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PepsiCo is powering up for new launches after cementing the FMCG giant's ‘clear number one' status in the Middle East.
Competitors are always a tricky subject, yet the president and CEO for Pepsi-Cola International Middle East & North Africa Tarek Kabil is adamant that the company looks beyond its longstanding rival in the drinks arena.
"The tougher it is, the more we evolve, as we are never relaxed and satisfied to be a big player. We examine different consumers' needs, packaging and expansion across the business; we are now clear number one in all of my countries."
After 14 years of experience with the firm and a series of successes as head of the GCC, Egypt and North Africa for the one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, Kabil believes the concentration should be placed instead on "the entire share of stomach and everything that consumers eat or drink; I look as tea as a contender. We need to expand our focus to every other beverage."
The Egyptian-born boss started his career as a mechanical engineer, later joining the power-driven US $40 billion food and beverage company to oversee its burgeoning portfolio of brands from Pepsi, 7 Up, Gatorade and Mountain Dew beverages to Frito-Lay snack foods and Quaker foods.
"We are now present in all of the Middle East markets, our market shares go as high as 88% in the beverage sector in Saudi Arabia. We are also market leader in almost every country in the Middle East; we have 72% share in the UAE and are in the top 70s to 80s in almost every country," he remarks.
Pepsi has gained a stranglehold on the Saudi Arabian market by ensuring the brand is "very close to the consumers; we aim to understand their habits, provide them with what they need, and we have established four very strong bottlers and a distribution system across the Kingdom."
The flagship beverage brand name tops the CSD leader board alongside its extensions Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max, 7 Up, 7 Up Free and Mirinda, however Mountain Dew now boasts almost 50% market share of the sector in Oman, proof of Kabil's insistence that there is considerable variance of demands in the markets within his scope of activity.
This year the company has "big plans," and it will launch "more brands offering healthier options for consumers" and "new products coming very soon," he reveals, and it will capitalise on its ambitious UAE launch for Frito-Lay, which was previously reliant on imports.
Pepsi will expand its Aquafina range, after its debut in Saudi Arabia and the introduction of its flavoured extensions, across the region in 2008. According to Kabil, the addition of flavoured options in the market has pushed consumers to drink more water.
The redesign of labelling across Pepsi's bottles, cans and cups is part of a bid to express today's key trends and engage with teenage audiences through themes such as Digital Download, Emoticons, SMS and Global Festival.
President and CEO for Pepsi-Cola International Middle East & North Africa Tarek Kabil told Retail News Middle East the company will focus heavily on promoting Frito-Lay, Aquafina flavoured waters and Tropicana in the region this year, in addition to launching a string of new, healthy products.
PepsiCo International includes all PepsiCo businesses in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa. PepsiCo brands are available in nearly 200 countries and generate sales at the retail level of more than US $98 billion. The company employs approximately 185,000 people worldwide. PepsiCo is one of the world's largest makers and sellers of waters, sports drinks, juice and soft drinks.
Some of PepsiCo's brand names are more than 100-years-old, but the corporation is relatively young. PepsiCo was founded in 1965 through the merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay. Tropicana was acquired in 1998 and PepsiCo merged with The Quaker Oats Company, including Gatorade, in 2001.
Pepsi-Cola began selling its products outside the US and Canada in the mid-1930s, opening in the UK in 1936. PepsiCo began its international snack food operations in 1966. Often PepsiCo snack food products are known by local names, including Walkers in the UK, Smiths in Australia, and Matutano in Spain.
