PepsiCo will report its first-half results on Wednesday (23 July). Here just-drinks takes a look at the group’s highs and lows in beverages for the three months to the end of June:
- In April, PepsiCo signed a “multi-year” extension to its long-running Major League Baseball partnership.
- Also in April, the company announced the summer launch of three Pepsi extensions in the US sweetened with “real” sugar. The move may have been sparked by a decline in diet soda sales because of health fears over artificial sweeteners.
- In May, PepsiCo unveiled a new self-serve beverage dispenser allowing consumers to create about 1,000 different customised drinks.
- At the end of the month, an analyst said investor Nelson Peltz is ready to ramp up pressure on board members in his bid to force a split of the company’s beverage and snacks units.
- In June, PepsiCo agreed a year-long deal with country music performer Blake Shelton to help promote its flagship cola brand.
- At the end of June, a PepsiCo JV in Egypt said it will invest EGY2.5bn (US$375m) to capture a bigger share of the country’s dairy-based beverage market.