First Movers Coalition for Food 2026

Step-up performance – DFI Retail Group and Toumi Foods boost sales with low-carbon rice partnership BOX 6 Step-up performance – PepsiCo and Yara support farmers in adopting low-emissions fertilizers BOX 7 Step-up performance – Olam Agri and GIZ promote sustainable farming of rice, cotton and rubber BOX 8 Step-up performance – Ahold Delhaize USA, Kellanova and Bartlett Grains support regenerative wheat farmingBOX 9DFI Retail Group and Toumi Foods have begun a five-year partnership to increase availability of low- carbon rice in Hong Kong and Macau, scaling-up their 2026 production target to 1,000 tonnes – five times the 2025 level. The collaboration expands DFI’s award-winning low-carbon rice cultivation programme, recognized at the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Awards Hong Kong 2025, and focuses on increasing climate-smart practices such as alternate wetting and drying irrigation, optimized soil management and a ban on all straw burning. As well as reducing scope 3 emissions across the value chain, the initiative empowers farmers to adopt sustainable practices that benefit both the environment and their livelihoods. Following strong customer uptake of low-carbon rice, which drove a 25% increase in in-store sales, the partnership plans to expand its product offering.37 Importantly, the DFI-Toumi Foods agreement shows that low- carbon rice can be delivered with no cost premium or consumer price increase, demonstrating that sustainable procurement can be affordable. PepsiCo and Yara, a leading crop nutrition company, are working together to decarbonize crop production by expanding the use of lower carbon fertilizers across Europe and Latin America. Yara’s nitrate-based fertilizers, produced with renewable or lower carbon ammonia, can cut fertilizer’s carbon footprint by up to 50% compared with industry averages. Yara aims to supply 25% of the fertilizers used in PepsiCo’s European supply chain through lower carbon solutions by 2030. This initiative could reduce the carbon footprint of potatoes by an estimated 40% per tonne. Beyond product supply, the collaboration provides digital precision farming tools, soil health monitoring and advisory services. Importantly, it includes mechanisms to support farmers with transition costs, in an effort to help ensure sustainability actions do not adversely impact livelihoods. As a whole, the collaboration aims to support 1,000 farmers in Europe alone.38 Olam Agri and GIZ are expanding sustainable agriculture across key supply chains including rice, cotton and rubber in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Their partnership focuses on six priority areas: nutrition-sensitive regenerative agriculture; harvest and post-harvest loss reduction; access to finance for smallholders; economic inclusion; management of crop residues and reuse; and ecosystem services including carbon initiatives. They also plan to collaborate on cross-cutting themes such as carbon credits, landscape approaches and digitalization. The partnership builds on previous joint initiatives to improve sustainability and farmer resilience.39 The collaboration between these organizations spans multiple steps of the value chain to support regenerative wheat farming in North Carolina. Each company contributes specific resources and expertise: Bartlett provides technical assistance and mills the regenerative wheat, Kellanova incorporates it into products such as Cheez-It crackers and Ahold Delhaize sells the products across 2,000+ stores. Environmental outcomes are measured through digital platforms, supporting cost-sharing across the value chain and validating impacts on each company’s scope 3 carbon footprint.40 The DFI-Toumi Foods agreement shows that low- carbon rice can be delivered with no cost premium or consumer price increase.Step-up performance – Cargill pays farmers to adopt regenerative practices BOX 5 Cargill’s SustainConnect programme offers direct financial incentives to Australian farmers who adopt regenerative practices. Through one-year agreements, participating farmers receive $25 per hectare based on enrolled acreage and verified implementation of agreed interventions. Farmers can choose from a range of regenerative practices best suited to their operations.36 First Movers Coalition for Food: CEO Lessons for the Future of Food Procurement 12