Pepperidge Farm at the Crossroads: How Aggressive Sustainability Will Shape the Next Decade in Snacking

Every iconic food brand eventually faces a pivotal moment—a reckoning between tradition and transformation. For Pepperidge Farm, the Campbell Soup Company’s beloved U.S. snack subsidiary, that moment is now. Nearly a century after Margaret Rudkin founded the brand in her own Connecticut kitchen, Pepperidge Farm finds itself not only competing for flavor and shelf space, but also for leadership in climate action, sustainable agriculture, and responsible packaging. Once the province of optional CSR initiatives, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments now define how—and where—the company can grow. With the snack market’s margins narrowing and consumer scrutiny intensifying, the speed and depth with which Pepperidge Farm can remake its grain, energy, and packaging supply chains may well determine its fate in the coming decade.

The High Stakes of Sustainability in U.S. Snacks

From Marketing Slogan to Boardroom Mandate: In 2024, sustainability for Pepperidge Farm is no longer a feel-good consumer message—it’s a strategic imperative, enforced by Campbell Soup’s science-based climate targets. Campbell, one of “the 100 Most Sustainable Companies,” has committed to slash Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 42% and Scope 3 by 25% by fiscal 2030 from a 2020 baseline—numbers that echo through every baking oven and shipping dock Pepperidge Farm operates. The implications: plant-level energy management, regenerative wheat supply, and packaging design are matters of investor, regulatory, and competitive urgency.
Goldfish Crackers and Milano Cookies: Hidden Carbon Footprints: The brand’s signature SKUs are grain-intensive. In fact, wheat and flour supply chains are by far the largest “hidden” sources of greenhouse gas emissions, a Scope 3 hotspot demanding deep reform. As Campbell ramps up its wheat sustainability program—now covering 108,000 acres in Idaho, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Utah—leadership at Pepperidge Farm must rethink sourcing, logistics, and supplier engagement from the field to the factory floor.
Packaging as a Brand Test Case: Pepperidge Farm’s fully recyclable paper bags have become an ESG highlight for Campbell, but further innovation—fiber optimization, region-specific recycling, and transparency—will be needed as U.S. markets shift toward both climate and circularity benchmarks.

Inside the Campbell-Pepperidge Farm Sustainability Engine

Corporate Mandates and Material Levers: For business leaders, Campbell’s climate goals bind Pepperidge Farm to real change—not only in its own operations, but across its supply chain. The commitment to certified ingredients runs deep: 100% RSPO-certified palm oil, expanding regenerative agriculture pilots, and wheat sourcing goals that are “well ahead of the halfway point” to 50% sustainably sourced wheat by 2025.
The Wheat Revolution—More Than a Statistic: By fiscal 2022, 29% of Campbell’s total wheat volume was enrolled in sustainability programs—up from 3% in 2018. The pace of change is accelerating, driven by partnerships such as Ardent Mills and Nutrien Ag Solutions (Utah) and Star of the West Milling Co. (Ohio). Tech-driven platforms like Agrible allow Campbell—and Pepperidge Farm by extension—to monitor field-level agronomy and sustainability, transforming once opaque supply chains into strategic assets.
Game-Changing Logistics: Near Willard, Ohio, flour now moves from the mill to bakery via sealed pneumatic tubes, eliminating “thousands of semi-truck loads” and slashing GHGs, costs, and supply risk. In Richmond, Utah, the new Greenfield Milling facility supplies Pepperidge Farm’s Goldfish and Milano plant via a 20-year agreement and dedicated pneumatic system, described as “redefining the food supply chain” with advanced sustainability initiatives. The potential: real-time flour traceability, organic segment growth, and expansion of low-carbon wheat streams.
Facility Innovations and R&D Capacity: The Norwalk, Connecticut innovation center is more than a green building—its LEED-certification, water-saving features, and daylight harvesting make it an incubator for next-generation processes and packaging. It serves as a template for how R&D can accelerate sustainability advances and standardize best practices across multiple geographies.

From Test Bed to Template: U.S. Regional Leadership

Utah’s Richmond Hub—A Model for Regenerative Agriculture: The strategic partnership with Greenfield Milling in Richmond enables Pepperidge Farm to pilot regenerative wheat, organic segments, and advanced mill-to-bakery logistics. With 7,500 CWTS per day milling capacity and expansion plans for blending and warehousing automation, this hub positions Pepperidge Farm at the leading edge of sustainable snack production.
Midwest and Mid-Atlantic Momentum: In Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, the wheat sustainability program has already transformed flour logistics—flour transfer by sealed tube, field-level agronomic data capture, and partnerships that help optimize nitrogen use and reduce tillage. These regions are becoming test cases for scaling practices across Campbell’s global network.
Programmatic Expansion and Data-Driven Agronomy: Platforms like Agrible are helping quantify the impact of advanced on-farm practices. From cover crops to fertilizer precision, these innovations are critical for reducing carbon intensity and supporting Campbell’s Scope 3 targets.

