PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. 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 to an immensely diversified range of food and beverage brands. Significant acquisitions include Tropicana Products in 1998, the Quaker Oats Company in 2001, which added the Gatorade brand to the Pepsi portfolio, and Pioneer Foods in 2020 for US$1.7 billion.

As of January 2021, the company possesses 23 brands that each have over $1 billion 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 revenues 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. 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; it is commonly referred to as the cola wars. 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. Ramón Laguarta 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.

A study published in Science Advances in 2024 found that PepsiCo was responsible for 5% of global branded plastic pollution (by count), which was the 2nd highest share of branded plastic pollution globally.

History

Origins

The soft drink Pepsi was developed by Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist and businessman from Duplin County, North Carolina. He coined the name "Pepsi-Cola" in 1898, marketing the drink from his pharmacy in New Bern, North Carolina. The name reflects the effects of enzyme Pepsin which helps in digestion. 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 in 1919. Bradham's company experienced years of success leading up to World War I. 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 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. 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 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. 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 that time.

In the early 1960s, Pepsi-Cola's product lines expanded with the creation of Diet Pepsi and purchase of Mountain Dew. 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, New York. The company's headquarters were relocated to the present location of Purchase, New York in 1970, and in 1986 PepsiCo was reincorporated in the state of North Carolina.

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, Taco Bell, East Side Mario's, D'Angelo Sandwich Shops, Chevys Fresh Mex, California Pizza Kitchen, Stolichnaya (via licensed agreement), Wilson Sporting Goods, 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 company Tropicana Products in 1998, and merged with Quaker Oats Company in 2001, adding with it the Gatorade sports drink line and other Quaker Oats brands such as Chewy Granola Bars and Aunt Jemima, 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. This acquisition was completed in 2010, resulting in the formation of a new wholly owned subsidiary 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 December 20, 2017, PepsiCo moved its shares to Nasdaq after trading 39 years on the New York Stock Exchange.

On May 25, 2018, PepsiCo announced that it would acquire fruit and vegetable 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. 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. A number of Farmers' associations are requesting that the government get involved in the case stating that Pepsi is attempting to intimidate people.

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 greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, knowing that it had already started generating about 57 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions globally in 2019.

On August 3, 2021, PepsiCo announced that it has agreed to sell a majority stake in Tropicana, Naked and other North American juice brands to French private equity firm PAI Partners 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 for more than $1.6 billion.

On December 8, 2025, PepsiCo announced that it would be cutting nearly 20% of its U.S. product lineup by early 2026 as part of a deal with activist investor Elliott Investment Management to simplify its portfolio and focus on core brands, and lower prices to boost sales. 3 manufacturing plants would be shuttered, production lines would be shut down, and an unspecified number of employees would be laid off.

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 and South Asia (AMESA); and Asia–Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and China (APAC). As of 2015, 73 percent of the company's net revenues 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, The main brands distributed under this division include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, 7 Up (outside the U.S.), Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice, Starry, SoBe Lifewater, Tropicana juice drinks, AMP Energy, Naked Juice, and Izze. Aquafina, 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.

PepsiCo also has formed partnerships with several beverage brands it does not own, in order to distribute or market them with its own brands.

The division contributed 23 percent of PepsiCo's net revenue in 2015.

In the second half of 2023, Frito-Lay, as part of the PepsiCo Positive initiative, will ship more than 700 electric vehicles (EV) to the US. The company predicts that this measure will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7,000 metric tons. Previous measures from the company were: order 100 Tesla Semi trucks, 30 of which have already been received, 40 Ford eTransit trucks for the Dallas - Fort Worth area, as well as the use of renewable energy storage, BYD electric yard tractors, Tesla Semis and Peterbilt electric trucks at a factory in Modesto, California.

Quaker Foods North America

Quaker Foods North America, created following PepsiCo's acquisition of the Quaker Oats Company in 2001, manufactures, markets, and sells Quaker Oatmeal, Rice-A-Roni, Cap'n Crunch, and Life cereals, as well as Near East 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 syrups and pancake mixes within this region.

Sabritas and Gamesa are two of PepsiCo's food business lines headquartered in Mexico; they were acquired in 1966 and 1990, respectively. Sabritas markets Frito-Lay products in Mexico, including local brands such as Poffets, Rancheritos, Crujitos, and Sabritones. Gamesa is the largest manufacturer of cookies in Mexico, distributing brands such as Emperador, Arcoiris and Marías Gamesa.

The division contributed 4 percent of PepsiCo's net revenues in 2015. 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 products in several Latin American countries for 2016.

The division contributed 13 percent of PepsiCo's net revenues in 2015. and with its acquisition of Russian juice and dairy product brand Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods in December 2010 and 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 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 and 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 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 (in 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.

In May 2026, PepsiCo announced plans to invest ₹5,700 crore in India by 2030 to expand its food and beverage manufacturing operations, supply chain infrastructure, and product portfolio in the country.

Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and 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 in March 2025.

Corporate governance

Headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, with research and development headquarters in Valhalla, New York, PepsiCo's Chairman and CEO is Ramón Laguarta. 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 Chairman of the Board in May 2007, later (in 2010) being named No.1 on 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, Ramón 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 (1.35%)
Northern Trust (1.16%)
Norges Bank (1.13%)

Headquarters

The PepsiCo headquarters are located in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, in the town and village of Harrison, New York. 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."

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

thumb|Billboard of Pepsi-Cola in Venezuela ([[:es:Pepsi-Cola Venezuela|ES)]]

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 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 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

{| class="wikitable floatright"

|+Sales by business (2023)

!Business

!share

|PepsiCo Beverages North America

|30.2%

|Frito-Lay North America

|27.2%

|Europe

|14.5%

|Latin America

|12.7%

|Africa, Middle East and South Asia

|6.7%

|APAC

|5.3%

|Quaker Foods North America

|3.4%

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.

{| class="wikitable float-left" style="text-align: right;"

!Year

!Revenue in million USD

!Net income in million USD

!Total Assets in million USD

!Employees

|2005

|32,562

|4,060

|31,727

|2006

|35,137

|5,631

|29,930

|2007

|39,474

|5,646

|34,628

|2008

|43,251

|5,134

|35,994

|2009

|43,232

|5,940

|39,848

|2010

|57,838

|6,314

|68,153

|2011

|66,504

|6,436

|72,882

|2012

|65,492

|6,171

|74,638

|2013

|66,415

|6,740

|77,478

|274,000

|2014

|66,683

|6,503

|70,509

|271,000

|2015

|63,056

|5,452

|69,667

|263,000

|2016

|62,799

|6,329

|73,490

|264,000

|2017

|63,525

|4,857

|79,804

|263,000

|2018

|64,661

|12,515

|77,648

|267,000

|2019

|67,161

|7,314

|78,547

|267,000

|2020

|70,372

|7,120

|92,918

|291,000

|2021

|79,474

|7,618

|92,377

|309,000

|2022

|86,392

|8,910

|92,187

|315,000

|2023

|91,471

|9,074

|100,495

|318,000

|2023

|91,854

|9,578

|99,467

|319,000