PepsiCo has announced a partnership with Soil Capital to scale regenerative agriculture practices in the UK, France and Belgium.
The partnership, which will focus on rapeseed oil, will see farmers in PepsiCo’s European supply chain gain access to Soil Capital’s expertise and tools to implement more sustainable practices, and will cover around 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares) of farmland.
As well as improving soil health, reducing carbon emissions, enhancing water efficiency, preventing land degradation, it is hoped that the initiative will help farmers tackle local challenges, such as the heavy rainfall seen in France last year.
For PepsiCo, the programme ensures a ‘sustainable supply of key ingredients’ for brands such as Lay’s and Walkers, it said.
‘Building resilience’
“Farmers are at the heart of a sustainable food system, and regenerative agriculture is key to building resilience for our food supply, the environment, and farming communities,” commented Archana Jagannathan, chief sustainability officer at PepsiCo Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
“Scaling these practices requires practical solutions tailored to local challenges. By working across the value chain, we can help remove barriers, accelerate adoption, and drive meaningful progress, reducing agricultural emissions while ensuring the long-term sustainability of our key ingredients.”
According to Soil Capital, the first phase of the collaboration has already yielded positive progress – farmers in France improved their greenhouse gas balance by 38%, while their compatriots in the UK achieved a 36% improvement.
Cover crop use increased significantly in both countries – from 49% to 65% in France and from 22% to 34% in the UK – enhancing soil structure and water retention. In addition, participating farmers in France cut mineral phosphorus fertiliser use by half, lowering nutrient runoff and production costs.
‘Shared ambition’
Soil Capital is a certified B Corp that states that its mission is to ‘to support farmers in their transition to regenerative and sustainable agriculture’. It uses agronomic intelligence to connect businesses seeking more resilient supply chains – in this case PepsiCo – with farmers, who in turn earn rewards for adopting more sustainable practices.
“PepsiCo and Soil Capital have come together around the shared ambition to make regenerative agriculture the norm, not the exception,” commented Chuck de Liedekerke, CEO of Soil Capital.
“This is a partnership founded on putting farmers first and working to transform the food system at scale and with pace. Backed by science and measurable environmental benefits, we look forward to supporting the transition, building resilient agricultural supply chains, and reimagining the relationship between society, land-use, food, and nature.”
PepsiCo has set a global target to implement regenerative, restorative, or protective practices across 10 million acres of farmland by 2030. As of 2024, it had achieved 3.5 million acres. Read more here.
