Agriculture & Food Production

Shanghai – September 11, 2026 -- Natural Field has expanded its NF TriSolve® branded nutraceutical solution platform into the sleep wellness category with the launch of NF TriSolve® SleepRestore Complex, targeting global nutrition brands seeking differentiated formulations.

Natural Field enters sleep wellness market with coordinated multi-ingredient formulation

The new SleepRestore Complex combines multiple functional components into a single coordinated concept designed specifically for sleep-focused nutraceutical applications. The launch marks Natural Field's push beyond its existing categories into the growing sleep wellness segment, following a solution-oriented innovation model rather than single-ingredient development.

Chicago/Leipzig – September 11, 2026 -- CME Group has agreed to take over the European Energy Exchange's dairy derivatives business, marking its first entry into the European dairy market and adding to a U.S. dairy franchise where volumes have risen 73% over five years.

EEX will phase out its dairy indices by the end of 2027

Under the agreement, EEX intends to transition the suite of indices underpinning its existing dairy futures contracts to CME Group before the end of 2027, including the European butter and skimmed milk powder indices. CME Group plans to launch its own European dairy indices, futures and options following the transition. EEX said dairy futures trading will remain available for existing listed maturities during the transition, with no immediate changes to the setup of the pan-European butter and WECI indices.

Bad Rothenfelde – September 11, 2026 -- Seventy-four percent of Germans believe their diet has a major impact on their health, while 75 percent say they now pay closer attention to nutrition than a few years ago, according to a new Kantar survey of 2,000 people commissioned by heristo aktiengesellschaft.

The study, titled "Health on the Plate - Proteins, Longevity and the New Expectations of Food," was conducted in May 2026 among German residents aged 16 to 69 and is the third in heristo's generational barometer series, following editions on food (2024) and pet food (2025).

Frankfurt – September 10, 2026 -- The German agricultural industry association IVA has dismissed a new study by the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) claiming more than 400 million pesticide-related poisoning cases occur globally each year, calling the figure scientifically indefensible.

IVA says PAN conflates exposure with confirmed poisoning

The Industrieverband Agrar e.V. (IVA) argues the PAN study fails to define what qualifies as a poisoning, relying heavily on self-reported symptoms rather than medically confirmed diagnoses. According to IVA, this methodological gap means exposure and actual poisoning are not properly separated, inflating the headline figure. A previous PAN study on global poisoning cases was withdrawn after similar criticism of its methodology and data sources.

Berlin – September 10, 2026 -- Germany's poultry meat market is set to expand by more than 50% in volume by 2040, driven by annual demand growth of 2.1 to 2.5 percent overall and up to 3.4 percent for chicken, according to the Roland Berger Poultry Study 2026 commissioned by the Central Association of the German Poultry Industry (ZDG).

Self-sufficiency could fall from 91% to as low as 73% without new investment

Germany's poultry self-sufficiency rate stands at 91 percent today but risks dropping to between 73 and 77 percent by 2040 if domestic production capacity does not expand, the study finds. The import surplus has already grown more than eightfold, from 55,000 tonnes in 2014 to 462,000 tonnes in 2025. Chicken accounts for 82 percent of poultry imports, and roughly 60 percent of chicken imports now consist of premium cuts such as breast meat.

Melbourne – September 10, 2026 -- Australian microalgae company Genesis has won the Agriculture & Environment category at The Australian Financial Review Sustainability Leaders 2026 Awards for a Chlorella-based livestock supplement priced at roughly 20 cents per animal per day, against approximately $2 for some dried alternatives.

Wet-processed Chlorella cuts supplement costs to a fraction of dried competitors

Genesis cultivates Chlorella in Australia's Great Barrier Reef Region using a low-energy process, then keeps the algae wet rather than drying it, a method the company says drives the roughly tenfold cost reduction over dried livestock feed alternatives.

Hyderabad, India – September 10, 2026 -- The global snack bars market is projected to grow from $21.94 billion in 2026 to $32.66 billion by 2031, a compound annual growth rate of 8.28%, according to Mordor Intelligence.

Convenience demand broadens consumption occasions across demographics

Portability is driving snack bars into new use cases beyond traditional snacking, including commuting, school routines, and pre- or post-workout nutrition. Manufacturers are diversifying portfolios across cereal and granola bars, protein and energy bars, and fruit, nut or seed bars to capture more frequent purchases.

Berlin – September 09, 2026 -- The Bundesverband der Tabakwirtschaft und neuartiger Erzeugnisse (BVTE) has called on Germany's coalition government to halt planned tobacco tax increases that would raise average smokers' annual costs by more than 1,000 euros, citing voter unrest after the Saxony-Anhalt state election.

Infratest dimap data shows 89% of AfD voters fear unaffordable price increases

An infratest dimap analysis of the Saxony-Anhalt election found that 89 percent of AfD voters worry that rising prices will make it impossible to pay their bills, while 80 percent fear they can no longer maintain their standard of living. BVTE Managing Director Jan Mücke said the election result must be understood in Berlin as a signal that further tax increases contradict public sentiment.

Frankfurt – September 09, 2026 -- Danone has appointed Jean-Yves Krummenacher as General Manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH), effective November 2026, succeeding Richard Trechman, who is leaving the company for an external role.

Krummenacher brings 25 years of internal Danone experience to the DACH post

The Swiss and French national most recently served as Global Chief Procurement Officer, overseeing Danone's worldwide procurement strategy while also managing the company's global trading and sourcing business as its chief executive. Earlier in his career he held leadership roles across Europe, Asia and Latin America spanning sales, procurement and sustainability functions.

Jiaxing, China – September 09, 2026 -- The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has invalidated two patent claims Kaneka Corporation asserted against Cocrystal Technology (Jiaxing) Co., Ltd., ending a nearly three-year dispute and clearing the way for unrestricted U.S. sales of Cocrystal Tech's ubiquinol ingredient, now branded CrysQnolTM.