Over 2 million acres of farmland will benefit from PepsiCo and Walmart’s backing of regenerative agriculture
29 July 2023, US: PepsiCo and Walmart have established a 7-year partnership to seek investments totaling $120 million with the goal of assisting American and Canadian farmers in their efforts to enhance soil health and water quality. By creating and expanding financial, agronomic, and social programs, it hopes to speed up the adoption of regenerative farming methods on more than 2 million acres of farmland and deliver about 4 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and removals by 2030, which is roughly equivalent to the amount of electricity required to power 778,300 homes for a year.
Jeff Huffman, Owner & Operator of Island Farms LLC in Maxwell, Nebraska, commented on the voluntary adoption of regenerative agriculture principles, saying, “From my opinion, embracing regenerative agriculture is crucial. It’s helpful for farmers not just because it improves the environment and the quality of our food, but also because it increases our businesses’ profitability. It strengthens your farm in a way that improves the bottom line and our environment for future generations if you use less fertilizer and grow a bigger harvest or if you use less water and can yet grow the same size crop.
Farmers provide the raw materials needed to create the delectable products that people enjoy every day for PepsiCo and Walmart’s businesses. Sustainability will vary from commodity to commodity, region to region, and even farm to farm due to the two corporations’ extensive North American supply chains that contain numerous essential commodities like potatoes, oats, corn, wheat, soybeans, and rice. The partnership between PepsiCo and Walmart offers a flexible, voluntary approach to regenerative agriculture that acknowledges the variability of agriculture and the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
“Trust is the foundation and the goal of successful sustainability. According to Jim Andrew, chief sustainability officer at PepsiCo, “we work very hard to earn the trust of the farmer so they understand that we are investing in their legacy and they can hand their farm down to the next generation.” Farmers are the best experts on their industry, and they tell us that three things must take place for regenerative agriculture to be profitable. In addition to agronomic support, they also require social, cultural, and economic support. Our shared objective of supporting farmers as they reform farming in a way that benefits the planet and people will be advanced by this strategic partnership with Walmart.
“At Walmart, we have a sustainability plan designed to help our consumers make sustainable decisions on a daily basis. This partnership with PepsiCo is a terrific illustration of how we prioritize the spread of regenerative farming methods among farmers in North America so that we may continue to provide customers high-quality goods at competitive prices. According to Jane Ewing, Senior Vice President for Sustainability at Walmart, “This collaboration aims to help elevate farmer livelihoods, engage them on how to more sustainably manage soil health, increase yields, and create a model that others can mimic across other product categories. This includes encouraging additional investments in regenerative agriculture by other brands.
PepsiCo and Walmart both place an emphasis on assisting rural communities, enhancing soil and water quality, and reducing carbon emissions. A resilient food system is crucial to PepsiCo’s business as the largest convenient food and beverage company in North America. PepsiCo’s pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) goals include driving the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices across 7 million acres by 2030 – an area roughly the size of PepsiCo’s agricultural footprint – and reducing absolute GHG emissions by more than 40% across its entire value chain by 2030 (against a baseline of 12%).
“This effort is a new model for PepsiCo, marking our first, large-scale strategic collaboration focused on sustainable agriculture with a retail partner,” said Steven Williams, CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America. Farmers are essential to our business, and we get ingredients directly from the farms for many of the well-known and beloved brands that our customers adore. Through our partnership with Walmart, we seek to empower farmers by providing them with information, an upfront investment in results, peer mentoring, and cost-sharing.
This partnership is a prime example of how Walmart, along with the Walmart Foundation, is prioritizing purposeful collaborations to speed up the adoption of regenerative practices in line with its objective to protect, restore, or manage 50 million acres of land and 1 million square miles of ocean by 2030.
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