also covers coffee capsules
the food industry of the 21st century. Even the top food and machines. JAB’s acquisitions are putting pressure on
manufacturers are coming under pressure from inter- Nestlé, the market leader. Nestlé’s share of the global market
national supermarket chains. Competition is intense, and for packaged coffee is just under 23 percent; currently hold-
markets in the US and Europe are saturated. This drives food ing 20 percent, JAB has almost caught up with it.
corporations to expand into emerging markets and devel- Eighty percent of the global tea market is controlled by
oping countries. three corporations: Unilever (the Lipton brand), the Indian
A merger boom has set in since the end of the world company Tata (Tetley) and Associated British Foods (Twin-
financial crisis in 2010. In 2015 alone, two major mergers ings). The market for packaged tea is not yet as concentrated
worth over US$ 100 billion were agreed upon. One was a as coffee. In Germany, it is controlled by two family compa-
takeover of SABMiller by its rival, the brewery group An- nies: Teekanne holds a share of 35 percent and the Ostfriesis-
heuser-Busch. The other was a merger between the ketch- che Tee Gesellschaft 25 percent.
up-maker Heinz and its competitor Kraft. The resulting In 2010, Unilever, Nestlé, Danone and PepsiCo an-
Kraft Heinz Company is the sixth-largest food manufac- nounced that they would expand into new markets – es-
turer worldwide. Extensive cost-cutting strategies, which pecially in China and Russia, but also in Africa. European
include shedding jobs, are expected to finance the deal dairies are also noticeably active. Small manufacturers have
and boost market shares and profit margins. Financial been put under pressure by a decline in milk prices that
investors, including 3G Capital, an investment company started in 2014 and are still decreasing. The French dairy
belonging to the Brazilian billionaire Jorge Lemann and Lactalis made nine acquisitions in 2015 alone, and another
known for its tough cost-cutting measures, are behind both four by mid-2016. Danone has become the main sharehold-
mergers. Lemann teamed up with the US investor Warren er of West Africa’s Fan Milk. The Swedish-Danish dairy Arla
Buffett and his company Berkshire Hathaway for the Kraft- Foods has entered into several joint ventures and plans to
Heinz deal. quintuple its sales in West Africa by 2020.
Consumers increasingly demand natural products and
are pushing the food industry to replace artificial ingredi-
ents. Companies like General Mills, Archer Daniels Midland The sector is growing, but even the big players are not
(ADM), Coca-Cola and Unilever have bought up companies growing everywhere. Markets are penetrated with global and
that produce natural ingredients and flavours. local brands, some of them shared with other companies
1 Nestlé: Aero, Bakers Complete, Boost, publicly listed state-owned family-owned 6 Mondelez: Cadbury, LU, Marabou, Milka,
Buitoni, Cailler, Chef, Coffee-Mate, Crunch, Oreo, Philadelphia, Ritz, Stimorol, Toblerone,
Friskies, Gerber, Häagen-Dazs, Herta,
9 General Mills 10 Smithfield TUC, Chips Ahoy!, Nabisco, Trident, Bubba-
KitKat, Maggi, Milo, Mövenpick, Nescafé, loo, Tang, Belvita, Lacta, Suchard Express
Nespresso, Nesquik, Nestea , Perrier, 8 Unilever
Purina, S. Pellegrino, Smarties, Thomy 6 Mondelez London 7 Danone: Danone, Activia, Vitalinea,
Golden Valley Rotterdam 7 Danone Badoit Evian Volvic Bonafont Mizone
Smithfield Paris
2 JBS: Seara, Friboi, Swift, Primo, Hans, Deerfield Pittsburgh Vevey Nutrilon Aptamil SGM Milupa, Gervais
Beehive, Moy Park, Pilgrim’s, Pierce, Del Dia Springdale 1 Nestlé Luohe
McLean
5 Kraft Heinz 8 Unilever: Becel, Bertolli, Rama, Flora,
3 Tyson Foods: Hillshire Farm, Sara Lee, 4 Mars Langnese, Magnum, Lipton, Ben & Jerry’s,
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / FOODPROCESSING.COM
Wright, Bosco’s, Corn King, Gallo, Open Prairie, Knorr, Pfanni, Unox
Tastybird, Wunderbar
3 Tyson Foods 9 General Mills: Bisquick, Pillsbury,
4 Mars: Balisto, Bounty, M&M’s, Mars, Milky Way, Knack & Back, Chex, Kix, Monsters, Trix,
Snickers, Twix, Wrigley’s Spearmint, Hubba Bubba, São Paulo Häagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, V.Pearl,
Orbit, Mirácoli, Uncle Ben’s, Bright Tea Co., Alterra, Yoki, Immaculate Baking, Annie’s, Muir
Chocamento 2 JBS Glen, Yoplait
5 Kraft Heinz: Kraft, Heinz, Bagel Bites, Capri Sun, 10 Smithfield: Smithfiel, Eckrich, Farmland,
De Ruijter, Good Taste Company, Jack Daniel’s Sauces, Armour, Margherita, Curly’s, Nathan’s,
Jell-O, Kool-Aid, PurePet, Velveeta, Weight Watchers, Wyler’s Cook’s, Gwaltney, John Morrell
breakfast cereals
baby food 40 55
cheese
61 74
soups 18
82 88 37
sweets 22 67
38
56
43 57 Eastern Europe
68
Western Europe
43
North America 62
43 26
43
56 56
South, East and Southeast Asia
28 38
75 84 72
15
42 Africa and Middle East 88 92
75
Latin America
70 91 74
20 33
World 62 60 50
Oceania
dominance: the agrifood industry Processing: intermediate products; manufacturing: end products
EXPANDING AISLES
Food shoppers in the developed world let even higher in several other European countries. Discount-
the cash registers ring at the likes of ers are most rapidly expanding through aggressive market-
Wal-Mart, Lidl, Carrefour and Tesco. The ing. The food retailers push down the prices they pay to their
suppliers. Discounters such as Aldi stock their own products
supermarket revolution is now expanding
rather than other brands. In 2014, the Schwarz group, which
throughout the developing world. owns the Lidl discounter, became the largest European re-
tailer, leaving UK’s Tesco behind in second place, and Carre-
T
he modern retailing sector – hypermarkets, super- four from France in third place.
