PepsiCo reveals sustainable business plan

Its first Sustainable Farming Report outlines plans to work with 350 British farmers to reach its aim of ’50 in 5’.

PepsiCo, which owns the Walkers, Quaker and Tropicana brands, says the Farming Report is the next step in its journey to become a more sustainable business.

The company has also revealed it is to create recyclable crisp packaging from potato peelings.

To help meet its environmental pledges, the company has developed a web based crop management tool called i-crop to help farmers accurately calculate water use and carbon emissions.

Other efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its farming include trials of new low-carbon fertilizers and plans to replace more than 75% of PepsiCo UK’s current potato stock with varieties that will significantly improve farmers’ yields and decrease wastage by 2015.

PepsiCo claims it is the largest buyer of British potatoes since switching to 100% British potatoes in 2007 for Walkers crisps.

It is also one of the UK’s largest purchasers of British oats and apples, using 100% British produce in Copella English Apple juice, Quaker Oats, OatSo Simple and Scott’s Porage.

Richard Evans, president of PepsiCo UK and Ireland says: “Farming is in the DNA of our business – we rely on British produce every day and sustainable agriculture is essential to our future. i-crop is just one example of a PepsiCo innovation we hope will have a positive impact on UK farming.”

Richard Perkins, senior commodities adviser at environmental charity WWF, says: “The food industry is starting to recognise that in order to fully embed sustainability and biodiversity in its business practices, a large part of the focus must be on the agricultural supply chain. In this respect PepsiCo UK has taken a leadership role in recognising that it is, at its heart, an agricultural business.

PepsiCo follows P&G in revealing an ongoing sustainable strategy to reduce the environmental impact of its business.