Journey to Regeneration explores how forward-looking companies create long-term advantage by repairing the ecological and social systems they rely on. Hosted by Cambridge professor Christopher Marquis, the show features CEOs, sustainability strategists, climate innovators, and scholars who turn big ideas into actionable moves—unpacking what “net positive” really looks like, the policies accelerating the shift, and the practical hurdles leaders face on the ground. It’s a show for decision-makers who want to create resilient growth without greenwashing.
Rethinking the Workplace: Ted and Rooney Castle on Building a People-Centered Business at Rhino Foods
In this episode of Journey to Regeneration, Christopher Marquis speaks with Ted Castle, founder of Rhino Foods, and Rooney Castle, the company's CEO, about how businesses can strengthen their performance by investing in the people who make their success possible. Based in Vermont and known for its longstanding partnership with Ben & Jerry's on the company’s iconic cookie dough ice cream, Rhino Foods has developed innovative workplace practices that address some of the structural challenges facing employees and employers alike. Ted and Rooney explain how the company's Income Advance program helps workers manage financial emergencies, establish credit, and build savings through a partnership with local credit unions, and how its Employee Exchange program turns seasonal fluctuations in demand into opportunities for job security, skills development, and employee retention. They also explore the role of open-book management in creating shared accountability, the importance of providing meaningful support for refugees and other New Americans, and the challenges of maintaining a people-centered culture through a generational leadership transition. Throughout the conversation, they reflect on the relationship between employee well-being and business resilience, the advantages and responsibilities of private ownership, and why effective leadership begins with understanding employees' lived experiences. Rhino Foods' experience demonstrates how businesses can move beyond treating social responsibility as a separate initiative and instead make trust, inclusion, and shared prosperity integral to how they operate.
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14 Oct 2026
Making the Invisible Count: Natalie Nicholles from Capitals Coalition on Valuing Nature and People
In this episode of Journey to Regeneration, Christopher Marquis speaks with Natalie Nicholles of the Capitals Coalition about a fundamental blind spot in how businesses measure performance: the value of nature, people, and communities that conventional financial accounts largely overlook. While companies increasingly collect environmental and social data, much of that information remains disconnected from the investment, risk, and strategic decisions that shape business outcomes. Nicholles explains how impact valuation can bridge this gap by translating changes in natural, human, and social capital into information that decision-makers can use. Drawing on examples from Tasmanian forestry company Forico and Brazilian cosmetics company Natura, she shows how accounting for previously invisible value can reveal new economic opportunities, expose environmental and social trade-offs, and guide changes to business models. The conversation also examines the distinction between value and price, why valuation need not mean commodifying nature or human rights, and how emerging standards could make impact valuation a credible part of mainstream finance. Ultimately, Nicholles argues that building a regenerative economy requires more than measuring harm or improving disclosure. It requires changing what businesses recognize as valuable and ensuring that the systems supporting long-term prosperity are considered in the decisions that shape their future.
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8 Oct 2026
Shell It Where It Grows: Johnny Cashew and the Hidden Logic of Global Trade
In this episode of Journey to Regeneration, Christopher Marquis speaks with Roel van de Weijer, co-founder of Johnny Cashew, about what it takes to redesign a global commodity supply chain so that more value remains where a product is grown. African cashews have traditionally travelled thousands of kilometres to Asia for processing before reaching European consumers, a system that separates farmers from markets, shifts processing jobs away from producing regions, and makes traceability difficult. Johnny Cashew has tried to build an alternative by processing cashews in Tanzania, working directly with farmer cooperatives, and creating long-term relationships across the chain. Van de Weijer explains why a seemingly straightforward idea—“shell it where it grows”—requires new approaches to logistics, working-capital finance, farmer commitments, processing capacity, pricing, and retail partnerships. The conversation also examines the tension between traceability and flexibility: deeper commitments to particular farmers and regions can improve accountability and local value creation while introducing risks that conventional commodity markets avoid by switching easily between suppliers. Van de Weijer discusses efforts to establish a living-income reference price, the importance of Lidl as an early market “firestarter,” and Johnny Cashew’s two-track strategy of using private-label production to achieve scale while using its own brand to expose the structural problems hidden inside a seemingly ordinary snack. The episode shows how creating regenerative businesses often requires changing the architecture of trade itself—who bears risk, where value is added, and whether producers remain visible within the systems built around them.
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