PepsiCo Expands Nutrition Portfolio in India

The company launches Quaker Nutri Foods & Tropicana Essentials

India: PepsiCo India is introducing a set of new healthy products as part of its nutrition portfolio, for furthering its aim to reduce its alliance on sugar, salt and saturated fat and boost nutritional content in the products.

Nutri foods range consists of everyday breakfast options like idli, Dosa, Upma and Khichdi that are very familiar to Indian palates. However, each product will have 40% oats content along with real vegetables which will make them a more healthier option. With Tropicana Essentials, the company is offering juices that are a blend of fruits and vegetables fortified with important nutrients.

As part of their flagship brands, Quaker Oats and Tropicana, PepsiCo is launching Quaker Nutri Foods and Tropicana Essentials, respectively in the breakfast space. While Tropicana Essentials has already been launched through e-commerce in January this year, the Nutri foods range will be on the shelves by next month.

In October last year, PepsiCo's US parent has said that by 2025, three-quarters of its global foods portfolio will restrict sodium to 1.3 milligrams per calorie. Also, three-fourths won’t exceed 1.1grams of saturated fat per 100 calories. The company's nutrition category that includes products like healthier snacks now contributes 25% to the overall sales of the company, globally.

PepsiCo will launch a new range, under the Nutri foods brand, by the end of this year, four more ranges for variants this April and two more at the beginning of 2018 under the Tropicana Essentials brand. They are also considering introducing products from their global portfolio in India in the future.

According to TechSci Research, the demand for nutritional and healthier foods has been growing at a significant pace and with increasing disposable and rising health concerns among urban consumers, the demand for nutritional products is set to increase in coming years in the country.