Lucas Simons

About Lucas Simons

Lucas was ten years old when he decided he wanted to make a difference in the world. Since then, he has made it his personal mission to find innovative ways for change and impact on a large scale. He particularly applies this in the agriculture and food sector. Lucas’ motto is: if you really want to change the outcome, you need to change the rules of the game.

At the age of thirty, Lucas established the Utz Certified label, which quickly grew into the largest certification program for sustainable coffee, cocoa, and other products worldwide. He is now the founder and director of NewForesight, an internationally operating strategic consultancy firm that transforms sustainability challenges into market opportunities. He is also the founder and director of SCOPEinsight, a company that develops and implements the global standard for professional farmer organizations around the world.

Lucas has been active for nearly 20 years in more than 16 different agri-food sectors and works closely with companies such as Nestle, Mars, Mondelez, Cargill; platforms like the World Cocoa Foundation, Global Coffee Platform; as well as with governments and organizations such as the World Bank, IFC, and FAO.

Lucas is the author of the successful book ‘Changing the Food Game’ (2014) and co-author of ‘Changing the Game’ (2020), regularly speaks, moderates, and chairs events, and teaches at business schools and universities about market transformation and system change. He is also a coach for start-ups and entrepreneurs with a social purpose.

Due to his groundbreaking and impactful work, he has been recognized both nationally and internationally as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, as a Change Maker by Ashoka, and he has been named four times in the top 100 of sustainable leaders in the Netherlands.