PepsiCo creates $50 million fund to support Hispanic-owned businesses

In October 2020, PepsiCo launched its Racial Equality Journey Hispanic Initiative. The company made a set of commitments and set aside $172 million for the initiative.

On Aug. 31, it announced a new $50 million platform as part of the initiative. Called Juntos Crecemos, meaning Together We Grow, it is aimed at strengthening Hispanic-owned businesses through offering educational, digital and material resources.

The program will specifically target restaurants, bodegas and meat markets.

In addition to the negative impacts many businesses across the country faced due to the pandemic, PepsiCo cited a Stanford University survey that concluded Latino small-business owners were half as likely as white small business owners to receive Paycheck Protection Program assistance, along with a Small Business Association report that found lower rates of business ownership and smaller business income among Latinos in the U.S.

“Hispanic small-business owners have disproportionately been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which is why we are excited to work with PepsiCo in bringing this much needed support to our community,” said Lupillo Ramirez, president of the Latino Food Industry Association, which is partnering with PepsiCo in publicizing and implementing the initiative.

“Juntos Crecemos will provide valuable guidance and mentoring while connecting and uniting business owners across the country in sharing best practices.”

Benefits of the program include access to personal consultation from business experts and an eight-week consultation curriculum designed to help businesses develop their online presence, delivery logistics, online ordering and marketing practices.

Bodegas and meat markets that participate will be able to receive store safety kits, consumer promotion materials and targeted digital media support.

The PepsiCo Foundation will also be involved in the program through its IMPACTO Hispanic Business Accelerator, which will help 500 Hispanic small-business owners across the U.S. grow and develop their enterprises and strategies.