[GUELPH, Canada] – Alltech believes that agriculture has the greatest potential to positively shape the future of our planet, but it will take all of us working together. As part of their commitment to this vision, Alltech created the Planet of Plenty™ Awards to reward those who are furthering a world of abundance through nutritional and digital technologies, innovation and sustainable management practices in the agri-food sector. In the inaugural year of the Alltech Canada Planet of Plenty Awards, Alltech is pleased to announce that the recipients of the award for 2021 are Burnbrae Farms of Lyn, Ontario, and Shipwheel Cattle Feeders of Taber, Alberta.

“Through partnerships and storytelling, we hope to elevate the agri-food sector so it is recognized for its ability to address several of the most significant issues that our planet faces: nutrition, human and animal well-being and the preservation of natural resources,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech. “It is our privilege to honour Burnbrae Farms and Shipwheel Cattle Feeders as role models in sustainable agriculture.”

Burnbrae Farms are among Canada's leading egg producers and thriving participants in the agriculture, and local, communities they serve. Their vision is to provide nutritious food for Canadians while respecting their employees, the animals entrusted in their care and the environment. Sustainability, community engagement and social responsibility have been a part of the Burnbrae Farms’ culture for generations. Their commitment to innovation and the environment has allowed the company to achieve significant milestones on its mission to reduce the environmental impact of its operations and goal of continuously reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The business also has strong community foundations and provides support in the areas in which they do business, including egg and food donations and Earth Day roadside clean-ups. Six generations of the Hudson family have been involved in Burnbrae Farms for over 130 years.

Over several generations, Shipwheel Cattle Feeders have maintained an unwavering dedication to their goal of continually improving their land base, the animals entrusted to their care and the community around them. All management decisions are made through the lens of their holistic goal: any actions must be congruent with their purpose while also building their future resource base and improving quality of life. Shipwheel is a place of continual learning, where curiosity and innovation are tempered with thoughtfulness and proper planning, thereby setting the stage for expanding our understanding of regenerative agriculture practices.

Join Margaret Hudson, CEO and president of Burnbrae Farms and Andrea Stroeve-Sawa, manager of Shipwheel Cattle Feeders on May 25 at 11 a.m. ET for the Awarding Sustainability workshop during the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference, a virtual global agri-food event that will be held on May 25–27, 2021. Streaming keynote and on-demand presentations will be released and will focus on the power of science, sustainability and storytelling. To learn more about the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference and to register, visit one.alltech.com. Join the conversation across social media with #ONEbigidea.

Donnie Smith may be retired from his former position as CEO of Tyson Foods, but he remains just as busy addressing food insecurity and empowering farmers and communities to create a more sustainable future. Listen as he shares the passion behind his work to foster entrepreneurship and education through the African Sustainable Agriculture Project, and the lessons he imparts on other business leaders who want to make a positive difference.

The following is an edited transcript of the Ag Future podcast episode with Donnie Smith hosted by Tom Martin. Click below to hear the full audio or listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Tom:                        I'm Tom Martin. And we're joined by Donnie Smith, former Tyson foods CEO. Under Smith's leadership, Tyson achieved four consecutive years of record profits, multiplying stock value 6 times in 7 years. In 2014, Smith and his wife, Terry, pledged $3.2 million to the University of Tennessee to establish the Donald and Terry Smith Endowed Chair for International Sustainable Agriculture. And then in 2018, the Smiths funded the Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. So, we're going to focus on what's keeping Donnie Smith busy these days. And you'll soon hear why it’s a fitting conclusion to our purpose-driven business series. Greetings, Donnie Smith.

Donnie:                      Hey, thanks, Tom. It’s good to be with you today.

Tom:                        And talk about purpose driven! That would seem to describe your current work around sustainable agriculture in countries on the African continent. I've heard you speak about this, and it’s very clear that you have a genuine, deeply felt passion for this work. What drives that passion and what has drawn you to Africa?

Donnie:                    Honestly, Tom, I can't ever remember not being fascinated with the African continent. And then later, you know, in my career at Tyson, let’s focus in around about 2010 or so. I think God just laid a burden on my heart and said, you know, “I've trained you in culture, production, logistics, you name it. And you know, it’s time for you to take what you've learned through this— at that point 20 something year career at Tyson— and go employ that somewhere on the African continent.” And so, there's just been a passion in my heart for the African farmer and helping them to try to compete on the world stage and get past subsistence farming and actually make farming a commercial endeavor like it is here in the U.S. and in other developed worlds.

Tom:                        Africa accounts for a significant proportion of the world population growth that’s expected in the next 30 years or so. How significant and what are the implications for Africa and for the world for that matter?

Donnie:                    You know, I call what you're talking about the grand challenge between now and 2050. So, if you’re a young person just entering the workplace listening to this podcast, in your working career, we will add about 2 billion people in the population and about a billion of those will inhabit the continent of Africa. So, you know, the continent of Africa is somewhere around, you know, 4 billion today. So, the population there is gonna double. Now, the interesting part of the challenge is because incomes will improve and organization will happen and several other socioeconomic events, we’re gonna need to produce about twice as much food as we’re producing today while restoring the resource used to make that food. I've heard several scientists estimate that we're using about 1.2 to 1.3 planet’s worth of resources to produce a planet’s worth of food. And hey, by the way, we’re still leaving about 700 or 800 million people behind because they're food insecure. So, somehow over the next 30 years, we gotta double food production and we've got to restore the planet to where we're only using 1 planet’s worth of resources to make that planet’s worth of food. And for me, the most concerning part is half of the population growth is going to happen only at African continent where we find a large portion of stunted children, you know, food insecure people, very, very low per capita incomes as compared to other countries in the world. So, that's a huge challenge for us and one that I'm dedicating the rest of my life to try to have some impact in.

Tom:                        What are some things that the developed world takes for granted that are just not present or available in many African countries?

Donnie:                    You know, and maybe my answer is gonna be more to scale, but there’s four things that immediately jump into my mind. Number one, a transportation infrastructure. You know, we take it for granted that you got trucks traveling on the interstate highways at 70 miles an hour carrying an 80,000 pounds plus. You know, railroad infrastructure, highways, bridges, all that stuff.

                                 And then when you get to Africa and you try to get around, it’s just incredibly slow and incredibly frustrating. The electrical grid and the energy infrastructure, you know, it’s not that it’s nonexistent. But you know, we’re in a developed world. We never worry about it. When we flip on the switch, there’s like 99.9% chance the lights are gonna come on. Yeah. It’s a 50/50 proposition in a lot of African countries. Pretty much everybody in America is powered. You know, in a lot of African countries, maybe half of their population is actually powered these days and the energy grid is just so unreliable. We never make it in Rwanda for a week, generally speaking for a day without power grid failing on us.

Tom:                       Oh, wow.

Donnie:                     And you know, access to capital, access to finance, you know, to finance the reoccurring costs, you know, those we take for granted here every day. And it is a very difficult proposition to find reasonably priced capital and certainly reasonably priced financing on the continent.

Tom:                        I think you've just touched on this a little bit, but I want to ask you. I know you began working in Rwanda in 2012. Is that right?

Donnie:                    Correct. Yeah.

Tom:                        Okay. Tell us about the conditions that you encountered when you began working there and what kind of work you've been doing in Rwanda?

Donnie:                    So, our work in Rwanda is inside of our foundation. So, African Sustainable Agriculture Project is a foundation that our family established about 2012. And so, the work we do is primarily focused on the poultry value chain, but not exclusively. You know, what we try to do ASAP— we believe the only sustainable form of agriculture is commerce. Right? If you can't make a business out of it and make a living doing it, then it's constantly going to require a gift from somebody. And you know, I don’t know how many billions or maybe even trillions of dollars have been given to the African continent over the last 30 or 40 years, but I can tell you that many of the important metrics haven't moved much. So, my belief is that donations aren't the answer. What Africa needs is direct foreign investment. It needs economic development. It needs capacity building, skills training, that sort of thing. And that’s what ASAP is all about. You know, our goal is to build capacity among African farmers, teaching them the skills they need, the leadership they need, financial skills they need, enabling them where we can in a very low cost way to be able to begin an enterprise, largely in our case a poultry enterprise. So, in Rwanda today, we have a feed mill. We actually opened the first commercial feed mill in the nation of Rwanda in 2014. Now, think about that. Before 2014, there was not a commercial feed mill operating in the country. Today, there’s 4-5. I mean that’s 7 years ago. Right? It's not that long ago.

Tom:                        Right.

Donnie:                    We also have a table egg farm producing table eggs. And then we are in the beginning processes of— We did a project with University of Tennessee and USAID to pilot whether or not we could establish a broiler business. And the pilot has ended and we’re now in the beginning processes of standing up a broiler business to produce broiler meat. So, that’s our work in Rwanda. Again, that’s all inside a nonprofit. Now, let me say this. Each of those three businesses that I mentioned is a registered for profit Rwandan business, keeping to our principles at ASAP that you have to have a sustainable profitable business to really say that you're doing sustainable agriculture. One of the problems we have in poultry is the high price of corn and soybeans, which make up about 70% of the cost of the feed or maybe more, which is about 70% of the cost to produce a chicken. And so, understanding that, I'm involved in a farm services business that is working on a seed reproduction.

                                You know, finding more efficient ways to do sustainable conservation agriculture at scale, which we think is a key to being able to get the input prices low enough to be able to grow animal sourced foods, chickens, you know, you name it, at a price that’s affordable for a large portion of the population like we enjoy here in America today. So, besides the philanthropic work though, I'm also commercially involved. Tyson Foods own the chicken breed called Vantress. And Cobb’s largest distributor on the African continent and their oldest distributor was the Irvine family out of Zimbabwe. And I have partnered with the Irvine family to help grow that business outside of Zimbabwe in sub-Saharan Africa. We’re basically a day old chicken feed supplier, which is critical to having a poultry infrastructure that’s viable on the African continent. So, you know, I’m not only philanthropically involved. I’m also commercially involved. Again, it goes back to my commitment. I will spend the rest of my life trying to produce affordable food on that continent.

Tom:                         I have to say that African Sustainable Agriculture Project works out to be a great acronym, doesn't it? ASAP.

Donnie:                    It does. ASAP. We gotta get this done as soon as possible.

Tom:                        Appropriate and clever there. So, what sorts of skills were needed when you arrived there that weren’t there and how have you helped people acquire them?

Donnie:                    So, poultry before we arrived, there was a general idea or mindset that you could not raise modern genetics successfully on the African continent. You know, too much disease. You needed to have the ancient breeds and what I would call yard birds or yard chickens. You know, you had to use those. And you know, learning what I learned about genetic potential and all of that during my Tyson days, I just felt in my heart that wasn’t true. I mean there are certain principles that need to be employed. You need to meet the chicken’s needs. Feed, water, safety, health, biosecurity, those sorts of things. And so, I just felt like if we could meet those needs for the bird, we’d be successful. And sure enough, over the 3-year pilot project with USAID and University of Tennessee, we have some of our African growers who are growing 100 chickens at a time at 7,000 feet of altitude in communities you’ve never heard of with no electricity, etc., that have performance that rivals a chicken grower in the U.S. So, it can certainly be done. So, helping African farmers understand that the poultry rearing skills has been part of it— but it's also important for the people that work in our companies— I found a deficit in problem solving and critical thinking skills. There's just this underlying tone that “Okay. Well, that broke. That won't work.” Well, no. “Okay. It broke. Let’s fix it.” “I do not have any tools to fix.” “Sure you do. There’s something around here we can use to fix that.” And so, we have spent a good bit of time helping the folks that work for us understand that things are gonna happen. But when they happen, that's when it takes our ingenuity to figure out an answer to whatever problem we're facing and to do fairly quickly. So, working with our team on— and By the way, our grower’s, our farmer’s, you know, critical thinking and problem solving skills has been very important. Of course, you know, if you’ve got an American owner, we've helped them with English. And that's an important skill because English is kind of a universal language around the world and they are taught English in the school system, but they don't get to use it a lot. And you know, some of the finer points of using the English language— So, we do English training as well. That's just a small sample. But you know, one of the main things that I think is beyond technical skills is we're trying to help develop leadership skills. You know, how do you get the most out of people? How do you problem solve and create opportunities for people?

                                 How do you get a group of people to stay engaged and to do the right thing at the right time? Timeliness is a huge issue on the continent. And so, we learned some lessons from our friends at Foundation for Farming and they have a system that they use and you do things on time at standard and with joy without waste. And so, if you take those 4 principles and you get things done on time, you get things done efficiently, you do ‘em at a high quality, at standard and then with joy, that is an amazing tool set to use to help a group of people understand how to influence people beyond their direct span of control.

Tom:                        That is a really tough and ingrained trait to transform, isn't it, to go from—

Donnie:                    It is.

Tom:                        …”can’t do” to “can do.” How do you persuade or influence people who've been under that kind of mindset for generations to change?

Donnie:                    Yeah. Well, I learned from some early mistakes. I was way too quick to bail my team out and just send more money. And over the last year and a half, I figured out that my heart to help was becoming an enabler of bad behavior. You know, this will sound a little rough, but the end result is really important. And it’s practically a parenting skill. You know, when our children are doing something that we don't want them to do, we correct them, and we instruct them in the right way to do it. And you know, there are certain consequences if they persist in bad behavior. Right? And so, over the last year and a half, the change that we've made is— I've said “Look, guys, I have provided you with ample capital to be successful. You guys have made some bad decisions or, you know, let things drop and then the country manager has to figure out how to fix these things. We’re gonna change that. And you're gonna run— You are a registered Rwandan business and you're gonna run like a registered Rwandan business. And if you run out of money, then you're going to fold up shop and be bankrupt.” You know, that sounds harsh and rough, but let me tell you what they did. In our feed operation, they cut their cost by 50%.

Tom:                       Wow.

Donnie:                    Their operating cost. Because they knew if they didn't, they weren’t gonna have jobs. And now, our feed mill is profitable, our egg farm is profitable. We have a light at the end of the tunnel so that our little broiler business is gonna be profitable. And it all came when I quit enabling bad behavior. And so, you know, creating an atmosphere of reality where we really are a business— And you know, as a feed manufacturer for example, you know lots of people that go out of business because they don’t run good operations. Well, you could join them if you don’t change. Now, you know, for you, we have access to expertise at Tyson. You have access to expertise to a Fortune 100 CEO. You have every resource that anybody in an agricultural business in Rwanda would want that you can tap into. But you know what? It’s your business and you have to run it. And I tell you, you know, I love ‘em, but I was hurting them by not providing that commercial entrepreneurial environment where you have to make it or go do something else. And it has been a significant change in the culture. You know, communication was terrible. There was a passive communication style where this is broke, but I’m not gonna say anything about it. But if they asked me about it, I’ll tell ‘em it’s broke. Well, that’s not the way to run a business. You know, if something breaks, you tell everybody. I mean “How can we fix this? I need your help.

                                This has to be fixed, etc. etc.” And our team has made the junk from the jump from this passive and communicative “I’m just here to earn a buck” to “No, I own this business. And in order for us to be successful, I have to communicate with my team members and I have to be part of the solution, not just a noticer of problems.” And I tell you, it is so fulfilling to see them be successful. And you know what? They know they’ve changed and they know that the cultural change has been a part and a big part of their switch to profitability, which gives them some financial security for the future. It’s been awesome.

Tom:                        It sounds to me, Donnie, as though what you have brought to the people of Rwanda, those that you’ve worked with, is a larger sense of purpose than just earning a buck.

Donnie:                    Oh, definitely. Yeah. You know, we talk all the time about— Let’s take our little broiler business. So, what I do, ASAP provides basically a zero interest loan for about 3 years to build the coop and give them equipment. And then every batch of chicken, they pay back roughly 1/15th of the cost of that coop. But after they buy it, it's theirs. And you know, they have a capital investment on their farm that frankly could be leveraged. Right? And they could get a loan based on that, etc. And so, it provides them kind of a network opportunity that they didn't have before. But then what has happened is— The growers we work with are desperately poor. Our average household is about five. Our average household income is about $0.85 a day. Now, let that sink in. $0.85 a day household income for a family of five. These are desperately poor people. Now, when we bring chickens to ‘em, then they are able to double and sometimes triple, in a few occasions quadruple, their income. And you go “Okay. Well, great. They went from 85 to above 90.” Woah, woah, woah, woah. Yeah, that’s true financially and factually, but what if somebody doubled your income? Right? That's a big deal. And you know, what they do is— and we help ‘em a little bit, but they get this instinctively. The first thing they do is pay school fees and get their kids in school. The second thing they do is they buy their insurance. And the third thing they do is they always start another source of income. Now, it may be going in with somebody or a couple of other people and buying a dairy cow and just praying every day that every calf she has is female, right, or buying a few goats and starting goat farming or getting a sewing machine and just sitting on their front stoop and sewing clothes for people in the neighborhood. But they use the capital that they earned through poultry production to earn more money and earn more income, which is just phenomenal. And so, you know, I’m kind of going back to your question. I say that. I say this. You know, what we’re doing is in essence providing economic development through agriculture and that can change the country, and we hope it does. Right? And that’s our whole approach. You know, there's an old saying, “You can give a man a fish and feed him for a day or teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime.” You know, what we’re trying to do is teach them how to make money using agriculture as an income source.

Tom:                        Talk to us about how this work and these projects have empowered women in Rwanda.

Donnie:                    You know, it’s great. So, my managing director, I call her the CEO of everything we do in Rwanda, she just turned 30. She's a graduate from the University of Arkansas here locally. Phenomenal. Katie's wonderful. So, let’s call her the CEO. The COO is Rita Nchuti. I think she’s 30. Maybe 31. You know, Katie had experience in environmental and poultry science at the University of Arkansas. Rita was fortunate enough to get an education in the U.S. and then she had a couple of internships at Tyson to get exposed to the poultry business.

