PepsiCo charts an exciting future following Expo 2020 Dubai, scaling innovations, championing sustainability, and creating millions of smiles through memorable experiences

Dubai, UAE, Monday, April 11 – Following the closing of the world’s greatest show, PepsiCo – the Official Beverage and Snack Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai, has announced that its three pavilions, Pepsi Go and Aquafina Water Stations welcomed over 1 million visitors to unforgettable experiences over the last six months. 

The Drop, The Bolt, and The Plus headlined by PepsiCo’s flagship brands – Aquafina®, Gatorade®, Lay’s®, and Pepsi® – showcased the latest innovations in the F&B industry and hosted a slew of legends like Usain Bolt, Didier Drogba, Iqra Ismail, and the Arab popstar Amr Diab, who entertained and inspired sports and music enthusiasts from around the world. The Men’s and Women’s UEFA Champions League trophies were also displayed at The Pepsi® and Lay’s® Plus Pavilion for an entire week, attracting football fans from across the UAE.

 

Visitors also got a glimpse into innovative F&B technologies like the Aquafina Water Station and the AI-powered, unattended store, Pepsi Go, which offered consumers new ways to snack and drink. The 28 Aquafina Water Stations at Expo 2020 Dubai collectively helped save over 500,000 plastic bottles from being used on-site and cans, the majority of which were PepsiCo’s Aquafina cans, recycled through Dulsco into new aluminum products – saved the equivalent of 6.6 million plastic bottles. PepsiCo’s popular snack Sunbites® was also made exclusively available in a fully compostable, plant-based packaging, boasting a lower greenhouse gas footprint and a more environmentally friendly production line. PepsiCo’s collection and recycling initiatives supported Expo 2020 Dubai’s efforts in making it the most sustainable World Expo.

PepsiCo also worked closely with stakeholders at the local, regional, and international level as well as across industries to invest in programs that try to help solve pressing challenges and advance society as a whole. Funded by a grant from the PepsiCo Foundation, the USA Pavilion @ Expo 2020 Fellows Program brought together 40 young women and men from 19 countries across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia region for a seven-month virtual and in-person program focused on global issues explored at Expo 2020 Dubai — including trade, sustainability, and future cities. More than 2,000 people are estimated to benefit from the work carried out in this program. The winning project came from the Fellows team “Veggies R Us” and focused on the development of a smart hydroponic food tower that manages and automates real-time production of affordable and healthy fruits and vegetables.

Eugene Willemsen, CEO, PepsiCo, Africa, Middle East and South Asia said, “I would like to congratulate Dubai and the UAE leadership for the great success of Expo 2020 Dubai. Exceeding the 24 million visitors mark was a great testament to the vision and execution of everyone involved in putting together the Greatest Show on Earth. I am deeply proud of our association with Expo 2020 Dubai as a key partner and grateful for the opportunity to help make its vision a reality.  For over 60 years, we have been committed to doing business in the region and being part of Expo 2020 Dubai has only strengthened our connection to it. We can’t wait to continue to challenge today and change tomorrow as we continue our journey beyond Expo 2020 Dubai.”

Last month, PepsiCo confirmed its continued commitment by partnering with the Dubai Future Foundation to be the Official Beverage and Snack partner for the Museum of the Future. PepsiCo is also supporting ‘Dubai Can’, a sustainability initiative led by the Crown Prince of Dubai to minimize the global environmental impact by reducing single-use plastic pollution. PepsiCo has partnered with Dubai Tourism to install the Aquafina Water Station in 50 locations across the emirate – starting with government and corporate offices to encourage a culture of refill and reuse across the city. 

Sustainability is a key focus area for PepsiCo in light of the recently launched pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) strategy. The company has made bold commitments towards collection and recycling, and has signed a partnership with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and the Environment and the Food Tech Valley to launch its MENA Greenhouse Accelerator Program with focus on advancing the climate change agenda in the region. 

Aamer Sheikh, CEO, PepsiCo Middle East, said: “We believe in partnerships and collaborations, and Expo 2020 Dubai was the ideal platform for PepsiCo to celebrate both its roots and future in the UAE and the Middle East.  We know that to truly address the world’s challenges, we will need to work together to drive far-reaching and meaningful change. Our partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai embodied this spirit, enabling us to showcase concerted efforts towards sustainability and innovation and to bring a fun new vision of snacks and beverages to millions of visitors around the world. We are committed to the UAE’s growth story and believe in this country as one that will herald PepsiCo’s growth for many decades. Expo 2020 Dubai has been a milestone in this journey, catapulting our growth in the region and setting new benchmarks for success. We’re incredibly proud of the role we’ve played and promise to continue to bring more smiles with every sip and every bite. I truly believe that the best is yet to come.”