UC Berkeley and PepsiCo’s renewed agreement will lead a change in beverage relationships with a focus on supporting campus sustainability, health and wellness, and equity initiatives
Berkeley, Calif. (September 21, 2023) – UC Berkeley and PepsiCo announced today a renewed partnership that will retain PepsiCo as the official beverage partner of the campus for the next decade. The new relationship with PepsiCo will expand its support of Berkeley’s efforts toward sustainability, equity, and health and wellness.
As part of the agreement and PepsiCo’s pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) business model, the company will supply Berkeley with energy-efficient beverage distribution and cooling equipment while also providing funds to support campus priorities related to sustainability. In addition, PepsiCo has committed to supporting Berkeley's drive to eliminate non-essential, single-use plastics on campus. By 2024, 90% of the company's beverages sold at Berkeley will be available in non-single-use plastic containers. By 2030, it also will prohibit providing any of its products to the university, including giveaway items, that use single-use plastics in their composition or packaging. Berkeley’s roadmap follows the UC Sustainable Practices Policy, which includes potential reporting obligations and timelines. The campus’s goal is to implement changes ahead of these deadlines.
The partnership will also further support the campus’s health and wellness goals. PepsiCo will offer a selection of products that will enable Berkeley Dining, Cal Athletics, International House, the Student Union and the campus’s beverage vending machines to meet the UC Berkeley Food and Beverage Choices Policy guidelines around sugar-sweetened beverages. PepsiCo will also work with the campus to prioritize marketing low to no sugar PepsiCo product options.
"We are proud to continue a relationship with PepsiCo, a partner who understands our UC-wide sustainable goals and is committed to helping UC Berkeley prioritize our own sustainable initiatives," said Russ Chung, chief procurement officer at Berkeley and sustainable procurement co-chair of the UC Sustainability Steering Committee. “In conversations with EcoVadis, a global ratings company for business sustainability, they confirmed the best way to make a difference in this space is to partner with large companies who are willing to work toward the same goals. This will drive impact, not only at our campus, but across the globe. PepsiCo is such a partner — and working with us to reduce and ultimately eliminate single-use plastic beverage bottles on campus.”
In addition to supporting campus priorities and initiatives, the approximately $14 million investment in the partnership over 10 years will:
- Provide the campus with significant capital investment in emerging beverage technologies
- Guarantee wholesale prices at competitive pricing
- Support the campus’s emergency preparedness with products relevant to disaster relief
- Support the Career Center with career opportunities and educational programming for Berkeley students
- Provide a donation to the campus's Pepsi ASCEND (Accelerating Success Can Enable New Dimensions) scholarship fund
- Provide monetary support and/or complementary product donations to campus departments in support of special events and programming that benefit Berkeley students, employees, visitors and fans
- Explore opportunities to further Berkeley research and innovation initiatives, and impactful projects and programs
“PepsiCo is excited to continue our partnership with UC Berkeley as their official beveragepartner for the next 10 years,” said Shay Hobby, senior vice president of commercial, PepsiCoBeverages North America, West Division. “With similar values around sustainability, wellnessand equity, we know our partnership will continue to make a positive impact on the communityand students at Berkeley.”
PepsiCo was selected as the campus’s official beverage partner following a seven-month collaborative process led by the University Partnership Program’s Beverage Working Group, which included representatives from The Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC), Graduate Assembly, ASUC Student Union, Berkeley Dining, Office of Sustainability, Recreational Sports, Supply Chain Management, University Health Services and Berkeley faculty. They were awarded the partnership based on scoring in the following criteria: products and beverage services, including quality, variety and pricing; sustainability compliance and collaboration; health and wellness; campus engagement; financial consideration; and support and alignment with campus values.
About UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley, is the world’s premier public university and the flagship of the 10-campus University of California system. The university was chartered in 1868 with a mission to excel in teaching, research and public service. Enrolling more than 42,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the campus has more than 1,500 full-time and 500 part-time faculty members in more than 130 academic departments that offer more than 350 degree programs. UC Berkeley's outstanding research has led to a distinguished record of scholarship, innovation, a concern for the betterment of our world and consistently high rankings of its schools and departments. Over the years, 26 faculty members and 35 alumni have won Nobel Prizes.
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.