The Sustainable Shelf:

Unlocking Value Across Frozen, Snack and Beyond

As eating patterns evolve, CPG manufacturers are working to differentiate, and research shows sustainability initiatives like regenerative agriculture, sustainable packaging and corporate emissions goals can help you stand out on crowded shelves. In fact, 77% of consumers believe sustainability is important to their purchase decisions.

It’s clear that sustainability isn't just a trend – it's fundamentally reshaping how consumers shop. 

We’re examining how investments in sustainability can set your brand up for long-term success – featuring case studies from the frozen food and snacking categories, where innovation moves quickly and differentiation is key. 


Long-Term Value of Sustainability Investments 

Did you know that 55% of CPG market growth is currently delivered by sustainability-marketed products?2 In addition, there is a positive correlation between the depth of a brand’s ESG-related claims and customer loyalty.3 These insights highlight sustainability as an increasingly smart investment that can drive long-term growth. 

Achieving sustainability in grain-based products requires consideration for how the grains are grown, the milling process, transportation and all the steps manufacturers and retailers take to bring the finished product to the consumer. At Ardent Mills, our priority is helping you integrate ingredients that support your sustainability goals into your grain-forward products. Our partnerships with CPG manufacturers cover the process from seed to shelf, helping you to reformulate, with confidence, while meeting sustainability targets through our regenerative agriculture program and responsible practices at our milling facilities.   

Sustainability as a Competitive Advantage in Snacking 
Today, the snacking space is anything but bite-sized. With a 4.2% CAGR4, the market for snacks is highly competitive among brands looking to win long term. This growth in snacking is driven, in part, by increasingly busy lifestyles that make on-the-go snacking a necessity. Once relegated to in-between meals, nearly three-quarters of all consumers say they now replace a meal with a snack at least once per week.

While sustainability and care for the environment are important values across all age groups, our research shows 70% of snackers 18+ participate in the “desire to do good” trend.6 This means they want their food choices to have a positive impact on the world around them. 

At the same time, young consumers are playing an increasingly important role in snack purchasing. These 18- to 34-year-old buyers snack more often (11.2 times per week) and more frequently (42% more often than one year ago) than their older counterparts.7 More than half of these young snackers agree that “snacks should be made in a way that is good for planetary health.”8 

Brands that embrace sustainability will be well-positioned to appeal to snackers of every age group. One company focusing on its snack ingredient sourcing is Campbell’s, which partnered with Ardent Mills to expand its sustainability efforts. 

The Campbell's Company & Ardent Mills' partnership for sustainability 
The Campbell's Company has several products that use wheat ingredients, including Goldfish crackers. In 2021, the company partnered with Ardent Mills to increase the acreage enrolled in its wheat sustainability program, which supports growers in tracking sustainable farm practices and outcomes. This partnership helped Campbell's to complete and surpass (ahead of schedule) a commitment to extend its sustainability program to cover 50% of its flour volumes.9

Regenerative Agriculture – A Closer Look   
Agriculture accounts for 37% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and uses 70% of our water resources10, making it an important variable when it comes to achieving your sustainability goals. Regenerative agriculture practices can enhance soil health and biodiversity while stewarding water resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon in the soil. 

And, what’s good for the environment can also be good for the grower. Regenerative agriculture has been shown to have the following benefits: 

  1. Improved soil health – Healthier soil can lead to higher crop yields and profits over time.11   
  2. Reduced grower costs – Cover crops and no-till farming allow nutrients to spread throughout the soil, saving farmers money by reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers.12 
  3. Greater climate resilience – Regenerative methods pull carbon from the air into the soil and make crops more resilient to the impacts of climate change.13 

While the potential of any regenerative agriculture program is high, it’s important to acknowledge that not all agricultural practices will work for all growers. The best path forward for each grower must be determined by region and crop.  

Beyond the environmental and agricultural outcomes, regenerative agriculture practices are also impacting food innovation and consumer preferences: 

  • New Snack product launches featuring regenerative agriculture claims/positioning grew iwth a 20.5% CAGR from 2021 to 2024. 14
  • New Food (All) product launches featuring regenerative agriculture claims/positioning grew with a 46.5% CAGR from 2021 to 2024.15
  • 49% of consumers report that "foods grown using sustainable regeneratice agriculture practices" are important to their dietary goals and priorities.16
  • 74% of consumers have a positive perception of food companies and brands that participate in regenerative agriculture.17

    And regenerative agriculture contributes to more than just corporate initiatives. It also helps brands feature compelling farmer and sourcing stories on packaging that can resonate with consumers.

    Ardent Mills began its regenerative agriculture program in 2021 with 37,480 acres. Today, 598,064 acres are enrolled in 13 growing regions across the United States and Canada, and our goal is to support our customers in enrolling 2.5 million acres by 2030. As more companies explore regenerative agriculture across ingredient categories, partnerships like the one between Ardent Mills and Nestlé USA show that collaboration can help to significantly reduce environmental impact.
     

Nestlé USA & Ardent Mills help bring regenerative agriculture practices to wheat farms 

Nestlé wanted to help wheat farmers who supply its DiGiorno pizza brand transition to regenerative agriculture practices, with the goals of improving soil, using less water, energy and fertilizer and helping reduce the impacts of climate change. In partnership with Ardent Mills and another supplier, Nestlé provided financial and technical resources to farmers to implement regenerative agriculture practices to over 100,000 acres of farmland. As a result of these efforts, farmers in the program using cover crops or living roots in 2022 helped to sequester more than 3,800 metric cons of CO2e — that's equivalent to taking nearly 850 gas-powered cars off the road for one year.18

Partnering with Ardent Mills for Sustainable Solutions

Ardent Mills creates a vital link between growers, customers and consumers. We are deeply committed to sustainability throughout our ingredient supply chain, from regenerative agriculture on farms to waste reduction efforts at our facilities and our shift to more renewable energy across the organization.

