PepsiCo and Coca Cola Sustainability Reports

COCA-COLA SUSTAINABILITY

Coca-Cola Sustainability

From the onset, it would be prudent to note that based on my evaluation as well as comparison of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo sustainability reports, Coca-Cola receives an overall grade of A on all three dimensions (i.e. business ethics, social responsibility, and sustainability efforts). On the other hand, PepsiCo receives a grade of B on all three dimensions. The scores of each company on the individual dimensions have been indicated in the table below.

Company Name

Business Ethics

Social Responsibility

Sustainability Efforts

Overall

Coca-Cola

A

A

A

A

PepsiCo

A

B

B

B

Coca-Cola received grade ‘A’ in ‘Business Ethics’ owing to the fact that it has demonstrated willingness to place the wellbeing of customers before its pursuit for profits by continuously adapting its recipes to reduce and/or eliminate calories in certain beverages (Coca-Cola, 2020). The company received ‘A’ grade in ‘Social Responsibility’ because of its move to maintain “respect for human rights” as the “foundation of Coca-Cola business, guiding its interactions with employees, bottling partners, suppliers, customers, and consumers” (Coca-Cola, 2020, p. 45). Lastly, the company was assigned grade ‘A’ in ‘Sustainability Efforts’ based on its efforts to advance the ‘World Without Waste’ agenda – in which case it embraces sustainable packaging practices (Coca-Cola, 2020). From an overall perspective, the company was graded ‘A’ because of its stellar performance on all three fronts, as indicated above.

On the other hand, when it comes to PepsiCo, the company received grade ‘A’ in ‘Business Ethics’ because, like Coca-Cola, it has sought to reformulate most of its products so as to ensure that added sugars are reduced (PepsiCo, 2020). This is a good indication that the company has a ‘consumer first’ perspective. The company received a ‘B’ grade in ‘Social Responsibility’ as a results of its efforts to improve the wellbeing of farmers by introducing and advancing technologies as well as practices that are pro agricultural pliability (PepsiCo, 2020). Unlike Coca-Cola, however, there is nothing to show that social responsibility is ingrained into the company’s ‘DNA’, i.e. by making this a guiding aspect in as far as its engagement with stakeholders is concerned. Lastly, the company was assigned grade ‘B’ in ‘Sustainability Efforts’ based on its commitment to ensure that single-use plastic bottles are avoided going forward (PepsiCo, 2020). The company has, however, not indicated what exactly is being done to achieve this objective. From an overall perspective, the company was graded ‘B’ because in comparison to Coca-Cola, its performance on the ‘Social Responsibility’ and ‘Sustainability Efforts’ front were not outstanding.