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PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and
beverage corporation The drink industry (or drinks industry, also known as the beverage industry) produces drinks, in particular alcoholic beverage, ready to drink and soft drink products. Drink production can vary greatly depending on the product being made. Manufac ...
headquartered in
Harrison, New York Harrison is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town and Administrative divisions of New York (state), village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York Cit ...
, in the hamlet of
Purchase Purchasing is the procurement process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary g ...
. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of its products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company and Frito-Lay, Inc., PepsiCo has since expanded from its namesake product
Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
to an immensely diversified range of food and beverage brands. Significant acquisitions include
Tropicana Products Tropicana Brands Group ( ) is an American fruit-based beverage company. It was founded in 1947 by Anthony T. Rossi in Bradenton, Florida. Between 1998 and 2021, it was a subsidiary of PepsiCo. In August 2021, 61% of Tropicana was sold along with ...
in 1998, the
Quaker Oats Company The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and ...
in 2001, which added the
Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...
brand to the Pepsi portfolio, and
Pioneer Foods Pioneer Foods is a South African packaged goods company which in March 2020 became a subsidiary of PepsiCo. It operates in South Africa as well as two other African countries and exports a number of its brands globally. The company's core busin ...
in 2020 for US$1.7 billion. As of January 2021, the company possesses 23 brands that have over 1 billion $ each in sales annually. PepsiCo has operations all around the world and its products were distributed across more than 200 countries and territories, resulting in annual
net revenue In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, and ...
s of over US$70 billion. PepsiCo is the second-largest food and beverage business in the world based on net revenue, profit, and market capitalization, behind
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
. In 2023, the company's seat in the ''Forbes'' Global 2000 was 82. PepsiCo's flagship product, Pepsi Cola, has been engaged in a rivalry for generations with
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
; it is commonly referred to as the
cola wars The Cola wars are the long-time rivalry between soft drink producers The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, who have engaged in mutually-targeted marketing campaigns for the direct competition between each company's product lines, especially their ...
. Although Coca-Cola outsells Pepsi Cola in the United States, PepsiCo within the North American market is the largest food and beverage company by net revenue.
Ramon Laguarta Ramon Laguarta (born 1963) is a Spanish businessman who is the chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo. He became CEO on 3 October 2018 after Indra Nooyi stepped down. He is the sixth CEO in the company's history and the first Spanish ...
has been the chief executive of PepsiCo since 2018. The company's beverage distribution and bottling is conducted by PepsiCo as well as by licensed bottlers in certain regions.


History


Origins

The soft drink Pepsi was developed by
Caleb Bradham Caleb Davis Bradham (May 27, 1867 – February 19, 1934) was an American pharmacist, who invented the soft drink Pepsi. Early life Bradham was born Caleb Davis Bradham on May 27, 1867, in Chinquapin, North Carolina, to George Washington Bradha ...
, a pharmacist and businessman from
Duplin County, North Carolina Duplin County ( )
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the
New Bern, North Carolina New Bern, formerly Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 31,291 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located at the confluence of the Neuse River, Neuse a ...
. As his drink gained popularity Bradham founded the Pepsi-Cola Company in 1902 and registered a patent for his recipe in 1903. The company was incorporated under
Delaware General Corporation Law The Delaware General Corporation Law (sometimes abbreviated DGCL), officially the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (Title 8, Chapter 1 of the Delaware Code), is the statute of the Delaware Code that governs corporate law in the U ...
in 1919. Bradham's company experienced years of success leading up to
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. However, sugar rationing during the war and a volatile sugar market in the war's aftermath damaged the company's financial health to such a degree that in 1923, Bradham declared
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
and returned to running pharmacies in North Carolina. On June 8, 1923, the company trademark and secret recipe were purchased by Craven Holding Corporation. In 1931, Roy Megargel, a Wall Street broker, purchased the Pepsi trademark, business, and goodwill from Craven Holding in association with
Charles Guth Charles Godfrey Guth (June 3, 1877May 24, 1948) was an American businessman, who, as executive of the Loft Candy Company, purchased the trademark and the syrup recipe of the twice-bankrupt Pepsi-Cola Company. He was President of Loft Candy Comp ...
. Guth was also the president of Loft, Incorporated, a leading candy manufacturer based in Long Island City, New York. Loft ran a network with 115 stores across the Mid Atlantic at the time of Guth's acquisition. Guth used Loft's labs and chemists to reformulate the Pepsi syrup recipe, and he used his position as president of the company to replace
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
with Pepsi Cola at Loft's shops and restaurants. Guth also used Loft resources to promote Pepsi, and moved the soda company to a location close to Loft's own facilities in New York City. In 1935, the shareholders of Loft sued Guth for his 91% stake of Pepsi-Cola Company in the landmark case ''
Guth v. Loft Inc. ''Guth v. Loft Inc'', 5 A.2d 503, 23 Del. Ch. 255 (Del. 1939) is a Delaware corporation law case, important for United States corporate law, on corporate opportunity, corporate opportunities and the duty of loyalty. It deviated from the year 1726 ...
'' Loft won the suit and on May 29, 1941, formally absorbed Pepsi into Loft, which was then re-branded as Pepsi-Cola Company that same year. Loft restaurants and candy stores were spun off at this time. In the early 1960s, Pepsi-Cola's product lines expanded with the creation of
Diet Pepsi Diet Pepsi, also called Pepsi Light in some countries, is a diet carbonated cola soft drink produced by PepsiCo, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi with no sugar. First test marketed in 1963 under the name Patio Diet Cola, it was re-bra ...
and purchase of
Mountain Dew Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew in some countries and colloquially known as Dew in some areas, is a soft drink brand owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage Bottler (company), bottlers Barney and A ...
. In 1965, the Pepsi-Cola Company merged with Frito-Lay, Inc. to become PepsiCo, Inc. At the time of its foundation, PepsiCo was incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, New York. The company's headquarters were relocated to the present location of
Purchase, New York Purchase is a hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set ...
in 1970, and in 1986 PepsiCo was reincorporated in the state of
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
. After 39 years trading on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
, PepsiCo moved its shares to
Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...
on December 20, 2017.


