The multinational food and drink business has long-been investing into programmes designed to improve agricultural capability across its network. Among such initiatives is its annual Global Agro University – an event that links its value chain together to share agricultural know-how and experiences.
September’s Hannover-based event focused specifically on potatoes – a key ingredient for PepsiCo’s crisps brands. Growers, suppliers, agronomists, researchers and industry experts from across 35 countries joined together for classroom learning, technical discussions and practical field demonstrations.
Knowledge-sharing drives progress
For PepsiCo’s global agricultural vice president, Rob Meyers, this year’s ‘university’ underscored the importance of collaboration and a willingness to learn and try new things.
“Agricultural progress is accelerated when technical expertise is combined with farmers’ real-world experience. Some of the most valuable insights come from what growers have already tested and learned in their own fields,” he told Food Manufacture.
And while techniques used in one country cannot simply be copied in another, for a variety of reasons, Meyers said it can provide a decent “starting point”.
“When growers can see practice in action, question the people using it and understand both the benefits and the limitations, they are better placed to assess whether it could work in their own operation,” he explained.
Artificial intelligence and agriculture
This willingness to try something new extends to the use of new technologies such as AI, which Meyers said holds strong potential for the sector, but only when paired with strong foundations.
For PepsiCo, its approach to ag-tech is guided by what it calls its “digital north star”.
Rather than chasing trends, Meyers said the business takes a step back and asks which capabilities truly matter to (in this case) its potato supply chain.
“Digital tools and agricultural technology are not the goal, but they are enablers to fundamental sustainable agronomy practice. The north star keeps us focused on outcomes such as making better decisions, improving efficiency and creating meaningful value for farmers and PepsiCo.”
Meyers added that this discipline is especially important when it comes to AI.
“There is enormous promise, but only if you start with the right problem. In agriculture, time is one of the most limited resources, and farmers and agronomists make high-stakes decisions under pressure, often at critical moments in the season.
“The clearest value comes from applying AI where it genuinely saves time, improves diagnosis and supports better-informed decisions. Real-time data, predictive insights and crop-monitoring tools can help determine when and how much to irrigate, where to focus crop scouting, and how to identify potential disease or pest pressure earlier. These tools have the potential to support yield and quality while helping farmers use water and other resources more efficiently.”
One practical example is using AI to help diagnose quality and yield issues beneath the soil earlier in the growing cycle. This also means fewer samples and less disruption to crops.
“By pairing image analysis with trusted, variety-specific agronomic knowledge, we can support experts in the field rather than replace them,” he continued. “We test rigorously and move deliberately. If a tool slows people down or creates friction, it has not done its job, so getting the use case right matters more than moving fast.”
And, as Meyers pointed out, while technology and innovation can improve parts of farming, they are not a substitute for getting the fundamentals right.
“Farms adapting most effectively tend to combine strong fundamentals with this spirit of learning and innovating. Enabling technologies are critical to this journey, but they cannot compensate for delivering on the fundamentals in areas such as soil preparation, irrigation management, crop nutrition, pest management, harvesting or storage. This year’s programme deliberately connected emerging innovation with those proven agronomic fundamentals.”
Examples at the event covered the full production cycle. These included drip irrigation approaches being used to improve water-use efficiency in China, mechanisation in Thailand, grower capability development in Vietnam, and work to improve potato supply and quality in India.
“The important point is that participants were not presented with a single prescribed model. They could see techniques in operation, speak directly with growers and technical experts, and evaluate how an approach might need to change for their soil, weather, infrastructure and local economics.”
Why agricultural capability matters
For a food and drink company that sources a range of crops directly and indirectly from approximately 300,000 farmers around the world, it’s not hard to see why resilient harvests and healthy soils are so important for long-term business resilience.
As Meyers outlined: “Pressures including water scarcity, soil degradation, labour shortages and extreme weather have implications throughout the value chain.” These effects can extend to crop availability, quality issues, and even impact operational planning.
“Supporting access to agronomic knowledge, locally relevant technical assistance and peer-to-peer learning can help growers consider practices that strengthen productivity and resilience.”
But agricultural isn’t just PepsiCo’s business, it’s everyone’s business.
As Meyers explained: “The future of farming and food production is going to be shaped by the people closest to the field, supported by good science, practical expertise and stronger opportunities to learn from one another.
“PepsiCo is proud of its farming heritage and has invested in agricultural support for decades. More food manufacturers need to get closer to their agricultural origins and take the time to understand the crops they rely on and the changing conditions in which those crops are grown.”
