Foreword

The growing impact of climate change represents a material threat to the financial stability of food and beverage (F&B) businesses. As weather patterns become more unpredictable, it is becoming harder for producers of key ingredients to forecast harvest volumes and meet supply commitments. When contracted volumes fall short, sourcing replacement ingredients on the open market often comes at a premium amplified by already-constrained supply. In a sector defined by tight margins, such volatility can cause serious disruption.

With no near-term solution to reverse climate change, the need for scalable, strategic risk-transfer mechanisms is clear. Alternative ingredients may offer a temporary workaround, but they often introduce new costs, operational risks, and potential impacts on product quality or brand integrity. Insurance solutions that help to mitigate the financial consequences of climate-related crop failures and price surges will become increasingly important, helping to protect the sector’s cost base and long-term viability.

To explore how the F&B industry can respond, we partnered with experts at Zurich and DLA Piper to develop this report. We examine the scale of the challenge under various climate scenarios and outline both traditional and emerging responses – from contractual protections to innovative parametric insurance tools. This report is intended as both a practical guide and a call to action for industry leaders: to rethink resilience, embrace collaboration, and build solutions fit for an increasingly uncertain world.