Global food and beverage maker, PepsiCo, on Tuesday said its Indian unit delivered double-digit organic revenue growth in the March quarter (Q1) of 2023. While beverage unit volumes witnessed strong growth, snacks volumes witnessed a decline in the country during the quarter.
Even then, India has been among PepsiCo’s strong markets in the Africa Middle East South Africa (AMESA) region, driving growth along with Egypt, Sadi Arabia and Pakistan, the company said.
Globally, PepsiCo’s average prices increased 16%, but organic volume decreased 2% globally amid a volatile operating environment. Emerging markets including India appeared to have bucked this trend, as sales momentum remained strong, the company said.
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Overall, PepsiCo’s net revenue for the March quarter came in at $17.85 billion, up 10.2% versus the previous year, led largely by price-led growth.
In prepared remarks on Tuesday, PepsiCo’s management said each of its international divisions had reported strong organic revenue growth in Q1. In particular, the AMESA region led growth. Though outside of AMESA, PepsiCo said, many of its other developing and emerging markets also delivered strong results, including Mexico, Brazil and Vietnam.
“We are pleased with the performance of our international business, which delivered nearly 40% of our total net revenue in 2022 or approximately $34 billion. We remain encouraged by the long runway for growth in many markets and categories,” the company said.
The performance of its international business has prompted PepsiCo to increase its annual revenue and profit predictions for the current calendar year, relying on continued demand for its beverages and snacks as well as price hikes implemented to offset growing expenses, sector analysts said.
The company also said that marketplace gains in its product categories had led to share gains in many of its international markets. This included China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Netherlands, South Africa, Belgium, and Puerto Rico, and for beverages, the company says it saw market share gains in Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, Turkey, and Nigeria.
In India, PepsiCo has been pushing its product availability through bottling partner Varun Beverages. Ahead of the summer season this year, Varun Beverages, sector experts said, had improved distribution reach by around 10-15%, taking it to nearly 3.5 million outlets from 3 million outlets earlier.