The theme for World Water Day 2013, the International Year of Cooperation, suits PepsiCo perfectly. I’ve written in the past about the importance of collaboration if we are to have a chance of successfully addressing the global water crisis. PepsiCo understands that by working together, we can make the biggest impact on global challenges like water. Read more

“As the delegate already chosen to represent PepsiCo UK at the One Young World summit in Pittsburgh this week, it was a nice additional surprise to be invited to the Palace for a reception with the other UK delegates, hosted by David Jones – one of the founders of One Young World and the Duke of York. Unsurprisingly I’m not a regular visitor to St James Palace – so to be treated to Champagne and Canapés with the Duke of York was a rare treat! The evening was a great opportunity to hear the Duke’s perspective on what we should challenge ourselves to get out of the 4 days in Pittsburgh, and I also found it a useful chance to do some networking and understand the challenges faced by not just attendees from other businesses, but also academics and the various sponsors of delegates to understand... Read more

They say “everything’s bigger in Texas” and that rang true yesterday, when Fritos brand corn chips took over the State Fair of Texas, to create the world’s largest Frito Pie. The popular corn chips were born in 1932 when Elmer Doolin purchased a recipe from a local businessman and began making the first Fritos chips right from his mother’s kitchen with a converted potato ricer. Doolin’s mother, Daisy Dean Doolin, created recipes to help market Fritos corn chips by using them as an ingredient in a wide range of dishes, including her now-famous Fritos Chili Pie. Yesterday, Fritos made history once again by celebrating the 80th anniversary of the corn chips with a 1,300 pound Fritos Chili Pie. To read more about the event, and get the recipe, check out this post on Frito Lays’ Snack Chat. Read more

Co-authored by Silvia Ortiz-Stradtmann, Water and Sanitation Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank The PepsiCo Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), together with other partners, are in Colombia today for the official launch of a series of pilot projects to tackle water and sanitation challenges faced in rural Colombian communities. The projects will test and develop innovative models to provide sustainable water and sanitation services to underserved communities. Water and sanitation play a significant role in poverty eradication, health and education and are intrinsically linked to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In countries like Colombia, there continue to be challenges in reaching the water related MDGs given that there is only a 45% water and 16.8% sanitation coverage in the country’s rural areas. The AquaFund – a program supported with funds from the IDB, the PepsiCo Foundation, the government of Switzerland, and the government of Austria – provides grants... Read more

Partnership, which is a vital part of PepsiCo’s global approach to water stewardship, was a major theme of keynotes, panels and workshops, as well as informal discussions on the main exhibition floor. Attendees recognized that innovative solutions can arise from partnerships and collaboration across business, government and NGOs to help make water conservation and management a priority worldwide. Read more

This week, businesses, governments and NGOs came together for the annual World Water Week conference in Stockholm. PepsiCo hosted three events, and participated in several others, focused on the nexus between water and sustainable agriculture. Of the three events we hosted, one was a small, closed session for two dozen peers and potential partners; the others were panels on the official agenda. One about farm verification programs cohosted with Unilever and BSR and the other about supply chains cohosted with the Columbia Water Center In addition, we gave a keynote presentation in the WBCSD Founders Business Seminar entitled “Water and Energy for Food, Fiber and Fuel.” Read more

This week, PepsiCo and a variety of its Foundation partners, including the Safe Water Network (SWN), are together in Stockholm for World Water Week. We’ve had some great discussions together and with other attendees throughout the week. We are facing big issues – despite billions of dollars spent on water, sanitation, and hygiene in recent decades, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that in most developing countries 30-60% of rural water systems are inoperative at any given time. This is where Safe Water Network, an international nongovernmental organization (NGO) funded by the PepsiCo Foundation, plays a role by bringing affordable water stations to some of the world’s poorest rural communities. Since 2008, with the help of a $3.5 million launch grant from PepsiCo Foundation, Safe Water Network and its local partners have provided clean water supplies to almost 250,000 villagers in India and Ghana. The organization’s target is to reach... Read more

A PepsiCo team led by Sanjeev Chadha accepts the 2012 Stockholm Industry Water Award.  In choosing PepsiCo, the jury noted: “PepsiCo has successfully reduced water consumption in its production, and extended its commitment beyond the company’s own operations to help solve water challenges on a broad scale.” Read more

This morning in Stockholm, Sweden, Sanjeev Chadha, PepsiCo’s President for the Middle East and Africa, gave a speech at the opening plenary of the 2012 World Water Week.  Read his remarks here: http://www.worldwaterweek.org/documents/WWW_PDF/Media/speech/Sanjeev-Chadha-Remarks-Opening-27Aug12.pdf Read more

PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation rely on the pioneering work of its partners in helping achieve our goals around water access, water efficiency, and positive water impact.  Here are some partner voices from World Water Week in Stockholm: “The PepsiCo Foundation and the Columbia Water Center are working together to meet this challenge through action and research at multiple levels: to develop and promote water saving technologies, and to develop business models for rural water infrastructure provision to understand and influence how changes in energy and water subsidies can be effected to facilitate more efficient use.” – Upmanu Lall, Director, Columbia Water Center “It’s been an incredible journey with the PepsiCo Foundation over the past several years. Working with a partner that is so committed to overcoming the global water crisis through innovative approaches such as WaterCredit is refreshing.” – Gary White, CEO and Cofounder, Water.org “With the PepsiCo Foundation’s support, we have implemented fi... Read more