What happens when a seasoned finance professional trades his suit for soil? In a conversation with Edd Lees, co-founder of WildFarmed, we explore what it’s like to help create one of the most renowned brands in regenerative agriculture. Inspired by his friend Andy Cato, Edd, the financial mind behind WildFarmed, embarked on a mission to revolutionize food systems, beginning with a bakery in southern France. Today, they work with over 100 farmers across 10,000 hectares in the UK, supplying regenerative flour to some of London’s best bakeries.
We explore Edd’s transition from 23 years in finance, his pragmatic approach to changing the food system (avoiding dogmatism), and his strategies for scaling the business. This includes expanding beyond their core market of artisanal bakers and finding ways to introduce their products to supermarkets. For WildFarmed, it’s all about scaling up, impacting as many hectares as possible- ultimately at a landscape level- while guiding farms on their regenerative journey, one step at a time, all while maintaining financial sustainability.
LISTEN TO THE CONVERSATION ON:
HOW WILDFARMED BUILT THEIR REGEN FLOUR BRAND
Edd discusses the decision to become a branded food product rather than just remaining an ingredient supplier.
”We wanted to be a brand for a couple of reasons. I’m very strongly of the opinion that brands are what change consumer behaviour. In the UK alone, we’ve got 463 different eco- type certifications. I think the consumer is confused and disengaged with this. I think it’s a 20th-century solution. I think the 21st century brands can do that themselves, with their own definition, and there’s enough technology out there to demonstrate that you are doing what you say.” Edd Lees
”The reason we exist is to transform landscapes scale and quickly to nature, producing rich food, and we were not going to be able to do that within the artisan community alone. I think it’s an important way that we’ve approached this since day one is that if you’re a farmer, just try something […] if you’re a baker, try one of your products, or a bit of one of your products” Edd Lees
EDUCATION OF CONSUMERS IS SO IMPORTANT, AND BRANDS ARE IDEALLY POSITIONED TO DO THAT
The team worked on co-branding with partners and educating consumers about the benefits of regenerative agriculture.
”The biggest challenge we’ve got in this whole thing is education. I think we use the brand to engage an audience and tell them a story that I didn’t know. George didn’t know that. Andy didn’t know that. None of us who work here pretty much knew, and when you learn about it, it’s something that you want to be part of. So that was the purpose of being a brand. So why were we not just a flower brand then? Because I think we need to have more pull than just being a co-brand or just being an ingredient, and it is very important to learn the whole supply chain to really deeply understand the farming, where we still learn, and to really deeply understand the various uses of flour, which we’re still learning every day.” Edd Lees
WHY AND HOW WILDFARMED DEVELOPED THEIR OWN BREAD AND STARTED SELLING IN SUPERMARKETS
Edd talks about the challenges of scaling up and emphasizes the importance of building a solid foundation for the business.
”The wheats he was growing at the time were mostly older wheat varieties that have different properties from what many of the bakers today were using. And Andy spent time down at the local library in France reading ancient books, many centuries old books, about how to bake with these kinds of varieties. And when we enlisted the help of a highly skilled baker, an Irish girl called Louise’s, fantastic baker, to help reformulate what these breads could be like. […] basically Andy getting back on his feet financially because it was making breads out of these products. And again, it’s worth mentioning that on the second weekend, there was a cue for bread in the shop, the first time in that town for a very long time, of mostly older people saying, this is what bread used to taste like.” Edd Lees
”So, this thing in a very small rural town had started to prove concept, and the three of us wanted to bring that to the world, should I say, but to the UK initially. George and I are London- based. George is an incredible communicator and storyteller. So that was the early version of what has now become WildFarmed.” Edd Lees
”First and foremost, the product’s got to be great. So, we spent a lot of time trying to work with the best partners who we could find and manufacture products for us to a specification that aligned with what we’re trying to do. There’s been a lot of focus on UPF this year, ultra processed food, certainly the UK. I’m not sure how much outside of the UK, but you know the other side of that equation is the ingredient. It’s not more important than the process, certainly as important, and we have the highest quality ingredient in the bread aisle, and so we had to find partners who would work with a process that complemented that, and at the same time try to find a way to engage people.’ […] We spent an awful lot of time, money, and energy thinking about, how can we tell the story?” Edd Lees
OTHER POINTS DISCUSSED
Koen and Edd also talked about:
- The importance of creating the right incentives for regenerative agriculture
- The younger generation is more aware of the impact of their food choices
- Role of finance and government
LINKS:
- WildFarmed
- Flour power: three men and a farming revolution
- Transforming the Food Landscape at Scale, Can it be Done? – Groundswell 2024
LINKED INTERVIEWS:
- Adrien Pelletier – Why all farmers or most farmers need to become seed breeders again
- Kevin Morse – Flour, flavour and nutrients, how a back to the future mill changes everything for wheat farmers
- Henry Dimbleby – From designing the National Food Strategy for England to starting a £50M fund focussed on food transition
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The above references an opinion and is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.