PepsiCo is most famous for its soft drink called Pepsi. Some people love this soft drink, while others think Coca-Cola is better. It cannot be denied that PepsiCo has loyal customers around the globe. If you are a Pepsi Cola fan, you must want to know more about the company that produces it.
So, let’s talk about the history of PepsiCo, its brands, and its rivalry with Coca-Cola. But before that, you should first know what PepsiCo is.
What is PepsiCo?
PepsiCo is a multinational food and beverage company. It is based in America and is among the world’s largest food and beverage companies. It competes with other popular brands such as Nestlé and Coca-Cola.
PepsiCo is a well-known brand, with Pepsi being amongst its most popular products. The company operates around the globe, and its products are sold in more than 200 countries.
History of PepsiCo
Pepsi-Cola, a beverage, was first developed by a pharmacist in North Carolina called Caleb D. Bradham. The drink became very popular, which led to the creation of the Pepsi-Cola Company. The company faced many tribulations but also had tremendous success.
Eventually, the Pepsi-Cola Company merged with Frito-Lay forming PepsiCo in 1965. PepsiCo acquired other popular brands and expanded to become the giant organization it is today. The company grew and diversified the products it produced to gain success.
Famous PepsiCo Brands
PepsiCo is most famous for its soft drink Pepsi, but the company actually owns many other popular brands. Following are some of the well-known brands owned by the company:
- Soft Drinks Brands
One of the most popular brands in the soft drink industry is Pepsi. This beverage has many fans around the globe.
But that is not the only soft drink produced by the company. It also owns other well-known soft drink brands, such as Mountain Dew, 7 Up, Mirinda, and Sierra Mist.
- Chips Brands
The Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo is responsible for many chips brands that we love. PepsiCo’s most prominent chips brands are Lays, Fritos, Doritos, Ruffles, Tostitos, and SunChips.
- Snack Brands
Cheetos is an extremely popular snack brand. But most people don’t know that PepsiCo actually makes it. PepsiCo owns many snacks food brands, such as Cracker Jack, Cheetos, Munchies, Matador, etc.
- Lipton
Pepsi Lipton International is among the leading tea brands that tea lovers consume. This brand is owned jointly by Unilever and PepsiCo.
Lipton offers an array of different types of teas, making it quite popular in tea-loving countries.
- Cereal Brands
PepsiCo is the proud owner of Cap’n Crunch and Life cereals. Both of these breakfast cereals are among the favorite breakfast items of many people around the globe.
- Aquafina
PepsiCo is not far behind in the bottled water market. It owns Aquafina, a brand that provides both flavored and unflavored bottled water. It competes with other popular brands such as Dasani by Coca-Cola.
- Gatorade
Gatorade is a sports-themed beverage. This brand is owned by PepsiCo being its fourth-largest brand. It dominates the sports drink market, especially in the United States, with its rival being Powerade by Coca-Cola.
PepsiCo also owns Propel, a flavored water brand.
- Quaker Oats
Quaker Oats is also a well-liked brand. But did you know that it is owned by PepsiCo? PepsiCo acquired Quaker Oats in 2001. This allowed the company to gain many new brands.
Since oatmeal snacks are becoming popular nowadays, this investment has turned significant profits for PepsiCo.
- Starbucks Bottled Beverages
Starbucks is among the largest coffeehouse chains in the world. So, it only makes sense that PepsiCo, being a bottled beverage giant, would team up with it. The partnership forged by PepsiCo and Starbucks in 1941 brought ready-to-drink cold coffee to stores that ended up being quite a hit.
PepsiCo and Coca-Cola Rivalry
Pepsi and Coca-Cola are fierce rivals. The competition between the two food and beverage industry giants has only escalated, giving rise to the Cola Wars phenomenon.
Both companies continuously try to outdo each other. PepsiCo even showed an advertisement where people blind taste-tested both Pepsi and Coca-Cola, suggesting that consumers preferred the former over the latter in terms of taste.
Divisions of PepsiCo
PepsiCo is a large company that operates around the globe, so it needs to have several divisions to operate efficiently. This is why PepsiCo has seven divisions which are given below:
- PepsiCo Beverages North America
- Frito-Lay North America
- Quaker Foods North America
- Latin America
- Europe
- Africa, Middle East, and South Asia
- The Asia Pacific, Australia/New Zealand, and China
PepsiCo Facts
Given below are some interesting facts about PepsiCo:
- Pepsi Was Once Called “Brad’s Drink”
Before Pepsi got its iconic name, it was known as “Brad’s Drink.” The drink kept this name for five years until it was renamed Pepsi Cola.
- PepsiCo May Not Have Survived World War 1
During World War 1, the price of sugar increased drastically. Seeing this, Caleb Bradham bought a lot of it to later sell at a profit once the price increased further. But this decision was a mistake.
The plan backfired when the price of sugar fell instead of going up, causing Bradham to declare bankruptcy.
- The First Soft Drink Company to Utilize Two-Liter Bottles Was PepsiCo
PepsiCo became the first soda company to introduce two-liter bottles to the market. They became pretty popular, and the company sold two-liter bottle soda worldwide.
- Pepsi Was the First Brand to Use Skywriting for Advertisement
Pepsi was the first soft drink product advertised using skywriting. PepsiCo hired a pilot to write “Pepsi” over various cities in the United States.
- PepsiCo Owns Around 500 Patents
PepsiCo owns around 500 patents, which is not surprising for an innovative company to have. One of the patents that PepsiCo owns is for a tennis racket.
- There Have Been 11 Different Pepsi Logos in the Past
Throughout the last 122 years, PepsiCo has had 11 different logos. The globe symbol for Pepsi that we are all familiar with only came into existence in the 1950s.
- PepsiCo Sold More for Less and Survived the Great Depression
During the great depression, the price of a six-ounce soft drink bottle tended to be around a nickel. Pepsi decided to sell twelve-ounce bottles for the same price. This turned in significant profits for the company allowing it to stay afloat.
- Many Lesser-known Variations of Pepsi Exist
Many variations of Pepsi exist that you have likely never even heard of. In Japan, you can find Pepsi flavors, such as cucumber, strawberry milk, yogurt, salty watermelon, etc.
- Pepsi Once Had a Mascot
Did you know Pepsi once had a mascot? It is a little-known fact that PepsiCo used a mascot named Pepsiman. Pepsiman did not stay around for long. Ever since the 1990s, the mascot has not made many appearances.
Conclusion
PepsiCo has become more than just a brand since its conception. It has become a torchbearer for the food and beverage industry worldwide. Although many people know PepsiCo for its soft drinks, it makes many more products that we use regularly.
Hopefully, you have learned more about PepsiCo, its products, and its history through this article.