The pandemic impact: PepsiCo India lines up offerings for expansion

Beverage and snacks major PepsiCo India has expanded its product offerings with a slew of launches in its food portfolio over the past two years as in-home consumption increased during the pandemic which has continued for the brand. 

Earlier this month, the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major launched three variants under its Quaker Oats brand.

Last year, the company had four launches and seven different variants in its snacks and chips portfolio.

In 2022, it embarked on five launches and eight flavours in the same space.

This was the highest number of launches the company has undertaken since 1995 when it unveiled the Lay’s brand.

The company said that the spate of launches was necessitated due to the rising demand for snacks and chips during the pandemic.

PepsiCo India president Ahmed ElSheikh said: “This promises to be India’s decade for sure, and at PepsiCo India we are excited to participate in this incredible journey the nation is undergoing. The Indian consumer is ever more discerning, and the exciting shifts in consumer behaviour have propelled us to keep innovating. 2023 marked further investment and expansion for PepsiCo India across foods and beverages portfolio.”

“We are very proud to have commenced work on our greenfield foods manufacturing facilities in Assam while our partners are also in expansion mode as they continue to set up facilities across the country. We are very bullish on the Indian growth story and will continue to keep in step with it through our investment plans,” he added.

Sravani Babu, the associate director and category lead of Quaker Oats told Business Standard in an exclusive interview that while oats as a category remains nascent compared to other FMCG categories, it is growing in double digits.

“Flavour oats is still a nascent category and is growing at double-digit growth. Base oats category continues to be the leading segment in the category. With this launch, we are looking at occasions which are breakfast and beyond,” Babu explained.

She added that while these three flavours have been launched currently, the company intends to broaden its portfolio of offerings.

Going forward, Babu said there are more launches lined up.

In 2022, the company launched multigrain oats in August 2022, which was part of the five launches it made that year.

Saumya Rathore, category lead of potato chips at PepsiCo India said that in-home consumption changed during the pandemic, and with quick commerce gaining traction, also fuelling demand.

“Consumer habits take decades to evolve but the pandemic has crunched that,” Rathore explained.

Rathore and Babu also pointed out that e-commerce and quick commerce are both helping increase the penetration of snacks in the country.

Keeping in line with the changing consumption trend in foods, PepsiCo India announced its first food manufacturing plant in Nalbari, Assam with an investment of Rs 778 crore ($95 million). This unit will be spread across 44.2 acres and will be operational by 2025.

Like PepsiCo India, other majors like Amul and ITC have also remained aggressive on launches, especially during and after the pandemic.