A year of waiting
“Harvest season has always been my favorite time of year,” says Josh Parsons. He arrives before sunrise to stroll through the fields of a PepsiCo farm in Rhinelander, Wis., full of anticipation for what lies beneath the surface. After a year of waiting, he will soon find out whether his work is successful.
“The cool thing about potatoes is that they grow underground,” says Josh. “You won’t know what you have until you dig them up.”
Growing new potato varieties Josh, a senior research and development scientist, leads a team that is growing never-before-seen potato varieties that are destined to be the future of Lay’s potato chips. The annual Rhinelander harvest yields bushels of new crops and valuable information about the best ways to grow them.
There are more than 4,000 recognized potato varieties grown around the world, but fewer than 10 of them are suitable for Lay’s potato chips. Each is proprietary to PepsiCo and carefully selected to maximize yield, disease resistance, nutritional value, cooking quality and taste. “But we always strive for better,” says Josh.
Discovery of new varieties
Methods for discovering new potato varieties combine traditional breeding with modern tools such as data science and artificial intelligence to select desired plant traits. Josh and his team start with sets of “parent” potatoes, analyzing the data to determine which ones will meet Lay’s quality and sustainability standards. They add pollen from one plant to the flower of another to produce a completely new seed with characteristics from both parent plants, mimicking the same process that occurs in nature.
“Each of these seeds is a unique individual, like brothers and sisters in a family,” Josh explains. Only instead of one or two offspring, each set of parent plants produces between 200 and 400. Multiply that by dozens of cross-pollinations, and Josh’s team plants about 20,000 new seeds each year at Rhinelander. But only two or three of those seeds produce a potato variety that ever makes it into a Frito-Lay kitchen.
“We’re incredibly selective,” says Josh. “We want to make sure the seeds we provide to growers benefit them, our business and the environment.” Josh and his team are also working to develop potato varieties that contain more flavor and require less seasoning. This is one of the ways PepsiCo’s R&D and agriculture teams are innovating to support PepsiCo’s Positive (pep+) goals, which include reducing sodium by 15%. for Lay’s Classic Potato Chips in the USA.
Comprehensive statistical analysis
To better predict future performance, new potato varieties are subjected to comprehensive statistical analysis of seed genetics. “We don’t do any genetic modification,” says Josh. “But we use genetic information to predict which crops have a chance of being successful and which don’t.”
Once Josh and his team determine a successful harvest, they send plant samples to partner farmers around the world so they can begin growing new potatoes on their farms. The first strain Josh developed for PepsiCo was grown earlier this year and was recently made into a full batch of Lay’s—two key milestones in a development process that took nine years to complete.
“I’m biased, but these were the best potato chips I’ve ever had,” says Josh. There are still more hurdles to overcome before the variety hits store shelves, but knowing that the seedlings he grows could soon end up in Lay’s bags around the world instills a deep sense of pride.
Heritage in every bite
“This job gives us the chance to make our mark on an iconic brand,” says Josh. He keeps this thought at the forefront of his mind every day when he goes to work. “Our team is small,” Josh explains. “But the work we do reaches farmers, kitchens, stores and consumers around the world. It is critical that we act as owners, continually look for ways to improve, and ensure that the results of our efforts are felt far beyond the fields in Rhinelander.”
Josh Parsons and his team exemplify the intersection of tradition and innovation in agriculture. Using data science, artificial intelligence and a rigorous breeding process, they not only improve the quality and sustainability of Lay’s potato chips, but also contribute to broader progress in agriculture. Their work ensures that every bite of Lay’s chips is a testament to the dedication and expertise of those who care about the future of this favorite snack.
