Cargill released its Fiscal Year 2023 ESG Report, which details the company’s progress toward its sustainability commitments and showcases the work being done on the ground to drive even greater positive global impact across operations, supply chains and communities. “When it comes to urgent challenges facing people and the planet, Cargill’s connections across the food system give us the opportunity ― and responsibility ― to deliver meaningful solutions,” said Brian Sikes, president and CEO at Cargill, in a statement. “The problem-solving potential of agriculture has always been essential in nourishing people, supporting the livelihoods of farmers and food workers, and unlocking opportunities for growth. Leading with our values, Cargill is working to help achieve zero hunger, decarbonize our industries, protect and restore natural resources, and ultimately improve people’s lives.” The following are highlights of Cargill’s progress:

• Investing $78 million in efficiency and sustainability projects within Cargill’s operations.
• Reducing emissions from its operations by 10.97%, achieving its 2025 goal of reducing operations from its emissions by 10% against a 2017 baseline.
• Advancing regenerative agriculture practices on 880,000 acres of North American agricultural land since 2020.
• Restoring more than 9 billion liters of water in fiscal year 2023.
• Distributing more than $115 million to support partners and local communities, and together, providing more than 20 million meals globally in fiscal year 2023.

Flavorman announced substantial leadership changes designed to propel the company into a new chapter and help continue its growing success. After a 31-year tenure as the company’s CEO, founder Dave Dafoe has stepped back, with Chief Operations Officer (COO) Scott Weddle named the new CEO. Dafoe will continue to serve on the executive board of Flavorman as the chief commercial officer, responsible for overseeing the company departments of marketing, sales and client relations. Dafoe expressed: “Although bittersweet, I look forward to a fresh challenge and what this new era at Flavorman will bring. Scott Weddle and I share similar visions of the company’s future, and I have the utmost faith that he will carry on the great tradition at the Beverage Campus for many years to come.”

Weddle has been employed at Flavorman for 13 years, starting as a shipping coordinator before progressing into different roles within the organization. As he steps into this new role as CEO, he brings a wealth of experience and a clear vision and focus for the company’s future, the company says. Chief Business Officer Jon Wood, who has been with the company for 28 years, will now assume the responsibilities of the COO. Along with these changes, Flavorman welcomes Holly Cropper as the first chief financial officer in the company’s history. With these changes, Flavorman’s leadership team is well-equipped to evolve the company toward future endeavors, as they remain dedicated to delivering innovation and excellence in the beverage development industry, the company says.

A new study, conducted by Jackson et al., demonstrates that the intake of the prebiotic dietary fiber oligofructose alone, or in combination with the human milk oligosaccharide 2’fucosyllactose, promotes an increase in Bifidobacteria in the gut and can result in improvements in mood in healthy adults with mild to moderate feelings of anxiety and depression, as reported by BENEO-Institute. The study, which ran over five weeks (one-week run-in and four weeks intervention), aimed to look at the effect of the chicory root fiber oligofructose and the human milk oligosaccharide 2’fucosyllactose on intestinal colonization and their ability to reduce anxiety and depression. The 92 subjects chosen for the study were healthy and had mild to moderate levels of anxiety and depression. Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-designed methodology, the subjects were split into four groups of 23 and given either 8 grams of oligofructose plus 2 grams of maltodextrin a day, 8 grams of oligofructose plus 2 grams of 2’fucosyllactose a day, 2 grams of 2’fucosyllactose plus 8 grams of maltodextrin a day, or 10 grams of maltodextrin a day. The results showed that at the end of the four-week intervention period, those participants taking the prebiotic oligofructose on its own, or in combination with 2’fucosyllactose, experienced significant increases in beneficial gut bacteria, including Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides, Roseburia and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, compared with the control group, BENEO-Institute reports. Additionally, those taking oligofructose on its own or in combination with 2’fucosyllactose also significantly outperformed the control group in improvements in several mood state parameters.