CF Industries and PepsiCo are advancing lower carbon agriculture – starting with potatoes

CF Industries and PepsiCo have entered a commercial agreement focused on reducing the carbon footprint of PepsiCo's potato supply chain through the use of nitrogen fertilizer manufactured with a lower carbon intensity than conventional processes.

What's new

• This agreement marks CF Industries' first commercial launch of certified low-carbon urea ammonium nitrate solution (UAN) fertilizer. The low-carbon UAN earns a lower carbon intensity from the use of carbon capture and sequestration technologies and other emission reduction methods.
• The low-carbon UAN will be available to farmers who grow potatoes for PepsiCo's Frito-Lay potato chip brands, enabling a lower carbon footprint from its U.S. potato supply chain.

Why it matters

Fertilizer production represents 15-20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in potato farming. By enabling farmers to choose the same fertilizers they already use but that are produced with a lower carbon intensity, this initiative maintains yields and quality-while delivering meaningful emissions reductions with minimal operational change.

"Our collaboration with PepsiCo reflects growing interest in practical, scalable solutions that substantially reduce emissions from agriculture without impacting farm productivity," said Erik Mayer, vice president, clean energy and business development, CF Industries. "Connecting our low-carbon UAN with PepsiCo's potato supply chain demonstrates that low-carbon fertilizer solutions are viable today, providing a certifiable and quantifiable way to reduce emissions in the agriculture supply chain."

"At PepsiCo, we are an agriculture company at heart. We're focused on building a more resilient, low carbon food system, and that starts with the crops at the center of our products," said Burgess Davis, Chief Sustainability Officer, North America, PepsiCo. "Collaborating with CF Industries to deploy certified low carbon fertilizer across our potato supply chain allows us to reduce emissions while supporting farmers with solutions that fit seamlessly into their existing operations."

How it works

CF Industries produces low-carbon UAN by leveraging emissions reduction technologies - carbon capture and sequestration and nitric acid plant emissions abatement - at its Donaldsonville facility. This approach has enabled UAN produced in this way to be certified low-carbon by the Verified Ammonia Carbon Intensity Program. Low-carbon UAN is then distributed to retailers selling UAN to potato farmers who supply Frito-Lay.

What's next

Beyond potatoes, CF Industries and PepsiCo plan to explore additional opportunities to reduce emissions across other crop systems-helping build a broader ecosystem for low-carbon fertilizers that includes producers, farmers, food companies, and trusted measurement frameworks.