Which of your company’s sustainability initiatives/achievements are you most proud of?

We have seen so much success with ingraining PepsiCo’s environmental sustainability program into our company culture through our Performance with Purpose vision. Our first round of PwP goals was more internally focused and we are proud to have expanded our goals externally into our supply chain. We have opened the doors very wide and said not only is this good for PepsiCo, but it’s also great for our supply chain partners to come along with us on this journey to create an even greater impact.

I’m very proud that PepsiCo took this challenge head-on and is working to influence our supply chain–from our growers to our packaging suppliers as well as our franchise partners. This evolution of our sustainability program highlights the success we have achieved in the past and the challenges we have in the future.

What is your favorite practical insight you have gained from being in BIER?

I always come back to the collective work that BIER members complete which drive real-world performance results. That is where the benefits of BIER membership are amplified.

For example, because of the industry water efficiency benchmarking work that BIER started ten years ago, PepsiCo is able to compare our performance to the “best in class” performance of the entire beverage industry.

Along with the other BIER members, we each set broad performance goals and take collective actions where we can drive results—from technology development to case study sharing and reaching out to our suppliers with one common voice.

These are distinct actions we are taking collectively as BIER which is something that sets BIER apart from other organizations. BIER members focus on delivering tangible results and reporting our progress against these goals as an industry.

The value of BIER is not just talk—but taking collective actions and getting results.

How has being in BIER shaped your sustainability strategy/enriched your sustainability strategy?

PepsiCo’s water goal is a very broad, impactful objective that doesn’t just focus on our own manufacturing operations but also works to reduce our impact on local watersheds where we operate our manufacturing plants and grow our agriculture commodities. Almost all of PepsiCo’s products have a foundation in agriculture, so our efforts to reduce the impact on local watersheds are critical to the future success of PepsiCo.

PepsiCo’s water goals align very well with the watershed context strategy BIER has been working on and acts as a good connection between BIER’s and PepsiCo’s strategy. These shared ideas provide value to PepsiCo and all BEIR members who utilize these concepts in their own strategies.

What area(s) of BIER’s work and the Benchmarking Working Group initiatives are you most interested in? Why?

Certainly, water and climate are two of our highest interest levels within the working groups. Leveraging and amplifying the collective expertise of BIER members to drive carbon and water reductions in our companies and also working together with our beverage industry suppliers adds credibility to our efforts.

This is where it comes back to the value of BIER through leveraging the membership to drive even greater impact than working individually.

What’s one cool thing people might not know about you or your company?

People don’t quite realize the size and scale of PepsiCo. We have 22 brands that have over a billion dollars in sales, and 14 of those brands are in our beverage business. Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Diet Mountain Dew, and brands like our partnership with Unilever on teas, Starbucks refrigerated products—all generate over a billion dollars in sales. PepsiCo also has eight brands on the snack side of the business (Lays, Walkers, Doritos, and others) that generate over a billion in sales. As you look at the power of brands, each one of these brands themselves could form a sizable company individually.

As for me: I love what I’m doing. I’ve been with PepsiCo for over 30 years and enjoy helping to lead the environmental sustainability efforts for our company-owned operations and supporting PepsiCo’s Performance with Purpose vision in all aspects of our business.