                                 And honestly, Tom, you know, over the last 7 years or so, we tripped over every stump in the field, you know. We’ve learned all our lessons the hard way. But these two ladies, you know, they’ve turned around a business that was in a very difficult spot and then probably half of our chicken growers are females, most of which are single parent females. You know, raising chickens and doubling their income is giving them an opportunity that would be hard to come by any other way. And you know, a lot of the agricultural workforce in Rwanda are ladies. And we feel awesome about giving an opportunity to create a source of income that really doesn’t take time away from other things that they could do. You know, the poultry coop takes a few hours, but it’s kinda spread through the day. And so, if they have other things to do whether it's, you know, make clothes or work in the fields or whatever it may be, they can do that and it's not cannibalized by poultry production. It's all incremental income. We have seen so many testimonies of how sometimes young African women and certainly families that have been impacted in a significant way— And there’s kind of two components there. The other is the economic development part. Their income doubled or tripled and now they've created, you know, other income strange that have them in a better spot and will continue on, but there's also— I don't know what it is. It’s fulfillment. It’s pride in knowing that I have learned to do something. Yeah, I got some help, but I’ve learned to do something that I can support my family with for the rest of my life and maybe the rest of their life. And I have a skill that not many people in my country have. And I have opportunities that not many people in my country have. So, there’s a fulfillment— I don't know— pride, whatever that is that I can see the look in people’s eyes that “Man, this is making a difference.” And by the way, you know, COVID has been very difficult on us over the last year. You know, a lot of the poultry sector was supported by restaurants and hotels. Of course, travel has been severely constrained and restaurant and hotel businesses have just been decimated. And so, you know, our biggest need today is pretty much demand. Right? And it’s gonna be a while. You know, some of these countries it’s gonna take a while to recover from such a severe economic impact. But you know, we’re committed. You know, I think that we have found ways where we can produce economic development in a way that also helps nutrition, you know, animal source, food, eggs, chickens, whatever. So important to pregnant and lactating women and to preschool children, that sort of thing. So, when you combine all that, it’s hard for me. It’s hard for me to think of a better way to be spending my time.

Tom:                        Let’s turn to your experience in business leadership and I’d like to pick your brains if I may and ask you to share some insights about this. What makes your shortlist of dos and don’ts for a business leader?

Donnie:                    That’s a great question. So, here’s what I’m gonna do. If you would go out and Google Donnie Smith servant leadership, there will be a few 30-35 minute podcast, or YouTube videos, or whatever where I talk about the way I think about leadership and particularly servant leadership. And I would just encourage your listeners to go do that and we talk about what's in the head, the heart, and the hands or what are the habits of servant leaders that are really impactful leaders. But you know, a couple things that I would maybe highlight here today, is it’s really about them. It's not about you.

                                You know, God gives us the opportunity to impact other people and to be involved in their lives. Folks spend about, what, a third of their life in the workplace. And you know, as leaders, we're providing the environment in which most people spend most of their working life. That’s a big deal. That’s a huge responsibility. And so, it's incumbent on us to make that environment engaging, encouraging, to develop the people and give them— I would call that empowering. You know, giving them the skills that they need to be able to do everything that they have the potential to do. And there's a lot that goes into doing that and that’s a little about what I try to crack open in that video. So, you know, gosh, I could go on for hours about, you know, what I think about leadership, and things you ought to do, and things you ought not to do, but that’s probably the most efficient use of our time today.

Tom:                        Donnie, you could be comfortably retired, digging your toes into some nice, warm, sandy beach someplace. What drives you to instead put your all into this work?

Donnie:                    Yeah. That's a good question. You know, I was actually talking to a fellow over the weekend that is basically doing what you said. I mean he’s fishing, and hunting, and hanging out. You know, Tom, I don't really look at what I'm doing as retired. I'm looking at it as reloading. You know, I don’t see any biblical evidence that God is through with us when we quit earning a paycheck from a particular company. I think God has a purpose for my life and I think a significant part of that purpose has revolved around, you know, what I can do to take the skills and the lessons I've learned through working a lifetime anyway in the poultry industry and then go deposit that in a place that desperately needs that to be able to be able to better. And so, yeah, you know, I don’t even refer to myself as retired. I'm just doing another work and I am passionate about making a difference in the lives of people who I get the opportunity to influence whether that's in leadership development or whether that's in economic development, agricultural work. So, I don't know. Maybe that's a different way to look at it, but I tell you what. It is super fulfilling when you're talking to— So, here’s a quick conversation. So, I talked to one of our young growers. And I asked her. I said, “So, you know, you made 40,000 francs a month. What did you do with the money?” She said, “Well, the 7 or 8 years that we have been married, we have saved up about that much money. And so, we put that money—” So, think about it. In 6 weeks, they had earned as much money as they had saved in 6 or 8 years. Okay? So, let that sink in for a second. And then what they did is they went and bought a cow. Pregnant cow. And they took care of the cow, got her to calf. Thank God it was a female calf. And so, what they did is they took that to her sister. And her sister takes care of the calf. They bring the cow back to their house. Now, they’ve got milk. The country will go out and artificially inseminate it themselves. So, you know, now they got another pregnant cow and praying every day that it’s a female so they can continue to build their little herd. And they've improved their nutritional outcomes. You know, they've improved their economic outcomes. And it’s just so rewarding to know that Frozene— And you know, we don’t even talk the same language. But Frozene and her family will never be the same because God told me to take my chicken skills to Africa. Tom, that’s pretty cool. That's a great way to spend your life.

Tom:                        I would say so. Well, you know, now that you have experienced it for a while, what’s your counsel to others who are getting close to retirement? I mean we have this kind of mindset, don't we, where we hit a certain age and boom! You retire.. But it sounds like we're knocking down those walls quite a bit these days. Wouldn’t you agree?

Donnie:                    Boy , I sure hope so. You know, God and your company or companies over time Tom, have invested, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars in teaching you skills, you know, whether leadership skills or particular skills.

                                 And I just think— For everybody listening, look, think about two things. Think about, number one, what are you good at and what do you like to do? What are you skilled at? What do you enjoy doing? And then also then think about who in the world can benefit from that. And you know, there’s a verse and scripture that says, “To whom much is given, much is required.” And we certainly won the genetic lottery being born in America or wherever your listeners are. Right? I mean we are blessed. So, we have been given much. And I think, you know, from us, it requires something. And so, you know, we often get bogged down when we ask ourselves the question. Well, yeah, but what difference can one person make? Well, let’s reframe that question and let's say, “Okay, in what one person’s life can I make a difference?” And if you can, then you should. And I just hope that we don't waste the twilight, whatever you wanna call it, years of our lives fishing and hanging out on the beach. Hey, look, there is nothing wrong with going fishing. I love to fish. I live on a lake. I love lake life. You know, I love going to beach. I don't want you to feel guilty when you go and enjoy the life that you earned from those years of toil and like not at all. That’s a blessing and you should enjoy it. But, man, don’t make it all about that. Think about what you can do. You know, maybe you can’t change the world, but I’d guarantee you. You can change somebody's life. And by the way, you don't have to go to Africa to do it like I do. You go across town, or down the street, or somewhere, but there's somebody on this planet that can benefit from you, your heart, and your resources, and what you've been trying to do. And I just don't want you to waste that because, you know, man, the world needs folks that will jump in with both feet and say, “I don't know how much difference I could make, but I'm gonna make a difference to somebody. So, you all move over and let me in.”

Tom:                        That’s Donnie Smith, former Tyson Foods CEO and supposedly retired. But actually, he is busy as ever making good things happen for people and economies in Africa. Thanks so much, Donnie. We appreciate it.

Donnie:                    Thanks a lot. I’ve enjoyed it.

Tom:                        And that concludes our series on purpose-driven business. I'm Tom Martin.

Alltech has announced the keynote speaker line-up to be featured at the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference (ONE), a virtual event that will be held on May 25–27, 2021. Streaming keynote and on-demand presentations will be released during the global conference and will focus on the power of science, sustainability and storytelling.

Shirzad Chamine, author of the New York Times bestseller "Positive Intelligence," has served as the CEO of the largest coach-training organization in the world and has used his expertise to train the faculty at the business schools at Stanford and Yale. Chamine lectures on the concept of mental fitness at Stanford, where he also works with the university’s student athletes. A preeminent C-suite advisor, Chamine has coached hundreds of CEOs and their executive teams.

A man of many talents, Dewitt Jones is one of America's top professional photographers, as well as a motion-picture director, an author and a former photojournalist for National Geographic. He has also been at the forefront of corporate creative marketing by photographing national advertising campaigns for major brands. Jones is recognized as a world-class lecturer. His knowledge of the creative process, his relaxed and genuine style, and his ability to communicate make his presentations truly outstanding.

Economist, bestselling author, journalist, documentary filmmaker and broadcaster David McWilliams is ranked as one of the top ten most influential economists in the world. He has devoted his entire professional life to the objective of making economics as widely available and easily understandable as possible.

Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech, represents the second generation of the global business founded by his father Dr. Pearse Lyons. Based on Alltech’s belief that agriculture has the greatest potential to positively impact the future of the planet, he launched the company’s vision of Working Together for a Planet of Plenty™ in 2019.  Alltech is driving science-led sustainability within agriculture and calling for collaboration to improve nutrition, human and animal well-being, and the preservation of natural resources.

“This past year has changed the world, and now, more than ever, we need to come together to share insights, inspiration and innovations,” said Lyons. “The Alltech ONE Ideas Conference connects changemakers for conversations that can shape the future of agri-food and our planet.”

A new keynote presentation will be streamed on the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference virtual platform each day. Registrants who miss the scheduled streaming can access the presentations on demand.

More than 40 on-demand presentations will also be released on May 25. These presentations will uncover the challenges and opportunities in the aqua, beef, business, crop science, dairy, equine, health and wellness, pet, pig, and poultry sectors. The Alltech ONE Ideas Conference virtual platform will also host live workshops and an interactive networking experience.

To learn more about the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference, including how to register, visit one.alltech.com. Join the conversation across social media with #ONEbigidea.

Carol Cone believes that having a profound purpose that employees buy into is integral for businesses to fulfill their full potential. She discusses her work as the CEO of Carol Cone On Purpose, where she helps build partnerships between companies, brands and social issues for deep business and societal impact.

 Tom:                                   I’m Tom Martin, and joining us for this latest conversation in our purpose-driven business series is Carol Cone, founder of the firm Carol Cone On Purpose.

                                    She is regarded the mother of social purpose, working for 25 years to build partnerships between companies, brands and social issues for deep business and societal impact.

                                    Welcome, Carol.

Carol Cone:              Thank you for having me to the show, and I’m thrilled to be talking about my favorite topic.

Tom:                          Well, let me ask you about that. What is a purpose-driven business? Isn’t the purpose to serve the bottom line, the shareholder? Is there something beyond that?

Carol Cone:              Oh, actually, I’m so glad that you asked that, because it was Milton Friedman, in the late ‘70s, who said, “The purpose of the corporation is just to serve the shareholders.” But that — in a world where we have total transparency, and we have so much choice, and we also recognize that we have climate challenges and social challenges and, you know, economic challenges, that — companies today who are going to win in the marketplace, whether they are B-to-C or B-to-B, they stand for something beyond the bottom line that’s based in humanity.

                                    And simply put, the companies today are recognizing, “What’s our core competency, and how can we take that competency and apply it either (to) society or the environment?” And when they do that, they have a profound purpose, a reason for being, that lights up their employees, their customer relationships, their community relationships, their consumer relationships. It really allows them to fulfill their full potential.

Tom:                          The Unilever CEO, Paul Polman, has said that what people think, say and do should be aligned. And that might be obvious, but is this the essence of a business that has worked to develop and express its purpose?

Carol Cone:              Well, let me first say that I had the joyous opportunity to work with Unilever. I got to meet Paul Polman a number of times. And he actually — in all the thousands of encounters he’s had with people, he sent people my way, so he does recognize that I do have this expertise in purpose.

                                    And (with) this alignment of what the company stands for, you can’t just say, “We stand for it.” You have to act. And so, when he said that people should think, say and do and have this alignment, and when you have a purpose that is beyond making a profit, that’s where you truly, again, ignite your stakeholders — not just shareholders, your stakeholders — to truly perform to, you know, the wildest levels beyond their wildest dreams.

Tom:                          Carol, I wonder: How many of us know whether our company stands for something?

Carol Cone:              It’s a great question. And I believe that — you know, I’m a third-generation entrepreneur. And you know, I always — when I started my company — and you were very kind; you mentioned 25 years. I started my company in 1980. (But) it’s still young, and I didn’t know what I stood for, but about three years into it, I recognized that I wanted — I love branding, I love marketing and I love the social challenges of the day.

                                    I grew up in the ‘60s and the ‘70s, and we had the Vietnam War in our face, and we had the Civil Rights movement, and I just felt that companies could take their assets and make them work harder for society. And so, my purpose, (which) I found when I was very young, was to help elevate the purpose of companies and brands, as well as professionals, students and such.

                                    So, a company must understand what it, you know — (you must) stand for something, because you talk about it as that North Star. Like, “Why are we doing what we’re doing?”

Tom:                          Mm-hmm.

Carol Cone:              And, when you do that, and then you add dimensionality to it, it just becomes this ignition for just performance and possibility.

Tom:                          Well, let’s say that we want to build a purpose-driven organization from the ground up. What building blocks, what kinds of tools do we need to make that happen?

Carol Cone:              Well, it’s important — and usually, if you’re going to build up from the ground up, you’re probably a small company or you found the company — I’ll tell you a great story. It’s a very — it’s fascinating. It’s about a company called Charlotte Pipe.

                                    And Charlotte Pipe makes pipes. They make clay pipes and metal pipes for water and for, you know, basically, mostly water municipalities and for people who have farms and things like that. And you know, you think, “How can a company that makes pipes have a purpose?” But, you know, it was about — it was a family-owned firm (that) decided one day to say, “You know what? We’re going to make the best pipes ever in the world. And not only are we going to make them so that they are just the top-quality and all the parts and bits, you know, they integrate with each other and they perform; we’re going to give great warranties, and we’re also going to have great, great policies for our employees. So, our employees not only get a fair wage, and they get, you know, health benefits and such, but they know, at the end of the day, that they can stand behind (us) no matter where they are in the process of making these pipes, because we’re going to make the best pipes in the world.”

And so, sometimes, your purpose can be something as simple as just terrific quality, and then, making sure that your employees — because employees are the number-one stakeholder to support and to build companies that truly over-perform.

So they just did that, and they had these great values, and they live the values, they live their integrity daily, and it was an amazing company, and they made pipes. You know, that’s a lot different than when we think about Unilever, Unilever and Dove.

You know, Dove was basically soap. It was a white bar of soap. It really didn’t have many attributes that differentiated it. But one day, some of the marketers at Dove, they made a major piece of research around the globe. And, they have like, oh, I don’t know, hundreds and hundreds of pages from this research, and they were asking about women and beauty and how they (use) soap, about themselves, (and there) was this one little, little, teeny, tiny fact, and the fact was that it was something like only 4% of women worldwide feel beautiful. And so, some really, really smart person at Unilever said, “You know what? We’re going to take that fact — because we’re selling to women, right? And we want women to feel good.” And they started the campaign for Real Beauty, and it’s been around now for over, oh, like, 15 or 18 years now. And they supported all sorts of ways, in a realistic way, to help women feel confident and good about their selves, and that beauty was on the inside; it wasn’t just on the outside.

And that became one of the first purpose-driven brands at Unilever. And now, Unilever is certainly the gold-standard company that anybody will study to truly understand (purpose-driven businesses). They have brands that have super-human powers, and they have brands that have — that take on qualities that might be one step remote, but their purpose is to make sustainable living commonplace. And they touch 2.5 billion — with a “b” — people a day with their products, whether it’s Knorr soups or whether it’s Dirt Is Good laundry detergent or whether it’s Ben & Jerry’s ice cream or whether it’s Lifebuoy soap.

And each one of those brands — they have about 30 brands that are now purposeful, (and) those brands grow about 70% faster than their non-purpose brands, and they return over 75% of the profit to the company, because they stand for something more than just features and benefits.

Tom:                          I’m guessing that it takes a lot of thought, discussion and debate to work through this process, and there may be some impatience involved in the meantime.

Carol Cone:              Absolutely. Yeah.

Tom:                          How much time, reasonably, should we give ourselves to allow for the development of a clear statement of purpose?

Carol Cone:              Well, first of all, I love that you said “debate,” because a purpose is only as good if it’s authentic to the organization, its values and the people within that organization.

                                    So, we’ve had — we’ve worked with companies to develop their purpose, and we’ve also helped companies evolve their purpose, so we can study them. And it takes anywhere from — to do it well — six months to years. It could be couple of years.            

                                    And what’s really important — because you asked about, like, “What building blocks and tools do you need?” You need to ask some really good questions, and it needs to be not just the C-suite — not just the CEO, the CMO, the chief human resources person, the CFO, etc. It also needs the guy and the gal on the factory floor. And it’s harder to get them, because they may not have computers. 

                                    But, you know, we have worked with a company that has 47,000 people around the globe; they have over 100 different locations. And we did everything, from — we did phone interviews with their entire leadership team around the globe (for) an hour each, and that was 200 (people). So, that was a lot (of) time. But I will tell you, I had set — that company was so authentic, and it had such ethos and soul. I only had — out of a few hundred, because I did most of those calls, I only had five (dodge), five that were really boring.

