PepsiCo Earns Sustainability Accolades

PURCHASE, N.Y., Sept. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) today announced that it has been recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) for the company's leadership in promoting sustainable business practices.  

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The DJSI is comprised of companies across all industries that outperform their peers in numerous sustainability metrics, including economic, environmental and social criteria such as corporate governance, risk management, energy efficiency, and occupational health and safety.  PepsiCo has now been named a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index seven times and the World Index six times.    

The CDP represents 655 institutional investors with $78 trillion in assets, and its indices highlight companies that have displayed a strong approach to information disclosure regarding climate change.  It's the second consecutive year that PepsiCo has been named to the CDP Global and S&P 500 Leadership Indices.  

"PepsiCo's Performance with Purpose strategy is built on sustainable business practices that optimize our near-term operating efficiency and profitability while ensuring that we are well positioned to deliver long-term business growth," said Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo.

Paul Simpson, chief executive officer of CDP, commented: "Companies that make the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index have demonstrated strong internal data management practices for the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use.  They are also giving clear consideration to the business issues related to climate change and their exposure to climate-related risks and opportunities. This is vital to realizing greater efficiencies, protecting the business from risk and capitalizing on opportunities."

PepsiCo utilizes sustainable business practices around the world and has been widely recognized for its leadership in this arena. Recent examples include:

• Last month, PepsiCo received the Stockholm Industry Water Award in recognition of the company's innovative and outstanding water stewardship initiatives. PepsiCo improved global water use efficiency by more than 20 percent per unit of production, achieving its water goal a full four years ahead of schedule, and has reduced water and energy related costs by more than $45 million in 2011, compared to 2006.
• The fleet of all-electric trucks introduced by PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America division recently surpassed one million miles driven.  These trucks have eliminated the need for approximately 200,000 gallons of diesel fuel.
• PepsiCo and Cambridge University have teamed up to introduce mobile technology to crop planning, with a new smartphone app that will help farmers predict future harvests. Initial trials of the technology – called i-crop™ -- have already seen a 13 percent increase in crop yield and 8 percent reduction in water usage across 46 of PepsiCo's UK potato farms.

Additional information about PepsiCo's sustainability initiatives is available on the company's website at http://www.pepsico.com/Purpose.html.

About DJSI

Launched in 1999, DJSI is the first global investment index tracking the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide. The DJSI World Index identifies companies that exemplify leadership in sustainability among the leading 10 percent of the world's top 2,500 companies in the Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria. The DJSI North America Index covers the leading 20% in terms of sustainability of the 600 biggest North American companies.

More information on the results of the DJSI 2012 SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment can be found at www.sustainability-indexes.com. 

About CDP

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an international, not-for-profit organization providing the only global system for companies and cities to measure, disclose, manage and share vital environmental information.  CDP harnesses the power of market forces, including 655 institutional investors with assets of US$78 trillion, to collect information from companies on their greenhouse gas emissions and assessment of climate change and water risk and opportunity.  CDP now holds the largest collection globally of primary climate change and water data and puts these insights at the heart of strategic business, investment and policy decisions.  Please visit www.cdproject.net to find out more.

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 for local tastes; 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.

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; PepsiCo's ability to compete effectively; unfavorable economic conditions in the countries in which PepsiCo operates; damage to PepsiCo's reputation; PepsiCo's ability to grow its business in developing and emerging markets or unstable political conditions, civil unrest or other developments and risks in the countries where PepsiCo operates; trade consolidation or the loss of any key customer; changes in the legal and regulatory environment; 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; increased costs, disruption of supply or shortages of raw materials and other supplies; disruption of PepsiCo's supply chain; climate change, or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change; PepsiCo's ability to hire or retain key employees or a highly skilled and diverse workforce; failure to successfully renew collective bargaining agreements or strikes or work stoppages; failure to successfully complete or integrate acquisitions and joint ventures into PepsiCo's existing operations; failure to successfully implement PepsiCo's global operating model; failure to realize anticipated benefits from our productivity plan; any downgrade of our credit ratings; and any infringement of or challenge to PepsiCo's intellectual property rights.

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.