Digital transformation is key to make food value chains more sustainable

The fresh produce value chain is getting connected. Find out how at Fruit Logistica 2023 in Berlin.

Every year, the world of agriculture gets more aligned on key topics including food quality, safety, emissions reduction and resource use. What blockers do we have to overcome? One is inconsistent needs and goals: governments worldwide have different definitions of sustainability and apply different regulations, while retailers and other value chain actors have different standards governing when food can be classified as safely, ethically and sustainably produced.

The result is that full-industry action takes longer to organize than it ideally would, since every multi-stakeholder sustainability project first requires a period of due diligence to ensure your partners have the same understanding and criteria for success as you – in other words, that you are all working towards the same vision. What if we could overcome this obstacle and get everyone in the food value chain working to a common set of robust, transparent and instantly verifiable set of standards for good agricultural practice? How can we achieve that in such a large and complex industry?

Digital solutions may hold the key. They have the power to connect everyone to the same marketplace, and to share and mutually verify information. But to establish what kind of digital solution we need, we need to take a step back and focus on growers.

Our long-held view at Bayer is that value chain partnerships flourish when they put growers’ needs at their center. This is an excellent example of that principle. Growers are a diverse and even fragmented group, spanning countless crops, countries, climatic conditions and economic situations. Some lack access to markets, premium inputs or agronomic advice. But all of them have the potential to farm regeneratively and improve their land’s ability to store carbon, nutrients and water, as well as producing more high-quality fresh food that can reach the world’s markets. A digital platform provides a new way to serve them all and deliver the change that they need – providing the starting point for transformation all the way along the value chain.?

That’s what our service platform, BayG.A.P., is becoming. BayG.A.P. has existed since 2015 as a grower-facing training and capacity extension service, but we have realized that it can do a lot more and reach more stakeholders, from growers through the value chain to consumers.?

As well as via in-person delivery, BayG.A.P. training content can now be accessed digitally, by website or app. The app content is even downloadable so it can be viewed offline with a mobile device – ideal for farmers who spend their time in the field. The app was launched in mid-2022 with modules on Regenerative Agriculture and TR4 Prevention, and new content is being added all the time.

This is the foundation of a digital ecosystem for the implementation and verification of good agricultural practices. After completing the training and a period of continuous assessment, growers are awarded ‘BayG.A.P. Verify’ status, which offtakers can view and check via the app. The verification is benchmarked to common retailer standards in four key areas: environmental, food quality, stewardship and safety, and social aspects. Since it acts as an intermediary step to the best-known certifications, it is more accessible, but it is still robust and backed up by field data – which is reflected in the app, showing how produce matches up to buyers’ quality and ESG metrics.?

Through BayG.A.P. Verify, farmers (not just large commercial ones, but smallholders too) and offtakers can instantly communicate, understand and trust their mutual agronomic standards. And we are working on extending this to the entire value chain, covering exporters, importers and retailers – and eventually going all the way to consumers, through a food label signifying BayG.A.P. verification.?

This is the kind of result that we can only achieve through a digital platform: instant but also clear and comprehensive alignment on good practices for fresh produce, from start to finish. It could decrease incompatibilities in the value chain, equip a new set of farmers with cutting-edge practices and market access, and catalyze our attempts to scale up regenerative, equitable agriculture.

But we need to get it right, and to pursue a form of digitalization that includes and benefits every actor. As I said at the start, we all have different needs, just as consumers and the environment do. As digital platforms like BayG.A.P. scale up, we need to ensure they take into account every perspective and fulfill every need. That’s how we really get aligned: by remembering that even in a digitally enabled world, agriculture is still a people business!

Do you want to share your perspective on how BayG.A.P. and digitalization can best work for fresh produce? We would be delighted to hear from you at Fruit Logistica, February 8-10. Our booth is in Hall 1.2 C-23.