Post by INSEAD Alumni Association the Netherlands

Great discussion yesterday at the INSEAD Alumni Association the Netherlands in Amsterdam on “the future of food”, a co-production of the Dutch Alumni Association and the Dutch Sustainability Club. Thanks to our speakers: Tina Scheele is a Partner at Monitor Deloitte in Amsterdam where she advises companies across the food sector on strategy, growth, sustainability and transformation. Ton van Veen is a seasoned retail executive and former CEO and CFO of Jumbo Supermarkets. For more than two decades, he has played a key role in transforming Jumbo to one of the Netherlands’ leading grocery retailers. Today, he is active as non-executive director, trusted advisor and investor with a focus on governance and long-term value creation. He holds several supervisory board positions, including at Crisp. Joost de Haas is an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship & Family Enterprise at INSEAD. In addition to this he makes very nice wine in South Africa. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: the economic value of Dutch agricultural activites is off set by high hidden societal costs, mainly climate change, nitrogen, biodiversity loss and water pollution. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆: many solutions already exist — but we’re not moving fast or far enough. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵? Because food system transformation is not a single-solution challenge. It requires coordinated action across a complex set of stakeholders — all with different incentives, constraints, and timelines. Market forces alone aren’t (yet) sufficient, largely due to lack of transparency, regulatory uncertainty, consumer preferences and lack of courageous leadership. What’s needed: • 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 the value chain (e.g. volume commitments, shared infrastructure) • 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 to create a level playing field and de-risk investments • 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 stepping in with new models and joint investments • 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 to enable real transition • 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘀, supported by retailers and FMCG companies As Ton van Veen (former CEO of Jumbo, current supervisory board member at Crisp) highlighted, food retailers face real dilemmas: competitive pressure, regulatory limits on collaboration, competing stakeholder interests and the classic gap between what consumers say and what they actually buy. Encouragingly, there are signs of momentum — increasing alignment, willingness to collaborate and external pressures (costs, climate) pushing change forward. The question that stuck: what can we do — individually and professionally — to accelerate this transition? For our community, that likely starts with: 💡 Conscious consumption 💡 Smarter investments 💡 Active collaboration 💡 Promoting viable, positive business cases Plenty of work ahead — but also a real opportunity to make food systems both sustainable and economically strong.