<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001214659-24-006689.txt : 20240412
<SEC-HEADER>0001214659-24-006689.hdr.sgml : 20240412
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20240412122727
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001214659-24-006689
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	PX14A6G
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20240412
DATE AS OF CHANGE:		20240412
EFFECTIVENESS DATE:		20240412

SUBJECT COMPANY:	

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			PEPSICO INC
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000077476
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	BEVERAGES [2080]
		ORGANIZATION NAME:           	04 Manufacturing
		IRS NUMBER:				131584302
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			NC
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1228

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G
		SEC ACT:		1934 Act
		SEC FILE NUMBER:	001-01183
		FILM NUMBER:		24840589

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		700 ANDERSON HILL RD
		CITY:			PURCHASE
		STATE:			NY
		ZIP:			10577
		BUSINESS PHONE:		9142532000

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		700 ANDERSON HILL ROAD
		CITY:			PURCHASE
		STATE:			NY
		ZIP:			10577-1444

	FORMER COMPANY:	
		FORMER CONFORMED NAME:	PEPSI COLA CO
		DATE OF NAME CHANGE:	19700903

FILED BY:		

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			NATHAN CUMMINGS FOUNDATION, INC.
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0001546048
		ORGANIZATION NAME:           	
		IRS NUMBER:				237093201
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			IL
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1231

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		120 WALL STREET
		STREET 2:		26TH FLOOR
		CITY:			NEW YORK
		STATE:			NY
		ZIP:			10005
		BUSINESS PHONE:		212-787-7300

