BBC Global News and Corteva Agriscience have renewed their successful commercial content partnership with a second series of the multi-platform BBC editorial series Follow the Food. 

Corteva Agriscience is the exclusive sponsor of “Follow the Food”, an eight-part series on BBC World News and BBC.com, which explores how novel ideas and technologies help to secure and sustain the world’s agricultural food production, capturing insight from the world’s most renowned leaders in the agricultural space.  To date, Follow the Food has been seen by more than 35 million viewers worldwide.

Corteva is a pure-play agriculture company, creating innovative solutions for farmers around the world with customers in over 150 countries helping them improve their yields and livelihoods while conserving resources and sustaining the land. 

The initial collaboration included sponsorship of an eight-part TV series on BBC World News and BBC Reel, strategic syndication and the creation of a bespoke digital hub at bbc.com/followthefood. Pushing the boundaries in innovative storytelling, the BBC created eight dynamic feature articles, an engaging augmented reality experience around soil technology and specially created commercial content for Corteva. 

In addition to the original series, the BBC editorial team developed an additional mini-series called Follow the Food Chain to reflect the growing importance of the series as people around the world experienced food shortages and empty supermarket shelves, many for the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Series two of Follow the Food features a new presenter – renowned ethnobotanist James Wong – and includes an interactive carbon “food-print” that aims to show users how much carbon is produced in the food they eat. 

Corteva’s sponsorship was facilitated by Ogilvy and was designed to generate awareness of the brand when it launched in 2019. Follow the Food explores the adaptation of the agriculture industry to reflect the changing mindset of the consumer – from wanting more food more cheaply, to selecting produce based on where it comes from, how healthy it is and what its impact on the environment is. 

Sean O’Hara, Executive Vice President, BBC StoryWorks & Advertising, said, “2020 brought the topic of food, including where it comes from and how it gets from farm to fork, into sharp focus for billions of people right across the planet.  We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Corteva Agriscience on a second series and continue telling this increasingly relevant story to our global audience.”

Anne Alonzo, Senior Vice President, External Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer, said: 

“Even during these challenging times Corteva remains committed to positive change – for farmers, consumers and the communities we serve. Together, there’s no doubt that we can create the most resilient, productive, secure and socially just food system the world has ever known.”