                                    Now, in addition to that, we went around the globe, and we travelled to eight different locations, from China to Malaysia to Costa Rica and Brazil and the United States and Ireland and such, and we did workshops and focus groups. And so, we have, like, the, you know, the leadership interviews; we had the focus groups. And the focus groups have people from the factory floor.

So, we got conversations going about, you know, “What do we stand for? What’s our core expertise? What’s it like when, on a daily basis, when we’re at our best? What are some of the challenges that (manifest) when we don’t do well? Who do we admire, maybe in our industry or outside of our industry, who truly knows what they stand for and has fabulous cultures and really accelerated sales but who, also, is helping the local community, or who’s got great environmental programs?”

So, there’s more questions than that, but those are some of the core questions you ask. And then you need to debate, and then you need to say, you know, “How, let’s say, boldly, (do) we want to take on the world with our purpose?” Then, we want to take on something that’s more conservative. That’s another part of the tools that we utilize.

We have a process that I developed probably about 25 years ago that, you know, it’s no longer guessing; there’s truly a way that you can be a guide. And so, anybody who’s listening, there are ways to follow so that you’re not just guessing, because you don’t want to guess at this. It’s too important.

Tom:                          I visited your blog, Carol, and I saw that you’ve written that authentic purpose equals thoughtful, real and sustained actions that impact the business internally and externally, while also having that positive impact on society that you talked about earlier. Does this boil down to nurturing a culture of transparency, accountability, honesty and integrity, those kinds of things?

Carol Cone:              Well, when we talk authentic purpose — we did a piece of research. I’ve done about 30 pieces of research over the last 30 years, because I, when I started doing this work, I made the joke that I could have had a conversation about purpose at a table for four or six. And American Express was doing this work early on where they had a promotion where, if you use the American Express card, they would donate a penny or two to the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. And that was kind of the first big “cause program.”

So, in the early days, no one was talking about this. Today, because of the internet, because anybody can check off the reputation of the company — you know, what are the customers saying? What are people, you know — why are they getting three stars or zero stars? Do they, you know, like, do they stand behind their products and services?

                                    So, I — this last summer, I got really, really angry, because there was a lot of, can I say, “purpose washing,” “green washing,” “pink washing.” And part of that also came from this research that we did called the B-to-B Purpose Paradox, and it’s on our website, (at) Carol Cone On Purpose. And we asked businesses in the B-to-B realm — they were financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, technology, etc. — and we said, “Do you have a purpose?” And 86% said, “Yes. We have a purpose. We know what we stand for.”

                                    I was like, “What? There’s no way, because B-to-B world trails B-to-C world.” But when we asked deeper questions and peeled back the onion and we asked, “Do you activate — do you have an authentic purpose that you bring into your employees and your innovation and your operations?” Only 24% truly had activated it.

                                    So, getting back to this essay that I wrote last year about authentic purpose, it does boil down to walking the talk, living your values, integrating why you exist. Like, if you’re going to be Unilever and make sustainable living commonplace, what are your sustainability practices internally? What are your sustainability practices with your supply chain? How do you treat the farmers in Madagascar who are harvesting vanilla beans? You know, do you — is there a fair wage, etc.?

                                    So, you need to walk the talk, and yes, you need a culture that is transparent, that has high integrity, and that there’s honesty. And you know what? You’re not going to be perfect. That’s the other thing I really want to share with anybody listening who’s on a purpose journey. It is a journey. You know, Unilever had — they had a wonderful Dove campaign for Real Beauty, but they also had some missteps with Dove, some big, bad missteps. And — but you know what? Most of the time, their integrity is there, so a consumer or even an employee gives them the benefit of the doubt.

Tom:                          I’m going to dig further into that in just a few minutes. But I want to ask you, first: Has this coronavirus pandemic served to underscore the value and even, maybe, the necessity of engaging in those thoughtful, real and sustained actions that you were talking about?

Carol Cone:              Well, first of all, companies — the first thing that companies had to do during COVID is that they had to address the safety of their employees. And thank God that most companies did. Even if they didn’t have the world’s deepest purpose or greatest community relationships, they recognized that they had to, if they let people work from home — and you saw companies with 50,000, 100,000 employees pivot, almost, on a dime to let people work from home. The greater challenges were companies that had to keep people in their plants, and they had to manufacture and, you know, could they get PPE, and could they socially distance and such.

                                    So, COVID accelerated companies that were values-driven. And, I would say it also accelerated decision-making, which was really, really, really interesting because, you know, companies, per se, the larger they get, the slower they get in decision-making; they get more people involved, (and) they get very conservative. And COVID really pushed companies forward quickly.

                                    So, for example, you had AB InBev that, you know, all of a sudden, they took their manufacturing from beer, and they were making hand sanitizer. Same thing with P&G. They had over 200 different NGOs around the globe they are working with, and they immediately pivoted to help them not only survive but then make, again, PPE, hand sanitizer, things like that.

                                    So, COVID has really brought to the fore (the question), “Why does a business exist?” And companies that truly, truly rose to the occasion and helped their employees and then helped the community and then started helping small businesses survive and really, you know, helped all of us, you know, with mental health problems, or donating a lot of food — I mean, you know, there are so many families going hungry, and then (there were) tons and tons and tons of food drops and such.

COVID did, I believe, show the humanity of companies. And I don’t think that companies can go backwards once they’ve done that, and I think the smartest companies will build on that.

Tom:                          Yeah. We thought we knew what a game-changer was before COVID, didn’t we?

Carol Cone:              Right.

Tom:                          So, Carol, in those discussions and the debate that we talked about earlier, is it ever asked, “How do we address the needs of our customers, quality-wise and price-wise, while also remaining nimble enough,” in this ever-changing world that you just talked about, “to sustain our relevance?”

Carol Cone:              I use the word “innovation” because for a company’s customers to be at the top of their game, to have quality — and if you think about Alltech in the ingredients, what — Alltech is research-based, and it’s constantly looking at what are the elements in its products that will help to create natural, appropriate, faster growth of, whether it’s poultry or whether it’s beef or such, in a way that is nutrient-dense that, again, is natural.

And so, that company must focus on innovation. And you’re seeing, today, that purpose-led companies have incubators, that they’re funding innovation incubators. And again, you can go to — I know the Mars company has one. I know that AB InBev, I know that Unilever, P&G, the big — General Mills — the big companies have these incubators on the side, because they’re really looking for that next new idea to keep them relevant and to benefit their customers.

Tom:                          You referenced, earlier, the C-suite and bringing folks from the factory floor into the conversation. And so, I’m wondering: In terms of employee engagement, why is purpose important to everybody, from top to bottom?

Carol Cone:              You know, I would like to say (that it’s) what gets you up in the morning to go to work. Do you get up in the morning (because) “I’m going to make money for XYZ CEO”? Or, you know, do you get up in the morning because you’re going to make the best darn leather boots that anybody’s ever made, and those leather boots are going to be, you know — they’re made of all-natural ingredients, per se, and they give you tremendous support, and they allow you — they don’t have a thread that marks the path, so you’re going to leave no thread behind?

Now, of course, I’m making this up, per se. But the point is (that) having this greater reason for being just allows an individual at any level to — and it’s really funny, when you talk to CFOs, and I’ve seen CFOs that love the purpose of their company. They are just lit, and it’s really, really funny, in addition to the person on the factory floor. And so, it just gives you that energy and that North Star. You’re looking up to the stars to say, “I’m doing something to better my neighborhood, my community, my city, my country or the world.”

And so, to be inside of a purpose driven company — I’ll give you, I’ll give you another great example that’s one of my proudest moments, that, early on, I worked with the company called the Rockport Shoe Company. And their CEO, he came to me and he said, “I really want to build my company on something different.” He didn’t have a lot of money, but he had these really, really unique shoes, and they (had) Nike inners. So, they have, like, these athletic inners, but they had street shoe outers. And nobody has ever done that before. And so, they were ahead of their time; they’re a little bulky-looking, but, you know, for a year — it took me a year to find some gem, some reasons that these shoes were just more than shoes. And the CEO gave me a little clue.

                                    We would go to the trade shows and would have these beautiful pictures of people walking in his shoes, walking in a field, walking down the city street, walking in the neighborhood. And he didn’t, say, want to become the walking shoe company, but he did have these pictures. And so, one day, I realized — I did some research, and I realized (that) there’s no walking shoes for fitness and for health.

And so, long story short, we had a fellow who walked around the country. He talked to kids. He said, “Eat properly, don’t smoke, and walk.” He walked 11,208 miles in every state. We then flew him back to Massachusetts, to the University of Massachusetts. They had a health and fitness facility to study his health, because he was going to be the world’s first (and) longest walking experiment. And when he finished, not only was he wicked healthier, but we had a book, we had a movie, and we had a lot of data that said walking for health and fitness was really good for you.

                                    And we continue to create a walking institute and walking tests and all sorts of walking information. Rockport renamed itself “the walking shoe company.” Walking became the nation’s newest fitness activity. It became a billion-dollar category at retail, and Rockport grew eight times (its size) in four years. They were wildly successful, and then Reebok bought them.

                                    But it was giving — and I’ll tell you, they had this thing about (their company) feeling really different. One day, I was out in the loading dock area, and I happen to, like, listen in to a guy that was taking boxes off of a UPS truck. And the UPS truck (driver) asked this employee — this was, like, a guy that was like, you know, 24 years old — “What’s this company, Rockport? What do you do here?” And this young man, he stopped, he just kind puffed off, and he said, “I work for Rockport. We’re the walking shoe company.”

                                    And, you know, the company not only made walking shoes, but they gave their employees a free pair of shoes; they gave them a walking book, (and) they gave them time to walk during the day. And it just gave that young man and, then, the entire company a reason for being, far beyond just selling a shoe. And it just made me — and that was, that was kicking off my purpose career.

And then, we did Reebok and human rights and Avon and breast cancer and PNC Financial Services and early childhood education, and we reinvented the Aflac duck. You know, the big Aflac duck that says, “Aflac!”

Well, (they) donated $125 million to pediatric cancer and — but the two did not meet. But we knew the kids who went through pediatric cancer had a thousand days of treatments. They were lonely, and they were sick, and they were scared. And so, we invented a social robot that helped those children. It was a companion for children that they could interact with, and they could put emoji cards on it, and the duck would quack with their feelings. So, those kids wouldn’t be alone. And Aflac was reborn in terms of its purpose and its engagement with society. And it helped also grow their sales tens of millions of dollars, because they created something called My Special Aflac Duck, a social work that help kids going through a really hard time with cancer.

So, purpose. And when you find that purpose — and it’s just an extraordinary accelerant to alignment between all your stakeholders and, then, growth.

Tom:                          Let’s stay in the C-suite for just a moment, and if you would, describe for us the traits of that successful leadership team that’s authentic and credible in the way that it models purpose in an organization and creates what you were just talking about: employee buy-in.

Carol Cone:              And you know, I’m going to say that — how do they model it? Because a company that has a purpose must walk the talk.

                                    So, people. If you’re going to sell to a diverse consumer base, you need to have diversity of people working to get better ideas, to get better energy. So, it’s walking the talk, so that when you talk about your value of being innovative or listening to everyone’s ideas, you need to activate them, and you need to model the behaviors, day in and day out. And it’s coaching. It’s mentoring. It’s innovating. And it’s also taking what you stand for down to your supply chain.

So, it could be such as what Alltech does. You know, they have this amazing commitment to Haiti, to the poorest of the poor in Haiti, where they’re sourcing coffee. Because they want to help, you know, individuals, farmers, the coffee farmers, have a better life. And then, they go sell that at retail, and they put the money back into it. It’s cause-related marketing and such.

                                    But they’re these virtuous circles that companies are recognizing that they have to be. And today, especially with the millennials and Gen Z, (they know) that there’s a choice about where you work, and people don’t want to park their values at the door. They want to work for a values-based company that’s not only going to help with their training but also, at the end of the day, when you leave the office or you go home to your family or to, like, you know, the local fact or game or something, you talk about — like, I remember, again, going back to Rockport, (and people would be proud to say), “I work at Rockport. I work at the walking shoe company.” And in it, there’s a pride. You can’t put a dollar amount on that pride.

And companies today, it is now becoming — it used to be just the early adopters, the Ben & Jerry’s and the Body Shops and such, (but) it is now the mainstream that companies recognize that they want to attract the best and brightest.

And the best — I’ll give you another example: Tata Consultancy Services. They’re the world’s largest information technology company. They have more than 50,000 employees. They’re based in India, but they’re all over the world. They are larger than Accenture and IBM. And when they bring in employees, they spend three months going through training and learning about the culture. And then, their first customer — it’s a not-for-profit, and so, they allow their new employees to really feel their integrity and their values and action. It’s extraordinary. And their turning rate is barely anything. Their retention is 87–89%.

Tom:                          Wow!

Carol Cone:              (That’s) unheard of in companies. It’s because they live their values from the very (start), from recruiting to retention, from the highest senior level to the factory. Well, they don’t really have factories, because they are software.

Tom:                          Well, Carol, I made a mental note to return to something that you brought up earlier in our conversation and, also, going back to your blog.

                                    You note there that there’s recent research that finds that 65% of consumers want businesses to take a stand on issues that are important to them, and that rate goes up to 74% among 18-to-39-year-olds. How does a policy of purpose inform how an organization responds to these forces, what it stands for, and does this include making clear what it opposes?

Carol Cone:              This is a — okay, so activism and advocacy is very hard for companies today. It’s really hard, because no matter what side you’re going to pick, you’re always going to have your detractors. So, what — the first thing we say to any of our clients is, “Don’t just jump in” — that you need to look at, “What do you stand for at the core?” And then, you need to decide whether you’re going to be bold and you’re going to stick your neck out, as Nike did with Colin Kaepernick.

                                    But, you know, I knew, when Nike did that — Nike is a “bad boy” company. Now, there are also about one of these days too. But, you know, that, doing what they did with Colin Kaepernick — you know, everybody said, “Oh, they’re losing all this money and their stock price,” etc., etc. Yeah, their stock price took a hit, but then it went, then it went right back up, through the roof, because they walk their talk; they live on their values. And, you know, they’re not perfect; (they’ve) had a lot of issues with women, and now, they’re trying to be much more equitable with women.

                                    But a company has got to look at its core, and it is, it’s a tough decision to make. It truly is, in terms (of) standing out. And I think DE&I — diversity, equity and inclusion — that’s where, you know, companies today, they know they have to act, but they also have to understand. They have to start with their policies internally. And do they have equitable pay? Do they have equitable advancement, you know? And they have to start there, and a lot of companies just are looking at, you know, the terms or the words they use and the way that they advance people, (but) they’ve got to start, really, at home.

                                    So, corporate activism, regarding (that), you know, you’ve got to be really, really careful, and there’s no one roadmap to follow. You know, you also want to look at: do you want to be left behind? So, again, there’s no easy answer to this, but you certainly need to look at your history and how you’ve acted and what your internal policies are before you take a stand at all.

Tom:                          But is any success in recruiting the best new generation of talent going to depend on a company’s willingness to respond to these social, political and environmental dynamics?

Carol Cone:              Well, I think we have to — you don’t have to respond to them all, because if you respond to all things, you will stand for nothing. That’s the first thing.

                                    Climate and the environment, I think it’s fairly indisputable that you’ve got companies today, and their ESG — their environmental, their social and their governance approaches — that, environmentally, they have to cut their carbon footprint. They have to be more environmentally, you know, sensitive. And there’s lots of innovation that comes out of that, which is great.

                                    And we are turning to an electric economy, which is exciting. And, you know, I’m going to give a shout-out to Mary Barra assigned with this podcast, this interview. But Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, they are going to stop making combustion engines by 2035. They’re not going to make them anymore for regular cars and light-duty vehicles — like, oh, my God, they are going to go all-electric. That’s so exciting.

                                    So, you know, I think that companies, they have (questions about) DE&I, (and) you’re going to have to respond. But how will you respond? And the level and the goals that, the goals that you set and how you measure and report back, you know, that’s (just) as important. You don’t have to go from zero to 60 instantly, but you need to make steady progress. The level of your boldness depends on, again, your culture.

                                    I also think that there’s going to be — a lot of my colleagues who are in the C-suite, and they say that there’s going to be this next generation of leadership, the next gen, the Mary Barras, who’s very (much) on the cutting edge. You know, she started out as an engineer at General Motors, you know, (and now she’s) a woman running a car company. How — my God! And she’s fabulous, and she’s really, really great. And Indra Nooyi, who ran Pepsi-Co, and she really helped them. You know, she had a philosophy (of) performance with purpose, and that, you know, (she) decided to make better-for-you drinks and (add) less sugar and salt in the snacks and things like that. And they’re on a wonderful journey too.

                                    So, there’s going to be a new generation of leadership that recognizes that you cannot be successful in a society that’s unhealthy. And so, you will see dramatic changes happening again and again and again.

Tom:                          The Unilever chief, Paul Polman, has said that leaders need to have the courage to show that they’re vulnerable, that they’re willing to ask for help, which would seem to counter the historical notion of leadership, where just the opposite has been expected.

                                    Has the world become more receptive to a more down-to-earth, more accessible servant-leadership style?

Carol Cone:              I love that you talk about servant leadership, because in the earliest days when I started doing this work, there was a guy named Jack Stack. And if anybody knows (or) reads his book, it was about (being an) open book with management and leadership. And it was pretty much about servant leadership.

