Shifting Eating Habits Have PepsiCo Investors Seeking Operational Changes

Americans aren’t buying enough bottles of Pepsi and bags of Doritos to please the executives behind those brands, despite lowered prices.“We’re not satisfied with the performance in the U.S.,” Ramon Laguarta, the chief executive of PepsiCo, told Wall Street analysts and investors on an earnings call Thursday.Even though sales rose in the most recent quarter, executives at PepsiCo are under increasing pressure to improve the snack and beverage business in the United States, which has struggled as some consumers pull back on spending while others change their snacking habits altogether.With the company’s stock down 12 percent in the past year and shares trading at six-year lows, PepsiCo is facing a growing drumbeat from some investors who want a bigger change in the company’s structure.Among the options: splitting PepsiCo’s business by geography, between North America and international, or by business lines, between foods and beverages.Some analysts and investors are prodding the company to re-franchise some or all of its bottling operations, which PepsiCo brought under its control several years ago.Its competitor Coca-Cola largely uses a franchise model for its bottling operations, which eliminates expenses like aluminum cans and plastic bottles.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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