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		120 WALL STREET
		STREET 2:		26TH FLOOR
		CITY:			NEW YORK
		STATE:			NY
		ZIP:			10005
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<P STYLE="margin: 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">Name of the Registrant: PepsiCo. Inc.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">Name &amp; Address of Person Relying on Exemption: The Nathan
Cummings Foundation, 120 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">The Nathan Cummings Foundation is not required to file pursuant
to Rule 14a-6(g) (1) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 but is doing so voluntarily.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">-----------</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">April 12, 2024</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">Dear PepsiCo. Inc. Shareholders:</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">The Nathan Cummings Foundation urges you to <B>vote FOR Proposal
10</B>, &ldquo;Third-Party Racial Equity Audit&rdquo; (the &ldquo;Proposal&rdquo;) on PepsiCo, Inc.&rsquo;s (&ldquo;PepsiCo&rsquo;s&rdquo;
or the &ldquo;Company&rsquo;s&rdquo;) proxy statement for its annual meeting of shareholders on May 1, 2024. The Proposal requests that
the Board oversee a third-party, independent racial equity audit.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify"><B>Key components of a racial equity audit</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">A racial equity audit should analyze the benefits and potential
adverse impacts of a company&rsquo;s policies, practices, and products on vulnerable communities. The main components of these audits
include:</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD STYLE="text-align: justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman">The audit should be conducted by a third-party, independent,
outside auditor with civil rights experience, </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD STYLE="text-align: justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman">The auditor should hold conversations with a mix of national
and local organizations that represent a broad range of constituencies to determine the key topics to include within the audit,</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD STYLE="text-align: justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman">The engaged stakeholders should speak with the auditors independently
of the company,</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD STYLE="text-align: justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman">The Board should provide oversight and review findings, and</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD STYLE="text-align: justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman">The company should publish a summary of findings, (if not the
report itself), along with its planned next steps. </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify"><B>PepsiCo&rsquo;s current actions are misaligned with the Proponent&rsquo;s
request</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">PepsiCo&rsquo;s statement in opposition to the Proposal carefully
parses its current actions to emphasize areas of overlap with the racial equity audit process. It does not make clear to investors, however,
the multitude of ways in which its current program falls short of the Proposal&rsquo;s request.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify"><B>PepsiCo is not working with an independent third-party auditor
to conduct a racial equity audit</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">PepsiCo cites its work with Management Leadership for Tomorrow&rsquo;s
(&ldquo;MLT&rsquo;s&rdquo;) Racial Equity Certification Program as a reason that an audit is not needed. While MLT is a respected organization,
the service it provides is not, nor does it represent itself as, a racial equity audit. For example, MLT&rsquo;s racial equity certification
program focuses on five pillars specific to Black and Hispanic employees. These pillars (Representation within the company, Compensation
of employees, Workplace culture, Business practices, and Contributions) are oriented towards PepsiCo&rsquo;s internal practices, not its
external relationships. Essential <U>external</U> topic areas that stakeholders are likely to be concerned about appear to be outside
of MLT&rsquo;s sight lines. For example, this might include the impact of PepsiCo&rsquo;s products on the health of communities, marketing
and representation choices, and manufacturing decisions.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify"><B>PepsiCo has not engaged a third-party auditor to consult
external stakeholders to identify key racial equity concerns</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">A racial equity audit should actively and intentionally engage
relevant national and local organizations that are spoken with independently of the company. This independence of relationship is essential,
as it helps ensure that the auditor can speak honestly with impacted stakeholders. PepsiCo&rsquo;s Community Advisory Committees and the
other relationships that PepsiCo has fostered are laudable, but they do not take the place of an intentional and organized audit process
in helping the Company identify and understand the broad range of impacts that it has from a racial equity perspective.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">The Board has already established a Sustainability, Diversity,
and Public Policy Committee, a commendable action. A racial equity audit would allow this Committee to be confident that no blind spots
exist in the Company&rsquo;s approach to racial equity, its understanding of its consumers, and its ability to identify and capture future
market opportunities.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">The requested racial equity audit would be a significant aid
in helping ensure that the company is positioned for continued success and future growth.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify"><B>A racial equity audit would benefit PepsiCo</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">More than 20 companies have now conducted racial equity audits.
Companies that have completed racial equity or civil rights audits have relayed organizational benefits from conducting these audits.
Those benefits include:</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD STYLE="text-align: justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman">Identifying the gaps between a company&rsquo;s self-perception
and that of its key stakeholders,</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD STYLE="text-align: justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman">Developing new and additive partnerships and relationships
within the community, </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD STYLE="text-align: justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman">Assessing the needs of customers and employees, enabling the
proactive creation of support teams and committees, </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD STYLE="text-align: justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman">Providing guidance for diversity officers, human resources
managers, and executives on appropriate next steps.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify"><B>&nbsp;</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">PepsiCo needs to conduct a racial equity audit. Its current
success and future growth rely on its ability to build a sense of connection with a broad and diverse audience. However, during the early
protests related to the Black Lives Matter movement, Pepsi released an ad campaign that featured a wealthy White woman, Kendall Jenner,
handing a Pepsi to a police officer amid a protest that, it was implied, related to police brutality against Black people. Pepsi swiftly
pulled the commercial after backlash, but it was a public and expensive indication that the Company had a poor understanding of race-related
sentiment in the United States and of broader consumer sentiment related to racial equity themes.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">In 2020, Pepsi created a Racial Equality Journey (REJ) Initiative,
a commendable multi-year $570 million initiative to support Black and Hispanic individuals. PepsiCo has stated that it&rsquo;s &ldquo;evaluating
our recruitment, development and retention practices; reshaping the workplace culture to foster inclusion; and introducing mandatory unconscious
bias training.&rdquo;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">These are good initiatives, but are they focused on the right
things? Are they well received? Might they be tailored to reach the company&rsquo;s goals more effectively? A racial equity audit would
help PepsiCo answer these sorts of questions. The process of conducting a racial equity audit allows impacted stakeholders to identify
their prioritized concerns while a skilled auditor translates these findings into guidance, insights, and strategies for our company.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">For these reasons, we urge PepsiCo. shareholders to vote FOR
Proposal 10, requesting the Board commission a third-party independent racial equity audit.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">This is not a solicitation of authority to vote your proxy. Please DO NOT send us
your proxy card. The Nathan Cummings Foundation cannot vote your proxies, and this communication does not contemplate such an event. The
proponent urges shareholders to vote for Proxy Item 10 following the instructions provided in PepsiCo&rsquo;s proxy mailing.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify">The views expressed are those of the authors and the Nathan
Cummings Foundation as of the date referenced and are subject to change at any time based on market or other conditions. These views are
not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results. These views may not be relied upon as investment advice.
The information provided in this material should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any of the securities mentioned. It
should not be assumed that investments in such securities have been or will be profitable. This piece is informational and should not
be construed as a research report.</P>

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