A shift to regenerative practices requires fundamental changes to the conventional agricultural model, which has been optimised primarily for yield.

Delivering these far-reaching changes demands a collaborative approach that engages not only farmers but also buyers from other industries. Collaboration is key to define common solutions and develop best practices to support a paradigm shift that sustains and engages stakeholders along the value chain

In 2022, we joined the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI Platform) to build alignment among food and beverage producers, farmers’ representatives and others along the agricultural value chain – and to expand our collective impact for the good of farmers and the planet. SAI Platform also aims to develop synergies that support regenerative agriculture beyond the farm level.

We are encouraging farmers to adopt sustainable and regenerative practices by initially engaging with farmer groups and suppliers in Finland, France, Denmark and the UK. A more direct dialogue and closer collaboration with farmers will help us improve the quality of the data we use to determine the carbon footprint from the agricultural stage of our value chain. Increasing the number of first-mover farmers will also encourage others to make changes as they see their peers enhance their yields and livelihoods.

To assess whether our raw materials are sustainably sourced, we will use SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) and expect farms to achieve bronze-level certification as a minimum. The FSA requires raw materials to be produced in a manner that ensures safe, high quality raw materials, and that protects and improves the natural environment as well as the social and economic conditions of farmers and their communities.

Assessing how many of the farms that supply us are already FSA-verified will be an important first step to help us inform our actions and measure progress towards our ZERO Carbon Footprint targets.