Food, in brief

Greggs, Britain's biggest fast-food chain, plans to close four of its UK factories. [2][3]

About 740 jobs could go over the next two and a half years. [1][3]

The factories are near Penrith in Cumbria, in Kelso in Scotland, in Seaham in County Durham and in Enfield in north London, which keeps its delivery depot. [1]

Greggs will also make fewer products in Glasgow and Manchester, stop making tinned bread at Gosforth, and buy some products from specialist suppliers. [1]

On the same day, it said sales rose 7.7% in the three months to 26 September, and it raised its profit outlook for 2026. [1][2]

Leaving out the boost from new shops, sales rose 3.4%, up from 2.1% in the first half of its year. [1][2]

Greggs says the closures will cost about £60m and save about £20m a year in running costs. [2][3]

Greggs says the changes are needed to make enough food for its growth in the years ahead, in the most cost-efficient way. [2]

It warned of signs that its costs will rise faster in 2027. [3]

Earlier this year it raised the price of its sausage roll by 5p, to £1.35 in most shops, to cover higher wage, energy and packaging costs. [3]

Some analysts worry that weight-loss drugs could cut demand for Greggs' higher-calorie food among its most frequent customers. [2]

Greggs says no final decision has been made, and talks with staff and unions start soon. [1][3]

Why it matters. Watch the talks with staff and the bakers' union, which will show whether all four factories close and how many of the 740 jobs go. [1]

The Trump administration has told Germany and France to release some of their emergency diesel, or face a possible US ban on diesel exports, three people close to the talks told Reuters. [4] The US sells abroad between 1.2 and 1.5 million barrels of diesel a day. [6] Diesel runs tractors, farm machines and the lorries that carry food, so a higher price often pushes up freight costs and food prices in shops. [5] Britain, the European Commission, Germany, France, Italy and Ireland held a call on Thursday about releasing stocks. [4][7]

Why it matters. In Britain, diesel hit a record 199.72p a litre on Wednesday, and about a third of the diesel Britain imported last year came from the US. [7] Farm machines, food lorries and fishing boats all run on it. [5][8]

Ukraine's largest farm union, UAC, warned on Wednesday against a plan to give oilseeds first use of Ukraine's scarce export routes. [9] With its seaports effectively blocked by the war with Russia, Ukraine can export little more than half of what it could. [9] Grain exports fell by more than 60% so far in September. [9] The price paid to farmers for milling wheat fell nearly 30% in two months, Ukraine's agriculture ministry says. [9]

Why it matters. Oilseeds are worth more per tonne, so they can cover the high cost of trains and river ports. For grain, transport is a much bigger share of the price, the union says, so grain farmers would be left with full stores. [9]

Big US food and farm groups are paying social media influencers to push back against Make America Healthy Again, or Maha, the Guardian and Documented reported. [11] Maha is the movement around US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. [11] It is run by the Center for Food Integrity, a non-profit paid for by farm, food and restaurant groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation. [11] At least six influencers have signed on, reaching more than 2.6 million viewers. [11] Paid posts explained seed oils and showed farmers talking about pesticides. [11]

Why it matters. A May poll found 64% of US adults think pesticides are not regulated enough, and 75% think the same of food additives. [11] The centre's director said that without a joint response, Maha's claims risk fuelling new regulations. [11]

The US Justice Department asked a federal judge in Colorado not to approve more than $202 million in settlements with big red-meat companies. [12] Workers at 140 plants say JBS, Tyson Foods and other meat firms shared pay data for years to keep wages low. [12] Tyson and JBS, the world's largest beef producer, agreed to pay $127.2 million together, while denying wrongdoing. [12] The department wants enforceable rules that stop it happening again, not only money. [12]

Why it matters. Tens of thousands of meat-plant workers are in the case, and a fairness hearing is set for 13 November. [12] Hormel, which agreed this week to buy a chicken company, is one of the firms settling. [12][13]

Hormel Foods, the US company behind Skippy peanut butter, said on Wednesday it will buy Brakebush Brothers, a family-owned chicken company, in a deal valued at $1.06 billion. [13] Hormel wants to sell more chicken products. [13] Shoppers increasingly want meals rich in protein, and demand for chicken is growing, Reuters reports. [13]

Why it matters. Hormel is also one of the meat companies in this week's dispute over wage-fixing settlements. [12] Arla, the dairy company, is spending to make more high-protein food too. [16]

