PepsiCo has announced a series of pledges that includes cutting beverage sugar levels by 25% and introducing more nutritious snacks by 2025 in the EU.
The announcement comes amid increasing scrutiny over the nutrition of global consumer goods companies’ products, and follows a document by Nestlé revealing that more than 60% of its mainstream food and drinks portfolio does not meet a “recognised definition of health”.
PepsiCo seeks to reduce the average level of added sugars across its entire soft drinks range – including Pepsi-Cola, Lipton Ice Tea and 7Up – by 25% by 2025 and 50% by 2030, compared to a 2019 baseline.
This is a step up from UNESDA’s recent pledge to reduce added sugars in soft drinks by another 10% from 2019-2053 across the EU.
Meanwhile, the firm also intends to increase the sales of snacks rated a B or better in the Nutri-Score nutrition labelling system by more than ten times by 2025.
As part of its push, PepsiCo Europe says this will make healthier snacks its fastest growing food category over the next four years, with an aim to expand it to a $1 billion portfolio by 2030.
This goal will be achieved through reformulating existing products and introducing existing low-fat brands such as Lay’s Oven Baked to more markets, as well as new snacking ranges – following in the footsteps of PopWorks, the company’s new popped corn crisps range.
PepsiCo’s commitments build on previous achievements over the past decade including past reductions of added sugar in beverages and saturated fat in foods; smaller portion sizes; and creating alternatives of existing brands with improved nutritional profiles including sugar-free PepsiCo Max and 7Up Free.
Silviu Popovici, CEO of PepsiCo Europe, said: “Consumers want healthier and more sustainable brands, and they want products that taste great. Over the past decade, we’ve reformulated and launched new products to bring more options to consumers.
“As a result, in Europe today, almost one in three beverages we sell is sugar-free and we believe this trend will continue to grow over time. With this pledge, we can use our experience with sugar reduction to accelerate our shift to a healthier snacks portfolio.”
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