PepsiCo Europe and Yara have announced a strategic, long-term partnership in Europe aimed at supporting farmers with advanced crop nutrition programs to foster decarbonization within the food value chain.
Under this partnership, spanning multiple countries, PepsiCo Europe’s participating farmers will receive state-of-the-art crop nutrition products, expert advice, and precision farming digital tools. These resources are designed to enhance nutrient use efficiency (NUE), increase yields, and reduce the carbon footprint associated with crop production. Yara, Europe’s leading crop nutrition company, will supply PepsiCo with these products and services.
Yara plans to deliver up to 165,000 tons of fertilizer annually to PepsiCo, covering approximately 25% of their crop fertilizer requirements in Europe by 2030. A significant portion of these fertilizers will be Yara Climate Choice products, characterized by a low-carbon footprint. These include fertilizers made from renewable ammonia sourced from Herøya, Norway, as well as low-carbon ammonia produced through carbon capture and storage (CCS) methods currently under development at Yara Sluiskil. Additionally, the mix will feature Yara’s premium nitrate-based mineral fertilizers, known for their reduced carbon footprint achieved through innovative catalyst technology. The partnership aims to transition entirely to Yara Climate Choice fertilizers by 2030 as production scales up and technology matures.
This collaboration underscores both companies’ commitment to building a more sustainable food system aligned with the European Union’s climate objectives. It also aims to support farmers through the transition to ensure their livelihoods are protected. The partnership is a crucial component of PepsiCo’s broader sustainability strategy, known as PepsiCo Positive (pep+), which targets achieving net-zero emissions by 2040, particularly focusing on reducing Scope 3 emissions.
Archana Jagannathan, Chief Sustainability Officer at PepsiCo Europe, emphasized, “Providing our farmers with fertilizers that have a lower carbon footprint and supporting them in improving crop nutrition end-to-end will allow us to make a significant step towards our target of achieving net zero by 2040.”
The initiative is also aligned with Yara’s mission to advance sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship. Mónica Andrés Enríquez, Executive Vice President for Europe at Yara, highlighted the importance of collaboration across the food value chain to drive decarbonization efforts and achieve global climate goals.
The partnership will initially involve approximately 1,000 farms covering about 128,000 hectares across the European Union and the UK, focusing initially on potatoes, a key crop for PepsiCo. Future plans include expanding these efforts to include other crops such as oats and corn, aiming to promote regenerative agricultural practices.
In addition to providing sustainable fertilizers, the partnership will scale up the adoption of sustainable nutrient management practices among PepsiCo farmer groups. This includes comprehensive crop and soil data collection and monitoring using PepsiCo’s CropTrak and ML Analytics tool, complemented by Yara’s digital solutions such as digital satellite imagery through the AtFarm platform and MegaLab soil analysis.
