PepsiCo has opened its first UK oat testing research lab to help growers boost yields and build future resilience of oat production.
Dedicated to testing oats from its R&D Agricultural Science programmes, the site is launching in partnership with the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) and aims to help over 300 UK Quaker Oats growers to produce oats while reducing greehouse gas emissions.
Located at NIAB in Cambridge, expert crop researchers will use the lab’s facilities to test and analyse thousands of oat samples from regenerative agricultural trials for milling and nutritional requiremements.
This also builds on PepsiCo’s partnership with its Quaker Oat growers which looks to help them all reach the LEAF Marque sustainability standard through rolling out regenerative agriculture practices to support improved biodiversity, soil health, water and air quality.
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“Growers are facing pressure on several fronts, with issues like extreme weather and rising costs of materials like fertiliser, making it more difficult for them to grow their crops,” PepsiCo UK senior scientist, Peter Bright said.
“With the new testing facility, we want to support growers by giving them useful data and insights that can help optimise their yield and produce the best quality Quaker Oats, while protecting the planet by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
“With over 100,000 metric tonnes of oats going through our mill in Scotland every year, it’s really important that we support our growers to meet growing consumer demand for Quaker Oats in a sustainable way.”
NIAB head of analytical services, Helen Appleyard added: “Setting up this facility with PepsiCo has been fantastic and we have benefitted from each other’s knowledge and experience in the industry.
“PepsiCo’s investment has improved our shared spaces and equipment, generated new ideas for ways of working and staff training opportunities, including better knowledge of the oat crop from field to bowl.”
