WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.580 --> 00:00:01.560 Jim, Hi. 2 00:00:01.620 --> 00:00:05.520 Can I just start by asking you what is on the minds of those from the public and 3 00:00:05.520 --> 00:00:09.440 private sphere here at COP when talking about the global food system? 4 00:00:09.670 --> 00:00:11.400 What are the discussions being had? 5 00:00:11.630 --> 00:00:13.920 Yeah, I think it's a great question there. 6 00:00:13.920 --> 00:00:18.040 There's a lot of things on people's minds right now. Obviously food security, 7 00:00:18.040 --> 00:00:22.440 given what's going on in the world, has been a huge issue, 8 00:00:22.820 --> 00:00:25.600 not only because of the war in Ukraine, 9 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:29.440 but also because of climate and climate change and what we're seeing. 10 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:34.400 And so I think how is the world going to provide food to 11 00:00:34.480 --> 00:00:36.440 8 million, 9 million, billion, 12 00:00:36.460 --> 00:00:40.520 10 billion people going forward is a big question. 13 00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:43.520 And that, as a food company, 14 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:45.320 we're one of the largest food companies in the world, 15 00:00:46.310 --> 00:00:49.000 that is intrinsic to our business. 16 00:00:49.400 --> 00:00:53.960 How do we make sure that now five years from now, ten years from now, 17 00:00:54.610 --> 00:00:59.200 we can have crops that we can use to produce the foods and 18 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:02.520 beverages that consumers love. And so for us, 19 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:07.000 the real priorities here are around how do we scale regenerative 20 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:10.520 agriculture? How do we finance regenerative agriculture? 21 00:01:10.620 --> 00:01:13.920 And how do we make sure that all the other things around that, 22 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:18.760 things like water usage, things like honestly the clean energy, 23 00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:22.320 an important part of it, is a part of the broader climate conversation. 24 00:01:22.320 --> 00:01:24.160 How do all those things advance? 25 00:01:24.160 --> 00:01:26.600 That's really what we're trying to do at PepsiCo. 26 00:01:26.980 --> 00:01:31.840 Why is it so important that food companies like PepsiCo and 27 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:36.680 other big household names are leading the way and seem to be leading the way in 28 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:37.513 climate action? 29 00:01:37.950 --> 00:01:39.080 Well, you know, 30 00:01:39.080 --> 00:01:43.160 we're really a huge agricultural company, 31 00:01:43.880 --> 00:01:45.760 between our foods and our beverages. 32 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:50.040 And most people think of PepsiCo as a beverage company, and of course we are, 33 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:53.680 but we are actually an even bigger food company. And in any given year, 34 00:01:54.010 --> 00:01:58.760 we use the products of about 7 million acres or 2.8 million 35 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:03.440 hectares. So we need food, we need crops, 36 00:02:03.440 --> 00:02:06.080 to be able to produce our products and to do that, 37 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:09.480 we feel like we not only want to, 38 00:02:09.480 --> 00:02:14.040 but need to take a leadership position. It's the right thing for the planet. 39 00:02:14.040 --> 00:02:16.840 It's the right thing for the people on the planet. 40 00:02:16.840 --> 00:02:18.480 It's also the right thing for our business. 41 00:02:18.660 --> 00:02:23.360 And so how do we make sure that with our farming partners, 42 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:27.840 we're building resilience to climate change, to drought, 43 00:02:28.290 --> 00:02:32.400 to extreme weather events? Because I spend a lot of time with farmers. 44 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:37.040 When you go talk to farmers, to them it's very real. 45 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:41.160 Farmers are business people and they get one shot a year to get it right, 46 00:02:41.340 --> 00:02:46.280 and they know what it takes and they know what the risks are. 47 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:50.840 And so how do we help them be more resilient, 48 00:02:51.150 --> 00:02:56.000 more effective at being able to do it with this huge change going on around 49 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:56.540 us. 50 00:02:56.540 --> 00:03:01.280 And tell me more about regenerative agriculture and why it's such a critical 51 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:02.113 tool. 52 00:03:02.760 --> 00:03:07.500 Regenerative agriculture is nothing more than practices that 53 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:12.260 help build resilience and build soil health and help make 54 00:03:12.530 --> 00:03:16.060 a farmer's livelihood more secure and better. 