Nestlé North America CEO Steve Presley says the regenerative farming across the food and beverage industry “isn’t happening fast enough”.
Presley sat down with TED’s Lindsay Levin to discuss how Nestlé is implementing regenerative farming to reach its net zero target by 2050.
When asked whether the food manufacturer is moving fast enough, he said “it’s about the farming ecosystem in total that has to change”.
Presley added: “So we need to move at scale to be able to do this across not just our business, but if we’re really going to move the needle, we have to do it at industry level.
“I think just the pace of the change where we’d love to see that move a little faster.”
Subscribe to Sustainability Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest sustainability news sent straight to your inbox each morning
Food production adds up to 30% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions and at “its core is agriculture” where regenerative farming is “incredibly powerful”, said Presley. Nestlé is committed to be 50% regeneratively sourced by 2030.
But changing agriculture comes with its challenges. Farming practices need to be adapted at scale but is difficult when “every crop — carrots, tomatoes, wheat — needs a different regenerative approach”, Presley explained.
Some of the practices are relatively easy to implement, such as crop rotation. However, he explained that it’s still “different and difficult for farmers”.
Presley also highlighted it might be an “incredible risk” for farmers and a “shared value” needs to be created.
“Imagine if this is a multigenerational farm, and you’re the farmer that’s changing the way you’ve farmed the soil for hundreds of years, and now there’s a better way to do it,” he said.
“That’s where I think for us as Nestlé, we feel like we have to play and share in that risk. And we approach it in this idea of creating shared value.”
“We want it to be good for the farmers, good for our suppliers, good for our consumers and ultimately good for the planet,” he added.
