PepsiCo Opens its First Oat Testing Lab in UK
A new research lab focused on testing oats from PepsiCo‘s innovative agricultural science programs has opened in partnership with NIAB. This is the first time such a thing has been done in the UK.
The purpose of the facility is to help Quaker Oats growers in ways such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, maximising yield, and more so that they can continue providing high-quality oats for future Quaker product demand.
The brand new laboratory, situated at the NIAB crop research organisation in Cambridge, boasts top-of-the-line grain quality testing facilities. Now, expert crop researchers will use the new facilities to test and analyse thousands of oat samples from regenerative agricultural trials. This will help identify which oats are best suited for milling and other nutritional requirements.
PepsiCo has partnered with NIAB for many years to improve agricultural and horticultural crop production. This move brings together the specialist knowledge, skills and facilities required to understand the performance and quality of agricultural crop varieties and seeds, allowing us to provide even better support for our farmers.
PepsiCo will use the data gathered from the lab to inform their research projects, one of which is called Opti-Oat Crop Intelligence. This programme offers information about how to grow oats perfectly, and it forms a part of the company’s Opti-Oat initiative. The objective of this larger project is to deliver a 5-10% yield increase while also supporting more sustainable crop production methods.
The new testing facility allows PepsiCo to help growers by producing useful data and optimising Quaker Oats yield and quality, as well as reducing our greenhouse gas emissions for the sake of the planet, part of PepsiCo Positive Goals.
“Setting up this facility with PepsiCo has been fantastic and we have benefitted from each other’s knowledge and experience in the industry. PepsiCo’s investment has improved our shared spaces and equipment, generated new ideas for ways of working and staff training opportunities, including better knowledge of the oat crop from field to bowl”; said Helen Appleyard, head of analytical services at NIAB.
News Credits: PepsiCo opens its first UK oat testing lab
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