By prioritizing the right sourcing pathway, companies can balance resilience and sustainability with traditional procurement priorities. To choose the right sourcing pathway, companies need to understand the sourcing context and characteristics of a given commodity. This can inform how best to build resilience and sustainability for that commodity – which in turn indicates the most appropriate sourcing pathway. Understanding resilience in food supply Resilience in food supply depends on two core components: –On-farm robustness –Sourcing flexibility Each of these interacts differently with traditional procurement priorities of cost, quality and availability, as well as with sustainability requirements (see Figure 3). Although both components have long been part of procurement practice, increasing market volatility and the growing urgency to integrate sustainability practices amplify their importance and reveal trade-offs that were less visible in more stable operating environments. 2.3 Calibrate strategy and prioritize sourcing pathwayUsing the pathways together – no one-size-fits-all In practice, the two strategic pathways are not mutually exclusive. Many companies use a combination of the two: working with suppliers to meet strengthened sustainability requirements, while also supporting outcome-based investments outside the procurement contract to support supply-side transition. For example, a buyer might specify deforestation- free supply and engage with farmers to help them achieve this (spec-anchored approach), while co- funding regenerative practices in the same region to support more holistic ecosystem action through a shared finance platform (decoupled approach). Additionally, as initiatives using decoupled sourcing mature, sustainable outcomes can be migrated into core procurement operations, combining characteristics of both approaches. What matters most is knowing which approach to lead with, aligning internal teams and equipping procurement to execute effectively – a process explored in subsequent chapters. First Movers Coalition for Food: CEO Lessons for the Future of Food Procurement 17

First Movers Coalition for Food 2026