Acquisitions and divestments

Between the late-1970s and the mid-1990s, PepsiCo expanded via acquisition of businesses outside of its core focus of packaged food and beverage brands; however it exited these non-core business lines largely in 1997, selling some, and spinning off others into a new company named Tricon Global Restaurants, which later became known as Yum! Brands, Inc. PepsiCo also previously owned several other brands that it later sold so it could focus on its primary snack food and beverage lines, according to investment analysts reporting on the divestments in 1997. Brands formerly owned by PepsiCo include:
Pizza Hut Pizza Hut, LLC is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. The chain, headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates 19,866 restaurants worldw ...
,
Taco Bell Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired ...
,
KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...
,
Hot 'n Now Hot 'n Now is an American fast-food restaurant. Founded in 1984, the chain once grew to more than 150 locations throughout the United States at its peak. Subsequently, under the ownership of PepsiCo, the chain filed for bankruptcy in 2004, and wa ...
,
East Side Mario's East Side Mario's is a Canadian chain of casual dining restaurants, managed by its parent holding company Recipe Unlimited. The restaurant specializes in Italian-American cuisine. Individual locations aim to recreate the historic ambience found ...
,
D'Angelo Sandwich Shops D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches is an American chain of 83 neighborhood-style sandwich shops found in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches was founded in Dedham, Massachusetts in 1967. It s ...
,
Chevys Fresh Mex Chevys Fresh Mex is an American chain of Tex-Mex, Mexican-style casual dining restaurants located in the United States. The chain was founded in 1986 by Warren Simmons in Alameda, California. The chain's headquarters are currently located in Cypr ...
,
California Pizza Kitchen California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. (CPK) is an American casual dining restaurant chain that specializes in California-style pizza. The restaurant was started in 1985 by attorneys Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax in Beverly Hills, California, United ...
,
Stolichnaya Stolichnaya () is a vodka made of wheat and rye grain. It originated in the Soviet Union in 1938. There are two versions of the vodka: the version found outside Russia is made in Latvia, while the version found inside Russia is made there. With ...
(via licensed agreement),
Wilson Sporting Goods The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is an American sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois. Wilson makes equipment for many sports, among them baseball, badminton, American football, basketball, fastpitch softball, golf, racquetball ...
, and North American Van Lines. The divestments concluding in 1997 were followed by multiple large-scale acquisitions, as PepsiCo began to extend its operations beyond soft drinks and snack foods into other lines of foods and beverages. PepsiCo purchased the
orange juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As ...
company
Tropicana Products Tropicana Brands Group ( ) is an American fruit-based beverage company. It was founded in 1947 by Anthony T. Rossi in Bradenton, Florida. Between 1998 and 2021, it was a subsidiary of PepsiCo. In August 2021, 61% of Tropicana was sold along with ...
in 1998, and merged with
Quaker Oats Company The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and ...
in 2001, adding with it the
Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...
sports drink line and other Quaker Oats brands such as Chewy Granola Bars and
Aunt Jemima Aunt Jemima was an American breakfast brand for pancake mix, table syrup, and other breakfast food products. The original version of the pancake mix was developed in 1888–1889 by the Pearl Milling Company and was advertised as the first " ...
, among others. In August 2009, PepsiCo made a US$7 billion offer to acquire the two largest bottlers of its products in North America: Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas. In 2010 this acquisition was completed, resulting in the formation of a new
wholly owned subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...
of PepsiCo, ''Pepsi Beverages Company''. In February 2011, the company made its largest international acquisition by purchasing a two-thirds (majority) stake in Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods, a Russian food company that produces milk, yogurt, fruit juices, and dairy products. When it acquired the remaining 23% stake of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods in October 2011, PepsiCo became the largest food and beverage company in Russia. In July 2012, PepsiCo announced a joint venture with the Theo Muller Group which was named Muller Quaker Dairy. This marked PepsiCo's first entry into the dairy space in the U.S. The joint venture was dissolved in December 2015. On May 25, 2018, PepsiCo announced that it would acquire fruit and veggie snack maker Bare Foods. It started quarter-owning allMotti in late November 2018 and was PepsiCo's first owned Tech and Computer Service company. On August 20, 2018, PepsiCo announced that it had entered into agreement to acquire
SodaStream SodaStream International Ltd. () is an Israel-based manufacturing company best known as the maker of the consumer home carbonation product of the same name. The company's soda machines, in the style of soda siphons, add carbon dioxide to wate ...
. The purchase was completed in December 2018 as part of a strategic plan to steer Pepsi toward offering healthier products. In 2019, PepsiCo sued four small farmers in India US$142,000 each for growing a type of potato it says it owns. Pepsi said they would end the suit if the farmers grew potatoes for them. A number of Farmers' associations are requesting that the government get involved in the case stating that Pepsi is attempting to intimidate people. After pressure from the public as well as state and national governments, PepsiCo withdrew the lawsuit on May 2, 2019. On October 3, 2019, PepsiCo announced that they would leave
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
after terminating their partnership with local distributor PT Anugerah Indofood Barokah Makmur (AIBM). Both companies stopped production of PepsiCo products on October 10. This has resulted in
KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...
and
Pizza Hut Pizza Hut, LLC is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. The chain, headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates 19,866 restaurants worldw ...
chains in the country to switch to Coca-Cola products. On December 2, 2019, PepsiCo acquired the snacks brand, BFY Brands, who were then folded into the Frito-Lay division. In March 2020, PepsiCo announced that it had entered into agreement to acquire Rockstar Energy for US$3.85 billion. In January 2021, as a plan to fight global warming, PepsiCo announced that it is planning to achieve
net zero Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...
greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, knowing that it had already started generating about 57 million metric tonnes of
greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...
globally in 2019. On August 3, 2021, PepsiCo announced that they have agreed to sell a majority stake in Tropicana, Naked and other North American juice brands to French private equity firm
PAI Partners PAI Partners is a French private equity firm based in Paris. It is one of the oldest firms in the sector, with its origins dating back to Paribas Affaires Industrielles, historically the principal investment arm of Paribas, which started opera ...
for US$3.3 billion, so that the company can concentrate on its healthy snack food business. Pepsi will hold a 39% stake in the joint venture as well as having exclusive rights to the brand in the USA. In August 2022, PepsiCo acquired a $550 million stake in the energy drink maker Celsius. On October 1, 2024, PepsiCo announced that it would acquire Siete Foods for $1.2 billion. The acquisition was completed on January 17, 2025. In March 2025, PepsiCo announced it is buying prebiotic soda brand
Poppi Poppi () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about east of Florence and about northwest of Arezzo. Poppi borders the following municipalities: Bibbiena, Castel Focognano, Castel San N ...
for more than $1.6 billion.


