Regenerative has become a buzzword, with companies big and small making commitments to launch regenerative products. But what does regenerative product design actually look like? And how do we measure the impacts of product design and ingredient choices on people and our planet?

This week, we discuss this and more with Ethan Soloviev, farmer and chief innovation officer at HowGood, a food sustainability rating company. His work with international retailers and CPG brands combines on-the-ground agricultural expertise in 34 countries with sustainability-driven market insights. Ethan has developed environmental and social impact metrics for analysis of more than 3,000 brands, including Ahold-Delhaize, Walmart and Danone. He regularly presents on Regenerative Agriculture and Regenerative Business at conferences around the world, and is the author of “Regenerative Enterprise: Optimizing for Multi-Capital Abundance” and the monthly “Regeneration Newsroom."

We discuss:

Cultivating a regenerative paradigm
How to provide food producers with the information they need to minimize the negative climate and labor risks of their products
Where regeneration strategy needs to differ when thinking about large vs small producers
Which metrics companies and consumers need to be looking at
The business benefits of regeneration
Ethan’s optimism around ecosystem service marketplaces
Whether it’s worth trying to fix modern capitalism or if we should take inspiration from more traditional local systems
Why Ethan thinks biotech and plant-based innovations are not enough on their own and why they must be used in conjunction with a new mindset

Show Notes

Chipotle and Kraft Heinz use this start-up to track and prove how green they are: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/06/chipotle-and-kraft-use-start-up-howgood-to-track-how-green-they-are.html
White Leaf Provisions: https://www.whiteleafprovision.com/
Carol Sanford: https://carolsanford.com/
One Planet Business for Biodiversity Coalition: https://op2b.org/
Ecosystem Services Marketplace: https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/ecosystem-services/
Regen Network: https://www.regen.network/
Nori: https://nori.com/
reNature: https://www.renature.co/
Burlap and Barrel: https://www.burlapandbarrel.com/
Yolele Foods: https://yolele.com/
Perennial Agriculture: https://www.perennial.earth/

*Giveaway Details*

We’ve teamed up with our partners at New Hope Network to offer ALL of our listeners an exclusive 25% off discount for an Expo West 2023 badge and ONE lucky listener will have the opportunity to win a free booth at Expo West 2024 ($8k value).

To enter, do the following by February 17th:

Head to New Food Order’s show page on Apple Podcasts
Make sure you are subscribed
Leave us a review - good or bad - but hopefully good! Scroll to the bottom of the page to do so.
Screenshot the review and email it to Meg at meg@savageimpacts.com - if you’re interested in the 25% discount to this year’s Expo, please call it out in the email.
Lastly, head to newfoodorder.org - select newsletter - and register to receive our newsletters. In addition to New Food Order content, AgFunder and Food+Tech Connect publish the leading newsletters for the food and agtech community.
Those who follow New Hope Network, Food + Tech Connect and AgFunder on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn will receive double entry.

Subscribe to our newsletters that track all of the business, tech, and investment trends in food: https://tinyurl.com/nfonewsletters

Thank you to Foodshot Global & New Hope Network for sponsoring the series.

And a huge thank you to everyone who helped us bring this podcast to life:

Production: Cam Gray, Cofruition

Audio Editing: Tevin Sudi

Original Music: Rodrigo Barbera

Art: Lola Nankin

Project Management: Patrick Carter