Snack Chat

Fighting Hunger with PepsiCo Feeds America

As the leading food and beverage company in the world, it makes sense for us at PepsiCo to be passionate about making sure our neighbors are fed. However, I’m always amazed at how our associates really go above and beyond the call of duty. This couldn't have been more evident when I recently joined some of PepsiCo’s Dallas-area associates (pictured), including my Frito-Lay Headquarters coworkers, at the North Texas Food Bank to pack more than 52,000 meals for local families in need. The event was a part of our second annual PepsiCo Feeds America program, a day in which PepsiCo associates gather in cities across the U.S to help fight hunger. It was led by MOSAIC, PepsiCo’s employee resource group supporting African-American associates.

The national day of service sent 1,300 PepsiCo associates nationwide to Feeding America food banks to help sort and build care packages. At the end of the day, PepsiCo associates logged more than 6,000 hours of combined community service, and donated more than 250,000 pounds of products like Quaker oatmeal, Frito-Lay snacks and Aquafina water to the Feeding America network of food banks -- which 37 million people (including 14 million children) rely on for assistance.

Check out the video below for an insider’s view of our morning shift at the North Texas Food Bank. Then check out Feeding America's website to see how you can help make a difference.

- Deanna

We're Heading West for the Food and Nutrition Conference Expo!

Today, we’re excited to introduce a new member of the Snack Chat blogging team, Katherine Francis! Katherine is a registered dietitian who works in our Research & Development organization here at Frito-Lay headquarters. She’ll be blogging on Snack Chat about the work she and her team are doing to advocate sensible snacking and nutrition from product development to consumer enjoyment. Welcome, Katherine! - Kristin

The Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE) is the Super Bowl of nutrition conferences. As a registered dietitian (RD), I have the privilege this week of joining thousands of RDs from all over the country in sunny San Diego to participate in the annual event, which kicks off today! The conference boasts presentations and discussions of current research topics, networking with colleagues, and an enormous exhibit hall where attendees have the chance to talk with industry representatives, sample new products, pick up new educational materials and participate in drawings.

A lot of activity surrounds the Frito-Lay booth this year. The dietitians who visit it will be able to sample new products, including Lay’s Garden Tomato Basil Potato Chips and SunChips Jalapeño Jack Multigrain Snacks – both made with all natural ingredients. My fellow attendees will also be able to sample products to which we have made positive nutrition changes, such as Lay’s BBQ Potato Chips - a great example of how we are reducing sodium by nearly 25% on average across our flavored potato chip lines.

To share a ‘sneak peek’ behind the scenes at Frito-Lay, we often take RDs into our plants to illustrate how our chips are made with simple ingredients by simple processes. This year, we have brought the plant tour to FNCE! By sharing step-by-step information about how we make our snacks, dietitians will understand, how we start with whole corn kernels and end up with Tostitos Tortilla Chips -- and how potatoes become potato chips in less than 15 minutes. In addition to those great activities, we have a surprise for those who want to test their chip knowledge: A ‘Chip Challenge’ they can enter at the booth or on Twitter -- and one lucky participant will win a relaxing day at the spa to relieve that post-FNCE stress!

FNCE is always a very fun weekend for me -- I love running into college peers and professors, as well as networking with other dietitians and having the opportunity to share what we are doing here at Frito-Lay to improve the nutritional quality of America’s favorite snack chips through innovation.

If you’re at FNCE this week, stop by our booth, say hello and take our Chip Challenge! See you there.

- Katherine

Frito-Lay Drivers Have A Million Reasons to Celebrate

I’m a horrible driver. The only thing I check before getting on the road is my lipstick. Fortunately, I do arrive safely at my destination -- although I think that has more to do with my really fast angels than any actual driving skills. 

However, I recently had the chance to spend time with some true masters of the road when Frito-Lay recognized its 110 over-the-road drivers who have logged 1 million, 2 million or 3 million accident-free miles this year. This is the largest "Million Miler" class since the program began in 1999, and marks the first time six "Million Milers" reached the 3 million-mile mark in the same year! To help you understand how amazing that accomplishment is, it takes an average of 10-12 years of driving to reach 1 million accident-free miles, and our drivers with 3 million miles have an average of 35 years driving experience with Frito-Lay.

All of Frito-Lay’s 550 active "Million Milers" possess high-level safety skills honed through extensive training and adherence to good driving behaviors. The drivers’ skills are often tested on maneuvering courses and advanced driving simulators, and by participating in team collaborations on best practices to create a positive safety culture.

So, as I was stuck in Dallas traffic this morning, I thought of the 110 drivers I met, and smiled. I put my hands on my steering wheel at 10 and 2, checked my mirrors often, put down the cell phone and silently thanked them for keeping themselves and us safe on the road. Keep on truckin’!

- Deanna

Cucamonga Plant Honors Longtime Employee With Training Center Dedication

I’ve always thought that one of the most special things about Frito-Lay is our leaders’ commitment to recognizing our employees for their exceptional work and dedication to the company –- especially our frontline employees, who are responsible for making, moving and selling our snacks. Whether it's official awards programs like our annual Ring of Honor for our top sales associates or informal, on-the-spot recognition for employees who go the distance to meet a customer’s special request or refuse to let snowstorms get in the way of delivering our snacks to stores, recognition is an integral part of our culture and way of doing business.

An especially wonderful example of this happened recently at our Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., plant, where site leaders decided to name their new employee training center after Julius McGee, a packaging specialist at the plant who this summer celebrated 45 years with Frito-Lay. Our leaders wanted to honor and thank Julius for his many years of outstanding service to the company and for his commitment to training other employees in packaging machine operation.

The site held a special ribbon-cutting ceremony (pictured) to dedicate the McGee Training Center. Julius’ family members and his fellow employees attended the ceremony, which included a tribute to him from our region vice president of southern California. True to form, Julius was humble and showed his commitment to employee development even during the ceremony, telling attendees, “There is no substitute for good training.”

Congratulations, Julius! Your recognition is well deserved and your service to the company and our people is an inspiration to everyone at Frito-Lay! 

- Katherine

A Little Goes a Long Way! Setting New Records in the 2011 Dallas Heart Walk!

Last Saturday, my husband and I (pictured left) participated in the American Heart Association (AHA) Heart Walk to help raise money to fight heart disease. The Dallas Heart Walk set a record this year with around 50,000 walkers and total contributions of more than $3.3 Million! Frito-Lay also set a record of our own by raising more than $250,000 for AHA this year – more than we’ve ever raised in years past! 

As a dietitian, it was exciting to see so many people getting out and being active. People often do not realize that just a little exercise is good for your heart; you don’t necessarily have to spend hours on the treadmill to see beneficial effects. If you aren’t exercising now, I recommend you start slow and gradually work your way up to 30 minutes per day, most days of the week. Physical activity is not only good for your heart, but it is also builds stronger muscles and bones, helps you sleep better at night, can decrease your chances of becoming depressed, and can even increase your chances of living longer. 

I encourage you to get moving at your local AHA Heart Walk or find another type of exercise that you enjoy. And, if you’re looking for the perfect post-workout snack, I recommend SunChips multigrain snacks, made with 18 grams of heart healthy whole grains per serving.* (Read more about the benefits of whole grains on the AHA website.) 

With the great success of the Dallas Heart Walk this year, I’m already looking forward to next year’s walk! 

- Danielle 

*Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods, and low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.