January 31, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan

Danone North America, the largest Certified B Corp in the world, announced a partnership with rePlant Capital, a first-of-its-kind financial services firm, that brings together a range of impact investors and family foundations dedicated to addressing some of the greatest challenges we face from climate change.

“At rePlant, we are dedicated to investing integrated capital into food companies operating from soil to shelf in order to reverse the effects of climate change,” said Robyn O’Brien, co-founder, director of Partnerships at rePlant Capital.

As part of the partnership, rePlant will invest up to $20 million, or 40 percent of its $50 million impact investing fund, to support Danone North America’s farming partners with expenses related to transitioning to regenerative or organic farming with the goal of increasing biodiversity, strengthening ecosystems, and improving the soil.

Danone committed to regenerative ag in 2018 when it announced its intentions to invest $6 million over the next five years into a ground-breaking soil research initiative with renowned experts and academic leaders to build best-in–class soil programs. 

This action was initially undertaken with products involved in the Dannon Pledge. Started in 2016, this program is the company’s commitment to a range of progressive practices centered on sustainable agriculture, transparency, and nature. 

“Soil is the foundation of our food system, with an estimated 95 percent of food directly or indirectly reliant on soil,” said Ryan Sirolli, agriculture director at Danone North America, in March 2018. 

“When we announced our Pledge, we committed to championing sustainable agriculture, which includes reaching for better soil health. We will evaluate soil on the farms of growers who provide feed for cows and on the dairy farms where we buy milk.”

Today, Danone continues to work on pursuing new operational models with its farmers for the advancement and adoption of sustainable farming practices.

“As a company that is passionate about climate activism, we are pleased to be partnering with rePlant to support our farmers and bring new, innovative financial solutions to address climate change,” said Mariano Lozano, CEO of Danone North America.

The first loan offered by rePlant Capital through this partnership has been provided to McCarty Family Farms in Kansas, the co-owner of MVP Dairy LLC along with VanTilburg families, and a farmer partner of Danone North America for nearly 10 years. 

“Providing these loans mitigates the financial stress that transitioning to regenerative and organic farming practices places on our farmers and allows them to focus their energy on driving sustainable agriculture on their farms.”

Owners Mike, Clay, David, and Ken McCarty will use the capital from rePlant to install moisture probes on cropland surrounding their dairy where they’ve had concerns about water access issues, to reduce water used on forage crops for their herd.

The McCartys are also working with the local watershed authority and other local partners to explore how the program can be expanded to other farms in the area, and gathered farmer partners and rePlant’s investor network to discuss further collaboration on funding opportunities for farmers to transition to regenerative or organic practices.

“At rePlant, we are dedicated to investing integrated capital into food companies operating from soil to shelf in order to reverse the effects of climate change,” said O’Brien.“When we look at the work Danone North America and its network of farmers are already doing in the area of regenerative agriculture, it is clear they share our commitment to improving soil health.”

“We are very excited to work together to make conversions to regenerative and organic farming practices more accessible for Danone North America’s farmer partners and drive sustainability across American farms.”

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.