PURCHASE, NY. — Chickpeas could become an ingredient found in more products under the Frito-Lay brand. PepsiCo., Inc., the parent company of Frito-Lay North America, already owns the Off The Eaten Path brand, which offers products containing chickpeas as well as other ingredients like black beans, carrots and green peas.
“Within the Frito portfolio, there are also different substrates that we’re playing,” said Ramon L. Laguarta, chief executive officer of PepsiCo., in a Feb. 9 earnings call to discuss fiscal-year 2022 results. “Off The Eaten Path is a great example. You have multigrain. Then you have smaller substrates. One substrate that we like a lot is chickpea. Chickpea has high nutritional values.”
PepsiCo sees an incremental opportunity to broaden its portfolio beyond the more traditional substrates where the company has advantages in supply chains and well-known brands, he said.
“But I think our brands can expand into other spaces, especially some of those smaller brands, but also we’re thinking about some of our bigger brands as well,” Mr. Laguarta said.
Operating profit at Frito-Lay North America in the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2022, increased 9% to $6.14 billion when compared to the previous fiscal year, reflecting effective net pricing and productivity savings partially offset by operating cost increases. Higher commodity costs, primarily in cooking oil, potatoes and seasoning, along with higher advertising and marketing expenses, had a negative impact of 17 percentage points.
Revenue rose 19% to $23.29 billion from $19.61 billion. Larger brands Doritos, Cheetos, Lay’s, Ruffles, Tostitos and Fritos all delivered revenue growth in double-digit percentages as did smaller brands PopCorners, Smartfood and SunChips.
Mr. Laguarta called the Frito-Lay brand the “jewel” of PepsiCo.
“The truth is that we feel very good about this business growing very close to 18%,” he said.
Operating profit at Quaker Foods North America rose 4.5% to $604 million, primarily reflecting effective net pricing and productivity savings. Revenue increased 15% to $3.16 billion. Organic revenue growth was 13% as market share gains came in the categories of snack bits, light snacks, rice and pasta, and ready-to-eat cereal.
Net income attributable to Purchase-based PepsiCo in the fiscal year was $8.91 billion, or $6.42 per share on the common stock, in the fiscal year, 2022, which was up 17% from $7.62 billion, or $5.49 per share, in the previous fiscal year. Revenue increased 9% to $86.39 billion from $79.47 billion.