Bob’s Red Mill’s first 2025 Sustainability Impact Report, published this month, reflects its focus on ingredient and product design to reduce its environmental footprint, pairing regenerative agriculture programs and soil-health initiatives with efforts to quantify carbon emissions, reduce packaging waste and advance zero-waste goals.
Sustainability as an industry buzzword doesn’t have a clear definition and often encompasses a multitude of areas within a company. Whereas, regenerative agriculture – arguably as ancient as the origins of agriculture itself – is emerging as a prominent framework under the sustainability umbrella as industry and consumer awareness sharpens about the relationship between food and the environment.
Yet, consumer interest in sustainability is fragile, with data pointing to a weak correlation with purchasing choices.
Some research shows that a company’s sustainability practices shape consumers’ purchasing decisions, as long as the claims fit the category. In a similar vein, more health-conscious versus sustainability-focused consumers are less likely to waste food, signaling that nutrition may be the key to companies’ connecting with more shoppers.
Regenerative agriculture and organic drive sustainability framework
Bob’s Red Mill’s report reveals regenerative agriculture taking stage for the pantry brand.
The company’s partnership with nonprofit Zero Foodprint and supply chain partners in 2024 provides direct grants to wheat, hazelnut and chickpea growers. The partnership supports soil-health improvements like no-till farming, composting, biodiversity expansion and planting trees and shrubs in a linear row to protect areas from severe weather (also known as shelterbelts). More than 13,000 additional acres are planned for regenerative practices in 2026, according to the report.
With oats as a regenerative opportunity, Bob’s Red Mill developed more than 470,000 acres last year in partnership with Sustainable Food Lab’s Trusted Advisor Partnership alongside other companies like Grain Millers and Oatly. The partnership is made up of local agronomists in the Canadian Prairies who provide expertise on regenerative practices in specific regions. Last year, Bob’s Red Mill began its multi-year study with its supplier Avena and Field to Market Canada for more insight on the relationship between oats and the land.
Organic farming continues to remain as a core ingredient strategy with the company offering more than 40 organic products.
According to the report, organic farming entails farming without harmful pesticides and fertilizers, non-GMO and environmental protection that aligns with the USDA organic standards.
Measuring impact through carbon accounting
For Bob’s Red Mill, ingredients are the largest source of emissions, representing more than half (51.6%) of the company’s footprint, underscoring the company’s focus on regenerative agriculture investments and partnerships – and verified by third-party greenhouse gas reviewer Parametrix.
Bob’s Red Mill highlighted its Protein Oats line, which is made from a naturally hull-less oat variety as an example of how product and ingredient design can lower environmental impacts. The hull-less oats need fewer processing steps, lower energy use and eliminates several energy-intensive processing operations, according the report.
