By Manuel Julian Davila Abondano – CEO of DAABON Group
The past 12 months have brought about enormous shifts
in our
political, social and economic lives, changes that have been felt first-
hand
by the DAABON family across the globe. Very few people understood the
warnings
of Bill Gates and others regarding the risk of a global pandemic as
being as
urgent and imminent as they turned out to be. Consequently, the world
was ill
prepared for what we have lived through since the beginning of the
pandemic and
the pace of change and adaptation has been unprecedented.
One of the biggest lessons we have learned as a global
community is that sustainability is the only feasible option for
ensuring
the long-term survival of humanity. COVID-19 appears to
have been caused by our exposure to diseases that would normally not
have
entered the food chain, but which due to deforestation and our continued
encroachment on the habitats of animals in far flung corners of the
world, have
infected our food supply with devastating consequences. There is an
ever-increasing awareness that climate change, deforestation, over
fishing and
depletion of our natural resources are existential problems. This
reaffirms the
long-held belief at DAABON that we must continue to invest in and
advocate for
sustainable food production policies, for the benefit not only of our
children,
but for ourselves.
Our post-pandemic work life reality has accelerated
what had
started as a trend. Big tech has been supplying us with many tools and
services
to facilitate remote working. Now remote working has become the new
normal. At
DAABON, we have engaged with external consultants in order to embrace
this new
modality. We have also deployed dedicated teams to lead our continuous
improvement
program, OPTIMUS. We are very glad to see that the organisation has
responded
well to this initiative and has welcomed all the improvements.
The pandemic has also compounded the effects of a
super-cycle in global commodity prices, for the first time in my
lifetime the
market is inverse, and futures in
food commodities are being sold
at lower than current prices. The pandemic has caused massive disruption
in the
food service industry as well as affected migrant labour in many
agriculture-strong regions. China’s demand for soybean, corn and other
commodities required for animal feed as part of its massive state-wide
program
to recoup the swine fever affected pork production has resulted in
unprecedented demand in oilseeds. This demand is also pushed higher by
the fact
that countries in central Asia are restocking depleted inventories
consumed
during the crisis. Furthermore, La Niña caused droughts in parts of
Russia
affecting the yields of wheat and sunflower, which made their government
place export
levies to reduce domestic food price inflation. La Niña has also
affected parts
of Argentina, putting pressure on the production of soybean on a country
which
is already experiencing massive inflationary problems. The combined
effect of
these events will be that commodity prices, particularly for oilseeds,
will be
sustained and keep increasing, leading to food price inflation pressure
across
the globe which will eventually reach retailers and consumers.
For now, we rest assured that we are on the right path.
We
are proud to say that our trajectory is taking us in the right direction
to an
ever more sustainable business. Working towards plant- based food
solutions,
protecting and nurturing forests around agricultural lands, promoting
initiatives for renewable energies and applying the most energy
efficient
technologies in all our processes.