Kerry Group, a producer of food and food additives, earlier this year invited professor Wolfram Schlenker, the inaugural Ray A. Goldberg Professor of the Global Food System at Harvard University, to discuss how to build food resilience in a world of climate volatility, environmental strain, geopolitical disruption and AI.
Moderated by Dr. Mary Shelman, agribusiness thought leader and founder of the Boston-based Shelman Group consulting company, the conversation between professor Goldberg and Juan Aguiriano, Kerry head of Marketing and Sustainability explored how resilience must be understood differently across commodities and specialised ingredients; why sustainability should be viewed as a core driver of risk management and long-term value creation; and where greater transparency is needed around trade-offs between sustainability, affordability, resilience, and nutrition.
“What came through clearly in this discussion is that resilience cannot be reduced to a single metric or solved in isolation,” said Shelman. “Food system leaders are navigating interconnected pressures — from climate and trade disruption to affordability and nutrition — and the companies that will create long-term value are those that embed sustainability into decision-making as a source of resilience, innovation and strategic advantage.”
Professor Schlenker studies the effect of weather and climate on agricultural yields and migration, how climate trends and the U.S. biofuel mandate influences agricultural commodity prices, and how pollution impacts both agricultural yields and the rate of disease in a population.
“The decisions being made today in boardrooms and research labs will determine what lands on plates in 2040 and beyond,” he commented. “The science of climate, agriculture, nutrition and sustainability is no longer a set of separate bodies of knowledge — they are deeply connected. Discussions like this one, bringing industry and academia together, are how we translate research into real-world change.”
Juan Aguiriano added: “Across the food industry, we are seeing growing recognition that sustainability, resilience and nutrition are not competing priorities — they must be addressed together.
“The challenge now is to turn better data and stronger science into practical action across supply chains and innovation pipelines, so we can help customers deliver food and beverage solutions that are more affordable, more sustainable and better for people and planet.”
Kerry is a member of the Founders Circle, Harvard's first university-wide endowed chair dedicated to research and teaching the global food system.
Based in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, the Kerry Group employs 23,000-plus people worldwide with 800 working in its global technology centre in Ireland. The company supplies over 18,000 foods, food ingredients and flavour products to customers in more than 140 countries. In 2023, revenue exceeded €8 billion and net income was €728 million.