AOCS Corporate Member Spotlight: PepsiCo

PepsiCo Inc., an AOCS Corporate Member, is a company that focuses on providing a range of food and beverage products that bring a smile to consumer faces globally

In this spotlight, Rick Della Porta, Sr. Principal Scientist, discusses what separates PepsiCo from other providers as well as the the importance of having a corporate membership.

What type of products/services does your company provide?

PepsiCo’s range of foods and beverages reflects how varied consumer tastes are around the globe, from Canada’s beloved Lay’s Dill Pickle Flavored potato chips to SABRITONES, puffy chile and lime snacks made in Mexico. All designed to make you smile.  From classic Pepsi-Cola to Mountain Dew to Gatorade to Miranda and ready-to-drink Lipton Teas, the beverage choices are as diverse as the snacks.

What differentiates your company from companies in the same space?

PepsiCo has a “huge runway” to grow its multi-billion-dollar snacking empire, despite owning a portfolio that includes decades-old favorites such as Doritos, Fritos, and Cheetos among its best-selling offerings.  The company continues to “experiment and think about different” ingredients, packaging formats, flavors, and unique combinations — such as the merging of salty and sweet — to strengthen its already dominant presence in the snacking category.

What are some recent innovations your company is most proud of?

Rick Della Porta
Sr. Principal Scientist

Developing a new technology to recover more than 50% of the water used in its potato chip manufacturing for sustainability.

New products include Quaker Chewy Granola, Marias Gamesa cereal, Cap'n Crunch Instant Oatmeal made with Quaker Oats, Cap'n Crunch Original Crunch Treats Cereal Bars, and Near East Heat & Eat Rice Pilaf and Long Grain & Wild Rice, the Gatorade Smart Gx Bottle, Mountain Dew Spark, and Doritos Dinamita Sticks Smoky Chile Queso.

What differentiates your company from companies in the same space?

Like many food and beverages companies, PepsiCo wants to stay relevant to consumers who are looking for healthier drink and snack options.  By putting human behavior at the center of their business, PepsiCo is building a new trend prediction competitive advantage.

For Sustainability: Achieving Net-Zero emissions by 2040; Becoming Net Water Positive; and new goals to improve packaging sustainability, including reducing virgin plastic per serving by 50% and bold new goals from Pepsi and Frito-Lay brands.

Another of PepsiCo's biggest challenges: winning over millions of farmers to regenerative agriculture. PepsiCo is committed to transitioning to regenerative farming practices across 7 million acres, improve the livelihoods of 250,000 people in its agricultural supply chain, and sustainably source 100% of its key ingredients.

Why is Corporate Membership important to your organization?

As a major oil consumer, being a Corporate member will hopefully encourage more PepsiCo associates to take advantage of delving into the diverse opportunities that AOCS has to offer.   Seminars, Webinars, Annual meetings, and the diverse Divisions all provide new associates the access to key learnings about this important raw material.

Learn more about AOCS Corporate Membership.

AOCS Corporate Member Spotlight: Phillips 66

Phillips 66, an AOCS Corporate Member, is a company that focuses on providing a range of sustainable energy products to continue meeting the everchanging needs of the world.

In this spotlight, Katelyn Zachritz Director of Specialty Solvents Marketing, discusses what separates Phillips 66 from other providers as well as the importance of having a corporate membership.

What type of products/services does your company provide?

Phillips 66 is a downstream and midstream company that has four core business units, including Midstream, Chemicals, Refining and Marketing & Specialties. Our Chemicals segment consists primarily of our 50% joint venture interest in CPChem, which manufactures and markets petrochemicals and plastics worldwide.  

The Phillips 66 Chemicals team, which operates independent of the CPChem jv, includes our polypropylene and solvents businesses. Phillips 66 offers specialty hydrocarbon solvents from hexanes, to pentanes and heptane’s, and custom blends. Phillips 66 Specialty Solvents is a leader in the manufacturing and marketing of hydrocarbon solvents.  

For a complete list of our product offerings, please visit our product page.

What differentiates your company from companies in the same space?

Phillips 66 is your supplier of choice because we are the largest producer of high-quality Hexane in the U.S., offer a premium product at a competitive price, and can provide you with security of supply because we have an extremely effective logistics system in North America that can make timely deliveries and has a proven robust business continuity to ensure reliable supply.   

•Did you know? Phillips 66 hexane was created to optimize oil extraction and has been producing solvents for the oil extraction industry since the early 1940’s. 

•Did you know? Phillips 66 hexane is 99%+ pure C6 isomers and the normal hexane concentration is 60% minimum and typically 62%.  

•Did you know? Customers share that Phillips 66 hexane makes their plants run more efficiently. 

•Did you know? Phillips 66 has the best-in-class logistics coverage in North America, with 11 points of distribution in the U.S. and has capabilities to reach around the globe. Our strategic supply points provide business continuity and last mile logistics advantages for our customers. We have expansive rail, truck, barge, and terminal networks with a dedicated rail fleet for hexane preventing any cross contamination and gulf coast barge and vessel shipping access. 

What are some recent innovations your company is most proud of?

Katelyn Zachritz
Director of Specialty
Solvents Marketing

We are proud of the evolution of Rodeo Renewed. The San Francisco Refinery consists of two facilities linked by our pipelines. The Santa Maria facility is located in Arroyo Grande, California, 200 miles south of San Francisco, California, while the Rodeo facility is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Intermediate refined products from the Santa Maria facility are shipped by pipeline to the Rodeo facility for upgrading into finished petroleum products. Refinery facilities include crude distillation, naphtha reforming, hydrocracking, hydrodesulfurization and delayed coking units, as well as a calciner. The refinery currently produces a high percentage of transportation fuels, including CARB-grade gasoline. Other products produced include fuel-grade petroleum coke. The majority of the refined petroleum products are distributed to customers in California by pipeline and barge. Additionally, refined petroleum products are exported to customers primarily in Latin America by waterborne cargo.

We are advancing our conversion plans at the San Francisco Refinery in Rodeo, California, to meet the growing demand for renewable fuels. The hydrotreater feedstock flexibility project reached full rates of 8,000 BPD (120 million gallons per year) of renewable diesel production in July 2021. Separately, the Rodeo Renewed refinery conversion project is expected to be finished in early 2024, subject to permitting and approvals. Consequently, we ceased operations of the Santa Maria facility in February 2023. Upon completion, the converted facility will initially have over 50,000 BPD (800 million gallons per year) of renewable fuels production capacity. The conversion will reduce emissions from the facility and produce lower carbon intensity transportation fuels. We plan to distribute our renewable diesel through new and existing channels, including approximately 600 branded retail sites in California.

For details of our HSE innovations, GHG targets and performance, see pages 18-19 and 30-47 in our current sustainability report and Phillips 66 ESG Library. 

Why is Corporate Membership important to your organization?

Phillips 66 is committed to the seed oil industry and views its position within this industry as one of strategic importance.  Phillips 66 believes it is important to align with AOCS to share our capabilities and let our customers know that we stand behind them and support them. 

Learn more about AOCS Corporate Membership.