Pepsi Does Not Want to Be A Soda Company Anymore

Despite being a worldwide food, snack, and beverage juggernaut, PepsiCo is known for one thing, above all—the cool, dark, refreshing soda that has been giving Coca-Cola a run for its money for decades.

But after years of declining sales and the international war on sugary drinks raging on, soft drink giants have been recalibrating to accommodate healthier consumer choices—the choice of a new generation, if you will.

In a recent conversation with financial analysts, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi revealed that the iconic soda, which was once its flagship, now only makes up for 12 percent of total sales. According to the Associated Press, Nooyi added that, taken together, PepsiCo's soda brands, which also include Mountain Dew, Mug Root Beer, and 7UP, don't even account for 25 percent of global sales.

Instead, all signs point to PepsiCo reworking its product line and focusing on non-carbonated drinks and healthy snacks. In fact, Pepsi's disclosure of its soda sales figures comes only months after Nooyi told investors that soft drinks have become "a thing of the past."

But for PepsiCo, this is also part of a larger strategy, as the company's healthier products are currently booming. "The growth of our everyday nutrition products, which accounts for a quarter of our global net revenue, is outpacing the growth of the balance of the portfolio," PepsiCo spokesperson Andrea Canabal told MUNCHIES in an e-mail.

Without naming names, Canabal also said Pepsi's move away from soft drinks was also a conscious decision to differentiate themselves from a certain competing brand. "Unlike our competitor, where 75% of their revenue comes from their carbonated soft drinks, we have transformed our portfolio for two decades now to meet the growing consumer demands for healthier beverages." Zing!

Those healthier beverages include the likes of Naked, Gatorade, and Aquafina, and make up 25 percent of global sales. Interestingly, Nooyi also revealed that "guilt-free" products like diet soda and reduced-sodium and -fat snacks make up a whopping 45 percent of global sales.

In other words, it would appear that Pepsi is just as willing, and able, to capitalize on our appetite for healthy food as it is on our cravings for sweets.