Tactical Shifts: Where Pepperidge Farm Can Move Fast

Deepening Sustainable Wheat Contracts: By leveraging long-term, performance-based agreements like the 20-year Greenfield Milling deal, Pepperidge Farm can both secure supply and drive the share of sustainably sourced wheat well beyond the company-wide 50% target. This protects cost margins and supply reliability in an era of climate-induced volatility.
Product Segmentation by Sustainability Tier: Launching Goldfish and Milano sub-lines that utilize 100% sustainably sourced or organic wheat enables Pepperidge Farm to probe consumer willingness to pay for eco-innovation, while setting the stage for wider rollouts.
Scaling Digital Measurement: Expanding the use of digital agronomy platforms boosts transparency, allowing for credible reporting and real-world impact assessment. This data backbone is key for both investor-facing disclosure and supplier alignment.
Regenerative Pilots in Wheat: Building on Campbell’s potato pilot experience, Pepperidge Farm can pioneer retailer-backed regenerative wheat initiatives—sharing costs, risks, and data across the chain and positioning itself as a leader in climate-smart agriculture.

Zeroing In On Facility-Level Decarbonization

Energy Benchmarking and Optimization: Pepperidge Farm’s plants in Richmond and Willard are ideal for benchmarking energy use per ton of product, capturing quick wins in oven heat recovery, compressed-air systems, and lighting. Such optimization is not just green—it contributed to Campbell’s $34 million in Q1 FY2026 cost savings.
Electrification and Renewables: Electrifying auxiliary plant systems and pursuing renewable PPAs or onsite solar in conducive regions (Utah, Ohio, Northeast) can both lower operational costs and accelerate progress against Scope 1 & 2 targets.
Logistics Reinvention: Extending sealed tube/pneumatic flour movement to feasible mill-to-bakery pairs, as well as optimizing internal transport, will reduce GHGs, labor, and volatility.
Water and Waste Strategy: The company’s experience at the Norwalk innovation center—water conservation, daylight harvesting—should inform broader water and waste reduction strategies at production sites.

Packaging: The Next Frontier

Beyond the Paper Bag: While Pepperidge Farm’s fully recyclable paper bag design is a current best-in-class example, future strides must go further: fiber weight reduction, higher recycled content, mono-material packaging, and regionally attuned recyclability.
Light-weighting and Fiber Optimization: Pilot tests at the Norwalk center can enable systematic paper weight reduction without loss of product quality, driving both emissions and cost savings.
Reducing Material Complexity: Redesigning inner liners, windows, and closures to minimize mixed materials supports recycling, supply chain efficiency, and compliance.
Region-Specific Solutions: Mapping recycling infrastructure in major U.S. and export markets ensures packaging design is matched to what is actually recycled—not just what is theoretically recyclable.
Transparent Consumer Messaging: Clear, on-pack information about packaging sustainability will differentiate Pepperidge Farm from less progressive competitors, capitalizing on ESG-driven consumer trends.

Beyond Wheat: Tackling Other Ingredient Hotspots

Palm Oil and Deforestation-Free Supply: While Campbell has achieved 100% RSPO-certified palm oil across its portfolio, Pepperidge Farm should move toward plantation-level traceability and deforestation-free verification, buttressed by supplier audits.
Sugar and Cocoa—Extending the Wheat Model: By piloting sustainable sourcing programs for sugar and cocoa in origin countries, the company can mitigate Scope 3 emissions, labor risk, and reputational exposure in its premium cookie range.
Supplier Partnerships and Cross-Commodity Learning: Applying lessons from the wheat sustainability journey can accelerate transformation in other ingredient streams, driving cumulative climate and social impact.

Governance and Disclosure: Making Change Stick

Integrating KPIs and Target Delivery: Pepperidge Farm’s emissions and sustainability metrics must be explicitly tied to Campbell’s corporate goals, with plant-level targets for GHG, water, and energy aligned with the overall trajectory.
Norwalk Innovation Center as “Test Factory”: The LEED-certified, pilot-ready Norwalk center should prototype new baking processes, energy-saving machinery, and packaging formats before broader scale-up.
Investor-Grade Transparency and Reporting: As Campbell enjoys recognition as one of the world’s most sustainable corporations, Pepperidge Farm’s progress—from Greenfield Milling partnerships to pneumatic flour systems—should be spotlighted in corporate responsibility reports, investor materials, and customer-facing narratives.

