Webinar preview: Symrise sharpens focus on regenerative agriculture to boost sustainability goals

01 Nov 2024 | By Gaynor Selby

Improving soil health and slashing greenhouse gas emissions are crucial parts of regenerative agriculture practices that help brands and companies boost sustainability efforts. Increasingly, consumers worldwide are pushing for improved sustainability credentials of the F&B products they consume while governments impose stricter regulations to bolster environmental practices.

In the forthcoming webinar “Achieving your sustainability goals: Learn how to harness the power of regenerative agriculture,” Symrise’s team of agronomy and sustainability experts will share valuable insights, drawing on their extensive field experience.

Regenerative agriculture can boost sustainability strategies and help build a more resilient agri-food system.

Soil health and cutting carbon footprint

During the webinar, listeners will learn more about how regenerative agriculture is a key lever to addressing today’s challenges, can help reduce carbon footprint and empower farmers.

“Our food sector faces several challenges today. Firstly, climate change; global warming, weather pattern shifts and extreme events make it very difficult for farmers to maintain stable production with consequent higher risk in the entire supply chain,” says Célia Cholez, global sustainability manager at Symrise Food & Beverage Naturals, Symrise. Cholez is one of the Symrise speakers during the webinar.

“At the same time, stricter environmental and social regulations are pushing companies to increase their sustainability efforts. Consumers are more and more concerned with how their food is being produced, with growing expectations for sustainability and transparency. They really want to know how the brands they are supporting are actively working to address environmental and climate issues.”

a woman checking a food label in the supermarket. Consumers are increasingly concerned about food sustainability and transparency.“All of these factors are reshaping how the F&B industry operates. Food and beverage manufacturers are under pressure, not only to meet legal requirements, but also to take greater responsibility for their impact. They are setting ambitious sustainability goals from net-zero targets to responsible sourcing or care for communities. In this context, finding solutions supporting sustainability sourcing strategies is key.”

Regenerative agriculture “a powerful approach”

Symrise supports the implementation of regenerative agriculture as a powerful approach to tackling sustainability challenges in the F&B industry. “At its core, it means using environmentally friendly farming practices that improve soil health and actively restore ecosystems. One of the key benefits is the reduction in carbon footprint. By improving soil management practices such as cover cropping, regenerative agriculture fosters carbon capture in the soil, directly contributing to climate change mitigation”, adds Cholez.

The company’s global agronomy team is collaborating with farmers to increase the uptake of regenerative farming techniques. These include longer crop rotation or cover cropping and help to sequester carbon in the soil.

Cholez will be joined by Yoann Doumalin, agronomist at Symrise Food & Beverage Naturals; Jessica Fournier, head of sourcing for Madagascar at Symrise Food & Beverage; and agronomy leader Nicolas Gribius.