Consumers don’t care about regenerative agriculture - yet

Regenerative agriculture consumer demand summary

• Inflation pushes shoppers away from sustainability limiting regenerative agriculture demand
• Brands should market quality nutrition and taste rather than planetary benefits
• Reframing regenerative agriculture as soil health improves understanding resilience
• Storytelling and strong branding increase product rotation and willingness to pay
• Climate risk drives corporate adoption making regenerative agriculture a survival strategy

“Consumers don’t care about food sustainability,” says Dr Robert Gerlach, CEO of Klim, an agtech start‑up working to scale regenerative agriculture.

He acknowledges the bluntness of the statement but equally says the evidence backs it up. Inflationary pressures are forcing shoppers to tighten their budgets, pushing planetary concerns down the priority list. And depending on the country, “people often cut back on food first.”

If consumers are disengaged from sustainability altogether, expecting them to embrace the more niche concept of regenerative agriculture – an approach that moves farming away from industrial models towards nature-positive practices – becomes a tall order.

Building consumer engagement is a challenge, but not an insurmountable one. And cracking it could help scale regenerative agriculture at pace.

So how can the food and drink industry build that all-important demand – and is consumer buy-in even the main driver?

Put consumers first, not the planet

For starters, brands need to get the messaging right – and that means understanding that what resonates for industry won’t always resonate with consumers.

For food and drink businesses, regenerative agriculture helps build resilience into supply chains. But is resilience on the minds of consumers? “I don’t think it is at all,” says Nigel Murray, CEO of UK supermarket retailer Booths. Nor is planetary health. “We are selfish individuals. We put ourselves first.”

So if environmental sustainability has fallen off people’s radars, what do they care about? For the retailer CEO, that’s crystal clear: quality. Regenerative agriculture can build up nutrient availability in the soil, and from there, nutrient density in food. “That impacts the taste and health benefits of food,” he says.

When marketing around regenerative agriculture centres around planetary health, Murray fears it falls on deaf ears. Switching up the narrative to focus on consumer health and nutrition, however, could make a big difference. “Every consumer cares about quality.”

Regenerative agriculture out, ‘soil health’ in

Another approach lies in reframing regenerative agriculture, a concept few consumers understand, into something they can relate to and visualise: soil health.

The concept is integral to regenerative agriculture, and one can’t exist without the other. “As you build up soil health and regenerate soil, you build up farmland resilience,” explains Klim’s Gerlach.

That, in turn, reduces the risk of crop loss due to severe weather events, which ultimately stabilises food supply. It’s the focus on soil fertility that Gerlach believes will best resonate with shoppers.

“Exciting consumers about soil health is something I’m excited about,” he says. And it’s a win-win-win: “Healthy soil means healthy food, and that means a healthy population.”

Build emotional engagement and storytelling

For brands invested in regenerative agriculture to stand out on-shelf, it’s likely much more is needed than a “little label or logo”. As Klim’s Gerlach explains, these products need to come with a robust communication campaign that translates the social benefits of nature-positive practices.

“Regenerative agriculture enables much better conditions for farmers to grow food in a more economical way.”

When brands engage in this way, consumers take notice. That’s Gerlach’s experience to date: “We’ve seen a higher rotation among those products, and also a higher willingness to pay among consumers.”

One of the best-known in the business is UK-based Wildfarmed, which also supplies regenerative agriculture-grown grain to manufacturers and foodservice operators. “Where many good intentions and sustainable ideas have fallen before is through lack of emotional engagement,” says co-founder and CEO Edd Lees.

Without it, consumer understanding just isn’t there. Shoppers can’t ask for something they don’t know exists, he reasons. “Which is why we’ve spent a huge amount of time and energy creating a brand.”

But is building consumer demand for regen ag the only answer?

Supply of regenerative agriculture-farmed food is growing, with some of the biggest names in food and drink – from Nestlé to Danone and PepsiCo – heavily invested. Globally, the market was valued at $12.6bn in 2024, and is forecast to grow to $57.1bn by 2033 (Grand View Research).

From a conventional supply-and-demand perspective, growing consumer demand clearly matters. Stronger shopper engagement would undoubtedly help. But the challenge may be broader than consumer buy-in alone – and demand is mostly coming from elsewhere.

Food companies are under mounting economic strain, explains Gerlach. “With climate events becoming more frequent, this turns into a survival issue,” he says. And the impact is being felt. Some companies, he notes, warn that without a rapid transition to regenerative practices, they could be out of business within five years.

At this point, the argument moves beyond consumer buy-in. Regenerative agriculture is no longer a “nice to have”, he suggests, but central to the long-term viability of the food system.