A year after noting a desire to increase its penetration in the premium end of the Frito-Lay North America business, parent PepsiCo, Inc. is making “good progress against the scorecard,” said Brian Cornell, chief executive officer of PepsiCo Americas Foods. Mr. Cornell offered a brief update of the company’s progress at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference held Feb. 21 in Boca Raton. “I think across the year you saw solid progress in Frito-Lay leading up to a very solid fourth quarter,” Mr. Cornell said. “So sequential improvement in our performance throughout the year, and I really think it demonstrates the strategy and the playbookTom Greco (president of Frito-Lay North America) and the Frito-Lay team have in place right now is gaining traction with both our customers and with consumers.”
Mr. Cornell noted solid progress from a productivity standpoint even as the company looks to drive greater efficiencies in its supply chain and go-to-market system. From an execution standpoint, Frito-Lay has incorporated “a real focus on making sure we’ve got the right products, packs and price in place channel by channel, customer by customer, including as it pertains to the important premium segment where we have demonstrated solid mid-teen growth in line with the category.”
Specifically, he said the company feels good about the progress being made with big brands like Stacy’s, as well as in new categories, such as with Sabra hummus products.
“We still see that as a very important part of our future at Frito-Lay,” Mr. Cornell said. “But within that we don’t want to lose focus on that important mainstream portfolio that is the heart and soul of our company. We want to continue to accelerate our entry into the premium space and then continue to look at selective ways to compete in value. But overall good progress against the scorecard, sequential improvement throughout the year, and I think it sets us up for continued solid progress as we move into 2013.”
