Can Pepsi Become The Coke of Snacks?
PEPSI’S blue. For starters, Pepsico Inc. all but lost the global cola wars to the Coca-Cola Company this year, making its ballyhooed experiment to abandon the red and white on its cans for basic blue seem like a celebration of style over substance. Meantime, two of its three fast-food chains are floundering, and even Frito-Lay, the snack-food jewel of the corporate crown, momentarily lost some of its sparkle. Wall Street is pushing the usual quick fixes — spinoffs, acquisitions, an AT&T-style split-up into three parts — but so far Pepsico isn’t biting, to the consternation of some investors who have watched Coke’s price outpace Pepsi’s. Other investors and analysts, however, far from despairing, see a chance for a renaissance in Pepsi’s mess. They say the company’s troubles are forcing it to adopt a new Realpolitik in developing a long-term strategy for growth in all three of its core businesses. And they are hoping management will reach the same conclusion they have: Pepsi’s best ho