markets and discount stores – plays a major role in the The main growth in grocery sales is currently in low-
food chain that links field to plate, especially in the er-middle-income countries such as India, Indonesia and
developed world and in emerging economies. This is where Nigeria. Rising incomes, urbanization and foreign direct
a large part of what farmers produce ends up, and where investment are pushing the growth of supermarket chains
billions of consumers can choose from a huge range of food more quickly than in the developed world. Emerging and
and drinks. developing countries have become strategic markets for
Food retailers have become influential gatekeepers of big international retailers looking for new expansion op-
the food trade. By choosing which suppliers can sell through portunities. This endangers the livelihoods of a multitude of
their stores and what types of food consumers can buy there, small-scale traders and artisans who process and sell food.
they increasingly influence the conditions under which the The new marketing system does generate jobs in warehous-
food is produced. A number of factors have underpinned the ing, processing and retail, but far fewer than are lost.
growth of the supermarkets’ power since the 1980s. The lib- Governments in these countries are increasingly facili-
eralization of trade and investment and the deregulation of tating the building of supermarkets and are deregulating
agricultural markets have reduced the bargaining power of their investment regimes in order to attract international
producers and facilitated the growth of big retail chains. Re- retailers, incentivize modern food retailing, and stimulate
gional and urban planning has long favoured the develop- growth. In less than 20 years, supermarkets have boosted
ment of huge retail complexes outside of town centres with their market share from 5 percent of all retail sales to 50 per-
their small, fragmented land parcels. cent, first in Latin America, and then in Southeast Asia.
In both developed and emerging economies, recent dec- This process is currently under way in China, and is just
ades have seen the grocery business become increasingly starting in India and Eastern Africa. In South Africa, super-
concentrated. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, alone market chains already play a prominent role. Around 65 per-
accounts for 6.1 percent of global food retail sales. In the Eu- cent of all retail food sales, and 97 percent of all “formal” re-
ropean Union – one of the three biggest markets along with tail food sales (those where the customer gets a receipt), are
the United States and China – the ten biggest grocery chains thought to be made by one of the “Big Four”. Shoprite, the
(four German, four French, and two British) account for al- biggest, operates in more than 16 African countries.
most 50 percent of food retail sales. Market concentration is The supermarket spring tide in these regions normally
occurs in three distinct waves of products. The first tends to
be in packaged or processed foods, such as canned meat and
vegetables as well as dry items like rice and spices. The sec-
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / DELOITTE
TOP 10 RETAILERS
ond wave is in semi-processed foods, such as fresh milk and
Headquarters of the firms with the largest turnover, 2014
pre-packed fresh meat. The third is in fresh fruits and vege-
publicly traded private or family enterprise tables. This supermarket revolution occurs at the expense of
traditional shops and markets.
5 Tesco While retailers start by purchasing from local wholesale
2 Costco Welwyn 8 Metro
9 Target
Garden
City
markets, they quickly shift to buying directly from a small
Düsseldorf 7 Aldi
Issaquah Minneapolis Croix (Nord)
Essen/Mülheim number of “preferred suppliers”. They gradually exclude
Neckarsulm
Bentonville Cincinnati Bou- 4 Schwarz (Lidl) small local producers from their supply chains, and rely in-
logne-Bil-
3 Kroger lancourt stead on large domestic and foreign farms that achieve high
10 Auchan
1 Wal-Mart economies of scale, meet the supermarkets’ quality stand-
6 Carrefour ards, and accept responsibility for postharvest activities
– such as packaging – so they can remain on the supermar-
kets’ list of preferred suppliers.
4 6 Rewe 22.2
price 1
health
transport costs 2
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / NIELSEN
packaging
3
and information
higher nutritive value 4
food allergies
CHEMICAL SPRAYS,
BUT HUNGER STAYS
Industry says it can feed the world. But total to exacerbate inequalities rather than resolving them. Inde-
food production is not the issue; access to pendent food producers – mostly smallholders – and farm
food is. The key solution is to fight poverty. workers account for more than half of those who go hungry
today. Industrial agriculture is not helping them, and in
many places it is making them even poorer – by depriving
I
ndustrial, corporate-driven food systems have failed to them of markets, expropriating their land and water, and
deliver food security for everyone. And they will not be polluting their soil. The key question is not, therefore, how
able to do so in the future either. That is because food sys- to boost output. The discussion should instead focus on how
tems severely harm both nature and the people on whom to improve the living conditions of the poorest, including
they depend. Many agribusiness firms claim that they can through agriculture, to ensure they have access to income
“fight hunger” simply by producing more food. But that is and adequate nutrition.
far too simplistic and misleading. Second, because the efforts have concentrated on in-
Historically, industrial agriculture has delivered large creasing supply, little has been done to improve efficiency.
increases in production for major crops. Between 1961 An enormous waste of calories is the result. The global har-
and 2001, regional per-capita food production doubled vest of edible crops is today equal to around 4,600 kcal per
in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and in South Asia, Latin person per day. But only around 2,000 kcal per person are
America and the Caribbean. It did so largely on the back of actually available for consumption.
high-yielding irrigated crop varieties grown in highly spe- A net loss of 600 kcal occurs after harvest, for exam-
cialized monocultures, boosted with lots of synthetic ferti- ple through spoilage and storage losses. Another 800 kcal
lizers and pesticides. These developments have lifted many are lost in the distribution system and in households. Even
farmers out of poverty and paved the way for better diets. Per more – 1,200 kcal – are fed to livestock. The Stockholm In-
person and per day, we produce more calories than ever be- ternational Water Institute published these figures in 2008.
fore. But this achievement also masks major problems. Updating them and adding in the effect of fuel crops would
First, hunger has not disappeared. In 2017, there are
still 815 million people who are undernourished around
the world. A large part of the problem is related to the un- In some regions, the negative effects of industrial
even distribution of food, which is in turn tied to poverty agriculture can already be seen in
and so-cial exclusion. Industrial food systems have tended production levels. Elsewhere yields are still rising
10 10
9 9
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4 stagnating yields
3 3
2 2
1 1
0 0
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
20.0
9.6 61
220 512
23.2
5.5 34
HERD INSTINCT
They are largely unknown to the public, but of their supply chains, product diversification, wholesaling
they dominate the world’s meat supplies. and retailing, and lobbying of governments for trade and
Much of the beef, pork and chicken we eat is investment deals to ease access to foreign markets.
