Published on 10, Jan 2023

Global Director Ruohan Liu is Driving Technology Development to Achieve Net-Zero Emissions

LOS ANGELES, California – Multinational Food & Beverage Corporation PepsiCo has taken on several new initiatives to ensure the brand meet metrics putting it on track to go neutral with its emissions by 2040, and net positive with its water usage by 2030. 

PepsiCo, the corporate giant that owns brands such as Pepsi, Gatorade, Tropicana, and Frito-Lay, has laid out new initiatives to take on approaches to provide more sustainable solutions to minimize detrimental effects on the environment. Global Director of Digital Agriculture, Sustainability, and New Ventures, Ruohan Liu is taking a direct and definitive approach to promoting socially and environmentally conscious approaches within PepsiCo’s business operations.

“Essentially, my role is to build digital solutions to support the implementation of sustainable agriculture and general sustainability goals, such as going carbon or water neutral or positive,” Ruohan says. “One particular approach is through precision agriculture, or digital agriculture, which is utilizing digital solutions for challenges in crop management and production.”

As well as previously working with companies like Bayer and the Monsanto Company in offering digital corporate solutions, Ruohan provides advisory to research organizations and startups hoping to build solutions in the rapidly growing area of business management. Drawing from a rich educational background, she has introduced this technology to businesses across industry spaces. Ruohan holds a Master’s degree in business administration from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, a Master's degree in Entomology and Nematology from the University of Florida, and a Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy from China Agriculture University.

“Sustainability is something that every business is focusing on now, simply because the positives are so significant,” Ruohan says. “The real battle is making the case to producers, to farmers, ranchers, and whoever is providing businesses with a product to sell. This is because these sectors place the utmost importance on production rather than sustainability. I try to convey that these are two aspects that go hand-in-hand rather than existing in contradiction to one another. More sustainable models mean lower energy consumption and lower waste. Two things we can really use right now.”

As business shifts to newer and more sensible approaches, global business leaders like Ruohan Liu are actively shaping the future of industrialization across the planet. With ambitious plans to minimize damage and ensure sustainability for years to come, Ruohan Liu is bringing balance between the natural and industrial through the use of novel technological solutions.