Nestlé US has announced it is investing in regenerative agriculture practices in its wheat farms within its Digiorno pizza brand supply chain.
The food giant said it is helping wheat farmers employ regenerative agriculture practices in their fields through a combination of financial support and technical resources and assistance.
These practices include planting cover crops, eliminating or reducing tillage, and reducing the use of pesticides, which can help improve soil health and soil fertility, protect water resources and enhance biodiversity.
Wheat Farms
The project aims to bring regenerative agriculture practices to over 40,000 hectares of farmland, the size of more than 53, 000 football fields.
Through partnerships with ADM and Ardent Mills, two primary wheat flour suppliers for Digiorno, Nestlé's said its investment will benefit wheat farms across Kansas, North Dakota, Indiana and Missouri.
The company said the work will help the company accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture in its supply chains.
ADM And Nestlé
ADM recently measured some outcomes of farmers who have implemented regenerative agriculture methods and reported that the wheat farms in the program that used cover crops or living roots in 2022, helped to sequester more than 3,800 metric tonnes of CO2e.
Nestlé said that's equivalent to taking nearly 850 gas-powered cars off the road for one year.
Steve Presley, CEO of Nestlé Zone North America said, "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.
"To do this we need to find solutions that create shared value throughout the ecosystem - value for us, value for farmers, value for consumers, and value for the planet. This investment in wheat producers is just one example of how we are bringing this commitment to life across our supply chain."