Business divisions

The structure of PepsiCo's global operations has shifted multiple times in its history as a result of international expansion, and as of December 2021 it is separated into seven main divisions: PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA), Frito-Lay North America (FLNA), Quaker Foods North America (QFNA), Latin America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, South Asia (AMESA) and the Asia–Pacific, Australia/New Zealand, China (APAC). As of 2015, 73 percent of the company's
net revenue In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, and ...
s came from North and South America; 17 percent from Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa; and 10 percent from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. PepsiCo and its combined subsidiaries employed approximately 263,000 people worldwide as of December 2015.


PepsiCo Beverages North America

This division contributed 35 percent of PepsiCo's net revenue as of 2015, and involves the manufacture (and in some cases
licensing A license (American English) or licence ( Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another par ...
), marketing and sales of both carbonated and non-carbonated beverages in North America. The main brands distributed under this division include
Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
,
Mountain Dew Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew in some countries and colloquially known as Dew in some areas, is a soft drink brand owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage Bottler (company), bottlers Barney and A ...
,
Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...
,
7 Up 7 Up (stylized as 7UP worldwide) or Seven Up is an American brand of Lemon-lime drink, lemon-lime–flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, although the beverage is internationally distributed ...
(outside the U.S.), Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice, Starry,
SoBe Sobe may refer to: People * Sobe (sister of Saint Anne) * Sobe Charles Umeh Other * SoBe, American brand of teas * SoBe Entertainment * South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Flo ...
Lifewater, Tropicana juice drinks,
AMP Energy Mountain Dew Amp (or simply Amp) is an energy drink brand produced by PepsiCo. At the time of its introduction in 2001, Amp Energy was initially distributed under the Mountain Dew soft drink brand. Beginning in 2009, it was produced and labeled un ...
,
Naked Juice Naked Juice is an American brand that produces juices and smoothies. The company is based in Monrovia, California and is owned by PAI Partners. The first Naked Juice drink was produced in 1983 and sold in California under the name "Naked Juice", ...
, and Izze.
Aquafina Aquafina () is an American brand of water purification, purified bottled water that is produced by PepsiCo, consisting of both water, unflavored and flavored water, flavored water. The Aquafina brand name is also licensed for use on multiple s ...
, the company's bottled water brand, is also marketed and licensed through North America Beverages. In 2015, PepsiCo also introduced Stubborn Soda, a line of carbonated beverages without
high fructose corn syrup High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose, isoglucose, and glucose–fructose syrup, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzy ...
. PepsiCo also has formed partnerships with several beverage brands it does not own, in order to distribute or market them with its own brands. As of 2010, its partnerships include:
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
(Frappuccino, DoubleShot, and Iced Coffee),
Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...
's
Lipton Lipton is a brand named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton, Tom Lipton, who started an eponymous grocery retail business in the United Kingdom in 1871. The brand was used for various consumer goods sold in Lipton stores, including tea from 1 ...
licensed brands (Lipton Brisk and Lipton Iced Tea), and Dole (licensed juices and drinks).


Frito-Lay North America

''Frito-Lay North America'', the result of a merger in 1961 between the Frito Company and the H.W. Lay Company, produces the top-selling line of snack foods in the U.S. Its main brands in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico include
Lay's Lay's (, ) is a brand of potato chips with different flavors, as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the United States. The brand is also referred to as Frito-Lay, as both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the ...
and Ruffles potato chips;
Doritos Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The concept for Doritos originated at Disneyland at a restaurant managed by Frito-Lay. In 1966, Doritos became the first ...
tortilla chips;
Tostitos Tostitos is a Frito-Lay brand of tortilla chips and accompanying dips, especially salsa and queso. Varieties There are many varieties of Tostitos chips: * Tostitos ''Gold'' (and bite size ''Gold'') - a thicker and larger version of the or ...
tortilla chips and dips;
Cheetos Cheetos (formerly styled as Chee-tos until 1998) is a crunchy corn- cheese puff snack brand made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the United ...
cheese flavored snacks;
Fritos Fritos is an American brand of corn chips that was created in 1932 by Charles Elmer Doolin and has been produced since 1961 by the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo. Fritos are made by deep-frying extruded whole cornmeal, unlike the similar torti ...
corn chips;
Rold Gold Rold Gold refers to first a company and then a remaining brand of pretzels, now owned by Frito-Lay. The company, originally named "American Cone and Pretzel Company", was founded in 1917 by Philadelphia businessman Lorraine Schumaker. Run for i ...
pretzels;
Sun Chips Sun Chips (styled SunChips or SUNCHIPS) is a brand of fried, rippled, multigrain chips launched in 1991 and produced by Frito-Lay. Ingredients The ingredients for SunChips Original are: *Whole corn *Sunflower and/or canola oil *Whole wheat *Brown ...
; and
Cracker Jack Cracker Jack is an American brand of snack food that consists of molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn balls and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of trivial value inside. The Cracker Jack name and slogan, "The More You E ...
popcorn. Products made by this division are sold to independent distributors and retailers, and are transported from Frito-Lay's manufacturing plants to distribution centers, principally in vehicles owned and operated by the company. The division contributed 23 percent of PepsiCo's net revenue in 2015. Until November 2009, Christopher Furman, President of Ventura Foods Inc., occupied the position of Food Services CEO. In the second half of 2023, Frito-Lay, as part of the PepsiCo Positive initiative, will ship more than 700
electric vehicles An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
(EV) to the US. The company predicts that this measure will reduce
greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...
by 7,000 metric tons. Previous measures from the company were: order 100
Tesla Semi The Tesla Semi is a battery electric semi-trailer truck built by Tesla, Inc. since 2022. The truck is powered by three motors, and according to Tesla has approximately three times the power of a typical diesel semi truck, a range of , and can o ...
trucks, 30 of which have already been received, 40 Ford eTransits trucks for the
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
- Fort Worth area, as well as the use of renewable energy storage, electric yard tractors BYD, Tesla semitrailers and
Peterbilt Peterbilt Motors Company is an List of American truck manufacturers, American truck manufacturer specializing in the production of heavy-duty (Truck classification#Class 8, Class 8) and medium-duty (Classes 5–7) commercial vehicles. The names ...
electric trucks at a factory in
Modesto Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California. Modesto is locate ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.


