Scribbles to nibbles: diverse diets, smiles and taste
Witnessing ideas transform from whiteboard scribbling into consumer-favorite food and beverages is the most rewarding aspect of my job. As a scientist, the head of research and development (R&D), and a PepsiCo employee for the past 13 years, I’ve had the privilege of observing the successful launch of quite a few innovative products.
But what I’m most proud of right now isn’t about new products — it’s the ways we have found to help improve the nutritional profile of our products.
PepsiCo is one of the largest food and beverage companies in Europe — and around the world — with products available in more than 200 markets, more than 30 crops sourced from over 2.8 million hectares in 60 different countries. Our products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times each day. We produce a multitude of convenient foods and beverage products under brand names many of you will recognize — Pepsi MAX, Lay’s, Alvalle, Rockstar, Doritos, Quaker and many more.
Given our scale and global reach, we understand and accept both the opportunity and a role to drive positive change, and have created PepsiCo Positive (pep+), a strategic framework to align our corporate actions with environmental and social goals. This initiative focuses on three key areas: value chain; agriculture; and consumer (or positive) choice, each underpinned by ambitious goals.
In my role, I primarily contribute to the pillar of pep+, where the emphasis is on developing a portfolio of positive choices for our consumers. I’m proud of the advancements our R&D team has made over the past decade to improve the nutritional profile of our foods and beverages without sacrificing a drop or gram of flavor. Reductions in sodium, saturated fat and added sugars have been the cornerstones of our progress over the past decade.
Reductions in sodium, saturated fat and added sugars have been the cornerstones of our progress over the past decade.
What makes me most proud, right now, is the progress we’re making to improve the nutritional profile of our products:
- Four years ahead of schedule, we achieved our goal to have 75 percent of our convenient foods portfolio volume not exceed 1.1 grams of saturated fat per 100 calories, achieved partly through cooking our products with healthier oils1.
- We now offer crisps (or chips depending on which part of Europe you come from!) with less sodium — overall, 68 percent of our convenient foods portfolio volume no longer exceeds 1.3 milligrams of sodium per calorie2.
- 56 percent of our beverage portfolio volume has 100 calories (or fewer) from added sugars per 33cl serving compared to 53 percent in 20212. This has been made possible, in part, by replacing full-sugar beverages with lower-sugar formulations in multiple markets.
We know there are still opportunities to do more.
This week, we have announced a new sodium goal that considers guidance from leading health authorities like the World Health Organization (WHO). We have also announced a goal to increase the amount of important sources of nutrition in our foods portfolio, diverse ingredients such as legumes, whole grains, plant-based proteins, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds.
The benefits of reducing sodium are well documented. According to the WHO, dietary intakes exceed the maximum recommended levels in almost every European nation.
New PepsiCo global sodium goals have been set across 30 food categories, from cereals to potato, vegetable and tortilla chips. Our goal is ≥75 percent of our global convenient foods portfolio volume will meet or be below category sodium targets by 2030. This is industry leading.
Our second goal, to increase the inclusion of diverse ingredients in our foods, is driven by an understanding that nutrient-dense foods are under-consumed around the globe.
Our aim is to deliver 145 billion portions of diverse ingredients annually in our global convenient foods portfolio by 2030. Each portion provides approximately 10 percent of the suggested daily amount of a diverse ingredient.
This is about improving the core nutritional profile of our products, and at scale. So, when combined with PepsiCo’s EU Code of Conduct for Responsible Business and Marketing Practices ambition to build a $1 billion ‘healthier’ portfolio in the EU by 2030, we’re starting to get closer to those big solutions that drew me to PepsiCo in the first place.
Thanks to industry-wide efforts, we will be part of a 33 percent total reduction in added sugars in soft drinks across the EU by 2025.
I’m confident in our ambitions, but also realize that addressing global nutrition challenges requires more than just one company. We need ambitious companies and clever policymaking. Large-scale partnerships can also really create significant opportunities to give consumers more positive dietary choices. Through the International Food and Beverage Alliance, we came together in 2019 with 11 other companies to phase out industrially-produced trans-fatty acids, a group action that is galvanizing global change in line with WHO goals. We are also part of the European Soft Drink Association’s (UNESDA) sugar reduction commitment. Thanks to industry-wide efforts, we will be part of a 33 percent total reduction in added sugars in soft drinks across the EU by 2025. The more we build partnerships like these, the more we can innovate.
My journey to PepsiCo was fueled by a passion to offer more positive choices for billions of consumers. Through R&D initiatives, blending technology and ingenuity, we’re reshaping our portfolio to benefit consumers and the planet. This redefined mission represents our most-ambitious work, and I’m immensely proud of the positive changes we’re spearheading, in Europe and beyond.
References:
[1] As of 2022, Top 23 Convenient Foods markets represented 86 percent of our global convenient foods volume. Results reflect exclusion of Be & Cheery portfolio.
[2] As of 2022, Top 26 Beverage markets represented 78 percent of our global beverages volume. As of 2021, Top 26 Beverage markets represented 79 percent of our global beverages volume.
