Ahead of Earth Day, PepsiCo announced an ambitious program to tackle climate change. Called “Positive Agriculture,” the program makes commitments to increasing regenerative agriculture and sustainable sourcing, as well as improving the lives of workers along the agricultural supply chain. PepsiCo estimates that its efforts will reduce at least 3 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade.
Scaling regenerative farming practices to 7 million acres by 2030
The biggest commitment is to spread regenerative farming practices across 7 million acres worldwide, which is equivalent to all of the agricultural land PepsiCo uses globally. In the U.S. alone, the company will expand regenerative agriculture programs to over 500,000 acres by the end of this year.
Sustainably sourcing 100% of key ingredients
As of the end of last year, PepsiCo was sustainably sourcing 87% of its direct-sourced crops (potatoes, whole corn, oats, and oranges) around the world. In 28 of the 60 countries where the company sources crops, 100% of direct-sourced crops are already sustainably sourced. The new program expands the sustainable sourcing commitment to key ingredients from third parties, such as vegetable oils and grains.
Improving the lives of agricultural workers and their communities
PepsiCo’s agricultural supply chain involves more than 250,000 people around the world. The company will continue partnering with various organizations to support these people and their communities, including smallholder farmers and farm workers, women, and minority farmers.
“Any plan to tackle the urgent challenges facing the global food system must address agriculture, the source of nourishment for billions of people and a key lever to address climate change and inequality,” said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta in the press release. “As one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies, a resilient food system is essential to our business, and with our scale we have an opportunity and responsibility to drive meaningful change.”
Among large food and beverage companies, PepsiCo has been a leader for not only setting ambitious goals, but meeting them. Read about how the company embeds sustainability into its day-to-day business in this GreenBiz interview with PepsiCo’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Jim Andrew.