To support brands looking to invest in sustainability, we offer three levels of partnership: 

1. Full Stack Disclosure: This service helps tell your sustainability and community impact story with data relative to your supply shed, helping you fulfill surveys for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Walmart’s Gigaton, The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and others.

2. Supply Shed Sponsor: This level of partnership includes everything in the Full Stack Disclosure, plus sponsored acres within your supply shed. We provide real data and farmer stories from these acres, helping you start moving these acres into carbon outcomes — our final tier. 

3. Carbon Outcomes: This tier gives you everything from the first two, plus intervention-based carbon outcomes, allowing you to measure the direct impact of specific interventions on carbon emissions.

Beyond these partnerships, sustainability can be embedded into product innovation by selecting ingredients like Ardent Mills’ Ancient Grains, which can naturally align with more sustainable practices. Sorghum, for example, is a C4 crop that matures quickly and fixes carbon in high-temperature and low-moisture environments.19 And the chickpea, a nutrient-packed pulse, fixes nitrogen in the soil. These ingredients are seeing increased use in food products, including snacks.20 Their nutrition profiles, coupled with their inherent sustainability, offer consumers the ability to eat healthy while also helping to protect the environment.

The Road to Sustainable Success 

Investments in sustainability for frozen, snack and other food products can produce real value for CPG manufacturers, including reducing environmental impact, boosting brand loyalty and creating incremental category growth. Additionally, 49% of consumers are willing to pay more for brands with a sustainable story.21 

An important thing to keep in mind is that sustainability efforts, and regenerative agriculture in particular, require long-term investments. On average, it takes three years or more to achieve meaningful results, but we believe the long-term return on investment makes strategic commitments today worthwhile.  

Ardent Mills helps support your brand’s efforts to reach consumers with innovative and sustainable food products through long-term partnerships. Connect with our experts to explore further resources and opportunities to stand out in a crowded and competitive market.  

 

 


1Sustainability and Consumer Research by IRI and NYU Stern CSB Showcases Trends and Opportunities for Consumer Products Growth,” IRI and NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, September 13, 2022, https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220913006095/en/Sustainability-and-Consumer-Research-by-IRI-and-NYU-Stern-CSB-Showcases-Trends-and-Opportunities-for-Consumer-Products-Growth

2Kronthal-Sacco, Randi and Whelan, Tensi, “Sustainable Market Share Index,” Stern NYU, Updated March 2021, https://www.stern.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/Final%202021%20CSB%20Practice%20Forum-%207.14.21.pdf

3Consumers care about sustainability—and back it up with their wallets,” McKinsey & Company, accessed February 13, 2025, https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/consumers-care-about-sustainability-and-back-it-up-with-their-wallets

4Snacks Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Frozen & Refrigerated, Fruit, Bakery, Savory, Confectionery, Dairy), By Packaging, By Distribution Channel, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 20242030,” Grand View Research, accessed February 2, 2025, https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/snacks-market

5Datassential Snacking Keynote Report

6Ardent Mills Proprietary Research, U.S. consumers 18+

7Ardent Mills Proprietary Research, U.S. consumers 18-34

8Ardent Mills Proprietary Research, U.S. consumers 18-34

9Eric Schroeder, “Campbell Soup expands wheat sustainability program,” Baking Business, accessed February 17, 2025, https://www.bakingbusiness.com/articles/56005-campbell-soup-expands-wheat-sustainability-program

10How Regenerative Agriculture Can Make Climate Solutions More Resilient,” World Economic Forum, accessed February 17, 2025, https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/11/regenerative-agriculture-climate-solutions-resilient/

11“Embracing Regenerative Agriculture,” ClimateSeed, accessed February 17, 2025, https://climateseed.com/blog/regenerative-agriculture

12“Embracing Regenerative Agriculture,” ClimateSeed, accessed February 17, 2025, https://climateseed.com/blog/regenerative-agriculture

13Teal, Nuna, PhD, and Burkart, Karl, “Regenerative Agriculture can play a key role in combating climate change,” One Earth, accessedFebruary 17, 2025, https://www.oneearth.org/regenerative-agriculture-can-play-a-key-role-in-combating-climate-change/

14Innova Market Insights, result of “free text” search of content included on pack containing “Regenerative Farming” and/or “Regenerative Agriculture” and/or similar, some variability expected

15Innova Market Insights, result of “free text” search of content included on pack containing “Regenerative Farming” and/or “Regenerative Agriculture” and/or similar, some variability expected

16Ardent Mills Proprietary Research

17Ardent Mills Proprietary Research

18Nestlé U.S. advances regenerative agriculture practices in its DiGiorno wheat supply chain,” Nestle.com, July 13, 2023,https://www.nestle.com/media/news/regenerative-agriculture-wheat-digiorno-supply-chain

19“Sorghum June Grain of The Month,” Whole Grains Council, accessed February 17, 2025, https://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/grain-month-calendar/sorghum-june-grain-month

20Dabruzzi, Lanier, MS, RD, LD, “Sorghum Becoming a Staple in Grocery Aisles Across the Country,” National Sorghum Producers, accessed February 17, 2025, https://sorghumgrowers.com/magazine/sorghum-becoming-a-staple-in-grocery-aisles-across-the-country/

21Ardent Mills Proprietary Analysis/Research