Bimbo Bakeries USA is helping lead the largest regenerative agriculture efforts in the baking industry, advancing Grupo Bimbo’s global commitment to source 100% of its key ingredients from regeneratively farmed land by 2050. This work focuses on improving soil health, supporting farmers, and strengthening the long-term resilience of the agricultural systems we depend on.
Advancing regenerative agriculture is central to delivering on Grupo Bimbo’s Purpose of Nourishing a Better World. By supporting farmers and strengthening the systems behind key ingredients, the company is helping protect the land and natural resources future generations will depend on.
Grupo Bimbo began this work in 2018, with Bimbo Bakeries USA playing a central role in expanding the program in the United States, where the focus is on wheat. What began as a pilot has grown into the largest regenerative agriculture program in the baking industry. Today, more than 1.2 million acres are under Grupo Bimbo’s regenerative agriculture program globally, with approximately 70% of that acreage in the United States.
Regenerative agriculture focuses on improving soil health by increasing biological activity and keeping living roots in the ground. Healthier soils can help improve water retention and support more resilient farming systems over time. For farmers, adopting these practices takes time and investment, and involves long-term decisions about their land and livelihoods.
“Our approach is centered on supporting farmers directly, providing the structure, partnerships, and accountability needed to adopt regenerative practices and strengthen their operations over time,” said Hayden Wands, VP, Global Commodities. “To participate, farmers implement at least two practices, such as no till, cover crops, or crop rotation, with progress tracked through a tiered system and supported through partnerships with flour millers and independent third-party verification.”
Because grain moves through a shared supply system, regenerative ingredients cannot be physically traced to specific products. Instead, we use a mass balance approach, where acreage is enrolled based on the amount of key ingredients required for production. This ensures that regenerative acreage directly reflects the volume of ingredients we use and that we do not enroll more acres than our supply supports.
“We are focused on building an approach that is both scalable and credible, ensuring transparency in how regenerative ingredients are tracked across the supply chain,” said Wands.
This work is expanding regenerative practices today while helping build the foundation to scale these approaches more broadly across additional ingredients over time
