Farmers, brands have new tech platform to support stronger partnerships

Navigating certifications can bewilder even the most savvy retailer or shopper. Does the difference between organic or regenerative organic really matter? What does certified humane mean? Is non-GMO an important certification?

But even for those who understand the ins and outs of the many certifications that crowd the natural and organic products industry, few know anything about the actual farms and agricultural practices that led to the certifications. The retail buyer might know the flour is Regenerative Organic certified, for example. She could understand that this means the farm or farms that supplied the brand engaged with agricultural practices that bolstered soil health. But chances are, she can’t picture the acres that grew the wheat or envision how their regenerative agricultural practices contributed toward environmental stewardship.

A new company that alread is up and running in New Zealand and poised for a United States launch, Backstory, aims to change that. The company’s founder, Melissa Baer, says the company’s technology platform, Prove, will be invaluable for key stakeholders along the supply chain—farmers, brands and retailers—looking for ways to tell more granular and powerful stories about the hard work that girds the certifications. Along the way, it also has the potential to educate consumers.

Related:Kiss the Ground launches new regenerative ag educational series

“We’ve almost reached peak certification, and people are interested in what is beneath it,” said Baer. “Certifications can be a blunt instrument. They can separate the good from the bad, but so much good can be left out.”

Baer said much of her passion for the places where farming and storytelling intersect emerged while helping out with the family organic farm when she was growing up in Canada. Among other things, both Baer’s farm and her neighbor’s were certified organic. Baer’s farm invested far more resources and savvy into regenerating the soil and practicing powerful environmental stewardship than the next-door farm. Yet they both registered as simply organic to retailers and consumers.

The leveling effect of the certifications stuck with her. Now Backstory is working to give farmers as well as the brands that source from farms the ability to up their marketing game through rich content.

Data matters to brands, retailers

A key advantage revolves around data. Farmers that seek and secure certifications collect enormous amounts of data to achieve those awards. Prove invites farmers to use that data, which farmers rarely leverage outside of the certification process, to tell their stories.

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“We try to take what is on spreadsheets and move it to marketing,” she said. “We are here to elevate the good. Anyone who is doing their version of good, we want them to be able to tell that story more effectively.”

It launched in New Zealand about a year ago. Now, 21 certifications, 46 brands and 10,000 farmers in the country use Prove.

Meanwhile, the United States rollout is just getting started. Participants in the pilot include a prominent agricultural nonprofit certifier and a Texas regenerative beef brand. As the pilot program is still underway, Baer requested that they remain anonymous until the pilot is finished, which should be soon.

On the brand side, Baer said Prove will become especially powerful for companies managing multiple certifications. One sack of beans could easily arrive on shelves emblazoned with four or more certification symbols. Telling rich, colorful stories behind the beans could challenge marketing teams. But having all of the data and information at their fingertips removes a balance of the burden.

Farmers, she said, can use Prove to broadcast to brands the care and attention that goes into their farms and ingredients. The hope? That the storytelling compels the brands to source ingredients from the farms.

Brands turn to the platform to develop marketing campaigns designed for consumers. But they also use it for the sake of potential retail partners. Getting on shelf is no easy task. The narratives behind the certifications can make the difference between getting approved by retailers, and suffering rejections.

Prove empowers stakeholders to “brag about all of the stuff you often can’t really talk about,” Baer said. “Ask the average consumer the difference between Regenerative Organic and Organic, and they probably won’t know. How do you cut through?”