PepsiCo launches 'PepsiCo Nutrition InAction' program in China

Cooperates with China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation in improving nutritional and health status of students in poverty-stricken areas

Joins hand with Chinese Nutrition Society in imparting nutritional knowledge to teachers and students in poor areas

Today, PepsiCo Greater China Region (PepsiCo GCR) announced toofficiallylaunch "PepsiCo Nutrition InAction" program in China by joining hands with China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) and Chinese Nutrition Society (CNS). PepsiCo will donate fund and materials totaling 1 million yuan to CFPA by providing nutritious mealsand conducting educational activities on nutritional knowledge for school children in poor areas of Zhaotong, Yunnan province, aiming to help enhance the nutritional level and health awareness of students and promote youngsters' healthy development in poor rural areas of China.

Jiang Shaogao, Vice President of CFPA, Qin Wei, assistant secretary-general of CFPA, Dr Du Songming, vice Executive Director of CNS, Michael Lindsey, Vice President of Nutrition Category &Commercialization, PepsiCoGCR, and Cathy Tai, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, PepsiCo GCR, attended the launch ceremony.

According to relevant investigation reports, remarkable disparities exist between urban and rural areas and among various regions in terms of Chinese children's nutritional status, while the problem of children's nutrition in rural areas is prominent, especially in poverty-stricken areas. The underweight and growth retardationrate of rural children is about 3 to 4 times those of urban children, andthe rate in poor rural areas is twice that of normal countryside. In 2010, 20% of children under 5-year old are still growth-retarded in impoverished rural areas. The growth retardation rate and underweight among left-behind children in rural areas is higher than those un-left-behind children, at about 1.5 times. Zhaotongis one of the areas with the largest poverty coverage, highest level of poverty and largest poor populationin Yunnan province.

Asone of the world's largest food and beverage companies, PepsiCo is dedicated to providing a great variety of delicious food and beverage products for consumers, and PepsiCo's Quakeris the number one hot cereal brand in China. As suggested by experts, PepsiCo launched the "PepsiCo Nutrition InAction" programtogether with CFPA and set up the scientific diet menu by integrating nutritious and dietary fiber Quaker products with eggs purchased with the donation fund. The program will offer nutritious breakfast for nearly 1,700 rural students one school year in Zhaoyang District, Zhaotong, Yunnan province, providing nutritional intervention to such problems as insufficient intake of protein and dietary fiber of these school children and satisfying their demands for nutrition and taste. Meanwhile, "PepsiCo NutritionIn Action" will invite CNS to educate and train teachers and students of the project area on scientific knowledge of nutritionand health necessary for the growth of the children.

Michael Lindsey, Vice President of Nutrition Category and Commercialization of PepsiCo GCR said, "Since its entry into Chinese market in 2004, PepsiCo's Quaker oatsbrand has become an indispensable member for hundreds of millions of households. PepsiCo attaches great importance to food nutrition and nutritional knowledge, and Quaker's advocacy concept on health and nutritiondovetails perfectly with CFPA's programs. We are glad to cooperate with CFPA and CNS to make contributions to the improvement of nutrition and health problems of children in impoverished areas of China."

Jiang Shaogao, Vice President of CFPA expressed that, more than 795 million people are beset by insufficient supply of food globally and 71.07 million people still live in povertyin rural China. The population of children inpoverty-stricken areas accounts for 1/5 of children the whole nation, and their healthy growth will be essential for the national progress and the future. To invest in children nutrition is to invest in the future and children nutritional assistance is the measure to prevent generational transmission of poverty and to fundamentally eliminate poverty. Since CFPAlaunched the "Nutritious Meals" program in 2008, it has promptly and effectively responded to the basic dietary requirements of students in poor areas. Through extensive social influences, it has attracted attentions and support from policy makers and all sectors of societyfor students' nutritional improvement in poor rural areas. The program also appealed to the concerted efforts of 90 million person-time and dozens of companies to contribute to the acceleration of rural educational development and to the improvement of balanced growth of the compulsory education in both rural and urban areas. In response to the advocacy of "Targeted Measures InPoverty Alleviation" from the central government, CFPA will join hands with PepsiCo to provide specific nutrition supplements, enhance health awareness and effectively solve the problem of malnutrition for students in Zhaotong, Yunnan province, known as the place with the largest coverage of poverty, highest degree of poverty and the largest population in poverty in China.

Ms Yang Yuexin, President of CNS said, "Chinese government has recently issued plenty of relevant policies to promote the improvement of children's nutrition in poor areas, which has achieved positive results with the proactive engagement of all walks of life in this endeavor. Though the investment is huge, the nutritional levels of childrenhave regional differences due to unbalanced economic development among various areas in China. At present, the malnutrition problem of children still exists in China, which is even worse in impoverished areas. Through this cooperation with PepsiCo and CFPA, CNS will carry out a series of trainings in the project areas to facilitate the improvement of the overall nutritional awareness of the project area."

PepsiCo was one of the first US-based companies to enter China. Over the past 30 plus years, PepsiCo has always been committed to serving the community and supporting many public welfare projects in China, including its long-term support for the "Water Cellar for Mothers" program, the Leadership development and skill training of Tsinghua University, educational assistance for schools near the PepsiCo potato farms and migrant children, and emergency relief efforts in times of big natural disasters. As of November 2015, public welfare donation made by PepsiCo Foundation, PepsiCo GCR and PepsiCo associates here in China has already exceeded 137 million yuan.