PepsiCo has partnered with Yara International to secure lower-emission crop nutrients for its European business. Yara will supply up to 165,000 tonnes of fertiliser per year to PepsiCo, covering around 25% of their crop fertiliser needs in Europe by 2030. This collaboration aims to provide “low-carbon footprint fertilisers produced from either renewable ammonia” or “low-carbon ammonia via carbon capture and storage (CCS).” The fertilisers will be sourced from Yara’s renewable hydrogen plants in Norway and the Netherlands.
The partnership will extend to approximately 1,000 farms across the EU and the UK, covering a total of around 128,000 hectares. Initially focusing on potatoes, the efforts will later expand to other crops such as oats and corn. Currently, fertilisers contribute to about half of PepsiCo’s average potato carbon footprint in Europe.
“This partnership with Yara aligns with our end-to-end transformation known as PepsiCo Positive (pep+),” said Archana Jagannathan, chief sustainability officer at PepsiCo Europe. Addressing Scope 3 emissions is a challenging area to influence directly. Providing farmers with lower-carbon fertilisers and supporting them in improving crop nutrition can significantly contribute to PepsiCo’s target of achieving net zero by 2040.
PepsiCo has set a goal to utilize regenerative agriculture practices on seven million acres of land by 2030. By 2023, more than 1.8 million acres had adopted these practices. Moreover, the company aims to sustainably source 100% of its key ingredients, including potatoes, corn, and oats used in snacks and cereals. Collaboration across the food value chain is essential for transforming the food system.
Mónica Andrés EnrÃquez, executive vice president for Europe at Yara, emphasized the importance of decarbonizing food production to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. In 2022, PepsiCo and Yara, along with other major food players, published an action plan to upscale regenerative agriculture practices. The adoption of regenerative agriculture was deemed too slow, with economic challenges for farmers hindering progress.
