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Charlotte Bande
Guiding the food & beverage sector's transformation to operate within planetary boundaries at Quantis
Charlotte Bande is the Global Food & Beverage Sector Lead at Quantis, a consultancy focused on sustainability and environmental impact. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, she has a strong professional presence on LinkedIn, where she engages with topics related to sustainability in the food and beverage industries.
Professional Background
- Current Role: Global Food & Beverage Sector Lead at Quantis
- Location: Boston, Massachusetts
- Expertise: Charlotte specializes in driving growth and innovation through sustainable practices, particularly in the food and beverage sectors. She is actively involved in discussions about challenges and solutions in these industries, including regenerative agriculture and zero deforestation initiatives.
Engagement and Contributions
Charlotte frequently shares insights on LinkedIn, discussing various topics such as:
- Blockers in agricultural collaboration within food companies.1
- The importance of sustainability roles within organizations.3
- Upcoming webinars focused on critical sustainability issues like deforestation.2
Her contributions reflect a commitment to fostering dialogue around sustainable practices in the food and beverage sectors.
Highlights
I’ve just spent an incredible few days with #farmers in Kansas and Missouri, hosted by our friends at Ag Partners Cooperative, Inc and Indigo. This visit was as much a strong reminder as an eye-opener, emphasizing the crucial support needed for farmers transitioning to #regenerative practices. Here are my key takeaways:
🌱 The Heat is On: A 1°C increase can slash Kansas crop yields by 16-20% and net farm income by a staggering 66% (EDF, Cornell University)
🌱 Soil Stewards: Farmers care about soil health to ensure future farming viability. This is not a new concept to them. But undertaking major changes doesn’t just require financial backing, it also needs the right resources, equipment, and technology.
🌱 Beyond Premiums: Premiums help, but farmers need additional financial assurances during their transition, especially if yields drop initially.
🌱 Lifetime of Harvests - Managing the Risks: With only about 40 harvests in a lifetime, testing new practices for 4 years means putting at risk 10% of their lifetime harvests. This is a major ask if they aren’t supported.
🌱 Flexible Carbon Programs - Rewarding Every Effort: farmers don’t like to be told, but does anybody? They need flexible carbon programs that will recognize diverse practices, ones they feel comfortable starting with or that they know will benefit their farms. In addition, many programs don’t reward pre-existing efforts which can still bring benefits to corporations.
🌱 Equipment Costs - The Big Barrier: Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a new truck, higher than their yearly revenue, is a killer for many mid-size farms. Innovative, flexible approaches are needed to tackle these costs.
🌱 The 2030 Crunch for corporations: Companies must act swiftly and accelerate their decision processes; reaching 2030 targets requires investing today to see results. Some investments, if not timed well, will take 2 years before seeing the results.
🌱 Market Timing: farmers are more likely to feel incentivized by premiums in low-price years as their revenue will take a hit. Low corn and soybean prices make this the ideal time for farmers to be receptive to incentives.
🌱 Long-Term Contracts - Double-Edged Sword: While beneficial, long-term contracts need safeguards for farmers if new practices don't work out. Without clear incentives and data from large-scale successful examples, they will halt these efforts.
Thank you Jed Miller, Ryan Jones, Emery Sorvino and Heidi Burns for the opportunity.
We are committed to organizing more visits like this to bridge the gap between farmers and corporations. Let us know if you’re interested in joining us on this journey!
Quantis, Kendra Pedley Satwik Mudgal Andrea G. Adrien Trompier Mollie Hoss-Kuhne Allon Zeitoun Lizzie Grobbel Tetyana Pecherska Meredith Reisfield Alice Chang Christian Casolaro
Interested in joining Quantis as a Global Lead? To bring your expertise in the Land & Agriculture space and your strategic mindset to make decisions that will enable companies to accelerate their transformation towards a more sustainable agricultural system? This job is for you! Also, you'll get to work with an amazing team - which we all know is one of the most important parts!
Kendra Pedley Adrien Trompier Andrea G. Satwik Mudgal Mollie Hoss-Kuhne Alain Vidal Alexi Ernstoff Tetyana Pecherska Alexandra L. Stern Christian Casolaro Hamed Majidzadeh Marcial Vargas-Gonzalez Allon Zeitoun