Quaker Foods North America

''Quaker Foods North America'', created following PepsiCo's acquisition of the
Quaker Oats Company The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and ...
in 2001, manufactures, markets, and sells Quaker Oatmeal, Rice-A-Roni,
Cap'n Crunch Cap'n Crunch is a corn and oat breakfast cereal manufactured since 1963 by Quaker Oats Company, a subsidiary of PepsiCo since 2001. Since the original product introduction, marketed simply as ''Cap'n Crunch'', Quaker Oats has introduced numerou ...
, and Life cereals, as well as
Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...
side dishes within North America. This division also owns and produces the Pearl Milling Company brand, which as of 2009 was the top selling line of
syrup In cooking, syrup (less commonly sirup; from ; , beverage, wine and ) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a Solution (chemistry), solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but ...
s and
pancake A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat type of batter bread like cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based Batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a ...
mixes within this region. ''Sabritas'' and ''Gamesa'' are two of PepsiCo's food and snack business lines headquartered in Mexico, and they were acquired by PepsiCo in 1966 and 1990, respectively.
Sabritas Sabritas, S. de R.L. de C.V. is a Mexican snack company owned by PepsiCo. They are best known for manufacturing chips, Sabritas is the Mexican name of Lays, similar to Margaritas in Colombia or Walkers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Histo ...
markets Frito-Lay products in Mexico, including local brands such as Poffets, Rancheritos, Crujitos, and Sabritones.
Gamesa Gamesa (formerly Galletera Mexicana S.A. de C.V. "Mexican Biscuit Company")(also Grupo Gamesa) is Mexico's largest manufacturer of cookies. The company also makes flour, ready to eat cereals and other related products. It is headquartered in Sa ...
is the largest manufacturer of
cookies A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...
in Mexico, distributing brands such as Emperador, Arcoiris and Marías Gamesa. The division contributed 4 percent of PepsiCo's net revenues in 2015.


Latin America

PepsiCo's ''Latin America Foods'' (Spanish: ''Snacks América Latina'') operations market and sell primarily Quaker- and Frito-Lay/Sabritas/Elma Chips-branded snack foods within Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, including Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and other countries in this region. Snacks América Latina purchased Peruvian company Karinto S.A.C. including its production company Bocaditas Nacionales (with three production facilities in Peru) from the Hayashida family of Lima in 2009, adding the Karito brand to its product line, including Cuates, Fripapas, and Papi Frits. The company started a new market strategy to sell its Pepsi Cola product in Mexico, stating that about one-third of the population has difficulty pronouncing "Pepsi". With manufacture and sales of its product under the label 'Pécsi', the advertisement campaign features the Mexican soccer celebrity Cuauhtémoc Blanco. In 2009, PepsiCo had previously used the same strategy successfully in Argentina. Pepsico will market and distribute
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
products in several Latin American countries for 2016. The division contributed 13 percent of PepsiCo's net revenues in 2015.


Europe

PepsiCo began to expand its distribution in Europe in the 1980s, and in 2015 it made up 17 percent of the company's global net revenue. Unlike PepsiCo's Americas business segments, both foods and beverages are manufactured and marketed under one umbrella division in this region, known as ''PepsiCo Europe''. The primary brands sold by PepsiCo in Europe include Pepsi-Cola beverages, Frito-Lay snacks, Tropicana juices, and Quaker food products, as well as regional brands unique to Europe such as Walkers crisps, Copella, Paw Ridge, Snack-a-Jack, Duyvis, and others. PepsiCo also produces and distributes the soft drink 7UP in Europe via license agreement. PepsiCo has 3 sites in South Africa (Isando, Parrow, and Prospecton) which produce Lay's and Simba chips. PepsiCo's European presence expanded in Russia in 2009 as the company announced a US$1B investment, and with its acquisition of Russian juice and dairy product brand Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods in December 2010 and Lebedyansky (company), Lebedyansky juice producer in March 2008. According to Reuters, "PepsiCo reported that in 2017, its Russian operations generated net revenue of US$3.23 billion, which made up 5.1 percent of the company's total net revenue." Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, a number of companies faced growing pressure to halt operations in Russia after not initially doing so. On March 8, 2022, PepsiCo announced in a letter from CEO Laguarta the "suspension of the sale of Pepsi-Cola... our global beverage brands in Russia, including
7 Up 7 Up (stylized as 7UP worldwide) or Seven Up is an American brand of Lemon-lime drink, lemon-lime–flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, although the beverage is internationally distributed ...
and Mirinda... [and] capital investments and all advertising and promotional activities in Russia." However, PepsiCo maintained it had a "responsibility" to continue to sell "milk and other dairy offerings, baby formula and baby food", and that "[b]y continuing to operate, we will also continue to support the livelihoods of our 20,000 Russian associates and the 40,000 Russian agricultural workers in our supply chain". In July 2022, it was announced that PepsiCo will rebrand its products in Russia to PepsiCo Russian brands such as Evervess and Frustyle, in response to the Russian invasion. In September 2023, the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention listed PepsiCo as a “war sponsor” for continuing to operate in Russia and, in particular, paying taxes.


Africa, Middle East, South Asia (AMESA)

The AMESA sector consists of the Africa, Middle East and South Asia regions, and features many leading global and local snack brands including Lay's, Cheetos, and Doritos, along with local favorites such as Chipsy (Egypt), Simba (South Africa) and Kurkure (India and Pakistan), as well as various beverage brands including 7UP, Pepsi, Aquafina, Mtn Dew, Mirinda, and Sting. The AMESA sector covers a wide span of developing and emerging markets, including the key countries of Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and South Africa. In 2020, PepsiCo acquired Pioneer Foods, a leading food and beverage company in South Africa, adding its robust, well-known brands including Weet-Bix, Bokomo and Ceres to PepsiCo's portfolio. The Pioneer Foods acquisition is key to PepsiCo's growth strategy across the entire African continent. In addition to the production and sales of several worldwide Pepsi-Cola, Quaker Foods, and Frito-Lay beverage and food product lines (including Pepsi and Doritos), this segment of PepsiCo's business markets regional brands such as Mirinda, Kurkure, and Red Rock Deli, among others. While PepsiCo owns its own manufacturing and distribution facilities in certain parts of these regions, more of this production is conducted via alternate means such as
licensing A license (American English) or licence ( Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another par ...
(which it does with Aquafina), contract manufacturing, joint ventures, and affiliate (commerce), affiliate operations. PepsiCo's businesses in these regions, as of 2015, contributed 10 percent to the company's
net revenue In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, and ...
worldwide. In 1992, the Pepsi Number Fever marketing campaign in the Philippines accidentally distributed 800,000 winning bottle caps for a 1 million Philippine peso, peso grand prize, leading to riots and the deaths of five people. In August 2012, PepsiCo signed an agreement with a local Myanmar distributor to sell its soft drinks after a 15-year break to re-enter the country. SodaStream, which PepsiCo acquired in 2018 is based in Israel, while Sabra (company), Sabra (which PepsiCo co-owns with the Israeli food conglomerate Strauss Group) holds a 60% market share for hummus sales in the United States as of 2015. The Strauss Group produces and distributes Frito-Lay products in Israel.


