New PepsiCo campaign celebrates women in supply chain

PepsiCo has launched a new campaign, 'She is PepsiCo', celebrating women in supply chain and operations roles at its UK sites, aiming to inspire more women to pursue frontline roles.

As part of the campaign, portraits of three of its female employees will replace the current design on three trucks used across its distribution network. This will showcase the women’s major roles in bringing much-loved snacks, like Walkers Sensations, Snack A Jacks and Sunbites, to the nation.

The campaign features Manjit Kaur, manufacturing technician in Leicester, who started her career chopping potatoes at the Walkers factory in 2011, and Ewa Doroslawska, manufacturing technician in Coventry, whose PepsiCo career spans almost 20 years. Alex Praja in Skelmersdale, also a manufacturing technician, decided to pursue a career in engineering after joining PepsiCo, completing the group of women heroed in the campaign.

The trio were nominated by their respective site directors, who were asked to highlight employees consistently going above and beyond in their roles.

“I'm very proud of this nomination – it’s something I never expected and to get this kind of recognition is amazing. It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, you can reach the same goal if you have a willingness to learn and you put your mind to it,” Kaur said.

Doroslawska added: “The world is changing for women and it makes me really proud to see more women coming into frontline work. Taking the first step is often the hardest bit, but believe in yourself – you have nothing to lose!”

Praja said: "I don’t always have confidence, so it feels really good to be part of She Is PepsiCo. I hope I can inspire more women to give engineering a try because we need more women in the industry."

The trucks were initially unveiled at special ceremonies taking place across PepsiCo’s Leicester, Coventry and Skelmersdale sites and have now hit the roads.

Manjit, Ewa and Alex also received a grant of £5,000 to donate to a local women’s charity of their choice, and chose Women’s Aid Leicestershire, Kairos Women Working Together, and Young Women’s Trust respectively. Families, friends and colleagues of Manjit, Ewa and Alex also attended the celebrations.

“We’re proud to be spotlighting the incredible work of women in frontline jobs across our sites, and bringing their stories to people all over the UK. As well as recognising their crucial role in producing some of the UK’s most-loved snacks, we hope this campaign will inspire more women to pursue careers in manufacturing and operations,” Alison Atkins, HR director supply chain, Pepsico UK & Ireland, said.

PepsiCo said it currently have open roles at the Leicester, Coventry and Skelmersdale sites.