Inflation is pricing consumers out of food sustainability concerns. "Consumers don't care about food sustainability," according to Dr Robert Gerlach, CEO of agtech startup Klim. "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."
The challenge for brands pushing regenerative agriculture—farming methods that restore soil, biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience—is that consumers have little awareness of or interest in the concept. Few shoppers know what regenerative agriculture means, and fewer still are willing to pay extra for it based on environmental claims alone.
But there is a path. Nigel Murray, CEO of UK supermarket Booths, argues that brands are pitching the wrong benefits. "We are selfish individuals. We put ourselves first," he says. Consumers want quality, taste, and health. Regenerative agriculture can boost nutrient density in soil and food, which directly improves taste and nutrition. Reframing the pitch away from "planetary health" and toward "nutrient density" and "food quality" stands a better chance of landing with shoppers.
Rebranding the concept also helps. Rather than talk about regenerative agriculture, which few understand, brands can talk about soil health. "Healthy soil means healthy food, and that means a healthy population," Gerlach says. This framing sidesteps environmental jargon and speaks directly to consumer self-interest.
Emotional engagement and strong branding also matter. Wildfarmed, a UK producer supplying regenerative-grown grain to manufacturers and foodservice, has invested heavily in brand-building and storytelling. "We've seen a higher rotation among those products, and also a higher willingness to pay among consumers," Gerlach reports. Without this emotional connection, shoppers cannot ask for products they don't know exist.
Supply, however, is growing independently of consumer demand. Large food companies including Nestlé, Danone, and PepsiCo are adopting regenerative practices. The regenerative agriculture market was valued at $12.6bn in 2024 and is forecast to reach $57.1bn by 2033. But the real driver is not shopper preference. Climate risk is pushing corporate adoption. "With climate events becoming more frequent, this turns into a survival issue," Gerlach explains. Some companies warn they could be out of business within five years without a rapid shift to regenerative practices. At that scale, consumer buy-in becomes secondary to corporate survival strategy.