DNA
New Delhi, Dec 19: PepsiCo is making efforts to reduce fats, sugar and salt in the current line of “Fun for You” products like soft drinks and potato chips. Towards this, the company has opened an R&D centre in Gurgaon, which will work on introducing healthier soft drinks that contain fewer calories and no caffeine.
Does this mean new categories of drinks such as lassi, smoothies and other India-centric beverages? You bet.
PepsiCo president and CEO Indra Nooyi at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday.
Globally, says Indra Nooyi, president and CEO of PepsiCo, while the number of servings of PepsiCo products is rising, the calories served have declined.
This happened because the healthy part of its portfolio — fruit juices, low-fat snacks and diet soft drinks — are logging much faster growth than the regular product portfolio. Nooyi says within the next few years, healthy products will comprise half of overall sales. That could well make PepsiCo look like a wellness products company.
Nooyi chose India as the first destination for an overseas business visit after taking over the top job in October this year.
While this may have something to do with the fact that she takes her annual vacation around this time for visiting her mother in Chennai, her assertion that India is one of the key markets indicates this country’s importance in PepsiCo’s global scheme of things.
“India’s hour has arrived,” she said, pointing out that along with China, India is the second most important market for PepsiCo in the Asia-Pacific region. But Nooyi sounds a note of caution. “India is a key market but still not a superior profit market for PepsiCo. We consider it an investment market at present and are here for the long haul”.
What this means is that while the Indian operations are delivering profits, growth is still in single digits, not the 15-20% levels PepsiCo may be registering in some other markets.
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