Get the basics right – Coca-Cola’s example BOX 3 Step-up performance – Danone’s 3-5 year contracts provide farmers stability BOX 4Coca-Cola has established comprehensive requirements for ingredient suppliers setting clear expectations for quality, food safety and sustainable agriculture. These include due diligence processes and compliance tracking through key performance indicators (KPIs).34 Together, they signal clear requirements to suppliers and help build the foundation for stronger growth. Danone signs three- to five-year contracts with dairy farmers that factor production costs into the price of milk, reducing sourcing risk, increasing supply chain resilience and giving farmers predictable income. In 2024, this approach covered 38% of milk collected in Europe and 32% in the US.35 By working closely with dairy farmers, Danone strengthens supplier relationships and secures consistently high-quality supply. Farmers benefit from greater financial visibility and stability, giving them more confidence to invest in sustainable farming practices.Level 2 Step-up performance At this stage, companies begin to expand sourcing strategies by building structures that enable further progress. These moves may not yet cover the bulk of a company’s sourcing, but they mark a shift from pilots to commercial uptake, targeting a meaningful footprint (>10% of total sourced volumes). Scaling-up requires companies to move to commodity-specific partnerships and investment models. What this looks like depends on the commodity: coffee may involve bilateral partnerships with traders and technical assistance providers, while potatoes might require long-term contracts with groups of dedicated growers. Early steps include understanding the commodity’s dependency profile and likely end-state sourcing pathway, as well as identifying the priority sourcing regions where sustainability initiatives can be expanded. Essential elements –Long-term collaborations: Build multi-year contracts and strategic relationships with key suppliers or supply-sheds, committing investment and support. –Volume guarantees: Provide demand commitments that give suppliers confidence to invest in transition practices. –Supplier partnership: Work with the right suppliers to reduce complexity and increase impact. –External financing: Bring in third-party capital to, for example, support low-emissions input production. –Cost-sharing models: Co-invest with other value chain participants where appropriate. –Performance standards: Define and enforce emissions thresholds or other sustainability criteria. –Carbon pricing: Apply internal carbon pricing to evaluate trade-offs between cost and emissions. Why this level matters This is where meaningful progress becomes achievable. Early successes build credibility and create positive feedback loops where outcomes attract more investment, reinforcing supplier engagement. This level starts to unlock external financing, through reducing risk for banks and other financiers by demonstrating that buyer demand is real and outcomes are measurable. At this level, individual companies start to take bolder action and often create joint initiatives across their value chains to deliver credible outcomes. Many food companies have successfully expanded to this level for critical commodities (see boxes below). Why this level matters These foundational steps build organizational capability and credibility without requiring perfect solutions. They create the systems and relationships necessary for more sophisticated approaches, while demonstrating early progress to stakeholders. Box 3 presents an example of getting the basics right in practice. First Movers Coalition for Food: CEO Lessons for the Future of Food Procurement 11

First Movers Coalition for Food 2026