PepsiCo joins Target, Walmart in rolling back DEI policies

PepsiCo is the latest company to retreat from its DEI policies, according to a memo CEO Ramon Laguarta sent to associates.

In the memo, shared by conservative social media activist Robby Starbuck on X and confirmed to be accurate by the company, Laguarta noted that 2025 marks the end of the CPG giant’s five-year DEI strategy.

“We see an even bigger opportunity to more deeply embed inclusion throughout the business as a key driver of business growth and will be introducing a new Inclusion for Growth strategy,” Laguarta wrote.

The company will eliminate the chief DEI officer role, shifting it to a “broader role focused on associate engagement, leadership development, and the continued delivery of A Space to Be You,” per the memo.

In January 2024, PepsiCo appointed longtime exec Monica Bauer Mengelberg as chief global diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, per a Linkedin post. Mengelberg’s current role is listed as global employee engagement senior vice president. She had posted as recently as November regarding the DEI officer role, receiving the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Person of the Year Award from the Hispanic PR Association.

PepsiCo will also be “broadening” its supplier diversity strategy to include small businesses, the memo said, a similar move to Target, which shifted its supplier diversity team to “supplier engagement” last month. PepsiCo will no longer engage in “single demographic category surveys,” and shift its sponsorship strategy to evaluate partnerships “based on their contribution to our overall business growth.”

Its A Space to Be You program, launched in 2021, will now become a “flagship program to fuel our inclusive culture,” Laguarta said. The company had previously referred to the initiative as a “DEI mantra,” rolling it out in tandem with goals like growing its Black and Hispanic supplier base and achieving gender parity in managerial roles. PepsiCo did not return Retail Brew’s request for comment on its policy changes.

Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, which both sell their products at government facilities, had planned to roll back their DEI policies in compliance with the Trump administration. NPR found two weeks ago that PepsiCo had removed DEI language from its investor reports.

The food and beverage giant joins Target, Walmart, and Lowe’s as retail companies shifting their DEI policies, while companies like Costco, Pinterest, and E.l.f. Beauty have held firm on their policies.