PepsiCo Expands Regenerative Agriculture Work to 4.7 Million Acres Worldwide

PepsiCo has expanded regenerative, restorative and protective agriculture practices to 4.7 million acres worldwide, as the food and beverage group advances its 2030 Positive Agriculture agenda under its pep+ sustainability strategy.

The company announced the update on 1 July 2026, positioning agriculture as a central part of its wider work on supply chain resilience, emissions reduction, biodiversity, water stewardship and farmer livelihoods. PepsiCo’s stated goal is to spread regenerative, restorative or protective practices across 10 million acres of land supporting key crops and ingredients by 2030. The latest figure means the company is approaching the halfway point of that target.

The progress is significant because PepsiCo’s business depends heavily on agricultural raw materials, including potatoes, corn, oats, sugar, palm oil and other ingredients used across brands such as Lay’s, Doritos, Quaker and Pepsi-Cola. For large food and beverage companies, agricultural supply chains are increasingly exposed to climate risks, including water stress, soil degradation, biodiversity loss and crop yield volatility.

What PepsiCo Means by Regenerative Agriculture

PepsiCo says its regenerative agriculture strategy is intended to improve soil health, reduce emissions, strengthen watershed health, enhance biodiversity and support farmer livelihoods. The company defines an acre as delivering regenerative agriculture impact when it is used to grow crops and when adopted practices result in quantified improvements in at least two environmental outcome areas, such as soil, water, climate or biodiversity.

Acres can also count toward restoration or protection when activities improve biodiversity or ecological resilience on land that remains outside agricultural production. PepsiCo says reported acreage is validated annually using approved tools and on-farm data, often aggregated by third parties.

In 2025, PepsiCo reported 4.7 million acres with greenhouse gas impacts, 4.2 million acres with soil health impacts, 3.1 million acres with watershed health impacts and 2.0 million acres with biodiversity impacts. These indicators suggest the company is tracking regenerative agriculture through several environmental lenses rather than treating land area alone as the measure of progress.

Farmer Engagement and Partnerships Support Scale-Up

PepsiCo said momentum during 2025 was supported by farmer engagement, landscape-level innovation and collaboration with partners. The company has been working with organizations including Practical Farmers of Iowa, Cool Soils, Rimba Collective and Milhão to support adoption of practices across different regions.

Its approach includes technical assistance, peer networks, data-driven insights and incentive structures that aim to align environmental outcomes with farm-level economic benefits. For farmers, that support can be important because the transition to regenerative practices often involves changes to crop rotations, soil management, input use, irrigation, pest control and data collection.

The company also launched STEP Up for Agriculture, short for Supporting Trusted Engagement and Partnership for Agriculture, in collaboration with Unilever and other food, beverage and retail partners. The initiative is designed to strengthen farmer-facing organizations through advisory support and a train-the-trainer model, particularly in the United States and Europe.

For suppliers and growers, such programmes can help address one of the main barriers to regenerative agriculture adoption: the gap between long-term environmental benefits and short-term operational risk. Many farmers need practical evidence that new practices can work in their specific region, soil type, crop system and market context.

Sustainable Sourcing Reaches 70% of Key Ingredients

PepsiCo’s latest agriculture update also covers sustainable sourcing. The company said 70% of its key ingredients were sustainably sourced in 2025, with a further approximately 2% of volumes progressing under its “Engaged” pathway.

Its 2030 target is to sustainably source 90% of key ingredients and progress no more than 10% of volumes that face systemic barriers toward more sustainable practices. The scope includes ingredients and materials representing more than 0.01% of annual volume-based supply for wholly owned manufacturing facilities and certain direct purchases, but excludes joint ventures, franchise bottlers, some contract manufacturing and spot purchases.

For investors, buyers and sustainability teams, the details of scope are important. Many corporate agriculture targets depend not only on the ambition of the goal, but also on which supply chains are included, how performance is verified and whether progress is linked to measurable environmental outcomes.

PepsiCo’s methodology states that the agriculture acreage metric has been subject to third-party limited assurance. This provides a level of external review, but does not remove the need for continued scrutiny of outcomes such as emissions reductions, soil carbon changes, water efficiency and biodiversity gains.

Livelihood Programmes Move Closer to 2030 Target

Livelihoods are another part of the company’s Positive Agriculture strategy. Since 2021, PepsiCo says it has supported around 224,000 people across agricultural supply chains and communities through programmes focused on economic prosperity, farmer and farm worker security, and inclusion.

This puts the company close to its 2030 goal of improving the livelihoods of more than 250,000 people. Programmes cited by PepsiCo include She Feeds the World with CARE, its Collaborative Farming Program in India, Agrovita with Proforest in Mexico, and 1,000 Farmers Endless Prosperity in Türkiye.

The inclusion of livelihoods alongside environmental indicators reflects a wider challenge in food system decarbonization. Agricultural transitions depend on farmer participation, and farmer participation depends on whether the business case is credible. Programmes that support income stability, access to training and resilience can be important in turning corporate commitments into field-level change.

Demonstration Farms and Technology Trials

PepsiCo is also using demonstration farms, trials and technology projects to accelerate adoption. In 2025, the company supported more than 15 projects through its Positive Agriculture Outcome Accelerator and reached more than 1,100 farmers through demonstration farms, training and trials.

The company said demonstration farms focused on areas including soil health, water-use efficiency, irrigation technologies, integrated pest management, biocontrol, precision agriculture, digitization and lower-carbon inputs.

These activities are relevant for the wider food and agriculture sector because regenerative agriculture is not a single fixed practice. It can include cover cropping, reduced tillage, crop diversification, efficient irrigation, improved nutrient management, biological pest control and habitat protection, among other approaches. The right mix depends heavily on local conditions.

Why the Update Matters for Net-Zero Supply Chains

The announcement comes as food and beverage companies face growing pressure to address Scope 3 emissions, nature-related risk and deforestation exposure in agricultural supply chains. For a company such as PepsiCo, many environmental impacts sit outside its direct operations and are linked to farming, ingredients, packaging, logistics and product use.

Regenerative agriculture is often presented as a route to improve resilience while reducing environmental impacts, but implementation remains complex. Outcomes vary by crop, region, soil type, climate, farm economics and measurement approach. This means companies need strong data systems and credible verification if they want to show that acreage growth is translating into measurable environmental gains.

For suppliers, the update signals that large buyers are likely to continue asking for more detailed sustainability data from agricultural supply chains. For farmers, it points to both opportunity and pressure: opportunity through partnerships, technical assistance and possible incentives, and pressure through rising expectations on traceability, emissions performance, water stewardship and soil health.

Next Steps for PepsiCo and Stakeholders

PepsiCo said it plans to continue focusing through 2030 on farmer, community, soil, climate, biodiversity and watershed resilience. It also said deforestation remains part of its Positive Agriculture agenda, with performance against related goals due to be reported later in 2026.

For stakeholders tracking food system decarbonization, the next test will be whether acreage expansion translates into durable reductions in emissions, improved water security, stronger biodiversity outcomes and better economics for growers.

The company’s 4.7 million-acre figure shows progress at scale, but the broader significance will depend on the quality of implementation and the transparency of reported outcomes. As more food companies make agriculture central to net-zero and nature strategies, the credibility of regenerative agriculture claims will increasingly depend on measurable results, not only programme size.

Source: www.pepsico.com