Executives at fizzy drink and snack food companies don’t seem to like the words “healthy eating”. For them, this fad for eating vegetables and drinking water is better referred to as “changing consumer preferences”, or something like that. They do, though, acknowledge that consumers are generally drinking less cola and eating fewer crisps. So they are responding with new products.
Indra Nooyi, chairwoman and chief executive of Pepsico, yesterday lamented her company’s failure to get into sparkling water faster. “I’ll be honest with you, I think we were late,” she said on Pepsico’s fourth-quarter earnings call. The company will this month launch Bubly, unsweetened sparkling waters that come in eight flavours.
Pepsico generates most of its revenue from soft drinks and snacks in the United