Regenerative agriculture certifiers report strong demand for their programs as more food brands display regenerative labels
As the regenerative agriculture trend continues to accelerate, interest in and demand for regenerative certification programs is also growing, according to the certifiers.
“The interest has been overwhelming,” says Emily Moose, executive director of A Greener World (AGW), which offers a range of certification programs, including regenerative. “We’re getting interest at the farmer level and the buyer level, and that interest is consistent.”
A Greener World has 9,300 Certified Regenerative acres and 149,221 acres in transition to certification, and is working with 250 businesses, brands, and farms to become certified, according to Moose.
The leading regenerative agriculture certification programs in the U.S. are Certified Regenerative by A Greener World, Savory Institute’s Land to Market, Regenerative Organic Alliance/Regenerative Organic Certified, Regenified, Soil & Climate Initiative, and Ethos. United Kingdom-based regenagri is a leading international regenerative certifier with a focus on fiber such as cotton.
At Regenified, Kristine Root, chief marketing officer, says “We’re seeing a lot of demand for it. There’s something exciting every day. The momentum feels like a fire hose.”
Regenefied has certified more than 20 brands and more than one million acres. Certified brands include King Arthur Baking Co., Vital Farms, and Western Foods, among others.
The Soil & Climate Initiative (SCI) is working with 130 farmers and more than 250,000 acres. SCI’s focus is encouraging more regenerative acres with the certification as an added benefit, according to Jeff Bos, senior director, design & innovation at the Soil & Climate Initiative.
“We say we’re a farm-to-shelf regenerative program with the option for third party verification,” he says. “What we’re really going for is (regenerative) acres at scale.”
Several brands such as Roots Chips and PACHA Bread carry the Soil & Climate Initiative Verified logo.
Megan Meiklejohn, interim CEO of Land to Market, which certifies regenerative pastureland, says interest is also high in her organization’s certification. Brands that are Land to Market certified include organic dairy brands Kalona Supernatural and Alexandre Family Farm.
regenagri has 4.37 million certified acres of land across 300,000 farms worldwide.
Perhaps the fastest growing regenerative certification is Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC), which has certified 18.4 million acre and 223 brands and has 1,900 ROC certified products on retail shelves.
Consumer awareness of regenerative and retailers’ role
With regenerative certification labels appearing on food products, will consumers understand what they mean? Surveys in recent years have found that most consumers are unfamiliar with “regenerative.” This was the result of a 2024 survey conducted at Purdue University, which found that 43% of survey respondents said they were “not at all familiar” with the term “regenerative agriculture,” and another 28% are only “slightly familiar.”
A survey by Regenified also found a knowledge gap about regenerative agriculture among Values Based Shoppers, who prefer purchasing high quality, nutritious food. Before being shown visual aids, just 37% of Values Based Shoppers reported a strong understanding of the term. But when presented with information illustrating how regenerative practices can improve soil health, increase biodiversity, and enhance nutrient density in food, 65% of Values Based Shoppers reported being “extremely interested” in regenerative agriculture. The Regenified survey also found that consumer awareness about regenerative is growing by 20% per year.
Food retailers can play a major role in educating consumers, according to Root. “We have partnerships with retailers who recognize they have a role to play in getting regenerative certified products to consumers,” she says. “That’s how the retailers can play a huge role in helping to educate consumers.”
Waitrose, a major food retailer in the UK, received Regenified certification for their vineyards and specialty crops. According to Root, Waitrose aims to expand regenerative agriculture across the UK.
“We’re really seeing strong interest from big players, and Waitrose saying they have a role to play in advancing regenerative agriculture. They’re committed to moving all their fruits, vegetables, animal protein, and dairy to 100% regenerative sources,” she says.
In the U.S., Whole Foods Market has an initiative to help their customers identify reliable regenerative agriculture foods. A statement on the company’s website says: “We’re focusing in areas where our expertise and resources can best serve our shoppers, our suppliers, and the growing regenerative agriculture industry as a whole.” Whole Foods requires third-party certification of foods making regenerative claims and has approved several labels: Regenerative Organic Certified, Regenified, Land to Market’s Ecological Outcome Verified, and Certified Regenerative by A Greener World. The Soil & Climate Initiative is currently in the benchmarking process to also be an approved Whole Foods third-party regenerative certification.
Pesticide debate
One of the debates with regenerative certification programs—and how they differ from organic certification—is that most allow the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which are prohibited in organics. Though most regenerative certification programs also require reductions in the use of those inputs over time.
Regenerative Organic Certified is the only regenerative certification that requires organic certification as a baseline, and prohibits the use of synthetic inputs.
Supporters of regenerative certification say that as farmers build soil health—the main goal of regenerative agriculture—they reduce the need for synthetic inputs. Many regenerative farmers have reported this.
“We need to be measuring the outcomes: is the soil regenerating?” says Bos. “If that’s true, we must assume that you’re not doing harm, which means that you are reducing chemical inputs. Over time, we need to see a reduction.”
“In regenerative agriculture, chemicals are a disturbance,” Root says. “They influence nature in a way that are prohibitive of natural systems. It’s baked into our tier structure that year-over-year reduction in inputs is required to be able to improve your ecosystem function.”
Regenerative agriculture has also been described as a gateway to organic production. Some regenerative farmers have transitioned to organic. Indiana farmer Rick Clark, who has become a leading voice in the regenerative movement, is one example.
“A lot of the farms in our network may not have started as an organic farm, but once they get a few years into regeneration, they start building up that ecosystem function, and they actually see a future where chemical-free is a possibility,” Root says.
Benina Montes, managing partner of Burroughs Family Farms, says organic and regenerative farming movements should work together to regenerate agriculture and build a better food system.
“There is so much positivity in both camps, so let’s make it one camp,” she says. “Let’s figure out how to get more soil covered in the organic landscape and figure out how to use less synthetics in regenerative. Let’s work together to make the world a better place.”