Comparative Segment: Perspectives Old and New

“Legacy Brand” View: For long-time managers, sustainability can seem like an appendage to the business—a risk to margins, potentially dilutive to brand heritage, primarily a regulatory box-checking exercise.
“Next-Gen Leadership” View: For emerging leaders, ESG is a driver of operational resilience, supply chain innovation, and customer loyalty. Data-driven sourcing contracts, regenerative pilots, and transparent packaging are not only risk mitigators but strategic differentiators.
Investor Expectations: Increasingly, major indices and asset managers scrutinize snack brands’ real-world progress against climate goals. Pepperidge Farm’s embeddedness in Campbell’s sustainability machine gives it unique leverage—but also unique accountability.
Consumer Perspective: With trust in food brands now shaped by transparency, ingredient traceability, and recyclability, Pepperidge Farm’s choices today will define its relevance to tomorrow’s shopper.

The future of food is not just about what tastes good, but about what does good. The brands that translate climate science and supply chain transparency into everyday products—without tradeoff—won’t just survive; they’ll set the standard for the next generation of snacking.

Real-World Implications: Why This Matters Now

Margin Protection and Cost Optimization: By eliminating thousands of truck freight runs and optimizing energy use, Pepperidge Farm can reduce both carbon exposure and direct costs—vital as regulatory and input price pressures climb.
Supply Chain Risk Mitigation: The shift to long-term, sustainability-linked flour contracts—like Greenfield Milling’s 20-year deal—guards against climate shocks, market volatility, and commodity swings.
Brand Equity and Category Leadership: With fully recyclable paper bags and visible sustainable sourcing, Pepperidge Farm can differentiate itself in the eyes of both climate-conscious parents and increasingly selective retailers.
Regulatory and Investor Compliance: Delivery against Campbell’s Scope 1 & 2 (42%) and Scope 3 (25%) emission cuts is not optional. Investors, rating agencies, and market partners will demand—and verify—progress at the brand and plant level.
Scalability and Global Relevance: The U.S. wheat/flour system—Utah, Ohio, Idaho, Maryland, Pennsylvania—is both laboratory and launchpad. Successful models here can seed similar strategies in Campbell’s other priority regions, from Canada to the UK and beyond.

Forward Thinking: What Should Decision Makers Do Next?

Ambitious Wheat Sourcing Expansion: Target 80–100% sustainable wheat for all core Pepperidge Farm products, using verified, on-farm emission reduction as a pricing and contract lever.
Accelerate Plant Decarbonization: Benchmark energy, electrify auxiliary systems, expand renewable sourcing, and model new logistics flows—using savings and optimization data to fund further innovation.
Transform Packaging: Go beyond recyclable bags. Light-weight, mono-material, regionally optimized packaging should become the R&D standard, piloted in Norwalk and rapidly scaled.
Deepen Supplier Engagement: Extend digital measurement tools, regenerative pilots, and sustainability contracts to sugar, cocoa, and palm oil segments.
Governance and Communication: Make Pepperidge Farm’s sustainability KPIs central to Campbell’s ESG reporting, brand narratives, and investor presentations—ensuring snack progress is not lost in soup headlines.
Prepare for Expansion: Treat the U.S. wheat/flour sustainability system as a prototype for other regions, documenting successes, hurdles, and transferable processes.

Conclusion: The Strategic Imperative—Why Tomorrow’s Pepperidge Farm Will Look Very Different

As the curtain rises on a new era for snacking, Pepperidge Farm stands at the nexus of brand legacy and future leadership. The decisive translation of Campbell Soup Company’s climate, agriculture, and packaging commitments into plant-level and product-level action is more than a regulatory requirement—it is the linchpin of the company’s competitiveness and resilience.

The exponential pace of change in the U.S.—from sealed tube flour logistics in Ohio to regenerative wheat pilots in Utah—signals that sustainability is not a niche or bolt-on, but the engine of operational efficiency, margin protection, and brand value. By embedding aggressive ESG action into everyday business, Pepperidge Farm can lead rather than follow, earning trust from investors, retailers, and consumers.

The task for decision makers is clear: treat sustainability not as cost, but as competitive edge. Use the now-mature test beds in Utah, Ohio, Idaho, Maryland, and Pennsylvania to build a playbook for global extension. Back every claim with data, every pilot with scalable metrics, and every product innovation with transparent storytelling. In a world where climate, cost, and consumer trust intersect, the brands that act now, act fast, and act with integrity will shape not only the snack aisle— but the future of food itself.

For further insight into Campbell Soup Company’s sustainability journey, see key highlights from the wheat sustainability program and recent fiscal reporting.