Uruguay’s agricultural ministry and some independent agronomists expect another bumper olive harvest this year due to improved agronomic techniques and more groves entering maturity, Olive Oil Times reported.

Leading coffee chain Starbucks has launched a line of drinks infused with extra virgin olive oil in Italy.

There is cautious optimism for the hotel and restaurant sector in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) following the ending of its zero-COVID policy, according to a report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Trade associations representing the grain and oilseed sectors in the USA have asked the White House to provide more transparency, better communication and wider accountability by government agencies in the development and commercialisation of genetically-engineered (GE) products, World Grain wrote.

Eni Sustainable Mobility has formed a 50/50 joint venture with petroleum refiner and supplier PBF Energy to work in partnership on a bio-refinery in the USA, which is currently under construction on the site of PBF’s Chalmette refinery in Louisiana.

One of Indonesia’s biggest palm oil tycoons has been sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay US$2.6bn for bribing officials to allow him to convert thousands of hectares of land in Sumatra into oil palm estates, Aljazeera reported on 24 February.

US renderer and renewable diesel producer Darling Ingredients has announced a waste off-take agreement for a new beef processing plant planned by Cattlemen’s Heritage Beef Company.

The government of Mexico has announced that it is relaxing its proposed ban on genetically modified (GM) corn imports in animal feed after the USA threatened trade retaliation, Reuters reported.

The three largest US agribusiness companies – ADM, Bunge and Cargill – have made a series of investments in the plant-based protein sector in a bid to meet increasing demand from the food and feed industries, World Grain wrote.

An increase in the depth of a canal linking the River Danube and the Black Sea could improve logistics for Ukraine’s shallow water ports and improve flows out if the grain corridor agreement broke down, AgriCensus reported trade sources as saying.

The commercial use of novel aquafeed ingredients, such as insect meal, algae and single-cell proteins, reached significant levels for the first time in 2020, according to data by food research institute Nofima reported by Feed Strategy.

Ukraine has asked Turkey and the United Nations to enter talks to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) by at least one year and to include the port of Mykolaiv, a senior Ukrainian official was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The Pakistan government’s recent ban on genetically-engineered (GE) imports has led to a significantly reduced forecast for soyabean imports in the 2022/23 marketing year, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported by World Grain.