PepsiCo in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia (AMESA) has partnered with the PepsiCo Foundation to launch the ‘Filling Hearts Outside the Box’ program, providing over three million meals to people in need across six countries during the Holy Month of Ramadan. The program is part of PepsiCo Foundation’s ‘Food for Good’ platform, aimed at advancing food security and making nutritious meals accessible. Hunger and food insecurity in the region are worsened by climate change and macroeconomic conditions, impacting the most vulnerable segments and posing multi-scale challenges to health, learning, social equity, and sustainable economic development.
PepsiCo AMESA has identified vulnerable segments and collaborated with local partners to provide food assistance and targeted meal delivery. As part of PepsiCo’s pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) goal to advance food security for 50 million people by 2030 globally, PepsiCo in AMESA is advancing food security initiatives by collaborating with industry peers, local and international organizations, and inviting PepsiCo employees to take action on global hunger and ensure the most vulnerable can access food with dignity.
The PepsiCo Foundation has invested in interventions to improve the resiliency of the global food system. PepsiCo in AMESA is making Ramadan even more special by offering meals and lending a helping hand to those less fortunate.
In Iraq, PepsiCo built on its ongoing partnership with the Iraqi Children’s Foundation (ICF) and its Hope Bus initiative to supply 22,500 meals to underprivileged youngsters. In Lebanon, PepsiCo collaborated with the Lebanese Food Bank (LFB) to distribute 90,000 hot meals and food boxes stocked by local producers, providing nutritious meals to vulnerable families and generating additional income for local producers.
In Egypt, the company donated 1.5 million meals through Al-Manfaz and the Egyptian Food Bank. PepsiCo employees gathered at the Al-Manfaz warehouse to pack the boxes, bringing support closer to the Egyptian communities. In Pakistan, PepsiCo hosted iftars for orphans featuring child-friendly activities organized by the company’s employees. As part of the program, PepsiCo in partnership with Akhuwat Foundation distributed over 1.2 million meals.
In Saudi Arabia, PepsiCo contributed 150,000 meals as part of the food basket program run by the Saudi Food Bank (Eta’am) and distributed 200,000 Aquafina bottles to the Iftar Sayim project. In the UAE, PepsiCo organized with Companies for Good to donate 400 meals at a labor camp to the blue-collar community, along with 400 beverages and 400 Aquafina bottles.
PepsiCo’s Food for Good has delivered more than 270 million meals to over 46 million people in partnership with more than 60 non-profits in 28 countries since its launch in 2009. The initiative is helping to address the problem of food insecurity in the region, which has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.