Asia–Pacific, Australia/New Zealand, China (APAC)

In 1998 Pepsico purchased Smith's Snackfood Company from United Biscuits. In 2006 PepsiCo purchased Bluebird Foods from Burns Philp. PepsiCo Indonesia started production in a plant at Cikarang,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
in March 2025.


Corporate governance

Headquartered in
Harrison, New York Harrison is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town and Administrative divisions of New York (state), village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York Cit ...
, in the hamlet of
Purchase Purchasing is the procurement process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary g ...
, with research and development headquarters in Valhalla, New York, Valhalla, New York, PepsiCo's Chairman and CEO is
Ramon Laguarta Ramon Laguarta (born 1963) is a Spanish businessman who is the chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo. He became CEO on 3 October 2018 after Indra Nooyi stepped down. He is the sixth CEO in the company's history and the first Spanish ...
. The board of directors is composed of eleven outside directors as of 2010, including Ray Lee Hunt, Shona Brown, Victor Dzau, Arthur C. Martinez, Sharon Percy Rockefeller, Daniel Vasella, Dina Dublon, Ian M. Cook, Alberto Ibargüen, and Lloyd G. Trotter. Former top executives at PepsiCo include Steven Reinemund, Roger Enrico, D. Wayne Calloway, John Sculley, Michael H. Jordan, Donald M. Kendall, Christopher A. Sinclair, Irene Rosenfeld, David C. Novak, Brenda C. Barnes, and Alfred Steele. On October 1, 2006, former Chief Financial Officer and President Indra Nooyi replaced Steve Reinemund as chief executive officer. Nooyi remained as the corporation's president, and became Chair (official), Chairman of the Board in May 2007, later (in 2010) being named No.1 on ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' list of the "50 Most Powerful Women" and No.6 on ''Forbes'' list of the "World's 100 Most Powerful Women". PepsiCo received a 100 percent rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the LGBT-advocate group Human Rights Campaign starting in 2004, the third year of the report. In November 2014, the firm's president Zein Abdalla announced he would be stepping down from his position at the firm by the end of 2014. In 2017, Ramon Laguarta became the president and became its CEO in 2018.


Ownership

The 10 largest shareholders of PepsiCo as of December 2023 were: * The Vanguard Group (9.35%) * BlackRock (7.96%) * State Street Corporation (4.20%) * Geode Capital Management (2.01%) * Morgan Stanley (1.78%) * Bank of America (1.66%) * JPMorgan Chase (1.52%) * Charles Schwab Corporation, Charles Schwab (1.35%) * Northern Trust (1.16%) * Norges Bank (1.13%)


Headquarters

The PepsiCo headquarters are located in the hamlet of
Purchase, New York Purchase is a hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set ...
, in the town and village of
Harrison, New York Harrison is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town and Administrative divisions of New York (state), village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York Cit ...
. It was one of the last architectural works by Edward Durell Stone. It consists of seven three-story buildings. Each building is connected to its neighbor through a corner. The property includes the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens with 45 contemporary sculptures open to the public. Works include those of Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, and Auguste Rodin. ''Westchester Magazine'' stated "The buildings' square blocks rise from the ground into low, inverted ziggurats, with each of the three floors having strips of dark windows; patterned pre-cast concrete panels add texture to the exterior surfaces." In 2010 the magazine ranked the building as one of the ten most beautiful buildings in Westchester County. During the 1960s, PepsiCo had its headquarters in 500 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. In 1956 PepsiCo paid US$2 million for the previous building at the site. PepsiCo built 500 Park Avenue in 1960. In 1966, Mayor of New York City John Lindsay started a private campaign to convince PepsiCo to remain in New York City. Six months later, the company announced that it was moving to on the Blind Brook Polo Club in Purchase.


Charitable activities

PepsiCo has maintained a philanthropic program since 1962 called the PepsiCo Foundation, in which it primarily funds "nutrition and activity, safe water and water usage efficiencies, and education", according to the foundation's website. In 2009, US$27.9 million was contributed through this foundation, including grants to the United Way of America, United Way and YMCA, among others. In 2009, PepsiCo launched an initiative called the ''Pepsi Refresh Project'', For the first time in 23 years, PepsiCo did not invest in Super Bowl advertising for its iconic brand. Instead, the company diverted this US$20 million to the social media-fueled Pepsi Refresh Project: PepsiCo's innovative cause-marketing program in which consumers submitted ideas for grants for health, environmental, social, educational, and cultural causes. in which individuals submit and vote on charitable and nonprofit collaborations. The main recipients of grants as part of the refresh project are community organizations with a local focus and nonprofit organizations, such as a high school in Michigan that—as a result of being selected in 2010—received US$250,000 towards construction of a fitness room. Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Gulf of Mexico oil spill in the spring of 2010, PepsiCo donated US$1.3 million to grant winners determined by popular vote. As of October 2010, the company had provided a cumulative total of US$11.7 million in funding, spread across 287 ideas of participant projects from 203 cities in North America. In late 2010, the refresh project was reported to be expanding to include countries outside of North America in 2011.


Finances

For the fiscal year 2017, PepsiCo reported earnings of US$4.857 billion, with an annual revenue of US$62.525 billion, an increase of 1.2% over the previous fiscal cycle. PepsiCo's shares traded at over US$109 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$155.9 billion in September 2018. PepsiCo ranked No. 45 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.


