The Hindu : Business : `Choice of eating habits rests with consumer'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 01, 2005

Business

Business

`Choice of eating habits rests with consumer'

By K. T. Jagannathan

Indra Nooyi

CHENNAI, MARCH 31. Multi-national PepsiCo would like its food products classified under the "Good for you'' category to contribute fifty per cent of its total sales.

According to Indra Nooyi, President and Chief Financial Officer of PepsiCo, the company grouped its products into three categories: `Fun for you,' which comprised products like Pepsi or Lays'; "Better for you,'' where PepsiCo removed the perceived negative elements out of a product and in its place introduced a new one like Diet Pepsi; and "Good for you,'' which included the Tropicana brand of juices.

In an interaction with journalists of The Hindu group of publications here today, Ms. Nooyi said that at present the `Good for you' and `Better for you' products accounted for 35 per cent and `Fun for you' products the remaining 65 per cent.

Ms. Nooyi said the number of servings of the company's products in the U.S. had been going up — "Yet, the calories we sell have been going down.'' Companies like PepsiCo had a range of products in their portfolio, catering to different tastes of varied consumers. Observing that "the ownership of lifestyle is being transferred from individuals to corporations,'' she said that the choice of a product should be made by consumers. "Eat what you want. Drink what you want,'' she said. In this context, she referred to a current backlash in the U.S., where consumers asserted their right over the choice of eating habits.

Ms. Nooyi, a member of the board of PepsiCo, spent her early part of her life in Chennai. She has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata. She is also on the board of Motorola.

Stating that "all of us at PepsiCo are very proud of the company we work for,'' she declared, "there isn't a product we sell in India that does not meet the global quality standards set by PepsiCo.'' There was no product sold in India that was not subject to the same rigorous quality testing as specified by PepsiCo in New York. PepsiCo products from different markets were tested at a laboratory in Belgium and those from India were found to be equal to others in all aspects.

Ms. Nooyi said PepsiCo viewed India as a market filled with excitement and its share of challenges. "India represents a very important aspect of our Group. In our global business, India is number five in overall ranking. It is growing rapidly.''

In response to a question, PepsiCo's President noted that "the market in China looks spectacular.'' It looked like a "clean New York transplanted into China many times over.'' The difference between China and India, according to her, was that "when China has a national policy on FDI (foreign direct investment) all the states and provinces get into line. We don't need to go from pillar to post to get permission to do things.'' With India rolling out the "welcome mat'' now, she was hopeful that it would yield dividends in the long run.

Turning to corporate citizenship of the company in India, Ms. Nooyi and her colleagues said the company took up the cultivation of seaweed, which was used as a food grade gel, in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. The technology had since been transferred to self-help groups. "We have developed a product that acts as a plant growth regulator and a nutrient, which is completely organic and gives significant increases in agricultural productivity at extremely low costs.'' PepsiCo was now in the process of marketing this concept, they added.

On the controversy associated with water use, the officials said PepsiCo India would strive to create a positive water balance in areas where it operated. They said that PepsiCo would replenish the water consumed by it through a number of initiatives, including rainwater and roof-water harvesting.

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