The sheer power of these companies obscures the fact
controlled by just a handful of big firms.
that only 9.7 percent of all the meat produced in the world is
traded internationally: most companies produce for domes-
W
ell-known giants such as Monsanto, Cargill, Bayer tic consumption. However, the top ten global meatpackers
and DuPont dominate the global seeds, cereals and dominate the sector, and the top three (JBS, Tyson Foods
agrochemicals markets. They often symbolize the and Cargill) all have food sales that are at least twice those
corporate takeover of the world’s food system. But another of numbers 4 (Smithfield / WH Group) and 5 (BRF, formerly
powerful cluster of businesses remain hidden from public known as Brasil Foods).
scrutiny: the companies that control the production, pro- Each of these corporations expanded by buying out
cessing and trade of beef, poultry and pork worldwide. smaller companies, creating a situation where livestock
According to the Institute for Trade and Agriculture raisers had very few buyers and were forced to accept what-
Policy (IATP), the “Global Meat Complex” is a highly concen- ever price the corporation dictated. The livestock raisers
trated, horizontally and vertically integrated web of corpo- responded either by expanding production dramatically,
rations that control the inputs, production and processing cramming lots of animals into a limited space, or by aban-
of huge numbers of animals. Some of these corporations doning livestock keeping altogether. In the United States,
occupy all major links in the global meat chain. Cargill, the 85 percent of beef processing is controlled by just four com-
best known, is a chief supplier of feed grain, the world’s sec- panies. In Canada, up to 90 percent is controlled by two cor-
ond-biggest feed manufacturer and the third-biggest meat porations (JBS and Cargill). European farmers have suffered
processor in terms of food sales. Others, like CP Group from a similar fate. In 2010–11, according to the industry research
Thailand, New Hope Liuhe and Wen’s Food Group from Chi- firm Gira, the top five meat firms in Europe were Vion (Neth-
na, and BRF from Brazil, are leading feed manufacturers and erlands), Danish Crown (Denmark), Tonnies (Germany),
meat processors in their own right. Bigard Group (France) and Westfleisch (Germany). Half of
This type of agribusiness has soared over the last 40 the beef and veal production in France, nearly two-thirds in
years, especially since 2000. JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and Germany and over two-thirds in the United Kingdom were
Smithfield, now part of WH Group from China, are the captured by four or five market players.
world’s largest meat-producing corporations. The Brazilian New economic developments are adding to the corpo-
firm JBS alone processed over ten million tons of dressed car- rations’ fortunes. The EU is set to produce and export a re-
casses in 2009–10. This represents more than the combined cord volume of red meat in 2017. In the case of beef, this is
total of the companies ranked 11 to 20. Each corporation because European agribusiness successfully lobbied the EU
uses a combination of several strategies including mergers to eliminate the region’s dairy quota. With no limits on milk
and acquisitions of other companies, vertical integration supplies, dairy prices have plummeted, driving out many
small producers. As dairy farmers continue to sell off their
cattle, the EU’s beef production has increased. At the same
time, pork traders see new export opportunities. The EU has
TOP 10 GLOBAL MEAT PROCESSORS
been the world’s biggest pork exporter since 2013; buoyed
Food sales of transnational corporations, 2016, billion US dollars
by rising Chinese demand, EU exports reached record levels
publicly listed privately-owned privately- and state-owned in 2016. Yet another record is likely in 2017.
But the farmers do not benefit, instead only the same few
4 Smithfield
companies cash in on the sales. In 2013, Smithfield Foods,
3 Cargill Randers an American company with extensive European opera-
Minnetonka tions, was bought out by the Chinese Shanghui Group ( later
Austin Smithfield Osaka
Springdale Aurora
10 OSI Luohe changed to WH Group). Its subsidiaries in Poland and Ro-
8 Danish Crown mania are now profiting from China’s increasing demand.
7 Hormel WH Group also controls nearly three-fourths of Shuanghui
2 Tyson Foods 6 Nipponham Development.
The poultry sector is the fastest-growing meat segment
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / IATP/FEM
9 Marfrig
São Paulo globally. In 2017, Brazil, the United States and the EU ac-
Itajaí 1 JBS
22
48
pigs
chicken
16 WH Group
22 28 Vion Food
Danish Crown
T
he globalization of food production through multina- that give people the right to define their own food, agricul-
tionals has created a physical and psychological dis- ture, livestock and fisheries systems, and the policies that af-
tance between consumers and farmers, i.e., between fect those systems as part of an international movement. It
what we eat and where it comes from. Food arrives packaged seeks not to fine-tune industrial agriculture but to replace it:
on supermarket shelves with little trace of its rural origins. not conformation but transformation.
But more and more people are questioning this dominant The agroecology approach imitates and optimizes nat-
food system; they are critical of how industrialized food is ural processes by using local resources effectively, and by
produced and how little we know about it. A growing move- recycling nutrients and energy on the farm. This reduces
ment of pioneers around the world is working to change the farm’s dependence on purchases from big agricultural
the way we produce and consume food. They are trying to corporations. Industrial fertilizers are not needed to keep
make our food systems more socially just, environmentally soils healthy: plant residues, manure and trees provide
friendly and independent from big corporations – from farm the soil with the nutrients it needs. Instead of pesticides,
to fork. mixed crops keep pests under control. Crops are grown
The idea of agroecology is not new: farmers and social together with plants that either repel unwanted insects or
movements have for decades been working on more envi- attract useful ones. This “push–pull” method is widely used.
ronmentally and socially friendly alternatives to industrial Rather than buying hybrid seed from corporations,
agriculture. Now, research institutions, civil society, the farmers produce their own seed, improve it and distrib-
United Nations and a few governments are starting to adopt ute it through seed banks and exchange networks. Their
this concept. In the 2015 Declaration of the International seeds are well adapted to the particular environment and
Forum for Agroecology, social movements agreed on the
principles and methods to achieve this vision. But it still has
a long way to go before it becomes mainstream. In France, the smallholder movement AMAP has attracted
Agroecology is often confused with ecological farm- a huge membership. Farmers sign contracts to
ing or sustainable intensification – an approach that aims supply customers over a period of several months of a year
meat
vegetables
0 10 20 30 40 50
fruit
60 70 80 90 100
2,000
R
ules that once restricted excessive financial speculati- the mid-1990s; in 2011 this share rose to 61 percent. Today it
on on farm commodities have been loosened time and is thought to be around 70 percent. Pension funds invest in
again over the last two decades. As a result, finance agriculture-based securities in order to pay retirement bene-
powerhouses now shape the global food system to an in- fits to their members. Their holdings shot up from US$ 66 bil-
creasing extent. Since the early 1990s, the US Commodity lion in 2002 to US$ 320 billion in 2012.
