Scaling regeneration: Knorr spearheads 50 agriculture projects globally to reduce food’s climate impact

29 Oct 2021 --- Knorr will be leading 50 regenerative agriculture projects to be launched over the next five years across the globe. These include efforts to reinforce water preservation efforts in rice farming, soil health improvement in tomatoes and climate resilience in other vegetable crops.

“Knorr has been on this journey since 2010. With this new commitment, it means we are putting these farming principles into practice to improve soil health, biodiversity, climate resilience, water efficiency, air and water quality and livelihoods by growing key Knorr ingredients,” Dorothy Shaver, global marketing sustainability lead for Knorr at Unilever, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

This decade of environmentally sustainable agriculture collaborations with farmers and suppliers has resulted in 95% of Knorr’s vegetables and herbs being sustainably sourced, the company reports.

“Tomatoes and rice are two of the largest volume key ingredients in Knorr’s portfolio,” says Shaver. “Projects for both have been kicked off this year so we look forward to learning from these significant projects.”

“Ultimately the goal is to communicate on pack, on websites and in other channels. We want to tell this story and get people on board – this is how we can have a positive impact on people and the planet in the long-term.”

The regenerative agriculture projects will be phased over the next five years, to be scaled to 50 projects with partners by 2026, globally.Resilient farming
The regenerative agriculture projects will be scaled with partners by 2026, globally. The three projects started this year are showing promising results in the US and Europe.

Water preservation and reduced emissions: A suite of farming practices that preserve water and decrease greenhouse gas emissions are being implemented in Arkansas, US, in partnership with Knorr’s biggest rice supplier, Riviana. Together with the University of Arkansas, the partnership is exploring novel ways to measure reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and water captured.

Soil health: Tomato farmers have implemented practices to improve soil health with the first harvest showing increased yield in Southern Spain, in partnership with Knorr’s supplier Agraz (Conesa Group).

Climate resiliency: In Pas de Calais (Northern France), in partnership with PURProject and Green SOL, vegetable supplier Ardo has implemented practices to improve climate resiliency in response to decreased yields due to changes in weather conditions.

The key ingredients (vegetables, herbs, spices, grains) grown using regenerative agriculture principles will be utilized across Knorr’s portfolio globally in products sold more than 3.1 billion times a year across more than 90 countries. 

Working with the planet
As outlined by Innova Market Insights’ Top Trend for 2022, “Shared Planet,” the health of the planet has now overtaken personal health priorities among consumers.

Knorr’s regenerative agriculture roadmap is part of the Unilever Climate & Nature Fund, a €1 billion (US$1.2 billion) fund that will accelerate the brand’s work on nature and climate projects. 

Knorr’s plan will contribute to Unilever’s commitment to help protect and regenerate 1.5 million hectares of land, forests and oceans by 2030.

But with food contributing to more than one third of greenhouse gas emissions and being a leading cause of soil and species loss, sourcing and growing in a way that minimizes impact is not enough, the company stresses.

“We need to work with nature and ecosystems – not against,” says Hanneke Faber, global president of foods and refreshment, Unilever.

“Earlier this year we launched Unilever’s Regenerative Agriculture Principles to support the growing of food with a positive impact on nature. Now Knorr is putting the principles into practice – and sharing learnings along the way so that others can do the same.”

By Benjamin Ferrer