Red Flag Consulting

Background

Red Flag Consulting is an Ireland-based consultancy and public relations (PR) firm. The firm was founded in 2013 by Karl Brophy and reportedly promotes itself as the “‘eyes and ears in Europe’ for US-based clients”.¹

Red Flag describes itself as a “strategic communications and public affairs agency”, with offices in Brussels, Cape Town, Dublin, London, and Washington D.C.²

Red Flag’s current and former clients include companies from the tobacco, digital, and chemicals industries.³ Red Flag also advises the Meat Institute (formerly the North American Meat Institute), including on its “Protein PACT” communications strategy.⁴

Red Flag expanded its lobbying in the U.S. in 2021 with the purchase of a Washington D.C. trade lobbying firm. The Irish Times reported that Red Flag already had “a particular focus on food industry clients such as the National Coffee Association and the North American Meat Institute, which represents all major US meat producers”.⁵

A 2017 report by the consultancy on what a hard Brexit would mean for the agriculture sector said Red Flag “informs significant decisions for major multinational companies and sectoral organisations” by “partnering with think-tanks, academics and other experts”.⁶ The report was commissioned by livestock trade association European Livestock and Meat Trades Union (UECBV).

In 2017, the company reportedly hired former Trump White House advisor Andy Hemming, who had also previously served as “research director” for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.⁷

Stance on Climate Change

In November 2023, DeSmog reported on documents produced by the Global Meat Alliance (GMA), a trade group for meat producers, which revealed that the industry “will be helped to stay on message in Dubai by the PR firm Red Flag”.⁸ COP28 was described by organisers and media as a “food COP” during which the greenhouse gas emissions of agriculture, including emissions-intensive meat and dairy production, would be scrutinised.⁹

In April 2020, a Red Flag consulting director praised the European Commission for moving slowly on policies – including food and farming regulations – amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Politico. The report said that “a significant number of items will be delayed, including the Farm to Fork strategy that aims to set targets for organic farming and pesticide use … and maybe even the bloc’s new 2030 climate targets”, quoting the director as saying “it’s good that they are giving more time to ensure proper due diligence, process and feedback”.¹⁰

In February 2020, Farming Independent reported that Meat and Dairy Facts¹¹ – a consortium of farmers, food processors, and Irish state agencies formed to counter what it claims is “disinformation” aimed at beef and dairy products – had chosen a new PR agency and was no longer represented by Red Flag, following “internal clashes”.¹² The two organisations had worked together to “promote positive messages around meat and dairy”.

In 2019, trade publication Farming Independent reported that a number of Irish agricultural organisations had hired Red Flag for “public relations and lobbying advice to counteract negative sentiment about farming in relation to climate change”. The PR firm’s work for US agricultural interests was cited in the article, which said that Red Flag won a “competitive tender to spearhead the operation”, particularly because of its experience working with the U.S. meat industry.¹³

It was reported in 2018 that Red Flag was instrumental in setting up the astroturf Freedom To Farm campaign, which demanded that glyphosate, the controversial weedkiller produced by Monsanto, not be banned by the EU.¹⁴

Red Flag drew attention from environmental activists Extinction Rebellion in October 2019, when the group protested outside Red Flag’s Dublin office to object to the consultancy’s work for the meat and dairy industry on climate change. Protesters pointed out that Red Flag had “recently been hired by several agriculture organisation’s [sic] (including Bord Bia) to promote Ireland’s meat and dairy industry as sustainable”.¹⁵

Meat and Dairy Communications Strategy, Protein PACT

Red Flag Consulting leads the “Protein PACT” (People, Animals, and Climate of Tomorrow), a communications initiative commissioned by industry association the Meat Institute, that launched in January 2022.

The PACT’s 2021 pre-launch document states:¹⁶

“To achieve the Protein PACT vision, we are establishing transparent baselines and benchmarks for our efforts, setting ambitious targets for continuous improvement, collecting data to verify and transparently report on progress, and launching comprehensive communications about animal protein’s unique place in sustainable, healthy diets.”

The launch document concludes: “Our urgent task is to ensure stakeholders, decision makers, and ultimately consumers trust that meat, dairy, and eggs are part of solutions for diverse, healthy, sustainable diets.”¹⁷

A November 2021 newsletter from the Cattle Producers of Louisiana included a summary of the initial plan for the Protein PACT. The summary, written by Lisa M. Keefe, editor-in-chief of MeatingPlace, quoted two consultants: Melissa San Miguel, head of Americas for Red Flag; and Aly Mahaffy, the co-CEO of Signal Theory, a “consumer behaviour research consultancy” based in Kansas City, Missouri.¹⁸

According to the newsletter, the consultants had a “step-by-step plan for introducing Protein PACT to the public and laying the groundwork for making sure consumers feel as good and justified in choosing to eat meat as non-meat-eaters feel about their dietary choices”.

