Anthesis Group acquires Canadian Agri-Food sustainability consultancy Provision Coalition Inc.

Anthesis, the largest group of dedicated sustainability professionals globally, has announced the acquisition of Provision Coalition Inc., a Canadian-based consultancy focused on sustainability in the Agri-food sector.

The acquisition is an important part of Anthesis’ growth strategy, following significant minority investment from Palatine Private Equity in March 2021 and building on Anthesis’ growing operations in North America and scaling its impact in the food sector.

Founded as an industry-led non-profit in 2013 by one of Canada’s leading figures in food industry sustainability, CEO Cher Mereweather, Provision Coalition Inc. is a team of eight food and beverage industry sustainability experts based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Provision Coalition Inc. supports food and beverage companies with a holistic approach to sustainability. This embraces people, business strategy, operations, value chains, data and storytelling and is supported by a suite of training and software solutions designed specifically for the food sector.

Transforming minds and building social awareness is a core focus for Anthesis through educational initiatives scaled through digital. Provision Coalition Inc.’s high-impact training, which has helped nearly 100 Canadian food and beverage entrepreneurs in the last year achieve clarity on their purpose and develop a plan for sustainability and circularity, will continue to strengthen this focus. Prior to acquisition, Anthesis and Provision Coalition Inc. have been collaborating on the co-creation of a software platform for the Canadian Agri-food Sustainability Initiative that makes it easier for agricultural producers to assess their compliance with multiple sustainability standards (provincial, national, and international).

With an estimated 58% of Canada’s food production still being wasted, Provision Coalition Inc. has been at the forefront of work to prevent and upcycle waste, identifying $13.5M of potential food loss and waste in the last three years. This focus on impact is strongly aligned with Anthesis’ mission and with its B-Corp status. Provision Coalition Inc. will operate as Anthesis Provision and integrate globally with Anthesis’ existing food and regenerative agriculture team and the broader business supporting leading food industry companies such as Cargill, Nestlé and Danone.

Stuart McLachlan, CEO of Anthesis Group, commented, “2022 will be a significant year for Anthesis as we build on our position as the world’s leading firm of sustainability specialists. This strategic move highlights our commitment to the North American region and our determination to drive change through social awareness and education in one of the world’s largest industries. I am delighted to welcome the Provision Coalition Inc. team to Anthesis. We are aligned on driving impact and our combined strength and market-leading expertise will support our clients as they navigate this decisive decade.”

Cher Mereweather, CEO of Provision Coalition Inc., added, “Our purpose at Provision is to help the food and beverage industry rise to the challenges of creating a more sustainable food system. As we face this decisive decade, we are thrilled to align our strengths and passions with those of the Anthesis team to deliver more impact, faster, to more companies, together. We have been impressed not just by Anthesis’ ambition, but by their values and look forward to amplifying the creative and ground-breaking work that Provision has become known for, by joining the world’s largest group of sustainability experts.”

This is the 14^th M&A activity for Anthesis Group since it was established in 2013. Other acquisitions include Best Foot Forward, UMR GmbH, Caleb Management Services, SecondNature, M4C, LRS Consultancy (who also acquired Urban Mines), TEP ME, Mosaic Sustainability, Enveco SE, Sustain, MADE-BY (IP assets acquisition), GoodBrand, and Spanish sustainability services provider, Lavola.

Financial terms of the deal will not be announced.