Farm Progress

Bayer marks 10th anniversary of Food Chain PartnershipBayer marks 10th anniversary of Food Chain Partnership

Bayer Crop Science CEO Liam Condon says the Food Chain Partnership is an important and indispnesable link between growers, traders, proessors and retailers to improve sustainable practices worldwide. 

March 4, 2015

2 Min Read
<p>Bayer Crop Science marked the 10<sup>th</sup> anniversary of its Food Chain Partnership with a forum in Berlin Feb. 4-6 that focused on how to keep consistency of the food supply in the future.</p>

Bayer Crop Science marked the 10th anniversary of its Food Chain Partnership with a forum in Berlin Feb. 4-6 that focused on how to keep consistency of the food supply in the future.

“Our Food Chain Partnership initiative has become an important and indispensable link between growers, traders, processors and retailers during the last ten years when it comes to improving sustainable practices for farmers and suppliers worldwide,” said Bayer Crop Science CEO Liam Condon. “Given the strong positive feedback we have received from our customers, we intend to further expand this initiative over the coming years.”

Silke Friebe, head of Food Chain Management at Bayer CropScience, said the Food Chain Partnership began 10 years ago, mainly as a reaction to public concerns about food safety, especially residues, but has grown into something much bigger.

“It has become a concept of strong collaboration and partnership between Bayer Crop Science and the food value chain, to work together towards highly important common goals: sustainable agriculture, food safety and food security,” Friebe said.

In a panel discussion titled “Benefiting from Partnerships in Food Production - Facing Today’s Challenges Together,” experts from different stages of food production highlighted the current challenges facing food production and addressed such issues such as ensuring producers produce the right quality food at a competitive price. Food safety and sustainability were also stressed.

“Consumers want to know where their food is coming from. The big challenge for us, especially in developing markets, is the reliable sourcing of products in terms of volume, safety and quality,” said Karolina Otto, head of sustainability at Metro AG. "The partnership with Bayer helped us a lot to establish close collaborations with local producers."

Bayer’s Food Chain Partnership has projects in 30 countries, spanning 40 crops, mainly fruits and vegetables.  Bayer Crop Science plans to further expand its Food Chain Partnership to other countries, particularly in Africa, and plans to transfer the model to broad-acre crops such as rice, cereals and oilseeds.

 

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