The newsletter stated that the Protein PACT had multiple aims, including building public awareness of the campaign and its slogan “it’s your plate”; targeting Millennials and their children (“Generation Alpha”); and working with “micro-influencers” to increase trust among millennial consumers.¹⁹

At the March 2023 Flavor Summit, an event held in California at The Culinary Institute of America,²⁰ Protein PACT sponsored a session titled “Sustaining Meat for Generations to Come”. The session was hosted by Melissa San Miguel, identified as “President – Red Flag, North American Meat Institute; Washington, DC,” and included UC Davis researcher Frank Mitloehner as a panellist.

In July 2023, Red Flag account manager Nina Dater led a Protein PACT and Meat Institute panel at the 2023 Shopping for Health conference.²¹ ²²

The schedule for the annual meat industry “summit”, held in San Diego in October 2023, outlined how the event “work[s] toward the bold goals of the Protein PACT” and “brings together the industry to help drive the commitment to work transparently and accelerate progress toward global sustainable development goals”.²³

In a LinkedIn post, Eric Mittenthal, chief strategy officer at the Meat Institute, said the summit had left him “more hopeful, excited, and confident about the future of sustainable animal agriculture than ever”.²⁴

In an October 2023 slide presentation for October, 2023 Protein PACT Summit in San Diego, Red Flag lead consultant Melissa San Miguel presented an update on the Protein PACT campaign.²⁵ One slide read:²⁶ ²⁷

“The Protein PACT deploys partner messaging and activates a wide range of diverse, respected experts to inform and persuade key audiences from dietitians to the White House to global climate negotiators. Highlights include the Protein PACT’s sponsorship of and expert engagement in the first-ever UN Climate Summit pavilion on sustainable agriculture in the Americas, hosted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) – which has endorsed the Protein PACT and called for scaling it up internationally.”

At this Summit, the Meat Institute published a report titled “Building from Transparent Baselines: 2023 Continuous Improvement Report,” which stated that by 2030, “100% of NAMI general members will have delivered an approved Science Based Target to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement goals”.²⁸

The next Protein Pact summit is due to take place on October 9-11, 2024, in Austin, Texas.²⁹ ³⁰

Dublin Declaration and ‘International Summit on the Societal Role of Meat’

Teagasc, Ireland’s state agency for agriculture and food development, hosted an October 2022 conference called the “International Summit on the Societal Role of Meat”.³¹ Red Flag assisted with the preparations for and communications around the event, according to reporting from Unearthed, the investigative journalism arm of environmental nonprofit Greenpeace.³²

In a press release about the event, Teagasc referenced the “Dublin Declaration of Scientists on the Societal Role of Meat”.³³ The press release noted that attendees would be “invited to endorse the evidence base by signing the ‘Dublin Declaration’”, and featured a conference photograph of Martin Heydon – Ireland’s Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine – alongside Teagasc’s Director, Frank O’Mara, and Declan Troy, Teagasc’s Assistant Director of Research, who was one of the six lead authors of the Dublin Declaration.³⁴

The Dublin Declaration asserts that livestock systems are “too precious to society to become the victim of simplification, reductionism or zealotry” and that “These systems must continue to be embedded in and have broad approval of society”.³⁵

A subsequent investigation in 2023 by Unearthed confirmed the involvement of Red Flag Consulting, which “prepared press releases and developed promotional strategies” related to the declaration and summit. The investigation also revealed “close ties” between the Declaration’s authors and signatories to the meat sector.³⁶

A follow-up Guardian article quoted senior land use scientist Professor Peter Smith saying that the Dublin Declaration “reads more like livestock industry propaganda than science”.³⁷

The Dublin summit and Dublin Declaration launch were held on the same dates as the meat industry UECBV European Conference & Annual General Assembly, also in Dublin.³⁸ That event was co-hosted by Bord Bia (Ireland’s food agency) and Ibec’s meat trade association, Meat Industry Ireland.³⁹

A month after the Dublin conference, Red Flag account manager Nina Dater⁴⁰ gave a presentation at the Global Conference on Sustainable Beef in Denver, Colorado, during which she said that the Dublin event had been part of Red Flag’s work on the Protein PACT agenda.⁴¹

The presentation stated that the firm had “worked with the North American Meat Institute and others in animal agriculture dating back to at least WHO’s assessment of meat and cancer”, referring to declarations by the World Health Organization in 2002 and 2015 linking consumption of processed meats to colorectal cancer.⁴²

The presentation also noted Red Flag’s use of “communications support and social media networks to secure media opportunities for experts in events like the Dublin Summit”, writing that these opportunities “support engagement by allies without needing to take credit”. The presentation also mentioned Red Flag’s sponsorship of a pavilion at COP27 to host “Protein Pact-convened panels”.⁴³

Role in Pesticides Controversy

In 2018, Unearthed reported that Monsanto had paid up to €200,000 for a ‘grassroots’ farmers campaign to defend the chemical glyphosate, used to make Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. “Dublin-based political firm Red Flag Consulting led the pro-glyphosate campaign, quietly launching a wide-reaching PR drive and enlisting the support of thousands of farmers from stands at agricultural fairs in ‘the eight most important EU countries,’” Unearthed wrote.⁴⁴

