Val Fishman, advocacy and development consultant for Netafim USA, said the manufacturer's Corporate Partnerships Program presents an opportunity for growers to tap into corporate funding for sustainability improvements. Photo contributed by Netafirm

A Fresno-based manufacturer with an international presence recently announced a partnership with a major, unnamed restaurant chain to reduce water use and carbon emissions on farms that grow its produce.

Netafim USA, a leading drip irrigation technology company, has partnered with the Fortune 500 US restaurant chain, and is providing opportunities for local farms and restaurants to collaborate toward shared sustainability goals.

Netafim did not reveal the name of the company.

Val Fishman, advocacy and development consultant for Netafim USA, said for growers, the Corporate Partnerships Program is an opportunity to work with brands on projects that help reduce supply chain emissions while also funding equipment that can optimize efficiency and increases yields.

Netafim’s Corporate Partnerships Program launched in August 2024.

Though Fishman did not have approval to disclose the name of the Fortune 500 restaurant chain, she did say it’s a quick-serve, global Mexican food chain.

Netafim also has corporate partnerships with major brands, including Dr Pepper and Keurig.

“We are increasingly supporting more pairing up of corporate sustainability budgets with farmers that can deliver the benefits that they’re looking to achieve from their sustainability goals,” Fishman said.

While farmers understand the importance of sustainable practices, she said 90% struggle to adopt the latest technology due to up-front costs.

The opportunity in California has been the ability to reduce water use on crops that have historically been flood irrigated, she noted.

Fishman said that generally, companies have three different budgets for their sustainability programs: a water sustainability budget, carbon reduction and greenhouse gasses, and a regenerative agriculture budget.

Agriculture can achieve all of those goals, he said.

She said Netafim has been focusing on water budgets because the outcome is quantifiable.

A quick-serve restaurant, or any other type of food and beverage or technology company, wants to be able to buy proof that water use has been reduced.

Along with deploying a drip system, Netafim also includes a digital farming operating system to manage irrigation, GrowSphere, to help farmers optimize the system to the best of their ability.

“The value to the companies that I work with is specifically to achieve their time-bound sustainability goals,” Fishman said. “This particular [Fortune 500] company has made a commitment to source as much local produce as they can within a certain mileage of their restaurants.”

While almond and pistachio growers have been quicker to adopt drip irrigation technology because they have higher profit margins, row crops that haven’t had the higher margins to support the technology were somewhat left behind, she said.

Corporate funding has become an important opportunity for farmers who are waiting to see where government funding programs land, Fishman said.

She said consumers have been putting pressure on companies and brands for their sustainability efforts for years, and that public pressure does stimulate the market.

“They are very actively trying to show progress year after year,” Fishman said. “They spend a lot of time and resources on their sustainability reports that are mostly read by investors, not consumers.”

Companies will break down the reports to soundbites that could be used in their restaurants, commercials and branding.

“I would encourage farmers that are strapped right now and want to make some upgrades to their irrigation system to consider private sector funders as one of the ways to remove the capital financing roadblocks,” Fishman said.