**Everyone’s Going Regenerative. Nobody Agrees What It Means.**

Regenerative agriculture is having a boardroom moment. Sixty-eight of the world’s top 100 food companies now claim to have a regenerative strategy. The vast majority are backing it in some form. There is just one problem. No single standard. No shared definition. Plenty of tension around auditing and who actually captures the value.

Meanwhile, shoppers are sending mixed signals. In the US, sustainability-marketed products hold 25.4% of CPG dollar share, up 1.6% year over year, according to Circana. Real money. Real growth. But inflation is pushing sustainability down the priority list, limiting near-term demand for regenerative claims.

On the ground, brands are moving anyway. Since 2017, more than 22 million acres worldwide have met Regenerative Organic Certification standards. General Mills has rallied 48 local farms in France into a decarbonisation program tied to regenerative practices, with early results showing a 12% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions versus the wider cooperative. Häagen-Dazs sources milk and cream for its Arras facility from around 300 farms and is working on regenerative and decarbonisation programs. Kellanova and Walmart are partnering with Indigo Ag to drive regenerative rice in Arkansas as part of Scope 3 efforts.

Why it matters. Food systems drive about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions and roughly half of methane emissions. Agriculture sits at the center of every serious climate plan.

Here’s the tension. Regenerative is becoming table stakes for big food, even as consumers are not fully bought in and standards remain fuzzy. Brands are betting that supply chain math will matter more than front-of-pack claims, at least for now.