PepsiCo opens oat testing lab in Cambridge

The lab, which has opened at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) in Cambridge, contains “state-of-the-art grain quality testing facilities”.

It will allow expert crop researchers to test and analyse thousands of oat samples from regenerative agricultural trials for milling and nutritional requirements.

The research would help more than 300 UK Quaker Oats growers produce “the best possible oats while reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and maximising yield”, it said.

The move continued PepsiCo’s long-standing partnership with NIAB, which works to improve agricultural and horticultural crop production.

The data collected from the lab will feed into PepsiCo’s research projects including the company’s Opti-Oat Crop Intelligence programme, which offers information and insights on how to grow “the perfect oat”.

It would help all UK Quaker Oat farmers to reach the Leaf Marque sustainability standard, by rolling out regenerative agriculture practices that support improved biodiversity, soil health, water and air quality.

According to PepsiCo UK senior scientist Peter Bright, growers were “facing pressure on several fronts, with issues like extreme weather and rising costs of materials like fertiliser making it more difficult for them to grow their crops”.

“With over 100,000 metric tonnes of oats going through our mill in Scotland every year, it’s really important that we support our growers to meet growing consumer demand for Quaker Oats in a sustainable way.”

The Grocer