Corteva, a giant US seed and farm-chemicals company, settled its lawsuit against Inari, a start-up that gene-edits seeds, days into a trial in Delaware that began on 23 September. [14] Corteva had accused Inari of illegally obtaining and copying its patented corn and soybean seeds. Inari denied it and said the patents were invalid. [14] Inari will destroy Corteva material it took from seed depositories, where samples of patented seed are kept, and hand Corteva the rights to its edited versions. [15]

Why it matters. The two will now negotiate licences, and the money terms are secret. [14][15] Corteva says the rulings in the case strengthen the rights of companies that deposit seed. [15]

Russia could quickly restart up to 80% of its grain terminals on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov if a ceasefire halts Russian and Ukrainian attacks, a Reuters analysis found on 25 September. [10] Three of the nine big terminals are heavily damaged and could take months to repair. [10] Before the attacks, these ports handled up to 70% of Russia's grain exports. [10] Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan is leading an effort by grain-buying countries to restore the trade. [10]

Why it matters. Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, and the stalled shipments have pushed up world grain prices. [10] Ukraine's president said India and Egypt are also part of the effort. [10]

Farms in Idaho, a top-five US milk state, have mostly escaped the Trump administration's immigration crackdown so far, NPR reported. [18] Rick Naerebout, who heads the Idaho Dairymen's Association, estimates that some 90% of workers at the state's roughly 350 dairies may lack legal status. [18] A US immigration deportation plane lands twice a week at the airport in Twin Falls, in a farming area. [18] One farm worker's family has moved to Mexico rather than risk arrest. [18]

Why it matters. Naerebout says a push to enforce the rules on farms could badly harm the US's ability to feed itself. [18] Many farms could not find enough workers even before the raids began. [18]

Arla, a Danish-Swedish dairy company owned by its farmers, will invest €63 million in two plants to make more high-protein dairy food. [16] Of that, €35 million goes to skyr at Upahl in Germany, and €28.3 million to cottage cheese at Falkenberg in Sweden. [16] Arla says its skyr volumes grew more than 33% in its European markets and cottage cheese 25%. [16] The work will be finished in 2028. [16]

Why it matters. Arla has also recently bought Brancourts, an Australian cottage cheese maker. [16] Its boss says shoppers want food with more protein that is quick to eat. [16]

A study of medical records from more than 300 million people looked at US adults with no approved reason to take a GLP-1 weight-loss drug, the kind sold as Wegovy and Mounjaro. [17] It found 1.13 million of them had been prescribed one. [17] Of those, 35.1% had a normal weight for their height. [17] Such prescriptions rose from 0.11% to 1.5% of these adults between 2021 and 2025, a 13.6-fold rise. [17] They were more common among better-off people with private insurance. [17]

Why it matters. The study's authors say the balance of risk and benefit for these users is not known. [17] The spread of these drugs has made food companies pay more attention to protein and fibre. [27]

Fishing crews in south-west England say they will go out of business unless Britain's government helps pay for their fuel, the BBC reported. [8] Steve Moseley, who skippers a trawler from Newlyn in Cornwall, says his fuel costs £3,000 a day. [8] The fishermen point out that the EU pays its fleets a subsidy of 20p a litre. [8] Britain's government says it gives fishing tax relief on fuel and £360m through a growth fund. [8]

Why it matters. Some skippers say they will stop going to sea if fuel rises much more. [8] Losing US diesel would push Britain's pump prices up sharply, because Britain does not refine enough of its own. [7]

Point Roberts, a US town of about 1,200 people in Washington state, can be reached by land only through Canada. [19] Its only grocery store, the International Marketplace, has lost almost half its business, owner Ali Hayton says. [19] Canadians made 10 million fewer trips to the US in 2025 than in 2024, a fall of 25%, a Bank of Canada survey shows. [19] In July, US President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Canadian goods including beer, wine, honey, fruit and dairy. [19]

Why it matters. The store is the only place in town that sells fresh fruit and vegetables. [19] Hayton warned that a closure would leave the town without a grocery store at all. [19]

Ten years after scallop dredging was banned in a 600 square km protected zone around Scotland's Summer Isles, local divers and fishers say sea life has revived. [20] One pass of a dredger's heavy towed gear can crush or bury up to 70% of maerl, a 9,000-year-old pink seaweed that shelters young scallops and fish. [20] A report by marine biologist Jason Hall-Spencer says the ban has protected the maerl. [20] A creel boat, which catches shellfish in pots, now fishes there almost all year. [20]

