Athanasios Mandis, the founder and director of De La Tierra Ltd., is no stranger to the complexities of balancing sustainability with the commercial demands of modern business. His journey from understanding poverty and inequality in his formative years in 1970s London to leading an innovative agricultural consultancy has shaped a philosophy rooted in working collaboratively, valuing diverse perspectives, and prioritizing the long-term health of both the environment and his clients’ businesses.
A Collaborative Philosophy: Working with, Not For
Mandis believes in working “with” people rather than “for” them. He thinks real security comes from skills and knowledge, not just from having a job. In his career, he learned that success comes from aligning his work with his values. He started De La Tierra Ltd. based on this idea. The company’s projects rely on collaboration and diverse perspectives to get better results. Mandis believes we should learn from others, not just from our own mistakes, to be successful. This approach creates an environment at De La Tierra that thrives on collaboration, inclusion, and continuous learning.
Ecological Innovation: Bridging Market and Sustainability
De La Tierra Ltd. understands the challenge of balancing financial success with environmental responsibility. The company sees sustainability as a way to drive innovation rather than just meeting regulations. Mandis identifies three main forces behind ecological innovation: market demand, regulations, and technology innovation.
Regulations often lag behind environmental and social changes. Companies that only focus on meeting regulations might miss opportunities for innovation. De La Tierra Ltd. takes a proactive approach to sustainability instead of just meeting minimum requirements. This shift has allowed the company to show that sustainable practices can bring tangible economic benefits and market differentiation for producers and firms.
Mandis stresses the importance of sustainability in today’s market. As more environmentally conscious consumers voice their demands, companies are realizing that sustainability is not just an ethical responsibility but a business necessity.
Reintegrating Nature into Agriculture
Modern agriculture faces a big problem. There’s a divide between farmland and nature, which Mandis calls the “ghettoization” of agricultural land. De La Tierra Ltd. wants to fix this by promoting sustainable ways of managing land, like agroecology, regenerative agriculture, and industrial ecology.
Mandis says that natural ecosystems are really important for farming. He says that without healthy soil, clean water, and pollinators, farming can’t do well. De La Tierra is all about bringing these ecosystem services back into farming to make a better balance between nature and farming.
De La Tierra Ltd. leads projects focused on sustainability and helping farmers improve profitability. Showing that sustainable practices can improve the bottom line is really important to get more people to use them. By connecting new ecological ideas to making money, De La Tierra keeps farmers interested and supportive for a long time.
Navigating the Complexities of Supply Chains
In today’s global economy, one of the big challenges is dealing with the complexity of supply chains. When agricultural products cross borders, it’s hard to keep track of who’s responsible, which causes problems for both the people producing the goods and the people buying them. Athanasios Mandis talks about the issue of “chain of custody” as a major hurdle to creating transparent and efficient supply chains. When responsibility for products moves along the value chain, it can lead to problems like inefficiencies, losses, and even exploitation for those further down the line.
At De La Tierra Ltd., Mandis has dealt with these challenges by focusing on making supply chains more efficient, especially in the agrifood sector. He thinks that problems such as wasting food and not managing logistics properly cause big losses that affect both businesses and the environment, and waste valuable resources. His company has worked on improving these processes by dealing with issues like food that gets wasted after it’s harvested. About 31% of the world’s food production goes to waste, which means that millions of hectares of agricultural land are being used to produce food that never gets to consumers.
Instead of trying to increase agricultural land, Mandis thinks it’s better to make the systems we already have work better. Improving how we get food from place to place, reducing food waste, and managing supply chains better are important parts of his work. By dealing with these inefficiencies, De La Tierra Ltd. has helped cut down on food waste. This also helps producers and other value chain actors make more money by reducing waste and adding value, helping everything move towards a sustainable and circular economy.
The Role of Technology in Agrifood Supply Chains
The use of technology in the agrifood sector is playing a key role in making processes more efficient. Mandis believes that modern technology is now more focused on knowledge rather than physical objects. As science, technology, and business become more complex, innovation is shifting towards a system-based approach instead of just focusing on products. This change has been vital for improving supply chains in the agrifood industry, where continuous learning, collaboration, and advancement are now essential.
