SALISBURY, NC. — Retail holding company Ahold Delhaize USA has partnered with General Mills, Inc. to address Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions within their shared value chain.

Both companies will co-invest in priority supply sheds, geographic growing regions where key ingredients are sourced, to support farmers as they adopt regenerative farming practices, Ahold Delhaize USA said. These farmers will utilize expertise from Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC), a nonprofit member-based consortium, and receive technical and financial support to implement several farming methods such as cover cropping and nutrient management. The farmers also will use a combination of field sampling and modeling to estimate greenhouse gas emissions.

“This relationship emphasizes how strategic collaboration is essential for addressing climate impacts and creating positive environmental outcomes,” said Marc Stolzman, chief sustainability officer of Ahold Delhaize USA. “Ahold Delhaize USA looks forward to the learnings from this supply shed collaboration and using the findings to drive progress across the supply chain.”

ESMC, along with local implementing partners, aim to help advance regenerative agriculture management on more than 70,000 acres of farmland in Kansas and the Canadian providence Saskatchewan by the end of 2025, Ahold Delhaize USA said. General Mills will use this land to source key ingredients such as wheat and oats for its products, which will be sold at Ahold Delhaize USA-operated grocery store chains such as Food Lion, Giant Food, the Giant Co., Hannaford and Stop & Shop.

“In 2019, General Mills became one of the first companies to commit to helping advance regenerative agriculture,” said Mary Jane Melendez, chief sustainability and global impact officer of General Mills. “We champion a farmer-centered approach across key regions where the ingredients we source are grown, aiming to produce positive environmental, social and economic outcomes. Ahold Delhaize USA is a natural fit for collaboration with shared goals of creating a more healthy and resilient food system.”

ESMC will facilitate the program and oversee impact measurement while an independent third-party verification organization will validate greenhouse gas reductions and soil carbon sequestration, Ahold Delhaize USA said.

“ESMC’s ongoing partnerships with General Mills and Ahold Delhaize USA continue to leverage our collective investments and generate shared outcomes,” said Debbie Reed, executive director of ESMC. “By creating opportunities for co-investing in regenerative agricultural solutions, producers win, corporations win, and consumers win. These verified improvements in agricultural production systems increase on-farm resilience for producers and build resilience throughout the supply chain.”