VARGEM GRANDE DO SUL, Brazil * — Potatoes have supported the Cazarotto family for generations in Vargem Grande do Sul, one of Brazil’s main potato-growing regions. But Marcelo Cazarotto says there is a clear dividing line in the family farm’s history: becoming a PepsiCo supplier.
Since signing on with the global food company 15 years ago, Fazenda Casa Branca has adopted PepsiCo’s regenerative-agriculture protocols, tested new technologies and replicated research developed with the company. Cazarotto says the partnership has brought both greater productivity and more predictable returns.
“Before, we were at the mercy of the market and never knew what would happen,” said Cazarotto, whose father, Ismael, bought the land. “Today, we have a contract, and we know that if we produce, we will have a price and a return.”
The farm has since developed into one of the region’s more technologically advanced operations. It won John Deere’s Smart Farm 2026 award, which recognizes farms that stand out for technology, connectivity and operational performance.
The Cazarotto family also operates its own potato processing facility in town, employing about 50 people. Smaller growers typically rely on shared or cooperative facilities.
Beyond the financial benefits, supplying PepsiCo gives farmers faster access to new technologies, Cazarotto said.
“The company is dynamic, brings a lot of innovation and is always ahead,” he said. “That means we get access to new technologies very quickly.”
Supplier Network
PepsiCo currently buys potatoes from 23 farmers across six Brazilian states, sourcing about 120,000 metric tons a year. Potatoes are part of roughly 450,000 metric tons of agricultural commodities the company purchases annually in Brazil, including oats, corn, cocoa and coconut for brands such as Toddy, Toddynho, Doritos, Cheetos and Kero Coco.
Potato suppliers receive technical support and access to a range of products and services, which farmers generally pay for themselves and, in some cases, settle with production.
The program is part of PepsiCo Positive, or pep+, the company’s global sustainability strategy. PepsiCo says yields among its potato suppliers have doubled over the past 20 years as growers adopted the company’s production protocols.
“This has a positive impact on the planet and is good for business,” Martin Ribichich, president of PepsiCo Brasil Alimentos, told The AgriBiz during a field day at Fazenda Casa Branca. “Farmers save natural resources, use more biological inputs and generate returns. We get better-quality potatoes and greater predictability of supply. It is a virtuous cycle.”
PepsiCo and its technology partners brought together about 20 current and prospective suppliers at the event, known as Demo Farm, to showcase farming practices and equipment.
The technology package spans irrigation, machinery, soil probes, fertilizers, crop-protection products, biological inputs, drone and satellite crop monitoring, solar panels and even guidance on governance and succession planning.
Biological products are already used on about 90% of the potato acreage supplying PepsiCo, according to the company.
PepsiCo says irrigation-management systems have cut energy use by 60% while allowing fertilizer to be applied through irrigation water, helping raise productivity. New soil-preparation, planting and harvesting machinery has halved the number of tractors required and reduced diesel consumption by 60%.
The company also said carbon emissions have fallen 45%, while labor needs have dropped from 95 workers to 15. Artificial-intelligence tools have increased successful plant establishment by 57%.
PepsiCo also operates a local unit of its Agro Science research arm, including a potato-breeding center. A significant share of the potatoes grown for the company in Brazil use Fritolay, a proprietary variety.
“It is our biggest differentiator versus competitors,” said Felipe Carvalho, agribusiness director at PepsiCo Brasil.
From Field to Bag
PepsiCo is also using its supply chain to emphasize freshness. For some Lay’s products in Brazil, including special editions such as Salt & Vinegar and its Rústicas Sour Cream and Sea Salt varieties, the company has marketed a “field to bag in 48 hours” proposition.
Some limited editions have gone further on traceability. Consumers could scan a QR code printed on the package to see where the potatoes were grown.
Meeting the 48-hour target requires tightly coordinated farming and logistics. Potatoes are harvested, given an initial cleaning in the field and trucked to a processing facility.
There, they can follow one of two routes. Potatoes intended for immediate use are washed with 100% reused water and sorted by size.
Medium-sized potatoes are selected for chips, while smaller and larger ones are diverted because they would not produce slices of the desired size. Those potatoes are sold into wholesale markets, including Ceagesp, as well as to retailers, schools and other buyers, according to PepsiCo.
The selected potatoes are then dried. At the Cazarotto facility, the farm recently replaced conventional gas-convection drying and brushing with an infrared system, which it says has improved productivity while reducing carbon emissions.
Once cleaned, sorted and dried, the potatoes are trucked to one of PepsiCo’s eight factories in Brazil. They are turned into chips, packaged and shipped to the company’s 65 distribution centers across the country.
Not all potatoes move through the system immediately. PepsiCo stores as much as 15% of its potato requirements in refrigerated warehouses for four to six months to cover seasonal demand and weather-related disruptions.
“Storage costs money, but it is strategic,” Carvalho said. “On a rainy day like today, if harvesting is not possible, the producer can pull potatoes out of storage and keep the operation running.”
With uncertainty around El Niño, PepsiCo has been increasing that buffer.
“We have invested in building and renting refrigerated warehouses,” Carvalho said. “The safety stock needs to be a little larger.”
* The journalist traveled at PepsiCo’s invitation.
This story was translated from the original Portuguese with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by The AgriBiz editorial staff.
