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Yasmin Ahmed
Thankfully, strategies to rehabilitate what was once natural and effortless are emerging: regeneration is the latest buzzword. Players spanning every sector from food to fashion are making amends through wide-ranging regenerative strategies, such as restorative farming projects and carbon-capturing soil management practices. By transforming climate challenges into opportunities, forward-thinking brands are finding innovative ways to restore nature's resources while adding value to their businesses, elevating them into an attractive prospect for corporate investors and consumers alike.
While regeneration comes in many guises, discover how adopting a regenerative mindset – one that’s pioneering, purpose-driven, and proactive – is quickly becoming the new normal; the importance of soil for our futures; and what a brand must do to navigate forthcoming legislative, environmental, and customer demands to become a regenerative business before it’s too late.
Regeneration is one element of sustainable development, but sustainable practices aren’t necessarily regenerative, and while the two terms often overlap, they aren’t interchangeable. For context, let’s look at Earth Overshoot Day, which in 2023 will fall on August 2. It marks the day when "humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year". Our ecological overshoot is so persistent that the date has been steadily "creeping up the calendar every year". Simply striving for sustainability through strategies like polluting less and switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy does little to slow down this degeneration, or repair the damage, whereas regenerative practices actively help recover what has been lost.
According to the Savory Institute, sustainable practices "seek to maintain the same", reinforcing the status quo. On the other hand, the regenerative movement recognises the devastating harm that has been done and intends to reverse it. The path from sustainable to regenerative action is a call to "transition from doing less bad to doing good". While sustainable solutions focus on minimising negative social and environmental impacts, regenerative practices proactively achieve net positive outcomes, healing the ecological systems we depend on and giving them time and space to recalibrate.
Harvard professor Gregory Norris frames this key distinction in terms of 'footprints' and 'handprints' – the former represents "the total planetary 'cost' of your presence", and the latter is "a contribution that causes positive change in the world". Regenerative businesses seek to magnify their "socio-ecological handprint", and in doing so solidify their position in a future worth striving for. In other words, any business that wants to be operating in the next five to ten years must consider all its actions against the measurement of Earth overshoot day – will it help to push it back, or continue to bring it forward?
Desertification, caused by soil degradation, costs the world economy as much as USD 15 trillion
of the Earth's land could become degraded by 2050
There may not be enough soil left in 50 years to grow food to feed the world, according to the WEF
We cannot begin to talk about regeneration without understanding the foundation on which it relies. Regenerative practices centre on the genesis of all life: soil. Because without healthy soil, everything we’ve come to depend on would cease to exist. Ben Parker, co-founder of Made Thought and a founding partner of PlasticFree, echoes this sentiment, touting soil as "the original creative medium". Soil is the source of everything ever created, from the foods we consume to the fibres we wear, and its health is intrinsically linked to ours.
Soil scientist Yasmina Pressler notes the importance of soil in our ability to survive, stating that "humans' cultures have been shaped by the properties of their soil". Ancient civilisations with productive soils and regenerative agricultural practices thrived, while those who under-appreciated and mistreated it perished. To put soil on a pedestal is to offer society, business, and culture the means to grow and flourish. But if soil is the barometer for planetary health and "the unexpected bedrock" of business, then we're at a tipping point.
Today’s soil ecosystem is on the brink of failure, with the WEF stating that there may not be enough soil left in 50 years to grow food to feed the world. Directly linked to climate change, food security, and ecological biodiversity, unhealthy soil is fast becoming the new status quo, leading to mass scale desertification – which, according to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), is a "silent crisis" costing the world economy up to USD 15 trillion every year, representing between 10% and 17% of total GDP. Under the business-as-usual scenario, 1.8 billion people will experience water scarcity by 2025, 135 million people will face displacement by 2045, and over 90% of the Earth's land could become degraded by 2050 if we don’t rejuvenate our land.
