Marcelo Stefani Global Head of Sourcing & Chief Procurement Officer PepsiCo
The‘ customer of choice’ strategy While market expertise and execution are vital, Marcelo identifies another pillar, supplier relationships, as the most challenging and transformative task. In the past, PepsiCo’ s relationship with its suppliers was often strictly transactional. This occasionally led to friction, with some suppliers reportedly refusing to work with the brand on new initiatives.
“ Some suppliers, and this is a real story, said,‘ over my dead body will I send something to PepsiCo. It’ s very transactional.’ We had to change that,” Marcelo says.
To bridge this gap, PepsiCo began sharing its long-term strategies, growth targets, and sustainability goals with its partners to become a‘ customer of choice’. Marcelo explains:“ We started sharing with them the strategies where we want to grow, why we need to grow, why we need sustainability, why it’ s important for having a better world, how they can help us, and that changed.”
A seat at the table This change in perspective isn’ t just external. Internally, procurement has won a seat at the design table. Traditionally, procurement was involved only after a product design was already‘ locked’.
“ We changed that. We said, no, we are going to be a partner from
24 July 2026