Futures Trading Commission gradually relaxed rules that Hundreds of agriculture-linked investment funds are
limited speculative trade in wheat, soybeans, and corn (mai- now in operation, controlling billions of dollars of assets.
ze) futures contracts. By 2005, those limits had been expand- One of the largest is the DB Agriculture Fund, launched by
ed by a factor of 10, 15 and 35, respectively. Futures trading the Deutsche Bank. This fund manages over US$ 700 mil-
involves buying and selling quantities of commodities today lion in assets, including maize, soybeans, wheat, coffee and
at a specific price for delivery at some future date. Finely tu- sugar. In 2007, BlackRock, one of the world’s largest invest-
ned, such financial instruments can make a big difference to ment firms, established an Agriculture Index Fund that in-
prices and profits. vests in assets such as commodity futures, farmland, agri-
As a result of these regulatory changes, banks including cultural input firms, as well as food processing and trading
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citibank as well as oth- companies. Its shares include Monsanto, Syngenta, Tyson
er financial actors can now sell new kinds of financial secu- Foods, Deere and Co, and ADM. This fund is worth more than
rities. Commodity index funds, for example, typically track US$ 230 million.
the prices of a bundle of commodities traded on futures mar- Many commodity-trading companies, such as Cargill,
kets, including agricultural commodities, and are subject to Bunge and ADM, have their own financial investment arms.
scant state oversight. Funds that focus entirely on agricul- These companies play unique dual roles, both as sellers of in-
tural commodities and firms have also emerged. vestment products, and as buyers of agricultural assets. They
The market for these new investment products has are of central importance because their decisions on wheth-
grown rapidly in recent years. Between 2006 and early 2011 – er to store or sell a product can influence prices, and as such
a period that spans the depth of the global financial crisis – they can greatly benefit from the new financial markets.
The narrative of a growing world population and lim-
ited resource base is attractive for large-scale institutional
investors, including insurance companies, pension funds,
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / FILES
CME Group: CME, CBoT, Nymex; Intercontinental Exchange: ICE, NYSE, LIFFE; Multi Commodity
Accurately predicting the weather, harvests
Exchange: MCX; Dalian Commodity Exchange: DCE; Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange: ZCE and prices is the core business of agricultural
exchanges. The aim is to reduce price risks
5,000
Fund composition, 25.11.2016, 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
in percent
live cattle 2.9 Performance in comparison to the authoritative S&P GSCI Agriculture Index,
4.5 13.6
soybean 8.7 difference in percent
maize
wheat 13.0 34.2
sugar 10.0 28.3
2016
cacao 6.5
coffee 3.8
11.0 12.4 2008 2011 2013 2014 2015 2016
lean pigs
beef cattle 11.5
2007 2009 2010 2012 -10.7 -1.1
12.3 -15.9 -18.0 -16.9
cotton
-28.9
cians in both the United States and the European Union have
10,553
tried to introduce stricter regulations to curb speculation in
the agricultural sector. But these efforts have been stalled by
An ever increasing financial game: in 2015, Trade on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT), 2015 calendar
futures trading in maize was 30 times the size year, production in agricultural year 2015/16
U
seful, easy-to-understand information on food pack- 1960s, social, church and ecology groups in Europe and the
aging increases consumer trust – as any marketing United States have been signing direct contracts with small-
specialist knows. For supermarkets and global food holder farmers. The aim of these contracts is to make certain
companies, customers’ brand loyalty is a glittering prize. that the smallholders receive a bigger share of the value of
They know that price, taste and appearance are not enough the end product. One such label, “Fairtrade”, is particularly
to persuade shoppers to part with their cash: how the food widespread. Its fixed purchase agreements help ensure sta-
is produced is also important. Concerned consumers want ble incomes for farmers, but it hits its limits when it comes
to be confident that animals and nature are treated gently, to working conditions on plantations. The agreement spec-
and that workers earn a fair wage and enjoy good working ifies compliance with the minimum wage set in the specific
conditions. countries but may be far below a living wage or the amounts
In addition to official standards, special labelling on paid into other types of employment.
product packaging can assuage consumers’ concerns too. There is often a wide gap between advertising and reali-
Food processors and traders use a plethora of seals and cer- ty. By using the Rainforest Alliance label, German supermar-
tificates to assure potential buyers that the contents of a kets such as the discounter Lidl suggest that their bananas
package are safe to consume, are produced in a sustainable and pineapples are produced in a sustainable manner.
way, or support social development. Hundreds of labels de- But surveys in Ecuador and Costa Rica have found that the
signed to appease consumers can be found on supermarket working conditions on Rainforest Alliance-certified planta-
shelves around the world. tions are catastrophic. This form of label abuse is known as
But labels developed by the industry itself are contro- “greenwashing”.
versial. They may reflect the firm’s image strategy, but do The basic problem is that the food production corpora-
not ensure changes to the product, its effects on the envi- tions have always relied on cheap land and cheap workers.
ronment or the working conditions of the people who pro- In the 1980s and 1990s, the International Labour Organiza-
duced it. One example is the “RSPO” labels. RSPO stands for tion (ILO), an agency of the United Nations, found that work-
the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Rainforest is often
cleared to establish oil palm plantations. In response to
complaints about their use of palm oil, the breakfast-cereal Products with certified labels have to be checked carefully.
maker Kellogg’s, the food giant Unilever and many other Trade unions on the ground can demand better working
companies use certificates issued by the RSPO to label their conditions that match the promises on the certificates AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / OXFAM
immediately/spraying during work < 1 hour 1–2 hours 2–4 hours >8 hours recommended delay: 24–48 hours
12 17
21 6 17
35 33
53 20
41 37 83
12 13
250
payment in kind minimum wage
225 productivity bonus (West Java/Bandung district,
piece-rate cash wage Assam state, Malawi)
locally determined average wage
200
extreme poverty line, international
definition
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
tea pickers supervisors factory workers ITA* producer A producer B plantation 1 plantation 2 plantation 3
Africa
Indonesia India
Assam
Malawi
West-Java
The extreme poverty line below which basic human needs cannot be fulfilled, was at the time of the study US$ 1.25 per day (purchasing power parity).