Red Flag reportedly established groups like the now-defunct Agriculture et Liberte in France and the Free to Farm organization in the UK, as well as Liberta di coltivare in Italy, Raum für Landwirtschaft in Germany, Libertad para consultar in Spain, Rolnictwo Dobrej Praktyki in Poland and Vrijheid om te Boeren in the Netherlands, which Unearthed connected to 33 different public events in 2017.⁴⁵

Actions

May 2021

During a webinar delivered to the North Carolina business chamber ahead of the September 2021 UN Food System summit, Red Flag’s head of Americas and policy Melissa San Miguel said:⁴⁶

“Where are we now? We are staring down the barrel of two major global events that anybody who grows makes or eats food should know puts ag food right in the middle of a perfect storm, really combining environment, the kind of crisis of the day, and nutrition, with a dash of human rights animal welfare, standard anti-corporatism, the whole shebang.”

April 2021

Speaking in the Irish parliament regarding an amendment to the law on lobbying, an Irish senator noted that Red Flag had lobbied environment minister Eamon Ryan on behalf of a company that was seeking planning permission for a new gas plant.⁴⁷

Separately, Senator Lynn Boylan noted that Deirdre Grant, managing director at Red Flag, had previously been a special adviser to two government ministers. “We can see the revolving door between the corridors of power and lobbying are spinning nicely and are well oiled, to use that phrase,” Boylan said. “The lobbying sector is alive and well in the fossil fuel industry.”⁴⁸

November 2019

Green News reported that Red Flag had been “appointed to provide administrative, media and communications support”⁴⁹ to Meat and Dairy Facts, a publicity initiative funded by Irish food agency Bord Bia, as well as meat and dairy industry groups including the Irish Farmers Association, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, the National Dairy Council, Dairy Industry Ireland, and Meat Industry Ireland.⁵⁰Dairy Industry Ireland and Meat Industry Ireland are trade associations for dairy and meat processors and are both members of Ibec, Ireland’s biggest business trade group.

Green News reported that Bord Bia had contributed €40,000 to Meat and Dairy Facts, as well as “assistance through staff expertise and consumer-facing campaigns”. Bord Bia refused to disclose other documents related to the project or its partners, despite being a publicly funded government agency, arguing that doing so could result in “material financial loss” to the groups and “prejudice [to] that initiative and therefore the commercial and competitive position of those parties”.

October 2019

Four members of Extinction Rebellion Ireland glued themselves to the front door of Red Flag Consulting offices in Dublin and held signs critiquing the consultancy, including one reading “Promoting RoundUp, now Irish meat and dairy”.⁵¹

Red Flag has previously carried out communications work with Monsanto in relation to the company’s a glyphosate-based herbicide RoundUp.

Commenting on the Extinction Rebellion action, Red Flag CEO Karl Brophy said: “The Extinction Rebellion movement is undoubtedly well-intentioned, but this small group is missing the mark by protesting outside our offices.”⁵²

Brophy added:

“At Red Flag we’re proud of the work we do for our clients, including the work we do to counter misinformation about the health benefits and sustainability of the Irish meat and dairy industry. We’re especially proud to represent Irish products and produce all over the world. All of our work is based on facts and science, unlike the claims these protesters are making about us, many of which are false.”

June 2018

Karl Brophy, founder and CEO of Red Flag, was the opening keynote speaker at the American Meat Science Association (AMSA) conference on June 25, 2018 in Kansas City. His presentation was titled, “Out of the Frying Pan and Off the Fire: Global Politics Looking to Take Meat off the Menu”.⁵³

AMSA’s announcement for the keynote speech stated that Brophy and Red Flag “represented both the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) for the meat evaluation at the World Health’s Organization’s IARC body in late 2015”.

In a 2015 academic journal article, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) had concluded that there were clear links between meat consumption and cancer, stating that “the majority of the Working Group concluded that there is sufficient evidence in human beings for the carcinogenicity of the consumption of processed meat”.⁵⁴

June 2018

In a 2018 interview, San Miguel stated that the most concerning food and drink industry trend that worried her the most was “the profound shift away from innovation and competition toward overly-restrictive regulations”. She added: “On issues from nutrition to ingredient safety to animal health to extended producer responsibility, market-based paths are being locked out. The food and beverage industry itself is being locked out, in many cases.”⁵⁵

Lobbying

European Union

Red Flag spent €790,000 on lobbying in 2022, according to lobbying database LobbyFacts. This is approximately a three-fold increase over five years, with the full-time equivalent of 7 lobbyists. Its main clients are from the tobacco and digital industries.⁵⁶

Red Flag spent between €300,000 – €399,999 on EU lobbying in 2019, according to data from LobbyFacts.eu.⁵⁷

Red Flag is registered on the EU Transparency Register, where Monsanto is listed as a client. The company has paid at least €100,000 – €199,999 for Red Flag’s services.⁵⁸

The Consumer Choice Center is also listed as a client. The organisation was set up in March 2017 as “a grassroots-led movement” that “empowers consumers” across the globe, but has been shown to be working on behalf of organisations that have lobbied against climate action including London-based think tank the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) and U.S. oil billionaire Charles Koch.⁵⁹ ⁶⁰ ⁶¹