PepsiCo and Fertiberia to decarbonize potato and corn farming in Europe

PepsiCo and Spain’s largest fertilizer producer Fertiberia have entered a long-term partnership to scale the utility of high-tech, green hydrogen-based fertilizers across Europe. Fertiberia has agreed to progressively supply PepsiCo with up to 150,000 metric tons of its Impact Zero crop nutrition solutions annually by 2030. 

The total volume is enough to cover approximately 400,000 acres (~162,000 hectares) of farmland used to grow key crops such as potatoes, corn, sunflower, sugar beet, and rapeseed, which are key ingredients for PepsiCo’s top brands such as Lay’s, Doritos, Ruffles, and Cheetos.

Together with its existing supplier agreements, PepsiCo expects the Fertiberia partnership to raise the share of low carbon fertilizer used across its European supply chain to around 50% by 2030.

“Since 2022, we have been developing lower-carbon hydrogen-based fertilizers, powered by cutting-edge technology such as NSAFE, the world’s first bio-inhibitor of nitrification that prevents nitrogen losses and accelerates the transformation of European agriculture,” says Fertiberia’s COO, David Herrero. 

“Today, this journey takes on greater meaning thanks to the trust of partners like PepsiCo, with whom we are collaborating to help decarbonize agri-food value chains. This is not just about fertilizers — it’s about demonstrating the importance of collaboration and showing that innovation, when shared, can drive both climate action and food security across Europe.”

Green hydrogen utility

This collaboration follows a successful pilot between PepsiCo and Fertiberia in Spain and Portugal. That initiative saw Fertiberia’s low-carbon fertilizer reducing potato farming emissions by up to 15% and corn farming emissions by 20%, according to the partners.

“We joined the program during its pilot in 2024, and in our second year, we fertilized 30 acres of potatoes using Impact Zero both for base and top dressing,” comments Herdade da Malhadinha, a farmer using Impact Zero fertilizer in Portugal.

“It has been a smooth process, as the fertilization method is technically identical to our usual practice and so doesn’t alter our daily operations.”

The program will initially launch in France, Romania, Serbia, Greece, and Turkey while expanding in Spain and Portugal, with upcoming plans to roll out the initiative to more European countries.

Fertiberia’s low-carbon fertilizer is produced using green hydrogen instead of natural gas, which the company claims reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 63%.

Fertilizers contribute about 2% of total GHG emissions globally, highlight the partners.Moreover, the supplier integrates technologies like slow-release formulas and biological inhibitors that boost crop yields and minimize nutrient loss for farmers.

Regenerative agriculture

Fertilizers contribute about 2% of total GHG emissions globally, highlight the partners. Currently, the production and use of fertilizer are responsible for around half of PepsiCo’s average potato carbon footprint in Europe.

PepsiCo has made public commitments to implementing regenerative, restorative, or protective practices across 10 million acres globally by 2030 and has a goal to reduce Scope 3 forest, land, and agriculture GHG emissions by 30% by 2030 (from a 2022 baseline).

In addition to providing low-carbon fertilizer, the partners plan to offer farmers technical guidance and digital tools, including precision agriculture technologies that use data to optimize application and track the implementation of their regenerative agriculture practices.

“Switching to low-carbon fertilizer is one of the strongest levers we have to reduce agricultural emissions, and use of digital technology can complement this journey toward food system transformation. We’re excited by the success of our pilot in Spain and Portugal and look forward to scaling this ambitious partnership across Europe,” says Archana Jagannathan, CSO of PepsiCo Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Current geopolitical tensions in the Middle East rippling through global food systems have recently exposed fertilizer supply as a critical vulnerability. Global fertilizer producer Yara International’s CEO Svein Tore Holsether recently spoke on how the Iranian conflict has pressured fertilizer availability, with knock-on effects for agricultural output and food supply.