Calculation basis for Indonesia: 4-person household, two incomes; in India: 4.3-person household with 1.78 incomes; in Malawi: 3.8-person household with 1,17 incomes.
Payment in kind includes accommodation on the plantation. *ITA: estimate of Indian Tea Association
IN CONTROL,
NOT UNDER CONTROL
International trade deals reflect the first set of global talks to address agriculture and food – and
interests of the industry. Agrifood the founding of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in
corporations want to keep a grip on 1994.
The global agrifood corporations have played, and con-
the steering wheel.
tinue to play, a key role in trade negotiations. They often
have privileged access to the official negotiators, and they
S
hifts in economic policies have markedly reduced have made their influence felt. In the Uruguay Round, the
government control over markets and capital flows. US chief negotiator for agriculture was employed by Cargill,
This trend began in the 1980s and accelerated in the a commodities giant, both before and after the trade talks.
1990s. Along with other sectors, the agrifood industry has He was able to mould the framework of the agreement in the
undergone two changes: consolidation has led to the emer- interests of his former and future employer.
gence of oligopolies of a few large suppliers, and big firms The next set of trade talks was the (unfinished) Doha
have gotten bigger. Their share of sales in foreign markets Round, launched in 2001. Unilever, a global chemicals and
has increased, while the relative importance of their domes- food giant, represented the European food and drink in-
tic markets to their global turnover has declined. dustry. The firm urged governments to permit the widest
In 2015, the Swiss giant Nestlé generated around 70 per- possible opening of markets for goods, services and capital
cent of its global sales outside Europe and North America. flows within the WTO negotiations. Its representative was
The figure for the Anglo-Dutch conglomerate Unilever was appointed the “rapporteur” on agriculture for the Confeder-
about 75 percent. The effectiveness of their business strate- ation of European Business. The position gave Unilever priv-
gy firms depends on continually opening up new markets. ileged access to the EU Commission, which negotiates trade
For this to work, cutting or eliminating tariffs and other agreements on behalf of all the member states. In turn, civil
trade barriers is an asset. society organizations demonstrated against the free-market
The value of global food exports increased fivefold be- agenda, warned about the negative impacts on farming in
tween 1990 and 2014, while the value of agricultural ex- the developing world, and criticised the opaqueness of the
ports increased fourfold in the same period. This growth was negotiations.
facilitated by a plethora of free trade and investment agree- An extensive dismantling of customs and other trade
ments. Most were negotiated in the wake of the signing of barriers supports the strategy of multinationals to import
the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations – the cheap raw materials and export products to profitable, new
markets. Exemptions to free trade limit their advantages.
But these exemptions are important for developing coun-
tries as they allow them to protect their domestic food pro-
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / RACONTEUR
0 0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Rising world market prices promise profits and count
By quarters, excluding agrochemicals sector as a buy signal. Since the financial crisis of 2008, mergers
have almost regained the levels of the boom years
20 50 5
0 0 0
1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 2014 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 2014 01.02.2016
80
2014 = 100 percent 8
customs duties set by WTO 4,000
post-agreement effects customs duties actually set
70 7 3,500
60 6 3,000
50 5 2,500
40 4 2,000
30 3 1,500
20 2 1,000
cases reported to
10 1 500
UNCTAD und WTO
0 0 0
2014 2018 2022 2026 2030 2034 2038 2042 2046 2050 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
T
he EU quarter in Brussels is populated by some 20,000 the European Parliament, to work on their “parliamentary
to 30,000 lobbyists. About 500 multinational corpo- team” on behalf of agribusiness clients. Hume Brophy is the
rations have their own “in-house” lobby offices in the firm hired by Monsanto to run the “Glyphosate Task Force”,
city, and coordinate their campaigns via some 1,500 sectoral a lobby platform aimed at getting glyphosate’s licence re-
federations. Some stage high-profile events, like the Swiss- newed.
based giant Syngenta, whose “Forum for the Future of Agri- Corporate lobbies occasionally lose battles, too. In 2009,
culture” promotes its chemical-intensive version of farming. they could not prevent EU politicians from setting strong
Others are less publicly active but intervene more quietly, rules that would outlaw certain groups of harmful pesti-
like the US firm Monsanto. cides. These rules ban substances that cause cancer or in-
Corporations have many tools at their disposal to influ- terfere with the hormone system. But after losing the first
ence decision-making. These range from lobby meetings round, the corporations shifted their focus to undermining
and information campaigns, to the hiring of former govern- the implementation of these rules: their goal was to avoid a
ment employees, as well as support for and distribution of ban on their products.
scientific papers advocating the industry perspective. From 2012 onwards, lobby groups like the European
EU institutions often give corporations privileged access Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) and the European Crop
to intervene in the decision-making process, for instance, Protection Association (ECPA), with Bayer and BASF at the
the talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Part- forefront, did everything in their power to derail the pro-
nership, a proposed trade deal between the EU and the
United States. When preparing the mandate for the talks,
and during the first two years of the talks themselves (Janu- With Monsanto refusing to cooperate with
ary 2012 to February 2014), 88 percent of the meetings held EU lawmakers on their terms, the company’s relations
by the European Commission’s trade department were with with the European Parliament hit a new low
EFPIA (EU’s
PhRMA (US’s
20 Health largest pharma-
largest pharma- direct lobbying
ceutical industry
ceutical industry (multinationals)
association)
association)
17 Pharma
Lobbyist’s logic: Attempts to influence From chemical company BASF’s Brussels office website, distributed by Corporate Europe
politics are most effective at the Observatory, simplified presentation
R
apid economic growth has massively expanded Chi- a further expansion of Chinese economic involvement in the
na’s emerging middle classes and led to significant developing world. “Going Global” has facilitated a massive
changes in their dietary patterns. The demand for con- surge of Chinese investment in foreign agriculture in the
sumer goods – and especially food – has increased dramati- last two decades, especially in Southeast Asia. China is now
cally. The country has 40 percent of the world’s farmers but one of the top three investing countries in Laos and Cambo-
only 9 percent of its arable land, so food security and access dia – responsible for half of the foreign investment in Laos’s
to agricultural raw materials have become a top concern. agricultural sector, and half of the foreign-owned land con-
The Chinese government has been pursuing land deals di- cessions in Cambodia. Chinese corporations are among the
rectly, by negotiating with foreign governments, and indi- most prominent investors in the region, reflecting China’s
rectly, by encouraging domestic companies to establish for- emergence as a powerful player in agriculture around the
eign partnerships. world.
