PepsiCo Europe and Yara, a European crop nutrition company, have announced a long-term partnership aimed at helping farmers in Europe decarbonise the food value chain through advanced crop nutrition programmes.
This partnership, spanning multiple countries, will equip participating PepsiCo Europe farmers with top-tier crop nutrition products, expert advice, and precision farming digital tools. These resources will enhance nutrient use efficiency (NUE), boost yields, and lower the carbon footprint of the crops. Yara will supply PepsiCo with the necessary products and services.
Under the agreement, Yara will deliver up to 165,000 tons of fertiliser annually to PepsiCo, meeting approximately 25% of their crop fertiliser needs in Europe by 2030. The majority of these will be Yara Climate Choice fertilisers, which include low-carbon footprint fertilisers produced from renewable ammonia (Herøya, Norway) or low-carbon ammonia via carbon capture and storage (CCS), currently being developed in Yara Sluiskil.
The mix will also feature Yara’s standard premium nitrate-based mineral fertilisers made with natural gas, which have a carbon footprint about 50% lower than most non-EU fertilisers as it uses the catalyst technology.
The partnership, which promotes regenerative agricultural practices, will involve approximately 1,000 farms, covering around 128,000 hectares across the European Union and the UK. The initial focus will be on potatoes, a key crop for PepsiCo, before expanding to other crops like oats and corn.
This collaboration highlights both companies’ commitment to creating a more sustainable food system in alignment with the European Union’s climate goals. Additionally, it will support farmers through transition costs, ensuring their livelihoods are protected.
This partnership will also enhance sustainable nutrient management practices among PepsiCo farmers. This includes comprehensive season-long crop and soil data collection and monitoring via PepsiCo’s CropTrak and ML Analytics tool, supplemented by Yara’s digital solutions such as satellite imagery through the AtFarm platform and soil analysis via MegaLab.
“Providing our farmers with fertilizers that have a lower carbon footprint and supporting them to improve crop nutrition end-to-end will allow us to make a significant step towards our target of achieving net zero by 2040,” said Archana Jagannathan, Chief Sustainability Officer at PepsiCo Europe.
“To grow a nature-positive food future and transform our food system, we need to collaborate across the food value chain. We’re excited to work with first movers like PepsiCo to help make this a reality. Decarbonizing food production will be critical to delivering on the Paris Agreement – and farmers will play a key role in helping us get there,” said Mónica Andrés Enríquez, Executive Vice President for Europe at Yara.
