Regenerative agriculture: How F&B giants are using small shifts to drive big results

When you think of regenerative agriculture or an eco-friendly approach, these can sometimes feel like lofty terms that are hard to pin down. But at its heart, regenerative agriculture is about improving soil health, reducing environmental harm, and improving farmers’ income, which, in turn, has a positive impact on the food industry at large. 

Across the world, there are real-life examples of how companies, organizations, and farmers are developing techniques and projects to make their output more sustainable. More often than not, these new ways of working are simple tweaks to a farmer’s approach that can help boost productivity.

Innova Market Insights data shows a growth in ethical claims for global F&B launches from October 2019 to September 2024, indicating progress throughout the supply chain. Bakery (13%) was the leading category for eco-friendly launches, with hot drinks showing 11% growth and potential for innovation.

Piet Van Asten, head of sustainable production systems at global food ingredients supplier ofi, tells Food Ingredients First that everything should always start with the farmer. He spends most of his time working with “origin teams” at the source end of products like cocoa, spices, coffee, and nuts. Most of the company’s supply chains are in tropical countries.

“You always have to start with the farmer first. Then I’m thinking of the practices, and then, of course, how do we track what we’re doing to measure the impact? How do we motivate farmers to want to make changes? Should they make changes? How do we bring additional incentives from outside?” he says.

Biodiversity loss

The team at ofi focuses a great deal on biodiversity loss. The challenge is significant, with the latest stats showing that a third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions originate from agricultural land use.

Van Asten explains that a farmer’s goal has historically been to maximize productivity at the lowest cost. While this may reap short-term benefits, there are often more cost-effective processes with a longer-term view and benefits. 

Sometimes, the farmers know this, but converting it into action can be challenging, especially with different countries experiencing unique challenges and conditions.

“Short term, maybe if you spray a lot of pesticides, that’s fine. You kill many insects, and then you have a very clean crop, and it gets to the supermarket, and you have a better price. But in the long term, you create a lot of costs locally,” Van Asten shares.

Piet Van Asten, head of sustainable production systems at ofi.

He gives a recent example in Central Sumatra, Indonesia, where there are “good soils” and a high volume of vegetable production. Farmers there encounter many insect pests and spray a large amount of pesticides, which can end up in the coffee.

“And we don’t want to have that because that hits a Maximum Residue Level (MRL); pesticide residues that don’t comply with the import requirements for places like Japan or the EU,” Van Asten says.

“So when it comes to Indonesia, it’s actually about explaining to people that there are other ways to control pest diseases that are friendlier for your pocket because you spend less money and are better for the environment.”

Partnerships are one way the team tries to move the needle in the sector. ofi has partnered with IDH and JDE Peets on a sustainable forest management project in Cote d’Ivoire’s Cavally region to conserve forest resources and promote sustainable coffee production in the area.

It has also started an initiative in Indonesia to test and implement a new way of growing cocoa, implementing Sloping Agriculture Land Technology (SALT) in partnership with Mars and the German Development Cooperation.

Education is key

A collaborative approach ensures that a real impact can be made. 

James Ede, sustainability lead for food solutions at Cargill, says skilling up farmers in new practices has to be region-specific due to different climates and crops — “context is key.” Being able to prove working with a new approach is beneficial is also crucial.

“It’s not a case of just a cut and paste of what we do with the farmer in one place works well elsewhere. The culture part of agriculture is very important, as well as geographic soils and climate. All these kinds of things are crucial. We must adapt because, ultimately, if we don’t, the farmer won’t want to do it. It’s very simple. We need to do that and empower the farmers on that change ultimately,” he tells Food Ingredients First.

James Ede, sustainability lead for food solutions at Cargill.

He explains that Cargill’s agronomists, whose focus is to optimize crop production and help implement more sustainable practices, go onto farms to share and exchange knowledge, so there is a clear and beneficial route forward.

“If you’re a farmer and you’ve been doing something for a number of years, and it’s worked, you are going to need to be convinced or shown tangibly that there might be a more productive way of doing something,” Ede explains.

Multinationals are often criticized for their large carbon footprints. Ede says its RegenConnect program, which Cargill has established in North America and Europe, aims to contribute positively to broader sustainability goals. It also helps farmers connect with new and emerging markets. 

Hard data and analysis

Like ofi, partnerships are essential for Cargill. It has also teamed up with Wageningen University and other big players, such as Unilever and Mars, to understand more about regenerative agriculture’s analysis side and the potential opportunities.

Ede adds: “For this process, we plan to start bringing hard data and facts to policymakers to support making changes.”

The team has published two reports, with a third coming later this year with further findings.

Meanwhile, one of Dutch dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina’s main aims is to work with governments to make regenerative agriculture easier and more accessible for farmers. It communicates through platforms like Op2B (One Planet Business for Biodiversity) about the barriers experienced by farmers on the ground. 

“These barriers include insufficient access to knowledge, lack of funding, and experiencing transition risks such as yield losses. Farmers also experience conflicting policies. As a result, regenerative agriculture measures are sometimes difficult or ineffective to put into practice. We want to talk to policymakers about concrete solutions and structural policies to make dairy chain sustainability more accessible to farmers,” Guus van Laarhoven, regenerative agriculture manager at FrieslandCampina, tells Food Ingredients First. 

The Netherlands is renowned for its innovative agricultural practices and is the sector’s second-biggest exporter after the US.

The dairy giant also works with four showcase companies to implement “climate-smart and nature-friendly” practices. Although the companies differ in structure, vision, and chosen solutions, they share the common goal of making a positive environmental impact, which FrieslandCampina works with them to monitor. 

The regenerative agriculture market is projected to reach US$16.8 billion by 2027.

“With this, we want to show that regenerative agriculture is not a new blueprint of an agricultural system, but a vision and concept that every farmer can work toward,” adds van Laarhoven.

According to recent estimates, the global regenerative agriculture market is projected to reach US$16.8 billion by 2027, so there is significant potential. 

The company also launched the Future Fit Dairy initiative (FFDI) last year. The collaboration with Danone, Rabobank, Arla Foods and dsm-ferminich, aims to remove some of the typical barriers experienced by farmers in North West Europe and develop a viable commercial business model for them. 

Asking more of suppliers

Cargill’s Ede believes that the more nature-friendly practices become mainstream, the better for the sector’s future. 

He already sees the topic making its way into consumers’ consciousness, which opens up further opportunities for the industry. As an example, he points to Wild Farmed, which makes products using regenerative flour and is stocked in Waitrose in the UK. 

“We see that consumer interest is increasing in this area of sustainability. This means that retailers are very interested and asking more questions of their suppliers, so it works its way through the whole chain,” he explains. 

“Are people interested in sustainability and how their food is produced? Absolutely, yes. I think the whole area will continue to evolve. Understanding what is happening in your supply chains and how you empower and impact is becoming increasingly important.”