NEW TECH FOODS

In a announcement at annual trade show CES 2026, PepsiCo unveiled a multi-year collaboration with Siemens and NVIDIA aimed at enhancing its manufacturing and supply chain operations through advanced digital twin technology and AI.

This initiative is the first of its kind for a global consumer packaged goods company, marking a significant step in leveraging digital innovation to enhance operational efficiency.

As demand for production and distribution capacity continues to escalate, PepsiCo is turning to AI and digital solutions to optimise its existing facilities. Traditional methods of expansion have proven slow and costly, hindering the company’s ability to adapt swiftly to market changes.

Ramon Laguarta, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, said: “The scale and complexity of PepsiCo's business, from farm to shelf, is massive – and we are embedding AI throughout our operations to better meet the increasing demands of our consumers and customers”.

The partnership will utilise Siemens' Digital Twin Composer, powered by NVIDIA Omniverse libraries, to create physics-based digital twins of PepsiCo’s manufacturing and warehousing facilities.

The technology will enable the company to simulate, validate and optimise facility layouts prior to any physical modifications, thereby streamlining the design process and enhancing operational agility.

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, highlighted the transformative potential of digital twins for physical industries, such as consumer packaged goods: “For companies with real-world assets, digital twins are the foundation of their AI journey”.

This collaboration aims to redefine how PepsiCo designs and operates its facilities, using real-time data to create a comprehensive digital environment that enhances decision-making and operational efficiency.

Siemens' new software solution is designed to build Industrial Metaverse environments at scale, allowing organisations to apply industrial AI and simulation capabilities in real-time.

This innovation will empower PepsiCo to combine 2D and 3D digital twin data with real-time physical information, creating a high-fidelity virtual environment for its production processes.

PepsiCo's initial pilots in the US have already demonstrated promising results, with teams optimising facility configurations to achieve a 20% increase in throughput and significantly reducing capital expenditure by uncovering hidden capacities.

Athina Kanioura, CEO for Latin America and global chief strategy and transformation officer at PepsiCo, described the initiative as a “digital blueprint that reimagines how the supply chain is designed, built, and scaled,” reinforcing the company’s commitment to building a responsive and intelligent operational ecosystem.