Leading firms such as PepsiCo, CAPSA Vida, Kaiku, and COVAP have presented initiatives contributing to emission reduction and decarbonization in the beverage sector.
Experts agreed that real sustainability requires a comprehensive change in the production model with data, multidimensional analysis, and joint commitment across the entire value chain.
Madrid, June 3, 2025. The latest edition of Food 4 Future – Expo FoodTech 2025, the major technology fair for the food industry held in Bilbao from May 13 to 15, has demonstrated that the sustainability challenge in the sector necessarily involves transforming the production model from within. With data, technology, and also with the support and collaboration of all actors in the agri-food value chain. This was the assessment of national and international experts and representatives from leading companies, technology centers, and cooperatives, who at the Food 4 Future World Summit presented solutions and practical cases aimed at advancing toward a more efficient and decarbonized food future.
One of the most ambitious initiatives was presented by PepsiCo at its Etxabarri beverage plant, which aims to become the group’s first net zero emissions facility by 2025. Iñaki Ochoa, plant director, explained that the project began with the pep+ program and has been progressive since 2009. “Since that year, we have implemented recycling programs and in 2015 we started working with 48% green energy. The goal now is to eliminate the remaining 52% that still comes from gas”. In this process, they collaborated with Tecnalia to design a seven-year plan with cross-functional teams from the company to carry out electrification. They also developed a joint action with the city council to plant 3,000 trees to help reduce residual emissions, such as those related to climate control systems. Ochoa considers these collaborations key because “you can’t know everything, so you have to surround yourself with the right partners”.
Dairy cooperatives also played a leading role at Expo FoodTech 2025 with the presentation of the ‘Alliance 30 in the 30,’ a voluntary commitment by CAPSA Vida, Kaiku, and COVAP to reduce their emissions by 30% before 2030. Rubén Hidalgo, Director of CAPSA Vida, stated that “when consumers choose our brand, they are not only choosing a nutritional value but a model. And everything must be aligned so that the consumer finances that model”. Their project focuses on the production phase, where 90% of emissions are generated, and “we want the cooperative value to come first. This is not an imposition on our livestock farmer members, but we will support them in adopting technology”.
Naroa Sarasua, Head of Sustainability and Projects at Kaiku, emphasized that work must start from an economic base. “Working on long-term sustainability becomes impossible if it is not done on a firm economic foundation for our farmers”. Sarasua also shared that they are developing a new social indicator: “we want to create a livestock welfare index because if we don’t take care of our people, a cooperative project makes no sense”.
Meanwhile, Ana Alicia Bolívar, Head of Sustainability at COVAP, insisted on the need for a transversal vision. “If you approach it only from environmental sustainability, you will fail. You have to think in terms of comprehensive sustainability: environmental, economic, and social”.
These business experiences take place within a context of growing scientific consensus. Saioa Ramos, senior researcher at the AZTI technology center, pointed out that “25% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the food industry. This forces us to reduce its impact as soon as possible”. She also explained how her department works on sustainability strategies for the sector and facilitates the integration of tools that allow companies to measure and manage their real environmental footprint, because “a product evaluates many more impacts throughout its life cycle. This includes waste, packaging, or transport, among others”. This was also echoed by Dusan Ristic, Food Systems Sustainability Research Associate at the German Institute of Food Technologies, who referred to the excessive prominence of the carbon footprint as the sole indicator. “Even if your carbon footprint is low, that does not mean your product is sustainable. You have to think locally about environmental impacts”. Ristic advocated for the application of combined methodologies such as life cycle analysis, life cycle costing (LCC), and social assessment because “only from a multidimensional vision can relevant decisions be made”.
In short, food sustainability is no longer conceived as an isolated issue but as a systemic process that requires the active involvement of the entire value chain: from science to primary production, through industry and the consumer.
