Regenerative Food Systems Investment’s Post

I firmly believe that agriculture is an exciting industry at the moment (well, I’ve always thought it’s exciting!). It is undergoing huge amounts of change and whilst this can be daunting for some, it also presents scope for innovation and opportunity… or could the answers be in the archives? My latest blog looks at some of these challenges and opportunities, which are covered in more detail in Savills Spotlight on Food and the Environment, linked in the blog. https://lnkd.in/eJZhRPUH

Just wrapped up our second quarterly look at regenerative agriculture and food investment activity! Key insights from Q2: 📈 The quarter brought what appears to be an increase in the number of capital commitments to regenerative agriculture and food… but a lag in the amount of capital committed. Only time will tell if the number of deals is a positive and bigger commitments will come or if this is a blip in activity. ⚙️ While VC investment in enabling innovations remained the top investment type, there was great diversity in the technologies invested in. Biologicals remained on top but investments in diverse platforms for data management and measurement followed close behind - highlighting the need for tools that can translate what’s happening on the ground to farmers, corporates, investors and more. 🌳 Public and corporate funding for projects focused on land use change and practice adoption showed up in Q2 and represent a positive sign that the importance of this foundational support is understood more broadly today. The next step is increasing awareness of the critical need to have supply chain and market investment to go in lock-step with investment at the land and farm level. 🚀 Commitments to regenerative projects at the corporate level are virtually skyrocketing. There seems to be a recognition that talking about one's commitment to these projects is good for business. This is not necessarily bad but it does encourage the exploration of which commitments can bring fruitful progress and which are more akin to greenwashing. 🤝 We also see an uptick in the number of partnerships across corporate and non-corporate entities for regeneratively focused projects. This tells me these companies stepping into the space are seeking beneficial collaborations so they don’t have to go it alone. It's also a reminder that there is an opportunity for corporates to partner with and leverage the expertise of those operations that have much deeper experience in regenerative program and market development in order to increase likelihood of success. 🔗 Lots more to dig into - link to full round-up below and in the attached pdf! Regenerative Food Systems Investment #regenerativeagriculture #foodsystems #investment #investing #aginvesting #foodfinance #impactinvesting

“This report organizes a growing body of evidence and opportunities to invest in a maturing sector that is generating net-positive financial and non-financial returns,” said Rex Raimond Director of Transformational Investing in Food Systems. “The global financial sector has a tremendous opportunity to serve innovative farmers and companies with financial products that build regenerative agricultural systems, and thanks to this report financial actors now have at their fingertips many viable pathways to utilize for regenerative agricultural investments.” Recognizing the complexity of navigating the transition from the current early stages toward greater market maturity for financing #regenerativeagriculture, TIFS, Pollination and The Rockefeller Foundation created "Fincancing for Regenerative Agriculture," a widely read report, to showcase the growing body of evidence for regenerative agriculture approaches that create #economic value and the financing mechanisms that support implementation at various stages of market maturity. Learn more about this essential resource that we're already leveraging to suport global conversations ⬇ https://lnkd.in/gY_nRB-C

🌱The latest report by SLM Investment explores regenerative agriculture as a promising opportunity for investors. By focusing on improving soil health, boosting ecosystem functionality, and enhancing farmer profitability, regenerative agriculture offers a "Regenerative Edge"—returns from higher yields, lower costs, and new revenue streams like carbon credits. 💡 Why invest? Sustainable profits for both farmers and investors. A real asset strategy grounded in natural resources like soil and water 🌍 A critical role in securing global food and nutrition security. Let’s shape the future of farming—where economic returns meet sustainability. 🌾 #RegenerativeAgriculture #Sustainability #Investments #FutureOfFarming #Humus SLM Investments LLC The Nest Family Office Impact Hub Ticino Seedling Foundation Tikehau Capital AgFunder Nestlé Unilever Danone Barilla Group Kraft Heinz Esselunga xFarm Technologies FarmTogether Soil Heroes Foundation FAO ReGeneration Regenerative Society Foundation Fondazione Ernesto Illy https://lc.cx/3c6vPO

🌱 Investing in regenerative agriculture isn’t just about sustainability—it’s about creating lasting value. SLM Partners report highlights how improving soil health and ecosystem functionality can drive profits for farmers and investors alike. Let’s build a future where farming works for people and the planet. 🌍🌾 #RegenerativeAgriculture #ImpactInvesting #Sustainability #FutureOfFarming

In case you missed our 3rd quarter round-up of regenerative ag & food investment activity, here are some highlights: 💸 5 New Finance Vehicles Launched in Q3: Check them out - Terra Regenerative Capital, Canopy Farm Management, The Land Group and more! 😋 By theme: investments into food companies and brands led the number of deals for the first time in 2024 🚀 Signs of Momentum: 5 deals this quarter had some kind of processing or infrastructure component to them – a welcome sign that investors are recognizing the importance of this piece of the supply system and starting to allocate capital to it. 🐟 Emerging Theme #1: We tracked three investments that showed the important and growing role investment in regenerative ocean-based systems can play 👀 Check out all the details! Regenerative Food Systems Investment #regenerativeagriculture #foodsystems #foodfinance #investment

