PepsiCo Canada outlines community support efforts

As COVID-19 reduces access to food and other essential goods for Canadians, PepsiCo Canada and the company’s philanthropic arm, The PepsiCo Foundation, is launching a number of community-based initiatives.

With COVID-19 wreaking havoc everywhere, the devastation looms large on the country's food banks, where stocks are down and demand is way up. According to Food Banks Canada, many food banks are worried about how to financially support themselves through this crisis and beyond.

As a Canadian food and beverage leader with more than 12,000 associates and 136 facilities in communities from coast to coast, PepsiCo Canada is stepping up to help area food banks and serve those most in need.

PepsiCo’s COVID-19 relief efforts in Canada include:

• Building on a 10+ year partnership with Food Banks Canada, PepsiCo Canada has donated an incremental 500,0000 servings of Quaker, Gatorade, Aquafina and Frito Lay products valued at $350,000 for distribution to COVID-19 affected people across the country through Food Banks Canada.  Over the past 10+ years, PepsiCo Canada has donated approximately 7.2 million pounds of product to Food Banks Canada.


• The PepsiCo Foundation is donating $140,000 to Food Banks Canada’s COVID fund to support nutrition relief across 10 Canadian provinces.


• To provide healthy food for kids who don’t currently have access to school meals due to COVID-related closures, the foundation is donating $70,000 to Food 4 Kids, a non-profit with expertise in providing vital nutrition for at-risk, low-income or disadvantaged children with limited or no food during weekends or extended school breaks.


• The PepsiCo Foundation is providing a two-to-one match for all employee charitable contributions to a group of non-profits providing COVID-19 relief globally for the next four weeks.

“With the sudden reduced access to food and beverages in communities across Canada, we believe the best way we can help during this time is to increase access to meals,” Richard Glover, president, PepsiCo Beverages Canada, said in a release.

“I’m so proud of our 85-year history in Canadian communities, and this is one way we’re able to support our employees and neighbours in this time of crisis,” said Cara Keating, president, PepsiCo Foods Canada.

On a global scale, The PepsiCo Foundation also announced a US$45 million initiative focused on bringing vital resources and 50 million nutritious meals to communities hit by the crisis.