Regen-farmed craft beer: Wildfarmed moves from bread to beverage

Wildfarmed, best known for its regeneratively farmed bread, recently announced a partnership with flavoured beer brand Jubel.

Under the partnership, Jubel will source its barley from Wildfarmed, aiming to make all its beers from 100% regenerative farmed grain.

This could create up to 50% savings in carbon emissions, and all barley will be traceable back to the fields in which it was grown, the brand claims.

The partnership not only marks a significant supply chain transformation, but will also aim to boost consumer perception of Jubel’s sustainability.

However, further growth is hindered by the lack of a linear approach from the wider food and farming sectors.

What is regenerative agriculture?Regenerative agriculture currently has no legal definition. Industry organisation Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI), which is composed of companies such as Danone, Nestlé and Unilever, released its definition in 2023. Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) initiative Regen10 has also released a framework. Recently, experts have called for agreed-upon standards to be set.

Wildfarmed works with its own standard, the Wildfarmed standard, against which its farmers are contracted to deliver. These standards include several key practices, including integrating livestock with the cropping system, the use of cash and companion crops (when another crop is sown alongside the main crop) and overwintering cover crops (which are sown to protect soil).

It also refrains from the use of pesticides, a key contributor to agriculture’s environmental impact.

“These practices help us to deliver on our key outcomes that are: improve soil health, increase biodiversity, minimise water pollution and reduce carbon,” explains Wildfarmed chief growth officer Callum Morris.

Barley, a crop which grows in the UK’s climate, is well-suited for the growers of UK-based Wildfarmed.

“We are seeing increased interest from farmers in exploring growing it in their field rotation,” explains Morris.

Consumer demand for regeneratively farmed beerRegenerative agriculture is still not a widespread phenomenon, although several large companies have made forays into the area.

Regenerative agriculture meets the growing consumer demands to know more about the supply chain, according to Wildfarmed’s Morris.

“We know that people are becoming increasingly interested in understanding where their food and drink comes from as well as the wider impact it has on the world around them.”

This is not the first time that beverages have embraced regenerative agriculture.

Beverage major Diageo launched regenerative agriculture programmes for its whisky and tequila in 2023, aiming to reduce carbon emissions of barley, wheat and agave.

In a 2024 sustainability report, coffee manufacturer Westrock Coffee stressed its commitment to rolling out regenerative agriculture practices throughout its supply chain.