Why are beverages being hit harder than snacks by the economic slowdown?
Ms. Nooyi: Beverages are a much more penetrated category. We also had a lot of wastage — people unscrewed their bottle and didn’t finish it all. Now they’re carrying the bottle longer and finishing the beverage. A convenience-store operator told me we used to have a big cadre of construction workers who came in the morning and bought their Mountain Dew and their Doritos. That consumer isn’t there now because the housing market is down. So what you get is the consumer who walks in and picks up a bag of Doritos but can do without the [drink]. We haven’t seen this kind of slowdown in convenience-store traffic in 25 years. WSJ: What can be done to keep beverage sales from slipping further in this economy, and to revive consumer interest in soda? Ms. Nooyi: You really have to segment your portfolio very, very carefully. You want targeted innovation that grabs the consumer and gives people a reason to buy. If a natural zero-calorie or low-calorie sweetener is approved and it tastes good in