55 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:20.420 And so we really work with farmers and a whole bunch of other partners. 56 00:03:20.660 --> 00:03:21.220 And Georgie, 57 00:03:21.220 --> 00:03:25.820 I like to say this is a team sport and we need everybody involved. 58 00:03:26.100 --> 00:03:29.340 That's civil society, that's governments that, 59 00:03:30.010 --> 00:03:33.820 that's other peer companies. But it all starts with the farmer. 60 00:03:33.920 --> 00:03:38.460 And so it's really how does that constellation help farmers 61 00:03:38.970 --> 00:03:43.540 make a transition in many cases from what they've been doing for maybe 62 00:03:43.540 --> 00:03:48.180 generations to different ways of farming that 63 00:03:49.130 --> 00:03:51.060 reduce soil erosion, 64 00:03:51.900 --> 00:03:54.780 increase carbon in the soil to help sequester carbon, 65 00:03:55.700 --> 00:03:59.420 build drought tolerance, help improve biodiversity. 66 00:03:59.420 --> 00:04:01.820 These are all things that are critically important. 67 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:06.140 And sometimes farmers need some help in that transition. 68 00:04:06.580 --> 00:04:09.140 And it's really three things. It's financial, 69 00:04:09.690 --> 00:04:13.980 it's technical advice. How do I grow and grow things differently? 70 00:04:13.980 --> 00:04:18.740 And it's also social and cultural. I was with a farmer not too long ago. 71 00:04:19.130 --> 00:04:23.700 They said the hardest thing from a social 72 00:04:23.710 --> 00:04:24.820 context is, 73 00:04:24.820 --> 00:04:29.260 I go to church on Sundays and I know that the other farmers are talking 74 00:04:29.300 --> 00:04:33.820 about my field and how it's a dirty field because I've gone to no-till. 75 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:38.100 And I know it's better for the soil and for my crops, 76 00:04:38.320 --> 00:04:41.020 but I have a little bit of social stigma. 77 00:04:42.060 --> 00:04:44.940 So we have to support farmers in all those dimensions to really make it. 78 00:04:44.940 --> 00:04:46.020 Work. Indeed. 79 00:04:46.320 --> 00:04:51.260 How is PepsiCo expanding the use of regenerative practices and 80 00:04:51.260 --> 00:04:55.940 what's the future looking like post this COP? What will you take away from here? 81 00:04:56.250 --> 00:05:00.580 Yeah, so as I said, we touch about 7 million acres a year. 82 00:05:00.760 --> 00:05:02.420 And we've said by 2030, 83 00:05:03.070 --> 00:05:06.060 we want regenerative practices on all those acres. 84 00:05:06.320 --> 00:05:11.140 And that's a big step forward. I mean, last year, 2021, 85 00:05:11.140 --> 00:05:12.060 we announced that, 86 00:05:12.340 --> 00:05:17.300 which was really the first year of our wholesale transformation as a company to 87 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:20.660 really put--we call it PepsiCo positive; 88 00:05:20.660 --> 00:05:24.140 we brand everything--put sustainability squarely at the 89 00:05:24.140 --> 00:05:28.540 center of what we do. And last year, 2021 was first year, 90 00:05:28.540 --> 00:05:33.300 and there we had put regenerative practices under 91 00:05:33.300 --> 00:05:35.780 345,000 acres. 92 00:05:35.990 --> 00:05:38.580 So this year we haven't yet announced the figure, 93 00:05:38.580 --> 00:05:40.940 but it's going to be dramatically higher. 94 00:05:41.940 --> 00:05:45.820 And 2023 yet again, is our aspiration goal. 95 00:05:45.830 --> 00:05:50.780 So it's really about how do we scale very quickly. And to do that, 96 00:05:50.780 --> 00:05:53.460 again, we need a lot of help from a lot of different places. 97 00:05:53.460 --> 00:05:54.700 So coming out of COP, 98 00:05:54.840 --> 00:05:59.640 and here we're looking to engage people again, 99 00:05:59.640 --> 00:06:02.920 civil society, governments, other companies, 100 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:05.120 how do we do that together collectively? 101 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:09.760 Because farmers don't just grow for us and they're part of an ecosystem in a 102 00:06:09.760 --> 00:06:13.160 community. And you have to address that. It's really a systemic change, 103 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:17.000 not just what does one farmer do in one place for one crop. 104 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:18.480 And if you don't approach it that way, 105 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:20.960 you're never going to get the permanent change you need. 106 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:23.040 Jim, thanks so much.