PepsiCo bets on the Dominican Republic, consolidating its investment of more than US$30 million with the expansion of its Caribbean Plant and a new potato line

• The new potato line increases Lay’s production capacity for the local market and export volume to the Caribbean and Puerto Rico, and frees up a dedicated line for plantain production.
• With the expansion, PepsiCo contributes to economic recovery by buying more local potatoes from Dominican farmers.
• The investment reaffirms PepsiCo in the Dominican Republic as a global agri-food leader and local partner that grows together with the communities where it operates.

Dominican Republic, June 2021.– PepsiCo, a global food and beverage leader, is strengthening its presence in the Dominican Republic with a recent investment of more than US$30 million to expand its Caribbean Plant.

The expansion includes the installation of a new potato line capable of producing 10.9 million units of Lay’s a month, a dedicated plantain line and a new raw materials warehouse that doubles storage space, allowing the company to increase the volume it buys from local farmers. Through this investment, the company reinforces its partnership and commitment to the country’s development and the region’s economic recovery.

Gerardo Díaz de León, president of PepsiCo Foods in Central America, the Caribbean and the Southern Cone, said “we believe in the Dominican Republic and we’re going for more, together”, adding “Dominicans have shown their preference for our products, and this is naturally rewarded by PepsiCo’s commitment to invest more in the country. The expansion of the Caribbean plant, which produces snacks from the Frito Lay portfolio, involved major civil works and the installation of new technologies that increase production capacity for our beloved Lay’s brand. This allows us to create more jobs in the countryside, buy more local potatoes from Dominican growers and get closer to our consumers through the colmados”.

PepsiCo currently has contracts with farming communities in Constanza, Moca, La Vega and La Canela, which produce an annual average of more than 9,000 tonnes of potato, plantain and cassava, covering more than 450 hectares of crops and supporting hundreds of jobs. Notably, potato production reaches 7,000 tonnes, representing 8% of the country’s total production of the tuber. PepsiCo’s farming contracts include training and certification for partner farmers through the company’s Sustainable Farming Program (Sustainable Farming Program), which aims to ensure standardised sustainable practices across all its operations.

For PepsiCo, its sustainability agenda and strengthening the communities where it operates are an essential part of its Winning with Purpose vision, which seeks to put environmental and social impact goals at the heart of its business strategy, contributing to the goal of building a sustainable food system.

In the Dominican Republic, in 2021 we are investing more than US$230,000 in programmes crucial to the development of our business and communities: water, women’s empowerment and sustainable agriculture. The programmes include Water for the Planet, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (since 2018) to restore the Santo Domingo Water Fund in the Isabela river basin, as well as the regional initiative “Women with Purpose” (in collaboration with FUNDES, operating in the country since 2017), which has so far provided training and economic growth opportunities to nearly 1,000 Dominican women. Finally, the New Generation Agriculture Fund, launched this year in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank, seeks to promote gender inclusion in PepsiCo’s potato value chain (2021-2023), with a focus on the Constanza valley.

Díaz de León says: “At PepsiCo we work to be faster in the market, stronger in transforming our capabilities and better at creating a positive impact on people and the planet. Local investments like this allow us to move forward as a company while driving the economic recovery the Dominican Republic needs right now and fulfilling our mission of creating smiles with every sip and every bite.”

With more than 27 years of presence in the Dominican Republic, PepsiCo continues to build an important legacy in the country, operating through its snack manufacturing plant and sales force to distribute the Frito Lay, Gamesa and Quaker brands, creating more than 1,400 direct jobs, in addition to those of its bottling partners Cervecería Nacional Dominicana (CND, part of AMBEV) and Corripio, companies that distribute the Pepsi, Gatorade and Tropicana brands through their platforms and export the products to the Caribbean islands.

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 $70 billion in net revenue in 2020, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana and SodaStream. PepsiCo’s product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 23 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

PepsiCo is guided by its vision to Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with Purpose. “Winning with Purpose” reflects our ambition to win sustainably in the marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects of the business. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com

PepsiCo Cautionary Statement

Statements in this communication that are “forward-looking statements” regarding PepsiCo are based on currently available information, operating plans and projections about future events and trends. They inherently involve risks and uncertainties. For information on certain factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from expectations, please see the documents filed by PepsiCo with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. PepsiCo undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.