The Grocer

A Soya Subject

They liked the environmental message. They even said they preferred the taste. That surprised creator Monsanto. It claims they were no different in flavour from traditional varieties. President of agriculture at Monsanto Hugh Grant says it was this consumer reaction that brought the processors into the gm equation.

He says: "The question from the processors a few years ago was show us this is what consumers want. That's a little bit ironic given what's happening now."

On this side of the Atlantic consumers have not been sold any gm pluses. Retailers and manufacturers have reacted accordingly. But the Americans have now woken up and government and industry are changing tack. Agriculture secretary Dan Glickman has moderated his approach calling for more of an educative and less of a combative style in exports.

Grant is pioneering Monsanto's new listening approach. "We're going back to basics," he says. "It will take time but it is the right thing to do."

Monsanto is now going through a round of "stakeholder" discussions with interested parties. Grant says: "There is a history of this sort of dialogue in the UK on a wide spectrum of things where you have people diametrically opposed who usually talk to each other through press clippings."

But while Grant is optimistic UK consumer opinion will budge "based on what I've seen here" he does not believe Monsanto should front the public campaign.

Consumer opinion will not be cracked through straight advertising, he believes. Monsanto tried that. "It's a question of informing the consumer and letting them understand what the heck it is, what the impact is and what it means for them. Monsanto isn't going to do that."

Grant believes the UK and US governments have a role to play. "I'm really encouraged by the establishment of a European food agency. If Commission president Romano Prodi can pull that off and set it up in the right way, it could be a real anchor."

The biotech companies, like the US regulatory bodies, do not see any issues in the process by which gm crops are created. It's how the crops interact with the environment positively, the companies argue and the inherent qualities of the food products they want to bring to public attention.

Phil Kerr, director of biotechnology research and business development at DuPont's Protein Technologies International, predicts a "very concerted effort" from DuPont and other companies to communicate the benefits of products to consumers in the US and Europe.

Kerr says: "It's important the industry as a whole as well as on a company by company basis is proactive and directly addresses these issues. This will include having more of an interactive dialogue with our shareholders, including consumer groups, than we've had in the past. It's a question of getting ahead of the curve rather than behind it."

Kerr says it's time to "get out there, roll up our sleeves and communicate these benefits to consumers".

The industry talks in terms of a second (and third) horizon or wave three years hence offering more tangible consumer benefits.

The Food and Drug Administration's ruling last week on the health benefits of soya protein will give renewed vigour to the development of new classes of soya based health benefits.

Kerr says: "We're knee deep in almost every combination of traits in soybean."

The molecular approach means companies can incorporate a number of genetic traits and stack them. The uncertainty is whether European regulatory authorities and consumers will accept this.

There are currently 300 new plant traits in US field trials. The next wave will include strawberries, melons, cucumbers and sunflowers.

In the meantime, there is a lot of talk about diminishing demand for US crops and mounting orders for identity preserved non GM. But so far, it tends to be rather anecdotal. The US Grains Council says it is not aware of any sales lost. There have been many non GM enquiries, but the US Department of Agriculture says there have been no shipments other than test cases.

While some politicians may bluster about the "anti-American" sentiment of the British rejection of GM food Monsanto, too, has been accused of playing the protectionist line the industry seems to be more pragmatic. The last thing they want is for politicians to talk this up into a trade war.