PepsiCo & Yara: Decarbonising Food Systems Using Fertiliser

The global food system is facing the challenge of meeting the demand for nutrition while cutting environmental impact.

Agriculture contributes to a large portion of global greenhouse gas emissions, linked to upstream operations like fertiliser production and on-farm nutrient use.

Ahead of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, PepsiCo has released an update on its partnership with Yara, a global leader in crop nutrition.

About PepsiCo and Yara’s collaboration

In 2024, PepsiCo announced a long term partnership with Yara, with the aim of providing farmers with crop nutrition programmes to help decarbonise the food value chain.

The agreement involved Yara delivering 165,000 tons of fertiliser each year to PepsiCo, covering around a quarter of its crop fertiliser needs by 2030.

This project focused on combining lower-carbon fertilisers produced from renewable or carbon capture and storage (CCS) ammonia with soil diagnostics and data-driven nutrient management.

This approach allows nutrients to be used efficiently, by reducing upstream production emissions and in-field emissions, without undermining crop yields.

PepsiCo and Yara’s initial project took place across the European Union and the UK, including approximately 1,000 farms, covering a total of 128,000 hectares.

Margaret Henry, Vice President, Sustainable & Regenerative Agriculture at PepsiCo, says: “We have put farmers at the centre and are helping them scale regenerative practices, reduce emissions and build resilience across agricultural communities.

“By introducing low-emission fertiliser solutions and leveraging innovation, this collaboration helps accelerate progress toward a net zero food system while supporting farmer livelihoods and strengthening food security.

“It’s collaborations like this and others that demonstrate how business, government and civil society can work together to deliver systemic change.”

Expanding into Latin America

PepsiCo has demonstrated the replicability of this programme in other geographies and climates, showing its potential to transform the global food system.

By mid-2025, PepsiCo and Yara extended their model to Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Argentina, focusing on potato growers in PepsiCo’s supply chain.

This Latin American programme mirrors the European version by offering lower-carbon fertilisers as well as agronomic support and digital farm monitoring.

Early projects showed a potential of 20-40% reductions in emissions per ton of potatoes, depending on the crop system and fertiliser.

Benoit Lamaison, Senior Vice President for Continental Europe and Product Strategy at Yara, says: “To transform our food system, we need to collaborate across the food value chain.

“We’re excited to work with first movers like PepsiCo to help make this a reality.

“Decarbonising food production will be critical to delivering on the Paris Agreement and farmers will play a key role in helping us get there.”

All sustainability, net zero and sustainable supply chain leaders should attend:

• Sustainability LIVE: The Net Zero Summit - QEII Centre, London, March 4-5
• Sustainability LIVE: The US Summit - Navy Pier, Chicago, April 21-22

Co-located with Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE, these events brings together CSOs, ESG leaders and senior decision-makers at a moment when sustainability, supply chains and commercial performance are increasingly interconnected.

Tickets can be booked online today for The Net Zero Summit and The US Summit. Group discounts available.

What does this mean for global food systems?

According to the International Fertiliser Association, nearly half of the food produced in the world is dependent on mineral fertilisers.

This means that decarbonising this element of food production is critical in order for the agricultural value chain to help meet global climate goals.

The production of fertiliser traditionally relies on fossil feedstocks and field-level nitrogen use releases nitrous oxide.

PepsiCo and Yara’s approach brings benefits to farmers by providing them with monitoring, advice and supply chain relationships, which helps limit risk and encourage the use of lower-carbon fertilisers.

Jim Andrew, Chief Sustainability Officer at PepsiCo, said on LinkedIn: “Governments, businesses, financial institutions and civil society must work together, towards a common set of clear objectives, to strengthen the global food system in the face of increasing climate pressures, soil degradation, water scarcity and extreme weather events.

“The world must also realise that farmers and farming communities are essential partners in building resilience and sustainability and that any systemic change starts with them.

“These things are easy to say, but we know from our experience that they, unfortunately, don’t always happen ‘on the ground’.”