Moody's upgrades Saudi Arabia's credit rating to Aa3 with stable outlook    Riyadh Metro to begin partial operations next Wednesday: Report    Al Okhdood halts Al Shabab's winning streak with a 1-1 draw in Saudi Pro League    Mahrez leads Al Ahli to victory over Al Fayha in Saudi Pro League    Al Qadsiah hands Al Nassr their first defeat in the Saudi Pro League    Saudi musical marvels takes center stage in Tokyo's iconic opera hall    Downing Street indicates Netanyahu faces arrest if he enters UK    London's Gatwick airport reopens terminal after bomb scare evacuation    Civil Defense warns of thunderstorms across Saudi Arabia until Tuesday    Saudi Arabia, Japan strengthen cultural collaboration with new MoU    Slovak president meets Saudi delegation to bolster trade and investment ties    Saudi defense minister meets with Swedish state secretary    Navigating healthcare's future: Solutions for a sustainable system    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Sixth foreign tourist dies of suspected methanol poisoning in Laos    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Trump picks Pam Bondi as attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdraws    Al-Jasser: Saudi Arabia to expand rail network to over 8,000 km    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Collaboration key to achieve more sustainable food system
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 18 - 12 - 2019

The modern food system, no doubt, has many challenges – from climate change and resource scarcity, to packaging waste and income inequality – and therefore, partnership and collaboration is more important than ever to address the issue, states Simon Lowden, Chief Sustainability Officer, PepsiCo, recently. He was one of the speakers in the two-day Misk Forum 2019 in Riyadh.
He said steering the food system towards sustainability is a big project that will take considerable efforts from multiple parties, and as a responsible industry leader, "we want to play an active part. The scale of transformation required can only be achieved when all stakeholders in the food system are working together, including industry, farmers and government."
"So, partnership and collaboration is more important than ever. We are constantly engaging with other parties in our food system to find the solutions we all need," he noted.
In an interview, he said PepsiCo aims to use its scale, reach and expertise for good — to enable a more sustainable food system, which can meet modern needs, without exceeding the natural boundaries of the planet.
He pointed out the six priority areas where PepsiCo believes it can have the most impact, and is working in partnership with its peers, governments, NGOs, and the communities where it operates. These include Next Generation Agriculture, Positive Water Impact, A Circular Future for Packaging, Improved Choices Across Our Portfolio, Climate Action and People & Prosperity.
Excerpts from the interview follow:
• In a fast-pace society where we live, amid still the great divide between the rich and the poor, what is your main message to the young leaders, creators and thinkers in how they should explore, experience and experiment with ways to meet the challenge of change and help build a more sustainable food system?
A more sustainable food system is driven by multiple partners and amidst the pressures of a growing global population, we believe education is the key to effect real, long-lasting change.
The global food system encompasses the ways the world produces, packages, distributes, consumes and disposes of food. The modern food system has been incredibly effective at making food safer, more affordable and allowing for greater access to affordable nutritious and enjoyable foods. But, there has been a cost to our natural environment.
As one of the world's leading food and beverage companies, PepsiCo has not only an opportunity but a responsibility to make the food system more sustainable.
• How deeply committed is PepsiCo to accelerating progress in the company's sustainability agenda and broader vision of accelerated, a more sustainable food system?
PepsiCo is fully, comprehensively and publicly committed to a more sustainable food system and we're making commitments and taking actions to achieve our goals.
We have openly shared our accelerated target of 2025, by which date we want 100 percent of our packaging to be recyclable, compostable or biodegradable. In addition, we also want to use 25 percent recycled content in our plastic packaging and reduce 35 percent of virgin plastic content across our beverage brands by 2025.
Sustainably sourcing ingredients is another way we address this. Through the company's Sustainable Farming Program, PepsiCo provides farmers globally with training and resources to help them on the path to greater productivity and sustainability across environmental, social and economic principles. Currently, the program reaches more than 40,000 farmers, and over half of PepsiCo's directly-sourced ingredients (like potatoes, corn, oats and oranges) are sustainably sourced through this platform.
We are actively increasing the use of solar power and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For example, PepsiCo's franchise manufacturing facility in Dubai features one of the largest private solar power plants in the UAE.
Our Snacks Facility in Dammam is LEED Gold Certified. We saved 28 million liters of water in our snack operations last year (2018) and this year (2019) we increased our recycling rate by 25% resulting in almost 85% of our total waste from the plants being reused.
• PepsiCo is named recently as one of the top three global plastic polluters along with Coca-Cola and Nestle for the second year in a row. What is your take on this? Does this report negatively affect your sustainability food program? What are you doing to significantly improve your status in terms of polluting the environment? Should the global community expect to see a concrete and positive approach to rectify the report?
As a large consumer product company, we recognize that we have a role to play in the way society makes, uses, and disposes of packaging. Everybody loses when plastic becomes waste, which is why we diligently set out targets and initiatives to advance our efforts to help create a world where plastic packaging never becomes waste. — SG


Clic here to read the story from its source.