PepsiCo sees double-digit growth in Argentina and Colombia, innovation for Quaker
Mexico experienced mid-single-digit growth, said the company during its recent second quarter (Q2) earnings call, while Argentina and Colombia both enjoyed double-digit growth.
But the truckers’ strike in Brazil “depressed overall net revenue growth for Latin America by approximately 2 percentage points”, said the company.
PepsiCo reported over 6% organic revenue growth in its developing and emerging markets. “Strong marketplace execution, combined with stable macro conditions, have led to continued solid growth across many of our key international markets though growth was negatively impacted by the 11-day transportation strike that broadly disrupted commerce in Brazil,” said the company.
As reported recently by FoodNavigator-LATAM, the strike – which lasted from May 21 to 31 – created nationwide chaos, and a number of cities and states, including São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, declared a ‘state of emergency’.
The Brazilian Association of Food Industries (ABIA) described losses from the strike as “incalculable”, with tons of food lost that could “never be recovered”.
The potential of Quaker
Internationally, PepsiCo reported “impressive bottom line results with core constant currency operating profit up 12%”, which it said was a reflection of “our efforts to increasingly lift and shift successful initiatives from one market to many and innovating on our big global brands in locally relevant ways.
“For instance, in Latin America, we are innovating with Quaker super foods, a new premium platform with differentiated ingredients such as oats with rye, amaranth, flaxseed and quinoa.”
As we reported recently, PepsiCo sees Quaker aligning well with increasing nutrition concerns throughout Mexico, which is the “second most important market” for PepsiCo globally. The company injected US$5m into the market in 2014 for innovation and brand consolidation, infrastructure, agriculture and community outreach.
Quaker has benefited from the investment in R&D at PepsiCo Mexico's Baking Category Innovation Center (BCIC) in the city of Apodaca. Since its inauguration in June 2014, the center had developed a number of new Quaker products for the global market, including Quaker Morning Flats for the US, Quaker Good Start Cookies for Dubai and Quaker Oat Biscuit Bites for China.
Other examples of lifting and shifting successful initiatives from one market to another include the premium range of plant-based snacks called Off the Eaten Path from the US to the UK, and launching its successful Sunbites platform from the US to Australia as Sunbites Grain Waves Plus “with the goodness of Australian whole grain corn, wheat and oats plus beetroot and sweet potato”. At
“Lifting the communities they serve”
The company also mentioned its impact on local communities in the markets it serves, notably, “playing a critical role in disaster relief efforts from Texas to Florida and Puerto Rico, Mexico to Ecuador and China to the Philippines”.