To tackle the problem we must first understand what’s causing it. Over-intensive farming, mono-cropping, deforestation, and the mining of metal ores and fossil fuels are the main culprits of soil degradation. These land practices are intimately tied to capitalist structures, which advocate for profit maximisation and mass-market production at the expense of the welfare of people, wildlife, and the planet. It's "capitalism gone wrong", claimed Cliff Moss, managing director of Healthy Sales at Dr. Bronner's UK, during a panel discussion held at the Clean Beauty trade show in London in April 2023. Our production and consumption patterns are responsible for the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of all plants, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).
But it doesn't stop there. The widespread and unregulated use of agrochemicals – such as fertilisers and pesticides – has severely compromised soil quality and biodiversity too. Speaking at PlasticFree’s inaugural event at New York’s Parsons School of Design in February 2023, the CEO of FAI Farms, Øisten Thorsen stated that we’ve "waged chemical warfare" on soil, resulting in the degradation of four million square kilometres of land each year. Without prioritising the restoration of the world’s soils, they will soon fail to provide the vital nutrients we need to fuel our bodies, our homes, and our businesses.
The deteriorating productivity of soil, reduced water supplies, and crop failure have direct consequences on businesses in every industry. This isn’t just about our wildlife, it’s about ensuring the land can provide us with the things we need to prosper. In 2018, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) published a report stating that "soils underpin value chains" that businesses are literally built on. Deficient soils are incapable of producing adequate crop yields to feed the world's growing population, food and beverage companies will have to contend with dwindling supply chains, beauty brands won't have access to raw ingredients for their formulas, and natural textile fibres will eventually cease to exist. Raw materials will become increasingly scarce and, as a result, more costly.
Every industry that relies on plant or animal products in any way will be impacted by soil degradation, from fashion and pharmaceuticals, to the energy and FMCG sectors. As PepsiCo's CEO and chairman, Ramon Laguarta, stated, "a resilient food system is essential to our business". Other businesses already understand the imperative need for action too. The Agribusiness Task Force (ATF) – comprised of 12 industry leaders, including PepsiCo, Waitrose & Partners, and Mars, Incorporated – called for an immediate and global scale-up of regenerative farming in November 2022. The ATF's Chair warned that the rate of progress was "far too slow", and that uptake of these practices must triple if we are to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees. The Task Force's action plan calls for stronger government policy incentives, consistent metrics, and financial incentives "to make regenerative agriculture a 'no brainer' business decision for farmers".
To restore our ecosystems, soil health has to be prioritised, and take its place beyond climate change forums – it firmly belongs "in the boardroom and on the balance sheet". According to the WBCSD, the business case is clear: turning to regenerative practices by investing in soil health can offer new revenue streams, reduced business costs in the long run, and an enhanced reputation.
Even in the unlikely situation that a brand isn’t directly impacted by the failing of our lands, a move towards regenerative practices is appearing across the legislative, investor, and consumer landscapes, shifting the wider design and consumer goods industries towards practices that are doing better. According to the WEF, USD 44 trillion of global economic value is "moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services", representing more than half of global GDP, highlighting the fact that nature's losses translate into economic costs. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that rules and regulations are coming into play to ensure those companies most reliant on nature are respecting it.
Standardising regenerative agricultural practices such as carbon farming is the first port of call for many regions. In December 2022, US President Biden signed the Growing Climate Solutions Act into law in a bid to "break down barriers for farmers, ranchers, and foresters interested in participating in carbon markets and embracing climate-smart practices". The EU's attempt to standardise carbon farming practices is in progress as the European Commission deliberates on certification methodologies. Country-specific investment into regeneration is also emerging, with the introduction of the US Inflation Reduction Act in late 2022 seeing USD 22 billion dedicated to safeguarding and expanding forests and promoting climate-friendly farming practices. The country is also offering farmers who grow cover crops a saving of USD 5 per acre on their crop insurance bills. In the UK, private investment into regenerative businesses is on the up. Climate-focused Regenerate Asset Management – that seeks to better manage the world’s "natural capital" – has received an investment of GBP 150 million (USD 189 million) from M&G Investments. Helping to close the company’s first fund, the money will be used to invest specifically in agricultural businesses growing and supplying "regenerative and climate positive produce in Europe".
