PepsiCo: World-Leading Food & Beverage Sustainability

PepsiCo's food and beverage products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. The vast scope of the company gives it an incredible opportunity to bring sustainable practices into households around the world, as well as through its value chain and partnerships.

In recognition of this, PepsiCo has been ranked 16th in the Top 250 Most Sustainable Companies in the World 2025.

The ranking celebrates PepsiCo’s journey of embedding sustainability deeply into business practices through pep+, under the strong leadership of CSO Jim Andrew and its notable advances in areas including regenerative agriculture and water stewardship. It highlights PepsiCo’s holistic approach to embedding sustainability into its core strategies – from how it sources raw materials to how it innovates in product development and ecosystem stewardship, positioning the global food and beverage giant as a leader in corporate sustainability.

PepsiCo Positive (pep+)

Central to PepsiCo’s sustainability journey is PepsiCo Positive, or pep+. 

Launched in 2021, pep+ represents a transformational strategy that integrates sustainability deeply across PepsiCo’s entire value chain. 

This holistic agenda focuses on three key pillars:

• Positive Agriculture, which improves sustainable ingredient sourcing and farmer livelihoods
• Positive Value Chain, which drives circular, inclusive supply chain practices
• Positive Choices, aimed at innovating food and beverage products that are better for people and the planet. 

Since its inception, pep+ has propelled significant advancements in regenerative agriculture and water stewardship, demonstrating the company’s commitment to systemic, positive impact while strengthening business resilience. 

As PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta notes, pep+ is truly “the future of our company,” guiding actions that ensure sustainable growth and long-term value creation.

Jim Andrew: driving sustainability leadership

Jim Andrew, PepsiCo’s Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, has been pivotal in shaping and leading the company’s sustainability agenda. 

Recognised as number one in Sustainability Magazine’s Top 250 Leaders in Sustainability 2025, Jim’s visionary leadership steers pep+ and oversees integrating sustainability at every level of PepsiCo’s operations.

“I’ve always said sustainability is a team sport, so being ranked No. 1 on Sustainability Magazine’s Top 250 Sustainability Leaders list means that we’ve got a truly fantastic team at PepsiCo – very importantly including our business general managers – driving our pep+ transformation forward,” Jim said.

“PepsiCo has shown we’re ready to help lead and be part of the solution, and I’m proud that our team has been recognised with this honor. Congratulations to everyone named (and to many of you, thanks for your partnership!) and to all who are behind the scenes doing the hard work that needs to be done.”

Drawing on more than three decades of experience including senior roles at Boston Consulting Group and Royal Philips, Jim champions initiatives that combine innovation with practical impact – such as a 33% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2015 and doubling the company’s regenerative agriculture footprint in 2023. 

Under his stewardship, PepsiCo continues to embed sustainability deeply into its business, ensuring measurable progress in climate action, resource conservation and community engagement worldwide.

“I’m proud that PepsiCo was ranked No. 16 in Sustainability Magazine’s list of Top 250 most sustainable companies! This is a reflection of how far we have come and the relentless efforts of our teams to embody and embed pep+, continuing to progress on our ambitious sustainability targets in an effort to strengthen our business and have a positive impact on the planet,” Jim says.

 “Seeing this list I have two aspirations:

 “1. To keep climbing these rankings as we continue to evolve, broaden and deepen the impact of sustainability into the core of our business.

“2. That one day this can become a Top 500 (or more) list! To enact the type of systemic change needed to combat climate change, many more companies must get involved and begin their sustainability journeys. Sustainability is a team sport, and we each have a part to play if we are to truly create progress at scale.

 “Congratulations to all of those who made this year’s list!”

Advancing regenerative agriculture

Regenerative agriculture lies at the heart of PepsiCo’s strategy to build agricultural resilience and reduce environmental impact. 

The company sources more than 35 crops and ingredients globally and has set ambitious goals to scale regenerative practices across seven million acres by 2030. 

In 2024, PepsiCo expanded its regenerative agriculture footprint to more than 3.5 million acres, supporting farming methods that enhance soil health, increase biodiversity, and reduce carbon emissions. Partnerships, like the one with Cargill in Iowa, empower farmers by providing technical guidance and financial incentives to adopt these practices, reinforcing PepsiCo’s commitment to sustainable supply chains. 

Projects include crop rotation, cover cropping and field residue management – all designed to sustain farming communities and secure the long-term viability of ingredient sourcing under changing climate conditions.

Commitment to water stewardship

PepsiCo’s water stewardship efforts exemplify its commitment to conserving water resources and achieving net water positivity by 2030. The company has already met its 2025 target for a 25% improvement in operational water-use efficiency in high water-risk areas, two years ahead of schedule. 

Innovations such as recycling water released during potato chip production and deploying membrane bioreactor technology to purify and reuse process water have significantly reduced freshwater consumption at manufacturing sites worldwide. 

PepsiCo also actively partners with conservation organizations, for example supporting restoration projects to preserve aquifers in South Africa.