Ahold Delhaize USA, a leading grocery retail group, has officially announced a partnership with global snacking leader Kellanova (formerly Kellogg Company) and North American agribusiness, Bartlett, to reduce Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wheat farming across the value chain. Under the given arrangement, there is to be a pilot program, where the companies will make a collective investment into supporting the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices among wheat farmers across North Carolina. Markedly enough, the wheat produced by these farmers will be used alongside conventionally grown wheat to eventually manufacture Kellanova’s iconic Cheez-It® and Club® crackers. Once developed, these products will be sold at the local brand stores of Ahold Delhaize USA. More on the program in question would reveal how, to achieve their overarching goal, Bartlett’s certified crop advisors will work with farmers at every step. Here, they will provide them with technical assistance in the context of implementing conservation practices to improve soil health, which in turn, can greatly improve water quality and cut back on emissions. We referred to program’s approach of combining the regenerative wheat with conventional wheat before milling the mix it into flour, this will happen at Bartlett’s recently expanded facility in Wilson’s Mills, N.C. As for the process of baking that wheat into Cheez-It® and Club® crackers, it will happen at Kellanova’s state-of-the-art facility in Cary, N.C.
“As part of our ambitious Kellanova Better Days Promise, we’ve committed to both reducing our emissions and advancing the well-being of people, including farmers, across our food value chain,” said Carrie Sander, Chief Customer Officer at Kellanova North America. “We believe in the power of partnership and are excited to collaborate with Ahold Delhaize USA and Bartlett to help potentially improve outcomes for wheat farmers. This innovative program helps us simultaneously work toward both these goals.”
Apart from regenerative wheat, a lot of the partnership in question will focus on generating agronomic insights on farm and supply chain resiliency. This will be taken care of by Arva Intelligence, a company known for empowering farmers to grow their business, while simultaneously driving a larger environmental asset economy. In the present setting, Arva will leverage its proprietary CropForce™ platform, to measure, report, and verify impacts on the partners’ respective emissions reductions, and it will do so to provide scalable knowledge that each company can potentially consider for the development of other Scope 3 initiatives.
“The companies of Ahold Delhaize USA are committed to offering more sustainable food products as we strive to create a healthier planet,” said JJ Fleeman, CEO of Ahold Delhaize USA. “An important step in this journey is reducing Scope 3 carbon emissions, which requires partnerships like this one with Kellanova and Bartlett. We’re excited to be a part of this collaboration as we focus on our Scope 3 commitments.”
Going back to the pilot program, it will markedly focus on farmers who have already implemented regenerative agricultural practices to a certain degree. With their existing experience in working alongside such a setup, the initiative will make a point to teach them new methods and more effectively facilitate their transition.
Available details indicate that the production of regenerative wheat will begin at some point this summer, and if everything goes as per the plan, the final product should reach Ahold Delhaize USA brand shelves in 2025.
“We’re excited to work with our customers and partners to improve on-farm environmental outcomes, while increasing overall sustainability across the milling and baking supply chain,” said Bob Knief, President of Bartlett, a Savage Company. “We have a strong commitment to continuous improvement and look forward to engaging with and supporting North Carolina wheat farmers in measuring and optimizing their sustainability performance.”