                                    And there’s a company that I have (on) one of my podcasts called Lineage Logistics. And nobody knows them; they’re about a $3-billion B-to-B. They are cold-storage refrigeration warehouses. And they handle, from field to store, about one-third of the food in the United States and about one-tenth of the food around the globe.

                                    And their leader knew that, you know, “I’ve got people in heavy coats in cold-storage facilities that are wearing boots, and this is not glamorous.” But he recognized that he needed to have a purpose, and their purpose is, basically — the shorthand is to feed the world. It’s also to stop food waste, but to feed the world. And he’s applying — it’s really interesting, when you talk to him, because he is applying, he wants to be the greatest technological cold-storage facility, you know, around the globe. And they have all sorts of innovations, but he treats his employees — he’s got a great CHRL.

                                    And I interviewed him on my show and talked about servant leadership and talked about — if you think about your traditional pyramid, you’ve got the C-suite at the top, and you’ve got all the, you know, the worker bees at the bottom. Servant leadership flips that. It has the workers at the top and it has the C-suite at the bottom. And that’s what Lineage does. They are there to serve their employees, to give them great benefits, to give them opportunities to grow, to give them an understanding that they are helping to feed the world. And, actually, during COVID, what they did — they did this wonderful thing about collaborating with all of their customers. And they created this goal to feed a hundred million meals to people during COVID through Feeding America.

Tom:                          Wow!

Carol Cone:              And, you know — and again, they’re cold storage of food that, you know — they’ve got all these, you know, like, forklifts that are driving around. It is not glamorous, but their people feel (like), “My God, I get up in the morning because I am, I am helping with food waste, and I’m feeding the world.” And, Greg Lehmkuhl, who’s the CEO, he gets that, that their purpose is at their core, (that) it’s the soul of their company, and that he is there to serve him employees.

                                    So, you are spot-on. And I love that Paul Polman, you know, he’s gone on from Unilever, and he’s doing wonderful, really collaborative work with big industry groups. Like, I think that’s he’s got, like, I don’t know, 25 companies in apparel, and they’re trying to totally reinvent the apparel industry — dyes and things like that.

                                    And courage is really important. You’ve got to have courage to do this. But, when you do it, this is how you reinvent: it’s called stakeholder-based capitalism. And it’s truly, you know, taking Milton Friedman and turning him on his head — (it’s) saying it’s not about “when you do all these other things right to your stakeholders, then you make the profits, and then you serve your shareholders,” but you serve all your other constituents.

Tom:                          It sounds like it’s a matter of being comfortable in your own skin and developing a really powerful sense of confidence.

Carol Cone:              It is a powerful sense of confidence. And then, you also need to — the other thing (is) that you can’t go for the short term. So, one of the things that Paul Polman did is that he said, you know, he’s not going to report quarterly earnings, which was shocking. And he basically said, “If you don’t like my — if you don’t like the way I’m reporting, then don’t buy my stock.”

                                    And it’s hard for companies who are public who, you know, you have to give guidance, you have to report quarterly. But this is a game, a purpose game, and the stakeholder-based capitalist approach and strategy — it’s not a “game” game, but I’m using that as, you know, a euphemism — is that you got to have a long view, because innovations — you’ve got to bring the, you know, how you’re going to serve the climate and society. You’ve got to take a longer view. You just can’t — you know, (with) purpose, you can’t flip a switch on purpose. You can’t turn it on and off.

Tom:                          Going back to something else that you raised earlier in our conversation, Carol — and apologies for this cliché — but they say a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Do you think it’s possible for a purpose-driven organization to influence the cultures and the behaviors and achieve alignment among the companies within its supply chain?

Carol Cone:              Well, you know who did that incredibly well? Oh boy, you know, take a page from the book of Walmart.

I mean, Walmart decided — and I was at one of these meetings, at, I think, it was business with social responsibility. And they said — and Walmart is doing this in a number of ways. They are saying that you have to report on your environmental footprint, per se, and you’re going to get, you know — there are all there reports you have to do, and based on how you come out, you will get, uh, your position on the shelf. And everybody wants that, you know — “I’d love a position,” etc., etc., etc.

                                    That was a game-changer. That was a game-changer. And so, you’ve got these, we call them, market makers. You’ve got these big organizations who say — like General Motors — “We’re not” — you know, it’s their own product, but “we are not going to sell combustion engines.” Well, think how the downstream is on that. Think about, “Oh, God, we’re going to have to have all these charging stations. We’re going to have to have all these new battery companies.” That’s cool, but think about the other stuff that’s going to be antiquated.

But there’s amazing things that are happening, where companies are really utilizing their — you know, Starbucks. And Starbucks changed the entire coffee farmer industry by, you know, determining that they were going to pay them a fair wage. And then, they communicated the heck out it. Starbucks is my favorite company (in terms of their) views of their employees. Their employees are their number-one stakeholder — one, two, three, four and five. (They’re) just brilliant, brilliant things they do.

Tom:                          When it starts at the top of the chain, at Walmart or Amazon or wherever, does it — do you see it rippling through the supply chain and influencing the policies of those companies that are within the chain?

Carol Cone:              Well, I don’t know about the policy. I think, certainly, it influences the products. And if — indeed, companies that wanted to sell at Walmart, they had to report on their carbon footprint. So, of course, it changed the policies, or they couldn’t sell there, or they got bad position on the shelf.

Tom:                          Back to the pandemic. This has been an overwhelming thing in our lives for more than a year now, and we’re really not out of the woods yet. And some are now saying — in fact, the New York Times has proclaimed on its front page — that remote work is here to stay. So, I’m just wondering: What kinds of challenges does this present to purpose-driven organizations?

Carol Cone:              I think it’s a tremendous opportunity, because (it’s about) standing for something besides just making widgets or being on a Zoom call all day.

For example, there’s virtual volunteering. And a major piece of research just came out of CECP, which (is the) Chief Executive for Corporate Purpose, called Value Volunteering. It’s going to be one of my podcasts; it’s going to air in about a month. And basically, volunteering is helping individuals stay connected to the company, even if it’s just, you know, on a Zoom screen, or we’ll eventually be able to do volunteering in our communities with, you know, with masks and then, ultimately, you know, without masks, in micro volunteering and large volunteering.

                                    So, purpose is going to be that golden thread that ties people to the company, I think, (and it) is more important than ever.

Tom:                          Carol, final question for you: What sort of world exists in the future in which purpose-driven businesses become the norm?

Carol Cone:              Hopefully, it’s not nirvana. Hopefully, it’s not a dream. Because companies will have their — they will be more efficient; they will more human; they will be more environmentally sensitive. They will make wicked-cool innovations that are going to be, you know, responding to social issues and environmental issues. And we will have greater solutions to the problems that confront us on a daily basis. And work will be more joyous. That is for sure.

Tom:                          So, do you think there’s a good chance we could be happier people?

Carol Cone:              I think we will be more fulfilled. I don’t think we’re going to be happy all the time, but I think that being satisfied and having greater fulfillment, I think that that’s going to be a great result from having a lot more purpose in all of our companies, both big and small, B-to-B, B-to-C, local, national and global.

Tom:                          I’ll take it. Carol Cone, founder of the consultancy, Carol Cone ON PURPOSE. Thank you so much, Carol. We appreciate your time.

Carol Cone:              I, it was joyful, it was great. And thank you so much.

Tom:                          I’m Tom Martin, and thank you for listening.

The Alltech ONE Ideas Conference (ONE) will launch virtually on May 25–27, 2021, and will feature tracks that will uncover the challenges and opportunities in the aqua, beef, crop science, dairy, equine, health and wellness, pet, pig, and poultry sectors. Now in its 37th year, Alltech’s global agri-food conference continues to be an invaluable resource, uniting thought-leaders and changemakers in an exploration of the power of science, sustainability and storytelling. More than 40 topics* are slated for discussion at ONE, including:    

Aqua

• Can Sustainability Remain Aquaculture’s Unfair Advantage?
• Feeding Your Future: The Changing Face of Aqua Feed
• From Sea to Land: The Evolution of Aquaculture
• Pick Your Protein: How the Pandemic Shifted Shopping Habits
• The Great Global Fish and Shrimp Cook-Off

Beef

•  Better Beef, Healthier Planet
• High-Steaks Investments: Capitalizing on Beef
• The Meat You Eat: The Nutritional Realities of Beef

Crop Science

• Carbonomics: The Economy Beneath Our Feet
• Empowering Growers Through Pest Prevention
• Natural Solutions, Unparalleled Protection
• Selenium: Agriculture’s Secret Weapon
• Tiny Microbes, Big Impact

Dairy

• From Late Gestation to Early Lactation: Managing Transitional Periods
• Happy Cows, Happy Farmers: Animal Welfare and Sustainability
• Higher Milk Production, Lower Carbon Hoofprint
• Opportunities for the Global Milk Trade
• Overcoming the Impact of Activists

Equine

• Equine Trace Mineral Research: The Advantages of Going Organic
• Equine Welfare: Hope for Horses Without Humans
• Going Green: Sustainable Equine Management
• In the Running: The Trends Dominating Equestrian Sport
• Making Aging a Breeze: Strategies for Feeding Your Senior Horse
• Photo Finish: Marketing to Equine Consumers

Health and Wellness

• Gut Reaction: Feeding a Healthy Microbiome
• Why Smart People Make Bad Food Choices: The Invisible Influences That Guide Our Thinking

Pet

• Brain Power: Supporting Cognitive Function in Pets
• Dog Days Are Over: Beating the Post-Pandemic Pet Blues
• Minimizing the Environmental Pawprint of Your Brand
• What’s in Store for the Future of Brick-and-Mortar Retail?

Pig

• Better Nutrition, Safer Swine
• High-Rise Pigsties: The Future of Swine Production
• Litters With Longevity: Optimizing Piglet Nutrition
• Smarter Barns, Healthier Pigs
• Leaving a Legacy: Ensuring Lasting Success for the Family Business

Poultry

• A New Way to Sell Chicken
• Future of the Flock: Sustainability in the Poultry Business
• Planet of Plenty: Poultry Partner Spotlight
• The World of Poultry

*Topics are subject to change.

The ONE virtual platform will provide access to on-demand tracks, streaming keynote presentations and live Q&A chats with select speakers. New this year, it will also offer an interactive networking experience, allowing attendees to connect with their peers from around the world. 

Registration for the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference is now open at one.alltech.com. Join the conversation across social media with #ONEbigidea.

Jim Stengel, host of The CMO Podcast and former CMO of P&G, is passionate about helping businesses and individuals discover and activate the “why” behind their work. Join us as he discusses the importance of purpose for an organization, how this can lead to better financial results and how the food industry's mission became more clearly defined and transparent as a result of the challenges of the past year.

The following is an edited transcript of the Ag Future podcast episode with Jim Stengel hosted by Tom Martin. Click below to hear the full audio or listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Tom:                          Welcome, Jim.

Jim:                             Tom, thank you. Great to be here on a beautiful day with you in the spring.

Tom:                          Let's just begin with this very simple but important question: What is the importance of purpose?

Jim:                             Well, Tom, I think the importance of purpose is to give people in an organization a North Star — something to bring them together, something that is helping people, impacting people's lives in a way beyond just turning a dollar. And so, for me, it is getting to the fundamental question of: Why are we in business beyond making money? What's our point here? What was the founder’s idea? What is that concept that brings people together, gives them a bit of lifting their step, and brings them to work with new ideas, energy (and) enthusiasm every day? (That’s) such a long-winded way of saying I think it's the “why” behind what businesses do for a living. And the more powerful the “why,” I think, the more powerful the business.

Tom:                          When that policy of purpose, of mission, is established and made clear, how does that help the company then grow?

Jim:                             Well, I think it helps them in a few ways. And by the way, Tom, there’s a lot of data. I’ve been a purpose seller since I was at Procter & Gamble. I’m going on probably a quarter of a century of advocating purpose, testing it, trying it, seeking data about it. And there's a growing database that (shows that) companies that are seen by people, consumers (and) employees as being purpose-driven far exceed their competition in terms of business results, financial results. So, it works. It helps the company grow. And the “why” behind why it works is it attracts better people. It encourages people to bring their best ideas. It kind of causes you to measure different things. It helps you be more customer-centric. It helps you to have more of a service and a generosity mindset. And overall, it just creates a great culture. You know, brands and businesses are grown by people, and great cultures attract great people, and great cultures grow brands. So, it works. Once you're in a purpose-driven organization, it’s tough to leave it, and it’s tough to go to one that is not wired that way.

Tom:                          Are passion and purpose mutually exclusive, or can they complement one another?

Jim:                             Oh, I think they go together. You know, if you’re working for a company that you really believe in and a leader you really believe in and a team you really believe in, you bring a tremendous sense of passion and energy and creativity to your work. And I think they go hand in hand in a purpose-driven company.

                                    You know, it’s tough for me to think about an organization that attracts passionate people but (for whom passion is) not a purpose of the center. And by this, Tom, I don’t mean cause marketing. I don’t mean philanthropy. I don't mean CSR. I mean a genuine passion and desire and interest to leverage the company's assets to make life better for the people they serve.

Tom:                          Is there a particular process? What goes into sorting out and clearly identifying a company's purpose?

Jim:                             Well, I think the answer is usually in the company itself. It’s usually with the people. And if we’re asked by a firm or a leader to help them with that — my firm does a bit of that work. You know, we always come in like anthropologists, and we come in curious. We come in like sociologists. What we want to do is we want to talk to a lot of people. We want to really understand where this company came from and what was the catalyst in starting the business whenever it started. What was the founder’s motivation? What happened in the company — when were its high times? Its low times? And so, we really study the history, and we also talk to a lot of people about why they're in this company — why they joined, what brings them to work, what are their hopes and dreams, when are they at their best, what’s the best day they've had at work. And when you go in and you ask those kinds of questions and you study the history of a company, it does come out.

                                    I mean, we're not wizards. We don't come into a company and send a lightning bolt and their purpose appears in the wall and everything's wonderful. We go in and we help the people in the company discover — or rediscover — what's always been there. And then the tricky part is the next stage, and that is bringing it to life in daily work.

Tom:                          I know that you've defined the key components of purpose, and you've actually created a framework around five areas: employee engagement, offerings, societal contributions, branding, and consumer engagement. And I'd like to look at each of these, beginning with employee engagement. After a year and counting of this life under the pandemic, what are leadership teams encountering in the way of employee engagement?

Jim:                             Well, Tom, I think that framework you just rattled off, which we do live by, we did not create that just by team meeting. We said, “These are the five things we’re going to study.” That came out of a very large database on what sort of activities drive purpose, as consumers see it as important. So, employee offerings and contributions that help society, branding, consumer engagement — those are based on a very large database. So, it's good, quantitative information. So, I guarantee, anyone who is listening, if you put your team together and you think about your status against those five areas, no doubt, you will have ideas to make your company better and stronger.

                                    On employee engagement, which is your pointed question, I am seeing, during the pandemic condition, a tremendous — and I’m talking about a lot of people, a lot of chief marketing officers and CEOs over the last 12 months, and there is no doubt that the way they work with their teams and approach their teams has changed significantly. So, the level of empathy, of listening, of understanding, of caring — I think those have always been there with great leaders, (but) they’re on hyperdrive over the last year. They have been on hyperdrive. And once that happens, you don't go back.

                                    So, the bond I am seeing with teams, among teams, are driven by the leader and how they work with their team over the last 12 months. That is stronger than I've seen in my career, and (that) sounds counterintuitive, because we have been able to touch and shake each other's hands and be around the same table (in the past), but counterintuitively, what's happened is, I think, leaders have gone above and beyond on caring about their people — their mental health, their physical health, their balance in their life. And I think that's one very positive outcome of these very, very difficult times.

Tom:                          And let's expand on that. What sort of actions have occurred as a result of those realizations?

Jim:                             Well, there's all sorts of rituals people have developed on their own, but I think the principle that underlies all of them (is that) they’ve given their teams the flexibility and the freedom to run their lives and to take care of what's most important and to be of service to their customers in all sorts of ways.

                                    You know, I just remember, in the first weeks of the pandemic, talking to the chief innovation officer and chief marketing officer of the beer company, AB InBev. And these were very early times; we were just all kind of figuring out how to get on Zoom together. And he just described how, you know, they just said to their people, “Listen, forget about our products and services right now. Let's just figure out everything we can do with our capabilities and our assets to help people.” So, if that's about making sanitizers in our factories or volunteering or opening up our spaces for whatever is needed in the health community, that's what they did. And at the same time, they started figuring out how they’re going to work together as teams. And the one principle I’ve seen, you know, obviously, (is) flexibility and listening and caring about people. Everyone's making decisions faster.

                                    You know, some rituals I see — teams are having morning quick check-ins, evening quick check-ins (where they ask), “What has to be done today? How did we do today? Do we make decisions fast enough?” So, (there’s) a lot more empowerment, a lot more agility, a lot more speed — and, through that, I'm hearing, a lot more creativity. We’re just finding ways to do things that we’ve never done before, and that feels good.

Tom:                          This pandemic certainly has changed things, hasn’t it?

Jim:                             Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think this is just maybe — I don’t know about your life, but in my life, I’m not sure there’s been anything that has been more powerful in terms of changing habits, behaviors, rituals (and) focus. I'm hearing so many people who are forcing some milestones in their lives, whether that's stopping a career, changing a career, figuring out what they really want to do with the precious time we all have left on this planet, changing companies because they want to work for a company that has a stronger sense of purpose. I'm hearing all of these things and discussions.

Tom:                          Yeah. It has really reoriented our priorities, I would say.

Jim:                             Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Tom:                          What about new generations entering the workforce? Is there a struggle there, to connect meaningfully with these new generations?

