PepsiCo and Soil Capital partner for European regenerative farming

PepsiCo and agricultural expertise firm Soil Capital are formalising a long-term strategic partnership focused on securing a sustainable supply of key ingredients for PepsiCo’s food portfolio across the UK, France, and Belgium.

This initiative directly supports farmers in accelerating the adoption of regenerative agriculture across over 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares) of farmland, which produces ingredients essential for popular brands like Lay’s and Walkers.

The core goal of this collaboration is to transition farming practices to be more resilient against climate shocks and land degradation, ensuring a reliable, long-term supply of high-quality rapeseed oil. This involves providing farmers with the necessary resources and expertise to implement sustainable methods:

• Improving soil health: farmers are moving away from reliance on synthetic inputs towards practices like growing cover crops and organic fertilisation. 
• Climate mitigation: by adopting regenerative techniques such as reduced tillage, the programme is engineered to prevent land degradation and actively reduce the carbon footprint associated with ingredient production. The first phase has already seen participants in France improve their greenhouse gas balance by 38%, demonstrating tangible progress toward reducing agricultural emissions.
• Financial & structural support: to eliminate adoption barriers, the partnership offers financial incentives and expert agronomic guidance. This ensures farmers can afford the costs of transition and receive locally tailored support (eg addressing soil compaction in the UK) to maintain productivity while enhancing sustainability.

“Scaling these practices requires practical solutions tailored to local challenges,” said Archana Jagannathan, chief sustainability officer at PepsiCo Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. “We can help remove barriers, accelerate adoption, and drive meaningful progress, reducing agricultural emissions while ensuring the long-term sustainability of our key ingredients.”

The programme integrates a powerful digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) system. This utilises satellite technology and advanced models to provide transparent, data-driven insights into key metrics like GHG emissions and soil carbon storage. This ensures both PepsiCo and its farming partners can accurately measure the environmental impact of the ingredients and refine their approach for continuous improvement.

This commitment to scaling regenerative agriculture across 35,000 acres underscores PepsiCo’s increased global goal to drive the adoption of these restorative practices across 10 million acres globally by 2030.