A trade group representing some of the leading food companies in the USA is urging the Biden administration to roll back its biofuel ambitions, saying that using fuel from crops could raise the cost of baked goods, Reuters reported on 3 August.
The American Bakers Association (ABA), which represents companies including the grocer Kroger, doughnut maker Krispy Kreme and Tastytake parent company Flower Foods, told Reuters it had met with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – the organisation that administers US biofuel laws – to urge reduced blending mandates, particularly for biodiesel.
ABA president Robb MacKie said the group had also met with lawmakers involved in the issue to press its case.
The group had organised the meetings because its members were hearing from suppliers of soya and canola oil that they could run short of stocks by the end of the year as demands from the biofuels industry compounded already tight global markets, Reuters wrote.
“We are trying to ring the alarm without being alarmists,” MacKie was quoted as saying.
Baked goods companies were urging the Biden administration to lower biodiesel blending mandates to 2019 levels or at least “hold the line” on any growth, Mackie added.