As ever, legislative pressures will take time to shift the needle, but consumer awareness of regeneration is soaring, with regeneration replacing sustainability in the general vernacular. In a study of 3,000 participants conducted by ReGenFriends in 2019, nearly 80% of US consumers said they preferred "regenerative" brands to "sustainable" ones, as it indicates proactive business behaviour. Consumer demand fuels economic growth and longevity, which are directly correlated with regenerative business practices. As Harvard Business School puts it, "doing well and doing good are intertwined" in business. Future-proofing your brand by adopting a regenerative model should no longer be viewed as a choice, but a precedent.
Brands looking to sustain their raw ingredient and fibre output must prioritise, and get actively involved in, the agricultural practices used to create their products – even if the process exists within Tier 3 suppliers.
Regenerative farming practices include a multitude of actions, including crop rotation, planting cover crops, minimising ploughing, and agroforestry (the planting of trees alongside agricultural crops and livestock). More importantly, they yield five key benefits: mitigating climate change, nursing soil back to health, optimising resource use efficiency, improving biodiversity, and creating prosperity. As a result, a number of multinational corporations are already incorporating regenerative farming methods into their supply chains. PepsiCo has pledged to adopt regenerative farming practices across its entire agricultural footprint, rehabilitating seven million acres of land by 2030. By working with farmers to plant cover crops, the company has already reduced on-farm GHG emissions by 38%, and is building a network of over 350 Demonstration Farms to enable "peer-to-peer" learning. Elsewhere, PepsiCo's Walkers brand has introduced a 'circular potatoes' initiative, which turns its potato waste stream into a low-carbon, nutrient-rich fertiliser for soil.
Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, the producer of Ribena, launched a three-year research project in April 2023 to trial regenerative blackcurrant farming to improve "soil health and fertility, which benefits the blackcurrant itself". It has pledged to reduce its use of fertilisers, using compost extracts and multi-species grasses to restore soil microbiology and minimise carbon emissions in its supply chain. French multinational food company Danone has pledged to source 100% of its ingredients from regenerative agriculture by 2025. The company established the Danone Regenerative Agriculture Knowledge Center in June 2021, open-sourcing its resources to farmers, field technicians, and partners, making it available in 10 languages. And McDonald's FAI AMP project is developing a training platform to pivot UK beef production by introducing AMP, a regenerative grazing technique. The initiative "presents a real opportunity to explore the ways in which we can future-proof the industry and drive more resilient production", according to Harriet Wilson, McDonald's UK & Ireland's agriculture and sustainable sourcing manager.
As well as improving soil health and fertility, regenerative agriculture enables soil to capture and store atmospheric carbon, reducing the threat of global warming. Soil is the second biggest carbon sink after oceans, and its carbon-sequestering capabilities can be instantly enhanced through regenerative farming systems, meaning regeneration is a sure-fire way to reduce a company’s emissions – one far more effective than the growing, and misused, trend of offsetting. Restoring soil health would enable land to capture three billion tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere every year. A 2021 report commissioned by the International Union for Conservation and the UN projected that a mere 50% adoption of regenerative agriculture across Africa would yield a 20% increase in soil's carbon content, a 30% reduction in soil erosion, up to a 60% increase in water infiltration rates, and as many as five million new full time jobs in the economy by 2040.
By working with farmers to plant cover crops, PepsiCo has reduced on-farm GHG emissions by 38%
of global economic value is moderately or highly dependent on nature, according to the WEF
Regenerative agriculture has been shown to increase farmers' profit margins by up to 30%
For brands looking to make the change, but understandably overwhelmed by the transition, certification schemes can guide companies through the process and help to mitigate greenwashing by delivering the right message to increasingly discerning consumers.
The Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) programme is one such certification. Established in 2017 by the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA), a conglomerate of global 'allies' that features Patagonia and Dr. Bronner's, the ROA certifies producers of food, textile fibres, and personal care ingredients. It focuses on three pillars: soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness. To date, the ROA has certified 134 farms, and awarded ROC licenses to 92 brands. Herbal supplement brand Gaia Herbs' ROC farm in North Carolina follows rigorous standards for its soil preparation, seed selection, cultivation, and harvesting practices, and is one of only three supplement brands to achieve ROC status. In the world of textiles, Patagonia's ROC Cotton programmes boast a network of over 2,200 farmers who work to rehabilitate soil through cover cropping and pesticide and fertiliser-free farming, incorporating compost, intercropping, and crop rotation. The programme delivered Patagonia's first ROC cotton products in spring 2022.
The process of becoming certified, however, should be undertaken with caution, due diligence, and genuine dedication, as the lack of transparency and insular nature of many certification programmes has resulted in fraudulent claims and consumer mistrust. Never a quick fix, certification schemes – especially those founded and funded by interested parties – are fast becoming questioned for their authority, independence, and pay-for-play-status.
Another issue with certification in the regeneration space is that regenerative practices are typically region specific and dependent on a number of variables, making a universal certification hard to establish. Some brands have taken a more granular approach, allowing the expertise of their supply chain partners to inform a bespoke strategy. For example, US apparel group VF Corporation – which owns The North Face, Timberland, and Vans – announced a partnership with Thai design consultancy Terra Genesis to develop the world's first regenerative Rubber supply chain in 2021. Working with smallholder 'Wanakaset' – or agroforestry – farmers in Thailand, they developed the world's first Regenerative Outcome Verified (ROV) rubber supply system. Placing the emphasis on outcomes rather than "a single objective metric", the system is modelled on local rubber producers' traditions and practices, integrating rubber trees with other beneficial species to create biodiverse ecosystems. The farmers receive premiums for their differentiated product through the partnership, and it has financially incentivised other farmers to make the transition to regenerative production models.
Elsewhere, Navitas Organics, a plant-based superfoods brand, is building partnerships with smallholder organic farms to bolster local economics in every region it operates in. Through its Sierra Leone Cacao Project, the company is investing over USD 100,000 in cooperatives and has set up Farmer Field Schools, training 225 registered farmers in 2021.
Adopting regenerative principles isn't just about your product and the land, but about cultivating a direct relationship with all parties. A "just and regenerative mindset", as Forum for the Future puts it, prioritises traceability, transparency, and the welfare of all, harmonising your entire value chain. Recognising your sphere of influence in "the wider operating context" also means sharing the burden (and cost) of the transition towards regenerative practices, rather than treating other parties as mere suppliers. Dr. Bronner's is renowned for its equitable approach across its vast global network of small-scale farmers, seeing its suppliers as 'partners'. One project in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh – where the company sources its mint oil – has grown from four to 700 farmers who are switching to regenerative farming practices thanks to Dr. Bronner's financial incentives. The company pays them a Fair Trade premium and offers micro loans, not only supporting the farmers' livelihoods, but funding the installation of public water pumps, toilets, and medical camps for villagers.
Regenerative agriculture has been shown to increase farmers' profit margins by up to 30%, but only after a few seasons of yield loss. The process of learning the techniques and reconditioning the soil requires time and investment, so farmers' supply chain partners need to offer direct support through the transitional turbulence. A campaign led by AB InBev's organic beer brand, Michelob Ultra, entitled 'Contract for Change', guarantees a buyer to every farmer in America in three years, once their transition to organic farming is complete. Launched in January 2020, the binding agreement promises to support farmers with the organic certification process by purchasing their transitional grains "through good and bad harvests".
To deliver a regenerative future, collaboration is essential. But every journey towards regeneration will have its own blueprint, depending on your shareholders, supply chain partners, crops and materials, regional profile, and regulatory landscape. Exploring strategic partnerships with consultancies and organisations that can help you gather the information you need to implement a proactive plan of action will unlock the full potential of your transition. Look to nature-based project developers like DGB Group and global consultancies such as Kearney, who are actively seeking regenerative projects and businesses. As Thorsen summed it up, "regeneration as a principle is probably our best hope for an incredible future".