Why it matters. A creel boat that once had to travel to Skye and the Western Isles now fishes around the Summer Isles instead. [20] A scallop diver who helped lead the campaign says his own business stands to gain from the ban. [20]

Researchers at North Carolina State University covered strawberry plants with a new fabric called Plant Armor in tunnel field trials. [21] Covered plants gave up to 3.56 times as much fruit as uncovered ones. [21] The fabric keeps insects off but lets sunlight, rain and air through. It also kept the plants warmer, so they fruited earlier. [21] It grew out of research on mosquito-proof military uniforms. [21]

Why it matters. The researchers say it could cut the use of pesticides and water on strawberry farms. [21] The yields were measured in tunnel trials over three growing seasons. [21]

A study published on 28 September in Nature Sustainability looked at 450 years of herring catches in the western Baltic Sea. [22] For nearly 300 years, the Sound, the strait between Denmark and Sweden, was Europe's main source of salted herring. [22] Catches averaged about 55,000 tonnes a year from 1524 to 1570, then the fishery collapsed in the 1570s. [22] The authors blame a changing climate, overfishing and economic causes together, and note there were no real limits on catches. [22]

Why it matters. The collapse disrupted trade across Europe, with major social and political effects. [22] The authors say it closely resembles the state of the western Baltic's herring fishery today. [22]

Antobot, a British start-up, plans to have 300 robots working in strawberry crops next year. [23] Instead of spraying fungicide, the robots shine ultraviolet light on the plants, which damages the DNA of mildew and other fungi so they cannot spread. [23] The company works in the UK, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Canada and parts of Asia. [23] It is moving customers from renting the robots to buying them. [23]

Why it matters. Worry among UK shops and shoppers about pesticide left on fruit is a big reason growers buy it, the company says. [23] Small Canadian growers on two or three hectares cannot justify big sprayers. [23]

Meatly, a British company that grows meat from animal cells for pet food, is moving into a new site with a 20,000-litre vessel. [24] Its boss, Owen Ensor, says the site cost £3-4 million to build, against the $30-40 million or even $300-400 million some earlier firms spent. [24] Meatly raised £10.4 million in April. [24] Ensor wants to prove within about two years that the meat can be made at a price that pays. [24]

Why it matters. Ensor says investors have pulled back from lab-grown meat as money flows to AI. [24] If one 20,000-litre vessel works, he says, Meatly can run many side by side. [24]

Revo Foods, an Austrian company that 3D-prints plant-based copies of salmon and chicken, aims to make a profit by the third quarter of 2027. [25] It expects sales to grow 80-90% this year, to about €1.5 million. [25] Germany and Austria bring in about 80% of its sales. [25] It is raising €2 million, and half of it is already promised. [25]

Why it matters. Its boss says venture investors now want very large wins, so firms like his turn to family offices and private backers. [25] He says the products must taste as good as meat, carry as much protein and cost about the same. [25]

Cyberattacks on farming and food are rising, says a paper published on 1 October in Nature Food. [26] Food and farming is one of 16 sectors the US Department of Homeland Security treats as critical to the country. [26] After workshops with more than 150 people from the sector, the authors propose a group led by US farming universities with skills in AI and cybersecurity. [26]

Why it matters. They call for a farm security operations centre, test sites, more training and AI tools that spot unusual activity. [26]

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the US body for dietitians, and the council that accredits dietitian courses have launched a framework to teach medical students more about nutrition. [27] It follows the US health department's push last year for nutrition in medical training. [27] Dietitians would help train future doctors on when and how food should be part of patient care. [27] Nearly nine in ten doctors (87%) say they are not trained well enough to guide patients on nutrition, the article reports. [27]

Why it matters. Critics warn that more training and advice could add to doctors' heavy workloads. [27] Doctors are among the most trusted sources of food advice, so what they learn could shape what patients buy. [27]

Barry Callebaut, a large chocolate supplier, has set up a base at Gastronomica, a food research centre at Colworth Science Park in Bedford, England. [28] Unilever and the property firm Pioneer set the centre up last year. [28] It houses The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which Unilever recently spun off. [28] The two firms have worked together for more than a decade, including on Magnum's cracking chocolate coating. [28]

Why it matters. Barry Callebaut says working side by side will speed up their work on new chocolate textures and flavours. [28]