Brands

PepsiCo's product mix as of 2015 (based on worldwide net revenue) consists of 53 percent foods, and 47 percent beverages. On a worldwide basis, the company's current products lines include several hundred brands that in 2009 were estimated to have generated approximately US$108 billion in cumulative annual retail sales. The primary identifier of a food and beverage industry main brand is annual sales over US$1 billion. As of 2015, 22 PepsiCo brands met that mark, including:
Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
, Diet Pepsi,
Mountain Dew Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew in some countries and colloquially known as Dew in some areas, is a soft drink brand owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage Bottler (company), bottlers Barney and A ...
,
Lay's Lay's (, ) is a brand of potato chips with different flavors, as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the United States. The brand is also referred to as Frito-Lay, as both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the ...
,
Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...
, Tropicana,
7 Up 7 Up (stylized as 7UP worldwide) or Seven Up is an American brand of Lemon-lime drink, lemon-lime–flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, although the beverage is internationally distributed ...
/Teem, Evervess,
Doritos Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The concept for Doritos originated at Disneyland at a restaurant managed by Frito-Lay. In 1966, Doritos became the first ...
, Brisk (drink), Brisk, Quaker Oats Company, Quaker Foods,
Cheetos Cheetos (formerly styled as Chee-tos until 1998) is a crunchy corn- cheese puff snack brand made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the United ...
, Mirinda, Ruffles,
Aquafina Aquafina () is an American brand of water purification, purified bottled water that is produced by PepsiCo, consisting of both water, unflavored and flavored water, flavored water. The Aquafina brand name is also licensed for use on multiple s ...
, Naked, Kevita, Propel Water, Propel, Sobe, H2oh, Sabra,
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
(ready to Drink Beverages), Pepsi Max,
Tostitos Tostitos is a Frito-Lay brand of tortilla chips and accompanying dips, especially salsa and queso. Varieties There are many varieties of Tostitos chips: * Tostitos ''Gold'' (and bite size ''Gold'') - a thicker and larger version of the or ...
, Sierra Mist (discontinued in 2023 in favor of Starry),
Fritos Fritos is an American brand of corn chips that was created in 1932 by Charles Elmer Doolin and has been produced since 1961 by the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo. Fritos are made by deep-frying extruded whole cornmeal, unlike the similar torti ...
, Walkers (snack foods), Walkers, and Bubly Sparkling Water, Bubly.


Competition

The Coca-Cola Company has historically been considered PepsiCo's primary competitor in the beverage market, and in December 2005, PepsiCo surpassed The Coca-Cola Company in market value for the first time in 12 years since both companies began to compete. In 2009, The Coca-Cola Company held a higher market share in carbonated soft drink sales within the U.S. In the same year, PepsiCo maintained a higher share of the U.S. refreshment beverage market, however, reflecting the differences in product lines between the two companies. As a result of mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships pursued by PepsiCo in the 1990s and 2000s, its business has shifted to include a broader product base, including foods, snacks, and beverages. The majority of PepsiCo's revenues no longer come from the production and sale of carbonated soft drinks. Beverages accounted for less than 50 percent of its total revenue in 2009. In the same year, slightly more than 60 percent of PepsiCo's beverage sales came from its primary non-carbonated brands, namely
Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...
and Tropicana. PepsiCo's Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats brands hold a significant share of the U.S. snack food market, accounting for approximately 39 percent of U.S. snack food sales in 2009. One of PepsiCo's primary competitors in the snack food market overall is Kraft Foods Inc., Kraft Foods (now Mondelez International), which in the same year held 11 percent of the U.S. snack market share. Other competitors for soda are RC Cola, Keurig Dr Pepper, Keurig Dr. Pepper, and independent brands varying by region.


Soviet Union

In 1959, the USSR held an exhibition of Soviet technology and culture in New York. The United States reciprocated with an exhibition in Sokolniki Park, Moscow, which led to the famous kitchen debate. One of the American products exhibited was Pepsi Cola. After obtaining a photo of then–US vice president Richard Nixon and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sipping Pepsi, PepsiCo executive Donald Kendall was able to capture the attention of the Soviet people, and in 1972 he negotiated a cola monopoly in the USSR and Pepsi became the first US consumer product to be produced and marketed in the Soviet Union. Due to Soviet restrictions on transporting Soviet rouble, roubles abroad, PepsiCo struck a Barter, barter deal whereby
Stolichnaya Stolichnaya () is a vodka made of wheat and rye grain. It originated in the Soviet Union in 1938. There are two versions of the vodka: the version found outside Russia is made in Latvia, while the version found inside Russia is made there. With ...
vodka would be exchanged for Pepsi syrup. In 1989, amidst declining vodka sales, PepsiCo bartered for 2 new Soviet oil tankers, 17 decommissioned submarines (for $150,000 each), a frigate, a cruiser and a destroyer, which they could in turn sell for non-Soviet currency. The oil tankers were leased out through a Norwegian company, while the other ships were immediately sold for scrap. A deal struck the following year would've seen Pepsi acquire 85 ships worth nearly $3 billion over the next 10 years, but it only acquired 10 additional ships before the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The deal was renegotiated with the former nations of the USSR, and included receiving cheese from Russia to supply its Pizza Hut locations and receiving Double hull, double-hulled tankers from Ukraine. These deals also originated an List of common misconceptions, erroneous factoid which claims that, after acquiring the Soviet fleet, PepsiCo briefly possessed one of the most powerful Navy, navies in the world. In actuality, the only warships acquired by PepsiCo were "small, old, obsolete, unseaworthy vessels".


Controversies

Pepsi has been repeatedly criticized by environmentalists for its relationship to negative Environmental impact of agriculture, environmental impacts of agriculture in its supply chain and in its distributing operations, such as palm oil–related deforestation and pesticide use, its use of water resources, and the negative impacts of its packaging—Pepsi's packaging has consistently been one of the top sources of plastic pollution globally. Similarly, public health advocates have criticized Pepsi's high-calorie, poor nutrition product lines along with other popular snack and drink manufacturers. In response PepsiCo has made public comments on its commitment to minimizing their impact but has not released public information documenting progress on most of its public commitments.


Working conditions

In July 2021, Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo became the subject to media attention over poor working conditions at its plant in Topeka. These conditions, which allegedly include forced overtime and 84-hour workweeks for months, led to a strike involving hundreds of workers at the Topeka location. The strike began on July 5 and ended on July 23, after ratifications of a two-year contract that guarantees workers at least one day off each week and raised wages.


Environmental record


Rainforests and palm oil

PepsiCo Palm Oil Commitments published in May 2014 were welcomed by media as a positive step towards ensuring that the company's palm oil purchases will not contribute to deforestation and human rights abuses in the palm oil industry. NGOs warned that the commitments did not go far enough, and in light of the deforestation crisis in Southeast Asia, have called on the company to close the gaps in its policies immediately.


Genetically modified ingredients

PepsiCo has contributed US$1,716,300 to oppose the passage of California Proposition 37, which would mandate the disclosure of genetically modified crops used in the production of California food products. PepsiCo believes "that genetically-modified products can play a role in generating positive economic, social and environmental contributions to societies around the world; particularly in times of food shortages."


Water usage (India, U.S., U.K.)

