How farmers big and small can boost sustainability

The Oxford Farming Conference has, since 1936, been a renowned place where UK farmers discuss common issues, and 2025 was no exception when the theme was Growing Resilience. Yet the venerable conference is not the only big farming event in Oxford in early January. 

Since 2010 an alternative event at the same time, the Oxford Real Farming Conference, has brought together a growing number of farmers, activists, policymakers and researchers who are interested in transforming the food system by embracing agroecological and organic farming with an emphasis on health, environment, community and ethics.  

This farming movement is paralleled by strong consumer interest in organic food and sustainable practices. Organically grown food is free of harmful chemicals such as pesticides, artificial additives and preservatives, which means healthier products for consumers. Organic food production also promotes sustainable practices by reducing pollution and conserving biodiversity. While organic farming embraces many sustainable practices to preserve clean and productive soils for future generations, regenerative farming takes another step by adopt additional practices to improve soil fertility and biodiversity, leaving land in better shape than it was before.

Organic food sales grow across major markets 

Hence, the excitement among consumers about alternative farming and food production models. In the past decade, US sales of organic-certified food grew at an average annual rate of 7.7%, which is more than double the rate of growth for the overall food industry, and US organic food sales reached $63.8 billion in 2023. Similarly, the retail organic food market in Europe generates over 50 billion euros in sales, while the UK organic market delivered positive growth 12 consecutive years reaching £3.2 billion in 2023 despite economic turmoil and a cost-of-living crisis. 

Across these markets, the expansion we see is remarkable considering that organic food is sold at a premium, which limits its affordability and distribution. Conventionally grown food prices are hard to beat as the price tags don’t include the societal costs reflecting soil degradation, pollution, loss of biodiversity and health. This market failure continues to be a sore point for organic growers. 

Online platforms help boost organic sales 

Technological solutions in our internet age have helped boost sales of organic food grown with agroecological practices. A new generation of online platforms now bring farmers and customers together, cutting out the middlemen who charge hefty commissions and markups. Crowdfarming in Europe and Riverford in UK are examples of such platforms. 

Crowdfarming, founded in 2017 by a group of young farmers, has become the leading European online farmer community in terms of farm-to-customer direct sales. As of the end of 2024, 330 farmers across Europe sell their products through the Crowdfarming platform, which attracted 475,000 users that year. Customers can make a one-time purchase or subscribe to regular shipments of certain products, for example, organic oranges. They could also adopt an organically grown orange tree, which means signing up to receive the full harvest of a tree for a year with shipments that they schedule on their preferred dates. The customer can really learn where the food is coming from, because the platform is very generous in providing rich information about the story of the farm and farmers, and specific farming techniques used, such as how they enrich the soil, preserve water, naturally fertilise, and minimise waste. These are testament to the stewardship of the land by these farmers.   

Riverford in the UK was also founded by a farmer, and as of 2023 it has been a 100% employee-owned business. It sources vegetables and fruits from both Riverford’s own farms and a robust network of UK and Europe-based organic farmers. The company takes pride in supporting small-scale farms and treating farmers fairly – including fair prices, making payments quickly, and taking a long-term relational approach. Riverford has inspired other online organic vegetable platforms in the UK such as Norfolk-based Goodery and Scotland-based Locavore, both of which are dedicated to sourcing food locally and supporting farming communities.

How have big food firms responded to organic growth? 

There is strong raw energy in this new farming movement that fuels entrepreneurship with ethics- and community-based values and innovative approaches. But how do large food companies respond to these new trends and growing interest in food grown with organic, agroecological, and ethical practices?  

A study I co-authored with Danchi Tan of National Chengchi University in China, published in the February 2025 issue of the Journal of Management, examines this issue. It explores how large US food manufacturing companies responded in the decade after the Organic Food Product Act, introduced in 1997, that defined organic certification and protected organic branding. 

The study found that CEOs’ human capital credentials were critical in responsiveness of the food companies to the emergence of organic food – which at the time involved significant business risk including uncertainty about business viability and market growth, lack of established organic food supply chains, and difficulties from transitioning from conventional to organic food production. 

The study found that the rate of responsiveness was highest when the CEOs of the food firms had both versatile and firm-specific human capital. Those CEOs with versatile managerial experience – such as experience in related industries, international markets and multiple business functions – have a broader cognitive repertoire giving them a richer chest of ideas, methodologies and solutions that they can utilise in overcoming the challenges of the organic food market. Yet, it was equally important that the CEOs also had in-depth experiential knowledge of their company and the food industry, which enables leveraging and reconfiguration of the firm’s resources to pursue organic food market opportunities. We found that CEOs and senior executive teams of firms such as Kraft Foods, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Del Monte, and Dean Foods were powerful facilitators to their firms’ responsiveness to the emerging organic trend.  

Improving food quality while protecting biodiversity 

The small-scale businesses represented at the Oxford Real Farming Conference and the larger businesses at the Oxford Farming Conference may have different ways of thinking and methodologies. They may even have some differences in their values and priorities. But in the end, both types of firms can play a role in improving the quality of food and food production and offer benefits to society and the environment. 

In both cases, it is through persistent search of innovative practices that firms can deliver high-quality, nutritious and affordable food while protecting and enhancing the health of the soil and biodiversity for future generations. It is through such efforts that firms across the entire food value chain can serve as good stewards of the food industry, enabling it to prosper and grow from strength to strength.