PEPSICO BEVERAGES & FRITO-LAY ANNOUNCE $3.3 MILLION IN WATER REPLENISHMENT PROJECTS TO DRIVE PROGRESS TOWARD PEPSICO POSITIVE WATER POSITIVE GOALS

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Mar 14, 2023, 08:00 ET

PepsiCo named "Industrial Water Reuse Champion" by WateReuse Association for best-in-class water recycling and reuse programs

PURCHASE, N.Y., March 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA) and Frito-Lay North America (FLNA) today announced a commitment of $3.3 million in funds toward water replenishment projects across North America. These projects aim to advance PepsiCo's ambitious effort to become Net Water Positive by 2030, which includes reducing absolute water use and replenishing back into the local watershed more than 100% of the water used at company-owned and third-party sites in high water-risk areas.

PepsiCo's industry-leading efforts are being recognized with the 2023 Industrial Water Reuse Champions Award by WateReuse Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Veolia, and the University of Pennsylvania Water Center for best-in-class water recycling and reuse programs inside and outside its plants. The award is recognition of PepsiCo's progress to achieve its ambitious water sustainability goals, including best-in-class water-use efficiency in 100% of PepsiCo and third-party high water-risk manufacturing sites by 2030, and world-class water-use efficiency in all other manufacturing sites by 2030.

PepsiCo's investments to catalyze replenishment and drive progress towards becoming Net Water Positive by 2030 include:

PBNA's $2.1 million catalytic investment in the city of Winter Haven, Florida, to support wetlands restoration that is designed to enable the local aquifer to recharge an average of 400,000 gallons a day by 2025.
Fully funding a $1.2 million project to provide critical freshwater to valuable ecosystems and wildlife in Galveston Bay, a vital estuary located on the coast of southeast Texas. This project aims to provide an additional 2,000 acre-feet¹ per year of water, starting this spring, for 10 consecutive years.

In Winter Haven, PBNA's catalytic investment is designed to enable the city to complete an interconnected wetland system that restores historical wetland areas called the Sapphire Necklace, the signature project of Winter Haven's One Water Master Plan. The $2.1 million in funding makes it possible to begin the construction of an aquifer storage and recovery well system to support groundwater and wetland restorations. These wetlands are designed to store excess stormwater during rain events, while storing highly treated reuse water during drought conditions. The time spent "stored" in the wetlands allows the water to recharge into the underlying Floridan Aquifer. Project construction is expected to begin in June with completion expected by June 2025.

"The City of Winter Haven, Florida, has been a leader in integrated water management practices for over 20 years. This partnership between PepsiCo and Winter Haven is an opportunity to showcase how public private partnerships can lead to community and environmental benefits for current and future generations," said Gary Hubbard, Director of Winter Haven Water.

In Galveston, Texas, PepsiCo's $1.2 million investment is part of the company's North American Water Replenishment program, bringing together the expertise of PBNA and FLNA to scale investment and impact of water replenishment projects where facilities are co-located in water scarce areas. In partnership with Texas Water Trade, a nonprofit organization founded to build a future of clean, flowing water for all Texans, the purchased water will support migratory bird habitats near Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, one of North America's most diverse birding spots, and a pulse of fresh water into Galveston Bay, providing a haven for blue crabs, shrimp and Rangia clams. This project expects to provide an additional 2,000 acre-feet² of water per year for 10 consecutive years that, without this investment, would not otherwise be available for environmental benefit.

"We are thankful to PepsiCo Beverages and Frito-Lay for their investment in our Texas Flows Fund, providing critical fresh water to valuable ecosystems and wildlife in Galveston Bay," said Sharlene Leurig, CEO of Texas Water Trade. "Ultimately, through this partnership, the improved habitats will bring an increase in wildlife biodiversity and enhance the opportunities for hunting, birdwatching, and fishing to important areas of the Texas coast."

These latest announcements build on PepsiCo's ambitions of water replenishment and water use efficiency across North America adding to projects previously reported on which have helped to replace infrastructure and eliminate loss of water supply in the Guadalupe River and San Antonio River basins, supported water replenishment projects in the Colorado River Basin and supported a partnership with Water Replenishment District of Southern California to help protect the state's most used basins.

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $86 billion in net revenue in 2022, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with pep+ (PepsiCo Positive). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com, and follow on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @PepsiCo.

Cautionary Statement

Statements in this release that are "forward-looking statements" are based on currently available information, operating plans and projections about future events and trends. Terminology such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "drive," "estimate," "expect," "expressed confidence," "forecast," "future," "goal," "guidance," "intend," "may," "objective," "outlook," "plan," "position," "potential," "project," "seek," "should," "strategy," "target," "will" or similar statements or variations of such words and other similar expressions 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 PepsiCo's actual results to differ materially from those predicted in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: damage to PepsiCo's reputation or brand image; water scarcity; disruption of PepsiCo's manufacturing operations or supply chain, including increased commodity, packaging, transportation, labor and other input costs; climate change or measures to address climate change; failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations; and potential liabilities and costs from litigation, claims, legal or regulatory proceedings, inquiries or investigations..

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 Securities and Exchange Commission, 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. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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¹ An acre foot of water equals about 326,000 gallons, or enough water to cover an acre of land 1-foot deep.
² An acre foot of water equals about 326,000 gallons, or enough water to cover an acre of land 1-foot deep.

SOURCE PepsiCo