In Rhinelander, Wisconsin, PepsiCo's research and development team, led by Josh Parsons, is integrating traditional breeding techniques with modern technologies to enhance the quality and sustainability of potatoes used in Lay's potato chips. The team focuses on creating new potato varieties through cross-pollination, aiming to produce potatoes that meet specific criteria such as yield, disease resistance, nutrition, cooking quality, and flavor. The process involves analyzing parent potatoes, cross-pollinating them, and planting thousands of seeds annually, though only a few make it to production.
These efforts are part of PepsiCo's broader sustainability and nutrition goals, including reducing sodium content in their products. The development process, which avoids genetic modification, utilizes data science and AI for selecting desirable traits and predicting crop performance. Successful varieties are then distributed to partner farmers globally for cultivation. This meticulous development cycle, spanning nine years, underscores the commitment to improving the environmental impact and nutritional value of PepsiCo's products while supporting farmers and consumers worldwide.
Source: potatonewstoday.com