De La Tierra Ltd. has embraced this change by using technology to improve postharvest management, food processing, and distribution. By working with other companies and organizations, Mandis’s company combines knowledge and technology to develop new solutions that support sustainability and efficiency in supply chains.
The agrifood industry often struggles to change due to its reliance on established practices and large investments. However, Mandis believes that smaller, independent firms can bring fresh ideas and flexibility to the industry. That’s why he encourages partnerships with different companies and organizations to bring innovation and flexibility to these rigid systems. This approach helps companies balance maintaining their existing supply chains while also adapting to the changes needed for modern sustainability standards.
Pioneering Food Waste Solutions with Modified Atmosphere Packaging and By-Product Valorisation
De La Tierra Ltd. focuses on using advanced technologies like Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) and By-Product Valorisation to reduce food waste. MAP is designed to work with the respiration of fresh produce to optimize the gases inside the packaging to keep fresh produce fresh for longer, which helps reduce waste and make transportation more efficient. This also gives more flexibility to the supply chain and increases product value. By-Product Valorisation works with processors to find valuable resources in agricultural by-products, turning waste into high-value materials like natural sweeteners and compounds for water treatment. This approach supports a more sustainable economy by reimagining waste as a resource.
Integrating Local Knowledge into Global Market Demands
Mandis’s philosophy focuses on including local knowledge in global market systems. Farming communities, especially in developing areas, deeply understand their land and ecosystems. Mandis believes that global standards imposed by large companies often ignore this local wisdom in favor of easy-to-measure metrics. He argues that this approach doesn’t meet the diverse needs of small-scale farmers and local ecosystems.
To address this, De La Tierra Ltd. takes a more inclusive approach. Mandis and his team work closely with local farmers to develop solutions that combine scientific knowledge with indigenous insights. This philosophy aligns with agroecology, a field that emphasizes both ecological and social systems in farming practices.
An example of this approach is the Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA), which De La Tierra Ltd. has helped develop. During consultations, it became clear that the assessment was challenging for small-scale farmers who lacked resources to meet strict documentation requirements. Mandis led efforts to adjust the framework, allowing flexibility for small-scale farmers by accepting verbal evidence and landscape-level compliance. These changes consider the communal nature of farming in many parts of the world and offer more suitable ways to comply.
These changes ensure that local farmers can meet global market demands without being marginalized or pushed into unsustainable practices. The integration of local knowledge with global standards is crucial for achieving true sustainability and promoting equitable relationships within global food systems.
Future Growth and Expanding Impact
De La Tierra Ltd. is set to expand its influence in the agrifood sector. One key focus is developing sustainability standards. Mandis and his team are working on a new module for the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform, which is widely used in the industry. This module will address the latest regulatory requirements and help companies meet evolving sustainability standards.
De La Tierra Ltd. is also collaborating on regenerative agriculture standards, including initiatives for the Mexican agave sector, important for tequila production. These standards aim to encourage more sustainable practices and support producers while taking care of the environment.
Additionally, De La Tierra Ltd. plans to establish a new subsidiary, De La Tierra (Africa) Ltd., to take advantage of opportunities in Africa. Mandis believes there is great potential for driving sustainable agriculture and improving supply chain management across the continent.
Mandis is passionate about increasing his involvement in social and political movements for social and environmental justice. His long-term goal is to integrate agroecology and industrial ecology into his work and support the food sovereignty movement to create fair and resilient food systems for people and the planet.
Conclusion: A Vision for the Future
Athanasios Mandis has big ideas for the future of farming and sustainability. He is passionate about finding new and innovative solutions and making sure everyone is treated fairly. Through De La Tierra Ltd. and his startup, Cubos Solutions Ltd., Mandis is committed to advancing baseline and materiality assessments as a core strategy for driving sustainable impact in farming and food production. His mission is to transform how we understand and prioritize sustainability, ensuring that businesses assess both their impact on the environment and the risks that environmental changes pose to their operations. By reducing food waste and deepening local community involvement, he also wants to set better standards for sustainability around the world. As he looks ahead, Mandis is focused on creating a world where being sustainable is not just an afterthought, but a big part of how businesses and society work together. He believes that by working together, using new technology, and learning from local ideas, we can make farming and food production fairer, stronger, and more sustainable for the future.
