Nestlé is investing in regenerative agriculture practices in its wheat supply chains in the US.
The company is helping wheat farmers employ regenerative agriculture practices in their fields through a combination of financial support, technical resources and assistance to farms that are producing wheat for Nestlé’s DiGiorno pizza brand.
Regenerative agriculture is a collection of practices that improve soil health, sequester carbon, and have positive impacts on water and biodiversity – while still producing food.
These practices include planting cover crops, eliminating or reducing tillage, and reducing the use of pesticides, which can help improve soil health and soil fertility, protect water resources and enhance biodiversity.
Regenerative agriculture practices
According to the company this initiative will bring regenerative agriculture practices to over 40,000ha of farmland, nearly double the amount of land needed to grow the wheat used in its DiGiorno pizzas.
Through partnerships with Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) and Ardent Mills, two primary wheat flour suppliers for DiGiorno, Nestlé’s investment aims to benefit wheat farms across the states of Kansas, North Dakota, Indiana, and Missouri.
The CEO of Nestlé’s North American zone, Steve Presley, said: “At Nestlé our aim is to help leave the world better than we found it, and as the world’s largest food and beverage company, we have a tremendous opportunity to help create a regenerative, healthy food system while also working with the local farming communities that employ it”.
“To do this we need to find solutions that create shared value throughout the ecosystem – value for us, value for farmers, value for consumers, and value for the planet.
“This investment in wheat producers is just one example of how we are bringing this commitment to life across our supply chain.”
Results
ADM recently measured some outcomes of farmers who have implemented regenerative agriculture methods on wheat farms.
The farms in the programme that used cover crops or living roots in 2022 helped to sequester more than 3,800t of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), the equivalent of taking nearly 850 fossil fuel-powered cars off the road for one year.
Scott Stroberg of Kansas, who has been growing wheat for ADM over the last decade, has implemented regenerative agriculture practices on his farm, including replacing synthetic fertilisers with natural alternatives, and is now introducing cover crops with the support of ADM and Nestlé.
He said: “Our family introduced regenerative agriculture practices on our farm after noticing a decline in our yields and deterioration of the health of our soil.
“These methods have not only been good for our land and the environment, but we’ve also seen a financial benefit as we are spending less on inputs like synthetic chemicals.”
Today, nearly two thirds of Nestlé’s global greenhouse gas emissions come from sourcing ingredients through agriculture.
As part of its roadmap to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, the company aims to source 20% of its key ingredients through regenerative agricultural methods by 2025, and 50% of its key ingredients by 2030.