The Lempert Report LIVE
The Lempert Report LIVE
3D Printed Food, NFT Dining, Meta Retailers
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Today a US Senator takes on Climate Change, How 3D printed food has evolved, Danon gives backs, How about going out to dinner on an NFT, another moon shot – this time its all about food, the 3 resons retailers are heading to the metaverse, kudos to Nestle a conversation about WIC and farmers and a return to my childhood roots with a major twist.
Welcome to the Lempert Report LIVE. Today a US Sentaor takes on Climate Change, How 3D printed food has evolved, Dannon gives backs, How about going out to dinner on an NFT, another moon shot – this time its all about food, the 3 reasons retailers are heading to the metaverse, kudos to Nestle a conversation about WIC and farmers and a return to my childhood roots with a major twist. Let's get started. Sally what's Cory Booker up to?
SallyHi Phil. Senator Cory Booker is frustrated that the climate movement is not talking enough about food. He's saying that big food is the most powerful lobby of all, and that their influence is causing destruction to our environment by leaving a little controlled in the agricultural industry.
PhilWell, what's interesting is he warns in a video , with the New York times, the videos called meet the people getting paid to kill our planet. What he said is we're past a national emergency, as it relates to this, he says, he's very frustrated that the incredible climate movement doesn't talk enough about food. You cannot solve the climate problem unless you fix the American and global food systems. So I guess my question is, oh, one , one other fact that I found shocking to me, less than 1% of us subsidies go towards vegetable farming less than 1% and, and we constantly are seeing how the FDA, you know, and USDA is giving out all these subsidies and so on, but I had no idea. There was just less than 1% that went to produce.
SallyI was really surprised by that information as well. And I wonder if, you know, now that we're moving towards more consumers wanting plant-based foods and we are being encouraged more and more to incorporate fruits and vegetables into our diet. If , if we're gonna , you know, start finding a little bit more balance with that with meat production and vegetable production.
PhilYeah. It's, it's real interesting. Well, good for good for Booker again, New Jersey guy, North New Jersey. Hey, let's talk about 3D printed food.
SallyYes. Well, if you're anything like me, it's hard to imagine how 3D printed food fits into your life. It's, it's hard to imagine how it works. I ,
PhilI love this idea and, you know, we've , we've talked , I guess probably about four years , that, that you can now buy , and it's relatively inexpensive for what it is. I , I think it's like 500 bucks . You can buy a 3D printer that makes pizza.
SallyWell, my son, just this weekend ask for a 3D printer and I told time I had absolutely no idea how much they cost. It's good to know. Well ,
PhilBut the one, yeah, the , the one for pizza is $500, I think that's all it does, but there's different 3D printers that do different things that , that can make you know, make screw and make, you know, plastic things and stuff like that. So I don't know what all that cost is.
SallyWell, apparently the, the , the big upside to this technology developing more and more is that , is that it could cut down on food waste tremendously, and it can also address food insecurity by making foods with less desirable ingredients, look more attractive and more appealing.
PhilYeah. And, you know, I've talked a long time about the idea when you go into a supermarket and you see these beautiful cakes , and, and pastries that in fact, if, if, and fact we could have a 3D printer there, they wouldn't have that kind of waste. Cause whenever you go into, you know, your Kroger, you know, down the street, you see, you know, probably a hundred different cakes that are there at the end of the day. If they don't sell, they've got either donate them or, or toss them . And this way I could just go in on my phone plug in what ingredients I wanted if I want less sugar, more sugar what color icing I want to put on it, any writing on it. And they could just print my take , as I'm shopping the rest of the store, I , I am a huge fan of, of 3d printers, but the reality only is that they really haven't progressed all that much. What, what this one report is saying is that the current market value is growing at an annual rate of 46% for 3D printed food and expected to reach a value of $525 million by next year.
SallyWow.
PhilSo, you know, get ready by , by , by Eli that 3D printer. And he could make it better.
SallyYes. Maybe it's closer than he thought.
PhilHe can , he can make dinner. You know, last week you, you did a great report women's history month and you know, it , it continues. So what's going on with Dannon and women.
