Nomad Foods Partners with WWF

Nomad Foods and WWF have announced a partnership that seeks to find agricultural solutions to the "triple challenge" of feeding a growing global population while tackling the climate crisis and reversing biodiversity loss.

"We want to help our consumers eat more sustainably by providing widespread access to great-tasting food that is better for people, better for the planet and affordable," says Stéfan Descheemaeker, chief executive officer, Nomad Foods. "To support this, we are committed to sourcing 100 percent of our vegetables and potatoes through sustainable farming practices by 2025 with 77 percent of our grown vegetables already verified as such. Biodiversity loss is accelerating around the world. While improving biodiversity has been a focus for us and many of the farmers that we partner with for a number of years, I am excited that our collaboration with WWF will help us to extend our knowledge and create a much wider impact beyond our supply chain."

The partnership will focus initially on two main projects centered around vegetable production. One, a blueprint for landscapes that can increase food productivity through "nature-positive" farming approaches; the other is dedicated to measuring the impact of biodiversity at farm level to target interventions and find new ways of increasing pollinators bees and other species.

On-pack communication for consumers, explaining how Nomad Foods brands and WWF are "working together to protect bees, butterflies and plants" will rollout initially across four countries, starting with Iglo Belgium and Portugal and Findus Spain in April, followed by Birds Eye in the U.K. in June.

"Changing the way that we produce and consume food is at the heart of WWF's mission to build a sustainable future for people and nature," says Tanya Steele, chief executive, WWF U.K. "Our food system is one of the biggest drivers of climate change and nature loss, so it's a system we simply must change. That's why we're delighted to be working in partnership with Nomad Foods, not only to reduce the environmental impact of farming but also to encourage people to eat a more plant-rich diet that's healthy for them and the planet."