January 2024 round-up: Summary from COP28, Cultivated Meat Update, Red Sea Crisis, Veganuary, Meat in the Media, and much more!

The GMA Insights Report for January 2024 contains:

We are excited to be delivering our first GMA Insights report of 2024!

• The Big Five - here our must knows for January 2024:

  • COP28 Summary

    The COP28 summit was a turning point for food security, where governments worldwide finally put the focus on food and agriculture. The discussions showed crucial links between climate change, farming and the need for combined solutions. Read more on page 3 of the report and our full blog article next.

  • Cultivated Meat Update

    A French cultivated meat player called ‘Vital Meat’ is looking to be the first to receive ‘novel foods’ regulatory approval in Singapore. In Dec, Aleph Farms became the first in Israel to receive a "No Questions" letter from Israel’s Ministry of Health for their own cultivated meat product. (page 4)

  • The Red Sea Crisis

    The world’s largest trade shipments are continuing to be paused through the Red Sea, after attacks by Houthi rebels along the international trade route since November. The knock-on impacts to our sector will be turnaround times & trade at ports in the UK, Europe and beyond, which will continue to unravel in 2024. (more on page 4)

  • Veganuary

    Veganuary is once again on the pro-vegan calendar this month, with over 228 countries and territories taking part. It is a time of heightened focus on pro-vegan diets and ambassadors who frequently share support on social media and beyond. We look at a social media round-up of messaging this month and how the event attracts over 700,000 official sign-ups. (page 5)

  • Meat in the Media spotlight

    This month we take a look at meat’s role in the media spotlight, including the UK’s Channel 4 show “Big British Beef Battle” which has subsequently been reported to OFCOM (the UK's communications regulator) due to flawed information and dietary guidance, as well as “You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment” on Netflix, using identical twins to investigate the health benefits of veganism versus eating an omnivore diet. These come during the month of Veganuary when the spotlight is often on dietary choices and the role of meat versus otherwise, within society. (page 5)
    

• Other Sector Snapshots - best practices & shared challenges from our community including other news of interest:

  • READ MORE: Is the Danish government weaning the nation off red meat?

    The Danish government has a plan for change in the Denmark food system for 2024. Mette Frederiksen's administration published a national roadmap at the end of 2023 for plant-based food, outlining the country's commitment to normalising plant-based diets, and guiding it away from its love of red meat, particularly pork, up until now. (page 4)

  • EU Deforestation Regulation
    With just over a year until the EU Deforestation Regulations (EUDR) come into effect, organisations need to act now to ensure their supply chain is ready for 30 December 2024. The regulations require companies (trading in cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, and wood), to ensure that goods don’t result from ‘any recent deforestation.’
    

• Latest Commentary - important and relevant news articles and opinion pieces summarised; this month including great YouTube videos and podcast suggestions.
  

• Opinion - column by Diana Rodgers, RD:

  • How the anti-meat narrative in the media this month is wrong and misleading

  • Nutrition-fact based pregnancy graphics for you to use and share that are linked on page 7 of the report.
    

• Collaboration & Resources - Campaign round-up

  Our GMA members and sector colleagues have been busy running their own successful campaigns in the past two months, including The National Pork Board in the US recently issuing a study called “Heads Up” analysing consumer appeal; Meat & Livestock Australia’s highly anticipated Summer Lamb ad campaign and; The Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) released its second National Beef Sustainability Assessment and Strategy report. (page 8)
  
  

• Global Industry Calendar - A complete look at events and global moments throughout 2023 which affect and involve industry.
  

We’d like to say a big thank you to our funders for their support this year, as it is the last report of 2023. Our GMA partners have committed funding to ensure the GMA activity and benefits are achieved. Our partners also have input into the strategic direction of GMA and its future. The key to all GMA activity is in the breadth of our network and therefore, the funding kindly contributed by our partners enable the activity to be open to all in the global meat and livestock sector, each bringing further insight and amplification. Thank you to our partners for their leadership, generosity and ‘for the greater good’ ethos.