JBS insists “significant progress” made in tackling cyber attack

JBS’ operations in North America and Australia have been affected by what the company has called “an organised cybersecurity attack”. The meatpacker’s business in Australia has seen its operations shut down, while production has been hit at sites across the US.

Yesterday (1 June), a spokesperson for the White House said JBS had told the US government the ransom demand “came from a criminal organisation likely based in Russia”.

Later in the day, in a filing with Brazil’s stock market, JBS said its US units JBS USA and Pilgrim’s had said they had made “significant progress in resolving the cyberattack that has impacted the company’s operations in North America and Australia”.

“In the US today, JBS USA and Pilgrim’s were able to ship product from nearly all of its facilities to supply customers. The company also continues to make progress in resuming plant operations in the US and Australia. Several of the company’s pork and poultry plants were operational today and its Canada beef facility resumed production,” the company added.

“Systems are coming back online and JBS USA is not sparing any resources to fight this threat. Given the progress IT professionals and plant teams have made in the last 24 hours, the vast majority of the beef, pork, poultry and prepared foods plants will be operational tomorrow.”

JBS added: “Operations in Mexico and the UK were not impacted and are conducting business as normal.”

Among the plants affected in the US is JBS’ processing facility in Greeley, Colorado. Yesterday, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 7 told Just Food two shifts at the factory had been cancelled “due to the cyber attack”.

Earlier this morning, the union said the Greeley plant had one of its shifts “scheduled for a regular production day” today.

The US Department of Agriculture said it was monitoring the situation closely to “offer help and assistance to mitigate any potential supply or price issues”. It added: “As part of that effort, USDA has reached out to several major meat processors in the United States to ensure they are aware of the situation, encouraging them to accommodate additional capacity where possible, and to stress the importance of keeping supply moving.”

JBS describes itself as “the largest protein producer in the world”. The company processes beef, pork, lamb and chicken, as well as having a presence in the growing meat-alternative market.

As well as in North America and Australia, JBS has operations across multiple countries in Latin America and in Europe.

In 2020, JBS generated net revenue of BRL270.2bn (US$52.44bn), up 32.1% on a year earlier. Higher tax expenses contributed to a 24.2% drop in net income to BRL4.6bn.

No crying over spilt milk?

The plant-based dairy industry in Europe was concerned its number was up last autumn when The European Commission voted in favour of the so-called Amendment 171 to place fresh restrictions on how manufacturers could package and market their products.

EU law already means words like "milk", "cheese" and "yogurt" can only be used to describe milk-based products originating from animals. Under Amendment 171, those curbs were to go further, banning dairy-based descriptors such as "yogurt-style" or "cheese alternative", as well as words like "creamy", from being used on plant-based alternatives. Packaging styles similar to dairy equivalents like milk cartons or blocks of butter and cheese were also set to be prohibited.

NGO ProVeg International, plant-based specialists including Oatly and dairy companies with plenty of skin in the plant-based game, such as Nestle and Danone, called for the amendment to be taken off the table, arguing it wasn't in the interests of consumers, hundreds of thousands of whom across Europe signed a petition protesting against the plan.

This week, the amendment was dropped, prompting celebration in plant-based circles, including among the corporates that are investing heavily in the area. "Pleased to see that Europe is listening to its consumers: Amendment 171 is off the table!" Star Chen, the CEO of Unilever's Food Solutions division, posted on LinkedIn. "Making the right food choices should not be made more difficult."

Europe's dairy industry, however, was not crying over spilt milk. Alexander Anton, secretary general of The European Dairy Association, in fact, claimed during the recent trilogue phase of the EU's legislative process – which covers talks between EU member states, the Commission and the European Parliament – that "some forces proposed what they call a 'compromise text' of Amendment 171". That text, he suggested, "perverted the Amendment 171 into the exact contrary of the text voted by the European Parliament in October", adding: "So, the withdrawal of this 'compromise' amendment text is good news for the lactosphere.

Intriguing but, apparently, the dropping of the Amendment hasn't left any sour notes in dairy circles. That said, there's no question the traditional dairy industry has a job on its hands competing with a growing – and buoyant – plant-based market. Demand for plant-based alternatives continues to rise and trying to do battle on words such as "creamy" and over how plant-based milks are packed seemed futile from the outset.

The traditional dairy industry would do better to take its fight into other areas, emphasising what it sees as the positive credentials of its own products, not least with consumer scrutiny growing over how plant-based products are processed and over the make-up of the ingredients used in recipes. That looks set to be the next competitive frontier.

Dean Best

Managing Editor

Minced meat in flow packs - Feneberg saves 70 percent plastic with flow-wrap bags from Ulma Packaging

The southern German supermarket chain Feneberg has completely changed the production of minced meat and now no longer offers its self-service products in the almost 80 branches in the MAP tray that was previously common, but exclusively in completely recyclable flowwrap (tubular) bags. In this way, the company from the Allgäu region now saves up to 70 percent of the plastic otherwise required per packaging unit. Ulma Packaging supplied the machine and the complete process know-how. 

