EUROPE – Mondelez International, Europe’s largest biscuits maker, has announced a sustainable wheat sourcing program dubbed “Harmony Ambition 2030” which aims to grow wheat for its biscuits according to the principles of regenerative agriculture.

The company has an ambitious target to grow 100% of the wheat volume needed for its European biscuits production under the expanded Harmony Regenerative Charter by 2030.

Regenerative agriculture is a new approach to farming that has gained traction with the onslaught of global warming.

It emphasizes conservation and rehabilitation while focusing on regenerating topsoil, increasing biodiversity, and buttressing biosequestration. 

As a responsible corporate citizen, the company has made sustainability one of the four pillars of its long-term growth strategy through a focused set of environmental, social, and governance priorities.

The harmony program was created in 2008 with just a handful of farmers but has expanded to collaborate with 1,360 farmers across seven European countries, combining scale with a local partnership approach.

“Harmony Ambition 2030 is a key part of our sustainability strategy,” said Peter Seymour, senior vice president of marketing and strategy, Europe at Mondelez.

“We are working with local farmers and partners across Europe to help create a world where the wheat for our well-loved biscuits is grown in thriving and biodiverse environments.”

Seymour further noted that its sustainable wheat initiative is part of our long-term business growth ambition and mission to offer consumers the right snack, for the right moment, made the right way,” he added.

According to the program statement, the environmental bit will focus on climate change and biodiversity losses by implementing and strengthening farming practices, such as diversifying crop rotation by including legumes to help optimize fertilizer use, the main source of greenhouse gas emissions in wheat farming.

A Harmony Academy will also be created, which will train farmers both digitally and on the ground.

The program will be guided by a newly created independent Harmony Council consisting of scientific experts to provide strategic recommendations designed to support Mondelez International’s commitment to regenerative agriculture.

Marie Ellul-Karamanian, Harmony Program Lead revealed that Harmony Ambition 2030 kickstarted last year with a test-and-learn model in France and the learnings from this pilot will be applied to a wider European rollout over the next few years. 

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