First Movers Coalition for Food: CEO Lessons for the Future of Food Procurement

The First Movers Coalition for Food report argues that traditional food procurement often fails to scale sustainable solutions because of a lack of bold demand-side leadership. By leveraging procurement to send strong market signals, companies can unlock finance and give farmers the confidence to invest in regenerative practices. The document draws on interviews with chief procurement officers and case studies to demonstrate how reimagining procurement can protect nature, ensure continuity of supply, and deliver value across the global food system.

• Sustainable agricultural solutions, including water management, lower-methane rice production, and regenerative farming for row crops, exist but frequently fail to scale beyond the pilot phase due to a lack of strong, credible market signals from demand-side leadership.
• Global food supply chains are currently under pressure from population growth, geopolitical shifts, and the impacts of nature and climate, creating an urgent need for businesses to adopt resilient procurement solutions that balance cost, quality, and availability with sustainability.

APA

World Economic Forum (2026). First Movers Coalition for Food: CEO Lessons for the Future of Food Procurement. https://www.weforum.org/publications/first-movers-coalition-for-food-ceo-lessons-for-the-future-of-food-procurement/

Chicago

World Economic Forum. First Movers Coalition for Food: CEO Lessons for the Future of Food Procurement. 2026. https://www.weforum.org/publications/first-movers-coalition-for-food-ceo-lessons-for-the-future-of-food-procurement/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=First Movers Coalition for Food: CEO Lessons for the Future of Food Procurement |date=20 January 2026 |url=https://www.weforum.org/publications/first-movers-coalition-for-food-ceo-lessons-for-the-future-of-food-procurement/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2026first, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{First Movers Coalition for Food: CEO Lessons for the Future of Food Procurement}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2026}, month = jan, url = {https://www.weforum.org/publications/first-movers-coalition-for-food-ceo-lessons-for-the-future-of-food-procurement/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }