Global food and drink company PepsiCo introduced its pep+ strategy in 2021 to embed sustainability into its operations and long-term business strategy.
Each day, PepsiCo products – including Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker and more than 500 other brands – are consumed more than one billion times by people across more than 200 countries and territories.
Going back to its roots in 1898, PepsiCo has been one of the world’s most iconic food and drink brands for more than a century.
In 1965, PepsiCo as we know it today was created in a merger between Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay Inc.
PepsiCo is driven by its sustainability strategy, known as pep+.
“In 2021, we introduced a new North Star to guide our work at PepsiCo: pep+ (PEP Positive),” says Ramon Laguarta, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo.
“It’s not just a business strategy — it’s a transformative journey across our operations, from production to marketing to distribution. It’s our vision to deliver a more sustainable, people-centric future, driving growth and value, for everyone.”
“pep+ is not just a business strategy — it’s a transformative journey across our operations.” – Ramon Laguarta, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo.
The pep+ strategy is built on three pillars:
- Positive agriculture
- Positive value chain
- Positive choices
Positive agriculture
More than half of the world’s agricultural land is degraded, which is a risk to food security in the future and leads to productivity losses of US$400bn a year.
As a food and drink company, agriculture plays an important role in PepsiCo’s day to day operations.
PepsiCo says: “The heart of our positive agriculture ambition is to support a positive future for farmers. Thriving communities and ecosystems are essential to achieve a secure supply of crops on which our business relies, so we aspire to help farmers grow food in a way that revitalizes the earth and supports their livelihoods.”
In 2023, the company doubled its regenerative farming footprint year-over-year from more than 900,000 acres to more than 1.8 million acres globally. This has two key impacts – preventing land degradation and promoting farmer wellbeing.
WHAT IS REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE?
- The World Economic Forum says “regenerative agriculture focuses on improving the health of soil, which has been degraded by the use of heavy machinery, fertilizers and pesticides in intensive farming”.
Since 2021, PepsiCo has reached more than 57,000 people since 2021 in its agricultural supply chain with programming that aims to support economic prosperity and women’s empowerment initiatives, and in 2023 the company sustainably sourced approximately 58% of its key ingredients.
“Since becoming CSO at PepsiCo I have spent a lot of time donning big rubber boots and getting into fields with some of our most critical partners — farmers,” says Jim Andrew, Chief Sustainability Officer at PepsiCo.
“Without farmers we wouldn’t have potatoes for Lay’s, corn for Doritos, oats for Quaker, wheat for Bokomo Weet-bix, rice for Rice-A-Roni, tomatoes for Alvalle Gazpacho etc.
“Thank you. We appreciate the time and dedication it takes to nurture the highest quality crops and understand the challenges you face — whether it’s managing regulations, tackling weather disruptions or figuring out how to turn a profit. We want to support a positive future for farmers and want to continue to help them grow the food we all need in a way that revitalizes the earth and supports their livelihoods.”
Positive value chain
PepsiCo’s value chain pillar is split into four further pillars:
- Climate: Working towards net zero by 2040
- Water: Seeking to have a “net water positive impact”
- Packaging: PepsiCo says “our sustainable packaging approach is grounded in a vision to create a world where packaging never becomes waste”
- People: Including wellbeing, training and development and DEI.
The climate pillar includes the company’s fleet decarbonisation strategy — centered around EVs — as well as renewable energy use like biogas.
PepsiCo recorded a 25% in water-use efficiency in 2023, two years ahead of its original 2025 goal.
Looking to packaging, the company has a vision to “create a world where packaging never becomes waste”.
PepsiCo brand SodaStream is the largest sparkling water brand in the world by volume and has a specific target to help consumers avoid more than 200 billion plastic bottles by 2030 through its SodaStream Professional platform.
Globally, 45% of managerial roles at PepsiCo are held by women.
“The ultimate objective is to become a company that’s focused on equity and genuinely inclusive,” Ramon says.
Positive choices
The third pillar centres around “inspiring people through our brands to make choices that create more smiles for them and the planet”.
This includes prioritising both convenience and nutrition, ensuring that there are lots of options for consumers that puts the choice in their hands.
In 2023, the company introduced two new 2030 nutrition goals to reduce sodium and deliver more diverse ingredients, which supports the positive agriculture pillar.
What is the future of pep+?
PepsiCo has already hit some of its 2025 goals, which gives a good indication that it is on track for its longer term goals.
However, it also recognises that the road ahead is long and unpredictable.
“Since launching pep+ we’ve been transforming the way we do business to make us more resilient for the future,” Jim explains.
“Through investment, innovative thinking, partnership and the impactful actions of our global associates, we’ve already reached some of our water, DEI and nutrition goals and made excellent progress on others, including the adoption of regenerative agriculture.
“I’m proud of the collective progress we’ve made so far and optimistic for continued momentum as we work with others who share our goals and the aim to build a stronger, more sustainable future for all.”
