Many consumer product goods companies are taking an integrated approach to
sustainability - from the raw material to energy usage to the end of life for
packaging. PepsiCo, parent company of brand powerhouses like Pepsi Cola,
Frito-Lay and Tropicana, is providing a three-year grant to the Applied
Sustainability Center at the University of Arkansas to support research on how
to create more sustainable products.
The Applied Sustainability Center, founded
in 2007, is housed in the Sam M. Walton College of Business.
On hand for product sustainability discussions were Walton College Dean
Dan Worrell; Tim Carey, director Sustainability, PepsiCo Beverages; Dan
Donohue, vice president, Business Development, Pepsico for Walmart/Sam's
Club Team; Jack Pettijohn, senior manager, Sales Strategy and
Sustainability, PepsiCo; David Haft, group vice president for
Sustainability and Productivity, FritoLay; Kim Randle, director of
corporate and foundation relations, University of Arkansas, and Jon
Johnson, executive director, Applied Sustainability Center; and Bruce
Pontius, associated vice chancellor for development, University of
Arkansas. |
David Haft, group vice president for sustainability and productivity for
Frito-Lay North America, said, "PepsiCo's support of the Applied Sustainability
Center's work is consistent with the company's overall environmental strategy.
Our hope is that this partnership will stimulate cutting-edge solutions to
environmental challenges and improve the environmental performance of companies
like ours."
Jon Johnson, executive director of the center, said, "We are very excited
about the comprehensive approach that PepsiCo is taking to sustainability, and
wish more companies would follow their lead. PepsiCo is supporting the work of
the center - everything from open-source life-cycle inventory/assessment to
developing metrics for a sustainable food index."
Life-cycle assessment is a powerful tool to measure the environmental and
social impacts of products. In order to overcome the cost and time burdens
associated with these studies so that broad adoption can occur, a new approach
is needed that fosters the collaborative creation of modular life-cycle
inventory data that can be leveraged by all who want to add value to the
process. Life-cycle assessment and inventory provides a framework for
accelerating the adoption of life-cycle assessment methods to inform purchasing
decisions that will lead our consumer goods economy toward a sustainable future.
Founded on the belief that sustainability is one of the 21st century's
biggest business challenges and opportunities, the University of Arkansas
established the Applied Sustainability Center with a $1.5 million gift from the
Wal-Mart Foundation. The center's sponsors also include are Tyson Foods Inc.,
Cargill Inc., General Mills Inc., Unilever, Dairy Management Inc., Tetra Pak,
Monsanto Co. and Café Born Dia.
The center works with a wide range of partners, including other University of
Arkansas colleges, for the rapid development of sustainable business practices
and to promote their application across the retail and consumer goods
industries. Recent center initiatives include: a sustainability speaker series;
training and executive education on the business benefits of sustainability; a
sustainability business plan competition; a study of production and distribution
of American produce; a forum to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the dairy
industry; and a project to assess a product's environmental impact by creating
an open-source life-cycle inventory.
PepsiCo is one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, with 2008
annual revenues of more than $43 billion. The company employs about 198,000
people worldwide, and its products are sold in approximately 200 countries. Its
principal businesses include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade
sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods. The PepsiCo portfolio includes
18 brands that generate $1 billion or more each in annual retail sales.
PepsiCo's commitment to sustainable growth, defined as performance with purpose,
is focused on generating healthy financial returns while giving back to
communities the company serves. This includes meeting consumer needs for a
spectrum of convenient foods and beverages, reducing the company's impact on the
environment through water, energy and packaging initiatives, and supporting its
employees through a diverse and inclusive culture that recruits and retains
world-class talent. PepsiCo is listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability North
America Index and the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. For more
information, please visit
www.pepsico.com.
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