The meat industry that relies on peas as a staple should be hit by severe drought in Canada this year which has led to higher crop prices, a major retailer has warned.
The French company Roquette, which manages the company and counts Beyond Meat as one of its customers, He said this week that part of the plant protein “is experiencing unprecedented”. The availability of peanuts was “criticized” and the rise in prices “caused the money to be saved for customers” the group said.
The prices of peas in Canada have doubled as the world’s largest producer has reduced the number of droughts in a century. Alongside Canada, Europe suffered from low yields and in France, another major peas-producing country, the crop was severely damaged by the monsoon season, says Roquette.
Despite accounting for only 2% of all plant proteins, according to data company Mintec, peas have been a fast-growing group used by food companies. Soybeans are an inexpensive and inexpensive source of plant-derived nutrients, as well as an allergen, and is often modified in the US. There is also a lot of estrogen, which causes some consumers to be nervous.
Together with the US, Brazil is the leader in soyabeans farming, but their cultivation in the country is linked to deforestation and environmental degradation. “People see [peas] as a sustainable thing that does not contain forests or GM crops, ”says Marcel Goldenberg in Mintec.
Following Beyond Meat, food companies including Tyson and Nestlé have changed peas as the most important ingredient in their meat. Nestlé this year also launched a plant milk made of yellow peas.
Nestlé said inflation affects a wide range of manufacturing processes, including ingredients, packaging, and transportation. It also said it was doing “everything we can to improve the currency in the short term” and hopes to change the high prices gradually.
Starting to use peas instead of meat with Meatless Farm in the UK and NotCo, a Chilean arms company. “We’ve been discussing how to manage the food crisis,” said Morten Toft Bech, founder of Meatless Farm. “Producers should not have to pay for the damage and consumers should not be forced to go up in price, but we should discuss how we can use some of that money.”
Although animal husbandry and dairy farming have been affected by climate change and declining employment in recent years, the rise in drought-induced crop prices indicates that meat and dairy products cannot escape climate change.
Beyond Meat, which offers McDonald’s and has established agreement by PepsiCo, warned in March in annual report that it can deal with “declining availability or low prices” on its major assets.
Companies are looking to shift their protein production, while this year’s high prices could lead some to opt for more soybeans, Goldenberg said. Henk Hoogenkamp, a leading protein consultant in the food industry, hopes that in the production of foods using soy protein, legumes and peas to reduce the growth of pea protein.
Meatless Farm claims to test the hemp, which is made from CBD oil which is also a good source of omega 3 and 6.
