First Movers Coalition for Food: CEO Lessons for the Future of Food Procurement is a World Economic Forum white paper published in January 2026 in collaboration with Bain & Company. It explains how food companies can use procurement to strengthen supply-chain resilience, support sustainable agriculture and protect affordability, quality and availability amid climate and market volatility.
Key insights:
Traditional procurement models focused on cost, quality and availability must now also address resilience and sustainability.
A 1°C rise in temperature could reduce yields of major crops by up to 20%, increasing food-security and supply risks.
Clear demand signals, such as long-term contracts, purchase guarantees and shared investment, can help farmers adopt sustainable practices.
The report proposes three stages of sourcing maturity: basic pilots, expanded commercial uptake and large-scale sustainable sourcing.
“Spec-anchored sourcing” integrates sustainability requirements directly into contracts, specifications and supplier evaluations.
“Decoupled sourcing” funds sustainability programmes in key sourcing regions without linking them directly to individual commodity purchases.
Scaling these approaches requires cooperation among procurement, sustainability and finance teams, supported by farmers, suppliers and financial institutions.
