PepsiCo Europe and crop nutrition company Yara have announced a long-term partnership aimed at providing European farmers with low-carbon crop nutrition solutions to help decarbonise the food value chain.
Under the agreement, Yara will supply PepsiCo with up to 165,000 tons of fertiliser per year by 2030, covering around 25% of the food and beverage giant’s crop fertiliser needs across Europe.
This will include a mix of Yara’s lower-carbon ‘Climate Choice fertilisers produced using renewable or low-carbon ammonia, as well as the company’s standard premium nitrate-based products.
The partnership, which spans multiple countries, will initially focus on potatoes – a key crop for PepsiCo – before expanding to other crops such as oats and corn. It will cover around 1,000 farms across the EU and UK, totalling approximately 128,000 hectares.
Archana Jagannathan, chief sustainability officer at PepsiCo Europe, said: “This partnership with Yara aligns with our end-to-end transformation known as PepsiCo Positive (pep+) and will be critical as we transition towards the net-zero food system of the future”.
Fertiliser use currently makes up the majority of PepsiCo’s potato carbon footprint in Europe, accounting for 54% of emissions. The collaboration aims to help the company achieve its target of a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030.
In addition to the lower-carbon fertilisers, the partnership will provide farmers with precision farming digital tools and best-practice agronomic advice to improve nutrient use efficiency, boost yields and further reduce the environmental impact.
“To grow a nature-positive food future and transform our food system, we need to collaborate across the food value chain,” said Mónica Andrés Enríquez, executive vice president for Europe at Yara. “We’re excited to work with first movers like PepsiCo to help make this a reality.”
by Siân Yates
Source: foodbev.com
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