PepsiCo executives and shareholders received a very clear message from RAN at PepsiCo’s annual shareholder meeting: a growing movement around the world is demanding real change and will not stop until PepsiCo eliminates Conflict Palm Oil from its supply chain.
RAN has been campaigning against PepsiCo for three years, and we knew we had to make a big impact at this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), which is exactly what we did. Check out this photo timeline of events and actions leading up to the May 4th AGM:
April 23rd: Activists Expose PepsiCo at Earth Day Events
April 25th: Activists Scale Iconic NYC Pepsi Sign to drop 100’ “Cut Conflict Palm Oil” Banner
April 25th: KSU Student Activists Confront PepsiCo Executive Dr. Mehmood Khan on Conflict Palm Oil
April 26th: Activists in Chicago Confront CEO of PepsiCo North America on Labor Abuses
May
2nd: Dallas Activists Infiltrate Frito-Lay Headquarters
Behind the scenes, we’ve been escalating pressure on PepsiCo as well. In addition to these high profile public actions, we’ve taken over PepsiCo’s social media channels. On April 28th, the hashtag #ConflictPalmOil was connected to PepsiCo’s twitter handle @PepsiCo and trended on Twitter throughout North America, garnering over 20,000 tweets from around the world in a single day. Additionally, throughout the month of April RAN, over 30 of our partners, and supporters around the world collected over 600 photo petitions to stand in solidarity with palm oil workers. San Francisco Bay Area activists led the outreach push to collect these photos through hours of phone banking and street canvassing. Check out this Facebook album and video compilation of the hundreds of solidarity photo petitions from activists around the world. (If you are on Facebook, please like and share!)
At the AGM on May 4th, RAN’s Forest Program Director Ginger Cassady hand-delivered your photo petitions to PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, making sure she knows that we hold her accountable for PepsiCo’s flawed business model. PepsiCo is uniquely situated to have a global impact for the better: using roughly 457,200 metric tons of palm oil a year, what PepsiCo does directly impacts the global trade in palm oil. Decisive action to end deforestation, uphold human rights, and eliminate labor abuses like the use of child and forced labor will fundamentally change the way palm oil is produced.
PepsiCo can and must be a leader, pushing its peers and the industry forward. It can and must trace its palm oil back to the plantations it was grown on, and it must implement third party verification so it can guarantee that its products are free of Conflict Palm Oil.
May 4th: RAN delivers over 600 photo petitions to PepsiCO CEO Indra Nooyi demanding an end to Conflict Palm Oil.
Thank you to all of the activists around the world for standing in solidarity with palm oil workers and demanding an end to the exploitation in PepsiCo’s snack foods. As long as PepsiCo is the major laggard in the Snack Food 20, and continues to source palm oil from unknown plantations, high risk regions and its controversial business partner in Indonesia, Indofood, we will keep up the pressure. Join us in calling out PepsiCo, and send a message to PepsiCo CEO Ms. Indra Nooyi now!