The 2007–8 world food price crisis, which raised fears of While Chinese investments in land in Africa and Lat-
food insecurity and intensified interest in securing foreign in America have gained a lot of media attention in recent
resources, led to a spike in Chinese investment in land. The years, land deals in Southeast Asia have been out of the spot-
country’s huge foreign exchange reserves – which peaked light. But Chinese investors are increasingly turning their
at US$3.8 trillion in 2014 – reflect the fact that it has both attention to this region. Chinese corporations have invested
valuable economic relationships and the money to invest in in millions of hectares in 54 African countries; they have ac-
foreign land. quired almost as much in just six countries in Southeast Asia:
China’s interest in land investments abroad was trig- Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Laos, Myan-
gered after the Second World War, when it ran aid projects mar, and Cambodia.
in Africa intended to gain political allies and display solidar- A significant proportion of the foreign investment in
ity with other Third World countries. Many of these projects Southeast Asia comes from a range of public and private Chi-
took the form of small-scale crop research farms that re- nese investors. Overall, Chinese investments, both domesti-
mained under local ownership. As a result, African govern- cally and abroad, are characterized by careful state-led plan-
ning, intervention and regulation. They involve a complex
web of public (state and semi-state) and private interests, of-
ten making it difficult to determine exactly who is involved
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / GRIMSDITCH
FULL OF BEANS
and what factors propel a particular land deal. While they
Top agricultural commodity imports to China, 2015,
billion US dollars, 2015 cannot reflect the complete picture, online land databases
sugar reveal that several prominent Chinese corporations are in-
edible oil 1.8 vesting in Southeast Asia, typically in deals involving 10,000
hectares or more.
9.4
grain an example. The credentials of its staff and advisory board,
many of whom hold public-sector or high-level military
positions make it clearly evident that this state-owned in-
0.5 vegetables vestment company enjoys direct connections to the central
government. It trades in natural resources and is involved
fruit oil seeds mainly in logging, wood processing, as well as rubber and
latex production for the Chinese medical sector. Since 2007,
5.9
29.4 Nearly two-thirds of world’s oilseed
exports – mostly soybeans – go to China
for feed and thus meat production
165,000
Russia
241,400
300,000
Nicaragua
627,100 258,700 Laos
50,000
27,000 Cambodia
60,000 Philippines
Ethiopia
Venezuela Guyana
DR Congo Indonesia
Argentina
Contracts signed or oral agreements, abandoned projects included; China and Hong Kong combined.
Southeast Asian countries
Due to preparation or startup phase, modifications or abandonments, contract sizes might exceed production sizes.
WHO’S BUYING?
China’s top-ten sugar enterprises. It owns 14 subsidiary com-
Percent of total land investments, by country of origin and area,
panies in China, Laos and Myanmar (many of which engage 2012
in plantation cropping), and focuses its investment in My- United Kingdom
anmar, Laos, and Vietnam, all of which border Yunnan. In 9.4
2006, it acquired 37,633 hectares of land in Laos to expand United States
28.0 7.9
its production of biofuels for export.
An example of a large private investor is ZTE Corpora- unknown China
7.3
tion. Previously state-owned, it has moved into overseas in-
vestment and is now China’s largest telecoms corporation.
5.7 United Arab Emirates
Since 2008, it has secured over 100,000 hectares of Indone-
sian and Lao land for cassava and ethanol production. 4.3
rest of the world Israel
The activities of these corporations highlight broader 3.1
26.6 2.7 Egypt
changes in how investors see land due to increasing global 2.6
2.4 South Korea
India
South Africa
Research indicates that UK
and US land investors are even more Only deals registered by the Land Matrix and Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN)
G
overnments lay down the framework of agricultur- cases, it is often the farmers or suppliers in other countries
al, commercial and consumer policies within which who suffer. With markets concentrated in a few hands in
companies operate. The authorities have at their dis- many parts of the agrifood sector, civil society demands a
posal a wide range of instruments with which to influence reform of competition laws. Securing approval for mergers
the national economy and regulate the power of corpora- in highly concentrated markets should be harder, and the
tions. But government policies are often interwoven with misuse of market power should be curbed.
the interests of the corporations – rather than serving the A particular criticism is that competition policy focuses
interests of their citizens. As market concentration grows, only on the interests of consumers. It is assumed that com-
competition policy becomes increasingly important. Na- petition works as long as prices are low. But this is not nec-
tional regulations are supposed to hinder the creation of essarily the case – competition on quality aspects may result
cartels, the misuse of dominant positions and the formation in higher prices. Instead, policy should also strengthen the
of monopolies – either by prohibiting them or by imposing negotiating position of farmers and ensure the enforcement
conditions that companies must fulfil. of social and ecological minimum standards all along the
value chain. That includes guaranteeing that wage bargain-
ing generates living wages.
In Europe in recent years, attention has focused on the
POWERFUL EMPLOYERS
big supermarket chains. The price pressure they exert is felt
Largest companies in food production and distribution by staff numbers
all the way back the global value chain. It is a major cause
Wal-Mart, of poor working conditions both in the supermarkets’ home
US countries and in the developing world. The European Com-
mission has investigated the power of the supermarkets
and unfair practices in the value chain, and especially com-
plaints from the suppliers. But in 2016 it decided there was
2,300,000 no reason to intervene at the European level. It pointed to
voluntary measures agreed by the supermarkets and food
Compass Group,
516,000 manufacturers, which among other things planned to set up
UK
contact points for complaints by suppliers. But in practice,
Kroger, suppliers have seldom lodged complaints about their own
US 431,000
customers – the risk of being blacklisted is too great.