I was reading this story about financing for regenerative ag and would love to hear people’s opinions. It highlights that there is enough capital to fund the switch to regenerative ag, but that the problem is the confidence that the financing will fit financiers’ current risk and reward standards. The Rockefeller Foundation funded the development of a guide for mobilizing and scaling capital that points out that government funding for food security often has unintended consequences that slow movement towards regenerative and sustainable agriculture.  The CAP program in the EU is using regulation to drive change at the grower level, tying subsidies to sustainable practices. In the case of EUDR, the EU stepped in to drive agricultural change through regulation focusing on the CPGs. In the US, we tend to shy away from regulation and rely more on market forces. However, existing government subsidies can distort incentives and have some negative externalities that are generally not measured. We are definitely taking steps forward with Climate Smart Commodities grants and the RCPP funding, but is that enough? Should there be changes to the existing subsidy structures? Should the US government implement regulation for CPGs or is does the answer lie in unlocking the capital highlighted in the article? And how can we share our learnings with the global south so they can avoid the same pitfalls without it being perceived as new age colonialism? 

“If we do not transition our agricultural model to a strongly resilient model, which we believe is founded on regenerative practice, Europe’s food system is in dire jeopardy.” Richard Zaltzman, CEO at EIT Food, discussed the launch of EIT Food’s Regenerative Innovation Portfolio to improve regenerative agricultural practices in Europe and drive innovation throughout the agri-food value chain. The initiative will begin by supporting farmers, helping them manage financial risks, optimise their operations, and pilot scalable, future-proof solutions. It aims to bring together stakeholders across the food system value chain, including retailers and investors, to work collaboratively towards a regenerative transition of practices. Collaborative efforts like this will be crucial to achieving a healthier planet. Our solutions #GlobalFieldID and #SoilHive will aid this, by facilitating seamless agricultural data sharing between all stakeholders. Read the full article on Euractiv:   https://lnkd.in/eE_xaxqs #agtech #agdata #technology #regenerativeagriculture

There has been an unprecedented surge of investments in sustainable agriculture and food technologies in the last decade, but that trend now appears to have reversed into a freefall in funding 📉 This pattern of promise-to-disillusionment perfectly matches the hype cycle previously demonstrated by breakthrough technologies in other sectors.   🤔Can we forge a path forward for sustainable agrifood start-ups?  Read all about it in our new article from V-Bio Ventures👇 https://lnkd.in/emaMeEXF #WorldFoodDay #Agritech #VentureCapital

#Regenerative #agriculture is going to succeed, but not without the input of more investors aside from accredited investors. With that said, I am by no means arguing that we need to eliminate accredited investing in regenerative agriculture practices. On the contrary, private equity, real assets, private debt and venture capital are a large and important aspect of the investing field. The 2019 "Soil Wealth" report by the Croatan Institute displayed findings that private accredited investing amounted for 8x the amount of strategies (15 vs 122), and 4x the amount of funds ($84B vs $232B). And this accounted only for sustainable agriculture themed investing. When that was boiled down to regenerative agriculture focused investments, the differences were greater: 15x more strategies in private accredited investing (4 vs 58), and a similar metric in the amount of funds ($8B vs $32B). The benefits of investing in regenerative agriculture go beyond the investors, but if we have limited investing opportunities that only accredited investors can partake in, we limit the impact. Clearly the 2019 report, five-years old now, likely has more favorable numbers but I highly doubt that the tailwinds of agriculture investing strategies has evened the playing field of opportunities. By my accounts, I can think of four or five opportunities for non-accredited investors, and dozens of accredited opportunities. Steward, Walden Mutual Bank, Harvest Returns, Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT. (Look there are more too, but way more on the accredited side). We need more opportunities directed at non-accredited investors to engage and pressure companies, or support them, to build a roadmap towards regenerative practices and operations. Are there tailwinds in engagement? Yes. Does our food system need more? Yes. Is this the only solution? No. But this is one that can open opportunity to investing the food system in order that become more regenerative. It's a shift from impact investing to regenerative investing. Tomorrow I present my capstone for my #MBA in #Sustainability at Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability. I've screened 204 publicly traded companies on an international level (it's a start) along regenerative agriculture commitments/practices and more. And all the data is out there, for free, for investors to use. Invest and engage. Change the system for the better because we are all on the same bus with food. https://lnkd.in/ew6Sq3SA Shout out to my advisors: Jesse Gerstin, Eban Goodstein, PhD and Hunter Lovins for pushing me forward on this. And lets unleash some stupid crazy solutions to increase and accelerate investment in regenerative agriculture. My classmates Alexandra Ritz, Sebastian Weeks, Gabriel Isaksen and I created just a few in order to increase access to regenerative agriculture investing: Regenerazilla RGZA REIT (why not????) and Regenerative Agriculture RGZA SPV Bond Fund (again why not????). #regenerativeagriculture #bardMBA