Close-up of nuts in wicker baskets

Food Systems and Food Security

The world relies on sustainable agriculture, resilient supply chains, and the availability of healthy food. BCG works with businesses, foundations, and governments to make the world’s food supply flourish—even in the face of climate-related threats.

The challenges related to food systems and security are complex and urgent. Climate change can and does threaten the food supply—along with the incomes of those who grow crops or raise livestock. Catastrophes such as COVID-19 can throw just-in-time supply chains off balance in a flash. At the same time, workers, customers, and shareholders are exerting pressure on companies to reduce their carbon footprint and their use of plastics in packaging.

BCG helps organizations manage these complexities. We bring deep expertise on issues ranging from supply chain management to advanced data and analytics. And we take a holistic, systems-mapping approach to help our clients address challenges.


How BCG Works with Clients on Food Systems

Large food-systems companies manage expansive supply chains that crisscross the globe. And yet many of their challenges are local. Looking upstream, CPG, food and beverage, and agribusiness companies must seek out and support local suppliers of food sources; looking downstream, they must deliver the healthy food that consumers want—sold at prices that in turn sustain suppliers. Our holistic approach to food systems consulting helps keep these dynamics in balance.

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Agricultural Development Client Work

We work across the entire agriculture value chain, from equipment and seed to trade and retail, to serve leading food and agriculture companies and well as governments, foundations, NGOs, and coalitions.

Agricultural Value Chains Transformation in Egypt

How to build resilience in Egyptian food systems in a post-COVID world.



Man overseeing conveyor belt of apples in food processing factory

Food Security and Nutrition Client Work

In our food security consulting, we seek to follow the mandate set forth in this UN Sustainable Development Goal: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.”

Explore More Insights on Food Systems and Security

Closing the Food Waste Gap

Closing the Food Waste Gap

In the face of the looming food crisis, the cost of inaction is enormous—but so is the opportunity to make a difference.

Transforming Africa’s Food Systems from the Demand Side

It’s time for a radical rethinking of food policies in Africa. Here, BCG’s Chris Mitchell joins Federico Bellone of High-Level Climate Champions at COP27 to discuss what it will take, amid rising temperatures, to transform food systems across the continent.

Sustainability is Surging in Consumer and Retail

Climate change is pushing natural systems to the brink. Companies that integrate sustainability into their core can change the game.

Got Millet? How Marketing Could Improve the Lives of African Farmers

From "got milk?" to "avocados from Mexico," marketing influences what you eat. Since farmers in Africa are more likely to receive funding for seed and fertilizer than advertising, BCG partner Zoë Karl-Waithaka outlines three ways we can help African farmers improve their livelihoods—and positively impact society, the economy, and the environment.

The Time Is Ripe for Food Tracing

The Time Is Ripe for Food Traceability

Food traceability is here to stay. The question is whether food companies, distributors, and retailers treat it as a regulatory burden or a strategic opportunity.

Our Partnerships

BCG’s Partnership with the World Food Programme

For more than a decade, BCG has supported WFP to enhance its effectiveness on a wide range of strategic, operational, and organizational issues.

BCG’s Partnership with One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B)

BCG is the knowledge partner of OP2B, a business coalition dedicated to driving transformational change to protect and restore biodiversity, with a specific focus on regenerative agricultural practices.

Meet Our Food Systems and Security Consultants and Partners

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The Sustainable Advantage: Insights on Creating Competitive Advantage Through Sustainability

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