SallyWell, I love what they're doing here with these new light and fit products or , or diff two flavors that are new to the line. It's the lemon cream and the orange cream, Greek nonfat yogurt. These two products are going to help raise money for an organization called dress for success. Now, I find this such a cool organization. We actually have this in our neighborhood, one of these one of the branches of this, and what you can do is you can go in there and anywhere between one to $10, you can find professional attire for work. That is from really great brands, you know, like Banana Republic , J crew , Ann Taylor clothes that are really nice, nice for women who are having a hard time affording buying those clothes for, in whether it's for interviews or going to work. And what I found interesting about what's going on right now with women in the workforce is that nearly 1 million women left workforce due to reasons related to the , the pandemic childcare , you know, not so, so it's, it's really important to help these women get back and have economic independence. And I just think this is a great program that Dannon has to support this dress for success.
PhilI agree. I think, I think that, you know, we need more companies to step up, do things like this, we're all in this together. So that's what we've learned from the pandemic. So if we have these leading brands doing things like this , and, and sure it's great to donate money to feeding America and things like that, but we really need to stretch it out and, and do more things like this. So I agree with you. I , I love what Dannon is doing. Interesting story about NFTs and how two restaurateurs have decided to, you know, basically raise money using NFT's before they actually launch their restaurant. Tell us a bit more,
SallyThis is a fascinating story. First of all, the makers of the original burger boy, they make this burger sound so delicious when you read about it. Yep . But, but they're, they're working in kind of a reverse order when it comes to marketing because they're, they are, they're promoting and creating hype of the , with about this product in the midst of raising funds, by selling NFTs that are connected to these digital art creations by Courtney Casus and their images of the burger boy mascot in different forms, like in one form, he's the classic burger boy , and he is got a tattoo and he's wearing a v-neck shirt. And then another one, he's the fancy boy with the mustache and the top hat . So they're gonna try and raise the money and then you'll be able to eat the burger.
PhilBut, you know, what's , what's interesting to me and I'm gonna get my calculator out. I should have done this before, but they are hoping to release 9,000 and Ft. So 9,000 and the price of a NFT today, and they haven't decided what their, what their cost is gonna be. But it's between a half of a half of one to 0.1 . One is, is $3,234 . So it's 3, 2, 3, just round numbers. If they go for 0.1 of an NFT, they're gonna raise 2.9 million to do , do their restaurant. So I've got a question. I love the marketing of it. I think it's brilliant of it, but if they're gonna raise 2.9 million to open up a burger place , to me, it's like a little bit of a scam and they're gonna start selling burgers out of ghost kitchens for $7 a burger, and then they're gonna sell it in the metaverse. So they're only gonna have a virtual restaurant. We, we should do this. We should raise $2.9 million and have a ghost kitchen.
SallyWell, virtual brands seem to be popping, you know, all over in TikTok and in the metaverse . So it's, it seems to be a big trend.
PhilWell, if you look in November Budweiser, they launched an NFT connection with 1,936 digital cans to Comme, to commemorate the original can of Budweiser. In 1936 , 36 of the cans were priced at $999. Again, these are not actual cans, but just in the metaverse. And then they have silver cans, 1900 silver cans that went for $499 each. And now two weeks after the release, they sold out in less than an hour of these cans. I , I don't know where people are getting all this money from to do this. Now you can buy one as a resale for $400,000, $400,000 for a virtual can. I'm missing something. Texas A&M has decided that they wanna change our relationship with food. They have a new moonshot that's that's going on. And what they really are trying to do is switch our mind , what, what they point out, which is something that I never really thought about is the purpose of food systems in the past was to limit hunger, makes a lot of sense. Now what they want to do is they want to change our relationship to food. And, and it's coming at a critical time. What they also report is that nearly half of us adults have some kind of cardiovascular disease, according to the American heart association, and more than 70% of American adults are , have hypersensitivity. So what's going on at A&M?
SallyWell, first of all, what really caught my attention about this is that the director of this new program, which is called the Institute for advancing help through agriculture, the director is Patrick Stover . Patrick Stover is a man that in the nineties that contributed to the discovery that folate deficiencies were causing birth defects. This was a major breakthrough and saved thousands of babies from being born with health issues and birth defects. Because then we started recommending that when women are pregnant, that they are, are taking in that amount of folic acid that they need. So, so already he's a really outstanding researcher to be directing this team. And they're looking at, they're looking at addressing precision precision nutrition, you know, because we we've been talking at about that now for a while that we can't just expect one person to follow the exact same diet as another person. There are, there are cultural differences, there are genetic differences. So, so this is important to address one's individual needs for health.
