Grape idea: Hokkaido University’s sustainable robots offer respite for wine and pumpkin farmers in Japan Robots developed by researchers at Hokkaido University are being trialled at a Japanese vineyard, Hokkaido Wine, for pesticide spraying and weed control.
As one of the oldest wineries in Hokkaido founded in 1974, the firm produces 2,000 kL annually, with just 81 employees.
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There is a shortage of people on our farm and we cannot do enough weeding and pesticide application,” said Kimihiro Shimamura, president of Hokkaido Wine, and second-generation farmer.
Hokkaido Wine approached robotic agriculture expert, Professor Noboru Noguchi from the Research Faculty of Agriculture at Hokkaido University for a collaboration.
Only 15 countries worldwide are still implementing import restrictions on food items from Japanese districts that were stricken by the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown disaster in 2011 – but progress with those that remain may be hard to achieve in the short term.
Nestle has committed to focus on plant-based product localisation, sustainability and affordability as key focus areas for its Asia Pacific businesses on the back of the region posting near flat-growth as a result of poor performance in China.
The firm revealed in its 2020 Full Year Results announcement that its businesses in Zone Asia, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa (AOA) had seen overall organic growth of just 0.5%, with sales decreasing by CHF 1.4bn (US$1.6bn) to CHF 20.7bn (US$23.1bn) in 2020, from CHF22.1bn (US$24.6bn) in 2019.
“Growth numbers in APAC were mostly impacted only by China, where we faced some specific issues such as our exceptionally high exposure in that market to the Out-Of-Home category which was severely hit by COVID-19, as well as Chinese consumers not stockpiling food supplies at home in contrast to what was seen in most other markets,” Nestle CFO Francois-Xavier Roger said in response to queries from
APAC’s cannabidiol (CBD) and hemp sector is expected to progress rapidly over the coming years, especially in India, China and Australia where they are approved for food use, although many other nations are still wary of granting the regulatory go-ahead.
This is why in this edition of the FNA Deep Dive, we take a closer look at the CBD and hemp industry from a food and nutrition perspective, and how APAC firms are producing products such as beverages, edible oils, meat alternatives, spreads and more.
The rapid growth of this industry is expected to be propelled by the growing number of vegans in the region and rising health consciousness due to hemp and CBD’s nutritional benefits, and the industry as a whole is expected to grow some 28.6% to hit US$22.9bn by 2027.
Kerry is preparing to ramp-up promotion of its plant-based innovation service to brands in APAC and the Middle East, while also doubling down on emerging taste trends and better-for-you product innovation.