PepsiCo Announces Food Startup Incubator Project in Europe

PepsiCo launched a new startup incubation program to provide grants assisting in the development and expansion of nutrition- or wellness-oriented brands for European consumers, the American company announced Tuesday.

Under the program, dubbed PepsiCo Nutrition Greenhouse, selected startups will each receive a €25,000 grant and inclusion in a six-month incubation program where the new companies will receive advice from PepsiCo. One selected company will receive a €100,000 prize toward its continued expansion.

“Consumer demand for more nutritious foods and beverages continues to rise and this is an exciting space for our industry,” said the leader of the effort, Jaun Ignacio Amat, vice president of nutrition for PepsiCo Western Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, in a statement. “We have a tremendous opportunity to use our global scale and resources to influence positive change and our ‘Nutrition Greenhouse’ program aims to help nurture some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs in the food and beverage sector.”

The company agreed to purchase KeVita, a probiotic beverage firm, in late 2016 and purchased the natural juice brand Naked Juice in 2008. PepsiCo said the Nutrition Greenhouse program is part of the company’s commitment to innovation and supporting and collaborating with entrepreneurs.

“We believe people all over the world should have access to convenient, great tasting nutritious products. It will take collaboration to make this happen and we want smaller innovative companies to see PepsiCo as the place to help them scale their business,” said Jim Andrew, senior vice president of global strategy, in a company press release. “We want to connect with entrepreneurs who share our Performance with a Purpose vision to deliver growth in a way that is sensitive to societal needs. By working together, and harnessing the best of both of our organizations, we can put innovative new nutritious products into the shopping baskets of people across Europe.”

The deadline for applications is May 15, 2017. Visit nutritiongreenhouse.com for more information.

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