Further expanding the range of its sustainability projects, Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV has launched regenerative agriculture pilot tests both in Mexico and the United States, said Daniel Servitje, chief executive officer. Calling regenerative agriculture a “huge initiative,” Mr. Servitje said agriculture accounts for the largest proportion of Bimbo’s Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, meaning emissions in a company’s value chain but not from assets owned or directly controlled by the company. He said changing growers’ agricultural practices in a way that adopts regenerative agriculture techniques will take years, and that Bimbo sees working closely with flour millers as “key” toward making progress.
No-till/low-till farming, cover crops and crop rotation are among numerous techniques considered part of regenerative agriculture. In Mexico, Bimbo has been working with the famed International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center (CIMMYT, established by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug), based in El Batan, Mexico, to pilot regenerative agriculture projects in that country. Mr. Servitje said the early results of the pilot tests have been impressive.