Jim:                             Well, I think it's been very tough to start a job in the pandemic, and I know a lot of young people who have done that. And companies, God bless them, have done their best to bring people into a culture, but I think starting with a company without meeting anyone — I just talked to a woman whose company was acquired by a large financial institution, and they’re now well into integration, and she said, “I've never met these people. And it's extraordinary how well we all feel we trust each other and understand each other without ever having a physical meeting.”

                                    But I do think for someone who's 22, 23, 27, who is starting a new job, it has been a particular challenge. And obviously, work is much more than going someplace to get something done. You get a paycheck, (but) when you're at that age, it's about meeting people. It's about discovering new things, developing yourself. And I think that has been tough in the pandemic. And you know, they're getting by. They're managing. And companies are doing their best. But I think when we see people's confidence (increase) in coming back together again, the first people who will want to be together in some sort of social/office situation will be the people who are in their first 1 to 2 years in a row.

Tom:                          Another of these five key focus points that you’ve identified is “offerings.” What's this about?

Jim:                             Oh, that’s probably a fancy way of saying just the products and services that you offer people from your company. And I think the companies that are purpose-driven think very deeply about, you know, “Are we offering the right level of products and services that emanate from our purpose, that are inspired by our purpose, and that genuinely do help people in our area in a way that delights them, reduces friction, makes your life easier, makes your life more joyful, makes your life richer?” And so, then, there are a lot of companies who get stuck in the current products and services that they're offering, and they get a little bit functional.

                                    You know, I spent a lot of years at Procter & Gamble, and when we were caught on our back foot, it was because we didn't think broadly enough about the products and services we offered our consumers as their lives changed. And I think, when you have a purpose that transcends the category that you're operating in — that appeals to sort of a higher North Star — then your employees come up with interesting products or services that are beyond what you're offering today. And I think that's a sign of a very creative customer-centered, purpose-driven organization.

Tom:                          That takes us right into that next point: societal contributions. What sorts of responsible actions can businesses take to play a role in improving society and the planet beyond the bottom line, and how does that tie into consumer engagement?

Jim:                             Yeah. I think, Tom, if you had done — you know, we do a lot of consumer research. And there's no doubt that this idea that companies should take a proactive role in solving some of the most pressing problems in our society, in our planet — our consumers and, frankly, our employees are expecting that. I don't think you would have seen that nearly as strongly as you do today, you know, 5 or 6 years ago. So, this is one that has gotten a bigger spotlight, where the expectations are higher. And it's a tricky one, right? If your business is, I don't know, hygiene — like Clorox, like Unilever (or), to some extent, Procter and Gamble — what you do for the planet and society ought to somehow be connected to the business you are or the culture you are and the products and services that you offer. And I think you need to stay in a space where you can generally make a difference based on the capabilities in your company. And, of course, there are some areas that transcend that.

                                    I think if you're not seeking to attract a diverse group of employees and you're (not) working on an inclusive culture that welcomes everyone, that welcomes everyone to bring their best ideas to work, then I think you're going to be, you know, you're going to be stuck about attracting the best talent. But when you pick an area that you want to make a difference in and help society, it should be something that you can genuinely affect, or it's going to be seen as greenwashing, and it’s not going to be authentic, and it's not who you are.

                                    And you know, you can probably think about the brands that you feel are taking a stand in the right spaces. You know, Unilever is a company that I competed against for many years. They've been very proactive at saying, “We're going to help people live a more sustainable lifestyle. And since we have an enormous range of products that are in packages that are discarded, that's the space that we think is right for us to play in. And if we do it well, consumers will appreciate it, our business will get healthier and the planet will be better.” I mean, look at General Motors today. They're making statements like, you know, “We're going to electrify everything by 2035.” They had this rallying cry of zero emissions, zero congestion, zero crashes. So, they're saying, “Hey, we're in the transportation movement business, and autos and trucks have been our lifeline. And they will continue to be for some time, but we are going to set a vision to move to 100% electrification, because it's the right thing to do.” And so, that's a terrific societal contribution, which, I think, if they do well, will benefit their business. So, it’s a good example, I think, of being coherent and picking a place to stand that makes sense for your culture and your category.

Tom:                          The fifth key focus point among the five that we've been talking about is branding. And I'm wondering: Is branding an expression of the other four?

Jim:                             Yeah. I think it's where it all comes together, Tom. I mean, when you think about branding, it’s everything that you communicate, right? It's your advertising. It’s your packaging. It's your language. It's your rituals in the company. So, it's everything that sends a message about who you are and what you value. So, I think it all comes together there. But you know, again, if you don’t think about all five of these areas, you will not be sending out a coherent and consistent message to your employees, first, as well as to other stakeholders, which include your customers. So, this is an important one. And I think it's one that, sometimes, we can think about as an afterthought.

                                    One danger in the purpose journey is that everyone is not on the same page, and some companies see purpose as a marketing initiative or a corporate affairs initiative, and (in) that (case), it does not work. In fact, it backfires. When you're on the purpose journey, everyone's in the boat. Everyone has a role. It breaks down silos. Everyone comes together, and that includes everything you do in branding. So, these aren't functional or discipline ideas. These are ideas within our company.

Tom:                          That really underscores the critical nature of effective communication of those ideas, right?

Jim:                             Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And it’s so important, communication, and we all know the companies that do it well and do it creatively and do it with a high level of engagement, but we have to do that inside the company, too. I was working with a company in Canada on the purpose journey, and they revamped, in all ways, how they communicate. They became much better storytellers. They started almost every press release with a story about their purpose. They started company meetings with stories about their purpose. And it palpably changed the feeling in that company and the morale in that company, and it led to just better ideas coming forward, better innovation toward their purpose, which everyone made their own, because they told stories about it. They talked about it in their own words and in their own stories, whether they were in the legal group, the financial group, the operations group, the finance group, the marketing group. Everyone had their own stories, but it was held together by the purpose.

Tom:                          The food industry has always been important to everybody, but it seems as though it's really catapulted to the forefront during COVID, because we're spending more time in our kitchens (and) more of us (are) embracing healthy diets. How has this influenced thinking and decision-making at the leadership level of the food industry?

Jim:                             Well, I think this has been really positive, and I'm not sure they've gotten all the credit they probably should have through these times. I have my own podcast, and I talked to several CMOs of companies over the last year. And one woman — she’s at Kellogg's — you know, she said to me that, through this pandemic experience we've all had, she said, “Our purpose became so much clearer, our focus became so much clearer, and it came to life, especially in the supply chain.” And the supply chain of finding the right ingredients (and) materials in difficult times, getting products to the shelves so people could shop quickly, carefully go home and enjoy meals with their families when we still, to some extent, are shut in.

                                    I talked to the General Mills CMO about these times. I talked to people at Alltech and many others. And I just feel like the food industry stepped up — and their stock prices are pretty good. So, I think it's been appreciated by Wall Street and the investors, but I think they just said, “We’ve always been important. We’re now more important than ever.” And while they're doing this, Tom, I think they were continuing to make their products more — they were more transparent about what's in their products. They’re seeking to make the ingredients better. They’re seeking to help people eat healthier. Kroger's in my hometown, here, in Cincinnati, (and) they've been on a journey, a purpose journey, for the last few years, where they're just trying to help people eat fresh foods more easily and affordably and creatively.

                                    So, I really feel like the food industry has had a — it’s kind of a year of, you know — it tested them, of course. The supply chains were tested with all of us, but I just think they rose up and they were there and they helped us all get through this. And I think they’re stronger companies because of that.

Tom:                          It’s clear that you're a proponent of this, but I'm wondering what exactly makes you optimistic about a purpose-driven world as we move forward.

Jim:                             Because it works, Tom. You know, the companies that are seen by people as being more purpose-driven are doing better than their competition, and they're delivering superior financial results, and that's because people care. And so, you know, I think purpose is the management philosophy of the century. I think it was seen as a little bit, maybe, “fluffy” as it was bandied about 15 to 20 years ago, but I think what's happening is people are now seeing the growing data that (proves that) purpose is what people want. They want you to be purpose-centered. They want to be customer-centric. They want you to attract really great people, and they want you to help them live their lives more sustainably and more happily. So, I think it's here to stay. It's going to get stronger and stronger. And the competitive battleground is going to be the companies that are more long-term focused, that are more committed to this, that execute better, that are more creative in how they execute. So, it's not going to be about, “Are you purpose-driven or not?” It will be about how well that you inculcate that in your culture and how well you execute that for your customers.

Tom:                          Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer of Procter & Gamble, now president and CEO of the Jim Stengel Company in Cincinnati. Thanks, Jim.

Jim:     Thank you, Tom. I enjoyed it.

For the past year, Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech, has led his multinational company through a global pandemic while maintaining an optimistic focus on the future. Join us as he provides his unique insights from the helm, including the significance of sustainability, countering negative perceptions of agriculture with science and why collaboration is crucial to creating a Planet of Plenty.

Tom:              I'm Tom Martin, and I'm joined by Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech. Greetings, Dr. Lyons.

Mark:              Great to be with you.

Tom:              Mark, if you would, first, share with us a little bit of your background and how those experiences that you've had in your career are informing how you lead a company in a culture that has such a global reach.

Mark:              Absolutely. I had the great privilege to not only, I think, have a very extraordinary, dynamic father but have the opportunity to work with him, and that really started from a very early age. He, for some reason, didn't believe very much in holidays or vacations, and so he really saw the opportunity, often, to bring me with him and for me to be able to go and visit places and travel and experience things that he was doing. So, I was able to grow up very much with a global view. Obviously, our family coming over to Ireland — that was the first stop, anyway, going over to see family. Then, typically, I'd be able to travel on to continental Europe with him and experience that.

                        That formed, I think, a lot of the interests I had. Obviously, I had an interest in science — science, of course being primary in what we do as a company, but also in his family. That was his first interest, but he didn't stop there. He moved on quickly, obviously, to the business side. For my part, I think, I became very interested in comparative politics and the way that different cultures work around the world. I was able to explore those in my education, along with the science. That part — up to, I think, coming into Alltech — was very much looking at the world from a global perspective and trying to understand it at that individual level, where you have that opportunity to travel, especially being able to meet people and understand how they view the world and the experience that they have.

                        As I came into Alltech, I initially started on the production side. The idea was to really get to know the business from the inside. I was able to complete my Ph.D. at the same time focused in, of course, what is the core of Alltech: fermentation. Then, I transitioned more into the management and the sales side, having worked in Latin America, then up in North America and then over to China, where I lived for six years before coming back here in 2018.

Tom:              You, and your father before you, have spoken often about sustainability and the relationship between agriculture and the environment and sustainability. That word, “sustainability,” is used an awful lot these days. How do you define it?

Mark:              I think people get very caught up and concerned with definitions. I think, in a lot of regards, when I talk to people, I say, “Define it for yourself. What is it that this means?” I think, even in these last 12 months, this word has really grown. Now, I've been thinking about it — and, I think, in a much broader sense. Of course, we always think about environmental sustainability. That's a core element of it. But I think, right now, especially through so many challenges of COVID, we have to think about the communities that are involved, the individuals, the economic aspects of sustainability. We've fallen in love with, to a certain degree, technology and technology companies that come in and talk about disruption and “isn't this exciting?” and fast growth. But at the same time, we also need to look at the wake behind them and what that ends up costing society overall.

                        So, when we speak about sustainability, we really say that we need to think about if this new technology coming out is going to, overall, benefit society. Is it going to sustainably improve our health? Are these things really better for society or not? I think that's what it's all about. I think the sustainability mission is that: It's a journey. It's not a destination. It's all about: How can we do things that provide for today and make sure that we do have enough for today, but we also know that we have enough for tomorrow? To me, it's not about eliminating; it's about creating, and it's about making sure that we are focused on innovation and new ideas.

Tom:              Is there a distinction between local and global sustainability, or do they intersect?

Mark:              I think they intersect, but I think they're distinct. I think we have to reflect on this. Of course, being Irish, I'll tell you a story, and I'll tell you a story about the home country, as it were.

Ireland is an extraordinary environment. You have this protected Ireland temperates; the temperature never really gets too warm, for sure, but it also doesn't get too cold. It'd be very rare in Ireland to see snow. It's a place that, of course, is full of greenery. It's full of different shades of green. It's a highly productive agricultural economy and highly productive agricultural land. But if you looked at Ireland today, and if you polled Irish consumers, they would say, “To be able to achieve our environmental sustainability goals, we need to reduce the amount of agricultural outputs we have.”

                        When you think about that from a global perspective, that's a crazy idea. This is a place that is highly efficient. You have pasture-based systems. You've got other types of systems, lots of different ways of thinking about things. They've got a lot of concern, I think — just as you find in most places in the world — the farmers and agriculturalists are always looking at ways to eliminate waste and improve productivity. Their asset is their land, but yet, in Ireland, that would be the big push, would be: How do we reduce? I think, if that's the approach we take, I think we run the risk of a disimproving the global perspective on sustainability, where we may end up producing the type of dairy products that Ireland is so productive in or beef in countries that are not as productive.

                        I think we find a little bit of the same here. We use a lot of lands and a lot of inputs — especially on the ruminant side, on dairy and beef — that really couldn't be used for something else, and yet, sometimes, we're thinking about things very much on values that we find, perhaps, on a Google search or in a set of tables. We're not thinking about the actual individual producer and what that is doing to them. It's important to keep those two aspects in mind. Local sustainability is also very important, but there's this huge amount of data and a huge amount of information we need to pull in to really make sure that we're making the best decision.

Tom:              It's been only in recent years that the world seems to have begun to fully grasp the reality of climate change and pressures on the world food supply. What are your main concerns about climate and food — where we are today, and where we may be going?

Mark:              It's a great question. What's interesting about it is I studied climate change. I studied environmental science in college, and the science at that stage was clear. Again, you would speak with a climate scientist or you speak to the broader scientific community, and there really wasn't any disagreement. It's really been something that it took the acceptance from society and then, of course, the acceptance politically to maybe say, “This is something — we really need to bring about a change.”

It's crazy. When you think about this country, the Clean Air Act was passed by a Republican president, George Bush, Sr., and that was something that you would not anticipate when you think of the world that we're in today. That gives you an idea, in such a short amount of time, of how things got a little bit off.

                        I think, now, we see a lot more of the outcomes, and I think there are a lot more concerns — whether it's permafrost thawing in Siberia and the potential methane emissions that could create and how that could be a process that we can't turn around, or people being concerned about erratic weather. If I speak to the lady, I stayed over with in Germany years and years ago as a kid — it used to snow in the winter, and it doesn't snow there anymore. So, I think, in Western Europe, there's a real realization, because they see it every winter. They see a change.

                        I think that acceptance has come about from a broader perspective. Also, I think the change in the role of companies has really brought about this change. I guess, as I look forward, I just think that this is a moment where, if we don't make the change that we need to make fast enough, it ends up being an out-of-control scenario. Having said that, I would be very optimistic. When I look at the improvements that our industry, in agriculture, has made over the last 30, 40, 50 years, it's extraordinary how we are producing far more with less. If you start to look at that trajectory and you realize that we have become much more sustainable over this period of time without necessarily putting a focus on that — the focus probably was on reducing costs, but the outcome was an improvement in sustainability — imagine what we're going to be able to achieve now, with so much more technology coming into the sector and a different way of thinking.

                        My concern, honestly, is not so much on the change within the agriculture sector. I think the impact of agriculture on climate change is over-emphasized. I think it's the industry that can change and adapt quickly. My bigger concern is our reliance on fossil fuels and how we will bring about that change, particularly standing here in Kentucky, doesn't disadvantage those who may be energy producers today. How do we make sure that innovation does rest in locations, perhaps, that are high energy producers today and create new jobs and create new opportunities?

Tom:              We've had some pretty powerful dynamics in play, especially in this recent year: COVID-19, the increasing drive toward sustainability and a rising sense of imperative behind climate change. I'm just wondering how all those things have, perhaps, changed your business.

Mark:              Yeah. I think, over the last three years, we're just, at this time of year, thinking about my father, who passed away three years ago. We went through a big cultural change within the company. We had been building and growing the company, and, of course, that was a big shock, losing him. I think, for our business, the story that started three years ago, in a certain regard, prepared us, in some odd way, for this challenge of the last 12 months.

COVID has obviously impacted all aspects of all businesses and supply chains. It's made everything so difficult. We're very much a relationship business. We're a business that likes to be in the office. We like to be together. We like to be with our customers. That's what drives us. "Make a friend" was the message my father was always sharing with us — that we were to go out and foster relationships. That has been a big challenge, but I think that the cultural closeness that was created over the last three years — as we reflected on the loss that we had and thought a lot about what we talk about a lot, the “founder's mentality,” the objective and the way that my father thought and how we could continue to replicate that and grow — that concept got us ready.

                        We've stayed very close. I could tell you — as I'm sure you would hear from many other executives — I think this time of the pandemic, it almost takes more energy. We travel less, but we're talking to people, probably, even more. I think the responsibility of senior management, but particularly the CEO, has changed. I believe — and I think this was the case before for our good CEOs — but the CEO should not be responsible for just the bottom line or top line or those types of results. You have the CFO. You have the COO. The CEO is there to make sure that you maximize the most important asset of any company, which is people, and making sure that those individuals, I think, in this period of time, not only are productive but also healthy, and that's making sure that we can protect them from COVID and put those policies in place and make sure that works but, also, their mental health when we are separated.

