PepsiCo Evolves Its DE&I Strategy With a Focus on Equity

PURCHASE, N.Y. — PepsiCo Inc. is evolving its diversity agenda as a step forward in unlocking the organization's ability to further innovate for its consumers, deliver first-class service for its customers, and cultivate a workforce that accurately reflects its communities.

Shifting its diversity agenda from Diversity & Engagement to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I), PepsiCo published its 2020 DE&I Report, debuting an evolved global strategy underpinned by "A Space to be You" — a fundamental belief that goes beyond the PepsiCo walls to foster diverse, equitable, and inclusive principles throughout the organization and across its business partners and communities it serves.

"Like many of our peers, PepsiCo is on a journey from awareness to commitment to action. I am proud to say that our commitment to equity and inclusion is stronger today than at any time in our history. We understand that diversity of thought and experience gives us valuable strategic insights, fuels our innovation, and helps us attract the best talent," said Ramon Laguarta, PepsiCo's chairman and CEO. "But even though I am proud of our progress, I know there is still more work to do. As we take the next steps on our journey, we will remain committed to the principles of diversity and transparency, whilst stepping up our action in partnership with employees, consumers, customers, and communities."

PepsiCo's 2020 DE&I Report points to progress and commitments across three distinct pillars: People, Business and Communities. Highlights of the report include:

A space for People to be themselves.

• Advancing gender parity globally with progress currently at 41 percent.
• As part of PepsiCo's Racial Equality Journey — an investment of more than $570-plus million over five years to uplift Black and Hispanic communities in the U.S. while also increasing representation of those respective communities within PepsiCo — the company is increasing Black and Hispanic representation, at 8 percent and 9 percent respectively, and is on track to meet the goal of increasing managerial representation in the U.S. to 10 percent by 2025 in order to mirror workforce availability.

A space for Business partners to progress.

• Investing in diverse suppliers by expanding existing supplier base and growing the spend by more than $35 million incrementally in 2021 with Black and Hispanic suppliers.
• Amplifying Diverse Voices with the launch of products and campaigns, including eQlibri Popcorn in Brazil, a product designed by women for women and featuring women in its advertising. The brand's "Estoure-se" campaign encourages women to transform and share the best of themselves. In Mexico, Doritos Rainbow created the "1 Million Kisses" digital campaign and donated $50,000 to Cuenta Conmigo, an organization that provides programs and services that improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people and their families.

A space for Communities to thrive.

• Unlocking opportunities and cultivating future talent like The PepsiCo Foundation's partnership with Amal Academy, a leading nonprofit organization seeking to close the employment gap in Pakistan by helping graduates build bridges to their dream jobs through soft skill trainings and job placement. To date, 3,300-plus youth have been positively impacted, with 80 percent job-offer rate. Additionally, the company offered virtual internships to 300 students, half of which were women.
• Meeting the needs of our local communities with the investment of more than $71 million and working with 250-plus partners to bring food and other vital resources to global communities most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of this effort, funding was used to provide for protective gear for healthcare workers, testing and screening services, and the distribution of 145-plus million nutritious meals to at-risk populations.

"PepsiCo's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion agenda is more critical than ever following a year of such adversity that disproportionately affected underserved populations," said PepsiCo Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer Tina Bigalke. "I am proud of the progress we've made so far and equally motivated to continue pushing us to drive measurable impact and meaningful change."

PepsiCo’s 2020 DE&I Report and downloadable assets are available here.

Purchase-based PepsiCo's product portfolio spans 23 brands, including Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana and SodaStream, that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.