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PepsiCo, on Friday, said it will source cashew from small farmers in Maharashtra in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. The move will benefit 15,000 farmers, PepsiCo said in a statement.
Cashew will be sourced from more than 2,000 small farmers in 2014, with plans to scale the opportunity to as many as 15,000 of them over the next five years for the company's local juice business requirement, PepsiCo said in a statement.
"It will also scale up and strengthen India's cashew supply chain to build the future potential of a domestic and export market,"added the statement.
The initiative will apply modern agricultural techniques to improve cashew farming practices, boost yield and productivity, and increase income for local smallholder farmers.
It will also scale up andstrengthen India'scashew supply chain to build the future potential of a domestic and exportmarket.
"Committed partners like PepsiCo demonstrate the tremendous impact that social enterprises and the private sector can make when they work together to solve business problems that also advance socialgood," according to the joint statement.
PepsiCo chairman and chief executive Indra Nooyi said the initiative embodied 'performance with purpose', the company's recognition that its success is inextricably linked to society's success.
"Sustainable agriculture is critical to PepsiCo's supply chain and we have a long history of working with local farmers around the world in ways that strengthen ourbusiness and the communities in which we operate," she said.
The programme's first India cashew harvest is currently underway. PepsiCo India plans to begin incorporatingthe fruit into some of its blended juice products starting in spring 2015, the company said.
The company said Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership's approach has been designed for replication in value chains throughout the world and is currently catalysing similar supply chain enterprises in Latin America and Haiti.
