Sugar, dairy and oils were the catalysts for growth in global food prices last month, according to the latest release of the FAO Food Price Index, while cereals and meat prices remained stagnant. The Index now sits at a 15-month high. The Index of a basket of food commodities (sugar, dairy, meat, cereals and oils and fats) reached 171.9 points last month, up 29 points year-on-year and 33 from the lowest point during the downturn (February). “The main drivers were sugar, oilseeds and dairy which... ...Read more »

The 2008 rice bumper harvest is coming to a close with better-than-expected production that could help ease prices, but there is expected to be an overall decline in global cereal production, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The agency has warned that the global economic slowdown could outweigh the gains for the poorest of the world’s rice consumers, because of falling incomes and rising job insecurity. The FAO currently predicts global paddy production in... ...Read more »

Hedging has long been a tool used by companies to counter the impact of potential changes in market conditions, but rarely have restaurants engaged in the practice. With skyrocketing food costs and fears that price hikes may continue it now appears, however, that restaurants and other foodservice organisations are embracing the concept, particularly overseas. In the past restaurateurs have discounted the thought of hedging due to the complications of the process, a lack of market size and the rationalisation... ...Read more »