PepsiCo to double potato procurement in India in 5 yrs

Under the project, the company encourages people in rain water harvesting and to form self-help groups.

Talking about the Indian market, Anand said: "In the last four years, we have invested about a billion dollars and will continue to enhance that investment appropriately as the situation demands. It's a priority market for PepsiCo."

Without sharing details, he said India is among the top five markets for the company globally.

"Important to notice today is that we have eight brands with sales over Rs 1,000 crore each and that continues to increase and go up every year," Anand said.

The eight brands are Pepsi, 7UP, Mirinda, Slice, Mountain Dew, Lays, Kurkure and Aquafina.

Expressing optimism on continuing good growth, Anand said the per capita consumption of both carbonated drinks and snacks is low in India compared to other emerging markets.

"In India, the per capita carbonated drinks consumption is even half than Pakistan. So these categories continue to grow in double digit on sustained quarter-on-quarter basis and we are really thrilled to participate in this growth," he said, adding the company will continue to add new products and has already introduced about 25 products this year.

The company sells its beverages through about 1.5 million outlets, while it is available in over 2 million outlets for its food business.

When asked about the company's strategy to become the title sponsor of IPL, Anand said: "The viewership of IPL is going up every year. In fact, it is something which brings about a huge amount of passion for the Indian audience in the month of April and May, viewership of IPL is just phenomenal.

"Partnership between IPL and Pepsi is just fantastic partnership... I think we will add a lot to IPL and IPL will add a lot to Pepsi. We believe IPL is a great investment for us, it's a great property to partner with."

... contd.

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