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GOURMET NEWS MAY 2015 www.gourmetnews.com GENERAL NEWS 6 Heifer Awarded $750,000 From Starbucks Foundation to Support Coffee Heifer International was awarded a Star- bucks Foundation grant of $750,000 to help fund the Mbozi Farmer Livelihood Improvement Project in Tanzania, which will help improve livelihoods and quality of life for smallholder coffee growing communities in the East African country. This grant is part of Starbucks compre- hensive approach to ethical sourcing. To date, Starbucks has contributed $15 mil- lion in social projects to support farming communities around the world. The project will be part of our East Africa Dairy Development Project in Tanzania and will assist at least 5,000 smallholder coffee farmers and their families. Heifer and Starbucks have collabo- rated in the past. In 2009, after CEO Howard Schultz visited smallholder cof- fee farmers in Rwanda, he heard the heartfelt requests from farmers that, if they had cows, they would have milk, better nutrition and income for their families. Starbucks employees rallied to- gether to provide the cows these farmers wanted so desperately. As much as 90 percent of the popula- tion in the Mbozi District is engaged in coffee farming. As global coffee prices fluctuate, farmers often experience a significant need for income throughout the year that coffee production alone cannot meet. This project will provide some fami- lies with dairy heifers and bulls so that farmers can engage in dairy farming as a complementary activity that provides a diversified source of income for coffee farmers and evens out their year-round cash needs. Other families who already own cows will receive training on proper dairy management and cattle husbandry techniques to better position them for profitable enterprises, and the creation of a milk collection center will give larger dairy processors easier access to farmers' milk. "Adding dairy farming will ensure cof- fee farmers have a steady flow of income to reinvest into their coffee farms," said Heifer's President and Chief Executive Pierre Ferrari. "By introducing higher and steadier income levels from dairy, coffee farmers will actually have in- creased capital to invest in physical in- puts and new technology to increase coffee production." The project also will increase access to water and improve sanitation, as well as increase use of alternative sources of re- newable energy. In 2014, the Starbucks Foundation granted more than $3.7 million to multi- ple organizations who help address rele- vant needs in specific communities. Each investment is targeted to create a sus- tained impact in a local community de- veloping the necessary infrastructure to help support systemic, long term change. Over the past 40 years, Starbucks has been dedicated to helping improve the lives of farmers and their families around the world who grow their coffee. Through a comprehensive approach to ethical sourcing Starbucks is paying eq- uitable prices, providing access to farmer loans and technical assistance in order to help farmers to navigate the complexities of agriculture – a long-term process. In total, Starbucks has invested more than $70 million in collaborative farmer pro- grams and activities over the past 40 years. In 2015, Starbucks achieved the goal of 99 percent of its coffee being ver- ified as ethically sourced. Additional de- tails about Starbucks initiatives in coffee and tea communities are available at Star- bucks.com/Responsibility/sourcing. GN Mondelez International Names Robin Hargrove as EVP, Research, Development & Quality Robin Hargrove, 49, has been named Exec- utive Vice President, Research, Develop- ment and Quality for Mondelez International, effective April 1. In this role, he will report to Chief Growth Officer Mark Clouse and be responsible for all product and pack- aging development, research, nutri- tion, quality, food safety and scientific affairs activities worldwide. "Rob is an outstanding leader and business partner with passion, technical savvy and extensive experience in both developed and emerging markets. He will bring the voice of our consumers into the successful development of global innovation platforms," said Clouse. "In addition, Rob is highly experienced in category- led operating models and in navi- gating through large global organizations. I'm confident he will have an immediate impact as we continue to innovate and drive productivity improvements in support of our growth journey." Hargrove succeeds Jean Spence, who is retiring after nearly 35 years of exem- plary service. "Jean is a renowned scien- tist and terrific business leader who con- stantly raised the bar on food safety, quality and innovation," Clouse said. "Jean leaves behind an impressive legacy of technical achievement, but more im- portantly, she's always been a great role model and advocate for her people. We wish her the very best." Hargrove has served as Senior Vice Pres- ident, RD&Q for Mondelez Europe since 2013. Prior to joining the company, he had worked at PepsiCo in various senior roles since 1994. He led Frito-Lay's research and development activities in emerging Asian markets and Australia (2000-2002), its North America health and wellness snacks portfolio (2002-2006) and PepsiCo Eu- rope's R&D portfolio, with a heavy empha- sis on the developing Eastern European region, including Russia (2006-2013). He began his career with Procter & Gamble in the UK as a product developer in the laun- dry detergent category. A native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Hargrove holds a master's degree in Chem- ical Engineering from Imperial College, University of London. GN Olive Oil Continued from PAGE 1 they're unlikely to pay the premium