Laying the groundwork
A look forward to 2031
The Strategic Planning team has investigated what trends will impact us in the future.
The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed,” is a quote from the American science fiction author William Gibson. Applied to KWS, that means: When and where will what “future” reach us? What trends are crucial for us and how do we need to respond to them? The Strategic Planning team is currently exploring those questions together with a strategic core team made up of colleagues from the Business Units, R&D and Global Functions.
An important starting point for the current Strategic Planning is an internal KWS survey from last year on the major trends in agriculture. The team has investigated around forty key global and regional trends and elaborated them further. According to its analysis, eight trends will exert a decisive long-term impact on our customers and KWS. |
Contact:
Telse Sieg
telse.sieg@kws.com
Strategic Planning (SP)
Strategic thinking is vital to the success of KWS, a family-run plant breeding company with a history dating back 165 years. After all, only if we clearly formulate our objectives and know where we want to be in the long term can we draw up a good plan for achieving those aims. Strategic Planning (SP) is the core tool for that. It comprises a planning process that is conducted regularly about every three years. The SP reviews whether KWS is on the right track long term, how our business environment is changing, and whether we need to set new, additional objectives and adjust our trajectory. This planning process is currently carried out in cooperation between Group Strategy and stakeholders from the Business Units, R&D, and Global and Group Functions. You can find more background information on the intranet.
Eight trends in agriculture
Sustainable agriculture and supply chains
This is a trend that affects farmers and consumers alike. The latter increasingly demand gentle, resource-conserving and fair production conditions, such as less use of pesticides or better animal welfare. Policymakers are taking up those demands: The European Union, for example, aims in the future to increase its efforts to promote more sustainable farming that conserves the soil, preserves biodiversity and reduces CO2 emissions. It can be expected that the trend will spread globally beyond the EU in the long term. |
Growing share of plant-based alternatives to animal protein
More and more people worldwide are reducing meat consumption or are vegetarian or vegan. Western consumers in particular have a growing awareness of issues such as animal rights and greenhouse gas emissions by livestock (methane gas). However, vegetarianism is also a trend among the young urban population with a medium to high income in developing and emerging countries. |
Automation and digitization in agriculture
Agricultural production is growing in complexity. Consequently, dependable digital decision-making aids offer farmers production reliability. They also enable vendors of such services to improve and deepen their customers’ loyalty. This includes seed that is accompanied by digital services. There are also more and more ways of delegating work in the field to autonomous machines, a factor which may also need to be taken into account in developing products and optimizing seed. |
Launch of direct and digital sales channels
All of us have come to appreciate online and direct sales models in our everyday private life – and they are becoming more common in agriculture, too. Farmers will also buy and sell goods directly and online to an increasing extent in the future. As customers, they expect a personalized touchpoint and convenient user experience. |
Desire for a healthy lifestyle and diet
There is growing desire among consumers for food and lifestyles that promote their health and improve their mental and physical well-being. That means they mainly want products that are produced fairly, humanely, ecologically and, where possible, with zero emissions. A healthy diet is not just a lifestyle choice, but also a serious health issue given the growing prevalence of obesity among many segments of the population. |
Climate-related changes in production and portfolios
Weather extremes are increasing worldwide as a result of climate change. Sharp fluctuations in temperatures and water availability (droughts or floods) are changing the conditions for growing crops. Regional crop populations will change. That means there will be plants that can no longer be grown, while previously unknown ones are added. |
Pressure to cut costs in production of agricultural raw materials
The prices for agricultural raw materials such as corn, soybean and wheat are defined by the global market and fluctuate greatly. Supply and demand determine the price, regardless of where the raw material has been produced. As a result, farmers worldwide are under heavy pressure to cut costs – and that will not change moving ahead. On top of that, there are political measures and regional regulations that will impact the competitiveness of certain regions to an even greater extent. |
From the petroleum economy to bioeconomics
There is a growing desire for alternatives to petroleum-based polymers such as plastic packaging. The agricultural industry can help supply new raw materials, such as starch for packaging material, as an eco-friendly substitute for conventional materials. |
What action will KWS take in the face of these diverse trends? Where will its focus be? You can find out where we go from here in insideKWS and on the intranet.
© KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA 2025
