Nestlé is working to bring regenerative agriculture practices to wheat farms within its DiGiorno supply chain, with the goal of improving soil, using less water, energy, and fertilizer, and helping reduce the impacts of climate change.
The company hopes to bring regenerative agriculture practices to over 100,000 acres of farmland, according to Nestlé. The work will also help accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture across its supply chain.
As part of Nestlé’s roadmap to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, it aims to source 20 percent of its key ingredients through regenerative agricultural methods by 2025, increasing the percentage to 50 by 2030. Today, almost two-thirds of Nestlé's greenhouse gas emissions come from sourcing ingredients, which the initiative seeks to address.
"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," said Steve Presley, CEO of Nestlé Zone North America, in a statement. "To do this we need to find solutions that create shared value throughout the ecosystem–value for us, value for farmers, value for our consumers, and value for the planet."
Through partnerships with ADM and Ardent Mills, two primary wheat flour suppliers for DiGiorno, Nestlé's investment will benefit wheat farms across Kansas, North Dakota, Indiana, and Missouri. The initiative aims to help wheat farmers in the program employ regenerative agriculture practices in their fields through a combination of financial and technical resources.
Nestlé is also working across its domestic tomato supply chain to support the verification of regenerative agriculture practices, with the aim of sourcing tomatoes grown for its ingredients through these methods in the coming years.
"Many tomato farmers in our supply chain have already been doing the work to implement regenerative farming practices in their fields and they've made great progress so far," said Emily Johannes, head of diverse and sustainable sourcing at Nestlé USA, in a statement. "We are now working to verify these efforts throughout the supply chain in a way that is effective and efficient for our brands and the farmers. Third-party verification is a critical component of this work because it helps us, and others, remain accountable."
The company is working with Leading Harvest, a nonprofit that monitors and audits farming methods through their Farmland Management Standard, to certify the farming practices of Nestlé's tomato suppliers.
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