Tradition in the third generation.  As a family business rooted in the region, Feneberg Lebensmittel GmbH stands for quality and trust. "The regional production of food and the connection with the region and the people who live there have always played a central role at Feneberg," says Hannes Feneberg, who together with his brother Christof is the third generation to run the company as managing directors. "Regional production, close partnerships with farmers, animal welfare and environmental protection have been the cornerstones that characterise the production of our meat and sausage products for many years. With this in mind, it was important for us to also evolve in the packaging of these high-quality products and choose a variant that continues the sustainability criteria in production.

" Switching to flow-pack packaging was a big step for the company, as the butchery in Kempten produces a total of 20 tonnes of minced meat and minced meat products such as burger patties or cevapcici per week. The main thing: "The new packaging has been very well received. We have obviously hit the nerve of our customers, who want more sustainability in their shopping," Hannes Feneberg concludes positively.

 35.7 tonnes less plastic in circulation. At 60 to 65 microns, the flow pack is up to ten times thinner than conventional MAP trays, which are typically 450 to 650 microns thick. In addition, the flow-wrap bag is significantly lighter than the tray: Instead of tare weights of 13.58 to 24.98 grams for tray packaging, the film solutions weigh between 4.00 and 4.94 grams, depending on the size. As a result, Feneberg saves at least 70 percent plastic per package, at peak times even more than 80 percent. Calculated over the year, that is 35.7 tonnes less plastic that is put into circulation.

Completely recyclable. Another sustainability plus for the tubular bags: The Monoflowre multi-layer film used by the film manufacturer Schur Flexibles consists of the mono material polypropylene (PP) and can be recycled without residues. And the flow packs make it particularly easy for the end user: Open the packaging, take out the meat and the unwashed film can be put in the yellow sack (used in Germany for recycling) and fed into the recycling process. "This simple handling without further separation convinced us," explains Christan Gareiß, Head of Production Technology at Feneberg. "Many other concepts that save plastic require an intermediate step from the end user. Often, for example, you have to peel a film off the box, which experience shows is not always done. The packaging then ends up in the residual waste. That's the end of the line for recycling before it even gets started," Gareiß continues.

Flow-wrap bag machine with new folding geometry. The self-service minced meat products at the production site of the Feneberg butchery in Kempten are packaged by the FM 300 flow-wrap bag machine from Ulma. For the recyclable PP film, the machine manufacturer has made some adaptations to its technology. "On the one hand, we have adapted the folding geometry, as the PP film buckles more quickly than other films. On the other hand, we have made changes to the longitudinal and transverse sealing to ensure the usual high sealing quality for the recycled film as well," explains Alexander Biechteler, Head of Technical Sales and Application Technology at Ulma Packaging.

Together with the new flow-wrap bag machine, Feneberg uses a total of seven Ulma machines in its production, in addition to packaging machines for minced meat, sausages and cold cuts, as well as systems for baked goods and ready meals. "For us it was clear that we would realise this important project together with Ulma. We have already been working together for ten years and know the machines very well," emphasises Gareiß from Feneberg. In the technical centre at Ulma in Memmingen, Germany, the two companies ran various product samples and tests and tested film types from several manufacturers.

Significantly lower logistics costs. Before the conversion to flow packs, one pallet of MAP trays was sufficient for 2,880 to 5,040 sales packs of minced meat and minced meat products. From the same transport volume with flow-pack material, Feneberg now generates between 64,8000 and 81,000 sales packages. Or to put it another way: "Instead of 100 truckloads of MAP trays, we now need just seven truckloads of film. That's a reduction of 93 percent. The savings in storage requirements are just as great," clarifies Gareiß. AFT QUARTERLY 2/2021 Page 4 of 4 The advantages on the economic side also have an effect on the ecological side. Due to the material savings and the reduced use of truck transport, the flow packs also significantly reduce CO2 emissions. The smaller packaging volume - compared to the MAP tray - also reduces the electricity consumption for storage, production and cooling of the products in the flow-wrap bag package.

Planned for the future. "The flow pack is the packaging of the future in the food industry. There's no way around it. We can't do without plastic completely, but we can reduce the amount used enormously. And after use, we can recycle the material completely - that's what a responsible approach to the environment looks like," emphasises Alexander Biechteler from Ulma. For the application technology manager, this offers the food and packaging industry enormous potential that can be quickly exploited.

"Because flow-pack packaging is a mature technology that doesn't have to be reinvented, it really can be implemented right away," adds Ulma Packaging Managing Director Thomas Blümel, thinking holistically: "For almost all products that are currently still packaged in MAP trays, the changeover to flow packs is feasible. So why wait?" That's how Feneberg sees it too. In the next step, the family business wants to convert the entire self-service meat range to packaging made of flow-wrap bags.

Additional information and contact

Ulma Packaging GmbH Memmingen, Germany

Tel.: +49-(0)8331-98738-0

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.ulmapackaging.de

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