PepsiCo's usage of water was the subject of controversy in India in the early and mid-2000s, in part because of the company's alleged impact on water usage in a country where water shortages are a perennial issue. In this setting, PepsiCo was perceived by India-based environmental organizations as a company that diverted water to manufacture a discretionary product, making it a target for critics at the time. As a result, in 2003 PepsiCo launched a country-wide program to achieve a "positive water balance" in India by 2009. In 2007, PepsiCo's then-CEO Indra Nooyi made a trip to India to address water usage practices in the country, prompting prior critic Sunita Narain, director of the Centre for Science & Environment (CSE), to note that PepsiCo "seem(s) to be doing something serious about water now." According to the company's 2009 corporate citizenship report, as well as media reports at the time, the company (in 2009) replenished nearly six billion liters of water within India, exceeding the aggregate water intake of approximately five billion liters by PepsiCo's India manufacturing facilities. Water usage concerns have arisen at times in other countries where PepsiCo operates. In the United States, water shortages in certain regions resulted in increased scrutiny on the company's production facilities, which were cited in media reports as being among the largest water users in cities facing drought—such as Atlanta, Georgia. In response, the company formed partnerships with non-profit organizations such as the Earth Institute and Water.org, and in 2009 began cleaning new Gatorade bottles with purified air instead of rinsing with water, among other water conservation practices. In the United Kingdom, also in response to regional drought conditions, PepsiCo snacks brand Walkers' reduced water usage at its largest potato chip facility by 45 percent between the years 2001 and 2008. In doing so, the factory used machinery that captured water naturally contained in potatoes, and used it to offset the need for outside water. As a result of water reduction practices and efficiency improvements, PepsiCo in 2009 saved more than 12 billion liters of water worldwide, compared to its 2006 water usage. Environmental advocacy organizations including the Natural Resources Defense Council and individual critics such as Rocky Anderson (mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah) voiced concerns in 2009, noting that the company could conserve additional water by refraining from the production of discretionary products such as Aquafina. The company maintained its positioning of bottled water as "healthy and convenient", while also beginning to partially offset environmental impacts of such products through alternate means, including packaging weight reduction.


Pesticide regulation (India)

PepsiCo's India operations were met with substantial resistance in 2003 and again in 2006, when an environmental organization in New Delhi made the claim that, based on its research, it believed that the levels of pesticides in PepsiCo (along with those from rival The Coca-Cola Company), exceeded a set of proposed safety standards on soft drink ingredients that had been developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards. PepsiCo denied the allegations, and India's health ministry has also dismissed the allegations—both questioning the accuracy of the data compiled by the CSE, as it was tested by its own internal laboratories without being verified by outside peer review. The ensuing dispute prompted a short-lived ban on the sale of PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company soft drinks within India's southwestern state of Kerala in 2006; however this ban was reversed by the Kerala High Court one month later. In November 2010, the Supreme Court of India invalidated a criminal complaint filed against PepsiCo India by the Kerala government, on the basis that the beverages did meet local standards at the time of the allegations. The court ruling stated that the "percentage of pesticides" found in the tested beverages was "within the tolerance limits subsequently prescribed in respect of such product" because at the time of testing "there was no provision governing pesticide adulteration in cold drinks." In 2010, PepsiCo was among the 12 multinational companies that displayed "the most impressive corporate social responsibility credentials in emerging markets", as determined by the U.S. Department of State. PepsiCo's India unit received recognition on the basis of its water conservation and safety practices and corresponding results.


Packaging and recycling

Environmental advocates have raised concern over the environmental impacts surrounding the disposal of PepsiCo's bottled beverage products in particular, as bottle recycling rates for the company's products in 2009 averaged 34 percent within the U.S. In 2019, BreakFreeFromPlastic named PepsiCo a top 10 global plastic polluter for the second year in a row. The company has employed efforts to minimize these environmental impacts via packaging developments combined with recycling initiatives. In 2010, PepsiCo announced a goal to create partnerships that prompt an increase in the beverage container recycling rate in the U.S. to 50 percent by 2018. One strategy enacted to reach this goal has been the placement of interactive recycling kiosks called "Dream Machines" in supermarkets, convenience stores, and gas stations, with the intent of increasing access to recycling receptacles. The use of resin to manufacture its plastic bottles has resulted in reduced packaging weight, which in turn reduces the volume of fossil fuels required to transport certain PepsiCo products. The weight of Aquafina bottles was reduced nearly 40 percent, to 15 grams, with a packaging redesign in 2009. Also in that year, PepsiCo brand
Naked Juice Naked Juice is an American brand that produces juices and smoothies. The company is based in Monrovia, California and is owned by PAI Partners. The first Naked Juice drink was produced in 1983 and sold in California under the name "Naked Juice", ...
began production and distribution of the first 100 percent PET bottle recycling, post-consumer recycled plastic bottle. On March 15, 2011, PepsiCo unveiled the world's first plant-based Polyethylene terephthalate, PET bottle. The bottle is made from plant-based materials, such as Panicum virgatum, switch grass, corn husks, and pine bark, and is 100% recyclable. PepsiCo plans to reuse more by-products of its manufacturing processes such as orange peels and oat hulls in the bottles. PepsiCo has identified methods to create a molecular structure that is the same as normal petroleum-based PET—which will make the new bottle technology, dubbed "Green Bottle", similar to Coke's "PlantBottle" idea from 2009, which feel the same as normal PET. PepsiCo have said to pilot production in 2012, and upon successful completion of the pilot, intends moving to full-scale commercialization, however in 2021 there are still no records of such bottles being produced. In a bid to reduce packaging consumption, in recent years the PepsiCoPartners launched as a service offering carbonated drinks dispensers within the US. The dispensers are currently being trialed in large corporate offices and universities. In 2020 PepsiCo teamed up with French biochemistry startup Carbios in order to promote and establish a new recycling method for used plastic bottles. This method uses enzymes to dissolve plastic very thoroughly and the final leftovers can be used to produce textiles.


