Sustainability is considered to be a fundamental aspect of responsible research and innovation, according to Von Schomberg (2013), and the European Commission has further framed this issue as the second societal grand challenge on the horizon. Responding to this challenge requires a program of research and innovation that contributes to more sustainable agri-food systems. According to the most recent globally comparative data available (2007), the private sector spent US$19.7 billion on food and agricultural research (56 percent in food manufacturing and 44 percent in agricultural input sectors) and accounted for about half of total public and private spending on food and agricultural research and development (R&D) in high-income countries. In this paper, I explore three different MNCs – two of the leading food manufacturers (Nestlé and Unilever) and one of the leading agricultural input manufacturers (Syngenta). These three organizations are among the leaders in their sectors and have each made ‘responsibility’ a fundamental aspect of their innovation agenda. They have also been at the forefront of the emerging ‘sustainability’ field. I focus on how these MNCs are justifying the responsibility of their vision and technologies for the sustainability of agrifood systems. I pay close attention to the performative effects of the governance instruments used to distribute responsibility between actors and what this means for sustainability discourses and politics.