Agri-food leaders are optimistic about our industry’s ability to create a more sustainable global food system

Alltech Sustainability Insights Survey respondents say collaboration between regions and industry partners is vital to meeting the world’s climate-change goals

Around the world, agri-food leaders believe the industry can work together to create a better, more sustainable food system. That’s one of the key findings of the Alltech Sustainability Insights Survey, which asked industry leaders to share their perspectives on the issues that matter most to the agri-food value chain.

The survey, conducted by Alltech in collaboration with Opinions, an independent, Irish-based research agency, collected insights through 26 one-on-one interviews with industry leaders, as well as a comprehensive survey completed by more than 2,500 members of the global agri-food industry. This effort presented an exciting opportunity to quantify attitudes and perceptions about sustainability from stakeholders across the agri-food value chain and to identify tangible actions to build a more sustainable future.

“Our goal was to listen to the voices of our industry and develop a robust, future-facing program of insights support that is relevant, ambitious and genuinely impactful.”
—Tara McCarthy, Alltech’s global vice president of ESG

The survey questions were focused on five areas: challenges and opportunities; drivers and priorities; attitudes toward change; support and guidance; and who the respondents believe is going to pay for sustainability.

“We are an industry that has remained resilient and provides a robust and efficient food system. To be seen as sustainable food leaders, we need to adopt a holistic approach and continue to evolve the narrative,” said Tara McCarthy, Alltech’s global vice president of ESG. “While everyone across the value chain has a role to play, food producers are clearly front and center. The proactive role of the industry and policymakers in this conversation is absolutely vital.”

Given the evolving understanding of sustainability and the complexity of our industry, Alltech believes there is significant value in exploring and sharing perspectives with agri-food stakeholders.

“This an opportunity to reframe the future,” McCarthy said. “Armed with this data, we will be able to bring solutions to help our industry to adapt and partner.”

Most respondents of the survey agreed that our food systems are vulnerable, climate change will make production more difficult in the future and global food security is becoming a bigger issue. 

They were optimistic, however, that the global food system can rise to the challenge — and that technology and innovation are key to creating more sustainable food systems. Our report, available for download above, offers a summary of the survey’s findings.