PhilYeah, I think it's, I think it's great. I, I agree with you having him leading it is fabulous. And hopefully we can have a successful moonshot and we can change the way people eat the way people think about food, because I think they're really pointing out something that's, that's so critical. And you know, we can change behaviors , as a result of that. Let me head back to the metaverse for a moment what , what we're seeing, and this came out of , this came out of the Motley fool where, what we're seeing is more people getting involved is you pointed out , in the metaverse more brands than ever before four , and they give three basic reasons for that. The first reason is the generation Z has grown up with metaverse like economies. We've talked a lot about how the metaverse today, you know, is really a throwback to second life. It wasn't nearly as advanced a lot of gaming that's involved, but there's a really good point , that these generation Z Zers , born between 1997 and 2012 were the first digital native generation. And the generation Z, sorry, millennials were the first digital native generation and generation Z is the first metaverse native generation. They've been playing Minecraft from Microsoft since 2011. And they point out that retailers, you know , have to go where customers are, that you can't depend on customers coming to your stores. Number two, the retailers have a chance to create something interesting. Which I think in today's world has never been truer than ever before. And the third one is that meta retailers require daily input, but can return big rewards just as we talked about with NFT dining , with some of these rewards t hat, that are coming out that, you know, I think, I think that the, I think that the metaverse, wallet's very confusing to a lot of retail to a lot of people I think it's gonna hit this time. What do you think?
SallyI agree with all of these points that have been made here, particularly the first point about , about the generational difference. You know, I've got a son who is gen Z and I've got a daughter that's gen alpha. So , and both of are very dialed in and connected to the digital world. And , and the metaverse is very exciting for them, these, and, and, you know, that leads to the next point that , you were talking about, about big box stores becoming more inviting , because, you know, if, if Walmart is gonna be in the meta , Walmart can be a much more exciting and more creative environment than your regular Walmart that you go into.
PhilYeah, absolutely. And the sky's the limit. So it's something that we're gonna keep watching very carefully and keep on reporting. And now it's time for the Lempert Report. Nestle is taking steps to address child labor in Kacal production and increase supply chain traceability with a new program that includes paying farmers cash for such things as enrolling their kids in school. Wow. Nestle is extending their 20, 20 pilot with a thousand farm in the ivory coast of we west Africa that enables families to earn about $540 every year for the first two years and around $270 each additional year. Now let's put that in perspective because when we hear $540, we say, no big deal. Let's understand that the average income in 2020 in the ivory coast is the equivalent of $660 a year. So in addition to decreasing child labor and increasing S source seeing traceability, the program is meant to advance regenerative, agriculture practices and gender equality, other eligible practices to receive the cash incentive include growing other crops, raising livestock and beekeeping, all intended to generate diversified income. Nestle has committ to investing nearly 1.4 billion in this program by the year 2030, this year 10,000 families in the country will be eligible. And the program will be extended to Ghana in 2024, eventually reaching all cocoa farming families in the company's global supply chain by the year 2030, the money will be distributed during periods of the most need. Nestle said such as back to school periods and before the rainy season, and they'll work with such organizations as the international cocoainitiative and rainforest Alliance to monitor the part , the program also leverages farmer feedback and third party data collection and evaluation to modify and improve the program during scaling as well as to receive guidance from a multi-stakeholder strategic advisory committee, that's managed by IDH the sustainable trade initiative, kudos to Nestle. On USFRA's Farm Food Facts webcast, I spoke with Brian Dittmeier the senior director of public policy at the national WIC association, about the newest changes to WIC and its effect on farmers for the complete episode, just head to USFRA .org . I'm so happy that you talked about the education part because WIC , unlike a lot of other programs that are out there and there's some great programs out there really has as its foundation, the education about nutrition.
