Building on her perspective on embedding ESG across the business, Tara McCarthy expands the conversation to the people, partnerships, and external forces shaping the future of sustainable agri-food. At Alltech, sustainability does not sit in isolation, it is closely linked to how the organisation develops talent, fosters inclusion, and responds to a rapidly evolving global landscape.
In this next part of the conversation, she explores how diversity, equity, and inclusion drive innovation and resilience, why mentorship is a strategic investment in the industry’s future, and how shifting policy, market expectations, and economic realities are redefining what sustainable progress really looks like.
How do you see diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) connecting to positive business performance and innovation at Alltech?
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are not optional extras for Alltech, they are fundamental to our ability to innovate and to perform. We live and breathe innovation as a company, and innovation thrives when different perspectives, experiences, and ways of thinking are brought together. In a sector that can be both margin sensitive and with our heavy investment in science, having a broader talent pool and a culture that welcomes diverse viewpoints gives us the creative edge to solve hard problems and to move faster from idea to impact.
Practically, DEI strengthens our business in two ways: it improves the quality of our ideas, and it increases organisational resilience. Diverse teams produce more robust and challenged solutions, equitable practices ensure ideas rise on merit, and inclusive leadership retains talent long term. Our programmes consciously build future leaders to metrics that track progress and ultimately creates longevity for our business because we invest in people, teams, and different perspectives.
Alltech has supported the WFA Mentorship Program for several years. What motivates this continued involvement, and what impact have you seen so far?
Alltech’s continued support for the WFA Mentorship Program is driven by a simple, pragmatic belief: if talent, particularly women thrive in our industry, the industry thrives. We see mentorship not as a PR exercise but as a strategic investment in the talent pool that will carry the business forward. In a sector where there is a constant “war for talent,” excluding half the potential workforce is a self-inflicted disadvantage. By backing mentorship, alongside internal programs, we widen the pipeline of capable leaders and ensure the industry — and Alltech — has access to the best possible talent.
The impact is already tangible and, to me, convincing. We were a founding partner because we prefer to build on what works rather than reinvent the wheel, and the program’s momentum shows it is embedded in our culture. A powerful proof point came when Patrick Charlton Charles, a long-serving male leader at Alltech, was named Mentor of the Year in at the WFA Awards in Amsterdam in 2025, not for personal gain but because he genuinely believed in doing the right thing.
Equally telling is that this year more mentors have come forward from within Alltech’s own ranks, and more mentees are applying than before, which signals that the initiative is growing organically rather than being a one-off, and people are transitioning from mentor to mentee.
Those outcomes, senior leaders quietly committing time, increased internal participation, and a strengthening pipeline of future leaders, demonstrate the program’s real value: it creates opportunity, builds capability, and helps secure a more diverse and resilient industry for the long term.
What trends do you see shaping sustainability in the agrifood sector?
I see the industry maturing rapidly but also facing considerable uncertainty, largely driven by three key forces: government policy, customer standards, and consumer expectations.
Policy remains the primary driver, when governments mandate changes, businesses must comply. Yet, right now, there’s a lot of volatility in that space; commitments are sometimes rolled back or shifted, creating unpredictability around reporting frameworks. This uncertainty contrasts with the strong expectations from customers and investors who still demand adherence to published commitments and sustainability goals, including those tied to financing and product claims.
Sustainability itself is complex and sometimes challenging to define. ESG encompasses numerous distinct topics, from emissions scopes to water and waste management to social factors like workforce treatment and supply chain risk. Some past ambitions, while well-intentioned, proved difficult and costly to implement at scale, prompting a shift toward more practical, long-term solutions.
At Alltech, we have anchored ourselves with a clear North Star: working together for a planet of plenty. This guides us to pursue multiple objectives simultaneously ensuring nutrition for all, revitalizing local economies, and replenishing natural resources. These goals are inseparable; it’s about “and,” not “or.”
A major barrier to sustainability adoption remains economic: it’s often unrewarded or worse, threatens profitability and measuring impact can be challenging. Our approach insists that sustainability and profitability must be aligned and mutually reinforcing. Whether in innovation, acquisitions, or new product development, we require solutions that integrate these objectives because only then can change scale effectively. Without tangible business incentives, sustainability initiatives risk being sidelined as nice-to-haves rather than must-haves. By leaning into this economic reality, we aim to deliver the right actions with the longevity necessary to truly transform the agrifood sector.
Alltech’s recent film A World Without Cows has sparked a lot of conversation. What inspired its creation, and what message do you hope audiences take away from it?
A World Without Cows was born from a desire to reframe the conversation around the agrifood industry. Too often, the debate is reduced to overly simplistic, polarized narratives, good versus bad, right versus wrong, without real focus on solutions.
The idea came from Mark Lyons and an advertisement he saw. It struck him that, too often for one product to celebrate its virtues, it seems necessary to vilify another, in this case milk. From there, Mark challenged a team of journalists to explore whether the world would truly be better without cows.
Over several years, they travelled, investigating the many roles cows play: from their cultural and economic importance among nomadic tribes in Africa, to the complexities of cow ownership in India, to the efficiency and impact of feedlots, and the environmental debates in Brazil’s forests. They listened to a wide range of voices: farmers, investors, NGOs, soil scientists, social experts, environmental as well as vegan academics, ensuring that every perspective was grounded in scientific evidence and respect.
What makes the film distinctive is that it doesn’t offer a single “right” answer- it informs rather than dictates, giving viewers the tools to engage in deeper, more evolved debates. It shows that agriculture’s challenges are complex and multi-dimensional, and while the industry is good and improving, the pressing question is whether it’s improving quickly enough to meet the needs of a growing global population and a finite planet.
One recent highlight was presenting A World Without Cows at COP30 this year. The film has also been shown at the European Parliament, the UN FAO headquarters in Rome, all strategic ventures to deepen policy understanding of how agriculture really works, far beyond the sound bites. This outreach recognises that meaningful progress requires engaging all levers of impact: policy makers, customer standard bearers such as retailers and food service operators, and consumers. Each group needs a tailored approach, and these screenings are proof points of our commitment to making sure the conversation is informed, balanced, and solutions focused.
