PepsiCo, ADM Announce Groundbreaking Agreement Aiming to Reduce Carbon Intensity by Supporting Regenerative Agriculture Practices on Up to 2 Million Acres of Farmland

September 14, 2022 at 16:15 PM EDT

Revolutionary strategic partnership between two global companies, with footprints extending from the farm gate to iconic foods and beverages, provides unprecedented and unique opportunity to expand regen ag at scale

ADM (NYSE: ADM), a global leader in sustainable agriculture and nutrition, and PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) today announced a groundbreaking 7.5-year strategic commercial agreement to closely collaborate on projects that aim to significantly expand regenerative agriculture across their shared North American supply chains. This strategic partnership is expected to reach up to 2 million acres by 2030, and represents a trailblazing effort by two global companies that share ambitious carbon reduction goals. The companies’ capabilities span the food and agriculture value chains, creating a unique, large-scale platform to support farmers’ transition to regenerative agriculture, while building their resilience to climate change.

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The long-term agreement will initially enroll corn, soy and wheat farmers across Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska, with the opportunity for future expansion, to increase visibility across the value chain and integrate a range of multi-year farmer-first regenerative agriculture initiatives, including cover crops, reduced tillage, nutrient management, diverse rotations, and responsible pesticide use. The companies plan to share resources and collaborate to create value throughout the supply chain by providing participants with technical and financial assistance, offering access to peer regenerative farming networks, hosting educational field days, and tracking results using trusted, third-party measurement systems.

Reaching the strategic partnership’s goals could eliminate 1.4 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses – equivalent to the amount of electricity used to power 275,000 homes per year – at the farm level, while creating meaningful shared value directly for farmers.

“Building a better food system is essential to the future health of the earth and all of us,” said Jim Andrew, Chief Sustainability Officer, PepsiCo. “At its core, PepsiCo is an agricultural company, working to spread regenerative agriculture practices that restore the earth and reduce carbon emissions to 7 million acres by 2030. This partnership with ADM marks a sea change in how PepsiCo engages with strategic partners and is expected to help us reach almost one-third of that goal. By enabling greater collaboration through strategic partnerships like this one, we can strengthen the livelihoods and resilience of the farmers we work with, while building a more sustainable future together.”

“Sustainability is fundamental to ADM: Our growth strategy is underpinned by demand for more sustainable products, and our culture compels us to act,” said ADM Chief Sustainability Officer Alison Taylor. “Last year, we expanded on our Strive 35 sustainability goals with a commitment to reduce our Scope 3 emissions by 25% by 2035, and expanding regenerative agriculture practices – as we have with our recent strategic partnerships with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Farmers Business Network – will be key to reaching that goal. Today’s announcement is a major step forward, as we work with a partner whose values align with our own to scale up regenerative agriculture in a way few other companies can. We’re excited to take the next big step in reducing carbon and making our entire food system more sustainable.”

pep+ is PepsiCo’s strategic, end-to-end business transformation with sustainability and human capital at the center of how the company will create growth and value. As part of those ambitions, the company is working to spread regenerative practices across 7 million acres of land by 2030 — an area approximately equal to its entire agricultural footprint – and striving to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.

ADM’s Strive 35 sustainability goals include reducing absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 25%, energy intensity by 15%, water intensity by 10%, and achieving a 90% landfill diversion rate by 2035 against a 2019 baseline. In 2021, ADM additionally committed to a new, aggressive environmental goal to reduce Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2035 while accelerating its target date to achieve a completely deforestation-free supply chain from 2030 to 2025. The company has also committed to work with the Science Based Targets Initiative with the aim of obtaining approval of its climate targets and alignment with ambitious global goals to limit rising temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

About ADM

ADM unlocks the power of nature to enrich the quality of life. We’re a premier global human and animal nutrition company, delivering solutions today with an eye to the future. We’re blazing new trails in health and well-being as our scientists develop groundbreaking products to support healthier living. We’re a cutting-edge innovator leading the way to a new future of plant-based consumer and industrial solutions to replace petroleum-based products. We’re an unmatched agricultural supply chain manager and processor, providing food security by connecting local needs with global capabilities. And we’re a leader in sustainability, scaling across entire value chains to help decarbonize our industry and safeguard our planet. From the seed of the idea to the outcome of the solution, we give customers an edge in solving the nutritional and sustainability challenges of today and tomorrow. Learn more at www.adm.com.

ADM Cautionary Statement

Some of the above statements constitute forward-looking statements. ADM’s filings with the SEC provide detailed information on such statements and risks, and should be consulted along with this release. To the extent permitted under applicable law, ADM assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $79 billion in net revenue in 2021, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive (pep+). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

PepsiCo Cautionary Statement

Statements in this release that are “forward-looking statements” are based on currently available information, operating plans and projections about future events and trends. Terminology such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “drive,” “estimate,” “expect,” “expressed confidence,” “forecast,” “future,” “goal,” “guidance,” “intend,” “may,” “objective,” “outlook,” “plan,” “position,” “potential,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “strategy,” “target,” “will” or similar statements or variations of such words and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such terms. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause PepsiCo’s actual results to differ materially from those predicted in such forward looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: damage to PepsiCo’s reputation or brand image; water scarcity; disruption of PepsiCo’s manufacturing operations or supply chain, including increased commodity, packaging, transportation, labor and other input costs; climate change or measures to address climate change; and failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

For additional information on these and other factors that could cause PepsiCo’s actual results to materially differ from those set forth herein, please see PepsiCo’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Source: Corporate release

Source: ADM