CULTIVATE

By 2030, Cultura’s goal is for the agri-food community to form collaborative circles that enable businesses to work across the supply chain, leveraging data for better decisions. We’ve learned that our agri-food value chains are highly efficient but also brittle, as seen during crises like Covid, the Ukraine war, disruption in the Red Sea, and the Asian flu, all of which contribute to global food security issues.

Building a more flexible, sustainable, and resilient food supply requires collaboration and the practical use of technology to enable better decisions. “If companies want to improve the global agri-food system and be their best, we must do so as part of a collaborative effort across the value chain,” Reynertson says. “Real sustainable solutions, require letting go a bit of the ego system for the betterment of our ecosystem. Real growth and maturity come from giving up a part of ourselves for a greater purpose.”

Reynertson likens this vision to an a cappella singing group, where each voice matters, sometimes singing solo, sometimes in duet, and sometimes as a group.

“We don’t want to turn every company into the same thing, each part of the supply chain requires recognition of the unique and important role that they play,” Reynertson says. “We are building an environment for that collaboration to happen.”

He shares an example from a church in Atlanta, where building community and affecting change was about getting people into circles, not rows. “Life happens in circles,” Reynertson says. “When you get people in circles, around the dinner table, they share experiences and build relationships, leading to trust and community.”