Published on 10, Jan 2023

Ruohan Liu, Global Director of PepsiCo, on Sustainability in Business

NEW YORK CITY – Sustainability has quickly become a priority for large corporations hoping to keep operations efficient in the long term as the effects of widespread industrialization become more apparent both in the United States and worldwide. 

“Sustainability as a concept is about ensuring the least harm to the environment and society overall so that we can continue to create these products for our customers,” Ruohan Liu, Global Director of PepsiCo says on the topic. “Preserving our way of life provides the context for our world to even exist as we know it, so naturally, we’re prioritizing making improvements to serve that goal.”

PepsiCo, the multinational food and beverage corporation, is taking a greater interest in sustainable solutions, going as far as to make the commitment to meet a goal of net-zero emissions by 2040. Industry professionals like Ruohan Liu are leading the charge for greater avenues to environmentally conscious approaches in these spaces

Who is Ruohan Liu?

Currently the Global Director at PepsiCo, Ruohan Liu spearheads all digital solutioning in approaching concepts in sustainability and agriculture, as well as acting as lead technology evaluator of PepsiCo Venture Investment. Ruohan boasts a great deal of experience in the field, showing a consistent passion for producing impassioned efforts to promote greater environmental awareness in corporate spaces. “In a lot of ways, sustainability has been a constant in my career, I previously worked as a Global Director for Bayer and led digitally driven strategies in reducing the environmental impact there,” Ruohan explains.

With vast education in Business Administration and Agriculture, Ruohan Liu is an expert in finding solutions through alternative methods of field operation and supply chains while researching and developing new concepts to promote sustainability through operations. “My education and experience across these fields have given shape to a lot of ideas to make business live in greater harmony with the natural world,” Ruohan says. “At the end of the day, we’re trying to lend support in building a better world that balances these concepts.”

Sustainability is the Way of the Future

In recent years, sustainability has become a greater focus for brands across industries as the negative impact CO2 emissions have made on the environment becomes clearer to the general public. As other brands like Hyundai, IKEA, and Patagonia all take measured efforts to reduce emissions and promote more environmentally-conscious practices. Whether manufacturing electric vehicles, sourcing materials with greater collaboration with indigenous communities, or recycling materials for new and quality products, brands are integrating environmentally conscious concepts,  “It’s a significant issue for a lot of companies,” Ruohan says. “Of course, as these concepts become more commonly discussed, the commercial sector has more responsibility to promote the best advancements in the field. We’ve reached this point where productivity has been mastered, now the goal is to keep productivity high while running businesses more sustainably.”

PepsiCo has accordingly taken steps to establish itself as a leader in sustainability. From factors that are environmental and agricultural to social methods of sustainability, the brand has taken an effort to improve and streamline processes to work in greater harmony with both the environment and communities from all over the world.

“My team specifically builds digital solutions to support the implementation of sustainable agriculture and general sustainability goals for PepsiCo,” Ruohan explains. “So we take the time to take those practical avenues to make things more efficient, to foster greater collaboration, and to work smarter in order to make our business as sustainable and kind to the Earth as possible.”

Connect with Ruohan via LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ruohan