Synopsis

PepsiCo is taking its sustainability push deeper in India, from helping farmers and cutting water use to shifting packaging and transport. Its PepsiCo Positive programme now spans 36,000 farmers across 14 states, while EV trucks, low-sugar beverages and regenerative farming show how the company is trying to make sustainability part of everyday business.

New Delhi: PepsiCo said on Friday that its sustainability programme "PepsiCo Positive" (pep+) is delivering measurable growth across its global operations, with India emerging as a key market for the initiative's expansion.

According to the company's 2025 ESG Performance Update, PepsiCo has extended regenerative, restorative and protective farming practices to 4.7 million acres across more than 60 countries, achieved 100 per cent water replenishment at company-owned facilities in high-water-risk areas, and reduced virgin plastic use in primary packaging by 6 per cent.

"We're excited by the momentum we're building as pep+ continues to transform our business end to end," PepsiCo Chief Sustainability Officer Jim Andrew said in a statement.

The company is evolving its product portfolio to offer more choices while strengthening the business for the long term, he added .

In India, PepsiCo Positive is being rolled out through the company's "Partnership for Progress" philosophy, which engages around 36,000 farmers across 14 states. The company said it sources 100 per cent of its chip-grade potatoes locally in the country.

"In India, our growth is deeply connected to the strength and resilience of the ecosystem around us," said Yashika Singh, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Sustainability Head for PepsiCo India & South Asia. She said the approach turns interdependence into shared growth across farmers, communities and consumers.

PepsiCo has partnered with start-ups to bring digital tools to its farmer network, the statement said.

Its "Mitti Didi" initiative offers soil-health diagnostics to thousands of farmers, while the "Lay's Smart Farms" programme, developed with Cropin, spans more than 18,000 mapped acres and reaches over 7,000 farmers.

Micro-irrigation has achieved full adoption across key potato-sourcing regions, including more than 2,300 acres in Uttar Pradesh, it said.

On water conservation, the company said its Pune manufacturing facility has cut water use by more than 90 per cent, part of a broader effort that has replenished 23 billion litres of water globally since 2010 and reached about 97 million people with safe water access.

PepsiCo is also advancing circularity in India by complying with local Extended Producer Responsibility rules and redesigning packaging with mono-material and polyolefin-based structures, besides shifting to 100 per cent PET bottles for select beverage products. Biomass now accounts for 97 per cent of PepsiCo India's fuel mix, the company said.

On the transport front, the Kosi-Pataudi EV Green Corridor -- run in partnership with Kalyani Powertrain Ltd and Vayudoot Road Carriers -- operates thirteen 32-foot electric trucks covering roughly 6 lakh electric kilometres annually. PepsiCo India has retrofitted more than 800 vehicles for last-mile delivery, it added.

The company said more than half of its beverage portfolio by volume in India is now low or zero-sugar, alongside new offerings such as Red Rock Deli baked variants with 40 per cent less fat and millet-based Kurkure Jowar Puffs.

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