Where a product ends up is just as much a part of our regenerative futures as ensuring its creation doesn’t deplete the Earth. Even if a product is made using responsibly grown fibres and feedstocks, when they’re modified beyond recognition and go back to the planet as toxins, the planet has to absorb said toxins into the soil, negating the soil enhancing benefits of the sourcing practices. Recognition of this often forgotten step of product development is emerging in the growing number of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies entering the market. Said to be "a proactive business response to the threat of the climate crisis and environmental degradation", EPR is putting the onus on businesses to account for the "post-consumer stage of a product's life cycle".
Policies that enforce EPR are beginning to take shape in a number of regions, but forward thinking brands are ahead of the curve, adopting a regenerative mindset from the get-go by designing products that return safely to the Earth, and even nourish it in the process. Pioneers like UNLESS Collective, for example, create 100% bio-based garments that seamlessly return to nature. Teaming up with NFW, the company delivered the first regenerative sneaker, which converts into "valuable inputs for new soil products" at obsolescence. Made from non-modified, natural inputs such as soybean oil, minerals, natural acids, cotton, and Linen, the shoe can be literally broken up and added to soil at the end of its life. The brand believes that regenerative fashion is about "taking complete responsibility for the end-of-life of everything we make, so it can be returned safely to the elements and used to birth something entirely new".
Other nutrient-rich products that do more good than harm include packaging made from Seaweed by Notpla, which returns to the Earth exactly like a fruit peel; C&A’s sock hooks made from Traceless, a regenerative and degenerative material made from agricultural waste; and clay-based, on-the-go packaging from GaeaStar that can be simply crushed into the soil after use.
End-of-life considerations also require a designer to think about how many times a product can be used before it becomes unusable. Producing high-quality, long-lasting products that remain in use for longer, shedding the take-make-waste model in favour of slow and circular processes, allows the Earth to recoup what was taken within its natural timeframe. Moving away from the concept of single-use entirely is a priority, instead designing in a way that ensures the long-term use of the resources borrowed from the planet. Preferably perpetual use. Reusable packaging systems are key to this transition. Brands are embracing the old-school consumption model by removing disposable packaging that’s sometimes used for mere seconds, and switching instead to durable, multi-purpose, multi-use packs that exist within a circle of fill-use-clean-repeat. Reposit is one such example, a soon-to-launch system across the UK that will see all major FMCG brands adopt the same packaging types and styles to ensure a seamless circular model. The model is already successfully running in multiple regions including Germany and Oregon, US, showing that with the right infrastructure and incentives in place, consumers are happy to waste less.
In the fashion space, repair services are key to extending the life of a garment, and brands must offer tutorials, insights, and workshops that empower consumers with the knowledge to repair at home, or affordable services so the garments are repaired in-house. UK fashion brand Toast has recently launched Toast Renewed, a team of six in-house repair artisans who take returned and damaged clothing and repair it to be something entirely unique. Rather than wasting precious resources, and the money spent to make them, the act of repairing rejuvenates the items and elevates them to bespoke level. With Right to Repair legislation quickly evolving around the world – present in the UK and EU, and proposed in 38 out of the 50 states – brands must stop designing in obsolescence, and instead start designing out waste.
Give nature a permanent seat at the table, ensuring its needs, its processes, and its limits are taken into consideration at every step of the design process. If a product cannot harmlessly come from nature, and go back to it as food rather than poison, then the product shouldn’t be designed in the first place.
Regeneration comes in many forms, from hyper-local sourcing to international networks that bolster underprivileged communities. No one brand can conquer it all, so choose your lane from the get-go and ensure decisions are made with that end goal in mind. All approaches, however, are driven by the same principles – adding value, giving back more than you take, and building accountability and transparency at every level.
Self-serving models are no longer profitable. Everything on the planet is interconnected, and the regenerative movement mimics that interdependence by establishing partnerships between farmers, brands, policymakers, educators, researchers, and consumers. Don’t believe that you can go it alone.