PepsiCo launches social impact competition in partnership with Wamda

Press release

Published October 18th, 2016 - 09:15 GMT

PepsiCo

PepsiCo, the global food and beverage company, has announced the launch of the PepsiCo Social Impact Competition for MENA-based social startups. Organized in partnership with Wamda, the competition aims to promote, reward and celebrate social startup enterprises from the Arab World that deliver sustainable profit. The Competition will reward startups that develop innovative solutions that extend beyond profitability to also include social responsibility and environmental impact.

To be eligible for the PepsiCo Social Impact Competition, all applicants were required to be operational startups from MENA that could demonstrate a positive, quantifiable, and sustainable social impact related to one of three pillars of sustainability: health and wellness, environmental sustainability or talent development. Offering prizes up to USD 20,000, the results of the Competition, which closed for applications on October 15, 2016, will be determined after applicants are screened by a jury of regional experts and assessed according to their business potential, social impact, scalability, team strength and quality of deliverables.

In late October, ten finalists will be selected to receive training, coaching and feedback from the Wamda team throughout the remainder of the process. In the final round, they will be required to pitch their businesses to a panel of distinguished judges and an audience of business professionals. This will take place at AMWAJ 2016, an international sustainability and entrepreneurship forum initiated by Revolve and PepsiCo, under the patronage of HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal on November 28 and 29, 2016 in Amman.

Omar Farid, President, Middle East and North Africa region at PepsiCo, said, “The PepsiCo Social Impact Competition is a unique platform aiming to encourage startups in the region to incorporate sustainability into their business models, which will reflect positively on not only their communities and environments, but also their profitability. Providing us with an opportunity to support the region’s entrepreneurs, this competition is an embodiment of PepsiCo’s commitment to providing sustainable solutions in order to overcome the obstacles associated with sustainable development.”

In turn, Habib Haddad, Wamda’s Chief Executive Officer, added: “By combining the pursuit of profit with a commitment to positive social, economic and environmental impact, social ventures can provide sustainable solutions to the MENA region’s most pressing challenges. Therefore, we at Wamda are firmly committed to supporting these startups, and we are happy to partner with PepsiCo to achieve this goal.”

Background Information

Pepsi Cola International

In 1965, Donald Kendall, the CEO of Pepsi-Cola, and Herman Lay, the CEO of Frito-Lay, recognized what they called “a marriage made in heaven,” a single company delivering perfectly-salty snacks served alongside the best cola on earth. Their vision led to what quickly became one of the world's leading food and beverage companies: PepsiCo.

For more than 50 years, as tastes, trends and lifestyles have changed, PepsiCo has evolved with them. Our willingness to adapt and grow has transformed our snack and soda company into a collection of global brands including Pepsi and Quaker, Gatorade and Tropicana, Frito-Lay and beyond. Today, PepsiCo is one of the world’s most-respected companies with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories and 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.