Energy usage and carbon footprint

PepsiCo, along with other manufacturers in its industry, has drawn criticism from environmental advocacy groups for the production and distribution of plastic product packaging, which consumed an additional of petrochemicals in 2008. These critics have also expressed apprehension over the production volume of plastic packaging, which results in the Air pollution, emission of carbon dioxide. Beginning largely in 2006, PepsiCo began development of more efficient means of producing and distributing its products using less energy, while also placing a focus on Air pollution, emissions reduction. In a comparison of 2009 energy usage with recorded usage in 2006, the company's per-unit use of energy was reduced by 16 percent in its beverage plants and 7 percent in snack plants. In 2009, Tropicana (owned by PepsiCo) was the first brand in the U.S. to determine the carbon footprint of its
orange juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As ...
product, as certified by the Carbon Trust, an outside auditor of carbon emissions. Also in 2009, PepsiCo began the test deployment of so-called "green vending machines", which reduce energy usage by 15 percent in comparison to average models in use. It developed these machines in coordination with Greenpeace, which described the initiative as "transforming the industry in a way that is going to be more climate-friendly to a great degree." PepsiCo has announced a global company goal of transitioning its electricity sources to 100% renewable energy, although they did not specify a specific year of which this goal would hypothetically occur at. PepsiCo has additionally also publicly announced its goal of decreasing its main operation's greenhouse gas emissions by 75% as compared to the 2015 baseline, by 2030. Pepsico has succeeded in achieving 23% of their absolute emissions target reduction as of 2022.


Product nutrition

According to its 2009 annual report, PepsiCo states that it is "committed to delivering sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet", which it has defined in its mission statement since 2006 as "Performance with Purpose". According to news and magazine coverage on the subject in 2010, the objective of this initiative is to increase the number and variety of healthier food and beverage products made available to its customers, employ a reduction in the company's environmental impact, and to facilitate Multiculturalism, diversity and healthy lifestyles within its employee base. Its activities in regards to the pursuit of its goals—namely environmental impacts of production and the nutritional composition of its products—have been the subject of recognition from health and environmental advocates and organizations, and at times have raised concerns among its critics. As the result of a more recent focus on such efforts, "critics consider (PepsiCo) to be perhaps the most proactive and progressive of the food companies", according to former ''New York Times'' food industry writer Melanie Warner in 2010.


Product diversity

From its founding in 1965 until the early 1990s, the majority of PepsiCo's product line consisted of carbonated soft drinks and convenience snacks. PepsiCo broadened its product line substantially throughout the 1990s and 2000s with the takeover, acquisition and development of what its CEO deemed as "good-for-you" products, including Quaker Oats,
Naked Juice Naked Juice is an American brand that produces juices and smoothies. The company is based in Monrovia, California and is owned by PAI Partners. The first Naked Juice drink was produced in 1983 and sold in California under the name "Naked Juice", ...
, and Tropicana orange juice. Sales of such healthier-oriented PepsiCo brands totaled US$10 billion in 2009, representing 18 percent of the company's total revenue in that year. This movement into a broader, healthier product range has been moderately well received by nutrition advocates; though commentators in this field have also suggested that PepsiCo market its healthier items as aggressively as less-healthy core products. In response to shifting consumer preferences and in part due to increasing governmental regulation, PepsiCo in 2010 indicated its intention to grow this segment of its business, forecasting that sales of fruit, vegetable, whole grain, and Dietary fiber, fiber-based products will amount to US$30 billion by 2020. To meet this intended target, the company has said that it plans to acquire additional health-oriented brands while also making changes to the composition of existing products that it sells.


Ingredient changes in Pepsi

Public health advocates have suggested that there may be a link between the ingredient makeup of PepsiCo's core snack and carbonated soft drink products and rising rates of health conditions such as obesity and diabetes. The company aligns with personal :wikt:responsibility, responsibility advocates, who assert that food and beverages with higher proportions of sugar or salt content are fit for consumption in moderation by individuals who also exercise on a regular basis. Changes to the composition of its products with nutrition in mind have involved reducing fat content, moving away from trans-fats, and producing products in calorie-specific serving sizes to discourage overconsumption, among other changes. One of the earlier ingredient changes involved sugar and caloric reduction, with the introduction of
Diet Pepsi Diet Pepsi, also called Pepsi Light in some countries, is a diet carbonated cola soft drink produced by PepsiCo, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi with no sugar. First test marketed in 1963 under the name Patio Diet Cola, it was re-bra ...
in 1964 and Pepsi Max in 1993—both of which are variants of their full-calorie counterpart,
Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
. More recent changes have consisted of saturated fat reduction, which Frito-Lay reduced by 50% in
Lay's Lay's (, ) is a brand of potato chips with different flavors, as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the United States. The brand is also referred to as Frito-Lay, as both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the ...
and Ruffles potato chips in the U.S. between 2006 and 2009. Also in 2009, PepsiCo's Tropicana brand introduced a new variation of orange juice (Trop50) sweetened in part by the plant Stevia, which reduced calories by half. Since 2007, the company also made available lower-calorie variants of
Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...
, which it calls "G2". On May 5, 2014, PepsiCo announced that the company would remove brominated vegetable oil from many of its products, but a timeframe was not discussed.


Distribution to children

As public perception placed additional scrutiny on the marketing and distribution of carbonated soft drinks to children, PepsiCo announced in 2010 that by 2012, it will remove beverages with higher sugar content from primary and secondary schools worldwide. It also, under voluntary guidelines adopted in 2006, replaced "full-calorie" beverages in U.S. schools with "lower-calorie" alternatives, leading to a 95 percent reduction in the 2009 sales of full-calorie variants in these schools in comparison to the sales recorded in 2004. In 2008, in accordance with guidelines adopted by the International Council of Beverages Associations, PepsiCo eliminated the advertising and marketing of products that do not meet its nutrition standards, to children under the age of 12. In 2010, Michelle Obama initiated a campaign to end childhood obesity (titled ''Let's Move!''), in which she sought to encourage healthier food options in Public school (government funded), public schools, improved food nutrition labeling, and increased physical activity for children. In response to this initiative, PepsiCo, along with food manufacturers Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, General Mills, and others in an alliance referred to as the "Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation", announced in 2010 that the companies will collectively cut one trillion calories from their products sold by the end of 2012 and 1.5 trillion calories by the end of 2015.


See also

* Cola wars * Joan Crawford#Pepsi-Cola, Joan Crawford * List of assets owned by PepsiCo * Pepsi Stuff


References


External links

*
PepsiCo, FritoLay and Pepsi-Cola Annual Reports (1938–2017)
Archive of Annual Reports, Internet Archive {{Authority control PepsiCo, 1965 establishments in North Carolina American companies established in 1965 1960s initial public offerings Companies based in Purchase, New York Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Nasdaq Conglomerate companies established in 1965 Conglomerate companies of the United States Drink companies of the United States Food and drink companies based in New York (state) Food and drink companies established in 1965 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1923 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1931 Manufacturing companies based in New York (state) Manufacturing companies established in 1965 Multinational companies headquartered in the United States Multinational food companies Soft drinks manufacturers