Healthy Soils, Healthy Pets: Collaboration is Key for Regenerative Agriculture
By Rémi Rocca, Global VP Sustainability at Royal Canin
Healthy Soil: The Foundation of Sustainable Pet Nutrition
Healthy soil is essential for sustainable agriculture. It supports biodiversity, stores carbon and nourishes crops for people and pets. Thriving soil benefits our entire food system, farmers, communities and the companion animals we care for.
But today, soil health is under threat. Soil health is essential for global food security, which is why Mars has committed to delivering more than one million acres of regenerative agriculture practices globally by 2030.
At Royal Canin, we recognise that the future of pet food depends on the future of farming. World Soil Day gives us an opportunity to reflect on soil’s critical role in our supply chain and to spotlight some of the work already underway to help protect and regenerate this essential resource.
Embedding Climate-Smart Agriculture into Ingredients Sourcing
A key example of our commitment is our partnership with Soil Capital, an agronomy company helping farmers adopt regenerative agriculture. Together, we’re changing how key ingredients are grow, and delivering benefits for farmers, pets, and the planet.
In 2024, alongside Soil Capital, we supported 220 farmers, in Europe, to adopt regenerative agriculture practices on up to 47,000 hectares of farmland. Today, all corn, wheat, and barley sourced by Royal Canin from France and Belgium is covered by this program.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of our cereal purchases last year, globally, came from supply sheds where we help farmers adopt climate-smart practices, through partnerships with Soil Capital (Europe), ADM, Riceland Foods, the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund (US), and TNC (The Nature Conservancy) in China.
By working closely with farmers, we support the adoption of regenerative practices like cover cropping, reduced tillage, and crop diversification. The result: healthier soil and stronger livelihoods for farmers across our supply chain.
Looking Ahead — Expanding Our Impact
World Soil Day is a powerful reminder: healthy soil underpins healthy food, healthy pets, and a healthy planet. Our partnerships with companies across the world help farmers adopt regenerative practices that restore soil health, strengthen farm resilience, and secure nutrient-rich ingredients for Royal Canin’s pet health standards.
Building on our success with Soil Capital in France and Belgium, we’ve expanded our regenerative agriculture program in Europe to Poland, now covering all the corn, wheat, and barley we source there.
Through Soil Capital’s Beyond Carbon framework, we’re actively tracking improvements in soil health, biodiversity, water management, climate impact, and socioeconomic outcomes. Early data from our European supply chain shows increased adoption of regenerative practices and positive trends in soil quality and farm profitability. As leaders in sustainable pet nutrition, we’re committed to sharing our progress and insights.
You can learn more about our regenerative agriculture programme and Mars’ sustainability commitments here.
