As climate change threatens resource supplies, groundbreaking research from the Netherlands offers a blueprint for sustainable transformation, exploring how digitally-enabled business models (DBMS) can drive environmental benefits while ensuring economic viability. By examining nine agri-food projects across Europe, the study identifies innovative strategies to accelerate their sustainability journeys.
The Power of Digitally-Enabled Sustainability
Digital technologies — like IoT sensors, blockchain traceability systems, and AI-driven decision tools — are no longer just buzzwords. They are critical enablers of sustainability, helping businesses reduce waste, optimise resource use, and transparently track environmental impact. For instance, smart farming technologies allow farmers to monitor soil health in real time, slashing fertiliser use and cutting emissions. Similarly, blockchain systems empower consumers to verify the sustainability of their food, from farm to fork.
The European study highlights four collaborative value-capture models that balance economic and environmental goals:
- Producer-Led: Farmers invest in digital tools independently, retaining control over profits (e.g., large Canadian farms using drones for precision agriculture).
- Collaborative Producer: Farmers pool resources through cooperatives to adopt technologies (common in Nordic countries, where cooperatives dominate dairy and forestry sectors).
- Retailer-Led: Retailers fund technology for producers, sharing returns (e.g., grocery chains subsidizing smart irrigation for suppliers).
- Collaborative Producer-Retailer: Joint investments and profit-sharing between producers and retailers (e.g., partnerships to scale regenerative farming in Scandinavia).
How Can We Apply These Models?
1. Leverage Cooperative Strengths
North Europe’s tradition of cooperatives — Danish wind energy or Swedish housing collectives — aligns perfectly with the collaborative producer model. Canadian agricultural cooperatives could similarly adopt IoT systems to monitor crop health, reducing pesticide use while sharing costs. For example, Quebec’s maple syrup producers might use sensor networks to optimise sap collection, ensuring sustainable yields.
2. Retailers as Sustainability Catalysts
Major retailers like IKEA (Sweden) or Loblaws (Canada) have the capital and influence to drive change. By funding traceability technologies for suppliers—as seen in the Greek pilot—they can ensure sustainable sourcing while appealing to eco-conscious consumers. Imagine a Nordic supermarket chain offering “carbon-neutral” labels backed by blockchain data, creating market incentives for greener practices.
3. Tech-Driven Producer Empowerment
Canada’s vast farmlands are ideal for producer-led innovations. Prairie wheat farmers, for instance, could adopt AI models to predict weather patterns, minimizing water use. Government grants, like Canada’s Agricultural Clean Technology Program, could offset initial costs, mirroring EU subsidies that supported the Dutch carbon-credit pilot.
4. Cross-Sector Partnerships
The collaborative producer-retailer model thrives on trust. In Norway, fisheries partnering with retailers have used IoT to track salmon sustainability. Similarly, Canada’s forestry sector could collaborate with tech firms to deploy drones for reforestation monitoring, ensuring compliance with the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act.
Overcoming Challenges
The study acknowledges hurdles: high upfront costs, power imbalances, and resistance to tech adoption. Solutions include:
- Subsidies and Grants: Governments can replicate the EU’s Horizon 2020 program, funding agri-tech startups.
- Education: Training programs for farmers on using digital tools, as seen in Ireland’s smart farming workshops.
- Consumer Advocacy: Shoppers can push demand by choosing brands with transparent sustainability claims.
A Call to Action
The EU pilots prove that sustainability and profitability aren’t mutually exclusive. As Andrea Kerstens, the study’s lead author, notes: “Collaborative models turn environmental goals into shared economic opportunities.”
For the Global North, the path forward is clear:
- Businesses should explore partnerships to share risks and rewards.
- Policymakers must create frameworks that incentivise green tech adoption.
- Consumers can vote with their wallets, supporting traceable, sustainable products.
By embracing these digital-collaborative models, North Europe and Canada can lead the global shift toward a resilient, equitable, and low-carbon future. The tools exist—the time to act is now.
Source
Laying the Foundation: Value Capture in Collaborative, Digitally-Enabled Business Models for Sustainability, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 2025-08
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