Statement: Annual shareholders’ meeting of PepsiCo, Kristin Urquiza

By Kristin Urquiza, Think Outside The Bottle Campaign Director

For Immediate Release: May 5, 2010

Contact: Christina Rossi, 617-447-2540

Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. My name is Kristin Urquiza. I am with Corporate Accountability International’s Think Outside the Bottle campaign.

For several years now, tens of thousands of individuals, as well as communities, public officials and organizations across the country have taken action with the Think Outside the Bottle Campaign to build support for strong public water systems and to call on bottled water corporations to address the social and environmental impacts of bottled water.

In 2007, Pepsi took some initial steps to respond to public concerns by changing the label of its Aquafina brand to include “public water source” on the label. This step has provided consumers with more information about the bottled water they are buying. Also, given Aquafina’s position as a top-selling national brand, Pepsi’s actions have shaped the rest of the bottled water industry’s practices as well; for example, setting the stage for Nestlé to add Public Water Source to the labels of its Pure Life brand, and increasing competitive pressure on Coke to do the same. Your shareholders, the public and our members recognize this action as a positive step in addressing the concerns surrounding PepsiCo’s water practices.

Yet, there is still more that Pepsi needs to do to address the full scope of concerns people have about bottled water. Pepsi needs to make information about the water quality testing and results for its Aquafina brand fully available to the public, in a manner comparable to reports by public water systems.

The Think Outside the Bottle Campaign has called for water bottlers to take this step from the start, and this past summer, our concerns were confirmed by hearings held by the U.S. Government. Last July, members of Congress held a hearing to discuss shortcomings in the regulation of bottled water. They heard findings from a two-year study conducted by the Government Accountability Office, which stated that the current regulatory requirements and oversight for the bottled water industry regarding accurate product labeling, and product quality and testing disclosure falls short, as do current industry practices.

In response, members of Congress sent a letter to thirteen bottled water producers in the U.S., including PepsiCo, requesting you to provide detailed information about product labeling, quality testing and quality reporting practices.

The findings of this Congressional hearing are a central concern for the Think Outside the Bottle campaign, and underscores the need for Pepsi to act. Yet, over the past year, as Think Outside the Bottle has called on Pepsi to take this step, Pepsi has responded by claiming that the company follows the letter of the law required by the FDA, that its treatment processes alone for Aquafina ensures its water is of reliable quality, and that the company does not feel compelled to do more than what is merely required of them.

Ms. Nooyi, this position seems to sit on shaky ground, given the findings of the GAO report. It also seems like a departure from your own statements about leadership. At a conference held at Yale University in March 2010 that I attended, you spoke on a panel with Business School Dean Sharon Oster about Practices of Leadership in the Global Age where you said “Don’t wait for someone to tell you to change, go and make it happen.” Yet, when given the opportunity for Pepsi to show leadership on an issue of public importance, Pepsi has hidden behind regulatory requirements and industry self-regulation measures that clearly fall short of what is required for people to make informed choices about where to get their drinking water.

Given the clear shortcomings in oversight of the bottled water industry, the sustained and growing call for action from tens of thousands of individuals across the country, and the advances on this front already made by your competitors Nestlé, the next steps for Pepsi seem clear.

Ms. Nooyi, my question to you is this: when will you put action to your words and show leadership by making information about the water quality testing and results for its Aquafina brand fully available to the public, in a manner comparable to reports by public water systems?
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