PepsiCo Achieves Safe Water Access Goal

PURCHASE, N.Y., March 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) today announced that the company has achieved its previously stated goal of partnering to provide access to safe water to three million people in developing countries by the end of 2015. Given the company's strong progress to date, PepsiCo also announced a new commitment to provide access to safe water to an additional three million people over the next three years through continued partnerships with water organizations, doubling the company's original goal.

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PepsiCo has achieved this milestone as a result of its Performance with Purpose strategy, which is the company's goal to deliver sustained financial performance by providing a wide range of foods and beverages from treats to healthy eats; finding innovative ways to minimize PepsiCo's impact on the environment and lower the company's costs through energy and water conservation, as well as reduced packaging; providing a safe and inclusive workplace for employees globally; and respecting, supporting and investing in the local communities in which PepsiCo operates.

Through the PepsiCo Foundation, PepsiCo has identified projects and partners to provide access to safe water to millions of people through initiatives that include water conservation, distribution, purification and hygiene for underserved communities in China, India, Mali, Brazil, Colombia, and other Latin American countries.

Today's announcement was made in conjunction with the Columbia University Earth Institute at their State of the Planet Conference, which is being sponsored by the PepsiCo Foundation. The Earth Institute and the PepsiCo Foundation have had a successful working relationship on water-related projects since the Foundation's $6 million grant in 2008 helped found the Columbia Water Center.  

"By respecting and acting on the interdependence of corporations and the societies in which we operate, we have made great progress in recent years to position PepsiCo to deliver sustainable long-term performance," said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi.  "We continue to find innovative ways to reduce costs and minimize our impact on the environment, and our comprehensive approach to water stewardship is enabling PepsiCo to play a positive role in addressing water scarcity while also increasing the efficiency of our business operations."

"Thanks to the support of the PepsiCo Foundation, the Columbia Water Center is helping to solve some of the world's greatest water challenges," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute. "Water is central to economic development and human well-being, with water issues becoming even more important in the context of climate change, urbanization and population growth. From Gujarat, India to Ceara, Brazil the Columbia Water Center is using the latest science and technology to create new policies to conserve groundwater for agriculture; cope with extreme floods; promote water and energy savings; develop hydroclimatic data; create financial instruments to mitigate risk; and manage urban and rural water systems. Today's announcement with the PepsiCo Foundation is a clarion call to the public and private sectors that we need to share the responsibility of sustainably using the resources of our planet, especially those like water that are increasingly under stress. We're proud to be working with PepsiCo on addressing the challenges of water and sustainable development more generally."

PepsiCo has been widely recognized for the company's water stewardship initiatives. Last year, PepsiCo received the prestigious Stockholm Industry Award, which honors the business sector's contribution to sustainable water management, improved performance in production, and innovative approaches in water process technologies. 

The steps PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation have taken to improve public access to clean water and to conserve water across the company's business operations include:  

• Forming partnerships with organizations around the world to spur community development and address environmental issues. In addition to the Columbia Water Center, PepsiCo also works closely on water-related programs with the China Women's Development Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Safe Water Network, and Water.org.
• Installing village water and irrigation systems, establishing water health centers, constructing rainwater harvesting cisterns, improving sanitation programs and recharging aquifers.
• Improving global water use efficiency in PepsiCo's operations by more than 20 percent per unit of production, from a 2006 baseline, achieving its water goal a full four years ahead of schedule.
• Conserving nearly 16 billion liters of water in the company's operations in 2011, from a 2006 baseline, through the application of water-saving equipment and technologies, creative recycling and re-use, and by deploying a water management system throughout its manufacturing facilities.
• Reducing the company's water and energy-related costs by more than $45 million in 2011, compared to 2006.
• Innovating a variety of agricultural practices and technologies around the world that are designed to reduce water use in farming through new irrigation techniques, and tools that help farmers deliver fertilizer and water to their crops at the most efficient time.

About PepsiCo 
PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales.  Our main businesses – Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola – make hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world.  PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also means a more successful future for PepsiCo.  We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages from treats to healthy eats; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment by conserving energy and water and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support and invest in the local communities where we operate.  For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

About the PepsiCo Foundation 
Established in 1962, the PepsiCo Foundation is the philanthropic anchor of PepsiCo, responsible for providing charitable contributions to eligible non-profit organizations. The Foundation is committed to developing sustainable partnerships and programs in underserved regions that provide opportunities for improved health, environment and education. For more information, please visit: http://www.pepsico.com/Purpose/PepsiCo-Foundation.aspx.

About the Earth Institute, Columbia University 
The Earth Institute's mission is to mobilize the sciences, education and public policy to achieve a sustainable Earth. Through interdisciplinary research among more than 500 scientists in diverse fields, the Institute is adding to the knowledge necessary for addressing the challenges of the 21st century and beyond. With over two dozen associated degree curricula and a vibrant fellowship program, the Earth Institute is educating new leaders to become professionals and scholars in the growing field of sustainable development. We work alongside governments, businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals to devise innovative strategies to protect the future of our planet. For more information, please visit: http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sections/view/9.

PepsiCo Cautionary Statement 
Statements in this communication that are "forward-looking statements" are based on currently available information, operating plans and projections about future events and trends. Terminology such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "project," "anticipate," "will" or similar statements or variations of such terms are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such terms. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: changes in demand for PepsiCo's products, as a result of changes in consumer preferences and tastes or otherwise; changes in the legal and regulatory environment; PepsiCo's ability to compete effectively; PepsiCo's ability to grow its business in emerging and developing markets or unstable political conditions, civil unrest or other developments and risks in the countries where PepsiCo operates; unfavorable economic conditions in the countries in which PepsiCo operates; increased costs, disruption of supply or shortages of raw materials and other supplies; failure to realize anticipated benefits from PepsiCo's productivity plan or global operating model; disruption of PepsiCo's supply chain; damage to PepsiCo's reputation; failure to successfully complete or integrate acquisitions and joint ventures into PepsiCo's existing operations; PepsiCo's ability to hire or retain key employees or a highly skilled and diverse workforce; trade consolidation or the loss of any key customer; any downgrade of PepsiCo's credit ratings; PepsiCo's ability to build and sustain proper information technology infrastructure, successfully implement its ongoing business transformation initiative or outsource certain functions effectively; fluctuations in foreign exchange rates; climate change, or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change; failure to successfully renew collective bargaining agreements or strikes or work stoppages; any infringement of or challenge to PepsiCo's intellectual property rights; and potential liabilities and costs from litigation or legal proceedings.

For additional information on these and other factors that could cause PepsiCo's actual results to materially differ from those set forth herein, please see PepsiCo's filings with the SEC, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. PepsiCo undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE PepsiCo, Inc.