BRIEFING: Global food commodity price volatility here to stay

Food commodity prices are seldom out of the news, due to a mushrooming global population, the food-for-fuel controversy, an increasing focus on sustainability and the continued growth of the organic sector. However, beyond the generality of crop prices spiralling to new highs in 2007 and 2008 and then plummeting - in some cases - back to where they were before the boom, the picture is far from uniform. This month's briefing looks at recent trends, projects, likely developments over the next few years and analyses what they mean for the global food-manufacturing sector.