Business & Money | Tuesday 23 October, 2018 2:52 am |

PepsiCo, the global Food and Beverage Company, led a delegation of experts around its snack plant in Riyadh in a demonstration of its commitment to operating sustainably in line with the goals and ambitions of the Kingdom’s leadership through Saudi Vision 2030. 

 

The event was attended by Christine Daugherty, Vice President of Sustainable Agriculture, PepsiCo, who elaborated on the company’s global best practices and some of its key sustainability initiatives in the Kingdom. She also highlighted PepsiCo’s Performance with Purpose (PwP) 2025 agenda, which was designed to foster continued business growth in a way that responds to changing consumer and societal needs.

 

Guests were taken on a tour of the plant, which included explanations and demonstrations of the sustainable initiatives that have been implemented throughout the facility that save and recycle water, reduce energy consumption, and more. 

 

Daugherty said: “Sustainability is an integral component of our Performance with Purpose 2025 agenda, specifically for realizing the goals of our Planet Pillar - to achieve positive water impact, lower carbon emissions across our entire value chain, promote sustainable sourcing practices, and reduce waste. Improving the water-use efficiency of our agricultural supply chain and manufacturing operations in particular is key. We are committed to continuously improving water stewardship throughout our business, sustainably sourcing raw agricultural materials, and designing more packaging that is recyclable, compostable or biodegradable.” 

 

PepsiCo has been present in Saudi Arabia for over six decades and is committed to reflecting the goals of its Performance with Purpose 2025 agenda in the Kingdom. The company considers having a positive impact on Saudi’s farming communities to be vital to its operations, and its partners engage directly with individual farms promote innovation, knowledge transfer and agricultural best practices while ensuring an increase in productivity and quality. 

 

For example, PepsiCo works with potato growers to increase adoption of environmentally responsible agricultural practices and conserve water, while improving crop yields and growers’ livelihoods. This includes the company’s recent savings of over three billion liters of water by adopting new agricultural practices and spending more than SAR 300 million annually on agricultural products. 

 

Satyavrat Pendharkar, General Manager and Vice President, Gulf and Levant Foods, PepsiCo Saudi Arabia, said: “As part of our Performance with Purpose vision tocontribute to a more sustainable global food system, we have made considerable progress by embedding environmental sustainability into all facets of our operations. We have saved almost one billion liters of water across our snack operations, improved our waste recycling efforts by 8%, and in our efforts to cut down plastic use, we have reduced 1.5 grams of plastic on each bottle. We are committed to contributing to the Saudi economy beyond our business. In alignment with Vision 2030 and the government’s economic objectives for a greener future, PepsiCo is proud to play a part in this and we will continue to find innovative ways to minimize our environmental footprint through operational efficiencies and mobilization of our suppliers and business partners in the Kingdom.”

 

PepsiCo’s snack plant in Riyadh brings global best practices to the local market, demonstrating world-leading techniques for increasing sustainability throughout the production process.