The start of a new school year is always a mix of excitement and first day butterflies as students dive into new classes, meet new teachers and imagine what the year could bring. But for far too many children, each day begins with a different feeling: hunger.
“Oftentimes, these kids don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” says Matt Smith, Senior Director of Social Impact Strategy at PepsiCo. “For many of these families, school meals have become a key source of nutrition for their children.”
Recognizing this crucial need, we've partnered with organizations to support breakfast programs that do more than just fill empty stomachs—they help lay the foundation for each child’s well-being and learning. By seeking to ensure students start their day nourished, these initiatives help them show up focused, energized, and ready to thrive, unlocking their full potential both in and out of the classroom.
The Power of a Simple Meal
When your stomach is empty, it can be difficult to focus on anything else. For kids, breakfast can mean the difference between starting the day under-nourished and distracted or energized and ready to learn.
According to the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), “When kids don’t have access to food at school, it leads to a vicious cycle of hunger, school absences and poverty... When kids miss school, they miss out on important developmental milestones such as understanding basic math concepts or reading and writing skills.” WFP has found that offering a daily meal serves as a strong incentive for families to keep sending their children to school, seeing an increase in enrollment, particularly for girls, at schools that offer daily meals.
In the U.S., a study commissioned by the non-profit organization No Kid Hungry found that school-provided meals are an effective tool for reducing chronic absenteeism, which is a growing problem in the U.S., where nearly 14 million children faced hunger in 2023. “When a school meal is offered, it can have a direct connection to whether children attend school,” Matt says. “Being able to go to school and have nutritious food in your body to focus, learn and advance is critical.”
Serving breakfast after the bell does more than boost attendance, it can also enhance students’ academic performance. According to data from the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), school-provided breakfast helps improve concentration and can even raise test scores. Providing students with nourishing breakfasts not only helps ensure they start the day without hunger, but also helps promote better health, greater classroom engagement, and improved academic achievement.
Scaling Up to Meet Students’ Needs
As many students sharpen their pencils and open their notebooks during this back-to-school season, we're working with others to fuel their mornings and help shape their futures through breakfast programs.
Through our PepsiCo Foundation’s Food for Good program, we’ve partnered with U.S. schools and nonprofits to deliver creative solutions: bringing meals directly to schools, community sites and even directly to home. Food for Good also provides meals to students when school is out of session, offering weekend meal bundles and delivery during the summer months and holidays. “We recognize that for many children, the weekend can mean going without meals. That’s why we’re focused on building sustainable, stigma-free solutions that help ensure students return to school nourished and ready to learn,” Matt says.
Our efforts to set kids up for academic success extends beyond borders. Since 2009, Quaker Oats has partnered to help combat child hunger in the U.K., where nearly one in five (18%) households with children are experiencing food insecurity. During the 2023–2024 academic year alone, Quaker donated over 1.3 million portions of oats and cereal to schools across England and Scotland.
In regions where food insecurity is especially urgent, PepsiCo is making a measurable difference. According to data from the Human Sciences Research Council, nearly two-thirds of households in South Africa (63.5%) experience food insecurity, and 17.5% are severely affected. For children in these homes, starting each day with a nutritious meal is far from guaranteed.
To help change this, we launched the School Breakfast Nutrition Programme in South Africa in 2015. It initially reached over 5,000 students in two of the country’s nine provinces, and a decade later, it now feeds nearly 34,000 children in seven provinces daily.
“This program is about giving children the fuel they need to learn, grow and thrive,” says Siphelele Shongwe, who oversees the program and helps lead Social Impact for PepsiCo in South Africa.
Brands Fueling Breakfast Innovation for Classroom Success
When it comes to starting the day, breakfast truly makes a difference. And for these PepsiCo-supported breakfast programs, it’s the collective strength of our business and our family of trusted brands that amplify our impact. By leveraging our diverse portfolio, we’re able to deliver nutritious, familiar and satisfying meals to students worldwide. Our programs succeed not only because we bring food to the table, but because we harness the full power of PepsiCo to reach more children and support their well-being.
In South Africa, school meals include Bokomo Weet-Bix with milk for fiber, protein and calcium, and White Star Instant Porridge, which includes vital nutrients and vitamins and is easy to prepare and perfect for colder months. And our FutureLife porridge is used by nonprofit partners and the South African government’s Department of Basic Education as a breakfast solution for many early childhood development centers.
Quaker is no stranger to the breakfast table. By activating programs across the U.S. and the U.K., we’ve witnessed firsthand the positive impact this beloved brand has had in fueling students through our initiatives. From Oat So Simple and Golden Oat Crunch Granola in the U.K. to Quaker bars in the U.S., Quaker’s nutritious offerings help ensure children start their day focused, energized, and ready to learn.
A Vision for What’s Ahead
Food access programs like Food for Good are constantly evolving, growing alongside the communities we serve and deepening our partnerships to expand our reach. These initiatives also connect PepsiCo associates to a larger purpose, empowering them to be part of the solution by volunteering, giving, mentoring and making a positive impact. Through these efforts, our teams help drive meaningful change—supporting children’s well-being and contributing to stronger, healthier communities.
“Our foundation’s tagline is ‘We feed potential’ and these breakfast programs are a direct reflection of that mission,” Matt says. “We believe every child has the potential to thrive, and we are focused on trying to remove barriers by providing access to nutritious food that helps students show up, stay engaged and succeed.”