                        I think that aspect has been a big shift. We've adopted all the technology possible, but I would quickly say that I think it's a poor second to being in-person. We look forward to being together again. But really, I think that both of these thoughts — the COVID challenge and then the sustainability, which has really accelerated, I think, in terms of urgency over the last 12 months — is something that it's probably positioned the company instead of a lot of the things we talk about. We've been talking about this “Working Together for Planet of Plenty^TM” mission now for over two years. I think that has really moved from being “some idea that Mark has” to, really, something that is driving our business. In every single conversation we have, people are bringing it up in new ways. I think that goes together with that realization that sustainability is something that's here to stay.

Tom:              I know that part of the growth that you mentioned a moment ago includes the acquisition of the Environmental Services Company, E-CO₂, to provide advice, tools and services to help farmers measure and improve their environmental performance. With the rise of the European Green Deal and the United States' renewed commitment to climate action, over 70% of the global economy has now set or is intending to set targets to reach net zero emissions. Do you sense that E-CO₂'s moment has arrived?

Mark:              It's interesting. Before we called it the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference, it was the Symposium, and we had the symposium where one of the themes was “niche to mainstream.” I went and found the book the other day, and here it was, from the late '90s — here was my father saying that these ideas that Alltech had were becoming mainstream. Of course, we look, now, forward, and it was probably 20 years later when that was true.

I think E-CO₂ is actually that type of a story. This was something that was niche. It was something aspirational. I think it was these number of retailers in the U.K. who said, “We've got to put plans in place so that we can make sure that we know what the environmental impact of farming is and of our products on the shelf.” That was where the business began. It was actually founded by a farmer, which I think makes it highly relevant. It was always built from that perspective and then came into the Alltech fold about eight years ago. It was something that was focused there. We thought, “Maybe there's an opportunity to go global in the future, but it’s very much a British business.” Now, over the last 12 months, it has truly gone global.

So, as we build out our what we call now Planet of Plenty partnerships — so, working with customers, helping them with their sustainability journey — E-CO₂ plays a critical role in that. We can explain what the environmental foot-printing is, what the greenhouse gas emissions are. We could talk about ways to reduce those, then, as we bring in the Alltech colleagues and look at the nutrition and different technologies that can be utilized or different farming practices. It's a critical aspect, because if we don't measure it, it doesn't get done. So, we've got to make sure that we have that ability to measure the science in it and provide the data behind to track things.

                        When you're able to put a dashboard in front of somebody and say, "This is what we've done in terms of your environmental footprint" and, actually, you overlay on top of that the economics, you can quickly see that the two can go together very easily and that environmental sustainability or improvements around that can very much mean economic sustainability as well.

Tom:              I mentioned the EU Green Deal, which is driven by the aim of the European Union to become the world's first climate-neutral bloc by 2050. I'm wondering: What is your view of that initiative?

Mark:              Well, I think it's something that I'm very positive about. I think it is a good move. There are a lot of different initiatives there. There's a lot of thinking about cities and the way that cities are going to operate, especially — COVID, again, is challenging us on that. It really is top of mind. When you think about consumers in the U.S., I think there are some people who would reflect on those elements. In Europe, it's very much a situation that people are thinking about the environment in a much more serious way. They also see this as an opportunity for leadership for the European Union. This is an area, this is a topic, that Europe has always been leading on. To make that type of a goal, that this is something they can pull together and achieve — I think that aspect is very positive.

                        One concern I would have is they have a farm-to-fork program. This program, when you look at who is running it, it's very much led by some medical doctors, some human nutritionists, but it's not really looking at things from a pure or a full-chain approach. That's something that has been a little bit of a concern for us. Does agriculture or even the agri-food industry have a seat at the table?

                        I also think that there are a lot of very well-minded intended ideas. I think the question is going to be: How are they going to be implemented at the member-state level and then at that very local level? How do we make sure that we don't have unintended consequences? Which I think every government, when they go out and create these types of programs, has to look at and make sure that we are really achieving the best, exactly as you were describing earlier, asking earlier, this global-local question. If the EU puts so many constraints on the producers within the market, how does that then respond to imports? How are you going to hold imported products to the same levels, and how is that all going to be balanced out?

                        I think the phasing of this process is going to be a critical element. We're really pushing our teams to get very engaged and help to really achieve that implementation of this type of initiative and make sure that we take all the stakeholders into account when we're making the decisions that we need to make.

Tom:              You mentioned the importance of being aware of anticipating unintended consequences. Here's one: reducing the use of farming inputs, fertilizer, pesticides. It's been going on for many years; machinery, mapping, measurement systems have all become more efficient. But are there risks that reducing the use of those inputs could potentially lead to a reduction in food output?

Mark:              Certainly. I think, again, when you think of that global-local element, we've got to think about that aspect. We don't want to become so focused on reducing the environmental impact that we're not looking at the total production. We're often pushing people to say, “What is the production we have per unit of milk, per unit of bushel of corn?” or whatever the metric is, because that's really what we need to be looking for. We are in a situation, as a global planet, as a global community, where we do have malnourishment. We do have a huge amount of countries that are going to be left in a position post-COVID that is even less food-secure than they were before. So how do we make sure that we keep that productivity and realize that that's a big part of what we need to be doing as well?

                        Having said that, I think that there are different technologies. The soil science area is fascinating. We think about the microbiome of the soil and what we're able to achieve there — maybe changing some of these inputs, fertilizers, pesticides, and moving towards a more holistic approach and regenerative agriculture. I think these are areas that we can keep that productivity and add the efficiency but also keep the outputs. Those are the types of areas that we're really trying to put a focus on and highlight on as we look at Planet of Plenty and as we look at our Alltech ONE Ideas Conference coming up. Those are the types of stories we're looking to focus on.

Tom:              I think we often talk about achieving the goal of net zero emissions in aspirational terms, as something off in the future, but I'm wondering if we don't now have the affordable technology to achieve net zero.

Mark:              Yeah. I think that, from a lot of what I've looked at, those initial steps — I think we can make some big reductions, but when getting to net zero, I think those last steps are going to be the most costly. We're going to need to look at the things that are simple and easier to do. There are a lot of technologies, particularly when it comes to energy, that are becoming more and more affordable that can help us to make those first steps, but I think that last piece is really where it will be a little bit more challenged.

                        For me, I suppose we've always been ones that have said — if we think of the Chinese context, “the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step,” it's the type of thing that we have to make those first steps. And typically, once we create those frameworks and start to say, “These are the KPIs or the outcomes that we want to achieve,” I think that will lead people in the right places. So, we're really trying to push our colleagues and encourage our customers to be trying out new things, trying out technologies. That's where a lot of our interest comes in, on that ag-tech area, the aggregation of technology, so that we can start to see what works and what doesn't.

                        We have to try things differently in different places. It's one of the things I love about my job, is how diverse the agricultural sector is. I think it is going to be something that will take some time to get there, but if we don't get started, we'll simply be analyzing this to death and we'll never really get there. I think there is a lot there, and so many of the technologies, they do help us to lower costs. That's one of the great things about, I think, especially the American agriculture sector. So much is really created around the improvements and the productivity, and nobody's having something subsidized. They're really having to go out and sell their idea and implement it because it's giving that return on investment.

Tom:              Earlier, when we were talking about the EU and the Green Deal initiative, you expressed the hope that agriculture would have a seat at the table in those discussions. I'm wondering about one aspect: carbon capture and carbon sequestration. Is that a science that is agriculture's role, and should that be a part of that conversation?

Mark:              Yeah. There's a lot in terms of, I think, people thinking about carbon farming and these types of things. I think we have to look at it as, maybe, an element that could be incorporated in different agricultural systems. One of our Planet of Plenty videos is actually an example of silvopasture, which is a mixed-use system where you have the land, you've got crops, you've got trees growing and you have, in this case, beef cattle in the same environment.

                        I think that's a great example of, really, what this whole system is. We are in this biogenic cycle, especially in the ruminant side. There's a lot of focus on methane production and a lot of confusion about it and a lot of, I think, misinformation when you really look at the fact that the methane is staying with us for a short period of time: ten years. It is a potent greenhouse gas, but it also breaks down quickly. Also, everything that the animals are eating, the CO₂ that ends up going back into the crops, is what created the plants that they consume, so it is a cycle. I think it's something that, as we become more and more efficient, as we probably have smaller dairy herds and smaller beef herds — which is something that has been a longstanding trend already — you can actually see how the overall environmental impact is reduced, too.

                        I think that there are some of these technologies that can come in. I think it will become an element of agriculture. People are going to look at their farms, at their operations, and say, “Let's add this aspect in,” whether that's methane digesters and trying to create energy out of materials already produced or, indeed, pure carbon capture plays that are going to be involved, and looking at some of those ways that you can mix things up. I think it's an exciting area. Again, it creates another income stream, a new income stream, for producers.

Tom:              Let's stay with that theme of methane for just a moment. In an article on its online news page, the United Nations states that, and I'm quoting here, "Livestock produce significant levels of methane, a greenhouse gas, and these could be reduced drastically if we eat less meat and more plant-based foods." Here, again, the signs are promising, such as the rising popularity of plant-based meats now being sold in major international fast-food chains. Do you envision a large-scale consumer shift to plant-based meats? How should the beef and dairy industries be positioning around the prospect of an increasing market presence of these meat alternatives?

Mark:              I think it's interesting. We've noticed, over a number of years, that the UN does like to come out with these statements, and we're not really sure which part of the UN they come from, because you do have such, obviously, a broad array of individuals, but you also have them living in a certain demographic and a certain geography in the world, and they sit in a certain place in society. There's been a massive amount of money made with plant-based meats already, and a lot of them have been quite speculative, a lot on the banking side — those that launched the IPOs, et cetera. There are a lot of people looking at this area as a big moneymaker for the future.

                        I think, if you step back and you look at the science, both in terms of the environmental side, I think there are some questions in terms of the claims being made — claims that, I would say, in more established industries, will be difficult to make. Then, on the human health side, the science there is also a little bit dubious.

So, we think that it's definitely going to be a trend. It's an area that has gotten the attraction of people. It's an area that people are interested in. It's catchy, and there's been a ton of marketing money put into it. But actually, when you look at the numbers, the growth actually has been miniscule compared to the overall protein market. That has been quite interesting to note, particularly during COVID. When you look at the percentages of increase for plant-based protein, it seems dramatic and astounding. When you look at the growth, the small percentage growth that took place more in the animal proteins, that actually dwarfs the growth that took place, on a real-volume basis, of plant-based.

                        We are a world that needs more protein. At Alltech, we don't have an issue of that being insect protein or that being plant-based proteins. But to a large degree, we've had a lot of these types of products in the past that have been far less processed. Again, based on my time in Asia, there's a lot of plant-based proteins that are out there and traditional ways of producing food, and I think coming at this thinking that this is some amazing technology and not thinking, again, about sustainability in a broader way — of what takes place in communities that were producing these products, of what takes place in the environment if we remove animals. Animals are critical to the soil health of our planet. If we remove them from the system, we're going to see a lot more deleterious effects. A world without cows, a world without animals, it's not a world I want to be in, and it is a world that we need to have to be able to make sure that we achieve what we need to.

                        As an environmentalist, I think one of my biggest concerns with this area is that we may have a population, we may have consumers who think they're genuinely doing the right thing by changing their diet, but in reality, we're actually not solving the climate issue, which is really being driven by fossil fuel usage.

Tom:              That's really interesting. Can you expand on that a little bit? Why is it wrong to think that way?

Mark:              I think it's because we're not looking at the whole system. We're not looking at the fact that agriculture produces, yes, greenhouse gases, but it also, as a primary function, captures carbon. Our food production system is actually pretty efficient, and it's getting more and more efficient. If we all stopped eating meat, we do not save the planet, if you want to say it that way. We do not stop climate change. This is one area where I do think diets will change. Diets will change in a lot of different ways. I think we're learning more and more about how our individual diets need to change throughout our lives. There are certain times we probably need more protein and times we need less. Also, it depends on our individual behaviors and lifestyle.

                        I think that, to me, it simply comes down to the fact that if we do not remove ourselves from fossil fuel usage and we continue to put more new carbon into the environment, that is really what's driving the change. The carbon that is being put into the atmosphere by animals in agriculture is carbon that we sequester with the crops that we grow. I think looking at that in that regard and realizing — can we improve yet further? Absolutely, we will, but that's not the area that I think we should be focused on. Those are the areas that concern me when I see statements like that from the UN, where I think that they're taking their eye off the ball and perhaps being, sometimes, misled to lead us down a path that may not achieve what we need to.

Tom:              It's projected that, by 2050, ten billion people will inhabit this planet, and that means making room for feeding and sheltering another two billion people in less than 30 years. Can world population growth at that pace be sustained, even as we're also dealing with climate change?

Mark:              Yeah, I think it absolutely can. I think a lot of it does have to come back to the fact that we do need to make changes. This has to be based on continued improvements. I don't think that this is something where this is a done deal that we can achieve this, but I do think, if we continue to focus on innovations and new technologies, it does give us that sense that the next 30 years really are going to be the most critical.

This is a time where we've got to make sure that we, I think — particularly in a time where we're not necessarily our most connected globally — we need to realize that we do need to be thinking as one world. A lot of this growth is going to be taking place in Asia. It's going to be taking place in Africa. It's going to be taking place, therefore, in places that we need to make sure that we are partnering with. A lot of what we're trying to do — we're operating in markets around the world as we connect with entrepreneurs. We help them to grow their businesses and, in a large degree, bring them the technology and the ideas and, sometimes, just the inspiration that they need to move those businesses forward. Those are going to be the people who build and have got a nutritional base for that protein that's required, the food that's needed for that growing population and, at the same time, grow those economies.

                        I think the fact is, when you speak to people in that position, they clearly see climate change as part of the environment that they're in, and they realize that this is something that they have to be thinking about. But I think, when we look back over the history of humankind, we've had situations such as this before where it was stated that we couldn't sustain our populations, and we've always achieved that. We have a lot of changes, of course, too, in more developed countries where, obviously, the population growth is slower. So, when I look at it in terms of the speed of growth, I think we're in a position now that this can be managed, I think, to a large degree. I think we're going to need some of those new people coming in, young people with new ideas, and they're going to be a big part of us helping us to achieve what needs to be done.

Tom:              At the beginning of the year, we spoke to a few experts about their insights and expectations for agriculture and food in 2021 and beyond. Some talked about the impact COVID-19 has had on the food chain; others talked about new regulations, innovations, emerging technologies. What big themes and big trends currently capture your attention?

Mark:              I think we spoke about a number that, really, at the onset of COVID, we could already see were going to be challenged. One of those was this whole idea of supply chains. Suddenly, when you have a disruption like COVID, your supply chain is thrown into chaos. You've got to not just understand and trust your suppliers — you also need to understand and trust your customers and make sure that those systems can work and be fluid and adapt to shocks. That was a big theme that we saw.

                        Another big theme has been health. Everybody is, of course, far more concerned about their health than they were before. I think that is changing our diets, and that really should be one of the major drivers for our, of course, dietary decisions.

I think another element, of course, that we've seen over the last year has been very much around inclusion and, I think empathy — companies needing to make sure that they're thinking about all stakeholders and all elements and how they're having a positive impact there.

Those have been, I think, big elements. One that's come forward to us also that I think is a little bit new actually goes back to your question around the growing population. If you think about how much food is wasted in our world, that, in and of itself, could have an extraordinary impact on all of these elements: on feeding the planet, on the environmental impacts and, really, on just having a better environment that we're living in. If you consider all food waste, that would actually represent 8% of greenhouse gases that are produced in the world — it would be the third-largest country, if it was a country, in terms of greenhouse gas production. This is an area which, again, is almost a pre-competitive area. How do we, as an entire food system, reduce that? We know that a lot of it is happening, obviously, a little bit through food production at that farm level, through transportation, through spoilage, maybe, in the retail side or waste in restaurants, or it's happening in our own homes. So, what are the types of things that we can work together on and, again, very much on a local level to reduce that? I think that could have a huge impact on us feeding that global population.

That's a real trend. I think it's starting to move. I think this is going to be a big area of focus, and it's one that we within Alltech are talking about. We're going to be exploring some of that starting in May and then growing out over the next few years to think about how we can reduce that food waste.

Tom:              You mentioned supply chain disruptions, and that makes me curious. Has your company, Alltech, experienced problems due to supply chain disruptions?

Mark:              Well, I think there was certainly a heightened focus on this area. Again, it goes back to that element we always talk about: making a friend — and we normally are thinking about that being a customer, but it also goes with our suppliers. We have to make sure that we have good relationships with them. Thankfully, we really did.

I think that there have been disruptions for our industry. Alltech, I think we're in a very good position. We have over 100 production facilities around the world. That gives us a lot of flexibility. It gives us options. If one facility has an issue, we can supply from another facility. I think that optionality helped us.

                        We also immediately, at the start of COVID, stated that safety was the number-one focus, and we wanted to take care of the health of our colleagues, our customers and our communities. Those were our three Cs. I didn't realize it at the time, but that really set the tone and made sure that everybody understood our operational capabilities and our ability to keep our own people safe, our customers safe. It was the critical thing, and so we've been able to maintain operations all the way through COVID. We haven't had those disruptions. We also have been able to have that flexibility of supply, having different suppliers, having deep relationships with those suppliers that have really helped us.

Tom:              Back to looking at trends, I'm wondering: What trends are actually, in real time, transforming the future of food and feed?

Mark:              I think, with the trends, I do think that the sustainability one is probably the thing that's changing the fastest. We're seeing it in Europe very quickly, but we also see, now, a trend here where, if you go into a Panera, you can see a “cool eats” menu. You can see what might be better for the planet. You can see the same types of ideas being explored in Chipotle. Other companies are looking at that as well.

