It is true that what and how you eat can change the planet.
30 years ago Ralf Oberbannscheidt's mother told him to finish everything on his plate because outside there were people starving in the world.
Oberbannscheidt is now the managing director and head of agribusiness at Deutsche Asset Management and co-founded the global agribusiness strategy for the bank in 2006.
'It was only true in theory but not in reality because it made no difference to the world whether I finished my food or not. But (what) is true for today's world (is) we are linked in global trade. A farmer in Kenya would have a mobile phone and know the global prices of wheat.'
Investors have long heard the emerging markets story where an increase in income leads to higher protein consumption, and eventually leads to an increase in demand for grains because it takes several kg of grains to produce one kg of animal protein. However, Ralf said the 'soft regulations' in different countries on food consumption patterns should not be overlooked.
For example, in the U.S., the recent revision of its food chart could, like its tax policy on soft drinks, lead to changes in global agribusiness. Now based in New York, Oberbannscheidt joked that if Americans suddenly decided not to eat so much beef, it would have a huge impact on global crop prices because it takes 10 kg of grains to produce 1 kg of beef.
