A few themes we explore in this session:
- What does it take to bring a regenerative product to market, create a more diverse portfolio, and grow into a large market share?
- How can we better understand the systems of agriculture in the context of their landscapes and what products can be derived and developed out of them?
- What is the role of regenerative agriculture both within the land and within the marketplace?
I think something we forget about when we look at product development is the customer. They’re part of the same ecosystem as the farmer, distributor, retailer. The more you bring in the customers that you’re hoping to serve, the less you have to follow those hot trends. When we look at product development in service to the ecosystem, then it ends up that it becomes in service to the person.
To be a regenerative system, there has to be diversity within that system; what are the cover crops, what are the hedgerows, what are the overstory nutrient-giving crops, pollinator species; and with that comes a diversity of production out of that landscape and it’s always difficult for me to see the products and service of the crop separate from the crop and service of a holistic system.
