Mondelez Canada invests in Area One Farms to boost Canadian supply chains
Mondelēz Canada has announced an investment in Area One Farms Fund V, a Canadian farmland investment strategy that partners directly with growth-oriented family farms.
The strategic move is designed to support local farmers as they expand operations, strengthen the resilience of Canada's agricultural supply chain and advance locally appropriate regenerative agriculture practices. Facilitated through the global Mondelēz Sustainable Futures Impact Investment platform, impact investment firm Sagana supported the process from opportunity sourcing through integrated due diligence.
"As a company, we know that investing in Canadian agriculture helps strengthen the foundation of a resilient Canadian food system and the agricultural supply chains that are essential to food manufacturing in Canada," said Naniss Gadel-Raab, president of Mondelēz Canada. "Our commitment to Canada extends beyond the products we make; it includes supporting the farmers, families and communities that are helping build a stronger, more sustainable food system. We're excited to support Area One Farms and its innovative approach to partnering with Canadian family farms, alongside Joelle Faulkner and her team. As we celebrate the International Day of Women Farmers, this investment is a meaningful way for us to recognize and support the important role women are playing in shaping the future of Canadian agriculture."
Capitalizing Canadian agriculture
Area One Farms targets partnerships with Canadian farmers whose expansion potential is limited by capital access. Under its partnership model, the fund and participating farm operators invest alongside one another, sharing both the upside and downside of the farm's ongoing performance.
This capital injection helps farmers acquire additional acreage, restore underproductive or retired farmland, and invest in key infrastructure and technology, ranging from irrigation and drainage to machinery and precision agriculture systems.
"Most farmers who want to grow are not short of skill or opportunity. They are short of growth equity," said Joelle Faulkner, chief operating officer at Area One Farms. "We invest as a co-owner, supporting them with capital and mentorship to scale and innovate. Mondelēz understands that a resilient supply chain starts on farms that are financially strong enough to invest in their soil and in the next generation, and this investment lets us do that work with more farming families across Canada."
Preserving family ownership and scaling sustainability
Unlike conventional farmland investment models where institutional investors buy up land and charge producers fixed rent, Area One Farms allows Canadian farmers to retain an ownership stake in the farm partnership while creating a clear pathway to increase that stake over time. This structure ensures farmer participation in land ownership across generations while providing the scale needed to support younger family members coming into the business.
Beyond physical footprint growth, Area One Farms finances the working capital and equipment necessary for farmers to adopt regenerative practices, paired with agronomic advice. This enables local producers to introduce measures such as reduced tillage and cover cropping while reducing the financial risk associated with the transition.
"We have a playbook and enough demonstration that regenerative agriculture works, but financing the transition remains a big barrier," said François Ritchot, investment director and Food & Agriculture Lead at Sagana. "Area One Farms offers a distinctive approach to address this. We were particularly attracted by the combination of disciplined real-asset investing, practical regenerative agriculture capabilities, and tangible benefits for farming families, rural communities, and the resilience of our food system."
Area One Farms currently manages over $800 million in assets across more than 50 farm partnerships spanning 200,000 acres. Having developed its partnership framework across four prior funds, this latest investment from Mondelez Canada will drive expansion into additional farming families, bolster overall crop production, and scale soil health, input efficiency, water management and climate resilience initiatives nationwide.