and eventually, demand for premium extra vir- gin olive oil may suffer, according to Van Gundy. Retailers who really understand the science, testing and law behind extra virgin olive oil and why it is worth a premium price will be better equipped to capture that value from consumers, Van Gundy said. "Some of the lesser grades of oil are being priced the same as extra virgin olive oil, while real health benefits are in the extra virgin, and they should capture a pre- mium," he added. "Price confusion about quality goods hurts everyone. You can no longer capture a premium if the higher quality oil is priced the same as the lower quality product.... If retailers understand the best science, testing issues and the law, they can help eliminate the confusion and capture the premium being lost, and that's good for everybody. Retailers are the inter- face to the consumer and can help eliminate the confusion for the consumer. If they're selling olive oil that's labeled extra virgin and it's not, they and everyone in the indus- try eventually will lose out on the pre- mium." Van Gundy is a partner in Keller and Heckman, LLP, a San Francisco food law firm that practices in the areas of regulatory compliance, litigation, advertising and sup- ply chain counseling with respect to food products. He was recently involved in Pom Wonderful's lawsuit against Coca Cola for a product that was labeled "Pomegranate Blueberry" but contained 99 percent apple and grape juice. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in that case that Pom Wonderful could claim that the Coca Cola product's label was deceptive even if it complied with Food and Drug Administration labeling re- quirements. The current plethora of consumer class action lawsuits involving deception with respect to product claims such as "all nat- ural," the new California standards for olive oil grades and testing, new regula- tions that are part of the Food Safety and Modernization Act, as well as concerns about the authenticity of products and greater consumer awareness of these issues, are all reasons why retailers should take a hard look at their supply chains and under- stand the laws and the science relating to the products they sell, Van Gundy said. "All of this is putting everyone on the spot to look more carefully at their food chains. Even if retailers can pass along the liability with supplier indemnity agreements, their store is associated with the product, or may be on it in the case of a private label prod- uct," he said. Olive oil is a case in point, and Van Gundy's law firm and the State Bar of Cali- fornia are holding a seminar on May 27 that Van Gundy promises will offer retailers and other stakeholders in the olive oil in- dustry a one-day intensive look at the sci- ence and law behind these issues, with a focus on extra virgin olive oil. Industry ex- perts including scientists studying the health benefits of olive oil and developing grading and testing methodologies, regula- tory experts and Van Gundy himself will present a program titled "Defending Your Supply Chain: The Case of Extra Virgin Olive Oil." "What we wanted to do was to give re- tailers, distributors and manufacturers in- depth information and an opportunity to examine more deeply these issues that they probably are already generally aware of. There are all sorts of laws governing the sale of olive oil, including a California stan- dard of identity, new California laws gov- erning the larger state producers, and of course food safety laws. For example, sell- ing adulterated or mislabeled olive oil is a misdemeanor under California state and federal law," Van Gundy said. "What that really means is that if a government attor- ney is interested in the authenticity of an olive oil, he or she can take some pretty swift action." As an example of that: recently, the New York Attorney General issued cease and de- sist letters to four major retailers of herbal supplements, alleging that the products did not contain the ingredients the manufac- turers claimed they did. "Food law is not only big business, but it's a hot topic in lit- igation and government attorney circles," according to Van Gundy. The May 27 seminar will also provide an update on the new system for grading and testing olive oils that will apply to the larger producers in California, and that may raise questions from consumers that grocers will be called upon to answer. "It's going to cre- ate some different terminology. The big di- vide will be between natural oils, and industrially-refined oils produced with high heat, chemicals or deodorizing processes," Van Gundy said. Oils produced using in- dustrial refining methods will not qualify for "extra virgin" or "virgin" on their label. "There are also newer testing methodolo- gies that the state will be using to determine whether the local oils meet these revamped grades. The classification is essentially the same, but the state of California is going to raise the bar a bit in terms of testing and classification parameters." "This seminar is definitely a networking opportunity for retailers and all in the sup- ply chain, as well as a chance to explore in- tensively in one day the laws and science governing grades of olive oils, that extra virgin olive oil is well worth a premium price, and that there are legal and scientific standards to tell you what is and isn't extra virgin," Van Gundy said. "Defending Your Supply Chain: The Case of Extra Virgin Olive Oil" will be held on May 27 from 8:30 to 5:30 at the State Bar of California headquarters in San Fran- cisco, 180 Howard Street. The registration fee is $295 through April 23 and $395 after that. Register at www.khlaw.com and fol- low the "Event" links. GN

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