Sodexo, The market power of companies is reflected in their
France 423,000
turnover, their influence on prices and in standards they set
McDonald’s,
for their suppliers. These are often so narrowly formulated
420,000 that they restrict entry to the market, and exclude smaller
US
upstream producers. In addition, big companies gain huge
Carrefour,
France 381,000 influence in many countries because they employ tens or
hundreds of thousands of people, and can therefore shape
Edeka Zentrale, retail social and environmental conditions there.
374,000
Germany
restaurants
In many countries existing labour, land and environmen-
Tesco, and catering tal laws are not adequately enforced. In such locations, most
UK 358,000
companies reject any responsibility for compliance with rules
food that do not exist. The effectiviness of voluntary approaches is
Target,
341,000 processing
US limited. Even if appropriate rules exist, they are not applied
adequately. This is why civil society has been calling for glob-
Auchan,
338,000 al rules for businesses since the 1990s. Such rules should be
France
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / STATISTA
-0.12
Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) range from approximately -2.5 (weak)
-0.38 -0.36
to 2.5 (strong) governance performance.
voice and accountability regulatory quality -0.39
political stability, absence of violence and terrorism rule of law
government effectiveness control of corruption export volume
PROTESTS, BOYCOTTS
AND RESISTANCE
In many countries, people are resisting organizations have joined forces in the International Plan-
agrarian and trade policies that boost ning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC). The biggest and
the power of the multinationals. Individual best-known, with around 200 million farmers from more
than 160 organizations in 73 countries, is La Via Campesina,
companies also come in for criticism.
Spanish for “the peasant way”. Via Campesina emphasizes
food sovereignty and the central role of women in agricul-
T
he world’s food production could feed 12 to 14 bil- ture and food production. It is represented in international
lion people – nearly double the current population of policy forums such as the Civil Society Mechanism of the UN
7.5 billion. But 800 million – almost one in nine – still Committee on World Food Security (CFS).
go hungry. The majority of the poor live on, and from, the The resistance to big agrifood takes on many forms and
land. They are economically weak, politically marginalized, occurs at all levels. In 2012 in India, around 60,000 farm-
and their survival is constantly under threat. Despite this, it ers and landless people held months of nonviolent protest
is the poorest who fight tirelessly against land grabbing, en- marches in favour of land reforms. In 2007, other marches
vironmental destruction and unjust prices. had gained the world’s attention and facilitated access to
Various movements of smallholders and landless people land rights for hundreds of thousands of people. Despite
have emerged in developing countries in recent years. Many this, the promised land redistribution and investments are
have their origins in indigenous communities. They fight for insufficient.
land rights against soybean barons, palm oil exporters and European movements have been successful in their op-
mining companies, and against declining prices for their position against genetic engineering. As a result of their
products. But governments often prefer lower prices, pow- longstanding protests hardly any genetically modified
ered by cheap imports, because they benefit the urban poor. crops and livestock are raised in Europe. A network of 170
City-dwellers are more important to those in power than the genetic-modification-free regions prevents the introduc-
residents of remote rural areas. tion of such organisms, and fights against their spread on
The scarcer and more valuable land and water are for the political plane. Globally, and especially in the industrial
farming, the more violent the struggle. In Latin America, world, NGOs, farmers, and internet platforms such as Avaaz,
several land rights activists have been killed in recent years. mobilise support, mount campaigns, organize demonstra-
Governments in Ethiopia, Russia, India and China, among tions and launch petitions to exert pressure on governments
others, enforce strict laws that make life hard or impossible and businesses. In Germany, the network Bauernhöfe statt
for civil society organizations. Agrarfabriken (“Farms, not food factories”), a coalition of
Since the 1990s, international networks have formed 250 citizens’ initiatives, prevent 30 factory farms from being
to link organizations of smallholders, indigenous peoples, set up each year.
fisherfolk, farm workers and other rural groups. They try All along the food chain, from production to processing
to influence the agricultural and food policy at the United and retail, workers are fighting against exploitation and for
Nations level. Some 22 international and regional umbrella better working conditions. Workers on the Fyffes group’s
pineapple and melon plantations in Costa Rica and Hondu-
ras protest against pay levels far below the minimum wage.
They also resist threats and discrimination against union
AGRIFOOD ATLAS 2017 / VIA CAMPESINA
1969 Criticism by the United Nations 1998 IBFAN receives the Alternative Nobel
Protein Advisory Group: Advertising 1977 The Infant Formula Action Coalition Prize (Right Livelihood Award).
“healthy” milk powder in developing (INFACT) calls for a boycott of Nestlé
countries induces mothers to stop products. Action groups form around the
breastfeeding and causes babies to die.
2000 IBFAN and Unicef (but not Nestlé)
world in response.
take part in a hearing before the European
Causes: polluted water, non-sterile
Parliament’s Development Committee.
preparation (diarrhoea), dilution,
nutrient deficiency (malnutrition). 1978 Hearing of the US Senate on the
need for a marketing codex.
2001/02 Celebrities refuse to appear at
Nestlé promotes its milk powder Lactogen festivals sponsored by Nestlé.
via radio adverts, posters and saleswomen 1979 The World Health Organization
dressed as nurses who benefit from sales. and Unicef hold a conference on the Nestlé repeatedly rejects accusations
subject. The International Baby Food against its milk powder. It says they are
Action Network (IBFAN) is established. unfounded, outdated or based on a deliber-
1973 In the magazine article “The
ate misinterpretation of the codex.
baby food tragedy”, doctors criticize the
aggressive advertising for Lactogen. 1980 “Nestlégate”: An internal
Nestlé complains it was not consulted. memorandum for intensive, systematic
action against critics is made public. 2008 “Nestlégate 2”: In Switzerland, it is
The World Health Assembly, the highest revealed that three Nestlé staff have been
1974 The British charity War on Want WHO body, adopts a codex for the spying on Attac anti-globalization critics
publishes the report “The Baby Killer”; in marketing of breast-milk substitutes. who have been working on a book about
Switzerland, the Arbeitsgruppe Dritte
Nestlé.
