innocent Drinks is offering up to £1 million in grants through its enhanced Farmer Innovation Fund.
The aim is to invest more in protecting the long-term supply of fruit and veg through regenerative agriculture, as part of the plan to decarbonise its supply chain.
The Farmer Innovation Fund provides funding to its ingredient suppliers for projects that support the transition to low-carbon farming, higher biodiversity and fairer farming practices.
With over half of innocent’s carbon footprint coming from its ingredients, investing in sustainable farming practices will be key to achieving a 50% reduction of its scope 3 emissions by 2030, and help systemic change in the supply chain.
Grants for 2024
The fund, first launched in March 2021, aims to address the lack of funding options available to commercial farmers, by making funding available to cover losses associated with trialling new innovative farming practices.
Funding will be offered to all innocent ingredient suppliers with a special focus on those providing priority fruits, such as apples and oranges, which produce the highest levels of innocent’s Scope 3 emissions. Within the total fund of £1 million, grants will be made available between £20,000 – £500,000, with those over £500,000, considered on a case-by-case basis.
Longer term, the fund will also cover grants for advocacy, education and collaboration beyond innocent’s supply chains and innocent will share its learnings throughout the process to accelerate the transition to sustainable farming within the wider sector.
The fund’s previous winners include Döhler, which is using the fund to map out how to reduce the carbon footprint in its apple and mango supply chains, and Agrarias Manchegas, which is optimising farm inputs via data management and precision agriculture technology.
External Advisory Board
Decisions on funds allocation will be made by:
Dominik Klauser, Regenerative Agriculture Director at SAI Platform – Dominik also delivers lectures on Sustainable Agriculture at various Swiss Universities and acts as an adviser to multilateral organisations to direct their investment towards creating more regenerative and resilient farming systems.
Jyoti Fernandes, farmer and campaigner – Jyoti is a Dorset smallholder farmer on a regenerative agroecological holding producing fruits, preserves, cider, lamb and cheese sold locally.
Martin Lines, farmer and CEO of the Nature Friendly Farming Network – Martin has a keen interest in farm conservation management and is a third-generation farmer, growing mainly arable crops on his 400-acre farm.
Oliver Williams, Corporate philanthropy Senior Manager at Virgin Unite – Ollie looks after various social impact projects, strategic initiatives, philanthropic investments and high-level relationships.
Nick Canney, CEO, innocent Drinks said, “We see the Farmer Innovation Fund as a great opportunity to weave a strong connection from our drinkers to our farmers by working with our suppliers to safeguard the future supply of fruit and vegetables. So, they can continue to play their role in delivering sustainable and healthy diets.”
Dominik Klauser, Regenerative Agriculture Director, SAI Platform and chair of the External Advisory Board for the Farmer Innovation Fund, said: “We need to see more investment in supporting farmers on their journey towards de-risking and embracing regenerative farming practices. It’s great to see businesses like innocent drinks committing to support the farmers within their supply chain to make this transition.”
