Regenerative Product Design with Ethan Soloviev

New Food Order

Regenerative has become a buzzword, with companies big and small making commitments to launch regenerative products. But what does regenerative product design actually look like? And how do we measure the impacts of product design and ingredient choices on people and our planet?

This week, we discuss this and more with Ethan Soloviev, farmer and chief innovation officer at HowGood, a food sustainability rating company. His work with international retailers and CPG brands combines on-the-ground agricultural expertise in 34 countries with sustainability-driven market insights. Ethan has developed environmental and social impact metrics for analysis of more than 3,000 brands, including Ahold-Delhaize, Walmart and Danone. He regularly presents on Regenerative Agriculture and Regenerative Business at conferences around the world, and is the author of “Regenerative Enterprise: Optimizing for Multi-Capital Abundance” and the monthly “Regeneration Newsroom."

We discuss:

• Cultivating a regenerative paradigm
• How to provide food producers with the information they need to minimize the negative climate and labor risks of their products
• Where regeneration strategy needs to differ when thinking about large vs small producers
• Which metrics companies and consumers need to be looking at
• The business benefits of regeneration
• Ethan’s optimism around ecosystem service marketplaces
• Whether it’s worth trying to fix modern capitalism or if we should take inspiration from more traditional local systems
• Why Ethan thinks biotech and plant-based innovations are not enough on their own and why they must be used in conjunction with a new mindset

Show Notes

• Chipotle and Kraft Heinz use this start-up to track and prove how green they are: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/06/chipotle-and-kraft-use-start-up-howgood-to-track-how-green-they-are.html
• White Leaf Provisions: https://www.whiteleafprovision.com/
• Carol Sanford: https://carolsanford.com/
• One Planet Business for Biodiversity Coalition: https://op2b.org/
• Ecosystem Services Marketplace: https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/ecosystem-services/
• Regen Network: https://www.regen.network/
• Nori: https://nori.com/
• reNature: https://www.renature.co/
• Burlap and Barrel: https://www.burlapandbarrel.com/
• Yolele Foods: https://yolele.com/
• Perennial Agriculture: https://www.perennial.earth/

*Giveaway Details*

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Thank you to Foodshot Global & New Hope Network for sponsoring the series.

And a huge thank you to everyone who helped us bring this podcast to life:

Production: Cam Gray, Cofruition

Audio Editing: Tevin Sudi

Original Music: Rodrigo Barbera

Art: Lola Nankin

Project Management: Patrick Carter