Welt Bern (AgDW) publishes a German
version titled “Nestlé kills babies”. 1984 The boycott coordinators meet with
Nestlé managers. Nestlé accepts some 2011 After protests in Laos, an
points of criticism. The boycott is ended. independent investigation discovers
Nestlé sues AgDW for libel but discontin-
deficiencies in information material. Labels
ues some of its controversial actions.
1988 Producers of infant formulas on milk powder have for years been
distribute advertising samples in health written in languages that target groups
1975 Peter Krieg’s film “Bottle Babies” facilities. In the US, Nestlé actively do not understand.
appears in arthouse cinemas. promotes the product. The boycott is
reactivated. 2013 Because of “Nestlégate 2” in
1976 AgDW is fined 300 Swiss francs Switzerland, Nestlé and the Securitas
because Nestlé has not committed a 1989 The Wall Street Journal reveals that security service are fined 3,000 francs
criminal offence. At the same time, the Nestlé’s US advertising agency recom- each in nine cases for invasion of privacy.
judge describes Nestlé’s methods as mended infiltrating activist groups. Nestlé
“unethical and immoral”. dissociates itself from the suggestion. 2015 The German broadcaster ARD
reports on baby milk powder marketing in
1995 In the UK, the advertising of milk in the Philippines. Nestlé representatives
powder as baby food is restricted. “only inform people in health centres
about their products”, the company says.
improve transparency and gain access to secret negoti- poultry production in Cameroon. ACDIC, an activist group,
ations. Trade agreements and the associated rules that launched a campaign against the “chicken of death” from
make it easier for corporations to expand their market Europe. It uncovered irregularities in importation and hy-
control have also been a target for opposition in both Eu- giene, and mobilized the media, politicians, consumers and
rope and America. Hundreds of thousands of people have farmers. Success took three years: in 2006 the government
demonstrated in favour of trade policies that impose rules restricted chicken imports despite threats from the World
on companies and guarantee people’s rights. Millions sign Trade Organization.
online petitions. One such initiative signed by EU citizens Consumers also organize themselves. The most success-
called on the European Union to change its trade policy; it ful campaign against a food multinational was to protest
was rejected on technical grounds by the European Com- against Nestlé’s aggressive advertising for baby milk. After a
mission, a decision eventually overturned by the European boycott lasting from 1977 to 1984, Nestlé finally changed its
Court of Justice. behaviour. A World Health Organization rule now regulates
Resistance to free trade is not confined to the developed such marketing practices, and Nestlé’s reputation is dam-
world. Imports of cheap chicken parts have almost destroyed aged to this day.
In the agriculture and food sector, we collaborate with two different types of
actors: On the one hand we support rural social movements, grassroots
oriented NGOs and scholars that subscribe to the concept of food sovereign-
ty. On the other hand, we support workers organisations and trade unions
both in the plantation and farm sector as well as in the processing, beverage
and retail sector throughout the food chain. We are convinced that both
movements can benefit from further collaboration and deeper exchange with
each other to transform social realities on rural areas and create just and
sustainable food systems. We find the current agri-food system in a Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung
manifold and deep ecological and social crisis, hence broad coalitions and Franz-Mehring-Platz 1, 10243 Berlin, Germany
emancipatory approaches are needed are needed to bring about change. www.rosalux.org
We are the European arm of Friends of the Earth International which unites
74 national member organisations, some 5,000 local activist groups, and
over two million supporters around the world.
We campaign on today‘s most urgent environmental and social issues.
We challenge the current model of economic and corporate globalisation,
and promote solutions that will help to create environmentally sustainable
and socially just societies.
We work towards environmental, social, economic and political justice
and equal access to resources and opportunities on the local, national,
regional and international levels.
FLEISCHATLAS
Daten und Fakten über Tiere als Nahrungsmittel 2013
MEAT ATLAS
Facts and figures about the animals we eat
La réalité et les chiffres sur les animaux
que nous consommons
ET ATLASI
Yediğimiz hayvanlar hakkında gerçekler ve rakamlar
ATLAS CARNE DE
LA
Hechos y cifras sobre los animales que comemos
ATLAS CARNE DA
Fatos e números sobre os animais que comemos
ATLAS MASA
Příběhy a fakta o zvířatech, která jíme
FLEISCHATLAS
Daten und Fakten über Tiere als Nahrungsmittel 2014
NEUE THEMEN
FLEISCHATLAS
Daten und Fakten über Tiere als Nahrungsmittel 2016
MEERESATLAS
Daten und Fakten über unseren Umgang mit dem Ozean 2017
OCEAN ATLAS
Facts and Figures on the Threats to Our Marine Ecosystems 2017
DEUTSCHLAND REGIONAL
KONZERNATLAS
Daten und Fakten über die Agrar- und Lebensmittelindustrie 2017
BODENATLAS
Daten und Fakten über Acker, Land und Erde 2015
SOIL ATLAS
Facts and figures about earth, land and fields 2015
L’ATLAS DU SOL
Faits et chiffres sur la terre, les sols et les champs 2016
KOHLEATLAS
Daten und Fakten über einen globalen Brennstoff 2015
COAL ATLAS
Facts and figures on a fossil fuel 2015
COAL ATLAS
Facts and figures on a fossil fuel 2015
ATLAS UHLÍ
Příběhy a fakta o palivu, které změnilo svět i klima 2015
NIGERIA
KAKO
ŽRTVUJEMO
KLIMU
JAK KLIMA
WIRTSCHAFT
AMY
PRZEGRZEW
KLIMAT ARBEIT
25 325
353 20 300
237
15 275
790
10 250
9
910 94
2,854
58 5 225
14
0 200 2012 2016 2017 201
2,107 -5 175
-15 125
255
The 50 largest food manufacturers -20 100
2012 2013 2014 2015
account for 50 percent of global sales.
25
from BRANDS DOMINATING MARKETS, page 29
4.745
Bayer, Monsanto and other mega-mergers: A key
sector in agriculture will completely change.
from FROM SEVEN TO FOUR – GROWING BY SHRINKING, page 20