**You Can’t Copy-Paste a Croissant**

European bakery brands keep learning the hard way that what wins in Europe does not automatically win in the US.

Europastry’s North America head Fernando Garcia Ferrer put it bluntly. European players need to adapt products, service models and operations to US expectations. You cannot just ship the playbook across the Atlantic and hope for the best. Europastry operates 3 factories in the US, so this is not theory. It is lived experience.

Now layer in the sustainability tension. In the US, sustainability-marketed products account for 25.4% of CPG dollar share, up 1.6% year over year, according to Circana. That sounds promising. At the same time, inflationary pressure is pushing shoppers to prioritize price over sustainability, limiting demand for regenerative claims, according to Klim CEO Dr Robert Gerlach.

Meanwhile, 68 of the top 100 food companies say they have a regenerative agriculture strategy. The Rodale Institute launched the Regenerative Organic Certification in 2017. More than 22 million acres have met that standard. The supply side is mobilizing.

Why it matters: Food is responsible for about one third of global greenhouse gas emissions, including half of methane. Methane is 80 times more powerful than carbon in warming terms. Brands cannot ignore that math. But shoppers are still doing their own math at the shelf.

Quick take: The winners will localize twice. First to American taste and retail realities. Then to American wallets. Regenerative may be strategic, but price is still the gatekeeper.