BrianYeah. That's a key piece of WIC and, you know, it really does distinguish it from other federal programs because t o, to achieve positive nutrition, it's not just about the foods that you p urchase, but it's how you integrate those foods into your diet. And there's a , a wealth of research that really indicates that there's s pillover effects for the rest of the family. So, you know, W IC is of course targeted at the children, but we see that not just t he moms, but the dads and the grandparents and other members of the family c hange their shopping habits and their cooking patterns to reflect the foods that are introduced through WIC and with the increase in f oods and vegetables. One of the greatest pieces we're seeing is i ncreased variety in foods that are purchased b y with consumers. So you're seeing, you know, pairs, cherries, b erries having four, five times the amount of purchases b ecause there's added w benefit available for fruits and vegetables. And so that n ot only means that you can introduce a greater variety, to c h ildren a t a c ritical time, but it 's r e ally w h en t h ose l i felong t a ste p references are being developed. So y o u're e xposing children to a g r eater v ariety OF S a n d, an d h o pefully i ntegrating th ose t a stes i n to t h eir d i ets
PhilOn today's bullseye, we explore the latest plant based food trend, the Jewish deli, seriously, Hey, I grew up going to lower east side every Sunday with my parents for what I think was most of my childhood. It was CAS for a sandwich. And then Henry's just a couple doors away, deli and deli salads to bring home and occasionally going to Wrapports or rats for a kosher meat-free vegan meal. So when I saw this story, my ears perked up impossible foods, tried to launch impossible pork and get a kosher certification. It appears that vegan Jewish deli's are, are a thing. Vegan Jewish deli have been sprouting up everywhere from Portland, Oregon with the vegan Jewish deli, Ben and Esthers to Rochester, New York, where Rob Nipe opened grass fed a vegan butcher shop in deli and Rochester offering plant-based protein for the people on the menu. You can find vegan and chop liver and pastrami as well as beer brots Korean Guang , sausage and mushroom bulgogi to Larter run by Jeremy Romanski, a 2020 James Bair nominee for best chef who runs a deli, but includes a bunch of vegan offerings, including vegan pastrami that's made from mushrooms, unreal deli , a plant-based deli meat company just expanded its corn beef to Publix. There's a carrot locks and beat based Ruben sandwich. Let's go back over a hundred years to the vegetarian hotel that was opened up in the Catskills in New York, in the 1910, which had a hundred rooms across a hundred acres of land and included radishes and other vegetables from their garden, freshly baked pumper, milk , pumper nickel, and HAA and vegetarian chop liver long before it became trendy on social media. There were salads like bee salads, ahe , eggplant salad, soups that range from barley beans and millet and entrees, such as red kidney beans , stew, and sweet potato kugel. What old is new again. And be sure you join us along with the food Institute at the protein and plant evolution virtual conference, J une 1st through third, as for the first time ever, we bring both sides of protein to the table and we discuss the future. Is it flexitarian, you know, join us. All you can do is register. There's no cost to it, and we're gonna have some r eally meaningful conversations. And frankly, we're gonna change the discussion away from plant protein or animal protein to just talking about how all of us eat every day. So Sally, any comments or questions today?
SallyYes, my, you know what, my comment stream just disappeared, but I remember what I saw. So , John Turk Ford, John Turk Ford, is how he's from Turk flexitarian foods . And he says, says food is medicine and wants to know what your thoughts are on the hybrid. Meat and seafood, poultry, and vegetables. What, you know , plant-based foods, what's your feeling about that is flexitarian in the future.
PhilSo yes, flexitarian in my mind is the future. A nd I think a lot of these hybrid products or call t hem, you know, replacement products. The problem is that they're trying to emulate what, what the product is that they're trying to replace. They should stand on their own. They should be, great tasting and also ingredient-wise. They really need to be cleaned up. So if you look at a lot of these, you know, analog products that are out there and you read the ingredients, whether it's because of emos, whether it's because of other ingredients that people typically don't want. We forget that the reason that a lot of these folks, w ho are buying these products are either doing it from a sustainability standpoint for the planet. They're doing it for a health standpoint. And then when you read the ingredients you go, huh, this doesn't make sense. And also there's a new report that came out that really is looking at the carbon. That's being emitted by so many of these analog products and these hybrid products and it's worse t han animal protein. So I think we really need to calm down. And again, this is one of the reasons that we're doing, you know, the protein and plant evolution conference in June is to really get to the truth of it, to really have candid conversations about how to move forward. The reality is we know from a health standpoint and from a planet standpoint, we need to eat more fruits and vegetables. We need to eat less red meat. But it's about that balance. T hat, that is just so important. It's not about the extremes
SallyAgreed. And I'm gonna put that link in the chat for the conference there. If anybody wants to look at that.
PhilGreat. Yeah, we, we need a lot of people to sign up. We just opened up registration, I guess about a week, week and a half ago, we already have over 200 people that have signed up. We're looking for a thousand. So you sign up, get Sally's link https://proteinplantevolution.com/register/ and sign up. There's no cost to it. And we're gonna have a very, very meaningful conversation. And don't forget to go to supermarketguru .com where you could look at our archives, our past episodes. And also don't forget to sign up for our weekly supermarket guru newsletter, have a great week, and we'll see you back here next week. Same time, same place.