                        Those types of messages are kind of a new fad. I think that quickly behind the fad needs to come the data and the story backing it up. That's something that I think we all need to be aware of. I don't think our industry is yet quite as focused on that as maybe we need to be. We've been thinking about: how did that shift, maybe, take place, and how quickly will it occur?

                        The other elements, though, might come back to this health idea. I think there's a lot of focus on: How can we produce foods that are better for our health, that are more enriched, that are health-enhancing? We've been able to show that, through some of our programs, we're not only reducing the reliance on antibiotics and food production but that we're actually reversing antibiotic resistance in bacteria and systems in and around those farms. That isn't an impact just for the production of that food but may be, also, an impact for the health of the people who work on those facilities.

                        That's an element — health, overall, and a focus on health — that, through this time of so much loss and so much grief, maybe is a silver lining or a benefit, that we're going to be more focused on our health and also, maybe, start to look at nutrition and our diets as a way to improve our health as opposed to constantly thinking that it's going to be a medical intervention that overcomes that challenge. I think that might be a big trend. When we look back in ten years, we'll say, “Wow, that was a moment when that aspect of our society changed.”

Tom:              The idea of carbon counting is pretty new to a lot of people. Do you see the day coming when carbon counting will have a place right there on the menu alongside calorie counting?

Mark:              Yeah. As I mentioned with the Panera idea and, I think, Chipotle — I think Chipotle is taking it a little bit further. They're almost saying, “You're having this burrito. What's the impact on the environment that this burrito had?” I don't know if they've got it totally dialed in yet, but they're seeing that as a clever way to differentiate themselves vis-à-vis their competitors.

We've noted that one in five millennials would say that they would change their diet to improve the planet's health. That's a pretty staggering number. I think that you could see, certainly, the case that this is the next thing, the next fad that comes along: “I'm not just thinking about how many calories I had today. I'm thinking about, actually, ‘What was the impact I had on the environment?’”

                        I think, within the European context, it's even going further. People are already changing what they're doing in terms of how they're traveling, where they're willing to travel, what types of jobs they will take because of the distance they will travel. I think the dietary aspect of that is just going to be a part of it, and that's going to be something that I think we'll probably see play out in a number of different ways. Diets have already been shifting, probably, away from beef more to pork or maybe poultry products over a number of years. Aquaculture is growing, and maybe that's going to play a bigger role, as well, as people start to think about those things. That's where we have to make sure — and I think our customers need to make sure they're getting out and telling the story and are accurately able to demonstrate and provide the metrics of what the actual environmental impact is of their food.

                        When you look at a steak in a restaurant, it's not exactly going to be totally clear what the environmental impact is of that. Every single producer has a different way of producing. I think that's where we've got to get to what we're really explaining: “As a producer, this is what I'm doing, and this is what makes me different to, maybe, somebody else.” I think those elements are going to be really speeding up in major trends that are going to impact our producers over the next five years.

Tom:              Earlier, you mentioned the mantra that your father carried with him throughout his life and career and, now, you are carrying with you. It's simple: it's “make friends.” How does collaboration fall into elevating the agri-food sector, the whole sector?

Mark:              You know, it is an industry, and he used to like to say this: He had a colleague early on who said to him, "Pearse, isn't this great? We travel around, we talk to great people, and they pay us for it." It always stuck with me, where I genuinely would say agriculture is one of those sectors that is made up of great people. I think anytime you're involved with animals, it somehow makes you a better human being. I think that they're very much people who care about each other, who care about their communities, who are there doing the right things, maybe, because they work outside, because they work on the soil, because they work with animals. For us, I think, when you have that type of mindset, I think that's the mindset that helps you realize you depend on your neighbor. You depend on that person coming down the farm drive and, maybe, giving you some insights or ideas or providing you with a technology. Collaboration is somewhat second nature within our industry.

                        I think, within our company, when you start out as a small startup, in a way, and grow, and you've got to go and do things a little bit differently — and I remember my father saying this to me: "Mark, I had to go and do it myself because I didn't have anybody else. But you, you'll have the opportunity to work with lots of people because of what has been built, because of what we've achieved” — and because of where, I think, the world is.

I think that the world is in a position for collaboration. It's been something that we've really all seen as a major growth driver for the future. It sits in a very important place. When we talk about Planet of Plenty, I would say the words in front of that that are even more important: "Working together." Working together is a clear signal. We are open to work with people. We're open to discuss ideas. I think that was always his way. He loved to have people come and visit, to sit around and talk about ideas. Many times, there was nothing related to business at all. It was simply, "How can I help you? How can my people help you? How does this have that impact?" And that positive impact makes that difference that we want to make in the world.

                        As I mentioned before, I think, three years ago, we really reflected deeply on that, and we said, “That is our mission. That's our purpose as a company.” It suddenly went from being a Pearse Lyons idea that he encouraged his colleagues to take on to, suddenly, everybody's idea. I think that's been, really, one of the most exciting things over the past few years. I guess that's what they always say: Great leaders make more leaders, and I think that's what he achieved.

Tom:              Alltech's work in Haiti comes immediately to mind — the Haitian coffee product. What new business models might be created following that Planet of Plenty mission statement?

Mark:              I think one of the elements that we've been talking about that goes back to that trend of trust. There are transactional relationships, and those are critical to businesses and very important. That's a lot of what our businesses operate, but partnership is something different. Partnerships, I think, really are going to be the future. We are now moving into a phase where we've had a few dozen companies that we are working with, different markets that have been success stories focused on this Planet of Plenty collaboration. I think that's a new business model. That's a way of saying, “What are the aspects that you're working on? What's the big goal you have as a company? How can we help you to achieve that?” And equally, in many regards, those customers also may be companies that are helping Alltech with our own objectives.

                        So, the mutually aligned goals, the idea that this isn't just about one sales order; it's about a much longer-term relationship. Companies that are saying to us, "Can we work with you on multi-year projects and deals?" That's a new business model that's pretty exciting that I think has come out of this message, because a lot of people are saying, "We love the Planet of Plenty idea. We want to be a part of it. How do we do that?" So we've created that framework.

                        It's interesting because some of the framework and some of the ideas of this actually came from something that might seem not so aligned and something that took place now ten and a half years ago, which was the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Within that, we created feed partners, and those feed partners were customers of Alltech, and we help them with their marketing. We help them with their IT. We help them with whatever they needed, and I think we're able to replicate that now — maybe in an even more meaningful way in terms of some of these big issues that we're all going to be dealing with globally in the Planet of Plenty partnerships.

                        That's a concept I'm very excited about. What's been great is, as I said before, it's gone from being an idea to really something that our local markets are embracing. I was on a call today with Asia, Latin America, North America. In each of those calls, people were talking about a company that they had a connection with, an idea they had about creating a Planet of Plenty partnership. So, it's really taken root within the organization, and it's moving very quickly.

Tom:              You have a very big event coming up. In the years before this pandemic forced you to go virtual for 2020, the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference has gathered in one place. You mentioned the Symposium, which is what it was before it was called ONE, and that was here in Lexington, Kentucky. It gave a platform to agri-food expertise, from insights into animal feed and nutrition to developments in CRISPR research from all over the world. In fact, we interviewed many of the people who spoke at those conferences. And I have to tell you, Mark, my head was about to explode at the end of one of those days. The information is incredible.

So, the dates of the virtual conference have been set for this year: May 25–27. This will be the second year that the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference has gone virtual. What are the themes for this year's conference?

Mark:              Well, we've taken this and focused back on that Planet of Plenty message. If you look at the logo we have for Planet of Plenty, we have these three leaves. One stands for science, one stands for sustainability and one stands for storytelling. We're going to use those three as the themes of the conference. We've been thinking about this in terms of how these elements are interconnected. There's so much that's taking place, but we have to also be led by that science. At the same time, we can only really communicate, and communicate effectively, if we have that storytelling ability and that ability to connect with people. Those are going to be, on a broader scale, some of the themes.

                        Some new things that we're doing — we did decide, almost this time last year, to move the conference to a virtual format. We had to make that decision. Our team worked very, very quickly and established a very successful program. We took the conference from an in-person, 3,500-person event to almost 25,000 people on the platform. This year, what we want to do is make sure that we're engaging in a deeper way with that audience and also continuing to grow. We decided to invest in our own platform. We didn't want to work purely with third parties. We now have our own trade show area. We've got our own place that really looks like, almost, the Central Bank Convention Center, and so it's really exciting to see how we're going to be able to utilize that.

                        The conference will be those three days. If people come through, they'll be able to see some of the different tracks they normally would see by species, perhaps something on general business, on human health, crop science, all those different things that they would see — but they're also going to be able to look at different talks and see, “This one is focused on health and wellness. This one is focused on sustainability. This one is focused on regenerative agriculture, and I want to follow those throughout.” So now, different to a physical conference, it's very easy to be able to listen to a talk, then pop into another section — plus all the information that's on demand so people could come back. I think that might give us all a little bit of a better chance to not get a headache, as you did, and be able to absorb some of the information.

Those are going to be exciting ways that the conference is changing. The other element here is that we're going to open the conference, the trade show area, a little bit early so people will get a chance to go in. They'll be able to experience that and use the environment. I think that'll create the opportunity for more interaction. This platform gives us the chance to have one-on-one meetings but also workshops on certain topics where smaller groups can have a voice. I think, through so much of the past year, when you're looking at the screen and hearing somebody give a talk, that's one thing, but that opportunity for interaction is the key. That's, of course, what makes our conference unique, I think, and really exciting — when we're all able to be in the same place and have those conversations, that makes that impact. That's what we want to make sure that we replicate and what our teams are working on now.

Tom:              Well, I must say that it's a delightful headache to have. I'm wondering: Do you hear from people? Do you get feedback about the connections made, ideas hatched, collaborations formed after a conference has occurred?

Mark:              Absolutely. It's something that there isn't, certainly, a year that goes by that there aren't many of those collaborations created. We have a lot of people who end up creating businesses together or establishing working relationships at the conference. They can hearken back to that and say, "Well, I met that person at the ONE; I met that person in the President's Club," or whatever the case may be. That's a critical aspect.

                        I think the networking element is really important. What we want to make sure is that we provide that networking opportunity in this format, and I'll tell you why that's important. Say we have 3,500 people at the physical conference. We probably have three-fold that, so maybe roughly 10,000-plus people who have never been to the conference. But if we're up to 25,000 people, that means there are people for whom this is the conference — the majority of people have experienced it in a virtual format than ever in a physical format. So, this really means that we can connect with anyone at any time. We can engage with those people, as I mentioned — perhaps they are entrepreneurs who are running a business who don't have time to travel or have never had the ability to gain access to this type of information. Also, we now are able to provide them with an opportunity to network with others. I think that's a really exciting thing.

                        It really goes back to the purpose of the conference. Is it to explore new ideas? Absolutely, but it's also about the relationships that we build along the way and how we can continue, beyond the conference, to have that positive impact. It was something we wanted to do, for a number of years, as a virtual element — and of course, in 2020 we were forced to. It's going to be something that will be with us from here on out. That's the challenge for 2022, is running a physical and a virtual conference as one.

Tom:              That's going to be interesting. Is registration already underway? Is it available on the Alltech website?

Mark:              Yes. Everything's up there on the website at one.alltech.com. The registration is open. We're looking forward to welcoming so many people back in. We have, of course, continued coverage throughout the year, and that has been another element that we've added with our Alltech ONE Virtual Experience, but we really shifted back into that Alltech ONE Ideas Conference message and the look and feel of that.

I'm really, really excited for this year's program. As I mentioned already, we already have a team, a separate team, working on 2022 — when I think it's going to be even bigger — who are really pushing to think about things in new ways. I mentioned that waste aspect before. That's going to be something that is a big focus. Just one shocking statistic that I learned on food waste is that the average American wastes the same amount of money on food as we are receiving in our stimulus checks — $2,000 of wasted food per American in a country which actually has some of the cheapest food in the world. The volume of that food is also very significant. That's an idea, I think, that we need to focus on and will be an element of this year's program and a much bigger element of next year's.

Tom:              Well, something to ponder. Thank you for leaving us with that. That's incredible. Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech, thank you so much for this almost hour-long conversation. I really appreciate it.

Mark:              Yes, thank you for the opportunity. I really enjoyed it as well.

Tom:              I'm Tom Martin, and thank you for listening

If we learned anything from 2020, it is that we cannot control everything. For instance, we can’t control the weather, but we can work to control the mycotoxin risk it presents. Weather is the main influencing factor when it comes to mycotoxin risk, leading to a variation in risk levels across the U.S. This year is no exception to that trend, with mycotoxin levels having a wide distribution in the U.S. corn harvest. Mycotoxins can be responsible for the loss of production and efficiency in our animals — a duo we are not interested in.

What are mycotoxins?

Molds and fungi on crops naturally produce mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are ever-present on-farm but can vary in severity based on feed sources, storage and growing conditions. The three most common types of mycotoxins include Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium. Aspergillus is responsible for aflatoxin B1, which can be more abundant with increased drought stress and dry field conditions. Trichothecenes and zearalenone are related to Fusarium. Trichothecenes are common field toxins in grain and silage, and swine are particularly impacted by this mycotoxin because they are considered a more sensitive species to deoxynivalenol (DON). T-2/HT-2 toxins and other trichothecenes are the most toxic for most species, while ochratoxins and citrinin are related to Penicillium. When an animal consumes mycotoxin-contaminated feed, there is risk of reduced production, immune suppression and decreased overall efficiency.

Learn more about mycotoxins at knowmycotoxins.com.

2020 Harvest Analysis

Dr. Max Hawkins, Alltech’s mycotoxin and harvest expert, presented his analysis, giving an insider’s view on this year’s crop, during the 2020 U.S. Harvest Analysis.

Crops are influenced by weather as we go through the growing season, leading to regionalized mycotoxin risk based on weather patterns. The Corn Belt had moderate to severe drought conditions throughout the growing season, in addition to wind-storms, which also affected corn crops. The Eastern U.S. saw above-normal rainfall on heat-stressed and dry crops. It should be noted that while the overall risk is normal this year, where the risk is high, it is notably high. These risks can be manageable if we are able to feed the average, which is why we need to do testing to evaluate what the potential maximum levels are.

Mycotoxin risk breakdown by species:

The 120 corn samples that were analyzed by Alltech 37+ contained an average of 5.9 mycotoxins per sample, with 50% of these samples considered moderate- to high-risk and 50% low-risk. While corn in general is relatively low-risk, pockets of high-risk samples could be an increasing concern with lower corn yields. If we are not able to be as selective when feeding corn, we may get into feeding higher-risk corn, or higher-risk feed ingredients may be used to compensate for less corn in the diet.

• Swine

The mycotoxin risk for sows is moderate to high, specifically related to DON and zearalenone, both of which present risks high enough to impact sow reproduction and performance. Grow-finish pigs are also affected by DON, which can impact gains, gut health and feed efficiency.

• Poultry

Overall, the samples showed a low to moderate mycotoxin risk for poultry, with the risk increasing the farther East the samples came from. Compared to swine, poultry are projected to have a lower risk from DON, but the risk presented by mycotoxins is still high enough to impact gains/feed efficiency and gut health.

• Ruminants

The 273 samples of corn with a high moisture content (HMC) included an average of 6.1 mycotoxins per sample, creating a distribution of 60% low-risk and 40% moderate- to high-risk samples. On average, there is a low risk for beef and cattle; while the presence of mycotoxins has the potential to affect performance, overall, this risk is very manageable. Producers in the East and upper Midwest are projected to have the highest risk due to dry conditions followed by heavy rainfall.

The data from 2020 suggests much more prevalent and higher levels of aflatoxin B1, which should be of particular interest to dairymen. Dairy producers should monitor and test for mycotoxins in corn silage, especially if their operations are located in high-risk areas. Additionally, aflatoxin B1 can convert to aflatoxin M1, which can be excreted in the milk, leading to food safety concerns.

Managing mycotoxins

There will always be mycotoxins in feed, but knowing what they are and what risk level they pose is critical to mycotoxin management. The Alltech 37+ mycotoxin analysis test provides a realistic picture of the mycotoxins in feed ingredients or TMRs. This comprehensive test allows for quick diagnosis, effective remediation and planning for future control measures. To learn more about having a 37+ test completed on your farm, please visit the Alltech 37+ mycotoxin page.

Dr. Hawkins recommends testing each time you change your feed or introduce a new feed ingredient in order to properly measure your mycotoxin risk. Going forward, risk levels can change based on fermentation, and we need to watch out for “storage mycotoxins.” There have been forecasts of a dry spring, but the mycotoxin risk is fluid and always changing.

To watch the complete 2020 U.S. Harvest Analysis, click here.

Have a question or comment?

Marianne Smith Edge is a food, agriculture and consumer insight strategist and founder of Agri NutritionEdge where she serves as a translator between the consumer and the ag space to bring more food transparency to the food chain and improve food perception with consumers. She shares her insights on building trust with consumers by providing the security of safe and healthy food. 

The following is an edited transcript of the Ag Future podcast episode with Marianne Smith Edge hosted by Tom Martin. Click below to hear the full audio or listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Tom:                          Welcome to Ag Future, presented by Alltech. Join us as we explore the challenges and opportunities facing the global food supply chain and speak with experts working to support a planet of plenty.

                                    I’m Tom Martin with the latest in our agri-food outlook series: a visit with food agriculture and consumer insight strategist Marianne Smith Edge.

                                    Marianne is a sixth-generation farm owner in Owensboro, Kentucky. She also is a registered dietician and founder of The AgriNutrition Edge, a food and agriculture communications consulting firm. Marianne advances science and nutrition thought leadership on her firm’s website, AgriNutritionEdge.com. And she joins us from Owensboro.

