A few themes we explore in this session:
- How can suppliers and procurement teams help each other to build a more resilient supply?
- What are some strategies for striking a balance between remaining competitive and meeting the regenerative moment?
- How can brands evaluate their regenerative claims?
When it comes to carbon neutrality and reducing greenhouse gases, grass-based dairy farming is nature’s original and best way to capture carbon and improve soil fertility and water quality. My whole mission as a cheesemonger has been to try to be a cheerleader for supporting this kind of agriculture. It just so happens that making cheese is the way that the farms we work with have decided to attack this question and participate in a regenerative economy.
– Anne Saxelby, Founder, Saxelby Cheesemongers
We’ve seen a lot of value in strategic partnerships like the one we have with Hershey and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay which is focused on emphasizing on-farm practices like manure storage and riparian buffers. This ensures not only that clean water is entering the Chesapeake Bay, but also that we see Greenhouse Gas reductions.
– Amber Mirabal, Director, UMW Core Services and Dairy 2025
Danone’s Cost Plus Model program contracts are typically five years or longer. That allows the farmers to get out of a ‘next quarter, next year’ discussion and get into a ‘next decade, next generation’ discussion. It allows them to look deeper at how their own activities can impact GHGs and move more toward a regenerative model.