PepsiCo to focus on healthier foods

March 23, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

NEW YORK

PepsiCo, largely known for junk-food brands such as Doritos and Pepsi, is setting out to triple its sales of healthier fare in the next decade.

PepsiCo Inc. unveiled the new goal for brands such as Tropicana, Dole, Quaker and Tazo teas Monday at an investor event. The company also backed its forecast for long-term earnings growth.

Governments around the world are exerting pressure on food makers to improve nutrition. But Pepsi is also making the case that it’s just as much consumer demand that’s driving the changes.

“Consumers are heading toward ‘good-for-you,’” PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said Monday during the meeting.

PepsiCo expects more shoppers to buy based on nutrition as baby boomers age and people in developing countries get wealthier. About 18 percent of PepsiCo’s revenue comes from the lines it considers healthier, including Tropicana, Dole, Quaker and Tazo teas. Nooyi wants to triple $10 billion in revenue from such brands to $30 billion by 2020.

That may be a huge boost, but the nutrition business is still small compared with the company’s less-healthy food (it’s using the term “fun for you”) such as Lay’s potato chips and soda, worth $50 billion a year.