PepsiCo Joins Growing Ranks of Green Supply Chain Leaders #Sustainability

PepsiCo, one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, this week announced new sustainability goals. The goal that caught my attention is:

“we intend to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions across our value chain by at least 20%”

In setting this impressive goal, PepsiCo join Kellogg’s and General Mills in setting big, comprehensive greenhouse gas emission reduction goals for their supply chain.

So, this leadership action is officially a trend.

It’s also a really big deal.

Companies are increasingly focused on cleaning up supply chains because of Sutton’s Law as applied to corporate sustainability: that is where the impact is. Over 90% of natural capital impacts associated with food and beverage companies occur in supply chains. The statistics are similar for the retail and consumer goods industries too. This is far from an academic point.

Supply chain executives are increasingly attuned to the fact that driving sustainability improvements needs to be a focus in the years ahead. In a recent survey from SCM World, 77% of food and beverage supply chain professionals recognized that “their supply chain plays a substantial role in securing the future of the planet.”

PepsiCo and other leaders are moving from the realization that there is a challenge to taking meaningful action. The new and important aspect of their approach is that they are aiming to improve their entire value chain. In doing so they are stating the obvious: it is no longer sufficient to make improvements in a few areas only. They need to tackle the system.

Now certainly some will look askance at these goals and warn of “boiling the ocean”; nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that these goals are necessary and achievable.

They are necessary because they establish a long-term corporate commitment to continuous improvement on supply chain sustainability. As the goals are performance based, supply chain managers will be able to objectively track their progress and do what they do best – reduce risks, increase efficiency, and cut costs. They will be freed from chasing big shiny objects in the name of sustainability. Instead, they will be empowered to drive improvements with the best return.

These goals are achievable because they deploy a Science-Strategic-Systems approach – a proven framework for corporate sustainability success:

• Science: These initiatives are built on a solid foundation of science that puts corporate sustainability goals in context of the overall challenge at hand. As a result of this, these corporate commitments are consistent with the scope and pace of greenhouse gas emissions targets necessary for climate stability. Framing the goals in terms of what our best science dictates ensures that the companies will be using the best metrics to assess progress.
• Strategy: Supply chain greenhouse gas reduction goals are strategic for food and beverage, consumer brands, retailers and others because it directly targets the largest areas of impact. By placing the focus on these areas, companies are able to put durable solutions in place that expand revenue and drive business growth. They strengthen relationships with key suppliers and develop a fuller understanding of market risk.
• Systems: The audacity in the scope of these goals is a power in itself. Far from the small-minded outlook that warns of boiling oceans, big goals such as these require companies to drive improvements to entire systems. The manifest challenge of tackling systems forces these companies to recognize they must collaborate with others – beyond the four walls of their company— to achieve their goals. With partners, they can drive deep changes in how products are made, designed, packaged and distributed; and collaborate with policymakers to align market incentives with sustainable business practices.

PepsiCo deserves our praise for setting its new goals. But, more importantly, it needs our help in achieving them.

Not just the help of EDF and other advocates, of course, but the help of its suppliers, retail customers and competitors too. We all have a role in driving down supply chain emissions.For EDF, we’re helping by partnering with PepsiCo and others to develop best practices to drive supply chain improvements, including reducing the environmental impacts of commodity row crop production, strengthening zero deforestation zones, and greening product distribution.

We are also calling on other companies to join PepsiCo, General Mills and Kellogg’s by setting transformational supply chain sustainability goals too. It is what the future of corporate sustainability looks like.

What’s your company going to do?

 

By Jason Mathers

 

Enviroshop is maintained by dedicated NetSys Interactive Inc. owners & employees who generously contribute their time to maintenance & editing, web design, custom programming, & website hosting for Enviroshop.