                                    Greetings, Marianne.

Marianne:                  Well, greetings and good morning to you.

Tom:                          Marianne, first, if you would, just tell us about your work as both a farmer and one who advises the ag community on matters of communication.

Marianne:                  Well, I grew up on a dairy farm in Northern Kentucky, so I definitely have strong roots in the dairy industry. And at this point, I don’t do day-to-day work in farming, but in the Owensboro area, my husband and I do own farmland, where soybean and corn are grown. So, I have definitely a vested interest and (am) very involved in the agricultural area.

I think, with that background, along with my (being) professionally trained as a registered dietician and having worked in consumer insights over the years, it really does allow me to interact across the food value chain on communications. And especially in the ag community, it’s so important to really remind and work with the ag community on understanding the need to communicate what is being done and has been done over the years on moving forward and preserving land and sustainability.

You know, to too many non-farm individuals, the perception of sustainability is almost viewed as a new concept, and even though we look at it in different lenses today, we know that, ultimately, we are where we are today because farming has always looked at the preservation of farmland for future generations.

Tom:                          Well, Marianne, this pandemic — it seems like we can’t talk about anything without talking about the pandemic. And, of course, it’s been with us long enough now for us as consumers to settle into some health and food consumption trends and habits. And I wonder: What’s your perspective on trends that have emerged from the conditions of the pandemic in 2020?

Marianne:                  Well, definitely, the emergence of returning to one’s own kitchen as a necessity, of course, has emerged. We saw, by the end of the last year, that over 80% of individuals said that they were cooking at home.

                                    But the good news is that we see that individuals say that, even though there is some cooking fatigue, is that they are continuing. And even though we were hearing about the “COVID 15” — somewhat like the college “freshman 15” game — is that over a third of consumers basically said that they were cooking more healthfully.

                                    From that, we saw that online shopping, of course, (which many people decided) to do through necessity, jumped at an all-time rate, at a much higher rate than any retail had ever anticipated. And as well as — when you’re looking at trends from food, we see that individuals definitely want to connect to more local sources — and many times, especially in produce, we saw a considerable jump in looking at organics.

Tom:                          Has this opened up opportunities or expanded the market for small farms, and particularly those that are involved in CSAs, in community-supported agriculture and, you know, the weekly order of greens and so forth that we’re able to get? Have you seen any increase in that area?

Marianne:                  Yes. We definitely have seen an increase in this particular area. And I can use a friend and a farm-to-consumer meat processing business in this area as an F1 example, and have written about it in some of my blogs, is that even though he had gained a good audience through farmer’s markets over the last few years, suddenly, that increase for wanting a locally produced and processed meat grew rapidly — especially in that April and May (period), when meat, all our meat consumption seemed to increase and availability wasn’t as prevalent. And the good news is that trend has continued.

So, again, folks really want to be able to connect to food and know where food comes from. And I think there’s also that sense of security and overall safety appeal — that if they know where their food comes from, there is an assurance that, one, it will always be there, and that it’s safe and I, you know, trust the person who is producing it.

Tom:                          Any other particular current active trends that are influencing food production?

Marianne:                  Well, the trend of sustainability will continue to increase — and sustainability, of course, can mean so many different things to individuals, but connecting the planet and personal health has continued to evolve, and it should. So, I think, many times, individuals are also seeing that, “If I eat locally, if I support my local producers, then I’m eating more sustainably.”

So, in that case, looking (at), as we move forward, on a global standpoint, sustainability and looking at food systems — even though it was an active trend, this whole global pandemic has really promoted more conversation. In fact, in September, there will be a UN Food Systems Summit in New York where, really, we’re looking at the whole concept of trends and regionalization, as well as global food systems. So, that will definitely continue the conversation.

Tom:                          Have transparency and the trust that it can engender, have those things taken on more importance among consumers these days?

Marianne:                  They have. And I think we have to recognize — and especially the agriculture community — is the importance of trust and transparency. The good news is that consumers do trust farmers, but sometimes, at the same time, there is a disconnect of communication and in transparency.

                                    We always have to realize that less than 2% of the population really has a direct connection to agriculture in these days. And so, therefore, it becomes imperative that the agriculture community really communicates what’s being done — you know, why are we doing what we are doing? Whether it’s using or not using antibiotics or how plants and animals are grown or whether or not we’re using gene editing or are genetically modifying individuals, explaining what it means to the farmer but also to the consumer is really important.

                                    And so, and we know the fact that if we’re not transparent (on our own), ultimately, we will be transparent, because of the amount of information that’s available on all levels. And so, it’s really important that you, (that) those who know, actually provide the information and open the area for those who don’t know to talk about it.

Tom:                          Well, perception can be everything in a lot of situations. And I noticed on your blog that you write about trust — and specifically, you cite a national poll conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future that finds that most people just don’t like industrial agriculture, but as you just mentioned, if just farmers are listed, the trust goes up. What are the dynamics behind these distinctions?

Marianne:                  Well, I do think, in many cases — and some of it is perceptions and what you hear, as well as in surveys — is that in some individuals’ minds, people imagine that farmers should be small, always small. And (they) give that illusion of kind of the “mom-and-pop” type of farmer.

                                    And so, unfortunately, sometimes, the label of industrial farm or factory farms are given to really large agriculture production (that) is still family-owned. And so, it is a misconception and (is) easily used by individuals who want to kind of frame that conversation, that big is not always good. And it seems like big food, big ag, gets a negative connotation, but at the same time, as consumers, we readily accept big technology and big food distribution systems.

                                    So, it is, it is a challenge. I think we constantly have to be able to distill the distinction and really talk about the percentage of (large) farms that are (family) owned and that farms, regardless of their size, you know, they have to be profitable if they’re going to be sustainable. And you know, larger — the larger the farm, sometimes, can actually be much more innovative in technology as well as sustainable practices. So, this is an area that we all need to continue to work on to break down some of those perceptions.

Tom:                          Well, continuing that perception thought, I wonder if it’s generally understood that to be a successful farmer, you have to be, in essence, a scientist. I mean, it can amaze the non-farmer to hear and read about what actually goes into the work of producing our sources of food. Do you think this “brain power” aspect could use a boost in the public dialogue?

Marianne:                  I do. I think, for some, the mental picture of farming is, many times — and, I, like anybody, love farmer’s markets, but you know, (with) the farmer’s markets, you get that close connection of food and individuals, and you — sometimes, you don’t always understand what goes into it, how much prep time and science has gone into it.

                                    I would say today, you know — and I can’t quote the exact numbers — but most in farming today definitely have a college education or (have) been involved in constant training.

                                    You know, my father was a dairy farmer over 51 years. And even though he was a World War II vet who did not go to college, you know, farming still — it was about his understanding the science. And so, I do think we forget that it’s very scientific, and if we really realize the technology and the science that has gone into farming over the last 50, 60 years, where we are able to only use the amount of, if needed, pesticides or chemicals or etc., based on a particular small area of the land, that we can really have an integrated pest management — we’re so much better at being able to control these inputs than, you know, than when I was growing up. And the amount of technology (and) computerization that goes into farming — to the average individual, I don’t think they do understand that, how much science goes into it. And especially as we continue to look at sustainability practices of reducing animal production or reducing greenhouse gas inputs, you know, we’re moving forward.

Looking at carbon farming, all the different technologies, it really does — it is about science and in knowing technology.         It’s a highly sophisticated profession that some, sometimes, individuals don’t regard it as such.

Tom:                          You’ve mentioned sustainability a couple of times. We hear so much about it now — even more so as the new Biden administration in Washington is rolling out its agenda. Where do you think agriculture will fit into that picture?

Marianne:                  I think agriculture is really the foundation of this picture. But the important thing — it’s going to be so important for agriculture to be at the table. I have been involved in some webinars, listening (as a) participant or discussing over the last couple of months, and globally as well as in the U.S.  And sometimes, during that conversation, people will say, “Well, yes, we need to have farmers involved.” And I am thinking, “Well, why aren’t they at the table?”

                                    So, I think it’s going to be really important that, you know, the basis of the whole concept of climate change and sustainability is that agriculture needs to make sure that we are inserted into the conversation early on. But it’s also important that we don’t keep just talking to ourselves. You know, we need to make sure that there’s an integration of conversations across the board, so those who might be making policy truly understand the unintended consequences, or also understand the positive solutions; either way.

                                    And so, agriculture, to me, is at the core of where we’re going — it’s just that we really need to be in the middle of the conversation now, not (only) when decisions are made.

Tom:                          I know that you’re involved in another conversation. You were named to the board of directors of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky a couple of years ago. And I know that your background includes owning a strategic nutrition consulting firm for the food and healthcare industries. Why is it important that that insight and perspective about farming and food production have a seat at that particular table?

Marianne:                  Well, it’s — earlier this week, we actually had a discussion of really bringing a group of partners across healthcare and the workforce to really look at how we can start drilling in on particular focus areas within Kentucky, to really start turning around (and) making Kentucky a healthier population.

                                    The reality (is that) we are at the bottom — not at the total bottom, but definitely at the, at the lower percentage of being healthful. During COVID, it really, it has exposed an issue we already knew: that the issues of health equity and inequity and how COVID has affected those with the higher percentage of culpability, such as diabetes, heart disease, etc.

                                    So, with my background, I do lead the strategic planning evaluation committee, and so, you know, we have to think broad-base. What are the factors that are, really, have created this, you know? At the core, it really is food, as well as access to healthcare.

                                    So, I feel like my very background, as well as my work in strategic planning over the years, can really work side by side with all the other colleagues in the health and (food) workforce to be very focused on the fact that there’s never been a better time, and it’s really important that we move forward and really identify what’s at the core and how we can reverse our health status in Kentucky.

Tom:                          Marianne, an article on your blog is titled, “Antibiotics: Cure or Curse?” And you cite concerns about antibiotic overuse, resistance, and how the two may be intertwined and how, for some, the blame is on animal agriculture, while for others, it’s on human medicine.

                                    Do you anticipate movement toward more antibiotic-free and organic production in 2021?

Marianne:                  Yes, even though I do think we will see more of it. What’s interesting — in a recent survey that was just recently released by the International Food Information Council Foundation in Washington, D.C., which I have previously worked (for) — what was interesting is they were really looking at influences on animal protein and plant protein decision-making. And about 25% of the individuals said that if a product was labeled “no antibiotic,” that really influences their decision, more so than “organic.”

                                    And so, we see that that’s typically with those that might be under the age of 45 and (with a) higher income. But, again, individuals are connecting that as a safety issue, and with COVID, there’s also been concern that, “Okay, what’s in my food or what’s being given to animal protein that, you know, is there any” — even though we know it’s not really been, that’s not necessarily true — but there is some thought within the public of, “Is there connection of how my food is raised, especially animal protein, as related to disease states or future disease states?”

                                    So, I do think we will continue to see consumer influence on looking for products that have no antibiotics. I think there’s a lot of discussion out there (about) whether, does that — is it as good for human health as (it) is for animal welfare? But antibiotics — third shift is so important across the human and animal continuum.

                                    I served on one health board a few years ago when I worked with the International Food Information, and so this is one area that really, as a human and animal health connection, that needs to continue to be looked at over the way. And with organic, even though it’s still a small piece of the total purchases, what was interesting is, last year, to your point, with COVID, we saw a much more significant increase of individuals who (are) buying especially organic produce.

Tom:                          Hmm. Well, what is on your shortlist of things you hope to see happen in agriculture and food production this year, in 2021?

Marianne:                  Oh, my shortlist. So, world peace. [Laughs] I think, in the shortlist, I keep bringing back to it, but (on my) shortlist is really bringing this whole discussion around sustainable food systems, what does that look like? And that’s a really large topic, but I think, in 2021, is that my shortlist is: what have we learned about the food value chain, the whole distribution system, during 2020? How can we use these learnings to really start looking at what needs to change? You know, what have we learned, and how can we use those learnings to really improve not only the safety (of) the distribution system but also improve trust and transparency and take that and learn what we can do better?

                                    So, really, even though it’s a very large shortlist, I think taking those where — this should give us an opportunity to really put the consumer and the farmer, along the whole other food value chain, (to put these) individuals together to really realize that, if we are going to be able to continue with having the availability of food that we have been so fortunate (to have), that we all need to come together to create transparency and trust among each of us.

Tom:                          That’s food, agriculture and consumer insight strategist Marianne Smith Edge, talking with us from Owensboro, Kentucky. Thanks, Marianne.

Marianne:                  Thank you.

Tom:                          Coming up next in our agri-food outlook series: Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers Union of England and Wales. We’ll get her views on building a more sustainable agri-food industry, working with governments on ag and trade policies and what she expects from the industry after a tumultuous year.

                                    I’m Tom Martin. Thanks for listening.

                                    Join us for the rest of the series as we reflect on how the agriculture industry adapted in 2020 and speak with experts on what’s in store for agri-food in 2021.

                                    Thank you for joining us. Be sure to subscribe to Ag Future wherever you listen to podcasts.

The January session of the Alltech ONE Virtual Experience  launched on Tuesday with the 2021 Agri-Food Outlook, featuring insights supported by data from Alltech’s industry-leading surveys. The presentation, which is available on demand, highlights results from the 10th annual Alltech Global Feed Survey and the second annual Women in Food & Agriculture Survey. During the virtual session, Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech, speaks with global industry experts to go beyond the numbers and explore the trends shaping the future of agri-food.

The discussion focuses on five emerging trends and includes:

“China’s Rebound” with Jonathan Forrest Wilson, President of Asia, Alltech; and Winnie Wei Jia, Director of Customer Experience, Alltech China

“A Reshaping of the Supply Chain” with Eric Glenn, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain Director, Alltech; and Kathryn Britton, Senior Director of IMI Global Operations, Where Food Comes From, Inc.

“The Inexorable Rise of E-Commerce" with Anand Ramakrishnan Iyer, Digital Marketing Manager, Alltech

“Health-Conscious Consumers” with Nikki Putnam Badding, Director, Acutia and Human Nutrition Initiatives, Alltech

“Innovation Through Empathy and Inclusion” with Bianca Martins, General Manager, Alltech Mexico

“This has been an exceptional time for the agri-food industry,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech. “Agriculture stood strong in the face of adversity, and the global food supply chain continues to provide one of the most basic needs for human survival. The data and insights we have gathered reflect challenges, successes and extraordinary opportunities as we chart a course for the future.”

Results from the Alltech Global Feed Survey and the Women in Food & Agriculture Survey, including graphs and maps, are available on the Alltech ONE Virtual Experience platform in conjunction with the virtual session.  

Alltech Global Feed Survey:

Now in its 10th year, the Alltech Global Feed Survey serves as an invaluable barometer for the state of animal feed production. Fortified by a decade of documentation and research, it is the strongest evaluation of compound feed production and prices in the industry and is the most complete data source of its kind. 

The 2021 Alltech Global Feed Survey estimates that international feed tonnage increased by 1%, to 1,187.7 million metric tons (MMT) of feed produced last year. China saw 5% growth and reclaimed its position as the top feed-producing country, with 240 MMT. Rounding out the top 10 feed-producing countries, including tonnage and growth percentage, are the U.S. (215.9 MMT, +1%), Brazil (77.6 MMT, +10%), India (39.3 MMT, -5%), Mexico (37.9 MMT, +4%), Spain (34.8 MMT, 0%), Russia (31.3 MMT, +3%), Japan (25.2 MMT, 0%), Germany (24.9 MMT, 0%) and Argentina (22.5, +7%). Altogether, these countries account for 63% of the world’s feed production and can be viewed as an indicator of the overall trends in agriculture.

The global data, collected from more than 140 countries and more than 28,000 feed mills, indicates feed production by species as follows: broilers, 28%; pigs, 24%; layers, 14%; dairy, 11%; beef, 10%; other species, 7%; aquaculture, 4%; and pets, 2%. The predominant growth came from the broiler, pig, aqua and pet feed sectors.

Going beyond the numbers for a holistic look at the state of the industry, the survey also incorporates qualitative questions to uncover trends such as COVID-19, sustainability and antibiotic reduction.

The 2021 Alltech Global Feed Survey results, including species-specific feed production numbers, interactive graphs and maps, are available at one.alltech.com/2021-global-feed-survey.

Women in Food & Agriculture Survey:

Alltech believes that inclusion cultivates creativity and drives innovation. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right — it is also essential to advancing society and the global agri-food industry. To gather real-world insights into the professional landscape for women in agriculture, Alltech supported the second annual Women in Food & Agriculture (WFA) Survey in partnership with AgriBriefing and the WFA Summit. Launched in October 2020, the survey aimed to collect feedback that empowers the agri-food industry to create a more equitable workplace environment.

For meaningful change to be possible, the conversation itself must be inclusive, so the survey gathered insights from men as well as women. Responses from more than 3,200 participants representing more than 80 countries and all sectors of agriculture shed light on the current workplace environment, barriers to success and the outlook for the future. As 2020 ushered in unprecedented challenges, questions related to COVID-19 reveal its impact on the workforce specifically.

In the survey, more than a fourth (26%) of female respondents indicated that they are the primary caretakers for children or aging parents while working from home. Additionally, 21% of women working within the agri-food industry indicated that they are concerned that working from home will negatively impact their careers. Conversely, 13% of male respondents shared the same concern for their career.  

With the majority (62%) of all respondents agreeing that the industry is becoming more inclusive, there is reason to be optimistic.

To access speaker insights from the 2021 Agri-Food Outlook and explore full data results from the Alltech Global Feed Survey and the Women in Food & Agriculture Survey, visit one.alltech.com/2021-agri-food-outlook.