Best ESG reporting (large cap) PepsiCo
This is the third year in succession that PepsiCo has taken home an award for its ESG reporting. The firm shares detailed ESG-related information with stakeholders across several platforms that in themselves continue to adapt and improve. The 2021 ESG summary, for example, marked a shift from the previous sustainability report with a high-level overview of the company’s pep+ (or PepsiCo Positive) agenda and progress made during the year.
The summary is also designed to demonstrate the integration between ESG and the firm’s business and to link with PepsiCo’s ESG topics A-Z platform, which offers deep-dives on around 50 sustainability-related issues. Users can employ a ‘report builder’ function to download the information they need.
Since 2020, the team has added new pages to the report, including those related to PepsiCo’s green bond, breast-milk substitutes, open innovation, data privacy, sustainable product design and philanthropy. It has also added new detail on data governance, product safety & quality and stakeholder engagement.
In addition, over the last couple of years the company has started releasing information about its progress toward greater workforce diversity. ‘Data integrity is vital to maintaining trust between PepsiCo and our stakeholders; our strict data governance is core to delivering this integrity,’ the company writes.
All public reporting undergoes several levels of review, including vetting by the legal and corporate control teams, the sustainability office, subject matter experts and a disclosure committee. External assurance is sought for certain sustainability metrics.
During the awards period, the team updated and enhanced its data governance framework to align with the new pep+ targets, documenting controls for data-collection processes and centralizing validation efforts. The company also continues to invest in digital tools. For example, the team in 2021 streamlined the data-collection process for packaging, agriculture and third-party logistics – some of the biggest contributors to the company’s environmental impact.
‘I’m proud our reporting is gaining traction,’ says Anna Palazij, vice president for sustainability and ESG, adding that the team is looking to drive change both within the country and across the industry.
