From the bajra (pearl millet) used in breakfast cereals to the turmeric infused in skincare products, every ingredient travels an intricate path before it reaches the shelf. However, the conventional supply chains that move these raw materials are increasingly showing their cracks. This poses problems for businesses trying to meet their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets, sustainability goals, and net-zero commitments. As companies increasingly scrutinize their value chains, regenerative agriculture is emerging as a key solution. This approach offers a pathway to transform supply chains from the ground up, making them more resilient and environmentally sound.
The way many raw materials are currently produced, especially through industrial farming, can disrupt the environment. When companies source their ingredients from such systems, these environmental impacts become part of their Scope 3 emissions, which are often the largest and most difficult part of a company’s carbon footprint to address. To effectively lower these emissions and reach their net-zero goals, it has become crucial for companies to turn to regenerative practices for sourcing their ingredients.
The principles of regenerative agriculture – which focus on improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, minimizing soil disturbance, keeping the soil covered and eliminating reliance on synthetic inputs – provide a framework for this essential transition.
How Regenerative Agriculture Transforms Supply Chains
Adopting regenerative agriculture at the source of a supply chain can lead to transformative changes throughout the system. Here’s how:
- ● Building Healthier Soils: Regenerative agricultural practices improve soil structure, increase organic matter, and enhance the soil's ability to hold water and nutrients. Healthier soils are more productive and resilient to climate extremes like droughts and floods. This allows companies to showcase that their sourcing supports land stewardship and sustainable farming practices.
- ● Sequestering Carbon: Healthy soils are significant carbon sinks. Regenerative farming actively draws down atmospheric carbon and stores it in the soil, helping to mitigate climate change. This is vital for companies aiming for carbon neutrality.
- ● Reducing Environmental Footprint: Eliminating the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides removes the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their manufacture and use. For businesses, this results in stronger sustainability credentials across the value chain.
- ● Increasing Supply Chain Resilience: Farms using regenerative practices are more resilient to climate change impacts, leading to a more stable and secure supply of raw materials for businesses.
Urban Farms Co.: Helping you Build Regenerative Supply Chains
Urban Farms Co. specializes in regenerative agriculture and is dedicated to helping businesses transform their supply chains from the very first step – the farm. We focus on practices that build soil health, mitigate climate change, and contribute to a better environment.
Partnering with Urban Farms Co. allows companies to:
- ● Source Low-Carbon, Regeneratively Grown Ingredients: We implement core regenerative practices on our farms, such as cover cropping, crop rotation, multi-cropping and the use of our naturally made, in-house bio-inputs and compost. This approach not only improves the land but also produces ingredients with a significantly lower carbon footprint. A recent cradle-to-gate Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) study conducted by WSP Denmark on two of our 70+ SKUs revealed remarkable results: Okra, cultivated using regenerative methods, achieved a carbon-positive footprint—sequestering more CO₂ than it emitted, at –0.013 kg CO₂e per kilogram. Turmeric showed an emission level of just 0.032 kg CO₂e/kg, a significant improvement compared to the industry average of approximately 3.65 kg CO₂e/kg for conventionally grown turmeric. These figures highlight how sourcing regeneratively cultivated, low-emission crops can serve as a powerful lever for companies to lower Scope 3 emissions and move meaningfully towards their net-zero targets
- ● Transform Your Entire Agricultural Supply Chain By partnering with Urban Farms Co., businesses can go beyond ingredient-level improvements and begin the journey towards fully regenerative supply chains. This transformation spans everything from on-farm practices and natural input use to carbon emissions, traceability, and ecosystem restoration. Every ingredient is fully traceable—right down to the farm where it was grown and the farmer who cultivated it using regenerative methods. This level of transparency provides companies with credible, data-backed insights that empowers them to verify the sustainability of their products.
Conclusion: Building the Future of Supply Chains, Regeneratively
The reimagination of supply chains begins at the ground level—with healthier soils, transparent sourcing, and climate-positive practices. Regenerative agriculture offers a practical and proven pathway to make supply chains more sustainable, resilient, and aligned with global ESG and net-zero commitments.
As businesses seek credible solutions to complex sustainability challenges, partnering with organizations like Urban Farms Co. can drive real, measurable progress. The opportunity is clear: build supply chains that not only deliver high-quality products but also contribute to the restoration of ecosystems and the long-term viability of our planet. The future of supply chains isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about responsibility, resilience, and regeneration; and that future starts with the choices we make today.